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Mine is wtf! Look folks.. If you are educated then you state what the abbreviation means and bracket that, then use it later in the text. Using abbreviations is of no use to new folk coming on Buildhub.. they are keen to learn, also there are folk joining BH that have particular skills.. they may have abbreviations that we have not got a clue about! Imagine you are a someone trying to learn and look back on previous posts.. I try and make my posts simple and easy to understand as best I can.. sometimes I may come over as a bit odd / dafty.. but in my day job.. you'll find me a bit more concise!

Two things you need to watch out for.. If the wall is load bearing a standard British or EU section will be 95 mm deep, the equivalent CLS section depth 89mm and the widths are also different. CLS can be cheaper but the amount of wood you get is less.. you get what you pay for.. don't complain later if what you bought does not fulfill it's intended function. An 89 mm deep stud has about 12% less bending capacity than a 95 mm deep stud and I have not included the width reduction .. buttttt.. it's only a quarter of an inch>> who would have "thunk that? Ruskin the common law of business: "It's unwise to pay too much...but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.

Our ASHP needed a reset after a cut. Only realised several hours later when we ran out of hot water.

If there are buildings near the proposed scheme and the relative height of them and the proposal may be contentious it is worth getting them included in a Total Station survey. The cost is fairly low and they are invaluable for designing in context, as well as setting out, daylighting, Party Wall matters, landscaping, flood risk, drainage and 3d visualisations. Many architects will ask for this before they begin their design in earnest.

I clearly should have had your advice for the example I gave, as you'd have seen off the planners. Of course we used all possible arguments in the first instance, including the absence of dimensions. The day the planner walked on site 'for a word' is vivid in my memory 10 years later. I showed the approved drawings that coincided with what was under construction. They simply wouldn't have it. There's more to the reason that the neighbours were so against it, but I can't go there. But the only genuine argument was one un-dimensioned drawing. Perhaps we were always going to get it permitted but 3 months delay is a serious cost as well as worry. We've both said our bits based on different experience and now the OP can make a hypothetical decision for that hypothetical building.

One of these groups that I keep meaning to leave. But I stay in it to remind myself how humankind varies, from knowledgeable and thoughtful to ignorant and thoughtless. And how the selfish idiots* don't join, or stay long, on BH. * If it burns: burn it. If it's lying there: take it. If the neighbours complain: well I can't repeat. But my view is that the waste wood is better burning in someone's reasonably efficient wood-burner, than in the garden. Unless your LA produces power from it, which is unlikely.

Agree - but you've missed out candles.... 😄 That always seems to be a lot of expense when you can just walk across and use the inline switch on the floor or table lamp - or just have it always on and use a wifi switch. Agree - we also have some under the banister on the stairs - very effective..

Context drawings should and are purely illustrative and as I said before are not enforceable unless used as a means to indicate a critical relationship between buildings. The OP didn’t state that this was the case - hence not critical. Where an application is approved the presumption is that the approving authority have completed due diligence on the submitted application documents and that any misinterpretation of submitted documents is a risk the approving authority and not the applicant takes. The thing to remember is that an application will be assessed in relation to relevant policy and on its own individual merits. While showing context can be important - in a terrace or to illustrate impact a proposal will have on the environment - unless the relationships between buildings is critical contextual drawings should be taken by the assessing authority as illustrative only and assessed as such. Just to illustrate my point of view that the assessing authority should carry due diligence before issuing an approval I offer the following. An assessing and enforcing authority had a case recently where an applicant was asked to submit an additional set of documents to be approved. The documents were submitted but had been amended to include an additional element of the proposed development. While the assessing officer had completed a complete review of the proposal and had carried out due diligence the documents that were issued were approved with the additional element of the proposed development. The assessing authority have since discovered this and have reluctantly decided that there is very little that it can do.

Before I joined here I thought PIR stood for passive infra red.

I’m a big fan of layering a lighting scheme with multiple sources of lights, mainly wall lights, floor lamps and table lamps. The table and floor lamps can be plugged into a 5A circuit so they can still be controlled from a wall switch, by wiring the fitting with one of these I pretty much hate downlights, and only use them in our build where it was an absolute must. I don’t mind a couple of pendants though. LED strip lighting has its place. Good in a couple of shadow gaps, or for under the wall units in your kitchen to illuminate the counter or in wardrobes. I wouldn’t over do it though.

I'd second that. really know what they are doing and are very patient with Newbie's like us!

