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The thing is that snagging stuff is mostly at the finishing stage, because that is what is visible. It begs the question of what 'snags' might exist in foundations, drains, structure, electrical cabling etc. New build estates can look good when newly built, go back 10 years later and you can find rainwater stains all down the render, paint/finishing peeling off window frames, rotten fences, cracked kerbs etc. Suddenly it doesn't look like a place you would want to live. As the generations pass, general knowledge and basic skills seem to erode. Most used to have some DIY manuals and knew how to change a plug, a tap washer, put up some shelves, change their car oil, mix cement, and keep house and home together. Usually learned helping out dad as a kid. These days a lot of that seems to have all but disappeared. Contributed to by youngsters in generation rent that have to call the landlord and not fix it themselves.

For the lol's or alternatively why I DIY rather than pay people to do things I had the drive brick-weaved about many years ago - but in the last few years the manhole cover seems to be rising out of the drive Of course that's pretty unusual and I suspected that it was actually the area around it was getting lower but wondered how that was happening So I removed a load of blocks and then the manhole cover and found my issue - the frame was sitting on what remained of the original mortar a very uneven mess - bedded down on 4 blobs of silicone!!! FFS So there was my smoking gun - the sand was being washed into the manhole when we had a downpour and there wasn't a car on top of it. So I got the concrete grinder out and leveled the top off Bedded it down on some mortar and threw the sand back in - a few sting lines to get the level and the pile of blocks can go back in All done

It's not the M1, and will be strong enough. Block paving is flexible so you won't get cracking even if it moves a bit over decades. A whacker is plenty. Do drive over it many times. If it's going to compact , then do it now and the sand will level it off. And now stop worrying.

The "render onto foam insulation that is screwed to the wall" method has some risks. In theory a well done ewi solution should protect the building from thr elements and preserve the wall by keeping it warmer and drier. The aesthetic will almost certainly change if you start with brick or stone. There ain't really a way to mimic that - and I'm not sure we should try. Lean into the fact our buikdings are changing to adapt to new circumstances. It has always been so. Structures are extended, modified, uses change, windows are added and subtracted, uses change again etc. Many of our houses were never built with electrical wiring or central heating. A good few didn't have plumbing and some didn't even have indoor toilets. These new technologies were added as circumstance changed. The addition of ewi is just another chapter.

I don’t go to my mates house and ask for diesel for the return journey. why would I let a visitor plug their car in. im baffled by these ludicrous regs.

We are mostly oak on top of concrete, and the effect of cooling is pretty good. Good analogy We had two similar days one pre cooling and the next with cooling. Cooling knocked around 3 degs off absolute max temperature, but more importantly, once solar gain stopped, house recovered to more normal temperature way quicker. I look at cooling as a freeby of having a heat pump installed. We get what we want, at zero install cost, is it Aircon - no, do you need Aircon maybe not. Having lived with Aircon for a few years (overseas), not sure I want the endless air blast either. UFH heat and cool, is an easy to live with option. In absolute terms the cooling isn't designed, we accept what it provides in comfort a bonus. Our cooling will be stitched on next week and stay on until around October.

This is ours.. Bought fish, two times now. Just Goldfish, the second batch got about 200mm long last year , then one day the otter cam and that was that. We have had ducklings the last few years raised here. Pretty much there's always a Heron comes by, ducks usually there had geese. My son loves it in the summer, wife goes dipping in the winter ( we all done it Xmas day had to break the ice) . It's just a hole dug with diggers inflow from run off and outflow to the burn. The Clay keeps the level from not changing. It's great.

