Nickfromwales

The ever build Stixall is the only adhesive / sealant that Mermaid would let me use with their shower panels, for both bonding and sealing. That stays perfect.

Absolutely forget routing that into a chipboard / laminate worktop….suicide mission. Would work with a wood top, but don’t router so deep is my opinion, just keep skimming and trying the fit until it’s 1-2mm under flush. Then seal it in.

This is the same stuff as is in the CT1 tube, I’m sure of it.

Solarwatt are stating 12 - 18 months atm from the last 'newsflash'. At least their honest!!

I did start to investigate what a pair of 7.5kW solar thermal arrays would do for the client I mentioned above ( uncovered outdoor used prob 9 months of the year ) but I think a load of solar PV into a HP, plus overnight top-up on a cheap rate ToU tariff would be the most maintenance free, universal and efficient solution. They were burning through £6k of gas a year 6 years or more ago for the pool and a relatively modest house ( with huge grounds ).

The reality is closer to 12-15, and for some they'll likely just be told at the 9 month anniversary that the order cant be fulfilled and drop them altogether.

50mm of screed is very little if this is to be a low energy dwelling. To take advantage of different types of energy consumption and to maximise efficiencies, I am always an advocate of a bigger slab so you can store slow release heat energy in it. I would dial back the type 1 to 150mm depending on how much you 'need', reduce the sand blinding layer to 20-30mm, install a sacrificial 25mm EPS layer atop the sand, and then the DPM. That would allow you to get closer to 80-90mm of screed which will then act more like a storage heater than a radiator. In absolute honesty, I would flip the whole lot on its head if it were my place, and have the 150mm of concrete as my heated ( and cooled ) slab with the insulation atop the type 1.

Yup. JG Speedfit is just too flawed and multi-faceted in is installation to make anyone who knows about the alternatives to want to use it. B&Q posse love it lol.

Yup. A sizeable investment would be required for this instance, and would still likely be the best of compromises. It will work, just not as efficiently ( cost effectively ) as conventional radiators.

Yes. My ramblings are based on your wish to add to the system. So, as per my previous ( and that of others ) timing appliances to run strategically ( most washing machines and dishwashers have delay timers these days ) and utilising the existing array to the max would be the way forward for getting all the export dialled down. Also seriously consider the installation of an UVC for DHW ( direct to bathing or as pre-heated water to the combi inlet ) which would be a good option for you to get the hot water for free for a lot of the year, dropping you on demand gas consumption for one, but also, dependant on the size of the cylinder, would provide you with somewhere you could install a second immersion to act as an energy dump when the batteries are full. I've yet to get answers to questions about possibly using a FiT systems export to power a battery charger for the batteries on the hybrid side via an diversion controller. One of my wackier ideas, but I'm always thinking what can be done that hasn't been done before.

In addition to, not in place of Compliance, as in you are using a recognised piece of equipment that the manufacturer has indicated can be G99 ( G100 ) registered / recognised / compliant. Not done this myself, yet, but as I have just ordered a load of my own kit for my zero-export install I have been power reading all of the solar / off-griddy forums where the inverter I want to use is mentioned, and has been accepted by the DNO repeatedly in the exact same circumstances. I wouldn't state things here if they couldn't be done.

Sorry, but not my experience directly. Simply what I saw, heard and witnessed directly whilst on a clients build. The issues with Velox run way further, and the builders who were tasked with this build were some of the most skilled and competent builders and joiners I've had the pleasure of working with for quite some time. They were constantly suffering with, and engineering solutions to the problems with that product / system. Even boards braced down to as little as 400 OC were breaking and blowing out. Maybe OK for someone building with it time after time, but a one-off would be an expensive baptism....

No need to go crazy. Assuming you have a 110m AAV or an SVP for the rising foul stack, the 2 anti-vac basin traps will be all you need here. The horizontal breaks in the run, coupled with the 50mm pipe, will be all the air break you'll need. Trust me, I'm a pipe doctor

They're a way off for availability atm anyways.

23.5 total on 1ph! You were lucky there me thinks

A combi cannot deliver heating and hot water at the same time. It has an internal diverter which chooses either one. DHW ( domestic hot water ) takes priority, so if you turn the heating on at 07:00 and get up, and 3 people take a 10 min shower each, the heating will be off, and the house remain cold, for that 30 plus minute period. As you'll already be inside the 'insulated envelope', you wont need the insulation on the 1st floor, quite the opposite. A product with largely bogus claims. Every mass builder would be going for this if it was any good. Pile of crap i'm afraid.

OK, obviously my advice is for when you go for the service alteration, assuming you then wouldn't want both. TBH if you use the old hoover technique and some fishing line you can suck yourself a new draw wire in with ease.

Not quite, more a statement of compliance as at that stage you'll be non MCS ( so no export payment eligibility ) and setting the hybrid inverter / declaring ZERO export At the most the DNO will ask a representative to attend and witness the zero export limitation in practice and sign you off. What you do after that will be of ( ahem ) zero interest to them. You could have 50kWp of solar and 50kWh of battery, they would not care one jot as it would all be on the D/C side.

No need to. Done plenty as you indicate, more than I can count. That's fine. You need to use 50mm waste pipe for everything from stack to bath, and then 50mm from bath to the rising bend at the image above. Reduced on the vertical output of that bend ( not elbow ) with a 50x32mm reducer. You will deffo need to fit either a 50mm AAV under the bath ( if you've got a removable bath panel ), or take the 32mm waste pipe up from the 50mmx32mm bend to a 32mm AAV to an above attic / eave space(?), or at the very minimum put anti-vacuum tras on both basins in both rooms meeting that run of 50mm pipe.

Will deffo need a sizeable buffer tank too, so when DHW is being drawn for extended periods of time ( drawing a bath / showering back to back in the mornings ) the UFH has a reserve to draw from. That would be a minimum of 150L, but bigger would be better say 200L. Remember that a combi cannot deliver heating whilst producing DHW

Yup, hence my suggestion of hybrid and D/C for the new additions. Needs no begging / going on bended knee. One less A/C to D/C to A/C conversion also, so more efficient charging the D/C batteries from the D/C from the roof.

If you look on the Cylinders2go website ( I get all of mine there through Trevor, as have many others on here ) there are all of the sizes and dimensions. Remember to look at HP UVC's not regular ( gas / direct electric ) units as the coils and sizes are different vs capacities. You get the purge cycles with most HP controllers, however on a sealed system in this day and age, most consider it to be unnecessary.

Besides Velox, it's the system I've seen / heard of the most blow-outs during the pour or deformities after the pour. Anyone considering Velox should beware that they will try to supply 20% more than you need. Then leave you with an expensive pile of various blocks worth less than the skips to take them away which they will refuse to refund / recognise as superfluous.

No, it wouldn't. A trap does what it says, traps water. Zero water will remain in the above images, and the only 'trap' will be whichever you decide to go under the sink ( S / P / Bottle etc ). I'll never get tired of 6' blondes Basins are typically ~820-830 from FFL so that's the height of discharging pipework. Some go horizontally to a soil stack, others outdoors to a snow box, some under DPM level to a drain gulley and so on. What happens after your "90o bend"?

I have done many bathrooms with the shower screens bonded with the clear CT1 and never had any issues with discolouration. All very much on show so I'd have been pulled over it by now. The white does discolour, and should never be the finish left on show. Around the backs of WC pans etc I use the clear CT1 for fundamental sealant, wiped back slightly with baby wipes to leave a gap for a microban / forever white silicone sealant to go atop. When that gets a bit funky, it is very easy to strip and refresh.