Redbeard

Well... Answering part of this: 'Breathability' as defined by energy geeks is water vapour permeability - the beneficial passage of water vapour. As defined by non-energy non-geeks it could just men effective ventilation. I would say please, please do not alter the 'breathability' of the stone wall by clarting it up with non-breathable 'waterproof' gunge. As regards the gap (how big?) between insulation and wall, if you fully ventilate that gap (which is going to mean at least 4 225 x 150 vents at diagonally-opposite corners) you should significantly reduce the risk of interstitial condensation - condensation occurring on the 'old' inner face of the stone wall between it and the insulation.

Yes, I get that with those special (?) tiles, but those the OP shows look like bog-standard overlapping 'Victorian' (well, mine are) tiles. Not sure how you could 'secret fix' them? But in answer to the OP's original Q, " Can anyone confirm if a traditional slate roof repair can have dry hips and ridges?" I am pretty sure I have seen older roofs 're-ridged' with those such as @Nick Laslett shows. @Nick Laslett, I take it there is a 'placcy cap' goes over the joint...??

I know we know this, but Roofing Superstore says: "A dry ridge system simply involves fixing ridge and hip tiles to a roof without sand or cement mortar, but instead with screws and clamps, which fix each ridge tile to the roof, with waterproof unions beneath the screws to divert water away from the join." I could be wrong but the ridge and hip tiles in your pics *seem* to show 'bog-standard' tiles (which would, 'in the old days', have been bedded in, and pointed with, mortar) fixed 'dry'. Therefore (a) it looks odd (to me) and (b) it makes me question what is holding them on. It may be that there is some clever bracketry underneath, in which case fine (-ish), but personally I feel those tiles do not look right without pointing. (I do appreciate, BTW, that the 'adhesive qualities' of mortar mean that an awful lot of 'wet fixed' ridge and hip tiles are actually just 'sat on top' a relatively short while after installation. 'Professional'? Open to debate. 'Good'? To me, no. It is not in line with my aesthetic leanings, but then I love MZs! Happy to be disagreed with!

Have you tried Allan Bros? https://www.allanbrothers.co.uk/alu-clad-casements/ No idea what their current prices are. A client has used (and been very happy with) several of their 2G timber windows but not the alu-clad (imported?) ones.

No and no. They will not tell you how to build it or what it should be built with; indeed if you go for a 'Full Plans application (what it says on the tin - you submit full plans of what you propose to do) then *you* will be telling them. If you go for a 'Building Notice' you don't have to submit prior plans, but you could get so far and the BCO disagree with what you propose. With Full Plans all they need to do is confirm that you are building in accordance with the plans they approved. Bldg Notice is often used for relatively uncomplicated work where differences of opinion are unlikely but can be used for bigger work particularly where there is a known and good relationship between the BCO and builder. (The Bldg Notice Pro Forma basically says: "Dear BC, I propose to do the works briefly described below, starting not less than 2 days from the submission of this Notice, and I enclose your fee".) All inspections should be covered in the fee (or that was the case when I last applied in 2022).

I used to do tape and joint when I did (Victorian) attic rip-outs and re-insulate as I could never be sure of rate of progress and therefore often missed the chance to book a plasterer. After a learning period I rarely sanded; just feathered in with the trowel. There's no doubt that some joints may 'show' a bit, but generally clients were very happy with the results. If you can get a plasterer out, however, they will skim faster than I could T & J, so horses for courses.

The 'custom frame' is not a problem per se. However the instructions say it should be fully bedded in sand/cement. It should. I cannot, you cannot and he cannot guarantee that it will not crack if you have not followed the instructions for fitting provided by the manufacturer. I *think* there will be too much movement in squirty foam. I have never tried to make it load-bearing, but if you have doubts get or make a wooden box, squirt foam into the bottom then stand on it. If it gives at all it could give when you stand on the shower tray. Trying to measure by eye the gap on the LHS looks about 200mm. Are they equal? Is the bottom of the tray completely flat? If it sits fully on the bearers it *may* be OK, depending how thick it is and how much it will flex in that ?200mm? width, but if it isn't, as others have said, you would have no claim against the manuf'r as you have not followed their instructions. I would guess you could cut the end piece out carefully between each batten.

Can you no longer just do an area-weighted U value calc? You certainly could before the 2022 re-vamp of Bldg Regs, and I have not heard it's changed (equally I have not heard it hasn't, but a web-hit from 2023 refers to such a calc). The principle is that if your conservatory has >25% of the wall area glazed you have to reduce the other fabric U values to keep the area-weighted U value to what it would be if there was no more than 25% glazing.

OK - you may have to watch a James Bond film! The T-shaped thing that Roulette croupiers use to move the chips around the table (hence my invention of the verb 'to croup') can be replicated to push semi-dry sand/cement mix round instead of Roulette chips. It avoids your installer having to grow longer arms. I think @Pocster's reference to peace of mind to be gained from filling under the tray refers to the possibility of the tray cracking if it is simply 'hung' (as your pic shows) and not supported.