If you glue down the vinyl, how will you get to your access panel. Test all the pipework vigorously, then get it all screwed down. If you tested it, the chance of a leak is highly unlikely

@eski009 - btw as a newbie to the forum, just so you know - the forum etiquette is that if you ask a question and people take time and energy responding, then you implicitly agree to consider the replies, and reply yourself etc. I'm not singling you out, just saying that there are some people who alight on Buildhub for the first time, ask a question, people reply - sometimes at length ... and we never hear from the original questioner again. OK I think you might have a snag - I've come across this myself. Like other UK tax laws, the CIL law ( https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/948/contents ) is very fragile, which means if you put a foot out of step, even accidentally, you get nailed. Fair? No. I also think that the CIL law is 'interpreted' by your local LPA - so not all LPAs read or implement CIL the same way. Also, I don't think there are many experts on CIL - I had a commercial property lawyer (read 'grown up') for my plot and she sad 'we cannot advise on CIL'. I don't think she realised that it was even part of the planning legislation. I have not read the legislation (yet) but I had this interaction with my local LPA's CIL department last summer. As the plot had planning already, I asked whether I could put in my services, driveway etc based on the old permission while I was waiting on them to decide on my new permission: "We would like to start getting the services and access arrangements started on this plot. The applications listed above are for the same single dwelling plot, a ‘greenfield plot’ located at xxx yyy. Planning was granted for a single storey dwelling under zzz back in November 2021. We have since proposed two variations in design for LPA consideration and these are still waiting for decisions - which we are told will be forthcoming over the next week or so. We have been told that the single storey design will be granted and the 1.5 storey design refused. We intend to take the latter to appeal. This is a self-build. The access arrangements, cart lodge etc are the same in both of the outstanding designs – it’s just the dwelling itself that varies. As we already have planning granted for a single storey dwelling, we would like to make a start on the installation of services and for the driveway for access. I imagine that we can simply signal a formal start under the original application and then ‘move the CIL arrangements’ as the new planning and/or appeal comes through. Would that be correct? If so, what is the correct procedure for ‘moving the CIL arrangements’?" They answered: "If your new applications were variations of the original consent, it would be possible to transfer a self build exemption across, however, as you have made new full applications this becomes somewhat more complicated. You cannot transfer a self build exemption from one full application to another. If you make a start and carry out a material operation to commence development, you could invalidate any possibility of claiming exemption on an alternative permission. Given the access arrangements are the same, you would effectively have already implemented a new permission on the day permission was granted and the CIL for it would be payable in full, immediately. I would recommend you wait to implement any permission until you have received the permission you intend to build out to avoid any potential issues down the line." This agrees with the response you got, although I imagine your local LPA CIL guys do have some flexibility. That said, they are a revenue raising team, so guess what - they probably love the fragility of their interpretation of the CIL law. So I suggest, a possible way around is to try to vary your original application (there are various mechanisms for that) so it's not a new application, just a variation of the old. That might mean some compromises in you design - maybe so it looks the same as the old to the casual observer, even though you have a basement now. If your variation gets turned down, you still have the original application intact. This assumes you have a bit of time to wait for the LPA's response. They may still refuse to vary based on the fact that it's an increase in floor area. But they may not. I found my local CIL guys a lot more approachable that the planning guys, so maybe you could get a face-to-face to see what they might allow or whether they might give you an exemption so you just pay the uplift for the extra floor space. They might decide it's a question for the planning guys and send you there or might take the question to the planning guys themselves. If you are a risk taker and have a good lawyer and the CIL law supports your position then you might also ignore their response, and be prepared to fight in the courts later. Do let us know what happens - I for one am still interested in this question. Also it builds the level of Buildhub knowledge.

Your present WC is "close coupled" the one you are proposing is "low level". They will NOT join together. Your issue with the flush I suspect is just that your cistern has so little water in it. This modern water saving lark just often means inadequate flush water requiring 2 or 3 flushes. That hardly saves water does it? My pragmatic solution when we had a house like this was use a different toilet for a No 2 and use the one with the poor flush just for a pee.

As the issue is about gas emissions when the pipe is connected perhaps if the pipe was connected and precharged to one side and had a crafty device on the other end that opened as it was screwed in. So anyone can drill a hole in the wall, shove the pipes through and screw them on or maybe just push them on like airline quick connectors. BTW My A2A came from Saturn 18 months ago, under £1,000 total fitted with no fuss. Gas guy came with electrician for 4 hours. I guess that was lucky timing.

https://energy-stats.uk/ Choose tracker and your region from the menu.

Google "Octopus tracker rate" and there's at least one website with the last year's rates.

