Nickfromwales

You need a better architect ffs !!!!!

Yup. There’s a blanking grommet on the end of the trailing tail, after the last light. Chop that off and make it off into a trailing socket

In summer I’d look at positively pressurising the pool hall and having a transfer grille to allow that air to escape (eg an openable window or slider?). Simple evacuation of the air should suffice, but only really y if implemented robustly. The link to that unit show text for ‘all out’ forced extraction, so the caveat there will be finding a way to offer up the same volume of air from atmosphere; this mustn’t ‘pull’ on the domestic ventilated space as that needs to remain in balance. Pools are a pita btw, sorry for the complex comments, but if it’s not done correctly you can have major issues develop slowly over time.

Ah. Just clicked that on that link (lazy Sunday, sorry) and that commercial unit is a very different beast! Sounds like you could just try the 4 seasons on that, and add stand-alone dehumidification if so needed (likely it will be, but that unit on max may just get you there).

Through-wall MVHR’s are generally crap, sorry. You’d need minimum push / pull (2 fans doing opposite jobs) to get the air moving. That deletes heat recovery of course, but it’s negligible anyways with a through-wall MVHR. Variable fan speeds is a must, as you have to leave these on 24/7, as they also take care of breathable air quality / humidity even when the cover is on and the pool hall vacated. Dehumidification is defo necessary, especially when the pool is being ‘enjoyed’, and water has been splashed about. Main house MVHR is neither here nor there, as these systems and ventilated spaces need to remain entirely segregated (ideally), so the house MVHR would have no impact or contribution to the functionality of the pool hall. Dehumidifier adds heat, so the negligible HR element of the through-wall MVHR can be offset there perhaps.

The 2x 10w tripod dual lights are crap. Bought a few for a job, just useless as you need to point them at what they are supposed to light. The festoon strings are much better, with 10w LED ES (not GLS as if you so much as sneeze they blow) and I fit a 110v trailing socket to the end of each one so you can plug the next string into the end of the first one, up to 4 strings is fine. Reduces the number of 110v outlets / spiders / extension leads needed. I buy the Defender ones from SFx. The only time you’ll need spare lamps is in the event of physical damage. Have 1x tranny dedicated to lights, and another for tools (if necessary). I made a bench and littered it with 7 or 8 230v 13a 2G sockets (over 3x RCBO’s in a temp CU) and they’re all used atm; a sea of different battery charges are now living there.

Would a parapet detail be more robust? Have you discussed this with the designer?

It’s not uncommon for these to be put in for inspection and completion, eg for the house to be ‘signed off’, and then burglars break in a week later and steal them, but sometimes the owners have a very poor memory and forget to buy new ones to replace the ones that went missing. 👀

We’ve been using Passive Purple again, on the current (now pretty much an EnerPHit level refurbishment of a masonry dwelling) and it’s good stuff. When you’ve lots of nooks & crannies to seal / tape, and a mixture of substrates, then this just seems to be a great product. This plus a boatload of FM330 foam, and some meticulous membrane and taping, should get us in good stead for the arrival (soon) of AeroBarrier to put the cherry on the cake. Anyone wanting to go airtight and are in need of a paintable solution, or one you can spray through a HVLP gun also, then chat to Adam and the team at Intelligent Membranes, and they’ll give you support and advice a-plenty. Great people who have bent over to help out with technical (and practical!) advice; both on and off site. 👍👌 They’ve expanded services and products a lot so worth checking out if they have anything to make life simpler / the job (and end results) better

Just supported with a full house install of Norrsken doors and windows. We used Bosig Phonotherm under the front door and sliders, very easy to work with and strong as a Trebor Extra Strong mint. Used liquid DPM under and over it, for belt and braces. A few days before they were due to go in I spotted some typos in the structural openings schedule. Bloody good job I did too, as the door and slider were different than stated. Door slightly smaller, and sliders ~35mm taller ffs. Pulled the head of the porch out and rebuilt it to suit, so even the big boys get it wrong.

