Nickfromwales

Have you closed the cap on the automatic air vent?

Split the shower cold and basin if you're going to split, as the WC will still be filling when you use the basin tap to wash your mits

Is this just to run machinery? Would it not be simpler and cheaper to swap out to single phase stuff and be grid tied?

It will work, and is the go-to solution Compression is the only way to join plastic to these 'fancy' waste / trap kits tbh. This is what I do, and the compression stuff just never leaks or fails as long as you don't use any silicone / lube etc on the joint. It is a must to put these on 'dry' and only tighten to a bit past hand-tight, then jobs a good 'un.

The bastards are using drones to survey sites to see what’s ’available’, it then gets added to their shopping lists and picked off to suit demand. Hire one for the immediate, but even then you need to make sure you aren’t responsible for replacing it if it stolen from your site whilst on hire!!

Combination overflow / filler, and wall mounted taps vs "bath taps", same as I have as I hate bath clutter. Washy crap in wall-hung corner baskets and deck of bath free from projecting toe-stubbers.

But the white does utterly transform the house!

Has nobody seen iRobot? Stop with this voodoo before the machines rise against humanity and we all become slaves! probably.

Why the joist, and not just a batten on the blocks, levelled accordingly, to save space?

I find that using compression for these things offers a far better opportunity for removing / servicing these things downstream, so no probs there at all. Happy days.

Defo stick with close-coupled. The frame will need boxing and tiling and will eat into the room for very little gain, prob be a bit uglier tbh.

Compact, short projection, space-saving, are all the common names for these things. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Affine-Bathroom-Toilet-Coupled-Cistern/dp/B07DTJS4SD?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A1UUGTWDE5YX23&gQT=1

My apologies, is the wall behind the WC a breeze block one and not a stud wall?

The extra length on the ASHP pipe 'could' be offset by bringing them indoors earlier, I guess, so they're in the heated envelope, but we're really down to a few brass tacks then and I'd rather not have the inconvenience of these pipes traversing the house interior tbh. Somethings gotta give! I have, for a project in Graven Hill, run the ashp pipes through the slab insulation (atop the lower 100mm PIR slab, then capped by another 100mm layer, then 100mm polished concrete (with UFH & mesh)) so that the losses are minimised, as the delta between the pipes and their immediate surroundings are no longer so adverse. That could be possible for you without too much effort methinks; just use 2x28mm Hep2o runs and ditch the underground duo pipe then.

If you're converting to a habitable space then the garage door is first to go in the bin. Have you thought of EPS EWI (external wall insulation) and then have a new render all round?

I was sure you just couldn't have joints buried? You'd not be pulling copper out and pulling new in?

Crane option should result in less damage / death. Really poor place to take a risk on items from chuffing Aliexpress ?! 🤦‍♂️😉 Doubt they have been through much quality control or rigorous testing…..😑 If one of those drops on to someone they’re Donald Ducked.

Either option but if the coupler is on then another damage mitigation policy imo. The sand shutter option is ridiculously cheap, quick, effective and simple. Couple of pays with the back of the shovel to compact as you go, and the concrete just bounces back away from it. Henry has been a soldier over the years, no task has beaten him yet. Same one for 20 years, just has had 40 new hoses and 6 new main units lol.

Another “high temp” split methinks. 70°C is beyond most monoblocks.

The fully compact / modular boxes are all “gas” powered I suspect, that’s how they can make it physically smaller. The conversion happens once not twice then as energy is released direct to the heat exchanger in the cylinder vs 2x conversions gas > wet then wet > wet.

That’s a split unit, with gas lines between the internal and external units. Needs an F-gas installer. Not a horrible option but looks to then become an expensive install! Prob just doubled your installed cost there vs buying boxes and connecting via a local ‘but competent’ plumber. Can’t see much info about DHW (recovery times etc) other than it’s a 200L tank, but I’m not trying too hard today lol. I’d also want to know how noisy the outdoor unit gets when doing DHW. The monoblock Aquerea I’ve just fired up is crazy quiet when going full chat to heat 400L of DHW from standstill for the 1st time. “Panasonic All in One air to water heat pumps should be installed by a qualified installer and preferably an approved Panasonic heat pumps engineer To purchase this heat pump, we will require the installers details and currant F-Gas number before it is dispatched”

