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My 200m2 of porcelain have arrived from Italy today Two weeks from point of order It will keep me out of trouble this morning 💪🏻

Yep that’s the way to do it. don’t do little bits of ply though. cut a 250mm wide strip the length of all the cupboards.

HW cylinder £1k to 1.5k incl vat Depending on ASHP £2 to 3.5k incl vat Plus another £500 for misc bits and pipe.

+ I’d do this too exactly as @Russell griffiths suggests. Personally I’d big screw the new ply strip at the vertical joist locations, though it would go through the membrane it’s clearly going to be trapped and clamped and thus sealed. Also some good quality no nails along the length too. makes hanging those big units a doddle.

I got a provisional quote for boreholes when I was considering my options in 2019. The cost for two boreholes was estimated to be £17,000. Here is a comparison I made. I was effectively installing a completely new heating system with all new pipework as well as radiators. You'll have to ignore the RHI subsidythat was available at that time. ASHP GSHP Installation Cost £16,653 £23,528 RHI (No inflation) £10,255 £23,170 Difference £6,398 £358 Boreholes £0 £17,000 Property value enhancement £0 ??? Difference £0 £17,000 Running cost over 10 years £10,460 £8,270 Total £16,858 £25,628

Hi, I’ve been a member for a while but have been mostly sitting, getting frustrated, waiting for our planning decision. 2 weeks ago we finally got our approval for a strawbale house in the village of Minard, in Argyll and Bute. Now we’re moving into the building warrant stage and at least this time, we’re prepared for a wait - our planning took ten months after being told ten weeks. I’m a bricklayer by trade and this one is going to be the last house I build. 61 years old and I’ve had enough, but definitely looking forward to getting stuck into this. Graham Walker

Ok to finish. Cracking part of the world. Keep posting about your bale house as very interested. Would love to have sight of your warrant drawings to see how you are dealing with the loadings, movement etc. wishful thinking... Fundamentally though if you keep the straw dry, well ventilated and the perimeter drainage around the house clear it should last a lifetime or more. If you go and plant loads of trees close to the house then it won't last so long. Are you local to the area and know the climate well? Lastly.. depending on where you are there may be a bit of salt from the sea in the air.. make sure you specify the right fixings. I have family that live on the islands and it can play havoc with fixings etc if you use the wrong ones.

So it's a shoulder month job is it?

No need for primer mate. 👍

The quotes are generally relatively detailed insofar that you can price up the individual components and compare to the quote. The Ecodan ASHP and pre-plumbed cylinder is a common install option for example. It’s been awhile since I looked but that was around £5500 last time I looked. Add £500-£700 for everything else. In a new build that’s been well planned so an easy install it’ll be two days for the plumber and a day for the electrician so that’s likely £1000 in labour (company rate not day pay rate for the workers)

Some earlier discussion here. According to Wundatrade they recommend their Pert-Al-Pert for over floor systems. They recommended their PexB-Al-HDPE for screed. When I was researching this topic, I found very little to confirm a specific pipe for going into a concrete insulated slab foundation. https://www.wundatrade.co.uk/shop/home/water-underfloor-heating-solutions/joist-floor-heating-pipe/16mm-hdpe-al-pex-pipe/

Ours quoted £100 annually

Agree with both of the above, fixing wall units to a continuous ply strip is so easy and curse free. 100x easy and nicer than drilling and plugging etc.

TBH you can do what is necessary yourself unless you think there is something not right with the unit. Check for any loose wires (carefully of course having isolated it), and remove any debris that may have built up at the rear of the unit e.g. leaves, feathers. Use a vacuum if necessary to remove any dust. That's about it.

The extensions are SIPs 175mm walls, 200mm roof iirc. Again, no SIPs option so he went for timber. The older part of the bungalow is cavity filled. MVHR...no idea what default values he went for. Yes, he was friendly enough and took his time to look at all the options. But yeah, no idea why the 3G is just 'good'. Proper German windows too! May contact him to see why!! "Computer says...."

Actually, that was a typo, we got an A104 not A103. I was surprised considering the Willis heater Sunamp combo and despite not holding these ratings in particularly high regard I couldn’t resist a brief moment of smug self satisfaction. Indeed.

I have often pondered about this one. It was first pointed out by JSH referencing the manufacturer installation instructions, and IIRC he got a bit heated about this point. Why? The primary use of the Willis is to act as an external heater on a copper vented (unpressurised) H/W cylinder. Here we have open-loop heating constantly replenished mains-fed water. This carries an element of dissolved air which will tend to come out of solution during heating and build up in inverts -- hence the recommendation to fit the Willis inverted. TBH, even if I was redoing my CH system, I would still use a Willis and I would still fit it heating element up, because this issue doesn't apply for this use: the water is a small closed volume running in a pumped circuit. In our case I filled our UFH loops 7 years ago, topped up with inhibitor / unfreeze, and then pressured the closed system to 1 bar. Occasionally over the next month or so, I bled the system at the manifold to let out any air coming out of solution. In the process the tiny amount of water lost when bleeding was taken up by the expansion tank dropping the pressure to 0.8 bar or so. I then topped up the system back to 1 bar, and that's it: 7 years later, the system is still at 1 bar. There is no more air to come out of solution. So air build up is just not an issue here, and the Willis works happily in any orientation, and I am happier with the wiring and thermostat setting on top where I can see them and have easy access. So yes, for me heating element up works best.