We have Gordon Lewis arriving soon to pump 5.5 pallets of Warmcell. PYC are the suppliers. They usually send out orders every 4 weeks / monthly, so to minimise costs relating to delivery / logistics you need to fall in line with that. For this job the client has opted to pay for a unique delivery fee to align with Gordon’s ability.

Absolutely do not lay the tray over LVT! You need to primer the plywood and bond the tray down, usually done with flexible tile adhesive but you can check with the MI’s to see what they suggest. One key thing is to decontaminate the underside of the tray, as sometimes these have things like release agent etc or just a lot of dust from being refinished, and then nothing will stick to it. Set the tray in to the return walls with CT1 / similar and NOT silicone. Search in here for tanking / wet room / shower tray etc and you’ll see many of my ramblings on how to best achieve this. NEVER use a kit or other that has something that sticks to the tray, these are not a good product / idea imho, as you’re forever reliant on that adhesion.

One thing I’d recommend is putting a slight slope, from inside to out, in the bottom of the opening. Tanking and sealing etc will arrest and collect water, which eventually finds its way forwards and out, but I’d prefer to get that happening naturally vs displacement.

I know of one where they followed ‘common procedure’ and every window leaked rainwater in through the sides / base of each opening (nothing to do with the units, purely down to lazy / uneducated installers). This was on a 7 figure project, expensive / reputable fenestration provider, and only showed after the first winter; this meant the render had been done, and was all a total loss. Get digging as it’s not a walk in the park to get this right.

IIRC it was a Brink 400 that wad used for the indoor one, and the caveat was that the fans don’t like the job, so they become consumables of ‘pool ownership’. Significantly cheaper solution vs the Recotherm and requires far less real estate, so I suggested that the client bought a load of spare fans at the time of commissioning to future proof themselves. The genetic MVHR unit could be changed out relatively easily at any time for a new unit, which is your parachute against lack of spares / service / terminal failure. The MVHR units condense like crazy so there’s a good amount of heat recovery, so some small wins with this compromise. We did a Recotherm on a project with a same sized swim spa, but mostly so I could dial in this deficit to preserve the fabric of the dwelling as it was a very ‘compact’ pool hall. Not many people look at these things holistically, which is why having a consultant can provide information that normally doesn’t get exchanged.

The last one (indoor 15x5m) we were involved with was detailed in ICF, have you considered this? And also UFH pipes in the structure to reduce the size of plant etc. Next one we’re quoting for is an outdoor, 15x5m again, and looking at ICF again for that one but with a bit more insulation layered under / around, and a bloody good motorised cover. Last indoor one we did I fitted a Recotherm 25+ air handling & dehumidification unit, which seemed a good bit of kit. We have specified large MVHR units for smaller pools (and tighter budgets) which seem to work quite well; caveat is the fans tend to need changing more frequently with those. You should have an AHU which allows you to create a deficit of air pressure in the pool hall, so air naturally gets drawn into that area vs possibly finding its way ‘out’. This helps preserve build fabric and the Ferrari. Im a merc guy myself 🇩🇪 🚗 💨

One of the major failures here, is not testing the pool out properly after completion. It’s a bit of an imposition, but I guess if you asked nicely, and there was maybe a bbq and some beer, a few of us would be willing to accept the burden. 👀🤞

Winner winner, chicken dinner 🫡👍

Before paint and any final finishes, but ideally after you’re boarded and all 1st fixed with M&E. Members on here have posted about a ‘residue’ on window sills etc, which needed attention. Remember it’s a positive pressure test only, on the day AB attend, and your ‘as built’ for sign off will be another test with the score being the average taken from 10 positive and 10 negative.

You can contact this person to say you will escalate it to RIBA as a complaint, if they continue to fail to respond pragmatically and in good time. They should have elasticity as it’s not uncommon for these things to happen and you shouldn’t feel like there’s a compromise.

Depends on the spacing of the battens. At 600 oc you want then perpendicular, but at 400 oc you can go landscape without any issue.

Yup. Getting your hands dirty isn’t for everyone!

Nail clips if you want tight to the wall, as all other clips have some type of spacer to purposefully keep the pipe off the wall. I only ever use nail clips if it’s under floorboards tbh. What’s the reason for needing to go tight up against?