Timber need not be high maintenance. Factory-finished timber units can last well over 10 years without needing a re-paint. Mine have.

Well, from what I can see from your pic the only bit which will be unsupported (ish) is round the waste, and you probably don't tap-dance there. You couldn't have filled completely with sand/cem anyway in case you ever need to work on the waste (from the room below). Having it encased in mortar would be a trifle inconvenient. I cannot be sure, but if you do your 'croupier' bit carefully I think you may be as OK as you can be. How not to 'croup too far' and bed in the waste? Perhaps measure carefully and jam in a piece of timber (not so tight as to lift the tray, but then you could trap it sideways between the exg battens) against which you can 'croup' (It's my verb and I will use it!!). Sorry! P.S: Did the fitter have those instructions?

Open up and hack out a bale. Of course it's not as easy as that, and you might have to resort to 'flakes' (the 'sections' which appear when you split a bale, but in order to carry render, even with the help of the mesh, it needs to be really firm. Don't know how it was built but even if it was not ratchet-strapped it has had the weight of a roof on it, so if you take out a (compressed) bale the replacement bale will be too tall. Experimentation is the order of the day (and yes, I have had to do it. The 'wrangling' may make a bit of a mess of your render... Assume you or your group have 'Building With Straw Bales' (in UK) by Barbara Jones? Not much on repair but a great 'primer'. https://strawbale.com/repairing-water-damaged-bales/ (not a UK site but looks OK the few words I read on repairs)

Hmmm... so the tray is already fixed in. You do want to bed in a semi-dry mix of sand-cement as per the instructions you posted. My tray was not raised on a frame so I had to guess the height of the s/cem mix and luckily got it right. In your case you could just use a T-piece of wood/ply and push it in like a croupier shifting chips (no, not the edible ones).

Think I have lots of stop beads but again, the killer will be carriage. I'd try EWIstore. I have found them very helpful.

Depends where you are. My local builders' merchant (in Yorkshire) sells them. Screwfix do them - 5 x 2.5m for £33. https://ewistore.co.uk/shop/external-wall-insulation/white-corner-bead-no-mesh/ do them for £3.59 each but no doubt carriage will up it a bit.

If I had any lime putty I would do quite a putty-rich lime putty/gritsand mix, say 2-2.5 to 1, to make it nice and sticky. Lime putty is hydrated lime, but it's not the (dry) hydrated 'bag-lime which is mainly used as an admixture to sand/cement to improve plasticity.

Can I suggest a point 4? VCL over the lot.

Oh! Is that not plastic soil pipe? It looks very like it, and there appears to be a 40mm-ish spigot at the back, against the wall. Maybe all is not as it appears. So the 'plastic soil pipe' is metal flue pipe and the 'spigot' isn't a spigot?? I certainly would not use foam. Pack it with dense Rockwool as used for EWI fire-breaks and around flues.

Is that newspaper I see round the waste branch? Probably try pushing in quite a sticky lime mortar as a base. Don't know what the Mapei primer is and whether it would be compatible with the 'breathability' of lime.

My front garden retaining wall ('inherited' as quite new in 1987) was, I am sure, built as cheaply as it could be, inline with all other 'renovations on the house. I am convinced it is 225 brick only, and it retains between 1200 and 1800 over about 10+m. It has no weep holes, and it's fine. It shouldn't be, but it is, and if (as per my earlier Q) you wall is actually as strong as 112 brick and (??) 100-150 stone then it may fare as well as mine still is. I suspect mine will last till after I am dead, which is all I need. Is that stone laid dry, or can I see recessed mortar? That (given I cannot see a batter or 'lean-back') may be an important issue.

But isn't that plot hugely wide compared to yours, even if you could buy the passage? (and you would be a very 'captive audience' for that).

Welcome. Some people would say MVHR is an essential adjunct to a very a/t house, while others would say simply don't bother with it unless you are looking for a/t of less than 3ach. Others still say that it can make sense at up to 10ach provided you've got a low specific fan power (SPF). And lastly some with respiratory issues say 'MVHR massively increased my comfort in the house'. Choose your explanation, but you are doing it anyway, so I hope it goes easily, and don't forget the attenuators (and smooth ducting if you can).

How deep is the stone skin? Is it tied in? The 2 skins together might make a fair wall. I remember when building my not-much-more-than-1200mm retaining wall to an SE's dwg it was (/felt) HUGE at the base (?685mm?). Remember thinking that if I really wanted to survive a war I could just try burrowing behind the wall. What you show looks very spindly in comparison.

Yes, but they appear to be 'wet-fixed' ridge tiles, which seem to me to look soooo much better than dry-fixed.

As I sugg'd, see if you can get something from the manuf'r saying 'this is not how it's done' and send that when you send your statement saying you will not pay for that element of the work until it is done to a standard which would be seen by the manuf'r as satisfactory. (Manuf'r may not want to put their head that far above the parapet, but they should at least be prepared (I would imagine) to say 'that's not how *we'd* do it.'