Leaderboard

Those questions are exactly why we chose to work with our architects: they make it very clear and simple. I feel for you @ianfish : it takes a bit of effort on the part of the architect to be open and direct about their terms of business: but most aren't. I have come to suspect that many don't want to be. When during our build we faced exactly those questions (detailed drawings? ... more drawings?) I replied that we hadn't paid for them, so we didn't have any. And why hadn't we? Because ' .... the builders ignore detailed drawings and do their own thing anyway ...' (architect) Only one trades person was honest enough to say exactly the same thing : the chippy who did our roof. "When I see a fookin architect gerout of 'is car pur on sum workboots an' hi-viz on a scaffold, I'll tek sum notice of wharee sez .... " That was me told then.

I converted to screws over nails 7 years ago and have never looked back, even if I’m building a shed or new roof I use screws as they are just so darn strong and if like me your a perfectionist then you have the option of redoing any joint that is not up to muster. Costs more but there is no way I would go back to nailing. I am just doing stuff on my own property so don’t have to worry about the extra cost this would add to a quote on a proper job. Storage is easy.

I wouldn’t use 3.6n aircrete if they where free and came with a pack of beers. 7.5 n lightweight aggregate blocks or called aglights.

This seems very overthought. Most of the cost of heating a house is due to heat loss. The heat loss is driven by the temperature differential between inside and outside and the amount of insulation. Keeping a house at a constant 23C does not use much more energy than 21C, around 15%. Thus an ASHP will be more than capable of doing this. You could set the thermostat at 22C and kick it up to 23C if you wanted to warm it up. Also a house with UFH generally feels warmer at a lower air temperature than a house without it as the heat is closer to the floor than the ceiling. The only time you might worry about it being slow to warm up is if you have been away on holiday and the whole house has cooled down. Then you need to warm up the fabric of the house as well as the air inside it. We have a gas boiler, but only run the UFH flow at 38-42C and I can actually watch a room heating up on the Heatmiser charts when the heating kicks in. Actually the thing that has most impact on the speed of a room heating up is the floor covering. Tiled rooms heat up in a fraction of the time fo the rooms with wooden floors where I need to run the flow at a higher temp. Using PV for heating is a non starter as stated and an ASHP is going to be a lot cheaper to run than direct electrical heating. You will also get RHI payments if it is a new build, although time is running out for these.

I'll stick my neck out.....we undertake projects at rates between £120 and £220/M2 of wall area plus half of the window area. Lots(!) Of factors. The closer to a single storey, 4 cornered, standard windowed box, the closer to £120 you get. Design is the biggest factor and then geography. That covers everything from slab to completed walls and openings. All materials, all equipment all labour to install one particular brand of EPS ICF.

A lovely zootesque word there! ?

I do agree with the above. Was just interested and you highlighted the position and location which does have a minimal impact on performance. Ours is southeast facing, about 35-40 degrees and has no shading.

Sounds good to me. Top of timber joist wants to be 10mm proud of the steel beam to allow for shrinkage.

Ah Project Management. The worst bit about Project Management is managing people. "Ready for BC" is a bit vague. Is the Architect tasked with "Obtaining BC Approval" or just "providing drawings for Building Control Approval"? If its the former he should be doing the "Project Management" of this phase. He should be speaking direct to the SE and "managing the SE". In this situation it doesn't matter to you what drawings the SE needs because at the end of the day the Architect has to deliver Building Control Approval and the BCO may require input from an SE as well. After you put the two in touch you just keep chasing the Architect eg Ask him when does he think he will be ready to apply for BC Approval? If its the latter then a good Architect would still be proactive in his relationship with the SE. A less good Architect that's busy might expect you to manage the SE. You can find yourself stuck between two obstinate people, one who says he needs drawings and the other who says he doesn't, or similar. In normal times I have resolved these sort of issues by getting both sides in a room together. I guess now it might have to be a three way zoom call. You can ask the SE what he needs from the Architect in front of the Architect. Then ask the Architect when he thinks he can provide these things to the SE. Record the session, make notes, send a follow up letters to both summarising what was agreed. Later if you have to part ways you have a lot of letters showing he agreed to do xyz and didn't so shouldn't get paid. If you are paying near 10% of the build cost I would expect him to be more proactive than he appears to be from your OP.

some of the pans do slope towards the front, i always assumed it was to ensure any splashes disnt rest in the joint line. i wouldn't bung the hole up as it could cause the whole pan to fill with water and stay there ... although it would be clean water so no real detriment.

