Jeremy Harris

Depends where the governor is. At our old house, the governor sat inside a green box near the boundary, with no governor at the meter in the wall. All the houses along the road are the same, as you can see the green boxes at the boundaries of most of them.

The new master sockets get around the need for ADSL filters, but do mean that your modem or modem/router has to be co-located with the master socket (it's good practice to do this anyway). Just make sure that the guys install a MkIII master socket, as that has a built in VDSL/ADSL filter, so all the extensions are free of the broadband signal. In our case (we have fibre to the cabinet, FTTC, broadband) I fitted the OpenReach VDSL modem on the wall next to the master socket, and powered it using power over Ethernet (PoE), so no power supply was required for it at the master socket end. I ran Cat 6 cable to a point next to the master socket, with that cable running back to the PoE injector and the WiFi router. The router connects to a switch that then runs all the other wired network connections in the house. Worth thinking about where you are going to have network connections in the house, and where you want to put the modem/router, as that can have a bearing on where you put the master socket.

+1 to what @Ferdinand has said, particularly about conveyancing. When buying a plot, the legal considerations are different. You need to be assured that the boundaries are in exactly the right place, that the planning permission as granted can be implemented, that the site can be provided with services at a reasonable cost, that there are no underlying issues such as soil contamination, services crossing under the land, covenants that are restrictive in terms of development, planning conditions that are reasonable and can be met (and are acceptable to you), access that is free from constraints, such as a ransom strip, plus a few more. Few of these aspects would be routinely checked by a normal house conveyancing person (and most conveyancing isn't actually undertaken by a solicitor). I found that our solicitor had missed several key points on our purchase, but I was pre-warned, as we had tried to buy a plot of land elsewhere a few months earlier, and that had a lot of problems that highlighted the deficiencies in a normal conveyancing approach.

I fitted the same speakers in the walls of our living room, for the TV. They do indeed sound good, a great deal better than I thought they would for the price.

The pressure will change a lot with temperature when using air, so you may not have a problem. To make the pressure tester, I replaced the outlet hose from the pressure sprayer with a longer length of 8mm HDPE pipe, which sealed tightly to the 8mm pipe fitting on the sprayer, and on the other end I used an 8mm to 15mm adapter, that fitted to the filling loop pipe. It's currently on loan to @jack, who may be able to take a photo of it (I forgot to take any when I made it).

As another single data point, we were given a load of garden vouchers, which we used to buy landscaping stuff. This was all VAT reclaim eligible, as it was a part of the approved landscaping scheme. We didn't have any problem in getting a VAT receipt for turf, etc that we purchased with these vouchers, and HMRC paid out for the VAT OK. On a secondary point, I also had loads of B&Q till receipts (all from a "pensioners Wednesday discount".........). I stapled each till receipt to a sheet of A4 paper annotated with my name and address, plus any extra info, like ineligible items that had been removed from the total. All these till receipts were entered on the second section of the reclaim form, the one for receipts where the VAT was not shown separately, IIRC. BTW, I made up a spreadsheet to mimic the HMRC form, which was OK'd by HMRC. Anyone can download a free copy from my website, here: http://www.mayfly.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/VAT Claim Form 431 - Blank.xls

What sort of span are you looking at? If the span is going to be quite wide, with no intermediate supports, then you'll be looking at either steel of concrete beams. You also need to decide where the insulation layer is going to go. For a partially earth sheltered structure it's often better to put the insulation on the outside, and because of the need to reduce/eliminate thermal bridging, this means having the same insulation configuration on the walls and roof, and ideally the floor, too. The alternative is to fit all the insulation on the inside, which may be simpler to do in terms of ensuring that thermal bridging is minimised. I've not heard of pest problems with green roof structures, and they often just use a butyl membrane as the waterproofing, under the soil layer. The depth of soil isn't usually deep enough for rabbits to be a problem, and rats only stay around wherever there is a food source; they don't normally choose to live anywhere where they can't get a free meal.

Ours has what looks like a custom LCD, with graphics, rather than a dot matrix display. AFAICS there's no indicator that lets you know whether the thing is set to the "keep hot" mode or not, but I have a feeling that you can see this in the level 1 diagnostics. I did replace the main board in this boiler a few years ago, when a power surge following a power cut caused an odd fault with the original, where the boiler would lock on, even with no call for heat and with the level one diagnostics confirming there was no call for heat. I lived with the fault for a while, as it only happened after a power cut, and the boiler could be reset by turning it off, leaving it for half an hour, then turning it back on again. When I eventually got around to buying a new board, I made the gross error of asking on one of the plumbing forums about setting up the DSN, to programme the board for the Ecotec Plus 831. I don't think I've ever had so much abuse from a load of job-protectionist prats in my life. Luckily, one of the more sensible ones PM'd me the Vaillant DSN code list, so I found that our boiler needed to have the DSN set to 7. If anyone wants to replace a Vaillant main board (DO NOT TOUCH THE GAS SIDE!!!) all you need to do is isolate the power, make sure the heating thermostat is not calling for heat and all hot taps are off, wait for any residual voltages on the board to discharge (a couple of minutes is plenty), take a photo of the board (to check later), disconnect all the plug in connectors, replace the board with the new one, replace all the connectors (use the photo to check if need be, although frankly it's pretty idiot proof), then power the boiler on. Go to the diagnostics (warning - do not tell anyone on a plumbing forum you've dared to go into level 2, even though the user manual tells you how to.......), scroll through to d.76 and see what the DSN is. If it's not set for your model, select d.97, increment to 17, go to d.93 and set it to the right DSN (7 for our model). Exit the diagnostic mode and do a functional test, to make sure all is working OK. Job done! None of the above has any impact on the gas side, and the board is designed with so many safety interlocks that you cannot screw up - the worst that can happen is that the boiler won't work - it's designed to be fail-safe in the event of a main board problem, hence the reason that it is, in my view, perfectly legal to do this repair. I'd definitely not suggest touching anything else in the boiler, but the main board is an easy thing to replace, more so because it's very accessible on a section that swings away from the main boiler very easily.

