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  1. Wear them, I need to do blood tests every year to work with lead on sites.
    2 points
  2. Someone already has. https://www.elementalsolutions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Heat-loss-via-internal-drainage-vent-pipes-full.pdf Reading the above study it looks like I was dramatic with my language. Just accept 20w extra heat load per soil stack or add 50mm mineral wool and forget all about it. Yes but it's better to avoid holes in the roof IMO.
    2 points
  3. We have a passive-class house where the net heating requirement to keep the house warm in the coldest winter months is approximately 1kW. The only heating system for doing this an underfloor heating (UFH) system base on 3 ~100m UFH loops buried in our passive slab. That's it; no upper floor systems; no towel rails; nothing. The reason for this is that our timber framed house is super insulated and air tight so there is very little temperature variation throughout the house, but that's all been covered in earlier posts. What I want to do in this post is to provide a simple explanation of how I am going to heat my house and how this works so that John (@joe90) and other forum members understand my approach. This basic heating strategy was first evangelised by Jeremy Harris (@JSHarris), but variants have been adopted by other forum members and their consistent experience is that it works and works effectively for this class of passive house. However, what I am doing is a slight variation on Jeremy's approach: I am using the slab itself as my main heat store, so no buffer tank. I will be heating it by circulating warm water through the UFH loops and this water will be heated by a simple small inline 3kW electrical heater element. The heating charge will normally be done as a "chunk" once per day during the E7 cheap rate period to take advantage of low tariff rates. However, I am also including in the design provision for the later addition of an ASHP, should the heating data collected over the first year show that there is a 10-year payback in doing this. As I said, Jeremy's approach has been well documented by him in his blog and by others. He has recently described that his system settles down into a repeating pattern over the colder winter months winter where his heating comes on for a few hours once a day in the early morning, and the heat in the slab is topped up during this period. This is broadly what I call "chunk heating": unlike a traditional house central heating system which is turning on and off pretty continually, the heat losses in our type of house are so small and the house has such a high thermal inertia that you can heat the it practically with a single daily top-up to the slab; this heat then "trickle feeds" into the house over the day. Yes, there is a slight residual ripple on the temperature in the house, but this is less than a 1°C undulation over the entire day and so this isn't really perceptible to the occupants. I am adopting this same approach, but shifting my heating period earlier so that it ends at the same time as the E7 low rate tariff ends. The main difference in my implementation is that I am heating the slab directly without a buffer tank. I wanted to get my head around this before committing to this decision, so I modelled this in some detail and covered all of this physics and modelling stuff in my Boffin's corner thread. This modelling has persuaded me that the mechanisms and dynamics of heating are pretty simple, and so in this post I want to cut out all of the equations and stuff (with one exception) and focus on describing what happens in plain terms. First, I am using a small 3 kW electric element to heat the water circulating in the UFH loops (the same type is used as a hot tank immersion heating element). Just like an electric shower this heats the water stream a step in temperature. Sorry I am a boffin, so I will call this temperature change ∆T. (BTW, the triangle is just the Greek letter D and is short for difference; blame Isaac Newton for that one.) Just like an electric shower, double the power and ∆T doubles; double the flow rate and ∆T halves, and if I do the sums for a typical flow throw my UFH loops, and for a 3 kW heater then ∆T works out at about 1.6°C for my system -- a lot less than a typical gas-boiler fed UFH installation, but my heater is puny in comparison. So if I start pumping 3kW of heat into my slab, then the system settles down after about 10mins and the heat output is pretty much the same along the entire 3 × 100m runs of UFH pipe, pipe work, that is each 1m of pipe dumps about 10W of heat into the concrete. This lifts the temperature of the concrete, and at the same time cools the water in the pipe pretty steadily along its length so it comes out at 1.6°C cooler than it went in. But cooler or hotter than what? The heat flows radially away from the UFH pipe creating a thermal gradient. [Boffin bit warning, and the only one] this gradient is pretty close to what is known as the steady state radial solution to the 1-D heat equation, which has a formula Tr = Tp - A.log(r/rp). where T is the temperature and r is the distance from the pipe centre, with the p subscript relating to the pipe/concrete interface. The A term is a function of the amount of heat flow. The main thing to note here is the general shape of this gradient: the temperature of the water ends up roughly 4-5°C hotter than the slab average for this sort of 10W/m value, and the temperature in the concrete falls away rapidly as you moving away from the pipe towards