dogman

I think i will leave it to them. But check and check again as we have seen that sometimes the pipes are in the wrong place.

The groundwork team are just digging out and muck away leaving a level site plus a 225mm strip around one area for the external ring beam for a plinth. I have MBC laying the hardcore that i will supply. The soil pipes will be supplied and laid by MBC and protrude out the base by 1m and then into a chamber (3 into one) this then joins onto an old clay pipe that is the existing pipe for the septic tank. I will do all the drainage myself. The drains do not need to go any deeper than the base to maintain the fall needed. As i have several ducts to sheds and garage i will put them in before mbc arrive as they can go under the sub base

Trying to sort a start date but want to make sure i am ready for them I am still waiting for the final plan pack from them so don't know what information i will get. From those who went with MBC to what extent do you need to mark out the site. I have set the FFL and GL as well as marked out the footprint of the dig as well as the depth of the different areas to be dug. ( by a groundworker not MBC) When MBC arrive i will have a start point on one corner and a building line to work from. Do they need profiles at each change or wall as a traditional build would need? I have looked at photos some of you have posted and some have them and some don't With the drainage for foul they will bring the pipes out the side by 1m. As i am using an existing drainage system, i was going to connect them as i go, from experience will this cause them a problem?

As @JSHarris has mentioned i will most likely lift the front door and side door as they have part M thresholds and are 35mm high. They specify 15mm clearance with 20mm floor The sliders are 55mm and i am lowering them 18mm so with a 20mm floor covering i have a 17mm trip hazard . As i can fall over a leaf this should prevent embarrassing moments

My biggest issue is that the 3 large lift and slide windows have to be fully supported. My only option is to set the frames back into the frame and get the longest cill i can from Munster. My wife's choice of floor (stone) means that to ensure the frames are flush with the floor i will only need to recess about 18mm so easy to achieve with some ply. The front and side doors due to the part M thresholds will need to be lifted slightly anyway Munster come to site to measure so hopefully any errors can be avoided. I was hoping to start on the 6th March but i still have not had the finished plans from them so will now have to push it back again( the first delay was mine)

Thanks @JSHarris My MBC designer has been off for a few days so hopefully will get it back tomorrow.

Did anyone else who has an MBC slab get any different designs After a long delay i had the first design back last week. Despite my initial instructions the threshold detail was a 75mm tongue to the edge of the slab which gave a horrendous cold bridge I asked for a redesign and had this back on Friday threshold.pdf This is not their drawing but my representation due to limitations in my drawing software but dimensions are correct. The doors are lift and slide and must be fully supported across the width of the frame. This will give me a 100mm of the insulation. I intend to stick a further 50-100mm insulation strip on the outside before it is rendered the door details are below 40 Ecoclad_patio_Threshold Layout.pdf I can get upto a 240mm cill and my understanding is these are insulated and thermally broken. Can anyone see any issues with this and has anyone had a better design from MBC

I have one of those in the cottage that we rent as holiday accommodation. We were having almost monthly power cuts and with the current compo culture were having to compensate guests. The switch and external plug was not that expensive but a 8.1kva genny was quite a lot. Been in 18 months now and haven't had a single power cut

Some people like thumb turns on the inside of doors. Don't if you have a letter box anywhere near the front door. I have seen a rather ingenious device that opened these in seconds. Old style dead locks are no better. Seen a clever way to get past these as well. Not posting it but i bet you can all guess. Answers on a post card.

From my experience the weak point of a door is often the frame. We have all seen the police trying to get into the local pharmaceutical supplier and how often do you see the whole frame come out. Police have several types of key. The best is a hydraulic ram that takes the whole frame and door out in one go. You do not see this one on tv that often. Windows - its normally just left open and the local property relocation specialists go house to house looking. Old style sliders used to lift off runners but this has now been designed out. I have seen dozens of more professional burglaries( golf shops usually) where they have removed the window glass all are externally glazed. remember they don't worry about damage. As for lock bumping it is possible but i have never seen it happen. My advice is to fix the frames into the structure the best you can. Use solid panel doors. A plastic lower panel will just kick in. Use multipoint locks with bs standard cylinders. Putting a £300 Banham lock on a door states i have something of value Do not have a letter box as this is a weak point. Used for both for fishing and opening the door. Glass will always break even laminated 3g. However it is difficult as it has to be cut out. I have seen it once a 9 inch concrete block and then sawn out by hand. Most people think its the police pushing this but it is actually the insurance companies.

Careful @JSHarris you will show your age. I was 10 in 1973. Did you work at Bletchley Park some lovely old computers there

It does look like we all took broadly the same subjects with the variation probably down to the school. I managed to do computer science as a CSE instead of English lit. Oh so much more fun playing with a BBC computer and learning to code in Basic. Hated English with a passion, but loved math

Not quite the 60's for me more 79's and we had progressed to engineering drawing at O level by then. Still have my staedtler drawing set and some very hard pencils somewhere. How many of us took the same subjects. Is it why we like building things and in my case taking them apart first.

Cracking result. Hope my MBC build is ias good

@RoundtuitDo you mind if i ask who the installer/pv company is. The same system for me is £7723 with a solar edge inverter. You are not a million miles from me so they may travel

I have been looking at fan coil type rads They run at low temperature so suit heat pumps and they can be reversed and used to cool. only real downside is they have a fan so use some electric and will have some noise but i looked at some on a display at Swindon and they were not that loud

We have just one for the bath and sink set at 43 deg max It does mean that if you like a hot bath you don't add cold.

New tool time

i used them.

It was a while ago. just looked now and there are a lot for between £20-£25 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Altecnic-15mm-Thermostatic-Mixing-Valve-TMV3-CA-100822-/201806511080?hash=item2efc9afbe8:g:ltcAAOSw4DJYlbKm

got mine off ebay for half that

be careful choosing, we used TMV3 and 22mm as they will impact on flow rate. If for holiday let get a water thermometer and keep a record of your checks we do them every month.

http://www.willesdenbathrooms.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/t/m/tmv-img-detail.jpg this might help

you are sort of right but not ( and again happy to be corrected) you are trying to lower the temp of the incoming hot water to a safe level so it goes in the hot feed you will have cold to cold cold t TMV Hot to TMV tmv to hot tap or mixer

Anyone got any comparisons quotes. I will miss the latest fit rate so payback is about 18 years although that is probably my last consideration