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This came to me on Facebook and shows we have been discussing planting and they are listening. It is Scotland focussed but a lot of it will apply anywhere with heavy, esp compacted, clay and waterlogging. From what I know already, this is good advice, and along our intended lines for drainage, so I'm inclined to believe the rest too, esp what plants will thrive and help. Obv enter at your own risk. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DrEZd8UYc/

I am not sure it is a good idea as it increases inequality. Rural people often complained about the lack of public services i.e. schools, doctors, libraries, policing etc, the money may be better spent on those. I live in one of the poorest parts of Europe, the wealth inequality is huge down here, even if the income differences are not that great (may have to look that up). There is a world of difference between a retired person on modest pension and a recent graduation doing 20 hours a week on minimum wage, even if the income is similar. Giving energy bill rebates, just because there is a field with some PV in it, 2 miles away, or a windfarm that cannot be seen at night, does not seem a good policy to me. I don't get a rebates on my transport costs because I can hear cars, or free medical prescriptions because, at the moment, I can see B1 bombers. But let's say I did. Should it be based on a fraction of my current usage, a fixed amount off i.e. 2 MWh/year. Maybe just a rebates to spend freely. Then what would happen if I still failed to pay, should I be forced to pay the rebate back? The best way to reduce bills is to reduce usage and then increase local RE generation and storage.

@mistake_not @marshian This is the image (I also added it back to the first post):

Hi lizzie ive just gone through this process with Panasonic and our installer. I wanted the setup you are aiming for - UFH as zone 1 and fancoils upstairs on zone two. Everything I have read on the system points me to it being well designed and totally capable for what I want. The weak link was indeed Panasonic uk design. Eventually I got the contact details of the design team themselves and liaised directly with them. I don’t think many people in the uk use the two zone setup so it took a while to get the design so we all understood it. The benefit is that they produce the full hydraulic and electrical design (not that straightforward) AND then warranty it. So if anything is incorrect Panasonic pick up the tab. Your installer just follows it. the rep was useless and just tried to sell me aircon. The best thing to do is strongly suggest that the design team follow Panasonics own reference diagram which you can find in their main manual. Can forward if you need. The Panasonic control unit is fairly smart and supports multi zone by way of controlling a mechanical blending valve and water temperature sensor. In cooling mode this is what protects your UFH from running too cold. Return water is blended to mix up to a limiting temperature (say 16 degrees). Fancoils can run at 7 or 8 degrees which is what the buffer will be chilled to. You can even do the reverse in winter and have your zones on different temps if you want the fancoils running a bit hotter ( probably not necessary). All my pipework was lagged. In theory it should be as good as aircon. PM me if you want the email For the guy I spoke to at Panasonic. It’s a very capable well designed system though and only one I came across that natively controlled multiple zones, had the fcus from same manufacturer etc. and the tcap range is very impressive in the way it can maintain a constant output irrespective of environment temperature.

They are mandated for all new builds because at some point everyone will be driving electric. They are rapidly becoming the norm. When you build a house you have to comply with the rules for those coming after you. For the same reason, if you update the house electrics (add a circuit or whatever) you have to comply with modern regulations and update other parts of the system as required by the latest rules at the time of installation. Other wise we'd all be still on rewirable fuses. "They work well enough, and are cheap, why should I have to change..." Etc, etc, etc 🙂 If it is still possible to specify a 'dumb' charger I'd do it while you still can. From long experience with electronics, the more basic it is, the longer it will last. Avoid anything that needs a WiFi signal to operate because it will become obsolescent before you blink

The depth of 250mm is because i have to make up around 325mm-350mm ground to get to sub floor level. Using 250mm seems like a good way to this and bump up the ground insulation. I think we're now pretty set on going the foam glass route because it also seems simpler build wise.

This reminds me of a major house builder who, in the early days of renewables installed PV panels on their new builds, they didn't however actually connect to anything, but when considered in conjunction with the regs, it complied!

