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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/24/20 in all areas

  1. Are you using K rend or similar if so I think it needs an expansion gap/strip every 5/6m. Reason I say that is if you would prefer to not have an expansion strip you can perhaps use a change of material eg cladding. One end of my house was a bit bland so we did timber cladding between windows for interest. Per attached. another thing you can do for interest is the gutters and downpipe which you can get in quite a range of colours. We went for galvanised and were glad we did. appreciate might not be right for you but just throwing ideas in...
    3 points
  2. Only thing I'd say is... You need to connect and get on with your architect. It's a creative partnership. Pick the one that feels right. The one you'd invite to invite round to dinner or go for a pint with.
    2 points
  3. One of the problems with building your own house Ian is that self-builders work to such fine tolerances... Our washing machine slot is the same - although we have a bit more than 1mm. What I did was tie some cord around the 2 back legs which hide under the machine until I need to get it out. This gives a bit more leverage. But I accept it will still be tricky with only 6 consenting fingers.
    2 points
  4. @puntloos It's an interesting question, and one that I gave some thought before building my last house using timber frame. My normal preference would be for brick and block traditional construction however the site I was building on was in a remote part of N Wales that lent itself to timber frame construction. It was very difficult to access up a steep single-track and partially unmade road, the site is on an exposed hillside and has a short construction weather window with snow & ice making access impossible for good chunks of the year. The ground has clay in it and it turns claggy in the heavy rain of that part of N Wales which can make the movement of heavy building materials difficult. I chose a local timber frame manufacturer who was used to dealing with the difficult access and weather conditions. They pre-fabricated the frame in sections that were suited to the site conditions. We agreed that they would start work on site in late Spring and they got the build weather-tight after just 2 weeks on site. I'm very happy with it and 4 years on I still think I made the right choice of construction method for that particular site. The potential disadvantages of timber frame in my view are that timber can rot which makes the construction detailing more important than for a masonry build. I'm an architect and designed the house with traditional pitched roofs to an uncomplicated design with outboard gutters. The biggest risk with timber frame construction is if you get water leaks into the structure from either poor basic design or construction detailing. EG: there's a fashion amongst some architects for putting the gutters inboard of the external wall which I've always thought was a crazy idea and asking for trouble - the kind of thing in the photo below. It's done to make the building look better but seems like a bizarre thing to do when we all know how often gutters get blocked and overflow. If you're into horror stories and want to read about what can happen if you get the design & construction detailing wrong with timber frame construction then have a read about the 'leaky condo crisis' in Canada & NW USA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaky_condo_crisis
    2 points
  5. Like @Olly P the glazed gable for us from our kitchen/dining room and the tall corner window to the side of it looking out across the canal as the boats go past. We were initially going to convert the bungalow and go up and have a balcony and I'm so pleased we changed our mind and kept the bungalow with the glazed gable. I do love our ensuite roof light which will be above the sink and toilet. I thought it would be such a dark room and it's surprisingly light. Not sure it classes as a design feature but more an unexpected surprise but due to the different levels of the bungalow and existing internal hall space we have some large hall areas. We changed this door to a window and it's such an unexpected nice space. It could have actually ended up an office space had we not already got a seperate room. @dnb I love your rounded window. My wife always wanted a round window and we were hoping for one on the flat roof but it was so expensive we couldn't afford it.
    2 points
  6. keep an eye on eBay as they come up regularly.
    1 point
  7. agree with the comments above. we were just fortunate that the architect we 'clicked' with also happened to be the cheapest! although I think he made a mistake on the costings and under charged us but I'm not complaining at that. I think you have to go with your gut feeling on this one as you don't know what they'll come up with until you've signed up! although, ours charged a small fee for a 'feasibility' study so if after that we weren't happy with his designs we could've walked away without having spent too much. good luck and we all look forward to seeing how the plans develop. maybe you should think about starting a blog? ?
    1 point
  8. Isn't quite finished being fitted yet. It's a Franke one.
    1 point
  9. He sounds great, and imo a decent price.......Have fun
    1 point
  10. You may be totally right about that. our krend is on blockwork.
    1 point
  11. Follow-up. After finally extracting the whole fan unit it was obvious the unit was a rusting mess, hence the mechanical protests the day before the boiler failed. A 2.5 hour trip to pick up the only compatible replacement in Lincolnshire and now the radiators are warming up. The whole boiler sounds whisper new,.