the average slab temperature. Since the volume of concrete goes as r2, the actual proportion of the concrete more than 1°C hotter than slab average temperature is small. So the overall effect of the heating is to slowly lift the average slab temperature. There is also a general heat gradient along the water in the pipe but once you get more than a few cm from the pipe centre the concrete is all within 1°C or so of the slab average. There are also local hot regions around the UFH pipes up to 5°C or so hotter than the overall average slab temperature. However, this is factors less than you will get with a conventional UFH system. A key difference of Jeremy's approach is that the water continues to recirculate after the heating is turned off, and now the water flow acts to redistribute the heat rapidly along the pipe levelling the previous 1.6°C gradient; at the same time (without the heat being pumped from the UFH pipe) this central warmer region rapidly flattens out as the heat flows outward, and within an hour or so hardly any heat variation remains and the entire slab is within ½°C of the slab average temperature. A good analogy here is pouring water into a bucket: the surface level steadily rises as you pour it in and the surface itself is a bit churned up by the act of pouring, but as soon as you stop pouring, it rapidly levels out to flat surface. OK in a real slab this is also complicated by the deep elements (the unheated ring beams in my slab are over a third of the total volume) and the heat does flow into these largely thanks to the high thermal conductivity of the rebar. But overall, the slab is acting as a heat battery soaking up the power that you pump in. The trick is not to put a somewhat arbitrary limit of the maximum input water temperature (say 25°C) as this will limit the amount of power that you can apply. This heat gets quickly spread uniformly throughout the slab. By the end of the heating period, the slab is 2°C (or whatever) warmer than the room temperature, and is starting to transfer heat into the room fabric at ~15W/m² whilst itself slowly cooling. This is more than the external heat losses in the house, so this heat both warms the air and the rest of the wall fabric. This creates a very slow rise and fall in the room temperature over the course of the day -- of roughly 1°C. But so long as you put in enough heat each night, the overall house temperature remains stable. So how much is "enough" heat? In my case I use a very simple strategy. I am using the UFH circulation temperature at midnight as my test. If it is less than the previous night, then I add a bit more heat than last nigh and v.v. Simple really.
    1 point
  4. Hi from West Lothian, Scotland Have planning and building warrant sign off for a single-story side extension (roughly 74 m2) and part remodel of existing 1950’s bungalow in West Lothian, Scotland. Next stage is deciding to either project manage or ask Architect to take this on. Ideally, we would like to hire a main contractor to build the extension to watertight/ weathertight stage which will have an agreed start and end date. Thereafter we are content to do the internal works ourselves alongside other trades, when needed. For this part we are flexible about project finish times as we are aware that material costs are increasing and this is a way, we can offset some of this. We appreciate the pros and cons of this route. It is our intention to produce the contract/tender paperwork and we have seen on other websites the amount of paperwork that would accompany an invitation. However, what are the basic requirements that we need and is there anywhere we can see completed templates to give an idea of what level of detail is required? Currently looking at a JCT contract. In the above situation who would be responsible for the CDM Reg? Us or the main contractor? Apart from the paperwork what else is involved in a project similar to ours? Timelines and pitfalls? For example, we are aware to record any amendments/suggestions by builders that we agree to so as to evidence ‘extra’ work for contract and payment purposes but are there other things that we need to consider? With regards to timelines – how long should we be considering for the tender process itself as well as the works if the plan was to commence March/April 2022. Any guidance on this is much appreciated.
    1 point
  5. Is it one of these beads? https://www.plasterers1stopshop.co.uk/product-category/render-plaster-supplies/beads/rendering-beads/ Once you know what you are looking for exactly you can ask at your local builder's merchant or render supplier.
    1 point
  6. Yer a star @Roundtuit ................... Divorce avoided. Phhhhheeeewwww. My fault wuzunit.... ? Buildhub strikes again. Thanks everyone
    1 point
  7. Yeh the roofer mentioned this as an option
    1 point
  8. Our dishwasher came with an aluminium plate to fix to the underside of the worktop above the dishwasher (well, it would have done if I hadn't bought it off ebay). Google 'bosch vapour barrier plate' and you'll get the idea. I'd clean up your delaminated stuff to level it off, seal it with a coat or 2 of gloss paint or exterior varnish, then hide it all under a shiny metal plate. Job done!
    1 point
  9. Appreciated. Actually I do have fairly high standards despite my lack of knowledge, a bit of a perfectionist like Onoff too I think, can be npbeneficial. A little help from others-? I'm lucky enough to have had a mountain! Its just a bit annoying I cant give something back to you guys, only my barenaked ass that you can zoom in on. thx zoot.
