Iceverge

I'm assuming this is an external wall? From an amateur look at it I have a couple thoughts regarding thermal bridging and timber use. 1. I don't think noggins are required assuming you have a structural racking board one side of the wall. 2. There's an awful lot of jack studs, consider clips or splitting them. 3. Have a look at mindsparx video on you tube and his framing. Particularly the Hammer-Band as he calls it. It does away with individual headers and uses one of the top plates on edge instead around the whole perimeter. 4 The double bottom plate could go I think. 5. I'm guessing the breathable racking board is something like Medite. You could move to something cheaper like OSB internal to the studs as a racking and use the T&G Gutex externally on its own like @ProDave although I don't think rendering it is the way forward in a wet climate. Then tape the OSB for airtighess. WHat is your final external rain screen? Bricks/blocks or timber/fiber cement cladding.

I wouldn't be surprised if super duper insulation (passive house ++++) and solar PV was the cheapest long term method. Out heat demand is about 3MWh. If we knocked about 30m2 off the footprint, assumed the same internal heat gains, used an insulated raft foundation and externally insulated over all the frames of doors and windows, and made some of the windows smaller PHPP would have our annual heat demand at about 1200kWh. Direct electric for space heating and PV for summer water heating would be the cheapest option then. For reference our house only cost €4k more in added insulation and airtighess products than a bregs build. I didn't price the window difference but a neighbour did and 2G to 3G was €800.

Direct electric. Stored in a water tank. Reminds me of something. There is a financial case for this setup over an ASHP but only when your electric demand gets as low as about 2MWh/annum I think.

Opening this dusty tomb of a thread again. Simple controls + no hassle ownership. Whats the latest thinking?

Rather than 3D printing something I think it's actually a worthwhile exercise to make something out of plywood. Not cardboard or balsa wood. Some 9mm ply that you need to jigsaw and drill. It gives you a really excellent feel for how hard it is to build something at scale.

Rather than 3D printing something I think it's actually a worthwhile exercise to make something out of plywood. Not cardboard or balsa wood. Get some 9mm ply that you need to jigsaw and drill. It gives you a really excellent feel for how hard it is to build something at scale.

There's an obvious answer with what to do with the cash here. Do another self build for the amusement of the forum!!

A tidy bead of sealant would be my choice, the gap doesn't look too big

Every time you go on "holiday" you will spend your whole time painting, fixing, plumbing, redecorating and gardening. It might take the shine off the arrangement.

Is there any "K" or "A" shaped brackets rather than the "L" shaped ones to provide more mechanical advantage. In the mean time I will work on Von Trapping my kids within an inch of their puny little existences!

Are these type any good?

We have a few small Tarzan type humanoids running around the house who make great theatrical use of the drapes. Alas with inevitable consequences for the doily airing spindles that home stores sell as curtain poles and brackets. I particularly admire how the bracket is shaped to pull any fixing from the wall with tremendous efficiency. Law of the lever and all that. Does anyone have any suggestions. Ideally something that small people can practice for Olympics with?

20 of these stuck under the cupboard should do. All for less than £1000. That would be a mega toasting arrangement.

I like screw piles but they're rarely the cheapest or most durable option. You have to do very little ground disturbance and can easily deal with undulating surfaces. They are dear however. As far as I know you'd need to mount a say 200*75 timber subframe to join the piles together and then drop your sip on top. Run the screws from the top down threading into the 200*75 timbers. If you used pan head screws and didn't do mad with the impact driver the sips should be ok. Here's a video of the subframe. From 3:30.

I love all this . Larsen trusses. Double stud walls, truss walls etc. Dense pack cellulose of course if you can too. They really shine where you need to hang the cladding from the structure as you can nail or screw easily into the studs. Where they fall down a bit is the ease of insulating properly around door and window frames. EWI systems really shine here. I like the fact that they keep all the wood products good and warm year round too.

£200 for a toaster is mental. However it's your money, you don't have to justify a damn thing! Buy it!

