Chris S

Wow, lots of detailed responses, thank you. I wonder if Harvey and Twintec merged? I noticed that Monarch's non-electric softener goes by a different name too. The next question is what price should I expect to be quoted by Harvey and what should I realistically be able to get them down to? I haven't contacted them yet I as want to be clued up with alternative options in order to get a good deal (!). I'd prefer to install myself as I'm fitting the kitchen and plumbing. Thanks

Thank you guys. Yes, I like the size of the Harvey and the pipe connection locations are great. Just got to consider the incredibly high price tag now! I haven't asked for a quote or demo yet (wanted to be clued up first) but see they can be bought for around £850 ish from other suppliers. I've also realised that I can cut a hole in the base of the kitchen unit so the softener can sit on the floor. That does open up some other options.

Good evening, I'm trying to find a suitable water softener that will fit under a kitchen sink. The kitchen isn't installed yet so I can't take measurements, but I think I have about 460 to 480mm height available. Plenty of width available and about 550mm depth within the cabinet. There are 5 of us (2 adults plus 3 young kids), with just the one bathroom and a WC. We have a combi boiler and supply pressure of around 2 bar. Total hardness according to water supplier is 350 mg/l (very hard). Would prefer a proper softener rather than a salt free one but realise they may be the way forward. I'm having a hard time getting past all the marketing waffle and finding proper product data, hence I'm turning to you guys for help! Any recommendations?? Thank you

Thank you MickD for your detailed reply. The Orluna One looks good but unfortunately is above our budget. I have a few different bulbs on order to test out, among which is a Philips Master. I'm interested to see if the 90+ CRI bulbs appear as bright as the higher lumen, lower CRI bulbs by virtue of the increased colour content. Also on the list are the Enlite Ice and Ice Plus, Bell Halo Elite and Osram Parathom lamps. Good point on the 400 lumen limit. Unfortunately this puts the Philips Master out of compliance (365lm) which is a bit of pain. 400lm does seem a bit high given the coverage of standard 36 degree lamps (i.e. you would end up with a very bright room) - maybe its trying to drive people towards wider beam angles? To be honest I've found this search annoyingly difficult! To get a dimmable 60° bulb with 90+ CRI over 400 lumens is not easy. It looks like the Enlite ICE Plus could be the one. As for dim to warm, I can't find that in any 60° lamps. Maybe 60° hasn't made it across all of the less common variants yet? Or maybe I'm just too fussy?! It doesn't seem like too much to ask though. Thanks again.

Ah I see. That is helpful thanks. I'm trying to get 1.5m spacing so thats 50% more area to light per lamp. We have roof windows and it is easier to fit lights around them with this larger spacing. I like the idea of increasing the overlap, so we could go above 60° if I can find something suitable.

Thanks for the responses so far Dim to warm has been around a good few years now but doesn't seem to have caught on like it was originally expected to. My wife and I prefer warmer lighting, and we are currently having a multifunctional room built (aka the snug), which will be an office and work/craft area, chill out area and guest bedroom, hence the desire for lighting capable of both light and bright and warm and cosy. There are of course other ways of doing this but we'd prefer to do it with downlights if we can. Thanks Temp. Is your 800 lumens for a ~60° beam angle or e.g. a 36° beam angle? Wider beam lights illuminate larger area hence need more lumens to achieve same intensity as narrower lights. Using this calculator from Banner Engineering a 292 lumen, 36° lamp produces the same lux as an 800 lumen, 60° lamp, albeit over a smaller area. I've looked there already but will try again. Thanks PeterW

Good morning, I'm looking for a specific downlight but can't quite find one that meets our desired spec. Maybe someone can point me in the right direction... Desired spec: - Fire rated - ~60° beam angle - ~800 lumens - ~3000K, dimmable to ~2000K (dim to warm, dim2warm, warm dim, soft dim, dim tone, warm glow, sunset dim...) - CRI min 80 (pref 90 ish) - Simple control - White bezel - Can install in 130mm wide void (above ceiling) - Not too expensive (pref £25 ea max inc VAT) Thank you in advance

Actually I should have mentioned this is for contractor works, not self build. Thank you anyway.

Morning all, We're looking at joint names all risks insurance for our upcoming building work (done by contractor, not self build). I've not heard of any of the names that appear in Google so does anyone have any recommendations of companies to use or steer clear of? The names coming up on Google are: JCT Insurance Ltd Plum Underwriting Sutcliffe Insurance Blackfriars Group Versatile Insurance Culpeck Insurance Services Thanks very much

Thanks Threadreamer. I hadn't read this post before my last one so this confirms our plan just nicely!

Thanks for all your responses. They confirm nicely what we understood so thats helpful when we discuss with him again tomorrow. We want to work with the guy if we can. He's an older guy who we get on well with and understand is a very good builder but not so good with the paperwork side of things. I think he genuinely doesn't understand VAT and leaves it to his accountant, but equally we don't want to pay VAT on labour if he's not VAT registered. At £86k ex VAT our build will push him over the threshold unless he wants us to pay for materials ourselves and/or pay a business partner. We'll find out tomorrow!