I think you need to read the post (properly) and all the replies - if the OP has a drawing where the next door elevation is drawn slightly smaller than in reality AND has fully dimensioned his proposal AND there is no condition attached to the approval referring to having to tie in with the height of the neighbouring property then the OP shouldn’t be concerned - it has been built in accordance with the approval. Context drawings are there for one reason - context and unless they are required to establish critical dimensions are for illustrative purposes only. And I have no idea what checking an architects PII will accomplish.

As neither of us know what's in the drawings or written in the Design & Access statement, we can only surmise, hence me using "could", "not sure", "I suspect". What I don't get is: It's rude/arrogant and unnecessarily stifles contribution. You'll give architects a bad name.

Because I used ICF for the walls and EPS for the foundation, I have a mild bias for EPS over PIR. But putting aside thermal properties for a moment, neither EPS or PIR are very good for acoustic insulation. It might not be relevant for your current purpose, but it is another dimension to easily overlook.

I also have an MBC slab and try to do as much heating overnight as possible. I have a typical daily ripple of about 0.2 degrees as measured at the top of our concrete floor.

the building you see in the pic is an extension. Built before we moved in. It has a concrete floor which I am sure of the older part of the building is suspended timber flooring so I assume there is some ducting from the air bricks into the older part of the house

An Architect, capital A, should have the skill to establish the size of the neighbouring property, even approximately. They should also have the knowledge that it is important to give accurate representation of the relevant surroundings...otherwise why even show it? Anything else is deceiving the planners, whether intentionally or not. In real life, it isn't likely to be pulled down but would require a re-submission at the very least, modification of the height as likely. So if this theoretical building was being constructed right now, it might be best to pause and discuss it. If it hadn't been started then get new permission by discussion with planners and accurate drawings. And get the Architect to resolve it all free of charge.

Good point. It will be low risk stuff but I'd still take reasonable precautions. These tiles look old enough to be asbestos reinforced type Dampness and avoidance of dust is your ally. Double bagged and taken to the tip by appointment, no charge. They will cut through the bags, so boxed first might help.

Kitchen floor tiles got me thinking generally. Have you had an asbestos survey/are you used to looking for it? No wish to teach anyone to suck eggs. If you haven't come across it much before can I suggest HSE, and particularly their 'Asbestos Essentials' as bedtime reading? Looks like fun generally, though!

PUR insulation does contain artificial blowing agents that give the product an enhanced thermal performance and yes this does leak out over time reducing the thermal efficiency. Check the thermal performance of foil faced boards against that of tissue faced flat roof boards. Foil faced is always better as it delays the escape of the gas. The test method for the thermal conductivity accounts for this with an artificially accelerated aging process prior to testing so quoted values are acceptable longer term.

not sure if anyone has mentioned this but I thought I would just in case.... ...this evening as I was sat at my computer a flood alert came in via email and I was wondering why I didn't get a push notification on my phone and watch. I went to the Shelly app only to get a message as it started that the old app is now deprecated and a new app is to be used. probably why I didn't get any push notifications. I downloaded the new app and tested the flood sensor and notifications popped in to life. I'm not a regular Shelly user and have only the one device so very rarely checked the app. if anyone else is like me and doesn't live by their Shelly app it may be worthwhile double checking it's all working.

