Temp

Where is her existing loft insulation ? If it's on the floor of her loft then the space above the insulation is meant to be ventilated to avoid condensation issues. If you now put insulation at the rafter level you would have to ensure that there is no ventilation below the new insulation it or it's just a waste of money. There are two conventional ways to put insulation at rafter level.... 1) Cold Roof construction: Insulation between the rafters. Leave a 50mm ventilated void between the membrane and insulation. This is to allow any water vapour that gets through the insulation to escape rather than condense on the rafters causing them to rot. As an alternative the insulation can be put in contact with the membrane (eg no ventilated gap) if the membrane is vapour permeable. 2) Warm Roof construction: All the insulation above the rafters so the rafters are on the warm side where there is no condensation. Aside: Marketing departments hate the term "Cold roof construction" because "cold" has negative connotations. Some places now refer to insulation between rafters as creating a "warm roof" but what they are talking about is the temperature of the loft NOT the temperature of the rafters/roof members. Spray foam... I think spray foam is normally sprayed directly onto the underside of whatever felt or membrane is there so it is most like option 1) Cold Roof construction. However if the existing membrane isn't vapour permeable I have to wonder how any water vapour that gets through the insulation escapes? Is there a risk of interstitial condensation occurring on the rafters? Perhaps they remove any membrane that isn't vapour permeable and spray onto the back of the tiles? If the membrane is in poor condition any water that gets under the tiles can presumably find it's way into contact with the rafters. However currently there might be enough ventilation of the loft that it doesn't matter. If you spray foam all over the rafters so they are no longer ventilated, so is there a risk that this water will become trapped causing rot? Some info here.. https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/insulation/article/spray-foam-insulation I'd want to know who pays if there is a problem.

We used Litofin stain stop.

It sounds like either a fault or a calibration issue. Its possible it got accidentally recalibrated? If you accidentally held down the ON button while trying to set the target temperature you would end up recalibrating it instead. The procedure is on page 25 of the Touch-N manual. https://www.heatmiser.com/en/heatmiser-manuals/#56-touchscreen-thermostat-series-1456694661 To recalibrate it you need another thermometer that you trust to measure the room temperature. The heatmiser is then recalibrated to that value.

One option might be to try doing do a factory reset on the stat... https://www.heatmiser.com/en/heatmiser-manuals/ See touch screen manual page 26 However I hesitate to suggest this as I think you have the optional central control panel which I'm not familiar with as I don't have one. Doing a factory reset would loose any programs set in the stat and I don't know if you would have to re-enter these into the stat or if the central control panel would magically do that for you. The stat and control panel may have to be configured to work with each other and doing a factory reset might also mess that up. Perhaps best only do a factory reset as a last resort before buying a new stat?

PS: The default temperature at which it calls for heat in frost mode is 12C but it can be set lower.

As Triassic says, the stat is OFF or rather it's OFF with Frost Protection mode (snowflake illuminated). The manual says.. So despite it only being 7-8 degrees it might not be cold enough to trigger the frost protection mode and turn on the heating. To turn the stat back on you have to press OFF again and the snowflake will disappear. This still doesn't explain why it thinks the room temperature is 20C unless there is a bug in the frost protection mode software?

On my Heatmiser stats if if it says "RT" or "Room Temperature" that's the current temperature not the target.

I think it's possible to calibrate Heatmiser stats but I thought they could only be adjusted a few degrees? Perhaps I'm wrong and someone messed with the calibration by mistake? Otherwise yes it's faulty.

At least with solder, if it leaks you can reheat the joint and give the pipe a twist.

Would you?....

Before you change to a combi.... The hot flow rate you get will depend on the boiler power so make sure it's big enough for your needs. Also they should check the flow rate from the mains is adequate/good before they do anything as that can also be limiting.

Perhaps Google boiler kettling?