It's a Vaillant Ecotec Plus 831, Nick. Turning the top left DHW temp knob fully off, then back to the set temperature, turns the preheat thing on or off on ours.

@Nickfromwales can give more info, but our combi defaults to a mode where it tries to keep the DHW side hot all the time, in order to reduce the warm up time when a hot tap is opened. This is OK when you're in the house and using hot water regularly, but is a pain if you're not. Finding how to turn this feature off may not be that easy. For our Vaillant the feature is turned off by turning the DHW temperature control down to zero (fully anticlockwise) and then turning it back to the set temperature. If there's a power cut, or the boiler is turned off and on again, it goes back to the default mode of preheating the DHW. To turn the preheat mode on, then it's the same procedure, turn the DHW temperature control down to minimum and back up again. Our combi has no easy way to tell when this mode has been set, or reset, as there isn't an indicator on the display for it. I think you can go into diagnostic level 1 and scroll through the codes to see if it's on or off, but that's a bit of a faff. My guess is that other makes may well have a similar feature, but will almost certainly have a different way to disable it.

Welcome. Worth remembering that heat loss through the floor will always be lower in winter than heat loss through the walls and roof, for the same level of insulation. The ground under the house will stay at around 8 deg C, the outside air temperature could well be well below this in winter, and the rate of heat loss depends on the difference in temperature either side of the wall/floor/roof and the U value. Therefore, it makes sense to have the best U value for the roof, the next best for the walls and the poorest for the floor, at least for most of the UK. A U value of 0.17 W/m2.K for the walls is barely better that our pretty crap building regs minimum, and I'd suggest that a target of at least 0.14, ideally around 0.12, would be better. Try and get the roof down closer to 0.1, as heat tends to rise, so that the temperature difference across the roof will be a bit higher. As a guide, out floor U value is around 0.1 W/m2.K, our walls are about 0.12 W/m2.K and our roof is slightly under 0.1 W/m2.K, and that's a reasonable compromise in terms of balancing fabric heat loss with ventilation heat loss.

I filled and pressurised our UFH with no water supply, using a cheap pressure sprayer, modified with a fill loop hose and valve. This allowed antifreeze to be pumped in, under pressure, although I had to fill the modified sprayer up a few times. These things will pump up to around 3 or 4 bar, I think, although I only pumped ours up to 1.5 bar.

No, it doesn't. Unfortunately there are some real monkeys around, despite the schemes that are intended to try and ensure competence.

Shouldn't be an open choc block there at all. Far better to use a Wago box (like this: https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/WAGOBOXL.html ) and the Wago connectors (like these: https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/WA101.html) that are designed to join T&E to flex. If they had to be cheapskate and use choc block, then it should be in one of these: https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/DEBOX2.html but they are still a PITA compared to using Wagos.

I fixed a more minor cock up like this by cutting out a thin bit of white plasticard (see ebay or any decent craft shop). I did this with two hole saws, first cutting the outer diameter, then cutting the centre hole. It needed a bit of careful cleaning up around the edge, by scraping it with a sharp Stanley knife, but came out OK. I glued the ring in place, then squirted some foam behind, and when that had gone off, cleaned out the inner hole. This was for a PIR switch, rather than a light (I'd assumed the switch needed the same size hole as the downlights...............), but it should be OK for these LED panels, as they barely get warm in use.

When you say "29kW per week", I'm guessing that's really 29kWh per week? I'm also guessing that "150 Watts per hour" really means 150 W. 150 W background sounds about right for the loads you have on all the time. The fridge and treatment plant blower will be the main culprits, with the combi boiler coming a close third, if it is set to come on for heating when you're not there, or has a DHW pre-heat mode. The other stuff is trivial. probably no more than about 5 to 10 W in total, so not really worth worrying about. You can probably get away with turning the fridge thermostat right down when you're not there, as the door won't be opening all the time and so it should stay cold enough on a lower setting - a bit of experimentation will show whether this works OK or not. You could even just empty it and turn it off when you're not there. Not only would that save energy but it would slightly reduce the fire risk - fridges can (very rarely) start fires, Grenfell Tower being the most recent high profile example. You could make sure the combi isn't switched to a mode where it keeps hot, ready for instant hot water draw off. Ours does this, which means it fires up every hour or so just so that the heat-up time when a tap is opened is reduced. I turned this mode off, and frankly haven't noticed any difference at all in hot water performance, but it did stop the boiler firing up several times a day when it didn't need to. Pretty much every appliance that doesn't have a battery-backed clock can be turned off when you're not there, too. Probably won't make a big difference, though, for the level of hassle involved.

