Munchincocopops

New plan......pull whole lot out and start a fresh.😬

Thanks for that. Just thought I could use a flat carbide grit hacksaw blade - cut a slit in celing so I can saw through the last bit of the tile. I'm expecting door frame is fixed to vertical stud wall framing and so will cut through tile and then multitool wood blade to cut through plasterboard to wall framing. I might need to try and cut tile adhesive off back of tile with multitool too and break tile off in bits carefully...will see. Normally I just replace all plasterboard as tiles I remove typically damage plasterboard, so I plan to replace.....maybe with tile backerboard as most tiles I see these days are porcelain though I will look for ceramic as I think easier to work with .....I do have a flatbed water table diamond tile cutter as I've done a few bathrooms and kitchens walls/floors for myself and family.....serious DIYer but no expert tiler so always happy to learn. Current tiles are ceramic on plasterboard. Yes plan to do a test cut & use flat trim. Good tip - do not buy tiles until ready to tile. Thanks again.

Hi - I plan to remodel our en-suite. New shower tray, new floor tiles and to avoid retiling the whole ensuite I'm planning to make shower (900x1200) area a contrast tile. Shower area has a small tiled stud wall along the 1200 edge which I will remove and the existing wall tiles up to the stud wall will be fine to tile from into shower area some 900mm plus stud wall thickness. On the opposite 900mm wall this runs back to a door. Plan is to cut tiles in line with the door frame so to tile into shower area from that. But....how do I cut tiles in position from top of door frame to celing. I can remove door architrave and use a small rotary cutter with diamond blade and spray water on it but there will be a portion of uncut tile as i cannot cut right up to ceiling. Multitool cutter or Dremel or? Thanks for any advice.

Thanks for the great replies and thanks for clarification of sarking. Lead that split is original as per house built in 1989 and south facing no more than 1.5m or I think & one piece. Valleys above extension over garage are much longer but are fibreglass valleys, again in lengths - cant recall what length...but was a kit from well known builders merchant at the time so I guess ok. These valleys themselves are not leaking but I do see signs of damp on sarking/membrane so water getting in somewhere over the years and in this constant rain....so plans to replace. As I mentioned .....just got it into my head now to replace all with Lead on top of Classicbond as I want belts and braces.....do it once and forget it for rest of my life anyhow. Thanks again. Kind Regards

If I can ask some more questions. I was thinking sarking is the correct name for the felt fitted under the tiles....but I think I'm wrong? I've been in the loft today and can see somehow with this constant rain water has gotten behind the tiles and is staining the roof felt/sarking under the tiles on the larger valleys. So a question.....can I use Classicbond instead of the sarking/felt when the valleys are redone. I realise sarking/felt allows air through and rubber will not so is this an issue? The larger valleys are an extension above the garage which protrudes from the front of the house hence 2 valleys. These valleys meet at the ridge of the house whilse the other 2 pairs of valleys of the original house meet before the ridge. The roof is Marley Bold Roll dry verge installation. Looking at the felt in the loft it looks like water is getting in at the top and also lower down. Lower down could be valley pointing I guess, but at the top? It will last the winter but needs doing this year. Thanks for any advice. Kind Regards.

Hi Nick – thanks for the reply. Yes OSB3….I should have been more specific. I was thinking OSB 9mm should be suffice as no-one will walk on the valleys unless your comment which has me at a loss “This should form the sarking” refers to 18mm OSB profile? So I will use 18mm OSB 3 and I was thinking Classicbond glued to OSB, then sarking(felt?) running along roof from left to right is overlapped the valley and 2ft or so to the other side and again from right to left and overlapping the valley and beyond 2 ft or so. Then the code 6 lead on top of this. I know there is a maximum length (I need to check) in which case overlapping is required (again I need to check how much). Reading your comment again and thinking about it I will run in sarking first over the valley then install Classicbond over the top of the sarking then lead on top of that in which case any water that manages to get behind pointing will not wet the sarking but run down the rubber to the gutter….Thanks for the advice. I was also thinking of running eves comb filler under the tile down the valleys as my tile is a bold roll and it will give something to point against with 3:1 sharp sand:cement ……also thinking of maybe pea gravel concrete…..it just need to last another 30 years and I’ll be gone! LOL. Thanks again for the advice and any further comments. Kind Regards.

Hi – I am looking to replace lead valleys as one failed (split) and I did not know until it bowed the bedroom ceiling. Anyhow leak is temporary fixed but now I have decided to replace all 6 valleys. I noticed the wood valley probably needs replacing and am thinking of 9mm OSB….is that ok. Currently it looks like flooring T&G. Also I expect the water got in as there is nothing below the lead on the valley. So I’m after “belts and braces” solution and am thinking of new 9mm OSB valleys, new sarking underneath on top of 1.5mm Classicbond rubber running down the valley OSB and 2ft or so either side, then code 4 lead on top of that. I’d appreciate any comments on this and can anyone recommend a good quality sarking. The house was built in 1989 and the sarking is that bitumen based product that rots as it reaches the gutter. So I plan to fit new sarking under the old as it meets the gutter too. I’m no roofer but I am a serious DIY who has bult a large garden room and I used Classicbond on OSB for that roof as it’s a 7 deg slope. Thanks for any advice.