I only started running Grafana earlier this year, so the only data I currently have are Loxone native (and hence probably not much help). For context, I presently run the cooling open loop. I can enable cheap rate cooling and/or daytime cooling (scheduled between 10:00 and 16:00, from memory). I can also push a button and get 2, 4, 6, or 8 hours of cooling. Periods where the cooling doesn't come on for a period are usually cooler and/or cloudy (and hence less solar gain) periods. This shows the downstairs slab temp (note: not air temp) and the UFH flow temp for June and July last year: Note the runup to the peak slab temperature in late June. With the cooling off, the temperature rose consistently from 19.4 on Monday 23 June to 21.6 on Saturday 28 June, when I enabled cooling This is what the weather was doing during June 2025: The house has a long time constant when it comes to reacting to external temperatures. Even though the temperature in June was highest on about 21 June and fell off sharply after that, the internal house temperature continued rising for a couple of days before I turned the cooling back on. Unsurprisingly, the cooling downstairs has virtually no impact on upstairs temperatures. Here's 10 days starting on 23 June, showing the relentless increase in upstairs temperature even after the cooling is turned on downstairs on the Saturday: That was actually the hottest it got upstairs in all of 2025. Not sure if any of that helps. I originally planned to add things like flow sensors along with power monitoring for the ASHP so I could get a better sense of what was going on an perhaps tweak things for better performance and lower costs, but in the end I decided it was too expensive and complex. That said, earlier this year I expanded the inputs available for Loxone, such as excess solar power and temperature forecasts. I'm hoping to do something with those to better automate cooling this year.

Exactly my thoughts - there is a company doing brick-weave drives locally but I'm not impressed with their prep work - I reckon those drives will soon suffer with tram-lining where cars are repeatedly parked in the same place

This is exactly the shifting argument I've come to expect from you. In one statement you say just run fan coils at 6C and get as cold as you want and then when it's pointed out the measure you have to take to get this working, in the next you say something is dead simple and no problem at all, but use reference temps that are wildly different at 17C. Once you then run at 17C the cooling effect is dramatically different and goes back to what I originally said was marginal cooling that may bring uncomfortable temps back to okay and not like aircon at all. The other issue is that your doing this in your own home, you're not running a company providing design and installation in other peoples' houses that may have vastly different expectations and understanding of the system, or none at all and then completely undermine the original strategy. What customers often understand as cooling is very difficult to quantify and can easily lead to big misunderstandings, because they often assume it's like aircon.

As an installer, I can tell you that many products aren't even designed for the sole benefit of the installer, but that of the manufacturer, so we have to fiddle around unnecessarily and deal with call backs, hence why you get to spend a long time finding the products you stick to. When you find the good ones you find they're for the benefit of both installer and customer.