    1 point
  12. I'd be less concerned about basement walls than gf slab u value. My simpleton brain tells me there will be lower losses due to a more stable ground temp below say 600mm ground level. Sorry can't help with the details
    1 point
  13. That could be the answer then, I know I shouldn't have but just changed the switch when the machine was still on. Thanks for the help everyone and I will report back tomorrow when I try it again.
    1 point
  14. Next one I’ve got on the cards is 225mm blown bead and currently talking to the installer about using them to fill a sloping roof structure that is boxed both sides with OSB... idea is that it’s a continuous bead “shell” but not quite sure if it will fly yet.
    1 point
  15. @Thorfun , Here is a slightly out=of-date document which describes the methods for calculation of U-values for below ground walls and floors. Replace the Building Regs U-values and ignore the references to Elemental and Carbon Index methods Basement U-values.pdf
    1 point
  16. good catch. yes, the architect has specified 30mm PIR above the internal waterproofing system. I'm not 100% sure why but maybe something to do with not being able to or maybe not wise to screed directly on top of the waterproofing membrane. or maybe he just took it from this drawing supplied by the waterproofing contractor. either way, I'm actually ok with the extra 30mm PIR. The screed is because of the waterproofing membrane. we can't put UFH pipes in to the slab due to the fact as well, so we need something to go under the finished flooring to house the UFH. we could use 30mm PIR on the walls but that will reduce the room size and so maybe adding extra EPS outside the walls would be the best way to go. thanks for the responses so far. definitely giving me food for thought.
    1 point
  17. Hi John, Manifolds are hep20 brass manifolds I think I got them from JTM plumbing https://www.jtmplumbing.co.uk/pipe-fittings-c433/hep2o-pipe-fittings-underfloor-heating-c999/hep2o-brass-manifolds-c661 If that's the ones you meant anyway. As for the Ecodan it was bought last year from Secon Solar.
    1 point
  18. There a different ways to calculate foundation u-value and each approach gives a different result. It comes down to if you consider it a "cassete" and purely look at the materials and their thermal resistence, or if you look at the foundation system in the ground, in which case the caculation works slightly different and gives better (lower) values. Also, each foundation design will have different size ring-beams and/or areas that need thicker concrete, which will both impact the overall u-value of the foundation. In our case about 60% of the slab needed 250mm concrete which meant EPS was reduced to just 200mm. This had a non-insignificant impact on the overall u-value meaning it wasn't really very close at all to the MBC quoted 0.105W/m2K. In the end we added an extra 100mm EPS.
    1 point
  19. I had this specified stuff because of bats. The modern stuff tangles in their feet and entombs them.
    1 point
  20. Sorry, I have looked all over the door - I cant find any details on it.
    1 point
  21. That's what our tester did. (We got 0.4 ACH on a retrofit, pre-1st fix - so happy! And this thread about faked results makes me sad)
    1 point
  22. I hate all aerated blocks and won’t use them, they crack far to easily. I prefer medium density recycled aggregate blocks 3.5N are. Ok 7N also available. nice to lay, nice to fix into - practically perfect in every way
    1 point
  23. Which repointing the joint will not do, that will just draw attention to it and make them suspicious. The best thing for a surveyor is leave it alone so he can SEE the joint is old and there is no movement or cracking, and an explanation of how the building changed many years ago to leave a joint like that.
    1 point
  24. If you are going to move washing from one to the other (obv they will be capacity matched for a full wash?), then you want both doors to open to the sides not the middle. ie LH hinge on the LH machine, RH hinge on the RH machine. Otherwise you have to lean back with an armful of washing to get round the door of the one that opens to the middle. On the other point you could gain space by stacking the washer and dryer. In that case you put the washer above so you are moving wet washing downwards. The corollary would be a loss of worktop. Pros and cons.
    1 point
  25. Shiny side of hardboard (either way up - lack of friction may be best against the floor). Or a bit of chequer-plate. Make it deeper than the washer, and perhaps cut a "handle" in it. Or perhaps something with a "spring up lever" at the back? Problem there is if it sticks you won't get it back out ! Once it is out you may have the space to fit a 600 x 600 x 8mm floor tile in the space to make it slippery. eg in white https://www.tiletown.co.uk/en/alaska-white-floor-tile Can be expensive per sqm but you only need one tile, which I get for about £12 from the tile shop. Also under fridges.
    1 point
  26. Gotta be the concave faced, internal trims if anything imo. How the experts must look at us and laugh!
    1 point
  27. Could you.....re tile the back and sides using internal corners, even to the point of CT1'ing new tiles to old. Then use that bfo angle trim on the front? ...re do back and sides in a smooth tile? ...get a fabricator to make some 316 stainless boxes to insert in the pockets? With hindsight eh?