Sorry I misread about the kitchen with its concrete floor being an extension. Is it recent and does it have insulation? Breathability only becomes an issue when you use two non permeable materials to enclose a structure. Not an issue for Pir between joists. Differential shrinkage and contraction of the PIR and the timber is though and long term I fear you'll get gaps all around the insulation, no matter how careful you are installing it. I've heard reports of carefully fitted PIR boards dropping out after a few years. If you are concerned about efficiency I think I would stay away from UFH in your situation. Rather get some large radiators and run them at a low temperature. For comfort stay away from ceramic tiles, carpet vinyl wood or LVT is much warmer to touch.

Don't know yet. Its losing a teaspoon a day. Its on the list of jobs to fix.

@FreddieW Where is North on the plans?

Welcome to the forum. Hopefully all your dreams come true! Before going any further I'd have a think about the insulation. 1. Are you planning on digging out the concrete kitchen floor? 2. PIR wouldn't be my first choice. Something like this would be superior. Ask The Expert - Thermally Upgrading Suspended Floors | Ecological Building Systems 3. I would try to get under the units. There must be a way! How much space in the subfloor void do you have to play with? 4. How much head height are you able to loose in the rooms, doors and stairs dictate this as much as anything.

Thats it.

I have a post on this somewhere. I'll try to find it. From what I remember it's not as good as digging up the floor but it certainly helps.

@Adsibob Burglars are like investors. They aim for the best return available with the least risk. Most have little interest in your passports. They're too hard to fence, connect you directly with the crime and get you involved in a much riskier level of criminality. A stolen family's passports might cost you £1000's to replace in time, effort and stress, but for most normal thief's they're not worth the effort. £20 on a window sill is a much better prospect. If I was a criminal I would look for. 1. Someone with cash handy in the house like someone who regularly made an ATM withdrawal for example or with a flash Rolex. 2. Crappy windows or doors that could be easily shouldered in. Remember 10 locks is no good if the frame is made of rotten timber. 3. Someone who made it obvious when they were at home, like parking their car in front of the house in plain sight, broadcasting about their upcoming holiday or leaving the bins out for a week when they're away. 4. A house with a hidden rear entrance that I could work at without observers. An alarm wouldn't make much difference if I could see Mrs Smith's handbag with her pension inside, on the kitchen countertop. I'd be over the hills by the time anyone noticed. The cops would never donate enough resources for a £100 crime to catch me. If the door was unlocked and I just took the cash she may not even report me. A video doorbell or camera can be defeated by a £2 face mask, most dogs similarly with a square of cheese. Things I would avoid. 1. A property that had nothing easy to sell. An owner who didn't use cash or have fancy electronics or jewellery/watches. 2. A house with a door that would take an axe to break down or make a racket doing so. 3. A house that I could never be sure if someone was at home or not, a radio on a timer for example. 4. A house that any nefarious external activity would be observable. 5. Having no easy escape routes, like an isolated county house down a long lane or a top floor flat.

There it is in all its shiny 1.2kW glory. A cheap as "gone off chips" wall hung quartz heater. I'm going to test it's dechilling powers out on my small children later. Let them be blasted by all radiative goodness and judge the response.

The trouble with retrofitting is that it runs out of road very quickly and starts to get very expensive. Attic insulation might save 10% of your heating bill for £500. Then Cavity wall insulation for another 20% for £4k. Then what? Dig out the floors and insulate for £20k maybe with a mountain of destruction? New windows for £20k? MVHR? How exactly without ripping the house apart again? Airtighess.........forget getting down to anything sensibly like 1 ACH. You took great care in your new build with knowledge and dedication to get there. Getting below 5ACH won't happen in most retrofits. Maybe an ASHP system at £15k. Redecorate after all this messing and you'll soon have spent £60k+ on an average 150m2 house and probably halved the energy usage. Where do you go then as you've still got an inefficient building.