MJNewton

That's good to hear, thanks. I'll be doing the plumbing work shortly and with the rest of the construction work likely to take some time (sigh!) there'll be plenty of opportunity to spot any leaks and the system should be well exercised given the heating season imminent. It's a sealed system so I've got the benefit of an always-connected pressure gauge to alert me to any small leaks that might otherwise be difficult to detect, although it wouldn't be going much above ~1.5 bar.

Apologies for the rather cryptic title... I am in the middle of creating an open-plan kitchen/lounge/dining area and cannot with certainty decide where best to put the radiators. Indeed, I can envisage that the 'best' position might well change over time if/when the more mobile elements of the room move around. I was wondering, therefore, if there would be any issue with me piping up a couple of areas to cater for the potential alternative siting of radiators at a later date? In keeping with the rest of the system I'll be using 10mm plastic piping run down from the ceiling behind the plasterboard so it'll be a straightforward job to do at this stage of the construction (the ceiling is currently down). The exit points are are at socket height (behind where the radiator would be) so I would just cap off the pipes in a back box and cover them with a blanking plate. Once my project is complete there will be limited access to the ceiling space so I was planning on connecting all the radiator feeds up to the manifolds now hence the unused ones will likely be sitting there for a long time with either air or water in them. Does anyone anticipate any potential issue(s) with this?

I did this job today and, as Simplysimon said, the Dewalt drill bit was a dream to use - it was like the proverbial hot knife through butter.

I'm sure they're great but at £69.99 I hasten to add that I only want one bit! (Hopefully) Edit: I see they sell them individually so will take a further look!

I'm warming to that idea - certainly sounds the easiest and most straightforward method and having thought about it further can't see how it could cause issue. Assuming of course drilling through the metal is achievable which given all my HSS drill bits are the ones made from cheese that you get in a multi-pack when you first buy a drill will unlikely be the case! Any bit recommendations? (Ideally from Toolstation/Screwfix for ease of reference)

I think all of these suggestions are probably valid; and I should add that by asking the question I have perhaps given the impression that I think it is a difficult problem to solve - I don't think it is but am never the less keen to hear of new (to me) ideas/products or whether a 'just use what Ive got' approach might suffice. On to the pics, here's the wall in question: (Ignore the duct routing - they're just hanging there! Oh, and don't highlight the less-than-ideal noncontinuous dot-and-dab method that'll almost certainly exist throughout the house!) And here are the joist hangers; photo taken from another room where I've taken the ceiling (plasterboard and resilient bars) down but the wall boards are still up: The 'cradle' of the hangers protrude ~80mm into the room so just about the size of my stud depth. If the hangers already hand a hole drilled in the bottom I think I'd be laughing - I'd locate them and drive a decent depth screw up through but for some reason I am nervous about drilling my own hole in them just in case that causes any weakness!

Thanks everyone for the initial thoughts/suggestions. I'll take, and post up, some photos this evening to help illustrate the situation - apologies I should've done this at the outset. In the meantime, I should add that there is actually another floor above this bedroom (so no easy access like there would be in a loft), the wall is block (light/medium-weight?) and the joists are engineered I-joists. Also, the plasterboard ceiling is affixed to resilient bars so sits ~16mm down from the joists - not sure if this is relevant other than the extra distance (gap) that would generally not normally exist. Will post back with the pics so you can revise any suggestions if required in light of the full story!

Having stripped back the dot-and-dab plasterboard from a bedroom wall I now need to route four 75mm OD semi-rigid ducts from floor to ceiling. To conceal these, and reinstate the wall finish, I will be building a stud frame out of 75mm x 50mm timber. Unfortunately, whilst the base plate can be screwed down to the floor joists the joist hangers of the ceiling joists mean I won’t be able to affix the top plate to anything so the lateral loading will have to be accommodated by fastening the studs to the wall. My question is: what fasteners would your recommend, noting the ~75mm stud depth and limited scope for noggins for stiffness? If it’s relevant the wall finish will be 12.5mm PB + skim and whilst I don't anticipate putting heavy shelves up future owners might well do.

Or, so I've heard, you can buy seals off eBay for only a few quid if you're worried about what the DNO might say/do. To be honest, unless there is evidence suggesting theft, I don't think they are all that bothered and would rather any work was done safely than having to work live. I've certainly never heard of anyone being 'done' for removing a cutout seal, not least probably because it would be very hard to prove.

I think it looks great!

Those flow rates are what most would aim to achieve for 'boost', and that's in the wet rooms not the main living areas/bedrooms. If you turned the whole lot down a bit for 'normal' you should still get the ventilation required but with much less noise.

That could be either bloody brilliant, or bloody awful! Would love to see an installed one in the flesh. In case it is food for thought, I once visited a BT lab where, being underground with no windows, they'd installed LCD screens in window cutouts and displayed a moving street scene image on them. The video loop on each was timed such that, say, a bus would drive past one window and then moments later pass the other. Once you stopped staring at it it really did change the room dynamics and make you feel more 'connected' with the outside world. I did wonder, however, if maybe I'd start to hate it if I was there for more than a few hours!

I imagine the pre-cure viscosity will be more a function of temperature whatever you use so make sure it's warm! (Somehow I always end up having to jobs that require nice runny product in the middle of winter so have spent many a day outside with pots of paint, sealant tubes, rolls of tape etc stuffed up my jumper to keep them working)

Sadly, quite an appropriate comparison! It was the safety aspect of smart relays, hidden ones in particular, that made me a bit cautious hence why I went with the Shelly as it was the only one I found that's been through UL certification (that's not to say others wouldn't pass of course).

It sounds like you might be regarding the CE mark as meaning far more than it does. Most CE certification is done through self-declaration by the manufacturer, and even where this declaration has been 'verified' by a 3rd party you will likely find that the certificate (assuming it is legitimate) caveats that the verification is based on 'submitted documentation' and not 'submitted product' i.e. they haven't even seen the device, never mind tested it. Lab testing is expensive, box-ticking documentation is not. Such certificates are pretty much worthless, beyond their marketing value of course. Given it is a self-declaration scheme the CE mark really should be taken merely as the manufacturer/distributor saying 'this complies with all the relevant legislation, honest' and nothing more. You only have to look at eBay being awash with cheap CE-marked power supplies and chargers which, if you open many (most?) of them up, you would find very poor (and unsafe) design and construction. If you are after a 'safety mark' you should be more looking towards something like the UL certification scheme as that *does* involve independent 3rd party lab testing of actual product.