MJNewton

Whilst this feels like a contradiction interns, this board seems to be of very high quality (it's from DIY Kitchens for what it's worth) and is extremely heavy. No wire seen so far (or is it potentially microscopic due to the way it's made?)

The cuts really have been perfect on both sided - like they'd be done with a Stanley knife. But do you think changing the depth might increase the life? The half-tooth depth was merely what the instruction manual said to do (to improve cut quality).

I've been using my plunge saw on the new kitchen build and with its track found it absolutely brilliant for perfectly neat cuts on end panels, shelves etc. However, I am finding that my blades are dulling after a time resulting in slow cuts and burning of the material. Am I doing something wrong? I wondered if it might be one of the following: - Material - the panels are melamine faced chipboard (MFC) so a fairly dense material with glues and goodness knows what else inside it - Speed - might I be cutting too fast? Too slow? - Alignment - could the tool be out of alignment and hence giving the blade a tough time? It all looks fine, produces nice square cuts, and there doesn't appear to be much adjustment on this model (Titon TTB673CSW from Screwfix) - Support - I've been making my cuts on a sacrificial sheet of OSB. The blade has however been set to only just be below the bottom of the material being cut (as per the instructions) and so is only *just* cutting into the OSB - Blades - the two blades I've tried are one from Triton and another from Trend at £10 and £15 respectively. It is hard to quantify how long they are lasting me, but I could be on to my third blade soon now which seems a lot for one kitchen...?

Perhaps choice of ducting is less critical in that case, and if flexible ducting is acceptable then obviously that flexibility will be to your advantage because it can be clamped down on to the odd-sized vent using a jubilee clip.

Could the foam be intended to be used to fill the gap between the outer diameter of the upper valve portion and the ducting? (i.e. it's currently sitting in the wrong place)

Either solid or the somewhat confusing name semi-rigid: Solid: or Semi-rigid: In all cases the interior is smooth (or relatively smooth in the semi-rigid case) and thus minimises flow restrictions that would otherwise occur with flexible ducting. Edit: I've just re-read that you've got a 'small MVHR' unit... how 'small' is it? I've also just spotted that whilst you've got two vents that's all that's intended on being used? In which case perhaps the 'proper' approach I describing above might not be quite so important and flexible ducting would suffice (like it would with, say, an inline bathroom fan extractor).

I wouldn't expect flexible ducting of that type to be used for runs to ceiling vents?

Ha, yes, not to mention trapped fingers. I also liked the slight 'ricketiness' of them which I first thought was merely Chinese quality of construction but have now realised is actually really helpful for being able to nudge the board around without needing to necessarily move the whole lifter. A real workhorse. My only regret is not having any more ceiling boards to do (although I may just rip another ceiling down without hesitation if there's even some benefit in doing so).

I was thinking a skirt of some sort, even if just to mitigate the issues immediately and prove your theory about how the water is finding its way in. As you say, once the roofing is up to glazing level it sounds like there won't be a problem, but worthwhile proving that now if you can.

Surely the spring clips are merely to hold the inner section of the vent up inside the outer? I don't think they are designed to attach to the ducting. What's the inside diameter of your ducting i.e. what's the delta between the 94mm OD of the vent and the ID of the ducting? My vents have have a rubber ring around the outside that fills this cap; perhaps you could fabricate something similar (eg gap-filling foam tape).

I use PVC tubing to help apply sealant/foam to awkward places. Widely available on ebay for next-to-nothing.

I envy you guys that just crack on with it... I let things drag on and on.

So that mountain might well become a mole hill afterall? Room looking great though. Always a great feeling to finally get to the end, no matter the journey!

In case you might not have clicked the Adapt-r link I see they've actually got a photo on their front page which may be food for thought:

Yes, I've seen that before. You need to connect that white bit to the waste system. Do let me know if I can be of any more help... ?

I'd take it up with your GP. Seriously. The carpet fitter isn't responsible for conditions with your feet and isn't really in a position to do anything about it, aside from fitting underlay of your choosing if you consider it being a trigger. I would expect you to have to pay for that now however as there's nothing wrong with what he's fitted.

Cloud 9 Cumulus. One of the most widely fitted and well regarded underlays in the industry.

Just pull the carpet by a tuft right in the corner (pliers will suffice to lift it until you can grab it by hand) and then pull up - it'll come off the grippers without issue and can easily be put back and pushed back in between the grippers and skirting. Whatever you do, calm down. I've never known so many mountains being made out of mole hills and the distrust you have in the motivations of others - the stress you create for yourself has surely got to be harmful.

What underlay is it? Lift the carpet from a corner - the underlay often carries branding printed on it.

Probably the AEG ComfortLift?

There's a retrofit option available for other dishwashers - http://adapt-r.co.uk/ (surprisingly pricey but could be worthwhile (neceessary) for some).

You could probably argue the same about most kitchen cabinets really - they're just different permutations of the same components and I would expect the price to correlate with the number of parts. £120 sounds a lot though; I'd expect it to be half that tops (eg the ones from DIY Kitchens are £60). More to the point however, I thought most (all?) single integrated ovens are of the same dimensions and so the shelf could've been provided ready-fitted thus making it plug-and-play like the others. It certainly was from our one from DIY Kitchens and suited the randomly-bought oven perfectly. It had an integrated drawer under the shelf and so would've been limited in ability to adjust if the oven above wasn't a standard size. Even without the drawer you'd need a filler panel for the gap underneath and ideally should be supplied cut and finished rather than you having to make your own.

I'm wondering if it's the relatively high number of wet rooms that is pushing the overall extract requirement to be quite high, and this in turn is forcing the supply rooms to be higher than otherwise needed to ensure an overall balance is maintained. Taking the specific 20 L/s for the sitting room in insolation that's quite a high flow. I suppose it is the room that would likely see the most number of simultaneous occupants but even so; try not to focus on what the figures say as the real world is a lot more forgiving and has to be given the imperfections of the system as a whole.

I must admit, I've often found myself explaining to people why there are 'really old fashioned plug sockets' in my 'new build' house! Even once I've explained I think they still go away wondering if I really know what I'm doing...

Okay, understood. When you said '20 L/s' I thought you meant that's what you were getting and you were trying to get it up to 80 L/s (for that one room alone). So what are you getting? No, it's the balanced volume *throughput* that's of interest i.e. your 80 L/s target is 80 L/s supply and 80 L/s extract. P.S. Try and stick to one set of units; it gets really confusing swapping between the two!