Thank you Russell. Its an extension (post edited). £86 grand + VAT is his quote.

Thank you ProDave. That is what we thought and its helpful to have you confirm it. Unfortunately paperwork is not his strong point.

Our potential builder is not being clear about VAT. He says he is not VAT registered but has to pay 20% VAT on labour through the CIS, hence has to charge us VAT. His quote added VAT to both materials and labour. He generally works on smaller jobs but has recently completed a major rebuild nearby (I suspect somewhere around £200k) and will hopefully do ours at ~£86k + VAT (assuming all is legit). Hence we figured he must be VAT registered assuming his business is above board. But when I asked for his VAT number he said he's not registered and doesn't have to be. So can he charge us VAT, pay it to the gov via CIS and not be VAT registered??? He also mentioned paying via his unique tax reference (UTR) but I don't think that is relevant. Thanks very much Edit: this is for an extension not a new build

I should add that it is an internal soil stack, which is boxed in. Thankfully their baththroom decor is quite tired and basic and the boxing is covered in plain white tiles so fairly easy to put right after the work.

I'm looking for a retrofit access saddle for a cast iron soil pipe but I'm not having any luck. Does anyone know of any such product? It would be installed above the spill over level (i.e. above upstairs loo). Or is there a suitable adhedive available to install one intended for upvc e.g. the polypipe SA44B? It is to add access to our neighbour's soil stack as we are building over their existing rodding access (manhole cover in our garden) and want to have an option available that doesn't involve replacing the whole stack! Annoyingly their builder didn't add this access point even though their architect stated it on their drawing when they extended last year. Thank you in advance

Thanks everyone for your responses The distance between the new wall and the boundary is nominally 118mm. It is the same on the other side and enables the rear wall to be an exact number of bricks in length (mortar accounted for). It is a flat then pitched roof both sloping to the rear so there is no need for guttering. PW width is 300mm so yes, we are within 'the strip'. I think the most significant incursion would be the cavity tray. This is what I am wondering. Our neighbour on the right hand side built an extension last year that was the same in this detail (including ~120mm from the boundary). They used a professional surveyor who only served the 3m excavation PW notice on us, implying that the outer skin is not PW. But even though he sent the guidance doc I didn't pick up on this technicality and in reality it made no difference to us as they would still have had to put any damage right. We gave positive acknowledgement to them and would be very surprised if they didn't do the same in return. But on the left hand side the property is council owned, so although we get on fine with the tenant this all has to go through the council (Welwyn Hatfield), who may want to pick up on a detail like this if it isn't correct! Does anyone else have specific knowledge on this area or can point me in the right direction? Thanks again

Good evening, I'm trying to determine which sections of the party wall apply to our extension, in particular so that I serve the right notice and allow the right amount of time. I think I know but confirmation would be most helpful! I am clear that we are not building a wall up to or astride the boundary line and that we are excavating with 3m of the boundary and adjacent building. However I am not clear whether we are affecting the existing structure. The only possible location is the rear wall outer leaf at the 'T' junction of the party wall and rear walls, hence the title of the topic. See image attached. If anyone could point me to some clear information on this I would be very grateful. I want to avoid finding that I should have served 2 months notice instead of 1 month and hence delaying our build and/or missing out on the opportunity for a builder to fit it in this year. Many thanks in advance, Chris

We've found a tile thanks. Crest BST H14 does the job nicely. PP is for tiles to match existing roof. I've now realised that we can use a series of rafter trays (i.e. to fill 1 gap, not a roll) every 3rd rafter to achieve equivalent of 7mm continuous ventilation. Thanks for the support.

Thank you. Do you mean make it fully flat or extend the flat so the pitched part is steeper? We wanted the pitched portion for aesthetic reasons and we have PP for it. Extending the flat roof a bit further is an option but would mean reworking the rafter design (which we have already paid the SE for). We'd like to keep the shape as is if possible. It seems like this is the last hurdle!