add shoes and walking must raise height by 3cm? I lived in an old house and never caught my head on the ancient tiny doors because I developed a pace that allowed an easy ducking under. But I was often caught out when I turned back for any reason . Would I put in even lower doors to avoid this? that would be selfish and unfair on slightly smaller people. Perhaps round off the door frame liners or fit a quadrant. There is a pub near here where I can only stand between the oak floor joists in the ceiling, and my head skims the ceiling. I don't often go there.

No problem 👍 I popped a hole in the bottom of the trunking and bought all the actuator cables up centrally and tie wrapped together

With that lovely design work you'll have no problem getting projects from any of the 'big tech' internet greats...

Indeed, I am researching 🙂 The main installer I'm in contact with is in favour of ASHP (clearly the cheaper option), I have no worries about being misled by them on the technology. Experience with them so far talking through options is actually very positive compared to several other installers I've spoken with who don't seem to be as knowledgeable. That said, I don't know whether the quotes I'm getting through are a reasonable cost, so I'm also waiting to get a couple of other ASHP ones. The following is their indicative proposal, coming out at £15290 (£7790 after boiler upgrade scheme discount). Does it seem like it's in the right ballpark? I've seen some much lower prices advertised by Octopus I think, so wondering if the other quotes are going to come in a fair bit lower. Vaillant aroTHERM Plus 7kW Inverter driven ASHP Heat pump controller Heat Pump hot water cylinder as required Buffer tank as required Electrical connections as required Full installation pipe lagged with superior Armaflex insulation MCS Electrical meter MCS Certificate Building control notification Internal and external pipe runs are not included at this stage, the price for this will be assessed during a survey @JohnMo what would need to be added to that proposal to provide cooling? On the GSHP proposal a Nibe PCM S40 passive cooling kit was added, is there something similar for ASHP? Any idea if could setting it up for cooling impact eligibility for the BUS discount? (I read somewhere that it could, but think that might have been part of the anti heat pump fake news).

Insufficient imho. Our neighbour did similar for his fence posts. Cast concrete footings, let them set, then drilled and used expanding anchors for 4-hole metal post shows. Wind took the lot out. The kids tree house base here, 6+ 4x4 posts. I had galvanised brackets made up. 10mm side plates are bent at 90deg where they go into the concrete about a foot down. Then with my 100x100x6 steel gate posts, I cross drilled and put 20mm dia stainless bar to anchor into the concrete.

It very much depends on your local authority. If you're sure of your 1948 footprint then you can use PD as a lever. We originally applied for an additional 25 sq m with a roofing change (gables but not a loft conversion). It was rejected on GB % grounds plus "harm to the green belt" due to a change in "bulk" Ultimately we then put in a hideous PD application to extend every way we possibly could in every direction to give us a total of ~34 sq m. Once granted we then used this as leverage to go back with a "less harmful" application Result - we ended up with an additional 30 sq m Regards Tet

Gravel strip to the right up to your bin store. I would be tempted to build a car port in that area.

"Pressure stops" as in rubber safety edges. The legislation applies to swing gates too. I think one of the unfortunate accidents was where a child leant through a closed swing gate to reach the button the other side. The attached sets it all out. documents8a.pdf

To clarify, above standard is for blown in mineral wool. No equivalent* Standard for eps beads but same BBA standard and test methods for manufacture & install *there is an equivalent BS! BS EN 16809.

Alderwood studios in Lisburn do slabs of various different types of timber you could use as a table top. They do resin tables as well with the live edge timber. https://www.alderwoodstudios.co.uk/

you can have anything you want really. NB with sliding gates there have to be pressure stops in case a child sticks an arm through and gets crushed. I've tried to avoid this cost on the basis of them being non-automatic, ie supervised. but it seems that can't even be by fob, so needs a button at the gate to be pushed It doesn't apply to swinging gates.

Yes to all above, I have photo cells to stop the gates hitting anything in their way when they close, I have a fob with a button to open and a button to close. Gate stops give the gates somewhere positive to close too (but don’t make them too high or you might catch a low exhaust). I don’t have a beacon (OTT in my opinion for a house) but I have wired in LEDs on both gateposts that come on in the dark as I have no street lighting and want the posts visible in the dark. i have also wired in a secret button so if family turn up when I am not here with a fob they can let themselves in. I keep one fob stuck to the dashboard and one in the house.

So did I, they told me exactly what was needed and were very helpful in post sales support...

