Nickfromwales

You can't cut a 1300mm tray down to 1400mm?

Why aren't you putting formers down and tiling over?

I have no idea, just the only thing I ever hear that's reported as doing what you are hearing / experiencing has been the roof. Mainly SIP's roof and with metal standing seam. That's the only bit of the house that heats up and cools down (expands & contracts) quickly enough to generate noise. Do you have tiles / slates / metals?

Not in any of my experiences. BCO walked the job, warranty folk wandered around behind him taking notes.

Would be a good guess, seeing as it took so little to provoke this into leaking.

That's what I did on a build in Gravenhill. MBC TF so only a 35mm service cavity to lose the tails within, and SWA just would have been impossible to get where I needed it to go. Flat bar from B&Q iirc, and shows up well with a stud / metal finder.

If it's daily, then it's probably more closely attributed to heat / cool of the roof structure. I very much doubt your masonry walls are on the move!

Surface contact (cross sectional area of the pipe > surrounding concrete) determines how effectively the transfer of energy is, and if you want to effect cooling this becomes a valid point of consideration. Heating is barely worth talking about and almost manages itself; just look at examples of folk on here at all ends of the spectrum, some at 100mm o/c and other at 400mm o/c, some with a buffer / some without, and so on. Nobody has yet yelled for help as their system is 'out of control' for heating. Closer o/c means the slab will be more reactive and pipe is cheap as chips, but I also cannot experiment in my clients homes! Belt & braces (for the cost difference vs risk) will always be my choice. Cooling is the 'enemy' as the input flow temps need to avoid condensation risks, ergo you can only effect a certain amount of 'change' over x period of time, and the less CSA and volume, the worse (more elongated) that becomes. Further to this, the dwelling type has further effects which need to be factored in, and then you also need to understand if auxiliary cooling via AHU's can bolster the effect and manage the times between the slab coming into useful play. Cooling likely needs injecting at the small hours, so as to have some kind of momentum for the sunny morning to midday, and the kick in the knackers there is only some of it can be dealt with from PV then. One client uses the cooling 'long & low' (so nigh-on constant flow of "cold-ish" water through the UFH)but I also specified an intelligent AHU which speeds up the MVHR fan speeds when it detects cold water input into the heat exchanger, eg to increase the volume of cooled air (heat energy) conveyed, and I'm still gathering feedback / data as to how that works out in an occupied dwelling but controls seem to be the bug bear with this type of flip/flop setting. Trying to get something simple and recognisable to hand over to Joe Public is a challenge! I am very impressed with the Steibel Eltron ASHP we installed recently, but more so with the controls. DHW goes direct off the ASHP and cooling / heating of the UFH goes through a digital blending set (fed from buffer when either warm or cold) which then goes direct to AHU. The advantage here is that I can send 7oC water to the AHU to max out its cooling capabilities vs minimising air flow speed rates, and the blended sum goes to the UFH so I can decide that to be 16oC, simultaneously. I think a few of the more boffin-like members on here have come up with the same solution, but this one is out of the box and more 'fit for human consumption'. I just wish there were more hours in the day so I could read everything written on here about the subject! In the meantime, I may just go on to recommend and employ the (very expensive) Steibel setup, as it actually works out as being value for money when you look at it as a holistic and comprehensive turnkey heating and cooling arrangement.

Doesn't really seem a suitable product for a floating floor, unless the floor is otherwise supported and the insulation is just there to insulate. Seems PIR is the way to go here? It's also not water proof / resistant, so the DPM would need to be hugely robust. Says it has a 2% shrink ratio too, so tight fitting boards will eventually become loose (if wedged in-between joists for eg) so seems the cons outweigh the pros here.

I think you'll need to reassess after 12 months of 'settlement'. The build was done during the "wet" season I assume, and the fabric of the build heavily soaked and then all of that moisture got locked in by the render. The different rates at which all this would dry out would be significant, so I would fill these cracks with a good quality paint and monitor every 3 months. Staring at this every day will put you in an early grave, so, relax, as the house isn't going to fall over any time soon, and monitor as above. Tapping on the mortar will reveal if it is going 'hollow' (has separated from the structure) which would be more of an issue. Answers for this problem will not be coming any time soon, well not ones worth hearing at this time anyways. Time will tell, I'm afraid. In the meantime, go about your daily business and stop staring at these cracks is my honest advice.

The exact reason that on my current project (a fully certified Passivhaus) I am designing this issue out; manipulation of where flow goes first, selecting which pipes get insulated before reaching their target 'zones' and also by selecting different o/c's in different spaces according to discipline. One thermostat planned per floor but with a very tight hysteresis so the second there is fluctuation (up or down) the systems can respond quickly (as quickly as a PH can) and mitigate against over / under shoot. Solar gain over shoot is the offender that my efforts will be largely focussed on, heating is a doddle to deal with.

Ah, shit. Not another typo!? Have you been out in the sun with no hat on?

I think you meant "loses". Just saying ✌️

Speak to CVC Systems directly and they’ll sort you out with whatever ventilation products you need. I buy all of the systems I install for my self build clients through them. Great guys, and great service / products.

I would expect them to be exaggerated tbh. What are your specific concerns?

I doubt that will be of actual value tbh. No different visiting a showroom / manufacturing base here. They'll all make the same promises, just one will have cost you a few hundred or thousands to hear.

Why, might I ask?

I'm afraid not. The £2m dollar question is HOW?

👆

It's a load of nonsense tbh as the FR rated stuff is bloody flammable! You're not supposed to use it where a gap exceeds 6mm or something daft.

If so, then you defo need to get the builders to correct this!! You should be able to disassemble everything 'user' and have no bloody leaks WHATSOEVER.

Yes, probably selected due to the heat in the flow and return pipework

Knock the concrete blocks out and replace with an EPS based system? I am not sure of the centres of the insulation based B&B systems so would need a survey for feasibility, but getting rid of the blocks would be a huge leap forwards. Have a look at BeamShield. When installing these types of 'floating' floors (like in a garage conversion) I always install 2 layers of 22mm P5 deck, glued and screwed and laid perpendicular to each other. Takes a washing machine on spin without blinking. One layer will be poor tbh.

@nod ?

Hi. Brick and block or ICF / other?