Yes forgot....I have 2 ensuite bathrooms without Trv's and a main bathroom with cast iron radiator and trv.....all permanently on...i.e no motorized valve in circuit.

flow to manifold and return has me confused....ok my15 deg return is a guess...its warm but not as hot as flow at 60 deg....its a lot cooler. So I'm still wrong about "heat exchanger" manifold...still learning....I agree boiler pumping to dead end does not seem right....but at a loss where the heat is going...the boiler runs for quite a few minutes. I'm thinking with buffer tank boiler runs for longer than I see now (in my quick investigation) and stays off for a long time as it takes for the UFH to cool the buffer tank (ok plus heat losses). Anyhow.....will give boiler some radiators to heat as well as UFH and see if its better. Thanks for the replies.

I think I got it.......basically hot water from boiler is going to a dead end and only mixer valve consumes the water and only excess return water from UFH to manifold that is not recycled is returned to the boiler? Up to now I thought manifold was like a heat exchanger with a mixer valve to take hot water as required.....my mistake. Blimy - ran like this for past 2 years! Think I will pull CH relay and manually open CH motorized valve. Buffer tank looks like a good idea. OK 4 min or so run but boiler will cycle much less I expect.

I understood the mixer would not take much hot water so I was expecting the return to the boiler to be the unused hot water mixed with a little UFH return.....so to heat up as hot water is delivered to the manifold and "most" returned to boiler? I can reduce boiler temperature and see if its any better.....as I watch it for a while.....later in the week. And (?) for the moment pull CH relay and manually open CH motorized valve so CH comes on when UFH demands heat.....is that worth doing?

Early days and not spent much time on this yet but just been in garage for about 20 mins and boiler cycled 3x. UFH only is on and I turned up stat to ensure it asks boiler for heat when I'm in garage. What I find confusing is that the boiler heats (thought it was set at 70 but its set at 60 deg c) up to reading of 60-64 deg C and stays there for a while but return temp is about 15 deg c (read with chatty ir gun....it also reads output as 45 dec C but it feels hotter....but 15 deg c feels about right). As this is only feeding UFH manifold (CH & HW turned off) and pipe to UFH manifold is about 15ft or so I was expecting hotter return? Anyhow....return feels 15 deg or so when boiler is running then when boiler shuts down it does not take long for the boiler out temp (was reading 60 deg or so on boiler temp guage) to drop to about 38 deg at which point boiler fires up again. Return still feels like 15 deg or not much less (skin meter). I'm waiting for a new multimeter with temperature measurement so will pull insulation box around manifold kit once I get it as I have to move a lot of stuff and shelving to get to it so not a 5 min job. Will spend an hour counting cycles and timing on off maybe later in the week though would be nice to do when I get my temperature meter so I can record temperatures too. Just thought...I did have CH on but turned it off and I know its was off as relay was off in garage. But I guess CH mororized valve could be leaking and allowing pass through so return water to boiler is being mixed with return water from UFH? Will look at this again ensuring CH is off. Thats my update so far.

Thanks for the guide on what to do it is really helpful. I realise these systems are complicated to understand and get the best out of them and I'm no expert in this area but the comments and advice will help me understand better. I will follow your advice, it will take me some time too. Really interesting that you reduced gas consumption by over 50%, that is impressive and of course you know what you are doing. I'm not hoping or expecting anything like that but just wanting to make the best of what I have if at all possible and if (as it appears) I have 2 conflicting requirements of a boiler, then if savings would be reasonable I'm open to spending a bit now to save long run...not too long run as I'm an OAP...LOL. Thanks for all the comments and help everyone. Looks like I have some work to do....I wonder if I can fit a radiator next to the boiler to keep me warm when looking at this...LOL.

Which cheap system boiler to run UFH? Just something to think about.... Thanks for the help and advice.

Thanks again. Lots to think about and nothing perfect for my system to improve cycling or reduce running cost. Guess I need a logger to count cycles over a period of time and measure how much gas used. Easy thing to do is pull relays controlled by CH and HW that ask for boiler heat. Manually open CH & HW motorized valves and allow UFH only to ask for heat and boiler heats CH and HW too. Measure cycling and gas usage. Pick similar days in terms of outside temperature. Logger bit is not easy as I do not have one (yet) but I can measure gas usage. So will have a play over a few days or maybe a week or 2. Finally - looks like a problem anyhow no matter what I do as I need big boiler to heat whole house (I think unless I leave it on all the time? - though 24kW Viessmann never made house cosy) but UFH does not need much heat input. Option 3 might be the solution - a separate boiler for UFH.

