Nickfromwales

The only real issue with rising penetrations through a slab is if it’s a block and beam. In this situation you need to avoid a beam. Structural engineers will have some “say” if you have all ducts together and it requires steel reinforcements being re-jigged, but a little bit of pragmatic pre-planning and dialogue will resolve this in a day. Tell your builder that this will progress at your pace, and will arrive at the end result that you want, and he will have to slow down accordingly.

I’ve just moved clients into their new build home, and at the outset of the entire project when we had to redirect overhead 3ph supplies that spanned the plot we found a chap who was ‘no win no fee’ that handled the DNO application on the clients behalf. His “promise” was to get the price discounted and he’d bag 20% of the sum saved. This resulted in an £11k quote being reduced to a net cost to the client of £6k. Well done that man! If you can think of it, someone is making money creating a solution around it! 🤷‍♂️

These things are easier to do than explain lol You can set the tray in 3 sides around with the mouth being on the sacrificial sides, eg left/right/rear, but the issue of wet testing/proving the waste and pipework isn’t leaking remains, I guess? It’s common practice, for me anyways, to have the sump of the trap set into adhesive or captured by the leveller/backfill medium, just given me seeing these crack and fail over time when unsupported. If the manufacturer doesn’t specifically state in the MI’s that the waste atop (what you’d step on when showering) can take your weight then reverting to my methodology would be ‘wise’, but if it says you can throw some shapes in there and it’s bombproof, then take with a pinch.

Hi. Busy times sorry! Interesting mix with the steel tray, but they’re pretty robust tbf. Firstly pack a couple of handfuls of dry tile adhesive where the waste elbow joins the underground pipe. Then bench 270° around, sides and rear, and also set 4 pads of tile adhesive about 8” away from the trap, then lower the tray onto that wet bed, level, run a fair bit of water into the tray to test the waste and trap for leaks, and then leave for 24hrs to cure. At the front you’ll need a ‘mouth’ cut into the concrete floor so you can see under the front edge of the tray, firstly to allow you to look under when wet testing, and secondly to back fill. Once the above is done you’ll be set in 2 sides and rear and dry, plus around the trap, but the trap won’t be supported. Mix up some Mapei builders screed (flexible screed with fibres, Screwfix or tile merchants usually carry it) and pour it into the mouth you’ve left using cardboard as a funnel. Fill it until there’s a good amount under, possibly less than 2 bags by your pics, and then the trough you’ve chased out for the trap and pipe work will all flood with the leveller. This will support the bottom of the trap so when you stand on it accidentally, particularly with your heel, you won’t have any movement. The dry adhesive will stop any leveller going where it’s not wanted/prevent its loss at that junction. Clean and seal around the tray with CT1, open a beer, and call the tiler. 👌👍🫡

Don't be shy, the last M&E spec I delivered had about 17 different ducts for everything. Makes life soooo much easier at 1st fix etc, and for any alterations you may want to make downstream.

The mixing valves do die off with old age. Just put a new one in and you’ll be in the pub for Friday 15 years is a decent stretch for a part that’s constantly moving / adjusting etc. Do you have a magnetic filter in the system? If not, I’d add one when you change the valve.

"Refereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee". 👉

Say what?! Is that a Scottish thing?? Have you had too much Sudafed max strength tonight?

We'll all just go and kill ourselves now ok, thanks

Then your heat pump will be quieter than a congregation, when the vicar says "does anyone know of any lawful impediment".... lol

All depends upon the fabric quality and energy efficiency of what you replace the existing dwelling with, to be completely frank with you. The device choice argument is moot, if the agreed option is less economical to run than gas one you turned your back on. You'll notice that all the big hitters that make gas boilers are all selling new ones as 'hydrogen ready', if requested. Why do you think they're doing that? If this is not an uber-well insulated/airtight dwelling with eco 'super-credentials' and MVHR with heat recovery et-al, then stick with gas. If you fit an ASHP and it's not a good fit for the dwelling, you'll be burning the planets resources at the same rate of knots with an ASHP anyways. Remember with gas, the network will NOT be going away, only the product coming out of the end of it will change (in our lifetimes for sure). If your heat pump ends up with a CoP of 1:1 then you've basically heating off direct electricity, on demand, and the planet is doomed. Oh, and stop considering your bloody neighbours so much. They'd shit on you in a heartbeat, if it worked out in their favour to fit a noisy heat pump to their home, ffs. Tell them we said "hi". FWIW, a good quality (even a cheap) heat pump will be as quiet as a church mouse coughing into a hanky. If, however, you fit the same heat pump to a dwelling that doesn't compliment it, then it'll be getting an ASBO PDQ.

Concrete screws want a 6mm pilot hole, but with concrete blocks you can pull them loose by over-tightening a short screw. 50mm or 60mm would be best. If you don't just save shitloads of wasted time and effort and gas nail them with a Spit gun.........

My dear Watson. It won’t do anything of the sort! “Fire away”. Blocks will absorb and dissipate the impact.

Use a gas nailer. My Spit gun earned its £500 price tag on one job in 3 days. When are you doing this job? If you cover P&P you can borrow mine? Fixings aren’t cheap, but the time saving/ease of use is insane.

Willis will work inline, but you’ll need to exceed the target kW heat demand to get it to respond well. Prob need 2x 3kW heaters in parallel to give a 22mm feed if more than 3 or 4 rads. Willis have 15mm connections, so when I install 2 units or more I tee them into compression tees which are 15x15x22mm so I can use 22mm flow and return pipe work to the pump and primary pipe work. If you do this, you can get rid of the TS. TBH, if it’s just a tiny bit of heat needed in a couple of places, eg one or two radiators then I’d rip the wet system out and fit electrical radiators in their place and get near to 100% efficient vs the convoluted setup you’re currently proposing/adapting. Link This is just becoming a very odd way to skin a cat as firing up a full wet system for a bit of heat to a couple of rads, heated on demand by direct electricity, is just ‘no beueno’ afaic.