I'm actually not sure where the best place is to post this but as it's primarily about heat pump system design, I'll put it here. @marshian and @mads ,and maybe @MikeSharp01? you've expressed your interest so mentioning you here too. I hope the admins don't mind me putting this up here, but maybe if it is found to be useful, could be pinned to help so many of the people who come here struggling with poor heat loss calcs and designs and want to complete their own. I've finally deployed the tool I've been working on for initial public use. It's available free and open source, so repository on GitHub if anyone wants to host locally. It's currently in a bit of a test mode so I can get some feedback and bug reports to refine it and add further important functions. Just bear in mind I've been developing this myself along with everything else in life and it's been quite a major piece of work since last summer. It is now based on the CIBSE 2026 Domestic Heating Design Guide implementation of BS EN 12831:2017 and BS EN12831:2017 so complies with MCS design requirements. I have been using this tool for MCS heat pump projects in house that I'm doing. It's at https://openheatloss.com Important user notes: At the moment when you arrive, you can complete a whole project anonymously without logging in but this persists only for 48 hours or until you close the browser. The save a project, just register using name and email, nothing else. If you want to remain largely anonymous, you can just add the post code prefix to the installation address to set outdoor design temperature and Typical reference temperature. No need to put in loads of personal information. The workflow design is to work you way from left to right across the app tabs. Current limitations: I have not populated the database with standard wall build-ups and U-values. If you're a self-builder or doing major diy hopefully you'll have this info already for your project, otherwise you'll need to look it up manually. There is, however, a comprehensive floor u-value calculator and a simplified one in the room elements input too, so these can be calculated for you. Same thing with radiators - no standard sizes or outputs in a global database yet. I will do a scrape at some point. All outputs entered should be the Delta T 50 catalogue values and if you want system volume calcs, also input the radiator water volume. The UFH sizing calculates volume automatically based on your set pipe diameter, spacing and room area. Text based design - I've tried some of the design tools that are trying to be like cad design software, so you've got do draw your project. Having used cad software, I didn't warm to any of them because they're not proper cad software but in house bespoke design. As I also found out they have limitations so you have to fudge some shapes - roofs in particular. Text based means you can input elements more flexibly according to your needs. Well, I hope so anyway. What you will find different if you've used other tools, although I'm sure they'll either be doing it already or soon, is that the tool provides 2 different heat load figures. is for the heat generator which calculates the whole house fabric and normal ventilation includes a full fabric air infiltration calculation and is usually higher than the generator load To explain this, the new heat loss calculation methods according to BS EN 12931:2017 and specifically those implemented in CIBSE 2026, with wind load under certain conditions, parts of the building and rooms may require higher heat outputs, whilst other parts may need less. This 'total' value comes to a higher result than the generator. In my own test projects that I've run through the new software, I can attest to this working quite well. For example, in one design and installation project of mine, one particular room in the house was designed for 23C but over the winter, whilst never cold, the room never managed more than 21C. I had thought it was a balancing issue, but no. When I ran this project through the new software it predicted that I would need larger radiators in this particular room, base on the new ventilation infiltration calculation, so that is what I will be installing before next winter. Anyway, please have a go and let me know what you think, and ask any questions you have here, or email me at the tool - heatloss@openheatloss.com Does anyone need a user guide to the design workflow and inputs? Let me know..

Full RdSAP10 (from June 2026) construction library is now in the tool. It's under the U-value library similar to floor u-value calculator.

For general info. Crushed tarmac and road planings used to be a waste product and was very cheap and great value. Then other people discovered this, some nay-saying consultants were converted to allowing it, and the price increased. Then it also became available graded as type 1 etc. Unfortunately crushed aggregate has always been abused by some suppliers I once saw a guy loading 3 parts rubble with 1 part soil from adjacent piles, into a crusher, and it was for sale. Even ethical efforts can contain some junk. All you can do is pay a lot for guaranteed clean and graded or take a chance.... or maybe visit the source. You can do a diy quality check by mixing a sample into a glass jar and swirling it in water. It settles in layers and you can assess how much silt is in it. Paper and wood will float.

Yes. The levelling is shit, and their management of your expectations equally shit. If I am going to fail to get a floor perfect, for whatever reason(s), I tell the client before hand so they know what to expect; that allows opportunity to explore options, and for a compromise to be agreed. You can't just have depressions that bad on a new floor, and rectifying it is relatively easy; just add spot-filling with compound over primer and then block the floor to remove the steps where the 'waves' of leveller are apparent. Using a dimpled roller is great for general levelling, but if you're rectifying areas then you don't roller it as you don't want the leveller to migrate from the area you want to improve. Talk to them in the morning and completely lay your cards on the table, and ask these questions and get the answers directly, as all you're doing here is venting and not resolving, as we're not laying your floor.

Recycled tarmac is great as long as it is a coarse mix, and not only fine stuff from toppings and footpaths. Many people don't realise that it is nearly all stone and sand, and the black stuff just glues it together. (5% or so if I recall) If you ask the contractor why it is not acceptable it would be interesting to hear. If well crushed, (not in big lumps) then well laid it can be better than type 1. It's 150mm thick and you have presumably whacked it or rolled it. It will never get that load again. The problem i see is with 30mm sand. That is very thick and will be affected by rain and weeds. Also, with block paving, you can get very local point loading. 30mm sand tends to suggest you need it to adjust to a good plane surface could you use less? Test the surface by driving back and forward many times. Does it show any settlement? Now jack up the car so you have half a ton on a small area. OK? Worst case? If it ever settles locally then blocks can be reset. I've even used it under a factory slab taking very large loads. No problem.

