lizzie

This is the nasty coloured fence

yep its a worry as the colour is horrid and looks awful. I did think it wasn't right but OH said we couldn't get a fair picture until we had more done so I spent 4 hours yesterday painting it and now he doesn't like it either. Need a lighter grey.

Any recommendations for a good fence paint I can have mixed for colour. I bought Cuprinol ducksback in a grey and have done a lot of fence with it but it has dried to a sort of inky blue not the mid grey it was when wet. Looks very wrong on my fences so will have to overpaint with something lighter.....its rough sawn timber.

swap it for another form of heating and do your bit to save the planet....and peoples lungs ?

I had ADT give me a quote for an alarm system and that was wireless. TBH that was what put me off having heard about probelms with wireless systems. I went for a conventional hard wired system with an app to control from my phone.

Thank you!

Ha ha ... we discussed that when it was finally worked out what the leak problem was. We would have had to dismantle a whole load of house to get the windows out.....its a lot of sliders more than 10 linear metres, no one wanted to try and get all the cladding off to get the windows out trying to cause minimal damage to internal plaster, porcelain floor tiling and floor uplighters very close to threshold then cut out the slab under the threshold area and try and reassemble it all. The house was internally and externally pretty complete, the windows had leaked badly since the day they went in months before but the build carried on around the leaks even though the floor had puddles and the plaster up the walls was wet. Eventually I had to involve Internorm themselves to get to the bottom of it.

Thanks Peter would you be able to point me at such a profile or do I need to get one fabricated.

no thats not the issue. What I have to resolve is how to deal with the unsightly gap with thresholds not fitted properly. It doesnt look quite so bad in the photo but looks awful in reality plus debris is gathering under there and will block the drainage holes. Also the aluminium threshold flexes if you step on it. It is not designed to be unsupported it is designed to sit flat on the ground. What I need is a way of filling or covering the 10mm gap whilst still allowing the water to escape.....and something that looks reasonable too.

they are Internorm lift and slide doors. The drainage holes are just where the threshold (underneath) meets the tiles, thats in the 10mm gap. The drainage holes should empty into a drainage channel below and then tiles laid flush to threshold but because of cock up there is no drainage channel underneath so holes have to be able to drain onto patio

You may recall my leaking sliders saga. Eventually it was resolved and no more water ingress. The problem was caused by the level thresholds sitting on the slab with no drainage rebate underneath......great thinking from window company and project manager, I wont start ranting about the useless so called professionals again that ship has long sailed now just need to find an answer to the remaining problem area. The remedial work undertaken was to cut out part of the slab to allow the thresholds to drain out and that works but it was not possible to get a drainage channel under the thresholds as there should have been so the weep holes drain directly out onto the patio. The thresholds sit about 10cm off the pato tile outside (inside is fine) I can get a finger under the gap between threshold and patio tile. They should be flush to the tile but cannot be becuase that would block the drainage weep holes and we would have water inside again. I need a solution.........ideas so far....possibly something fabricated with drainage holes? Some grout or mastic with gaps where weep holes discharge.......but that still leaves level thresholds with a 10mm ‘step’ A very poor photo attached. All suggestions gratefully received thank you.

I agree with Tyke 2 advice. Don't get involved. So many utter shysters in the building 'trade', think a lot of them would con their own grandmothers. I've lost track of where you are with the build (still trying to sort my wretched plant room mysteries) but it sounds like great progress if you are at flooring stage. Well done.

Some of you may recall the problems I have with overheating (currently 32 degrees in living room on a late September day with outside temp at 19!). Having been all set to go for an external film an alarm was sounded by some companies I asked to quote - they said no to film on my 3g Internorm windows, the fact they were laminated not toughened was what caused the issue. I also have a low e coating. Meantime I have explored all sorts of avenues for shading and had not settled on anything. One of the window film supply companies decided that if I had this issue others would so they would find the answer. They have been absolute terriers in keeping going until they got there. They talked to Internorm, they talked to film manufacturers , they talked to the glass and glazing federation and St Gobain who manufacture the glass. All these clever heads got together and spent a while ruminating and finally pronounced I could have a film but only one type was suitable and it was not the one everyone had been quoting on it is a much less common film. I have accepted the quote for the film - how could I say no after all the effort that went in to find the solution - and am hoping for a fit date in the next few weeks before they stop installing external films for the winter. Fingers crossed it will do the job. It will be just a little darker than our current clear glass but if we have a useable room again its a small price to pay. I am attaching the guidance sheet for films on laminated windows in case anyone else has this issue. Plus the spec sheet for the film I am having which is manufactured by St Gobain. It is the Sentinel Plus SX 50 OSW. Good news is they also do an extra wide at 1823 (usual width is 1535) so no joins on my biggest window pane which is 1640, joins would have been a deal breaker. I will let you how it looks when its in. My suppliers are www.solartekfilms.com Ben is the man, he and his number 2 David deserve credit for going that extra mile for me on what is not that big a job really its just 3 sliders and one fixed window. Great customer service I hope it carries through on the install. Glass Breakage Risk Triple Pane PDF02343PINT_1016.pdf sentinel plus sx 50 film.pdf