I don't know about all the ones linked above but a lot of fire rated down lights aren't air tight. The top of the unit is typically a sandwich of metal and intumescent material with holes drilled through for ventilation. In the event of a fire the intumescent material swells up blocking the holes. Depending on how they are installed the ventilation can allow water vapour past the vapour barrier into the roof space where it can condense. Hence the references recommending units that meet BS5250. Consider ordering a few before buying a whole house worth?

I remember seeing a YouTube video that showed bearing replacement on a machine that needed the drum cutting open. I also remember being impressed that was possible.

I've actually got an EE (and others) mast in line of sight and about 500m away, but it appears to be set up to service the A14 to the south of it and not our village which is north east of it.

That's the right thing for the bottom of a stack but I don't think there is one with a T- joint on it as well. Normally if you have several stacks you use one of those rest bends (aka large radius bend) at the bottom of each stack to send the waste outside, then run a pipe along the outside to connect up all the stacks and feed them to the sewer. Usually each connection will have a manhole on it. You can have a large diameter (eg 110mm) horizontal pipe connecting two stacks together above the rest bend but I don't think there is one bit of plastic that does both bend and T-junction. Would be a bit unwise as you wouldn't be able to access it if there was a problem. edit: I think any connection into the stack above the rest bend has to be 450mm above the bottom of the rest bend.

I'm going to have to do something about our mobile signal. It was so bad yesterday that I couldn't connect to 3 to find out what the balance was on a pay as you go account. In frustration I downloaded their app to try and get the info that way but the buggers won't let you use the app to connect to the 3 server over wifi !! They force you to use mobile data to connect on the grounds of "security".

This is the sort of brush we use but not sure if exactly same make. Looks like this one needs a separate mop handle.. http://www.belhygienic.com/mobile_product_info.php?products_id=2678

I'll try and find out which cleaner we got last time but I usually just Google for the cheapest alkaline tile cleaner and buy a 5L. The wholesale cleaning supplies companies are cheaper than the DIY stores. You can also get narrow stiff brushes with a long handle specifically for scrubbing grout lines. Allows you to do it standing up. I get best results if I dry the floor as much as possible after cleaning and rinsing (either mop it dry or use a wet vac) otherwise water seems to collect in the grout lines before evaporating leaving any remaining dirt behind concentrated on the lines. Alkaline cleaners are quite aggressive and if used full strength will probably remove any sealer on there. So after a full strength clean you might need to reseal. Lots of stone and grout sealers around. Lithofin is probably the most widely available brand but there are probably cheaper out there. Applies with a paint roller or pad. Smells the house out a bit.

Ed, Sorry if this is obvious but....Planing an Building contol are totally separate things. You must get planning conditions discharged by the planning department at the council but you can choose who does your Building Control Approval.

Sorry I meant when the grout lines eventually get dirty an alkaline cleaner works better than say Flash floor cleaner.

I recommend a professional alkaline tile cleaner for grout lines. Works better than regular supermarket floor cleaner. Make sure grout is well sealed before it gets dirty.

The planning condition is to protect the front hedge row so the planners may want an alternative method of protection in place if you remove it. If you want to keep the planners sweet I would ask them if you can amend the planning condition to allow you to remove the hedge and replace it with a "Tree Protection Barrier to BS 5837". We were required to agree tree protection measures and if I remember correctly we wrote a "Tree Protection Method Statement" which amounted to a site plan with a line in red ink where a temporary barrier would go and a one paragraph note stating that the barrier would be a "Tree Protection barrier to BS 5837". Google found that BS standard here... https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/idoxWAM/doc/Other-1592559.pdf?extension=.pdf&id=1592559&location=Volume2&contentType=application/pdf&pageCount=1 However we didn't actually build the barrier exactly as described in the BS. We just used whatever scaffolding poles and boards we had to hand. Nobody ever came and said it wasn't quite right construction. Edit: It might sound like a lot of work writing Method Statements and the like but it took us only a few moments and it ticked all the right boxes with the planners.

Check all the rads get some heat? I wonder if the system is full of crud because nobody put corrosion inhibitor in it? If it's not been used for a long time perhaps it's all settled out so it only takes one or two tvr to shut off to block the flow?

Humm I didn't spot that.