Nickfromwales

Yup. Just allows to to scrub all the grout out that you just spent ages putting in I once spoke to a wise old tiler, a bit like Mr Miyagi off the filum "Katate Kid". His wise words, spoken softly. His warm breath on my neck.....hang on, that's the wife after 50 shades ? "Let the grout go off a bit, then hand sponge it with a reasonably damp but not dripping sponge, going at 45 degrees to the grout lines and NOT with them. Then once you've done a m2 you LIGHTLY run the damp CLEAN sponge with the lines to take out the grain pressing lightly. After that you retire for Saki, and 30 minutes later you get a soaking wet janitors mop and clean everything, mopping at 45 degrees to the grout lines. Finish the edges with the sponge and smirk to yourself as you'll have finished a couple of hours before the mere mortals with no mop". He was right, and that's how I've grouted ever since. Praise the lord.

Yup. Just allows to to scrub all the grout out that you just spent ages putting in I once spoke to a wise old tiler, a bit like Mr Miyagi off the filum "Katate Kid". His wise words, spoken softly. His warm breath on my neck.....hang on, that's the wife after 50 shades ? "Let the grout go off a bit, then hand sponge it with a reasonably damp sponge, going at 45 degrees to the grout lines and NOT with them. Then once you've done a m2 you LIGHTLY run the damp CLEAN sponge with the lines to take out the grain. After that you retire for Saki, and 30 minutes later you get a soaking wet janitors mop and clean everything whilst mopping at 45 degrees to the grout lines. Finish the edges with the sponge and smirk to yourself as you'll have finished an hour before the mere mortals with no mop". He was right, and that's how I've grouted ever since.

Wet sponge and a bucket of water to wash the joints clean. It should come off easy. Spot on with the spacers. And Capt BigBalls wanted to tile it all in one go .

Alwyas butter when it's a floor, even more so if it's heated. Even MORE so if it's wetroom.

Just a bit Ok, cooling first. You either go mono block ASHP and reverse it a-la @JSHarris, or you go for air-con. Simples ( ish ). For one current client we are working with an ASHP + Sunamp solution so they have the ability to cool the ground floor slab. They will also be able to cool individual rooms via fan-coil units wet fed by the ASHP ( with the same cooled water that will circulate the slab in 'cooling mode' ). Pointless fitting air con in a house that'll have an ASHP imo, unless theres no UFH loops of course. I may look at taking chilled water to the MVHR inlet and send that through a duct heater ( cooler ) for maximum cooling effect. As its a bigger than average home the ASHP remains, but it would still have been possible to do away with it TBH if cooling wasn't part of the remit. Having a 'non-optimum' PV array there also reinforced using the ASHP for the primary heat energy source, basically for charging the PCM34's as quickly and cheaply as possible leaving the remainder of PV and grid ( economy ) to top up the PCM58's ( DHW ). Well that is a positive as they've come on leaps and bounds. Now very simple units with nowt to go wrong other than a failed immersion which is now a 5 min job to replace. Which exact (e)Dual units? PCM34 or PCM58 or mix of the two? With an ASHP I assume they're suggesting 2 units to get to the 26kW, ( 2x 'size12' units which will store an average of 26kW actual useful heat energy at peak charge state ), which would give you a decent chunk of cold mains uplift ( to 30oC ) and then into the PCM58 for DHW, which will then have extended capacity due to reduced duty. And heres the 'gotcha'. Does that mean 5 staggered showers, or 2 - 3 running simultaneously / 1-2 showers plus a bath filling etc? A huge question but needs answering before even getting within a mile of choosing an end solution. You have to remember that a SA is an instantaneous water heater, just like a combi boiler, so the faster the water flows through it the cooler the flow can become. An UVC for eg will give you full wallop and empty all of its guts out in a very short space of time, AT FULL STORED TEMP, but will then just go stone cold and then need time to recharge before doing the same again. So, for the aforementioned clients SA spec; there will be a pair of smaller PCM58's ( 2x 'size 6' units to get near the required 12-14kWh required for DHW ) specifically being done to get the 2 pairs of DHW heat exchangers inline with the DHW max flow rate requirements. So ( rough figures for eg ) 1x 30 l/p/m flow rate through one SA unit = 60 l/p/m through two units in parallel. More if preheated. That incurs additional capital expenditure so the pros and cons need weighing up. You do not get higher flow rates with bigger unit sizes as they all share the same H-Ex afaik. I'm still getting info through on these so I can update as I go along. A single SA H-Ex will happily run 2 high-flow showers or 3 average showers simultaneously but thats about it. After that you'll need to look at pre-heat. That would then allow you to use a 4th shower alongside the other three. From there you'd then be looking at multiples of SA units to get the flow rates up higher and then onto additional preheat to go crazy. Yes it makes my head hurt too! With an ASHP + PH you'll need to go to a DHW priority setup which allows the ASHP to fully recharge the 34's before allowing space heating to continue to draw heat, that way the DHW system will be fortified for pre-heat by the HP, and the DHW can either be maintained by PV, or if the 58's call for help, grid electricity too. That arrangement lends itself to the space heating depleting all of the stored PV before the ASHP has to kick back in again. Hopefully with a correctly sized setup that would be for a good few months of the year. For absolute peak usage, the ASHP AND grid electricity ( via the immersions ) can all join force, for what we refer to as "boost". Space heating is, by contrast, a doddle. One PCM34 will act as a buffer, an option if you only actually want to dump excess PV into space heating. You could just have a cheaper 'eHeat' unit then, ( ASHP on one H-Ex and the space heating on the second H-Ex ) but the eHeat cannot carry potable water for DHW as its not WRAS approved. You can only use an 'eDual' for DHW / DHW uplift as that can carry potable water, but the 'eHeat' isn't WRAS approved so is only good for heating grade water. The eDual is the highest SAP scoring unit too. Design is the key tbh and treble-thinking your requirements is paramount before moving forward. It can be as easy or as complex as your situation commands ! Hope that is of SOME help to you.

