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Everything posted by Nickfromwales
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New extension DPC Tray Flat / Sagging - What to do?
Nickfromwales replied to boxrick's topic in Brick & Block
If there’s only fire risk at one elevation, then the EPS EWI should be okay for everywhere else. At nearly £25 per single 600x1200mm batt, 120mm rockwool isn’t kind on the pocket! Still, the question is about the EWI negating any concerns about your cavity tray / DPC issue. So, with a fully rendered EWI, is there any real world chance of water / moisture getting behind the EWI, through the external leaf of masonry, and into the fully filled cavities, and causing issues there? I’d assume that the item in question isn’t fully continuous or completely intact either, so if it stops and starts or is perforated / damaged, that would allow any puddling water to eventually escape; as a last possible line of defence. -
Sorting out expansion vessel and overtemperature valve
Nickfromwales replied to jack's topic in Boilers & Hot Water Tanks
Ps kudos to @John Carroll as I am guilty of skim reading, and assumed stainless cylinder and 3 or 3.5bar at the control group. Many heads always better than one. -
Sorting out expansion vessel and overtemperature valve
Nickfromwales replied to jack's topic in Boilers & Hot Water Tanks
If you can leave a 5bar PEV feeding the softener, and only drop to 2.1 at the cylinder group then that would help. If your incoming cold mains will never see 5 bar then just leave a raw feed to the softener. Can you install a 150 or 200L accumulator anywhere, as this would make a big difference. -
Best Route For Below Ground Foul Drainage?
Nickfromwales replied to Stratman's topic in Waste & Sewerage
Option B is preferable, and my go to for each project. Option A would require a chamber at the top left (2x45°) where it changes direction. Another pot there for no reason imho. No need for an AAV in the downstairs loo btw, if the invert is less than 1300mm. Challenge the BCO if they’re stuck in their ways and push you to install one. Completely unnecessary here, and the only places you need these is at the first floor. -
How to protect windows pre plastering
Nickfromwales replied to DownSouth's topic in Plastering & Rendering
Needs removing the minute they leave the room. Explain to the spreads that the windows have all been cleaned and photographed as being in perfect, undamaged condition, and any dings from the trowel hitting them won’t be acceptable, and that damages must be paid for. You can say this non confrontationally, but you need to say it imo. That way they’ll start by being careful and continue on that way. You’ll need to leave a margin of at least 10mm unprotected for them to cut the plastered edge in to, and brush it back, so the finish against the frame can be seen and made presentable. I have a current client who opted for narrower frames (minimalistic) so for that job I’m going to install stop beads around the window reveals, set in with no nails, plumb and straight, with a view to removing any ambiguity of how these frames must have the same finished margin at the sides and heads. I’ll either set these myself, or get the carpenters to do them, ahead of the arrival of the spreads. Same where the obtuse external angles happen where the vaulted ceilings turn / converge, using full lengths of stop bead pre installed arrow-straight to be used as a guide for the spreads trowel to run across. OCD? You’re god damned right it is but if you sit two similar jobs alongside this, mine will take 1st place on the podium = super-happy client. -
Building over an Access/Inspection chamber
Nickfromwales replied to Spinny's topic in Building Regulations
Storm in a teacup here methinks, sorry! Let them bury their own manhole, the only thing they really need to do is add a rodding eye downstream that looks back up the pipe to the then buried chamber, so they don’t have to come on to your property to jet that. If you don’t have any issue with them having 1:10 year access then let them fill their boots. If the manhole on your drive that accepts both houses has ever blocked then that’s a network issue, but if there are snots where say feminine products or baby wipes have snagged, then ask your neighbour to pay to have someone line it or chip the snots away, stating concerns of previous blockages, shake hands, and go about your day. -
New extension DPC Tray Flat / Sagging - What to do?
Nickfromwales replied to boxrick's topic in Brick & Block
IIRC, there’s 120mm of EPS EWI and a thin coat render going all sides around on this job. Does that change the ‘importance’ of how these things have been done or if they’re now virtually redundant, also with full fill glass and blown bonded beads in the new / original cavities? I’m struggling to see how any moisture would ever get in here, if the EWI is done well and the render is mastic sealed to a decent depth of soffit too? -
Yes. That’s the order of events. If you can fit the thicker plywood then the level of the floor will improve a little more, but in honesty even at 12mm the plywood will still just follow any undulations. Prep work is always the main thing, and (as I am not there) my first thing to do would be to get the floor checked, as is, for high spots and remove those first; a metal paint scraper may suffice, but don’t go mad. Use a 2’ or 4’ spirit level and drag it over the floor in both directions and see if it catches or bumps over something, and remove. The floor looks quite frayed from the pics so prob just needs a bit of a once over to check for lumps / splintered bits of the surface sticking up etc. Next thing is to walk along each joist (you’ll see where the screws / nails are that hold the original boards down) and see if there’s any squeaks or creaks. Anywhere there’s an original fixing you can add a second if you can see movement. Don’t add any anywhere else as there may be pipes or cables That would need another new thread here lol. When you screw the ply down you need screws set in every 150mm and all max 150mm apart like a grid (4.0 x 25mm wood screws for 6mm ply, or 30mm for 9mm ply) and the heads of the screws must be just slightly sunk into the face of the plywood. Like this. The screw holes were filled and sanded back as that floor was a very thin B&Q type self adhesive ‘plank’, but for yours you can omit the filling as the composite won’t show them like thin LVT does. In terms of the acoustic underlay, the better the underlay the quieter the foot traffic noise will be downstairs. Get advice from a local flooring outlet and buy the best one you can. Visit a few as some may just try to sell you dead stock, and gauge the advice / product. If unsure, ask here again. You’ve got the skirting boards off so happy days, but using a multitool to perform undercuts at the door linings etc makes a good job great. YouTube vids will explain in pictures and words, so please do spend a morning watching how installers start, set out, and cut and then lay, and you’ll see what not to do to get it looking A1. Enjoy ! 😊
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Don’t now, ffs. You know he takes his meds at 9. 🤦♂️🤷♂️
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Less than the last time I argued it out for a client down this neck of the woods then! We’re just getting to the point where there’s more folk than H2O available to get to them. Expansion happens but the infrastructure seems to follow in its shadow, or not.