There are a couple of ways to think about insulation. It stops thermal transmittance by physically stopping warm material moving to colder material. This is often called convection. This is why windows are not very good, you want light to pass though but not thermal energy. The key to that part is the size of voids in the material, the smaller the voids (bubbles) the less movement is possible, but you get a greater ratio of solid material that may, or may not, have a higher thermal conductivity and a different heat capacity. The other way to think about it is at the sub atomic level. When a material is heated, the electrons become 'loose' and can eventually instantaneously jump up to the next electron orbital shell. If there is a space there for the electron, then there is no change in temperature, if there isn't a space, then, because of the exclusion law, the electron has to loose energy so that it can drop back down to the original orbit. When an electron does this, it instantaneously changes to a photon, then back to an electron, at the lower energy level. The excess energy that it had is released as radiation, which flies off following the sum of all possible paths until it interacts with the next electron, and the process starts all over again. So apart from physically stopping 'hot' material moving, all thermal conductance is actually a radiative forcing. This is why, in isolation, reflective materials can act as insulators, except the photoelectric affect allows some energy though the material and re-radiate somewhere else. In the case of 'normal' insulation, the key points are the void to material ratio, and their heat capacities (air is 1 J.gm-1.K-1, Polyurethane is 1.6 J.gm-1.K-1 and Phenolic 1.5 J.gm-1.K-1) and conductivities (Air is ,0.022 W.m-1.K-1 Polyurethane is 1.6 W.m-1.K-1, Polyurethane is 2.9 W.m-1.K-1, Phenolic is 1.45 W.m-1.K-1). The above numbers would imply that just an air gap is pretty good, but the problem with that is that air can move because of thermal expansion, which causes density changes, which causes movement. The above is not the whole story, and there is a lot more to it that I have tried to explain (if it was simple to explain, we would all know it). Have you got an infrared thermometer to see what the temperature difference is across the door. You may find it is not as great as you think. I have just looked at my temperature differences, it is 13.4°C outside and 18°C inside. That part of the door is 44mm of pine. The larger recessed panel is at 12.5°C outside and 15.7°C inside and is 20mm thick. The glass is at 10.7°C outside and 13.6°C inside, overall the double glazed unit is 24mm thick. If I have got my arithmetic right (very likely it is wrong), that works out at: At the current temperature differences (12 K) Thicker timber Losses 4.9 W.m-2.K-1. Thinner Panel Losses 15.6 W.m-2.K-1. Glazing Losses 14.4 W.m-2.K-1. Working out the areas, thicker frame is 0.625m2, Thinner Panel 0.335m2 and the Glazing 0.62m2. Work that lot out and it comes to 17.2 W That makes my door have an overall U-Value of 1.44 W.m-2.K-1. If the temperature stays about the same all day, that is 0.035 kWh/day. 10p/day at current electricity rates, so about £10/year extra on my bill. Not brilliant in todays terms, but it is 37 years old.

I'd point out that the reason we don't have people blowing themselves up with domestic gas connections is precisely because we have regulations. All domestic mains gas is certified installer only. The gas hobs and ovens all must have flame safe devices. The gas has an odorant added so leaks are really easy to dect well before the explosive range is reached. Plus methane is lighter than air so disperses easier than propane. Pretty much every time a house blows up, it's because someone who shouldn't be monkeying with gas was monkeying with gas. But as you point out there are other risk sources that we tolerate. 150g is less than a plumbers propane touch and some camping gas canisters which people have indoors all the time. The EU is making steps towards allowing r290 splits, if Britain is going to make any use of it's supposed post EU freedoms beyond allowing points of wine to be sold (FFS), this migbt be an area we could steal a march. Allow, encourage even, r290 splits. If we can add an oderant (I believe the standard one used in gas isn't compatible with the use cycle in heat pumps) then we should be looking at allowing DIY kit r290's. Just sell the flare kits and vaccum pumps in the same aisle at B&q.

You're making this far too complicated. Do NOTHING. Just sell the things. Stop imposing EXTRA safety measures on things that are useful UNTIL they are imposed on things that are not. If you're not capable of flaring a copper pipe you're not competent to be installing these. It's an utter piece of pish if you have a vaguely decent cutting/flaring too. Don't try it using nasty old brake pipe flaring sets from grandad's garage though. That'll scratch the flare to buggery. If you're genuinely scared about people blowing themselves up... - Ban gas hobs - Ban gas ovens - Ban domestic gas connections - Ban portable calor gas heaters - Ban people putting ***15kg*** propane cylinders indoors - Ban camping gas - Ban cans of WD40 - Ban bloody air fresheners https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-41179132 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-56337761 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-50810196 Or just let the idiots blow themselves and their families to bits. That will also reduce carbon emissions. (though sadly they all survive just fine; albeit slightly more awake than before they lit the spliff) But don't discriminate against useful things by forcing them to be safer than useless things or more environmentally damaging things. If you're objecting to propane on the ground of safety...then start with gas safety in general and work your way right down to minisplits. They. Are. Not. A. Priority. Unless you're a supporter of DuPont/Chemours wanting to sell nasty gases or Putin & Xi. 😉

I wonder why the plumbers did not diagnose that? Could it be they were not 100% sure and did not want to look silly / carry the cost if they replaced it and it did not fix the fault? As it happens it was blocked with debris so there was no cost in removing that to fix it.

That is something I do after my 4th mug of morning.

It's a potential health issue. Old, dead water will sit in those legs for long periods of time, stuff will grow, and then when you have a low water pressure event / shutoff / partial drain down, that old water will enter the system and potentially be a risk. Any dead lengths should be isolated where they branch off from the supply within 5x pipe diameters.

I did But it was already on the materials submission Yep should have checked every single word I spotter the cranked steel that would have Protruded into my kitchen and that when I added up the dpc to ridge measure It was 300 mil out Just wonder what I’m paying for