Yes, i) So your not looking down at all the grout lines at the perimeter of the room. All the grout lines should be difficult to see, so when you look down a wall into the corner, the wall it meets should have gone on first so your looking down the face of the tiles, and at the face of the adjoining tile, as opposed to looking down the wall AT the grout line. Just me being fussy but my latest job has had flying colours so far in comparison to others who have recently had such work done and are now a bit gutted ii) If you own a laser you can set a datum grout line at the bottom course. Then you simply turn the tile upside down, rest it on the floor tile with the finished face to the wall, then mark the tile each end where the laser strikes it and "Bingo!" You cut between the two lines, put the cut edge to the floor tile, and you have a scribed, level tile to lay which means no batten and no puncturing the tanking. iii) It also means you can tile a whole wall in one sitting with not having to use the 'batten off the first course' method.

You need to go to the optician for some kosher advice mate. I'll be sat opposite you most prob

At 40 I started needing longer arms, not glasses At 44 I may have to throw in the towel and get something for up close. Soldering is a nightmare, as is trying to read the forum off my mobile phone. I really do think we could have the font go up a point or two for the mobile version, even for those with 20/20 vision.

FFS. You've GOT to be shitting me! On your timescale thats future time travel. As we say around here "honest to god". Cast your mind back to the kind words of one of our forefathers....... Thats not open to negotiation. Crack the fcuk on, stick to the plan, and nobody gets hurt Type here next with a pic of the wet area tiled. Dont make me come down there......?

Its a how long is a piece of string question, SO STOP ASKING AND START CHUFFING TILING ! OK, no more talk about climbing in and out of baths! You lay the shower area, get it all straight and true with a straight edge, then leave to cure, so your ready to then move to phase 2. Phase 2 is the main floor, from the wet area back to the wc jutty out wall. Then stop and leave to set so you can walk on it. Then you mix some more and lay the ones under the sink and the remainder of the main floor out to the door. DO NOT DEVIATE FROM THAT. With standard set you never have an fixed ( cured ) area ( of tiles ) that you can 'push back' against. so you cannot keep the spacers tight, and it all goes off squiff. Do the wet area first, concentrate SOLELY on that and leave to dry. Trying to lay the whole floor and wet area in one go is too much work, and on standard set I wouldn't even try it myself. Just making an easy job stressful imo. "Chill Winston"

You seriously asking us how long you'll take to tile the bathroom ? You still on the cobra ?

'Twill be a thing of beauty. ?

It's fine, he'll measure 368 times and cut once .

Geberit are bombproof. You wont be disappointed. No need to mount on anything other than a flat, vertical wall. Doesn't need to be on blockwork. ?

@Mr Punter Much as I hate them too, let's be helpful @Gav74 can you clarify if the builder is saying cover the WASTE ( 32/ 40/ 50mm ) pipe or to convert to a FW ( 110mm soil pipe ) run? If it's still the macerator waste pipe then it can be insulated but not just left othewise exposed. The title says 'foul water', so we would assume 110mm. .

Hi @UnicornDreams Sorry, but if you read our T&C's you'll find we don't allow commercial promotion or links etc in new membership. Please feel free to introduce yourself in the relevant forum and give us some background into your interest in new / self build. Many thanks Moderators. .

Dave. Compare apples with apples mate, thats a huge bum steer. £500 for your ( at first wonky ) ASHP which fortunately you can fit yourself, at the cost of your personal worth ( what you would have been getting if you were in work not in your back garden fitting your ASHP ). The cost mentioned by most here also include the cylinder / controller / ASHP fitting kit etc etc plus an accredited / certified installation with a manufacturer and installer warranty. A-pples.

Such a tragic loss. ?

Did you go to the funeral?

Some real assumptions being made here about the ability of someone to do something. Can the OP climb a ladder to soffit height and drill holes to pull cables through? If not its a job for a professional. Can the OP pair and crimp an RJ45 plug? If not its a job for a professional. Can the OP differentiate between what needs power plus a Cat5/6 and what would run POE ( power over ethernet )? If not its a job for a professional. Does the OP want to be buying expensive switches / routers to get the POE capability? ? Heres a sensible comment, given that @Hecateh is of retirement age and won't be climbing ladders to the soffit; Your BB provider will give you a wifi router with 4 hard wired RJ45 socket outlets on the back of it. Its free. Decide where you would best use those 4 sockets. 1) Main TV 2) Master bedroom TV 3) Printer 4) Where will you sit with your laptop? Then run a couple ( 2 or 3, not 10 or 11 ) for where you think they may be of use occasionally. Label them all at the router and then you can just unplug one and redirect it elsewhere. Your printer swaps out to free up a socket for the spare bedroom, for occasional guests to plug in a laptop for eg. Cheap, simple and you still have wifi. The major importance is to mount the router wisely, so you get the best signal where its most important, so if you need good wifi for the TV fire-stick then have the router in the room where the tv is. Other wifi devices will cope, its a small house. Should we encourage you to not part with any more money than you need to? Yup.

Floors first every time, boyo

Get the quote sent to Boulder Developments, Wunda and NuHeat and get them warring

You dont want to find out

TBH Wunda are very competitive for a good product delivered. I have asked to speak to their sales manager as to why they stopped selling the capillary pump and blending sets that they used to. The blending sets I use in low energy properties are the Ivar Dualmix. Be careful to choose the wider temp range model, as one has a rather narrow temp selection. @JamesP If you send your plans to Wunda they'll do all the plans and QS list for free