I use this lot: https://www.easygates.co.uk/

You can set gates to auto close after a time, but even with ones you close with a remote etc. the photo cells are a good idea as it is easy to click close and then someone tries to get in before they close or you click to close and then something prevents you clearing the gate area, most closers sense an obstruction but the edge of a gate will make a mess of a car door before it opens again. gate stop posts are often placed just inside the posts but then they are easily hit as you turn in with a car etc. I much prefer a low centre stop (hinged so you can flip it down if very low ar needs to go out or in).

I would recommend FAAC for the automation kit. Most of the kit knows when there is an obstruction and will stop. I wouldn't get a builder to fit it unless they have done them before. Will you have a keypad and intercom as well?

I'm thinking you need to reduce the width of the bottom slate so it's no wider than the door then replace the membrane and cladding either side of the door so it extends lower down to match the rest of the build. But I'm not sure how to deal with the door frame. The waterproofing should be done behind the frame/cladding with ventilation at the bottom so the end grain isn't standing in water. I allowed about an inch on mine.

I agree, electric UFH run by a controller (temp and timings) it’s what I did in my en suite, very effective.

Sounds like you'd be better off with electric floor heating directly below the floor tiles. Or a wall-mounted fan heater for a really quick warm-up. But do still pack insulation into the void you've dug.

For a start 100mm just isn't enough with UFH - start at 150mm PIR (0.022). If can't do that would really reconsider the use of UFH.

Borrowing or renting a thermal camera (and turning the heating up for a few hours) may well tell you where the pipes are. And then maybe burying the cable in a bit of 20mm plastic conduit.

Theoretically it is clean. If it has had any pretreatment and is then distributed over this huge area, the bugs will have cleared it. But I fear that most systems are incompetently built and incomplete. Therefore you should get independent testing, paid for by the vendor. Then there are the redundant trenches beneath the building. They are likely to be unsuitable for building on. You need a strategy for this and some cost set aside. I'd guess that the best solution might be trench footings to beneath the drains, then a suspended beam and block floor. Slightly more expensive than ground bearing but not too bad. And even allowing these solutions, you are at risk and the site is blighted. It should be considerably cheaper than a site without this challenge.

I would walk away. There is no way you can build a garage on top of next doors drainage field, even before you think about distances to the house. Unless an off site drainage solution was available for both houses I would say the plot is not viable. The minimum needed is permission from the land owner to the south for drainage fields for both properties to be installed under that field (assuming it is a field not other houses). If I was the vendor I would be looking for such permission, and then thinking of installing a large TP to serve both houses and the drainage field for it, then sell the plot as a serviced plot. That is about the only way I think it is viable.

1. If the vendor doesn't appreciate the issue, then it is polite to advise why you will be ducking out. They may then offer a huge discount. 2. If the vendor knows and is concealing the issue no harm in applying 1. You must not have their drain under your house. And the ground has been messed with INsist they rebuilddrains on their land. Plus doundation issues. Your drains. restricted £50k discount? Or walk away. even then you need a derailed solution before committing.

Now that I’ve looked at the block drawings I’d walk away. I wouldn’t want any aspect of my house relying on someone else’s land but nor would I want any aspect of someone else’s house relying on my land. Everything to do with our house is in our land. It’s easy to get over invested in a plot of land as you can start to see your finished house etc. It’s what I did on a previous plot but my wife hated it. We found a much better plot that very day. My dad used to tell me that if there’s doubt about something then there’s no doubt. So I’m with Russell, walk away.

I’ve not caught up with this but it seems to me you need a proper survey completed which should be a condition of the sale. You definitely don’t want to be buying the plot on a wing and a prayer. You’re right to be cautious.

I have been on two straw bale builds as a volunteer as that was my first intended build medium. I think it’s way under estimated and very doable. The ones I was on plastered (with lime) by hand which is very slow, I was planning spraying the lime. I prefer using the bales like bricks and spiking rather than timber cassettes but they both have merit. I studied this for about a year, best of luck and keep us updated.

Were you having a moment? Sorry, couldn’t resist that 😂

Latest "from the mound" picture. (could have been taken back in August, but I forgot 🙂

I may be used the wrong word and meant platykurtic anyway. Flat in the middle bit. If you plot the CET PDF you find that around the mean temperature the probabilities actually reduced a bit. A 'bit' is a statistical term to mean 'i can't tell you exactly'. Why the mean is really called the 'central tendency' as that gives some wiggle room on the numbers.

I used to work for the RNIB, they have a special format for computer screens, I used to know the ins and outs quite well. They also took advantage of Alt Text to get JAWS to read out the screen. Trouble was, I left the 'o' out of the sentence 'counting children'.

Nitric and sulphuric acids - from memory - will dissolve copper (Got kicked out of the Chemistry class before 'O' Level because I threw a snowball at the Chemistry teachers car). Nitric is unlikely to have been made, that leaves sulphuric. Where does the sulphur come from? Maybe a hen laid an egg in the dashboard , that eggshell rotted a bit and then got a bit of water on it - that created a bit of sulphur - the sulphur plus a bit more water then corroded the terminal .... BINGO - that's wot did it Dave. Medals, medals, I want a medal. Please.