Yes set each room individually or from app. You can set a profile to have different times/ temps different rooms or all the same....my fave programme is nicknamed ‘toasty’ LOL. Heatmiser works fine once you get it set up was an absolute bugger to get going initially though.I’m happy with it now Ive worked it out.

I have heatmiser.............

I didnt have a path or ramp installed, I had some concrete down ready for tiles but there was a gap of about 15-20mm from threshold to concrete on the day of sign off. There was a 20mm step up to that concrete slab from drive base (just tarmac binder) on the day too as gap left for resin drive. We got signed off ok like that. I have level thresholds at all external doors/sliders and 33" wide doors at every doorway except the one to the plant room, I have no internal thresholds. My whole house is designed to be wheelchair/disabled friendly and I sincerely hope I never have to use it in the way it has been designed...its a failsafe against the day that I have been told may come but fingers crossed. @Ed Davies I am guessing you don't have any experience of using a wheelchair or difficulty with mobility or I am sure you would realise that a 30mm step could be quite difficult to manage and take away an element of independence for the user. I am in complete agreement on Disability rules for buildings. My sister is a foster carer for disabled children and I see first hand how difficult life can be for her and them in buildings that do not cater for them in small but important ways. Currently she cannot visit certain people if she has a wheelchair child as access to the house is difficult or impossible. New homes should be built to cater for all. Sorry on my hobby horse again...its an important thing for me and I feel strongly about it much like air polluting woodburners.

@Onoff all looking fab! Well done. Mrs Onoff must be thrilled to see such progress.

@KernowGran how wide are your individual bays...is the 8m overall including the posts? Architect may be recommending Internorm because they do big panes on the sliders which some others don't. Rationel, Velfac & ideal Combi all gave me quotes but none could do exactly what I wanted except Internorm and part of that was size of glass. Am I right in thinking a Linhay is a sort of barn? If so do you need 3g will it be insulated and airtight to that level to warrant it? Much more choice if only 2g and trickle vents.

@KernowGran we had. grade 2 listed cottage in a conservation area. People after us replaced with upvc without getting permission.....it was very well done though and eventually they allowed it to remain. I think it depends on the quality of the units and the officers involved.

about 2 hours from you @Nickfromwales I look west towards the Malverns and on a good day I see the Black Mountains and ‘home’ behind...... still in exile on the warwks worcs border not far from Stratford upon Avon

A thing of beauty... I am hugely envious

@JSHarris I so agree!

I think a need an independent plumber and electrician to come and look over the whole thing make sure its ok and tell how it bloody well works! Sorry just so frustrated with it all.

Sorry the note I did to accompany those photos seems to have disappeared. There are three white cables coming from the electric box on the back of the hot water tank, they go into trunking. I believe 2 of them emerge at that immersion heater timer, no clue on third one........ The cable that come from unknown switch below immersion clock goes into boiler, there it stops. There is a separate white cable that comes out of the boiler and goes up to the secondary circulating pump (mounted upside down) on the pipe next to the boiler. This pump lights up when boiler in use. Could the third white cable be in this switch? The three black cables that go into the box next to the (what we now know to be) the motorised valve switch....2 of them go up the motorised valves 1 & 2 and these clearly run the manifolds for UFH. The third black cable goes to what looks like a different motorised valve on the copper pipe low down next to tank. In the pic you can just see the bottom of the green circulating pump mounted above. What I did not realise until earlier was that the unknown switch does have some bearing on the immersion timer, I didnt notice yesterday but as well as switching off the boiler and the secondary circulating pump it is connected to the immersion timer. The programme display icon (very small) goes off when switch off. The clock display remain on which is what threw me. I have worked out from the invoices what those various pumps are - I claim no knowledge beyond the description on the invoice.

@AliG I dont know I didnt do the spec PM did it with installer. I just said I wanted good hot water supply, no dribbling taps. We are single story and plant room a long way from bathrooms so maybe thats why. I dont know I just accepted what they both told me was the necessary spec for my house. ........hiding in corner feeeling stupid again..........