Not just knee pads, either. I needed industrial quantities of Voltarol just to get both my knees and back functioning again after every day of laying the flooring.............

I can say that I've not seen any difference at all between the two with regard to any change in shape - I have both side by side on a small shed roof and you really wouldn't know they were different products unless you looked very closely. Iko have a system that includes a dry ridge and ridge ventilator strip, that's pretty unobtrusive, not sure about Tapco.

Worth making sure all the boundaries are in the right place, too. It seems that boundary errors on plots are fairly common, and it's worth checking that the actual plot boundaries coincide with the site plan on the planning permission and the Land Registry Title Plan. The latter is not a legally binding definition of the boundary location, just a rough indicator, but there can be issues if there are gross errors. We found that there was an error of around 5m on one of the boundaries of our plot, meaning the house that had planning permission couldn't actually be built, as part of it would have, apparently, been on land belonging to a neighbour (according to the Land Registry Title Plans for both properties). That took a year to resolve - we had our offer accepted in October 2011 yet didn't get to complete the purchase until November 2012.

Sadly, Openreach are a complete and total PITA. They refuse to deal with self-builders, so there is no easy way to determine if there is spare capacity on the local network. If you can obtain a number for the local Openreach engineer then you should find things easier. The local guys are the only thing keeping their network running, I think, as their management is a bloody shambles.

You can get a free copy of FSAP from here: https://www.stromamembers.co.uk/downloads/fsap2012/publish.htm

Welcome. To discharge to the brook you need a licence from the Environment Agency. Easy to get, and in our case very quick, as long as you can provide evidence that the brook never dries up. If it does dry up a licence will be refused. Check the utility provisions very carefully, and DO NOT trust your solicitor or the vendors agent - they will not have a clue. In our case we found that the Wessex Water pipe running down the lane in front of our house was classified as a communication pipe, so we were not permitted to connect to it. The only mains water alternative was to dig up 140m of single track lane and lay a new pipe to the main, at a cost of around £24,000. In addition, the cost to connect to the main drain around 80m up the lane was an additional £14,000 for the road work, plus the cost of a pumping station on site, so around £18,000 all in. We ended up with a borehole for water (half the cost of a mains water connection - but loads of hassle) and a treatment plant that discharges to the brook alongside the site (cost around £4,000, installed, including the road crossing for the outlet).

That's what I did last time. I had to produce the V5, plus my driving licence, plus a utility bill in my name, before they would make a set of plates up. I ended up sat there for around half an hour whilst they got DVLA approval and then made the plates up. Halfords was worse. I only used them once, but I was hanging around for over an hour whilst they faffed around with the paperwork.

I used the darker grey Tapco slates when I ran out of spare IkoSlates, and they are a very close match to the colour. The main difference is that every Tapco slate is identical, whereas the Ikoslates have a different "riven" pattern on each slate (well, they have a few different "riven" patterns, but it looks like every slate is unique). Whether this matters or not I'm not sure. It's noticeable when you lay out a pack of IkoSlates that they look slightly different from each other, but against that the IkoSlates have a slight sheen to the surface, whereas the Tapcos are very matt looking. One thing I have noticed is that the Tapcos attract more green algae. The IkoSlates are self-cleaning in heavy rain, but the Tapcos do start to look a bit green and patchy. That may be because I have the Tapcos and IkoSlates on the same small shed roof, that is very shaded, on the North side of the house, though.

Worth remembering that the window frames MUST be wholly within the insulation layer in order to avoid thermal bridging around the frame, and a potential cold spot and condensation risk. Window and door frames are already the poorest performing part of a door or window, worse than the glazing as a general rule, so making sure they are surrounded by insulation makes a significant difference to the overall performance, as well as reducing the risk of condensation around the edges of the frames. This usually means that the frames need to be set back from the outside skin of the house. We have a relatively thin outside skin (25mm counter battens plus 20mm overlapped waney edge larch) so our windows are set back by around 70mm overall from the furthest edge of the outer skin. If we had a brick or block skin they would have been set further back. I compromised a bit on thermal performance, by setting the outside of the frames flush with the outer skin of the insulated twin stud wall, ideally they should have been around 20 to 30mm further in, but setting them flush with the frame skin made the cladding an window reveal detail easier, and overall the thermal penalty seem small; less than 1 deg C temperature difference between the frame and the inside walls in very cold weather, which seems acceptable, and results in a near-zero frame condensation risk.