Isn't that the unfortunate truth. Beyond the initial design phase, all the meetings we had with our architect ended muddier than they began with rare moments of undertaking to get this done within a specified timeline. I also had to sack the SE our architect wanted to use and refused to pay him a penny. We also got caught between all the builders we spoke to wanting more details and architect saying there's no point as they don't get used anyway. If it's a straightforward house using standard building techniques then I'd argue details are less important. If it's unusual design and/or materials, or you're building to a standard like Passivhaus, then the details and specification are far more important. For me this demonstrates the problems we've got in the construction industry in the UK. Having the poorest quality of building construction in the developed world is in part down to this disconnect and lack of trust between the 'professionals' - e.g. your architects - and the builders, many of them with questionable training, experience and standards and who often think they know better. I grant you that sometimes they do, but to the extent that is accepted in the industry? Anyway, that's got me on my high horse and probably hasn't helped @ianfish

fresh air .... and the condensation disappeared

It's one of the things I like about our architect, he talks to the builders on site, discusses things in detail and actually finds a reasonable solution.

I think water pipes have to be at 70cm below ground surface. The water company only wanted to inspect sections of ours - they didn't insist on seeing the whole trench open

They are just ignorant. Get it spec'ed up properly and submit it, basically they are holding you back because they don't know. If they were smart, they would let you do it and learn. Typical public sector worker.

Don't worry about it. It all fades into distant memory with all the other things to work out.

Naughty to resurrect an old thread, but @Onoff and @PeterW do you still drill and countersink?

Looks like a faulty casting. Probably not where you see the hole but in the bit where the flush water enters the pan casting. The pan casting is usually hollow and water is probably getting into the void. I suspect that hole in the photo was a breather hole for whilst the pan was being fired. I am not an expert in this stuff but had to learn once. We had one that allowed sewer gas back into the room. Had a bit of agro getting it acknowledged and replaced. Both supplier and manufacturers struck a pose on it all. The consequential costs for us ran into many hundreds. At first convinced it was a plumbing error, all the soil pipe encasement was removed and had to be replaced and skimmed again. When the new pan came the foot was a totally different shape so the whole of the flooring had to be replaced. The bathroom was out of action for months but we did have three anyway. You are in an unfortunate position. I guess your warranty evaporated years ago. New pan I think.

I mean, seriously! The guy tells you - "You don't worry, I'll watch over every aspect of the build, that's what you pay me for", and then never checks that the door opening in the brick/block walls is wide enough, never takes interest in the final design/dimensions of the windows/doors ordered (to be fair, we ordered windows and doors ourselves, not via PMM - but that was based on the opening dimensions he/builders provided and from the company he/builders recommended!). A professional PM would still double-check or at least point it out to the client that the actual door opening is a regulated thing and might be worth checking... And the windows company, who knew full well this is a newbuild so the openings are done from scratch and are subject to BCO approval, did not bother to point it out either. Funniest thing (not really, but hey) is that : imagine the installed door opening must be A, and the doorframe total width be B (to pass the BC). The window guys designed and drawn a narrow door of C and D dimensions, respectively (c.5cm narrower than BC regs), and the final manufactured end product was STILL DIFFERENT and had dimensions of E and F! We could not believe it when we compared actual measurements to the drawing and found the TOTAL difference betwen A/B and E/F to be 11cm!!! And we raised this with window people. And they offered to make another door at half price (and they would take away the old one). Naturally, the reply from HWMBO cannot be quoted in polite society, but in the end they produced a new correct door free of charge. But we did get some grey hair...

Let it not be said that my emails are not effective. IQglass will repair the door for free and in essence agree ( how I read it anyway ) that the guy dealing with our install was a knob . If anyone wants me to send abusive but factual emails I’ll do it for free - because I’m kind ( and enjoy it ) to anyone I should add ! Not just IQglass . Neighbor, the council ( my favourite as they are lying (expletive deleted) ) , lovers , even that guy you hate at the end of the road - he’s sure to be a (expletive deleted) wad . Equally anyone on here ?

I like notched in so joist sits on steel with noggins in between

Fit joist hangers to a timber ledger and nail the ledger on with Hilti?

A few have fitted ‘cheap’ ASHP’s ( @readiescards bought a 9kW IVT for £700 iirc and it’s still going and in a rental / @PeterW same circa £900? All still performing admirably. ). Is a Willis heater “too cheap”? Work it on a lifespan of say a decade, do the maths, and make your choice on that. Any new half decent HP should see a decade out with ease.