    1 point
  28. +1, I have done this in several houses including our new build, multiple sockets fir when SWMBO changes the furniture around ?. best thing ever.
    1 point
  29. i always have 32mm connection, who doesn't want more pressure, and its same price to supply. The water ring is in 22mm with short 15mm spurs to the taps. Noticeably better when shower(s) are being used and a bog is flushed/washing machine on etc. Just have a to re-train moron plumbers out of using 15mm for everything as it saves them 50 quid on the whole build.
    1 point
  30. Is there another one on the other end of the terrace? I would say it looks like a small terrace or barn that was extended for growth 150 years ago reusing the structure, and for some reason the bit on the end was removed afterwards. May have been a former house or some sort of barn. To make a road? There may be foundations under that bit of the path / side track. The mortar came out over time and someone bodged it with goo. IMO a surveyor should mention that as it is obvious. F
    1 point
  31. Best of luck fella. hope it works out for you. I walked away from a job in banking in the late 80's. It was driving me nuts. I had 3 small children. It was very, very hard, but i had the support of my wife. I was let down by several friends who said "if you ever want to work with me" etc. Helped a few people ad hoc, and worked on a guys house who asked me if i fancied fitting kitchens. I worked up to fitting high spec hand built stuff, and then set up my own kitchen company. Gave me a decent life in the end. Hard but rewarding.
    1 point
  32. @Bozza s looks nice. Look up russwood. Lots of cladding detail, black cladding is pretty nice. I going for rainscreen siberian larch cladding mixed with white render on carrier board. I thought you didnt need an expansion joint on renderboard, defo don't need vents.
    1 point
  33. Pete, great questions. I would like to be brave enough to fit a Panasonic ASHP. I believe that @jack has a Panasonic ASHP with cooling mode engaged. I think you need a service menu code to enable it.
    1 point
  34. Welcome ..! First question is why 32mm ..?? Normal connection is 25mm unless it is a very big house, and you have 15mm inside so not really getting the benefit of anything larger. Secondly, where is the water meter ..? Have your water supplier changed their end to MDPE..? They own up to the meter (or isolator if there is no meter) so you can only change what is after that. Ideally you need to have as few elbows as possibly and a tee would count as that - it may be better to replace the 15mm from the old stop tap downward with Hep2O and then try and get a long sweep of a bend through the floor and into the cellar. If you already have the 32mm then I would just use a 32mm to 1/2” male adapter (Pipestock) and then fit a Hep2O 15x1/2 onto this. You can put a tee with a drain cock in if you want to but I assume there is one just above the current stop cock under the stairs ..?
    1 point
  35. +1 The notches help improve the seal.
    1 point
  36. This is a pic of the rear elevation, albeit taken over two years ago when we were still landscaping.
    1 point
  37. Hardie cladding, hanging tiles, slate would all work. Is it just the triangle bit you are doing or the whole wall? What is the roof covering? Is the rest render onto blockwork or render onto carrier board / mesh?
    1 point
  38. If you want minimal beams you could try curtain wall suppliers.
    1 point
  39. Sorry for the delay Olly. The horizontal beam is 60mmx 60mm. The vertical is the same. It was attached just to stop any minor bowing. The overall span is just under 5 metres. All then clad in aluminium to match the glazing.
    1 point
  40. Gorgeous stonework, lovin it. ?
    1 point
  41. That stonework is lovely, the year plaque is a nice touch too. We'd love some sort of stonework, either inside or outside.
    1 point
  42. Might seem tame but everyone who has visited my build has commented on my angled window and door reveals, very “cottage” and I did them myself ?
    1 point
  43. Two words: fug ugly
    1 point
  44. They would not normally, it was just an experiment I did as I like to know how things work.
    0 points
  45. Im logged in ok, Its just not recognising the email address/ letting me use it, either the new gmail I just created.. or.. my main hotmail one as a test (therefore anyone's I want to send this clip to). Keeps saying 'must be a gmail' but it is just that. I honestly think I've exhausted all efforts. I agree with the BH resident comedian, that it would in fact have been quicker to have posted it.. or by now even cycled with it 87 miles.
    0 points
  46. Yep. Didn't notice what was happening when I was taping the roof windows and ended up with a fair amount on the back of my head. After a few washes took none of it off it escalated to the scissors.
    0 points
  47. I don't think much of the pipework coming out of the tundish..........
    0 points
  48. I wouldn’t worry Ive never heard of a air test fail They normally work around the number you give them pictured is a site that we are doing at the moment The houses leak like a civ But ALL scot a 2
    0 points
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