Just to confirm, that vinyl over the blown tiles worked for almost 2 years until I removed it this week 👍

I think you must live on a different planet, Nick. I see series plumbed all the time with absolutely no thought whatsoever. Plumbers (who do very good quality work) who mindlessly just go, 'oh it's unvented so that needs 22mm to the bathroom, bla, bla, bla. Show them a manifold and the tilt function goes into overdrive and they ask wtf? Yes, radial all the time for me. And just like you, rads should also be connected through a manifold - ideally with flow regulators

You just need a good plumber who sees things holistically. My jobs are all planned in advance of the construction phase, with a line out done comprehensively; line outs are used for identifying all trades requirements, for pipe and cable pathways / service risers etc, so as to delete any downstream conflicts or ‘feck ups’. A good trade will support you here, but all too many of them expect to have this handed to them on a plate so they can just paint by numbers. Time and money goes down the tubes PDQ when your double handling or moving sideways (or backwards) plus trying to find trades whilst the plates are all spinning is time consuming and stressful, hence I always say to sort this in advance. Designs are wonderful if they’re done by the person responsible for bringing them to life, otherwise they’re largely ignored, or aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. In over 30 years of doing this I’ve never produced a single design as it’s a waste of time and money. I did this plant room out of my brain space, from scratch. Just sat there for 4 hours in silence planning it out, then told my electrician where his cable trays needed to be so I could plumb around them, so he could get started on 1st fix before my kit even arrived. The plans I was given from the supposed M&E designer went straight into the bin, utter garbage, which happens 99% of the time in the domestic sector. Commercial designs are always spot on, but the cost for that kind of setup runs into 5 figures. Architects never detail this, most don’t give a plant space bigger than a phone box, and desktop designs rarely layer the accumulative multiples of disciplines; choke points and interference are often unidentified until they’re staring you in the face and ‘the ship has sailed’. Just get a good (better) plumber, someone used to working more comprehensively, and ask them to help you plan this is my 2 cents.

As an update. The equipment arrived yesterday, I connected it up with the 'dish' sitting on a bit of rough grass at the side of the house, and it all worked straightaway. It's only set up roughly, not optimised, but I'm getting 90mbps for the same cost as the 10mbps on the copper line. Starlink took the first payment yesterday, they're quick, but it was only £23, so I'm not complaining. I was amazed at how simple it all was. I've just got to get a bracket to mount it on the wall.

I hate plumbing. It is the cause of the vast majority of defects. I think we should bring back the outside WC. The hidden cistern is probably going to haunt me.

Take some stuff through the wall?

Having just had this done I can advise one concern. The guys putting the insulation in were very cavalier at such intrusions, and were keen to hurry the job and get away. Anticipating such issues I put my heel on the membrane at all such, and one gave way drastically. I settled on the fact that screed would fill the dent and make it solid. That's provided that the membrane isn't punctured and tape still in place. In your case thus concern applies outside the green foam. Inside the green circle perhaps stuff with insulation offcuts and put a sandcand cement screed on top. For anyone approaching the insulation stage I'd say either watch these guys all the time or do any fiddly cutting yourself and leave them with the easy cuts. Eg we had drain pipes with mortar bedding, some near stud walls, leaving slopes into small voids. I spent a day cutting triangular pieces to leave a flat and solid surface, and very glad I did. My mental test was to imagine a heavy concentrated load, eg bed leg or grand piano. Under an island it is more a matter of tidiness

I would try to find the engineering tables for various heat pumps, the minimum modulation figure is more important than the max output figure as your heating requirements are around half your design day for the average heating season day. Plus you will get an idea of expected CoP at you flow temps.