    1 point
  10. You should vent it, particularly in your case to keep the structure flowing with some air driving off moisture coming from the exposed wall. As it is boarded/bricked up, I would probably just core it and fit a nice vent grille. Far less effort than trying to fit a brick. I'd also maybe initially opt for a smaller vent, like a 75mm core, you just want some air movement but don't want a huge open escape route for all your warm air. I personally have not ventilated one of our sealed chimneys but it is, internal to the house until roof level and is directly adjacent to 2 active chimneys. It is fitted with a vent cap. My feeling is that the warmth in the chimney structure will help keep the capped one dry. Think washed out milk carton sitting in the sun it does dry out.
    1 point
  11. Architects are great for specifying things that are hard to find. Where did he get his drawing from? I've seen stuff like this.. https://www.roofinglines.co.uk/product/cedral-cladding-insect-mesh-50mm-x-30mm-x-25m https://www.southern-timber.co.uk/product/cladding-timbers/james-hardie-hardieplank/buying-hardieplank-products/hardieplank-starter-vent/
    1 point
  12. No "certifier of construction" tradesmen were used on my build. I didn't see it caused BC to make more visits or inspect more carefully. I am an electrician and when the COC scheme was being introduced I attended a seminar at Highland Council headquarters. I directly asked the question at that seminar "is the scheme compulsory?" and the answer was no it is voluntary. The bribe is you get a small discount off the building warrant, but you are likely to find COC tradesmen harder to find and more expensive. Re inspections by BC, as far as I can remember, foundation trenches pre pour and at DPC, ground drainage installed and witness pressure testing. Iinspection of bare completed timber frame. Then there was a long gap with just 2 more inspections, one for a temporary habitation certificate and one for completion, where they wanted to witness another drain pressure test. I invited them to inspect the treatment plant being installed but they did not want to see that. Paperwork required for temporary habitation: Electrical certificate, Fas safe certificate, G3 UVC sign off. Additional paperwork for completion: Air test result and as built SAP and EPC
    1 point
  13. I hate stepped flashings, soakers are essential, a straight cut with an angle grinder slightly up hill into the masonry caves lead and less waste too. https://www.dropbox.com/s/93ov68omfwzd00v/cover flashing.JPG?dl=0
    1 point
  14. You cannot tell the difference between pir and pur just by looking at them as they both look the same, the difference is in the chemistry. Normally a yellow/cream foam with foil, bitumen felt or glass tissue facings. The material used in packaging is expanded polystyrene, EPS, (you can normally see the individual beads that have been fused together). EPS is even more combustible than pur/pir and tends to shrink away from fire but does create molten droplets which can spread fire further. Rock and glass wool products are classed as non-combustible.
    1 point
  15. Good afternoon Sir, grout with sand and cement mixed as you did for the tank repair. gap between slabs and step fill with pebbles or similar to easily drain water away
    1 point
  16. Non-scientifically: The samples I have seen look very different. PUR looks like the white foam you see in packaging for delivery protection. PIR looks like a denser 'Crunchy' bar. I recall having a client's insurer panicking about 20 years ago, because there had been nasty fires where PUR was blamed. If I remember correctly, it drips as it burns, and so spreads fire quickly. It was then withdrawn from use in commercial composite steel panels, although still used in agricultural sheds. I have been involved in picking up the pieces in 2 fires. one was made much worse by polystyrene insulation in the roof, from a very different era. the other was a nasty fire on the outside face one of our own completed steel buildings: arson/vandals setting fire to a huge pile of bagged sawdust stacked against the metal wall. The paint on the steel cladding was burnt off, and the fibreglass cavity turned to sand. The screw fixings lost their heads and washers but stayed fixed. There was no structural damage or distortion. So I had the chance to discuss with the fire officer. He was amazed that the wall stood up to the heat and delighted that the insulation just disappeared. He said they were ready for the fire to enter the building. I told him it was designed as a fire barrier wall, (fibreglass to stay in place 15 minutes before failing) but his opinion was that they seldom worked so this was great. Went on to discuss PIR filled composite cladding. Off the record they hated it and were scared of it falling off the walls, so they never went near it. So, I think the fire service knew of problems with PIR but couldn't prevent its use. I asked if I could quote how impressed they were with our wall, and he said no: they are not allowed to comment on commercial products. If we had used rock-wool instead of fibreglass I wonder how it would have performed. Not as much difference as is implied I feel, unless it was the special fire resisting variety. Grenfell: I recall reading that the sample sent for fire testing had an added sheet of cement board that was never made part of the product. That would make it manufacturer specific. the other manufacturers' products would have behaved in the same way, but had not made the same claim. How to stop it happening again? Nobody was in overall charge. The old position of Borough Engineer would have been that person, but there was none such. Would they have spotted the problem? Probably yes I would say, as they would have had the authority to have it all designed and proven, and not changed without approval from the top. But the other parties would have complained about bureaucracy and interference. Anyway, there is no such role any longer as accountants and 'executives' took control of the councils.
