Nickfromwales

If I can walk about in my cream and brown Y-fronts in Jan then I really wouldn't give 2 hoots what the mean flow temp is. I'd be warm and happy, the neighbours not so much as apparently that's not a good look. It's not just the probes, it's what you need to connect them to, if you actually do want to geek-out, but the novelty will wear off PDQ.

It's an absolute shitfest tbf.

Yes, I thought they may have had the good sense to put the stat link in the indoor unit.............ffs. Just googled it, and then man is right, another cable needs taking to the outdoor unit to allow a 3rd party stat to be connected. Vaillant, if you're reading this, WTF were you thinking not giving us that terminal inside the house, (you know, where people sometimes fit their room stats)?

Expensive Rubi ones lol. The standard blade will zoom through ceramic and travertine etc, but porcelain comes in different grades and needs a blade to suit. Any good retailer / tile shop should be able to advise and have stock of different types of blades.

Boatloads. My Rubi DU 200 radial wet bench cutter makes this a LOT easier, but still a massive ballache.

You can bin off the tumbled edges and just use the centre 'meat' of the tile, adding a trim on the top to finish it. Curved 1/4 round trims would probably be more sympathetic to a tumbled tile / rustic look.

@Jonny, take note!

Thanks for updating and the recommendation. That's a huge reduction, and 1.2 "ain't that shabby". Sucks that the detailing wasn't done better, but tbh if you taped the doors and windows back up you'd have soon got to below 1.0 I'm sure. One more box ticked for your completion certificate!!

What is a slide under sill? Do you mean sliders, or hinged French doors? What is it you want to see exactly?

We digress, but that's my next job as the loom in the headlight of the GLS has dropped a core, canbus going nuts every now and then. ffs.

Had this exact thig on a job a long time ago, and just hacked off all the inside of the cupboard and replaced with 25mm insulated PB, ensuring all edges of the PB met PIR not cold walls. I foamed all the gaps, tops / sides / bottom, so no cold air could travel behind, and job done. Adding vents to the doors won't do much as there's clothes preventing air circulation.

"Smiles per gallon"

We must be the laughing stock...........

The ripple from Covid is still in effect. Mostly due to the nation now refusing to get off the sofa, and using giants to deliver with a couple of clicks. Loads have gone, and more will follow.

I drive an 5.5L AMG, so is this not how I should be driving then? I thought that was what everyone was referring to when they said make the most of stop/start driving 🚗💨 Great fun for winding up the Tesla drivers who hog the fast lane at 70.5mph, you know, the ones that pull out in front of you to then spend ~17 mins to overtake the car in the middle lane doing 70. You know who you are people......ffs!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Was on one in Gravenhill where they did exactly this. You have to be incredibly careful not to pull the corner bead off the plasterboard all the way through the project, and find a way so that a cloth or duster doesn't have any way to be able to snag on the cut metal end of the bead, as a few times the guys on site were hopping around and swearing loudly when they innadvertantly popped another one; then the filling and sanding etc begins all over again. I'd recommend asking the plasterer to fit the skim beads with some solvent free Gripfill at the ends, to prevent this from happening, as when these pop off at the ends they are a complete pig to get to sit back and stay put.

Just got one to <0.2. Nothing to do with dot and dab btw, as air gets in/out of way more places than through seemingly porous masonry walls. Aerobarrier supported, along with my guidance as principal consultant for the client, plus a lot of diligence and GAF, and the 1950's sack-o-shart was transformed into an accidental EnerPHit standard refurb (only better). Two examples of homes done with PP, one where the builder (a stubborn northern Neandertal) sprayed the entire house in ignorance; 3.02ACH as-built final score, much to the clients disappointment. This was because, despite my best efforts to point out what he was missing, he failed in all of the then-available opportunities to seal up essential junctions etc during the construction phase, the places where it would then be impossible to seal up later on. I try to mentor people on airtightness etc when we're on a project, but to some it just too much effort for them to deviate towards, others simply just can't comprehend where this attention needs to be focussed and how to implement measures to suit. Quite frustrating tbh, when I have to tell folk how to make their home more comfortable and energy efficient when they aren't really all that bothered as it involves time, car, and money. Even harder a sale when you have to ask a client to convey this to a builder...... I keep trying but the road is mostly uphill, still!

