NSS

Pretty effectively. We do have active cooling available should we need it but very rarely have, and not so far this year despite day after day of clear skies in recent weeks. Note also that we don't open windows, not even at night. As for the view out, even on maximum tint you can see out clearly (but not in), it's just tinted glass after all not shutters or blinds that completely obscure any view out. We had one faulty unit (pane) on install but this was replaced without fuss. Tech support is great and after the first couple of years we had them (remotely) tweak the light values at which some of the glass tints as we felt it needed to happen a bit earlier (ie we'd had to use the active cooling a few times). Not sure if Internorm would you now deal direct with SageGlass or not. We were Internet's first customer (at least in the UK) to specify it and had to order the glass direct from SageGlass and the frames from Internorm. No idea where pricing sits now relative to what we paid then. One note of caution with blackout blinds. We looked at having Duette blinds installed on bedroom windows but the supplier refused to fit blackout ones due to the foil back reflecting heat back onto the 3D glazing due to concerns about causing such units to fail. Hope all that helps but feel free to ask if you have any further questions I may be able to assist with.

I have indeed, for over 3 years now. Happy to answer anything if I can.

Welcome, and don't think of them as mistakes, think of them as part of the learning experience ?

LOL, talk about a prickly relationship.

Another vote for Cuprinol anti slip. Our decking has been down for a couple of years now (plain/ungrooved) and remains slip resistant.

Update: We've suspected for a while that we may have more than 1 hedgehog in residence, but have never seen them both in the same image, until tonight. Maybe the patter of tiny feet will entertain us over the next 12 weeks. Note: second one can just be seen in the entrance to Hog House. Cabin_20200323_205035.mp4

So the item is due into the retailer in Germany by the end of next week. Had planned to turn the trip over into a leisurely few days away but, given the escalating Covid-19 situation, it's now going to be a dash there and a dash back.

As Jeremy says, rats are pretty much everywhere, but our camera has been triggered by motion literally hundreds of times (probably thousands) by hedgehog, mice, badger, fox, squirrel, cats and a variety of different birds, but only once has it been a rat.

So if you get a month's rain in a day, and then it rains again in the same month, surely what you had wasn't a month's rain? ?

I love the smell of solar gain in the morning ?

The downside of cheap building land, Dave ?

Self indulgent but I just love the way the low afternoon sun creates such interesting shapes as it shines through our lounge glazing at this time of year.

True. We used to live in a road named Kingfisher Copse and regularly received mail addressed to Kingfisher Corpse. Funny thing was there's a cemetery on the corner of the road.

?

Ours is apparently one of only two homes with the same name. Frankly I'm surprised anyone else would also have chosen F#@kwit's Bottom ?

Our Thermowood cladding has been up for about 3 years or so now. Unlike yours @Dean Carpenter ours is heat treated Redwood. We chose to coat it with a clear UV varnish as we preferred to maintain the wood colour rather than let it go grey. Apart from some slight fading on the south elevation it looks much the same as the day it was put up. We have sections on all elevations, and have no sign of any surface growth anywhere. Whether the varnish has helped or not I couldn't say, but for anyone considering Thermowood as opposed to Hotwood then hopefully our experience will provide some assurance.

What happens when you drive through a tunnel?

Wow! Just wow! Looking forward to seeing how it progresses ?

My daughter lives alone in a two bed coach house next door (attached) to a 3-bed house occupied by a family of four. The places were new 3 years or so when both she and her neighbours moved in. She has recently noticed that the meter number quoted on her bill is not the one on her meter. Turns out she's been paying the electricity bill for next door and vice versa but is having quite a battle to get the utility co to refund what she's overpaid.

Hmm, methinks they may be setting the bar too low (or should that be high).... 3.27. The proposed minimum elemental standards for new dwellings are as follows: Table 3.1 - Minimum standards for fabric performance External walls 0.26 W/m2.K ? Party walls 0.20 W/m2.K ? Floor 0.18 W/m2.K ? Roof 0.16 W/m2.K ? Windows 1.6 W/m2.K ? Roof-lights1 2.2 W/m2.K ? Door 1.6 W/m2.K ? Air permeability 8m3/m2.K at 50Pa ?

Wow, looks great - and what a garden! Look forward to seeing pics. Oh, and welcome ?

We have Jetfloor. Our longest spans are 4.45m and they had no issue with that. Total cost (supply only) for all materials (123m2) was £4,550 (albeit that was in 2015). Included 57 beams, infill books, inlay sheet, overlay sheet, Thermalite beam end spacer blocks, Thermalite edge blocks and Thermalite coursing blocks (for top of dwarf walls). We also had perimeter blocks to insulate the slab from the external walls and have Perinsul glass blocks in the below DPC build up of the external 'skin' to minimise cold bridge to the timber frame.

Or you could buy the whole thing from B&Q for £172 like I have. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ?

Glad we're not starting our build now. Here's just a few of the major items that came from abroad. MVHR unit - Germany ASHP - Japanese but (I believe) ours was made in Italy Windows and external doors - Austria SageGlass - USA Staircase - Italy PV panels - South Korea In roof PV mounts - France Wood cladding - Finland Cereal Click cladding - Belgium Thermal Insulation - France Kitchen units - Germany Kitchen appliances - Germany and Italy (mainly) Wood for the Timber Frame - Scandinavia And when I first thought about doing a self build I had the ambition to use 'locally' produced materials wherever possible!

Literally, the cheapest I can buy the item here (even after negotiating an extra 10% off of the New Year Sale price) is £2,100. I've ordered it for pick up in Germany for 1,529 euros (circa £1,365). Mad is the right word!