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That’s crazy. The WC have a duty to provided a minimum flow rate / pressure etc. You could have just fitted a dumb accumulator (no moving parts or electrical equipment) and that would work plenty good enough.
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The ‘rain chains’ look cool.
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Observations Commissioning ASHP
Nickfromwales replied to JohnMo's topic in Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)
The Stiebel Eltron one we did in Leicester is accessible remotely. I was on Teams discussing a new project with the suppliers recently and whilst on there the chap supporting me for that dialled into it and did a refresh and shared his screen. This was another with buffer, mixers, and all the faff etc, single room stat and no actuators. Best SCOP it had hit (been in about 3 years now, maybe in its 4th) was just shy of 5.4. I’ll take that all day long. I’ll see if I can get a print out of it, as I want to use that to show other prospective clients, and post it here. -
@vk2003 I'd suggest contacting Lightwave and ask them to support/replace/resolve, as I have had a very good experience with them so far, and a client has about 1/3 of their house running on their kit. So far I've been quite impressed tbh.
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If you want a brand, then Warmup for cable/mat and a very good controller. The 3ie and 4ie (iirc) are good, with learning algorithms to predict how long it takes to get the floor to the desired temp at the desired time, so if it takes an hour to get to the temp you want at 07:00, it'll learn to switch the floor on at 06:00 etc, same for turning off (again iirc). Speak to their technical guys to get more clarity.
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Week 12 - Windows, doors, battens, roof, …and more insulation.
Nickfromwales commented on Benpointer's blog entry in Contemporary build in north Dorset
Defo best advice. We always buy a battered upvc door off gumtree etc local to the projects and only swap that out at the very last minute. Have one here atm covered in Passive Purple, so I doubt gumtree will work to get it sold back on now lol. For the sliders @Benpointer, I usually make a plywood shoe that sits over the threshold and keeps the slider open fully, making sure that trades step on that and not the shiny new threshold with muddy boots etc. You simply lift this on/off at the start and end of each day, and make yourself sheriff of the keys so no numpty can open it and wreck it for you. You need eyes in the back of your head as you get the niceties installed, as otherwise even a simple extension lead getting wound back through an open door or window will remove the paint off the frame. -
Building over an Access/Inspection chamber
Nickfromwales replied to Spinny's topic in Building Regulations
Respectfully, that info would have been appreciated a little earlier on in the thread…… Agreed, that changes the dynamics here. -
So he needs / has individual room control, which requires no human input other than telling the stat to be no hotter or cooler than the set point. Without them the rooms (bedrooms in your stated case) would heat up or become too cool, influenced / affected by external or internal factors such as sunshine. I think in open spaces and thoroughfares it’s relatively easy to control, but in rooms that have doors which are routinely kept closed, I’m really not sold on any notion of a) doing away with FF heating, or b) having absolutely zero control over the temp of the space; other than attempting to manage temp via flow rate, which most wouldn’t be able to do, or be even slightly enamoured with the idea of doing.
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Debate is good. Fill reading this can then make more of an informed decision based on the balance of the boatload of information exchanged here (BH). Plus I’m quite stubborn, so good to reflect on my own ideas when challenged, more so when it’s backed by evidence (someone’s done it, moved in, and is living with it for eg) which is gold dust.
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Not really? Radiators have thermostats in each room / space, in the form of thermostatic radiator valves, meaning each space can be controlled individually as per the temp set on ‘the stat’, so that’s actually converse to your favoured methodology?
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Crack filler for garage floor?
Nickfromwales replied to Andeh's topic in General Construction Issues
Nope. As you have movement a grout will just deteriorate and crumble away. Use a mastic as it is a dynamic not static deck. -
Building over an Access/Inspection chamber
Nickfromwales replied to Spinny's topic in Building Regulations
Not my problem. Lots of odd balls out there tbf, and most would like to do something themselves with full and free rein, whilst then they’d object to others doing similar. I’ll go make another coffee whilst the world continues about its business.