I really like the blocks. Makes it look more 'expensive' imho. Done this a load of times, and when I show the client they say "yes please".

Saw a previous client doing this, with all the time / cost / grief / attention to detail and requisite micro-managing et-al, and tbh when it was done, I thought it looked shite tbf. So much faff for what I thought to make so little difference, plus as above there's a reason we use skirting boards vs have painted surfaces next to floors and doorways. Each to their own.

And you'll likely have to pay a load of money to these gimps for doing the square root of feck all, for the pleasure. Same as with anyone who approaches me to do a new build, if there's big trees that would prevent solar PV being effective. Chop the thing down on day 1 before Bill Odie slaps TPO's on everything in sight. Then, once established, you can re-plant to return the balance of nature, whilst reducing your carbon footprint. One client just dropped a tree whilst we wait for permission to be approved for a knockdown and rebuild, and the guy got complaints that the tree created a calm feeling and now it's gone they were sad and anxious and upset and all the rest of the bollocks that went with it. For completeness, the complainant just happens to have a huge front lawn and zero trees, but is perturbed that a tree in the front garden of next door has been removed..... "Go buy yourself a Willow tree, plant it in your front garden so the light is blocked out of your living room, or STFU". Some people are just incurable muppets.

👍 You'd need to do the head and the sill first, so the plasterboard on the insulated plasterboard isn't in contact with a cold surface.

Drumroll, please...... Sadly, he is both inept, and lazy. This is completely unacceptable, barely a minimum (dogshit) level of give-a-feck. The stat should absolutely NOT be in a bedroom with the airing cupboard and hot water cylinder, even more so if it's the box bedroom. That's lazy and totally against what the MI's would say "install the unit away from a source of heat or cool, and out of direct sunlight or draughts" is what instructions come with just about every room thermostat I've ever fitted. I shall repeat myself, do NOT put the thermostat in the kitchen!!! Yes! And too warm when you're cooking, and for the hour after cooking, where the heating will then stay off thinking the house is warm enough. ON, would be the set temp (say 20oC)..... with your heating running all day, all night, all year, with zero change and never stopping (until you told it to). Look at "ON" as you getting into your car and driving around an empty M25 in the middle lane at 70mph, setting the cruise control to 70mph, and then never touching the throttle or the brake ever again; around and around you go at the same speed. That is "ON".This is an example only, so no need to reply and say you'd never set it to do this, as I already get that . So we won't be referring to "ON" in this thread. That ship has sailed, and we never need to discuss the "ON" setting ever again. 🤐. Now for AUTO/TIMED. Back to the driving analogy, so this would now be you slowing down for a 50mph speed limit (your heating at setback temp) or you speeding back up to 70mph when there an open road again (your heating running at comfort temp). No stopping or starting, just changing speeds between 50mph and 70mph, continuously, through the winter. So if you convert speed of driving into warmth then this is how the AUTO/TIMED function works eg giving you cooler temps at night and warmer temp during comfort hours. These are defined by you, as per the choices you dial into the heating schedule on the controller (as per my post with these times and temps, given as an example of where to start your trial run of setting the heating up properly for the very first time ever). If unhappy, you then work out why and then adjust the programmer. This is what the setback temp is for, and you simply set this low enough for the house to not get stone cold overnight. It won't 'heat' or 'overheat' you at night, and as you like a cool/cold bedroom you could even simply turn just that one rad off permanently, eg if you don't want to wake up to a warm bedroom, but don't want to wake up to a cold house. The rest of the house would then not become ridiculously cold overnight, and would quickly recover to the comfort temp when told to do so (eg at 07:00 or 08:00, or whatever time is 1 hour before you get up each day). Turning the heating "OFF" 100% overnight vs using a setback temp will cost more, as many folk on here have tried to explain. This is like asking your car to forever drive up a steep hill, and turning back again before getting to the wonderfully economical bit of flat road at the top of it, and consuming far more fuel doing this every 24hrs. As said, if that's an issue then turn your bedroom radiator off. You say you sleep with the bedroom window open in winter, whilst using an electric blanket(!), so zero point in using your bedroom radiator anyways. Human beings are usually in deep sleep at 03:00, so you'd be unaffected by the rest of the heating system ticking over in the background, providing the setback temp to all of the other rooms (to prevent the stone cold house issue). Respectfully, I think you can, just you wont. For context, you mention that adding new concrete floors may be an option, and that you are going to look into buying and installing a solar PV array, so <£100 to buy a stat like mine and the same for an installer to fit it shouldn't be any issue for you at all. If you haven't got £200 to your name then you best sell up and move into an economical 1 bed flat. If you ask Octopus they will immediately refund the £300 that you are in credit, funds you obviously don't need, and then that gives you the money to buy and install the new stat (and will leave you some change). Which is why I suggested fitting a stat like mine, as above, which is no more difficult to program than a Casio wristwatch or digital alarm clock. Life is as hard as you make it, and it seems you are insisting on making it painfully hard for yourself. Listen, change, improve, move on. I'm completely out of momentum here now, so if you're unwilling to take advantage of the enormous amount of time, effort, and energy that everyone has used up here then I have zero idea about how you can (or if you will) make any improvements. That's not me being a dick btw, just that we've now delivered you at the crossroads and you now need to choose a direction. Time for action.

