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We left you with a poured slab and we were chomping at the bit to get the ground floor Nudura walls up before the end of the year. Well, I am glad to report we got there - almost ? After getting the slab done, I figured I'd get ahead a bit and it would be a good idea to talk to someone about the waterproofing we would have to put on the outside the walls before we started backfilling. To cut a long story short using waterproof concrete in walls such as these is a complete non-starter, so Type-B waterproofing cannot be used. Visqueen's R400 Radon barrier is not an effective waterproofing method and so we now face having to use a Type A and a Type C waterproofing method - basically this will mean for us a waterproof screed being added to the floor with channel ducting where the walls meet the floor and the "egg-crate" plastic material across the screed and up the inside of the walls. That should eat into our contingency ? ? ? But also it meant a dash to get some waterproof slurry to paint round where the Nudura blocks would be laid the following morning and mixing and painting it on under floodlights (it's the dark grey stuff in the picture to the right). Oh what fun!! But, the following day we were up early to welcome out walls, the bracing and two fine chaps (Louie and Harry) from The Fell Partnership who would be helping us Day 1 to get the first row in place. We then scurried around unloading things off trailers and flat beds, and installing the waterbar between those pieces of upright rebar. By 10am we were ready to go. By about 2pm we had most of the first row in and part of the second row (see below). If it hadn't been for some non-standard corners in the design, we would probably have been at Row 3, but that's what you get for following a design religiously ✝️ (FYI - the T-corner is all to do with the design - don't ask yet) On the second day we were left to our own devices, I had to make a dash to collect some extra Nudura parts and some waterproofing equipment (due to the direction our waterproofing system now had to take) so we made a later start but still we were very pleased to get up to 4 rows installed. Day 3 we were ready to begin installing all the bracing system, and after hitting her head SWMBO was made to wear the Christmas present from her children. and on Day 4 it inevitably rained in Cornwall ? , but before our help arrived again we had managed to just squeeze a block on to Row 6 (the final row before the first pour of concrete) After the help on Day 4, we continued to finish things off on Day 5 by constructing part of an internal load bearing wall, and a wall with the only window opening at this level which will be for the family bathroom. FYI - the rest of that side of the house will consist mainly of windows into bedrooms plus some extra small sections of walling (to be determined) Where we were not able to complete things before the pour happened (time didn't allow) was where the internal wall meets the external wall and there are two doorways to construct (this is why I said we almost made it). I will have to do these in the New Year, mixing and pouring the concrete by hand (just under 1 cubic m) so that'll burn off the Christmas pudding ? A week later (during which we had some more high winds) I came back down to finalise a few bits (like lack of scaffold planks and bracing in some places) to be greeted by a snaky ? wall. so that was all straightened up, the rest of the bracing fitted, and the Nudura joist hangers inserted. (Between straightening and the pour we had Storm Barra, but my remedial work held up nicely) I won't bore you with pictures of hunky men doing manly stuff with concrete pumps etc. but suffice to say it all went very well, with no leaks or blow outs so "he who shall not be named from Channel 4" would have been very disappointed if he was allowed onsite. And so, last weekend (after a midweek pour in the remnants of Storm Barra) I was able to deconstruct the bracing and we are now the proud owners of some freestanding, high-wind-proof walls. Really happy at the attention to detail that Louie and Harry paid to ensuring the walls were straight and true before the pour began - right up my street. So now we have a tidyish site again (for a short while) ready for steels installation in the New Year. We have to finish off the internal wall, then waterproof and backfill outside, and install joists and flooring before we can continue with building the upper floor walls. We're hoping that by middle of next year we can start on those upper floor walls. So until 2022, and the inevitable next lockdown, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas ? and a Happy New Year ?

Finally having time to update you(and me) about the progress. It s happening fast now. Finally. https://tintabernacle.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-frame-is-going-up-fast.html

The one commercial one I know of in central London is vertical. Makes sense given space constraints and if you're piling anyway. A few places are planning retrofit heat pumps, afaic to tick a green box as the buildings in question are neither well insulated nor airtight.

Concrete SHC 0.8 kJ.kg-1.K-1 Density 2700 kg.m-3 Heat Capacity 2.16 MJ.m-3 Liquid Water SHC 4.18 kJ.kg-1.K-1 Density 1000 kg.m-3 Heat Capacity 4.18 MJ.m-3

That’s really good to hear ?

looking at power prices now and the 50% rise forecast in next year it is maybe coming a more viable I can get a supply ,but if FIT stays at 4p - it would maybe seem better choice to just go stand alone +batteries and gen for worst months ? something to look into in new year . my roof will faces s/w and be 24m long and 3m tall =24sqm - no shading due to where house is --so no shortage of space and if I could save on slates as well -it could add up to being the way to go

I had an account with them for years and found them good BUT I always got a better quote from elsewhere and they always matched it ?. Different branches work in different ways. My local office were very helpful (avonmouth, Bristol) but their centre Bristol office were offhand and not as customer focussed.