I had a garden studio shed built out of SIPs including the floor and installed by a couple of Canadians where it is more common. They just put in some concrete piers and built off that. I didn't worry about vermin underneath and didn't have a problem (or maybe I just didn't notice the damage being done!). Anyway if the concrete base isn't already installed I'd definitely do that - much cheaper and provides the ventilation it needs.

So... in the end I needed a proper saw, and even then it was so powerful it was chipping at the end of each cut. Luckily, on the side I didn't need. I don't think I will ever buy these tiles ever ever again!!! haha..... 100 x 100 x 1 porcelain. Nightmare - i'm sure easy for a pro, but this is only my 2nd time tiling. Most are now laid (had to lay a few before kitchen fitters came the following day). I also done all the cuts for the step (And laid one row). I leveled all tiles to the highest point on the step and used a self leveling cement to take up the difference - before I tile the step itself. And that's where I'm at now. Builders didn't leave such a level step and also some concrete was taken away when they done a repair job on the underfloor heating. Overall, happy with it - but don't think I ever want to use such large format tiles again.

Yes there are lots of timber framed houses of 300+ years but the timber used was far superior than the fast grown timber of today and how many timber framed houses built over the last 400 + years are still around a small percentage. I have worked as a joiner for 40 years and have seen the decline in quality of timber it`s hard to understand?

As expected, an email from Wolesley to say they don't have it and can't get it. Why sell me one online then? Had another look at Midsummer Wholesale, thought their pricing was steep when i had a quick look previously but what i hadn't done was log into my 'trade' account! Logged in today and found the price is better than anywhere else I could find so i have now ordered an 8.5kW Ecodan ASHP & 300l pre plumbed cylinder at about £4900 before tax which I didn't think is too shabby. Wait time - 84 days! If anyone wants to use Ecodan ASHP I suggest you get your orders in sooner rather than later.

Welcome. The COP of an ASHP depends on the humidity as well as temperature, and although outside air temperature does make a difference, it's not as big a difference as many assume, as the amount of heat in the outside air is relative, with zero heat being absolute zero (so ~-273°C). This means that a reduction in the outside air temperature of, say, 10°C from +10°C to 0°C only drops the amount of heat available in the air by about 3.5%. In practice, the biggest factor that impacts on COP is the output flow temperature of the ASHP. If this is kept low, say 40°C, then the COP can be pretty high, between 3.5 and 4.0 as a rough estimate. Increase the flow temperature of the ASHP up to 50°C and the COP will drop back to something like 3.0 to 3.5. Add in cool, damp, weather, which may well induce icing in the ASHP, that lowers COP further, and then you could see the COP drop down to well below 3.0. The reality is that the average outside temperature during the heating season is well above 0°C, so if the flow temperature from the ASHP is kept fairly low the COP will be pretty good. We run our ASHP at a flow temperature of 40°C all the time, as we don't use it for hot water, only running underfloor heating, and find that the COP averages between 3.5 and 4.0 over the whole heating season. Running radiators from an ASHP usually means fitting larger ones to allow for the lower flow temperature. An oil boiler may well be running the radiators at 50 to 60°C, and that's higher than an ASHP will run at efficiently. To get the same heat output to the rooms with a lower flow temperature usually means increasing the size of the radiators. In general, ASHPs tend to work a bit better when it's windy, aren't particularly affected by insolation at all, but will tend to run at a lower COP when the RH is high.

Here are some photos I've just taken showing the small magnets being used to find the centre of a stud: and this is one of the pencils I made up with a magnet in the end to find screws, pick up dropped screws etc, plus some of the small magnets:

Guilty!

Anyone who studs with screws when nails are readily available is an idiot. End of.

For 10% of the build costs I would be expecting him to be lifting a shovel and lending a hand, but maybe I'm tight.

Just get a flat piece of steel and some of those fridge magnet letters. Gives you some future flexibility

It wasn't our best moment when we found out that the whole insulated slab had to be cut up and removed .

Connecting it to a battery on the micro amp range might not work very well.

I heard that he left his heating on for 3 days and all the problems vanished.

Tried to PM him but I’m blocked ( guessing everyone is ) . Last I heard Zoot had died of hypothermia......

He will need planning permission to build forward of the front elevation. If he is ok, have a word. If he is a twat, phone the council and ask for planning enforcement.