    1 point
  17. After studying some more videos on how to fit a step flashing I now think it would be best to route out the mortar for the step flashing before fitting any slates because otherwise the soaker upstands will interfere run of the 4" grinder. Was that your experience?
    1 point
  18. I know it looks naff but an old fashioned through the wall waste pipe and external stack would avoid both issues.
    1 point
  19. Johnmo I have tried the magnet on some other stainless nails and they are not magnetic. You could be onto something. Timco are sending a courier to pick the nails up so they can investigate the issue.
    1 point
  20. You could try Origin. They are aluminium with quite thin (49mm iirc) frames. I love the style of Crittals but cannot find any with sub 1.0 u-values.
    1 point
  21. Yes water, it's very persistent!
    1 point
  22. Which is like the big house builders doing in house building control. Poacher/gamekeeper.
    1 point
  23. No, you are realistic. I blame the testing system that should be gov controlled. Manufacturers should no be allowed to test their own products (unless under scrutiny from gov/independent bodies).
    1 point
  24. Phew. When our vented stacked was forced into the design I raised this concern, our passivhaus consultant spoke with the building physics/thermal bridge consultant and they said it should not be a problem in practice. We filled the void with as much rock wool as it would take and haven't thought about it again really. Upstairs it goes behind the ensuite, the master bedroom of which is pretty consistently the warmest room in the house, so I'm not stressing it.
    1 point
  25. I think between seeing Mica in Donegal (many of the houses effected are owned by tradies)and reading about the Grenfell predicted tragedy, I am a tad cynical.
    1 point
  26. Take your time on the spec. Be as detailed as possible, specifying exact build ups for every wall, floor and ceiling. Think about all the little details that will increase costs. E.g. If you want everything taped up to achieve a level of airtightness, include that in the spec and work out got many linear metres of taping will be required. Much better to tender on the basis of a very comprehensive detail, then get a price for a project done to a vague standard. i found the RIBA contract much easier to work with than a JCT.
    1 point
  27. Considering you can get an 8kw mitsubishi monoblock for €2.6k plus VAT I fail to see where installers come up with these prices. BTW I opted for direct electric instead of ASHP because of cost too. Excellent. You can let us know which one gets used more in practice, free from that all too human condition of thinking ones own goose a swan.
    1 point
  28. basically a furnace. Should have been firebreaks, I wonder who’s to blame? contractor? site agent? building control?
    1 point
  29. Following 1 I try to detail the info so people can check... The bungalow ran on LPG bottled gas for 3 years heating and hot water so I know what was used: I have used the worst 2 years: I am using the conversion rate of one kg of LPG gas giving about 14.091kW hours In 2 years we used about 13277kW of LPG energy for heating and hot water. ( about 10 bottles of 47kg ) If we deduct a modest 2kW for hot water each day ( total 1460kW) that leaves about 11,817 for the 2 years. In summary about 6000kW per year so 60kW per year per square metre of floor was what we were achieving. The target temperature in the house is 21 degrees C generally with 10m2 of rooms at 23C. The MVHR runs at about 6watts an hour or 52kW a year. I have a plug in meter on it. so lets say £20 a year power. It saves masses of heat.
    1 point
  30. Yes I missed the VAT on the last bit, but it wasn't actually much. The windows for the sun room were included in the VAT claim as the last item so it was only about £800 or materials that missed the VAT claim. It was a mixture of congratulations and relief that at last we knew there would be no more picking over and criticising minor details of the build. My wife summed it up by saying "it feels like it is OUR house at last.