Have you checked if there's an automatic air vent inside the heatpump that needs opening? Some come open, but I've found some which are loose but not 'open'. Also, any reason why you have an inline trap after the P of the washing machine trap? No need for the inline (waterless) one afaic.

Many ways to skin a cat, but tried and tested for 3 decades wins for me. If you're saying you stuck it down and couldn't then adjust or manipulate it, and hoped it was level, then I guess that's one reason not to use a sealant / mastic. I found this out a long time ago, where the mastic turns into a sucker cup and then it's a case of getting wood chisels or small pry bars under the edge to try and adjust it. This was with a Novellini tray, prob 15+ years ago or more, and it was clean and spotless when laid but I did notice some bounce in the centre of it, where it was thinnest at the trap, and that was it for me. Back to tile adhesive, and never looked back. Fitted 2x Mira Flight trays on a previous build, and the client commented on how solid they felt; one on the raft slab but one also on the 1st floor deck over posi's. I couldn't disagree more. Such a bond is also formed when you seal the sides of the trays to the walls, 2 or 3 sides around, and fixing trays into place firmly is of paramount importance so you don't get movement / cracks in the grout where the tiles come down to meet the tray. This is exactly what flexible tile adhesive does, the clue is in the name . The thing most people don't do is decontaminate the underside of the tray, which is often dusty and feck or has mould release agents on it. Regarding movement, these don't typically move much, if anything at all. There's a brief change in state when you turn the hot shower on, but that's about it. Even my 800x1800mm bath is stood in every day, and the grout line and silicone seal haven't shown signs of movement in a busy house with 6 people in it; I fixed a batten to the wall and set the bath down into CT1 and the same back to the 2 plaster boarded walls. Been in for around 8-10 years now with zero signs of movement. Give old Skill-boy my number, and we'll go argue it out over some beers.

More for the OP's situation tbh, as it shows full depth masonry. Yours will still be a cold cavity, even on the inside face of the PIR (if there's any kind of gap behind it). Not life or death for you, but if the opportunity exists to make things a lot better the I guess you can choose to do it to the highest standard.