Jeremy Harris

Hi Peter, I'm really glad you found us, as I'm part way through designing and building a wireless treatment plant air pressure indicator. It's early days, but if it works it will be as easy for me to make two as make one, and taking heed of your comments on the other place about a rise in air pressure being an indication of sediment build up, which can damage the pump from over-pressure if allowed to continue for too long, I thought it would be useful to have a remote way of checking the pressure at the pump, from inside the house. I'll start a thread on it in the Boffin's Corner bit as soon as I've finished the current batch of blog transfers. Blog transfers are copy and paste, the main problem is that if you have a lot of photos then it's a bit of a pain copying stuff in chunks, uploading photos here and then inserting them in the right place. There's also a slight issue over the entries on Ebuild having lots of links to Ebuilds file repository that need to be broken when pasted in here.

We've had a few problems with the borehole that held things up, but should get a completion chit in the next week or two. I've been trying to get as much of the landscaping done as is on the plan, so we can get the VAT back on it, which has delayed thing, as we pretty much ran out of money at the end of last year, so have been doing things as we can afford them.

XPS has a better lambda damp or dry than EPS (doesn't change much for either, TBH). XPS is also a LOT nicer to work with than EPS as it cuts more cleanly. I've used loads of it for lost foam composite moulding, where the clean working is a significant advantage. The only downside is that it is a bit more expensive than EPS and that it tends to have a structural "grain", in that it has a higher compressive strength along the direction of extrusion than at 90 deg to it. Probably not worth worrying about for a foundation. XPS is often slightly more accurately sized than EPS, as it cuts more cleanly when sliced from big block into sheets in the factory.

Welcome back, as I've just said to Mackers, it's really nice to see some familiar names coming back here.

Welcome back Mackers, nice to see so many familiar names dropping in here, makes us feel the hard slog of the past few weeks has been all worthwhile!

Mumsnet? things must have been desperate! Nice to see you back, this place is beginning to feel quite comfortable.

Logistically, Joe couldn't make the sums work for anything North of Edinburgh, at least while the frames were being built in Cahir and the erection crews were coming over from Ireland for each build. With the new Gloucester factory opening soon, and UK based staff, I suspect things may skew the economics towards moving further out. Our frame was made in Cahir, so took the best part of 24 hours to get here. Had it been made in Gloucester it could have been here in around 2 hours.

I've never seen a formal definition of it Tony, but I think most people feel that houses that don't fluctuate in temperature rapidly seem more comfortable. If I was to try and come up with a definition, given the range of diurnal temperature variation we typically get in the UK, then I think Id say it's the time taken for the internal temperature to change by 1 deg C for an external temperature step change of 10 deg C. Our new build barely seems to change temperature at all, even in really cold weather it's unusual to see the internal temperature drop by more than about 0.3 deg C overnight, with no heating. I've not plotted it out yet (must get around to putting the logger in one day) but I'm guessing that there is a barely perceptible diurnal temperature variation internally, and that the time constant using the definition above is probably greater than 36 hours, maybe much longer. It's hard to tell, as there is almost always some solar gain, even on the bleakest of days, something I have found a bit surprising.

Bit of bad luck Ebuild going down when it did for you, but we're pretty confident that this forum will be robust, as it's going to be owned and operated by the members as soon as the Forum Foundation Group have got things settled down and settled.

Welcome back, nice to see you found us all again. Thanks for the kind words about the new forum; you're right, a very great deal of effort was put in by a lot of people to get it up and running, It's just a shame that there was no practical way to revive Ebuild, but we did try pretty hard before committing to this new forum.

Well, in short, he's wrong on all counts! EPS has been used underground in wet conditions for decades, on everything from railway track supports across bogs through to basement insulation in other parts of Europe to passive slabs. One of the main benefits of EPS over other foams it that it doesn't absorb water, it's also one reason why you find so much of it washed up on beaches. It simply doesn't soak up water, so doesn't change in U value appreciably under different conditions and it very definitely doesn't shrink when wet. Some foams are not good in wet conditions. PUR can soak up water and it's U value increases a lot when it does so. Some PIR foams are also susceptible to water uptake, but primarily some of the older types (there are PIR foams that are rated for foundation use now).

I couldn't agree more, Tony. I think the thing that annoys me is ordering a load of 2400 x 1200 sheets, because you want them to fit on 400 centres, only to have the BM deliver 2440 x 1220.................

Welcome back, it is really great to see so many familiar names coming here, especially after the massive amount of work that's gone in to first trying to resurrect Ebuild, then when that was clearly going to be fraught with significant difficulty, create this new forum from scratch.

Really nice to see you here, Tony - you can keep the AGW debate over on the GBF!

Nice you're back here, it feels a bit like an old family gathering, doesn't it?

We're currently in Porton, and I seem to remember you saying on Ebuild that you were nearby.

Welcome back. It's really nice to see some familiar names - some of us have been a bit lost since Ebuild went down. Mind you, 'we've been a bit busy to try and make up for it...........

Welcome back. It's a pity we couldn't find a way to get back the old content, but giving us all somewhere to ask questions and chat seems the next best thing.

Welcome Russ, as you know you're only a stone's throw from us, and probably in the same planning area (are you just in the South Wiltshire area or are you in Test Valley?) My guess is you're close to the boundary of the two.

Given the relatively low price of the stuff, plus its hardness and looks, it should be more popular than it is (except then the price might increase!). Ours is 12mm solid strand woven, very heavy and tough on saws, but easy to lay.

Welcome Dean and Hannah, I too would be interested in how Graven Hill works out, as we're looking at the possibility of doing something on a much smaller scale as a part of a Neighbourhood Plan. It's early days, and I'm keen to find out if there is a way of making the process simpler and cheaper than the serviced plot with approved design option that seems to be the way Graven Hill have got around what seems to primarily be a VAT issue, as I understand it. Maybe a new thread on that might help, as I know that some other areas are looking doing something similar.

The VAT one is where we could really do with Colin in here, as he knows the rules on this like the back of his hand, it seems. There has to be a way of getting some evidence of completion that would satisfy HMRC, I'm sure. My dealings with them have been remarkably positive, they really do seem to want to help if you call them.

Welcome back, I'm really pleased to see some familiar names popping back here. I've never been sure of Nick's choice of beer, though, when I used to have to drink that stuff when caving there years ago we always called it "feeling foul".............. (you probably have to have a smattering of Welsh to get that one from his avatar)

I think one of the limiting factors is that all the modules have to within the size limits for a normal load on a truck to make any pre-fab system viable. Our build was pretty much a prefab, as all the twin stud walls panels were already fabricated in a factory, so the erection was mainly just fitting a lot of sections together (the whole ground floor, to first floor flooring, was done in a day). I think there's a lot more scope for doing things like Huf, with completely finished and wired panels, but something has to be done about the cost. When we looked at HufHaus the costs were around £4000/m², which is way over most self-builder's budgets, I think.

Hi Declan, Nice to see you made it here. The thread you desperately need is already here: