Nickfromwales

I will simply do this based on the inverter being dialled down to the requisite for fast-track, and then ( as it's a hybrid ) I can bolt on as many panels as I like, and same with batteries. Soon find out what WPD have to say!!

It’s this gap which needs to be eradicated, so if you’re thinking of doing this the easy way then it ain’t going to be any better than what you currently have. You need to bite the bullet, see if you can find tiles, and do this properly or you’ll be doing all this work for absolutely no result whatsoever. And you’ll be doing it again every year. The opening needs to be reduced, so you’re into some building work. Do it once, do it properly, get on with your life.

If it's tiled 3 sides around, how can you get it out?

I've been looking into this ahead of my install, and the MCS for the panels ( MCS is about the generator btw not the inverter etc ) basically just means I have to use a recognised rail and a recognised clamp and that's about it. Equipment needs to be "on the list" also, but that's a given. Just waiting for a man with a micro-digger and then the office / studio begins! Then 21 lovely new solar collectors atop, and with my electricity bills I cannot wait to see that meter grind to a halt. 11 more going on the gazebo ( after I rebuild it after having to rip it down to get the bloody digger in / facilitate the office build ). Gotta break a few eggs..... Defo sold on the SunSync hybrid 8.8 Inverter, so I'll be off to the shops soon as. Also going to Tigo everything, but prob only one optimiser per 2x panels vs 1x per panel. The arrays can then be loaded according to the capacity of the inputs rather than dual input from mono-array(s), and I'm going E/W split on office roof and new gazebo will be rebuilt S-ish. Will be satisfying to see the individual ( or pairs of ) panels on the app, albeit almost valueless, but satisfying.

Go and get a cost / design done from the likes of Wunda. If you buy from them then they'll do a design / calcs etc and talk you through controls options and provide the kit. Once you have the kit there will be very little for an "engineer" to do, so as above just get a good plumber and a good electrician to complete. Wunda will show you a pipe layout to follow, if you're DIY'ing the loops in the floor. If you want to run this on its own eg not at the same time as the radiators / the 2 wont always be on simultaneously, then you'll very likely need to install a small buffer tank ( say 25-50L ) to stop the boiler short-cycling. What boiler do you have?

Any that don't employ / have an M&E consultant or provide a detailed breakdown with reasons / rationale etc. Also a lot of architects say they can sort this for you, but then palm it off and there's zero synergy / harmonisation of the installed equipment. The Stiebel is German and I reckon it's the Mercedes to your BMW, but I'd really like to pull these apart to properly examine / compare them. I avoided both Samsung and Mitsubushi at the outset as none of their tech dept.'s wanted to speak to me to help design for such low-energy dwellings or discuss cooling. Samsung guy actually put the phone down on me when I said that cooling did work with their units and that I knew of folk who had got them to do so, ffs. I rang Panasonic and the young, keen guys in tech-support were brilliant by comparison, immensely helpful. The product is robust, and I'm very happy with these units. They look a little utilitarian, that's all, but these aren't really on show as the pride and joy so I am struggling to see why anyone needs to pay more. Same warranty is offered by most ( 7 years iirc ) so they are what I'm fitting these days until someone demonstrates something much better to me, for not much more money.

FCU's are dumb and AHUs are clever, in a nutshell.

Most don't so do not panic. You just get the groundworkers to dig slowly carefully. Finding "buried treasure" is something you'll factor in and accept as a known eventuality, and you'll deal with a break if and when it happens ( out of your contingent fund ).

You usually dig out for a footing, trench fill, and the BCO has normally already stated this before you start works. What's written in your spec?

If you want to sort this properly, it’s tiles ALL off, bath out, walls sorted and a batten installed to accept the bath edges, bath back in, sealed before tiles, tiled, then silicones to finish. Anything else will fail again and again. Been here, got the T-shirt, made a LOT of money off insurance claims to put this exact thing right. Sort it now, as you’re just putting off the inevitable.

Jump on YouTube

OK. So you should have a dedicated discharge from each pump to a FW stack, and you shouldn't pump into an existing pipe ( T'd in ). Was that what you were saying in "a"? This will all be grey water and not black ( foul ) water, yes?

Yes...?

Yup. I use 40mm rising up, with a 40mm bend / elbow facing forward. At 2nd fix, I insert a 40x32mm reducer and the correct length piece of 32mm pipe. If space is tight, I will put the 40mm elbow at the floor and then rise with 32mm.

Hi. Just surround the pipe with acoustic rockwool and box in with plasterboard. Use foam to seal at the floor and ceiling, patching in with plasterboard if the gaps are "major". Foam all round a soil pipe really amplifies the sound, as I did one that went down through a B&B lobby once and it was noisier than with just a boxing around it. Got swapped out for rockwool.

If you'd spent 3 decades cutting out blocked pipes, you'd see my PoV. Even 40mm pipes from kitchen sinks and showers end up with enough bore to not get your thumb down the middle. If the small-bore waste is dropping vertically more than 1000mm, then you'll need air admittance, if it is dropping a whole storey then you'll need that to be in 50mm pipe with a 50mm AAV on the highest point. Wastes should never drop from FF to GF, they should always only travel horizontally to a stack, after falling vertically from a basin trap etc. Pipe unblocking chemicals etc is just a way of saying, its going to block so I'll pour this carp down there when it does @Thorfun, I would install 50mm anywhere where it's getting buried, and then drop to the size you want when it gets exposed / above floor. You'll spend a few tenners more upsizing and that buys a shit-load of insurance. You'll be using the same amount of time and labour regardless, so defo get 32mm pipe off the menu for starters!

Answer = "A LOT!".

Thanks! @All Ahem! Lets shut this digression down please, as it is now doing nothing for the topic / OP!!

Nowhere cheaper than free, me old chum

This is often a project killer. PLEASE, do NOT move in until all of your trades have completed and left, as this would slow them down, alienate them, and likely increase frequency of visits, costs, and reduce the amount of work they can do in the same day ( vs unoccupied ). Wise words.

Naughty step for 15, please 👉

Ring and complain! Get it sent to you directly or to the store.

KISS wins again!

I think it would be less if they went turnkey foundation / frame in actuality. This often includes B-Regs and SE content up to the point where the finished article is presented and the provider disengages. Doors and windows next, then roofer and external rain-screen, and you're then stood inside with a set of keys in your hand. After that it's electrician / plumber / plasterboard / plaster / kitchen / bathroom / final hard finishes and that's deliverable by a good local builder with relative ease, or it is easily within the reach of someone who feels confident to engage with these trades independently. There's bucket-loads of info on Buildhub that can be mined over the next 4 years. Absolutely no reason whatsoever to not plan ahead and make this a smooth project. Time, knowledge, confidence and budget need to be realised and realistically too, before deciding to proceed.

"Lush" Meanwhile.....back at the ranch, others were discussing ASHP's