I’ve just done a Panasonic monoblock with its own integral pump, so no need for another pump other than the one on the manifold. Some will say to have a pumpless and blending-valveless manifold and fire that off the ASHP pump, with ASHP flow temp as your UFH flow temp which is a little less user friendly an option, imho, but doable. Pre plumbed cylinders will have all the generic stuff on there for a standard S or Y plan arrangement. Plug and play, but a more cumbersome lump in one place; has a much bigger diameter for both physical size and also access / service / maintenance etc so not sympathetic with it hiding in a utility cupboard. . Cost goes up too, and not sure about slimline options there either(?). Don’t have the ASHP pipe rise out of the slab until they are in the plant space!!!! Terrible idea to bring them out early, so go kneel on some pencils until you’ve removed that silly thought from your mind 👉 I use 2 port valves as they’re easier to swap out and you lose one service not both if it snuffs it. 3-ports (diverter valve not mid-position) I only now use if it’s a thermal store with DHW priority as the wiring is standardised and I like these to be generic. Most heat pumps service a 2x 2-port setup out of the box.

If the adjoining room is habitable (bedroom) then your BCO may or may not spot the breach of acoustic control. These habitable spaces should be separated by a full, insulation laden, stud wall of 100mm to comply; subject to the BCO giving a toss or not basically so you’ll need to flip a coin and see who you get. On the last one like this I stuffed the WC frame and associated annoying voids with acoustic batts manually, and then built a 3” stud wall behind the 4” one that the WC frame and cistern went into, to bring it back to compliance (at the request of the client, after I made him aware of the consequences of breaching that acoustic divider). 645 is plenty, agreed. You’ll be surprised to know that the average UK bathroom was the size of a double bed. I’d keep the shower head and riser rail on the end though, with the control valve on the side at the 2/3 marker; easy to reach when showering and before getting in. The real estate between the end and the last 1/3 should be preserved for lathering up out of the spray but just away from the opening. For anything shorter than 1400 you should have a slider really vs an opening afaic. Defo a great choice vs a modular shower tray imho. Flush tiled floors in the shower area just look soooo much better / more ‘expensive’ tbf. You’ll be into tanking then so would need to plan accordingly. @richo106, the only issue you’ll have is foot space to dry off in after a bath, so I would take the basin down to within 100mm of the bath, move WC to suit, and create some towelling off area which I think will be of much more long term benefit than having nice big gaps that choke to circulation space up. Consider niches for the shower area, somewhere for goops & goos, and maybe bring the bath 50mm away from the wall to create a ledge and exaggerated window ‘shelf’ for same goops there. Just imagine how you will manage without those bits of storage for everything you currently have to hand and then realise the importance of not forgetting to allow for it.

Just cut a dozen or more (x) depth PIR chairs to sit on the DPM or rebar and then place a piece of 100mm PIR or EPS on top of them the size of the area plus maybe 50mm extra in each direction. If over rebar, fit concrete mars bars directly under where your PIR chairs will go to stop the deflection when you add ballast. Wrap a bin liner around the soil pipe, then foam around that as much as you need to. That needs to be done so as to prevent concrete getting to or into the pipe, so do that well! A coupler and blanking plug is the best option, but you’ll need to get the pipe cut quite low for that. Easily doable with a multi-tool and some patience. Place a load of concrete blocks or sand bags / other ballast on top of the 100mm sheet and get on with the pour; this will give a ‘perfect’ result. Hack it all out 24hrs after the pour when the concrete is still ‘green’ and that’ll allow you to easily undertake any further chasing out necessary to fit the tray / former / waste & pipework etc. There are loads of ways to over-engineer this btw, and the last load of these I’ve done have been ludicrously complex and time-consuming…..(not). Just get a load of sharp sand and shovel it in to blind off the area and shovel / Henry hoover it all back out the next day or so. Takes appx 10 mins to shovel in, 20 mins to remove, perfect results every damn time. . Bench the sand like making a sandcastle and go 75mm bigger x&y, have it around 50mm higher than TOC, and tell the concrete guys to go easy there so as to not disturb it. I ask them to stop short as it doesn’t matter, and later I back fill with cementitious leveller or a builders screed with fibres, depending on rebar or not. “KISS”, folks. Works a charm. Tools required = 1x sand and 1x shovel. 👌.

Great comments from the new neighbours, plus a happy 9 year old to boot ☺️. Great work, and phase 1 complete. Keep your chin up, it’ll be well worth it in the end. 🫡👊👍