Laptop battery is running out so last post of the night for me. Radiators - not sure what else I can add over above. TRV's on all bar living room that is on full as radio thermostat is in that room. Thanks for the comments and advice. Will be back tomorrow night.

Thanks - house used to be drafty when built but I soon sorted that. No cavity insulation bar garden room extension. No fitted any any as advised as house is buit of sandstone....bar garden room. House is cosy warm and quickly heats up in the coldest weather so really happy with 32kW. It used to be 24kW Viessmann which never seemed to turn off when really cold nor house really cosy. 32Kw turned out to slightly cheaper to run CH but I'm thinking its overkill now as we mainly live in garden room with UFH. But must admit in no time house is cosy when full CH is turned on. So will weather comp help to save cycling - does that control flow temp. I will have to google weather comp. Looks like this boiler does not support Opentherm from what I read.....but I'm no expert.

Thanks - will look into this over the week end....dont fancy standing for a hour in the garage but its something to look into.

Baxi Megaflo 32 System ErP Condensing Boiler.

Blimy.....must go and stand next to my boiler as it runs UFH to count how many times it cycles in say 10 minutes. Hope the opentherm is an option now.

Thanks for that. Option 2 I was thinking it would reduce boiler cycling and constant run to heat water from 45 deg to 60 deg or so then turn off. UFH uses buffer tank water temperature to run UFH on stat demand eventually cooling buffer tank water to below 45 deg which in turn demands boiler to reheat to 60 deg. That was my thoughts anyway hence seemed a good idea. Will look into opentherm as it looks good with Hot water and lower temperature for UFH and house heating. Last winter UFH was on constantlyfor 6 months. Sounds like I should simplify and skip CH timer and CH on with hot water demand or UFH demand and use CH stat to control CH need (i.e motorized valve)? Option 3...is it a typo or are you suggesting its a good idea even if complex/costly. Thanks again.

Thanks for the replies. Will look at boiler model tomorrow but I know its a Baxi, 4 years old and I'm not aware of built in DHWP or at least no controls visible to me to alter or select. anything other than on/off and temperature setting I recall. Will turn it down to 62 deg or so as i thought it had to be above 60 for bacteria reasons. Maybe I did not explain properly UFH has own /timer stat and demand on boiler. Radiator CH has its own timer and a room stat and demand on boiler. HW tank has its own timer and stat and demand on boiler. Separate boiler demands achieved via 3 relays (UFH, CH, HW) using volt free contacts wired in parallel connected to boiler demand. ( some additional wiring as demand to boiler comes from motorized valve for each heating circuit) Living room has 5kW radiator, some 14 other radiators in the house with their own valve TRV's except for living room which uses room stat and no valve TRV's. Garden room added recently (attached to house open plan kitchen) hence large boiler before that for CH but now we find we tend to live more in garden room with UFH that is normally on all the time over winter so less need for radiator CH other than keeping the chill off the house. Hope that explains why I ask questions on UFH. So back to my original questions. Option 1 or 2? Option 3 I added later I think will not help.

Its a system condensing boiler and heats the whole house which are radiators. Plumbed so all have their own thermostats and timers. Mostly we live in the garden room so usually house heating is off or turned down. Bathroom radiators come on whenever boiler is on. So 70 deg is for water heating. All showers use hot water tank water so no electric showers. House is quite large and built late 80's hence 32kW. There is a third option. UFH has its own boiler? Thanks for the comments.

Hi - I have a 12mx5m garden room with water based underfloor heating. It works well but I am always wondering if there is a better way to control this. At a guess I think there is about 400m of pipe as 4 loops in this area. My installation has a wall thermostat (no floor sensor) and I the normal mixer valve/manifold/pump arrangement and when stat calls for heat it opens a valve (water from boiler to underfloor manifold/mixer valve/pump) which in turn activates UFH pump and turns on boiler. Obviously when stat reaches temperature everything turns off. Now I'm wondering about 2 things: 1. Better control of boiler as a 32kW boiler running at 70 deg C will soon meet mixer valve requirement but the stat is still calling for heat until the room reaches temperature. So I wonder if I use a thermocouple/programmable thermostat to measure return water temperature on the UFH manifold and set this to 45 deg c (?) and if above this turn off the boiler. 2. To install a buffer tank, use thermocouples/programmers to turn on boiler if buffer tank temperature is below 45 deg C and turn off boiler when temperture is above 60 Deg C. Might have to play around with max temperature to achieve a workable value. There will be some plumbing to do between boiler/buffer tank/manifold and extra valves possibly and likely some wiring changes to suit. There might be a better way than what I am thinking so any comments or advice is appreciated.

No advice......maybe another question. How do you fix brackets to the plastic frame so that the brackets can be secured to the steel lintel supporting the inside blockwork that does not have a cavity tray as I expect fixing it this way would be fine. Is this the recommended practice thus avoiding fixing through steel lintel supporting outside brickwork and of course the cavity tray immediately on top of the steel lintel and brickwork on top of that. Hoping for a advice.