Nickfromwales

A new chapter, vs closing the book

The wood ‘type’ should be in your architect’s spec, as I assume the builders get direction / instruction from somewhere? Hopefully it’s something hardy, like cedar. Oh; Opt 1. Black / dark version makes the house too gloomy imho.

It is very dependant on site conditions, ground permeability, water table, hydraulics etc, so no ‘one shoe fits all’ with a true basement for sure

I expect that the area of wooden floor was driven very close to the limit, previously, to get the heat into the room. Good point though. Many heads….

They’re quite ‘intelligent’ pumps, for a generic off-the-shelf solution that most suppliers can spit out with ease. That plus Grundfos are industry standard for pumps, like Hoover was for vacuum cleaners. Wilo are making some good pumps these days too.

@Gedq These can be unscrewed and automatic air vents put in their place. I bin those manual ones and always fit automatic ones to minimise maintenance etc. Buy 2 of these LINK and then these UFH rails will auto bleed themselves. The little cap on top, like the air cap on a car tire, needs to be 2 turns loose or it won’t vent, but not taken off completely. If you want to do this then reply here and we’ll talk you through it, or order them and ask a plumber to fit them for you. 15 minute job start to finish.

Don't forget to wait a few days to be sure, then add the inhibitor chemical (Fernox F1) for protection.

I've given up trying to work it out tbh, you just seem to have bad nerves from all this building malarky, and are hitting the same pic twice......or something.... Your build is going very annoyingly well. Or, annoyingly very well. You pick! Either way....Congrats to you, fantastic progress.

I think you’ll need to up the flow temp into the UFH to compensate for your new, low temp heat source. It sounds like whoever sold you the dream didn’t explain things, or survey it properly, to highlight some of the adverse effects that you could expect from switching over to a heat pump. If you up the flow rates, don’t do it to the loops servicing the tiled areas. Try the others at the increased rate and see what happens over 48hrs.

Which is crazy as not being able to hear clearly on a site is dangerous as feck. Anyone with EarPods in just zones out.

Maybe give this a rethink. Having your gas burning appliance(s) serviced annually is a very good idea, but prob leave them far away from the UFH as some are clueless.

🤣🤣. Glad you got it sorted and thanks for the chip oil bum steer. Another BH victory in the most peculiar way.

Check the vents first to rule out any air lock.

Make an insulated secondary panel, which you lift up into the attic, as putting anything on that hatch will prevent access.

Defo keep the isolators to the UFH closed whilst purging and venting. Just don’t forget to open them afterwards.

Whoa! Do NOT pull at anything or you’ll be very wet. Do what just pull off? The flow gauges are fixed. Actuators have the cable going to them. The base unscrews via the big ring. Hand loosen, hand tighten. Under the actuator is the ‘pin’, just see if this pushes down with the handle of a screwdriver, and if it pops back up, freely.

Defo a typo I won’t be editing out lol.

I was working my way to this being OTT, as essentially we’re just discussing retaining walls for a semi subterranean structure aka a walk out basement. FYI, membranes are very much used in new build basements, haven’t long spec’d a very big 4-sided basement, with a 4m excavation. Measures were needed both inside and out, including internal membrane and 2 perimeter drains, each with their own sumps / pumps due to the size of it.

Radios / music is perfectly fine and acceptable. None of your neighbours will petition the surrounding occupants if they wish to listen to their hifi. You simply need to speak to trades regarding this. Roofers on site this week were blasting the choons atop the scaffolding, which wasn’t very considerate tbf. I turned it down each time I went up when putting the MVHR vents in the roof. Was quickly turned back up.

If you’re capable, you can turn the blue and red valves off (1/4 turn) and then drain the pressure a little. Then the screws can be undone and the entire head removed quite easily. You can then see if the impeller is free to rotate or not, and get it moving again if not.

Have you been around to say hello to your new neighbours? This can be a very positive thing to do, just saying you’ll keep the noise as controlled as possible, but you’re “trying to get the build done quickly to minimise overall disruption”, plus other clever phrasing. We’ve done WhatsApp groups for urban projects, so we can advise when deliveries or scaffolders etc are on site etc etc, and these often work well. Some will take this piss, but usually the majority appreciate the effort to open communications, and often a question of “how much longer will you be drilling for outside” etc can quickly be answered to say what time you’ll finish that day. That can alleviate the smoke turning to fire, and chill people out with assurances that you’ll respect the area and its occupants as much as is practicable. The other aspect is, if THEY were fortunate enough to be able to build or improve their homes, they’d not expect any grief from you, so a balance to be had vs just being too pleasant / a pushover too.

Yes, I work on a lot of client projects where disappointment is the norm, from professionals they sought help from (and paid handsomely for the ‘pleasure’). I’m not saying to go for a screed, more just thinking out loud; eg how this can be simplified and therefore become cheaper / faster to do. Bending the pins pre delivery is simple, had this on a project in Oxford, just makes the tying a bit more complicated / time consuming, but plenty ‘doable’. I was more of the opinion that you’d need to be robustly insulated if considering UFH in slab. Has either professional stated this is possible? Some SE’s hate putting pipes in a constructional slab, afaic for zero good reason with a slab this thick! On the job in oxon I suggested (more demanded) that the upper layer of mesh was dropped to get the requisite concrete cover over the top of the UFH pipes, which they eventually agreed to. Saved the client thousands in more layers atop, screed, loss of head-height etc. Go rattle some cages (and go from passenger to driver) is my 2 cents.

No vibration or signs of it running when you switch on / off? Flow gauges not moving even slightly?

My local glass shop works to 2mm tolerance. Crazy that they got this so far out. Have you spoken to them yet, or just that you fear they won’t resolve this?

So. EWI it is!!!! Now to discuss the pros cons and caveats of this, so that @kentar can be kept as a member here…..