With a home charger it will cost less than £1.80 per hour while it is plugged in, so £30 would be difficult to reach unless they turned up in a car with a 120kWh flat battery and hung around for 24 hours.

Not visible on my phone, so I think you're right. I'll post it again tomorrow when I'm back at my desk.

If you are in the build stage and it's likely to see near freezing temperatures and the loops are being left water filled, yes. If no water in system yet, just pressure test with air and leave pressurised. But you could blow out the water and replace with air pressure if already water filled. If house is built and heating system in use, no point. But you do need corrosion inhibitors and biocide (from same company to ensure chemistry compatibility)

Don't forget, if you have an EV charger fitted, you also need an SPD under current regulations. To be honest SPD are so cheap these days I don't know why they are fitted as standard with a new installation anyway.

The advice from @Russell griffiths was good. A labourer would be useful, but not if they don't know what they are doing. You may as well get them to mix (with a mixer) rather than have it delivered. Make sure is it just moist enough that it holds into a ball if you squeeze it, but not wet. You are best with a polythene layer on top of the Celotex. A laser level may be helpful. A long aluminium straight edge to screed with. Use kneepads. I wouldn't fancy doing this myself as I would be too knackered after the 2nd hour.

Can you buy dummy ones?

Is it an MCB or an RCBO? A picture would help.

Someone the other day had a radiator system that currently runs at 45 degs, he was getting quotes circa £13500 before grant for a heat pump and some install works - utter bonkers. But generally most R290 heat pump seems to modulate well. But not all will do cooling if you need that. Example, current Grant heat pumps physically will do cooling BUT their controller does not allow this happen. Most installers are clueless about cooling, so be prepared for plenty of BS.

Can't comment on the charger but the gully seems a bit ott. Never heard of that before.

The MCS design and installation requirements are that the Heat Pump can provide all the heating/how water requirements, which does mean the unit has to be sized according to the heat loss, but that doesn't necessarily mean that your heat pump will be over-sized. Good design also makes sure that the heat pump can modulate down far enough to deal with typical temperatures without short cycling.

The timber sleepers will rot out pretty quickly. Your tarmac looks fine. Go over the whole lot with 3 passes with a Wacker. Make sure the bedding layer is an even thickness.

Listen to the advice of the new contractors as they will then be liable for longevity etc. If you ignore them then you’d be blamed for any failures. Short cuts take 3 times longer and are always 3 times the cost. Remove the U/S sub base and get it all replaced with type 1, and install ACO drains to manage storm water.

Coming back to this - I don't think it needs a floor plan type arrangement - I was think more a "Is room above heated Yes/No" Target temp = "X" Then the dt function for internal differences takes this into account?

My comments 22mm main run for DHW, will take an utter age to get hot water out the tap. You really want a manifold system. Mine is DHW cylinder - 15mm to manifold central location, then from manifold 15mm run to each wet room and spur from there. No comment on price

Fitted the replacement valve insert yesterday and everything seems to be working fine again. Didn't seem to be any difference in the old and new valve but it's working so I'm happy.

I would do this. ⬆️

Unless I've missed something, hempcrete still seems to be a niche product in the UK, so this newly published webinar on its use in European newbuild may be of interest. It's mainly focused on apartment buildings (with some office & commercial) rather than single homes, although there are a couple of examples of those from Australia (using a rebranded French system). Sprayed hempcrete, hempcrete blocks and prefabrication are all covered, applied to timber, steel and concrete frames. Start at 10' 50" if you want to skip the introductions.

I'll add mine. Hands on self building with trades brought in when necessary (groundworks, pouring concrete, erecting steel frame fitting windows, GRP roof, electrics, ASHP so far) 270m2 Costs to date (includes professional services and materials, labour as above, NOT plot, or our time, and fuel costs - 4 years@400 miles per week): £249,000 Budgeted costs to come: £110,000 Projected cost /m2: £1,320