Hello, I would appreciate some suggestions with regards to providing suitable ventilation to a portion of low pitched roof. I've looked at various solutions but not found one that will work yet. We're in the design phase and I'm currently creating the drawings for building control approval. 3D view and the relevant sheet of the draft drawing is attached. We have PP for the design. Aim: To meet BC requirements in particular for ventilation. Hertfordshire BC list the following document on their website: https://www.hertfordshirebc.co.uk/pdf/13_-Technical_Leaflet_-__Permeable_Underlays_-_March_2011.pdf Options considered: Air open LR vapour permeable underlay only. Herts BC accept this only if it is "used in strict accordance with the conditions of installation and use stated on the respective certificates." The certs don't state a minimum pitch, but list a minimum overlap table for pitches down to 12.5 deg only. Hence I would not be using it in accordance with the cert. Has anyone had approval to use these products at 11deg or less before? This would be my preferred method. Standard LR underlay plus ridge ventilation (equiv. 5mm continuous). The mansard edge (which is ~ half of the total ridge length) gives little room for a solution here. I looked at spacers beneath the flashing but I could not find anything suitable for the pitch (presumably because of wind driven water ingress). Would it be acceptable to just vent the center portion (i.e. the wall abutting portion)? The tiles are single pantiles (Crest BST H14) so it would be great if a vent could be installed in each valley but I can't find a product that does that. Does anyone know of such a product? Standard LR underlay plus eaves ventilation (equiv. 3mm / 7mm continuous for well-sealed or normal ceiling). This would require ridge trays/roll to get around the insulation. Since the pitch is so low, this would mean most of the pitch would be covered with the plastic trays/roll, which would appear to defeat the whole object. Another option may be to insert vent duct e.g. 100x54mm channels every so often to create a path between the eaves and the open volume - but I can't find a product actually designed to do this. Does anyone know of such products? Other challenges: The low pitch (11 deg). This counts out many products as not suitable. We want to keep the roof profile as low as possible both for the neighbour's sake and to avoid the roof window being too high thus reducing the light input. As a secondary request, I also have a gap between the bottom row of tiles and the fascia board. I can't allow the facia board any higher else there will be no slope for the eaves tray. Are there any fillers available? I could not find any. I realise it will need a bird/rodent guard. Many thanks in advance, and a happy new year! Building application drawing 31-12-18 sheet 12 a.PDF

Thanks. I'll add more details as an when they are available.

Many thanks for all of your responses. As much as we would love the extra 300mm, and as much as there are ways and means of making it happen, we have decided that the risks involved and the extra stress that it will cause are too great for us to be the ones pushing for it to happen in not enough time. We will however raise the question of managing the gap with the neighbours and at the same time may well mention that had timing been right we could have built a shared wall. If it turns out that they want to pursue a shared wall they would have to be willing to delay their build and adjust their design whilst we get our design and agreements in order. That would take the pressure off and mean that we have the time to manage the risks properly. I'll keep you posted... Thanks again

Hi everyone, So here is my brief introduction... We have recently moved into our new house and are about start planning a rear extension. We could not find a suitably proportioned property within our budget so after some investigation felt that this was the best (or only) way to achieve what we are after. It is currently a 3 bed mid terrace and, all going to plan, we will be adding a new kitchen and a multipurpose (guest room, home office etc) room downstairs and a fourth bedroom located centrally upstairs. The existing small kitchen and small dining room will most likely become a large dining room open to the new kitchen. Attached is a rough external view from the rear. The plan is that I will do the majority of the architectural work with the support of various resources, including you guys. We will employ the services of a structural engineer and use a good builder who can advise us too. I am a design and project engineer of electro-mechanical products for various industries, hence I have a solid engineering approach but don't have much experience in the specifics of the architectural application. So I'm more self design than self build - I hope that is ok on this forum? Do let me know if not! I am very grateful for the responses I have had so far to my first post re possibly sharing a party wall with our neighbours. I'd love to build it myself but its just not practical for us. 1pm is here so I must get back to the day job. Thanks!

Hi, We have recently moved into our new (terraced) house and are about start planning a rear extension. Our next door neighbour's are about to start building work on their similar extension in just 3 weeks time. If possible, it would be mutually beneficial in terms of space that we share a party wall along the party line, rather than each setting a ~300mm thick wall 150mm from the party line. We'd both gain ~300mm on the width of our extensions, which is a lot given that we are both fitting two rooms across the width of the extensions. However, I am aware that we may have just missed the boat here and we don't want to add any unneccessary complications. So before raising the idea I want to be sure it is a good idea. Please can you give me your thoughts. Here are a few points to note: Our neighbours are pretty much ready to go with all the drawings and permissions etc and a start date. This change would have a number of impacts on their design. Would it affect their planning permission too? (which states offset from party line). We don't yet know if we can afford to extend as far out as our neighbours (5m from house). We don't yet know if the height of our extension will be the same as our neighbours. We are extending on the first floor (over the middle of the ground floor extension), so the wall in question will have a universal beam terminating at between 3 and 3.6m from the house. Hence the foundation requirements may be different to that of our neighbour's. There is a sewer running parallel at 3m from the house, making the above point a little trickier. (Our neighbours drawings for bridging the sewer appears to meet Thames Water's requirements.) If a wall is built on the party line and it turns out to be inadequate for our use, presumably we would have to build a new wall futher inside the party line and hence end up loosing space. If a wall is built on the party line, can the remainder of our foundation be satisfactorially joined up with the party wall foundation? And can our rear wall be satisfactorily interleaved with the party wall? There may well be other complications. I may have just talked myself out of it by writing this post, but am interested in your thoughts. The plan is that I will do the majority of the architectural work with the support of various resources. We will employ the services of a structural engineer and use a good builder who can advise us too. I am a design and project engineer of electro-mechanical products for various industries, hence I have a solid engineering approach but don't have much experience in the specifics of the architectural application. So I'm more self design than self build - I hope that is ok on this forum? I'd love to build it myself but its just not practical for us. Attached is a rough drawing of our proposed extension, viewed from the rear. The party wall in question is shown by the red line. Thanks in advance!