Nickfromwales

+1. Got me out of the shit a good few times. You'll need some elbow grease though. Best is to do this literally two tiles at a time or you'll be filling yourself with false hope ( as you're probably aware it's nigh-on impossible to tell good from bad when wet ).

...and finally, the last three digits on the back of your card please.

In that case, lol; And welcome!

Hi. I think you should define “starting from scratch” as that can mean a lot of different things! Are you taking the floors out to get insulation and UFH fitted or do you plan on replacing the storage heaters with conventional radiators? In that type of property, if you’re not hugely improving insulation ( eg fitting EWI and possibly IWI ) and draught-proofing the place pretty well then I doubt it could be a candidate for an ASHP ( Air Source Heat Pump ) as the flow temperature is a lot lower and therefore radiators would need to be nearly twice the size of those run off higher temperature eg gas / oil. Fabric first please, so we know what we’re dealing with

Is there a vent to atmosphere on the house? If so that should be suffice. You can vent low level from the tank at the boundary too, if it won’t be a nuisance to neighbours. Or, at a garage / outbuilding. Put a paving slab over the one at the tank and redo the one travelling away?

And a flitch + regular solid timber joists is a cheap as chips solution. Tres bien, Rodney.

"it's not pink, it's salmon!" Agree on the export limitation being a negative, but FYI it's inbuilt into SolarEdge inverters IIRC and they have dry capacitors and a 12 year warranty.

+1. Just about to say the same thing. Will make the detailing around the furthest skylight less of a ball-ache too. Flitch beam should be ample, and easy to bring in and man-handle into place piece by piece.

That's 3 phase I'm pretty sure. You can see 4 connectors L1 L2 L3 and neutral. FYI you could also ask the DNO to fit 8kWp and employ export limitation down to 3.9kW if 3-phase isn't a goer. I assume you'll get a 3-phase inverter if you go 3-phase supply? Fronius are very good.

Count the number of wires that form the twisted trunk, or are these a run of single strands off a pole? This is 3-phase or twisted? This could be 2 or 3 phase so more difficult to tell.

Reading back over this, and that's bloody impressive stuff.

Walks with a limp, very timid.

All the blinds I’ve seen so far do allow you to see out quite a lot if it’s light outside. A bit like really heavy net curtains. Blinds ( solar ) have lots of tiny round holes in them so they’re ‘perforated’ rather than solid blind.

Is that not the case with the Sage when tinted? edit : when fully tinted

You could try a brick acid to see what is left in 'stubborn' cement, as acid should clean the residual cement of the faces of the cobbles at least and leave you with what remains. That will need to be scrubbed ( stiff broom if light residue or wire brush if heavy residue ) so approach your guy and ask for that to be done before summarising. If mortar ( the cement mix ) is already coming loose then it's not good news. At the very least these loose patches need 'raking' out and re-doing.

Looking good And the gazebo is shaping up too

....and we can only hope that he never reads this......

Thought it was @Onoff that wrote that for a mo.......?

Run it through a proper analysis first, and then ascertain the level of any 'issue' you actually NEED to address. Consider maybe just the south and leave the east / vice-versa whichever works in your ( the dwellings ) favour. I would certainly look again at external blinds on the south so as not to cut off your nose during winter, as you're only going to be using the blinds a couple of months of the year in all likelihood. If this was full on passive it would be a very different story, but this property will need all the help it can get in the winter time, especially with the added decrement delay after you add the EWI.

Is the existing concrete base the correct size for your new office? If so simply lay a course of thermalite block around the perimeter, cutting them at around 70mm thick as a thermal break. Bed these down in 15-20mm of cement and tap down accordingly to get a nice straight ( flat and level ) top edge using the cement taking up any undulation. Use that then as an insulated footer for the stud walls with the thermalite blocks providing at least some thermal break. Then you can blind the remaining slab surface with sharp sand and lay 50mm or 75mm of EPS ( polystyrene ) insulation directly onto the slab. Put two layers of 18mm OSB3 atop the insulation, with the second layer perpendicular to the first and you'll then have a nice start point to get the stud frame walls up and have a pretty decent separation from the cold of mother earth. DPM goes over the thermalite and the EPS to make the damp barrier, so try to match that level as best you can by deciding on the thickness of insulation you desire and then cutting the thermalite blocks to suit. Leave the DPM overhang the thermalite by a good 150mm and then clad over it when sheathing the outside walls with your chosen rain barrier to keep it down-turned over the thermalite ( as that will attempt to bridge damp up / outward so cannot touch anything porous ). I've done a few 'garage conversions' with this method, and the double layer of OSB ( tongue and groove 2400x600mm sheets ) over the loose insulation feels rock solid underfoot. You will deffo need to blind the slab with sharp sand first ( after laying the perimeter blocks ) and get that nice and uniform for this to have little / no 'wobble' possible. Invest some time there as it'll pay dividends later on 3x2" timber at 400mm centres vertically for stud walls, with 25mm EPS across the whole of the internal walls and then screw 11mm OSB3 through the EPS and into the studs for final internal finish. Looks fine when painted, but you could plasterboard if you need a 'posh' finish. Monopitch roof is a doddle, and again, just timber for simplicity. Make the walls all level and fit some furring pieces on top to create a downward slope, from front to back, so the guttering is at the rear. 6x2 pearlings at 600mm centres atop the furring pieces, from left to right as you look at the front, and 18mm OSB3 atop the pearlings and whatever you want on top of that ( EDPM / felt / GRP etc ) but beware metal sheets as I found the rain made it nigh on impossible to have a conversation when it was lashing down. Solution will be; acoustic insulation and SB plasterboard most prob, but will be a job for a rainy day Depending upon your choice of roof material you can just get away with insulating the roof void with cheap attic roll in the depth of the 6x2"s and covering with green plasterboard.

Do you have the specs of the gate motors? They usually are geared and not that 'power hungry', so you may be able to glean power from an utility ring and then just a matter of drilling through the outside wall where there is power available back to back. Do you have any largely unused circuits? For eg, a cooker circuit with a 32a or 40a supply that is just servicing a hob igniter? Redundant shower supply etc where you've changed to a mixer shower / or as said, a garage with a dedicated feed which you can tap off? As far as lighting goes they will use very little and can be piggy backed off the gate supply. You could also use Quinetic wireless ( and battery-free ) technology to have switches in the house which bring these on and off. You can also put a switch in the car even, loose in the glove box, and use it to bring the lights on for welcome / approach illumination. These things are ridiculously good for wireless switching and still amaze me as to how far and how diverse an installation they will still work, reliably, in. You can also add PIR sensors, laid over these wireless switching circuits, for security / approach illumination for when you're not home. Upload some details and add the information requested earlier and we can work out just how much power they need, and where you can get it from. Also consider the future purchase of an EV, if you do end up running cables through the house, as that would be a good time to get a second cable ( or one very beefy one ) out for a car charger. If you do end up having to get power from the fuse-board ( aka CU ( Consumer Unit )) the easiest route is usually up from the CU, into the first floor ceiling void, and out to the appropriate external wall. A run of black or white conduit, down from a 'terminal box' fitted where you drill out, to ground level is normal practice. If you can get through the downstairs then even better.

And some good points here, Also feel free to ask the admins here for blog rights and you can also use that if it helps.

Hi Chris. Jump in and hijack this thread. And welcome. And

Nope. Sorry, was typing whilst being nuked by the sun whilst fitting PV ?. The questions been answered.....you’re having MVHR ?. Just wondered as you mentioned not having trickle vents. Off to find some after-sun lotion. I’m nicely toasted ?.

MVHR?