    1 point
  31. Hello Pamela. That's you up and running now! Hopefully this will give you some food for thought, even if to rule things out. For all the information that is provided on a warrant drawing is particular to Scotland, but hopefully other BH members in the UK may find something of use. "Have planning and building warrant sign off for a single-story side extension (roughly 74 m2) and part remodel of existing 1950’s bungalow in West Lothian, Scotland. Next stage is deciding to either project manage or ask Architect to take this on." Yes this decision crops regularly. I imagine you have asked your Architect what the project management fee will be and what the fee will be to produce a full tender package of information. As a rough guide expect this to be at least if not more than you have already paid your designers to get planning and warrant. To get your head round this the building warrant drawings are prepared so as to satisfy the requirements of the Scottish Building regs.. they are not full construction drawings. Some warrant drawings will be more detailed than others depending on the approach the Architect/ SE has taken and what level of input and drawing detail an SE has provided. A starting point here is to look at what level of drawing information you have and if you are able to use this as a basis for a contract without exposing yourself to too much risk.. say by way of extras or the contractor swapping materials / doing something that may compromise the structure for example. Ideally, we would like to hire a main contractor to build the extension to watertight/ weathertight stage which will have an agreed start and end date. Thereafter we are content to do the internal works ourselves alongside other trades, when needed. For this part we are flexible about project finish times as we are aware that material costs are increasing and this is a way, we can offset some of this. We appreciate the pros and cons of this route. For your particular set up (we do this in the central belt of Scotland) what about having a chat with your SE. I'm reading between the lines and guessing. What can work is that you say to the SE.. look we want to do as much as we can ourselves but need to know if the founds / main structure is ok. What will you charge to update your drawings for tender.. the devil in in the SE detail and can you make say three or so visits to site to check: 1/ The ground is ok before they cast the founds 2/ Once the underbuilding is up to drop by and just have a look 3/ Come back once the main structure is up but before anything is covered up 4/ Be available should the builder just want to give you a quick call if there is something they are not sure about. 5/ Hard to ask this but once you have a rappore with the SE.. be like our "Dad" and if we get stuck give us a few free pointers. It's a halfway house but with a bit of thought and effort on your side it can work. In terms of the JCT contarcts I assume you have had a look but have posted links to the ones; homeowners with or without consultant. With consultant https://www.constructionbooks.net/jct-contracts-2016/jct-homeowner-contracts/jct-build-contract-and-consultancy-agreement-for-a-home-owneroccupier-2021-9780414098282.aspx No consultant https://www.constructionbooks.net/jct-contracts-2016/jct-homeowner-contracts/jct-building-contract-for-a-home-owneroccupier-2021-9780414098275.aspx It is our intention to produce the contract/tender paperwork and we have seen on other websites the amount of paperwork that would accompany an invitation. However, what are the basic requirements that we need and is there anywhere we can see completed templates to give an idea of what level of detail is required? Currently looking at a JCT contract. You'll be hard pushed to find this as much is intellectual property of the designers. There is some generic stuff on the web. Why not go back to your Architect / SE and say, if we pay a little can you advise. That said there is good generic info on the web. "In the above situation who would be responsible for the CDM Reg? Us or the main contractor? Depends on the contract but if you go for the homeowner with no consultant then the contractor is liable for the CDM. The link below to the HSE helps set the mood re CDM for a homeowner doing an extension with no consultant. Well worth a read. https://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/areyou/client.htm Apart from the paperwork what else is involved in a project similar to ours? Timelines and pitfalls? For example, we are aware to record any amendments/suggestions by builders that we agree to so as to evidence ‘extra’ work for contract and payment purposes but are there other things that we need to consider? With regards to timelines – how long should we be considering for the tender process itself as well as the works if the plan was to commence March/April 2022. Any guidance on this is much appreciated. Great point here. build a rappore with your builder, it's really important as they are in and working on your house.. you can even make new friends.. just like a lot of folk do through work.. but. Take loads of photographs on a daily basis if you can, record the weather and put absolutely everything in writing. This can stop you falling out in a serious way. Some good builders I know (central Scotland belt) are booked up for the next 9 months at least so 2022 sounds sensible. Also, material prices will hopefully have stabilized a bit by then. The best time to be starting founds our way (I'm in East Kilbride) seems to be May time.. had some great weather this time of year recently.
    1 point
  32. Is this a help for you: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg411.pdf You seem to have responsibilities if this information is correct north of the border. Good luck.
    1 point
  33. Fair enough. Some systems are more adaptable to different reinforcing etc so best to have someone who has worked with it before. It is so annoying when you don't get emails and calls returned, but commonplace I am afraid.