And NEVER accept their first price.

It is a few years since I used them. They were wary of blurring the line between trade and customer, and it is best to be straight with them. If you explain the relationship they may then tell you if there is any further discount. Not the sort of thing to shout out to the whole shop though. They used to have 2 different price books, so the professional could hide some margin (or realistically allow a sensible margin and risk). That may have changed. Also I once found that there were sudden changes in the discount structure, for example adding a £20 plinth (that I didn't want) caused a jump in the discount applying to the whole order, and the price dropped a lot.

I wanted to come back to this thread with an update. With the temp here in Edinburgh dipping to below 5 degrees now more often than not I just couldn't take the noise anymore, as the ecodan was running at full speed all of the time it was below 5 degrees. So I got mitsubishi out and they agreed to replace the whole ASHP. Unfortunately it didn't resolve the issue, at 5.1 degrees runs like a charm and super quiet. At 4.9 degrees it spins up to 63 decibels (I bought a proper decibel reader) and it never, ever comes down until the temp goes above 5 degrees. So in talking with the tech guys at mitsubishi he seems to think this is the freeze stat function kicking in. We checked and the freeze stat is at 5 degrees bang on. He mentioned that if they system is filled with glycol then you can switch this function off and it should then run at normal speed at any temp. So i'm waiting for a refractometer to come today to confirm the glycol settings and then if they are correct, i'm moving to switch off the freeze stat function. For anyone else out there with an ecodan this might be interesting. Also, I want to mention that there is a quiet mode setting for the ecodan r32. If you go into the settings you can find it and there you can choose 3 different settings of quietness. This will reduce the output somewhat, but will solve the immediate noise problem when below 5 degrees. My plan is to remove the freeze stat once I confirm the gycol vs going down the quiet mode as I'd rather have it running at full efficiency all be it without the fan speed increase. Will report back here when I switch off the freeze stat function.

That's not a paint, it's a lubricant. I'd hazard a guess it's used on the calipers and maybe between the disk and hub on disk installation (to prevent the disk from rusting to the hub).

https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/p/normfest-off-shore-silver-brake-protection-spray-400ml-NOR2894449?gclid=CjwKCAiAtouOBhA6EiwA2nLKHyAo5S5jzgH2qTmGwHGxSHDVBp1UNRJhccnbkCg5w9oy0vspGT06whoCbFUQAvD_BwE

Nope, you definitely don't want paint anywhere near your brake disks ? Brake caliper paint only goes to 300-500 C. I don't quite understand why you'd want to paint internal parts of a stove but you can get lots of types of stove paint. Not sure how well they work, mind you. Have you measured the actual temperature?

Brake disc spray paint would do the job. It's just finding a colour that would be suitable.

There are some rated for 750C briefly and 650C continuously.. https://www.rawlinspaints.com/up-to-750 eg.. https://www.rawlinspaints.com/home/metal-paints/heat-resistant-paints/8017-rust-oleum-heat-resistant-paint-750°c-aerosols.html Even 800C for short periods.. https://www.rawlinspaints.com/home/metal-paints/metal-primers-and-undercoats/1861-international-interplate-937.html but why?

What are you “painting” anything inside a stove or boiler soon burns off or acts as an insulator.

Thinking that (local) Planners care about your planning application Neighbourhood objections Listening to idiots on the Parish Council citing invalid objectings to your development. Waiting for a planning application Decision Notice Failure to plan in sufficient detail Architects designing what they want , not what you want Charlatan trades folk. Trades who do not answer the phone, or return your call in a timely manner Weather Changing your mind about important stuff after you have started building your 'dream' extension Any trade that does not do what it says it will do, - on time - on budget - on specification. Invoices with so little detail that even a saint would become suspicious Builders who charge VAT on a self-build supply and fit contract - and who will not be told that domestic clients are not charged VAT Not having a sense of humour Welcome by the way! That'll do for starters. Waste time on BH. Time well spent.

As @Russell griffiths pointed Out numerous times... if you dont go over the poured slab often and quick, again and again , you be ending up with a garage floor. So we had the concrete ordered for morning and ready with 4guys to spread and level, tamper and float. Pouring went smooth. Pumping was good. But when we started tampering and levelling the concrete, Murphys law kicked in: -concrete went off a lot faster than my groundworkers seen in quite a while -one Of the guys (concrete pump driver) had a stroke and needed medical attention:which took 2hours until ambulance arrived...taking out 1 labourer to take care of him So we where trying to get it done as best of my(our) skills. Managed levels and no massive dents (unlevel In a few spots but very minor /mm) . Managed getting it fairly smooth . But when it came to doing details/corners, concrete was already too hard to work it ... well , now we need to lay floor over it (later) anyways . Just thinking if that is already good enough to work with tiling on top or if we need to go over it with self levelling compound (I think that's overkill) ..

Yes ! Can you finish the other jobs please ? ( your SWMBO asked me to say that )