    1 point
  34. Hello kiwibloke. "How does building construction type ( brick, block work, timber frame etc) affect the foundation cost?" Not that much on standard strip foundations. To provide some context. A typical two storey house with well propotioned load bearing internal wall loads a strip found by about 40 - 50 kN/m, a bit less if TF. That is about 4 -5 tonnes per metre run of found. A common allowable soil bearing capacity, say a consolidated clay (not soft clays) is 100kN/m^2 .. 10 tonnes per square metre. Thus a 600mm wide strip found can carry 100 kN * 0.6 = 60 kN per metre run = 6 tonnes per meter run so gas in the tank there.. Practically you often need a 600mm wide found to fit the wall on anyway and to give the brickie / ground worker a bit of tolerance. "My second question is what dominates the foundation cost, is it the ground geology or the building construction type?" For most domestic stuff it's the "geology" that tends to govern. Type of generic soil type ; sands / clays/ rock, chalks filled ground. Next you drive down; water levels, proximity of trees, ground gas potential and so on. "For the sake of argument If I am free to choose the geology and construction type what would be the best geology and construction type to minimise foundation cost?" Kiwi.. is this the Xmas wish list? Worked on a job a few years back. Top soil about 250/ 350mm thick from memory, great top soil all saved for the garden. A sub soil, clay / sand firm but easily dug and this was used to regrade the landscape. Then about three feet down (900mm) fractured weathered rock. This rock had not seem the light of day since the last mini ice age. Although fractured was great to support a house found. The site was slightly sloping and the rock was sufficiently fractured that we got good soakaway results for the septic tank and rain water run off. We excavated out the big hole for the septic tank with a JCB 3CX. We just carried on digging out the fractured rock here an there and used this as sub base for all the drive / hard standings.. saved a fortune. That was nearly perfect! Aye Conor you were lucky there! For all. If you are new to building a house think twice before you do your investigation with a mini digger. Also, if you have say one house under your belt.. well pride comes before a fall if you think you are suddenly a ground expert. It's often false economy. For a standard house set of trial pitting budget on something like a JCB 3CX for a day with a good driver. Get the SE to attend on the same day. Let the SE and the driver work together, stand back and just watch! you'll be amazed at what they can find and deduce! Make them tea and provide some buns and they will often include you in the process. It can be a day well spent and you can look back knowing that you have a good understanding of why your house "stays up". Take a standard strip found at say 900mm deep. To do a proper job you want to dig down some 2.7m or until refusal to be sure. If you hit something solid with a mini digger at say 1.5 m how do you know it is not a boulder! a mini digger is like taking a knife to a gun fight! A mini digger just does not have the "poke" and you end up disturbing the soil so much that the SE is left up with mince. What can often happen here is that you end up with an over designed found which will cost you a lot more than the extra expense of getting the right machine. "grabbing a handful of soil" Yes at times it may appear so. But there is a little more to it than that. I wonder.. you often pay your lawyer / solicitor a good fee without quibble, but balk when you need to pay say an Architect / Professional Contractor, Heating Engineer / Electrician for advice that will save you loads of money! Even though they are still all insured to the same if not a higher level!
    1 point
  35. I'll add a mention for an Insulated Raft foundation. Most "manufacturer's" of these will claim they are cost effective compared to traditional foundations due to the shallower dig, less concrete used and no need for a separate screed. I can't vouch for those claims as I never costed a traditional foundation, but went this route for my build due to the higher thermal performance. They are suitable for most ground conditions, down to quite low bearing capacity. An insulated raft for a timber structure is the simplest (cheapest) of the options, and gives the best opportunity for removing all floor to ground cold bridges. Having a masonry outer skin, or ICF build adds a little complication and cost to an insulated raft due to the likely need for a second, separated ring beam around the periphery of the raft to take the extra weight.
    1 point
  36. Have you read the work of John Richard Gott III. He claims to know when things will end. Gotts_Doomsday_Argument.pdf
    0 points
  37. You don't have this issue with granite I'll get my coat.
    0 points
  38. There is a Passive House veterinary hospital in Ireland which overheats because they hadn't realised how much heat dogs give out. It makes sense of instructions to visitors of old houses: 'If you are cold, put another dog on the bed' ?
    0 points
  39. No, First fit of the MVHR only so far. 2nd fit planned for early 2022. Meanwhile, we live in a convivial fug. Specially when the dogs are brought indoors during the fireworks. Normally, they live outside: but at this time of year, we bring them in for part of the night. Their presence makes a noticeable difference to the indoor temperature - and gas profile. ? PS., you will be pleased @SteamyTea , for the last year or more, I've logged the temperatures and RH of five locations round the house (Sensor Push). A useful baseline. Ian
    0 points
  40. MCS certified is he?
    0 points
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