dogman

It was our BC who asked. The whole section of wall that had a brick skin was fire stopped (red bags in photo) . Don't ask me why, or if its really needed but if it meant giving me brownie points with BC it was worth it

Please go easy on us but we went a bit mad with the work top for the island wife loves it Its Labradorite Madagascar Granite

With a coat of osmo

see link https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intumescent-Pipe-Collars-4-Hour-Fire-Stopping-Protection-Sizes-45mm-to-500mm/251893776743?hash=item3aa60a0167:m:mG9-F1b-rbVup7RsIOSPRKg check if your BC officer wants them and if you need 2 hour or 4 hour

Just check you do not need a fire collar. As the skin on ours is brick the BC asked for them

I agree. They were the cheapest once we added the glass and landing balustrade. The software to design them worked unlike some. The sales team are really helpful. I did ring them a few times to ask silly questions such as where does this bit go and they could not have been more helpful

Staircase has arrived and I have now fitted it. We used TKstairs and have been very pleased with the outcome We opted for oak with embedded glass and had it part assembled Although it was heavy the wife and i managed it without help. Glass will be fitted once treated. Everything fitted and they even send precut oak plugs to cover the dowels

I found the same with dewalt and CDA equipment. the Neff cookers don't have a time limit

Latest issue is that the external glazing bars are falling off in the cold

We had an absolute mare of a time with Munster and wish we had gone with someone else. Put us back months as every window had to be replaced, I cannot in any circumstances recommend them.

Correct me if i am wrong but i think they supply Munster windows

Cannot really help yet @JamesP as we are still not in residence. All i can say is to back up what others are saying that if you are building to a high insulation standard like am MBC twin stud wall etc your heat load will be very low. It was -5.5 last night and our house with no heat only dropped 1 deg from 16 to 15. that is with two 6 " holes in the walls and drains not connected. As for Earthsave Products equipment. I use them as they are local to me and have been utterly reliable. We have an ecocent and heatpump from them in our current house and have bought all the parts from them for my current house. I am in the process of fitting them at present and am impressed with the quality and ease of fitting

Another quick update At long last we have finished the plastering. It has come up well and my decorator (wife) is getting on with the painting. For those interested we used 270 sheets of plasterboard with very little waste to go to the tip ( so far two trips at £6 a time) Kitchen cabinets are all installed. The island granite is on order and we are looking at oak for the rest. One big improvement is the Oak porch and balcony. MBC provided these as an extra. Well I am impressed with the outcome and there was not a nail gun insight. Most of the wood came to site as long lengths and the team got to work with a chain mortice and hand chisels all the joints were dowelled The attention to detail was second to none. MBC did say that they are doing a lot of oak inside so if you are after oak trusses etc they will use them with the timber frame system

We have almost monthly visits from the council rates officer wanting to check progress. As the house looks finished from the outside we have to show him around every time. Despite our estimated completion date of early summer at the last visit I would bet that he will turn up sometime in February

we have pre treated the oak door linings and window cills before fully masking them with tape and plastic. The first frame that was just taped and the moisture was sucked in the edges where the plaster touched staining the frame. Since treating them they have stayed clean.

I had exactly the saw issue when air testing one of the bathrooms. When we put pressure on to the system small bubbles came out the seal. Between that an the AAV I wasted a whole morning trying to find the leak. I did read somewhere in the instructions that all the seals need to be treated with a supplied grease wipe before fitting. I thought this would only be the trap to tray seal but maybe it's this one as well.

as he said-- a rounded bit of the ceiling They started with board finish but have swapped to multi finish as its not going off so quick.

Plasterers said the same and have so far done a really nice job( oher than one dropping a float full of bonding on the others head it went everywhere and needs to be cleaned off)

Kitchen is from Howdens. Most is here but their design and invoicing details are an absolute mare. The brochure. invoice, plan and delivery notes all have different codes. All the bathrooms have been chosen including a bath covered in copper I have left it all to her other than a check to see if i can actually fit it. Roof is 25mm cavity, walls 48mm. theses are left clear its the internal studs and the floor void i have filled with rock wool. Its a real pain but helps stop a lot of the echo and resonance in the house. We went with cellulose blown insulation

I have been a bit busy over the last few weeks having finished first fix, plumbing and electrics. Plumbing went okay, although one of the AAV's had a small leak so the pressure test on the foul drain kept failing. Once replaced it held 50mm of water without problem. Had a major with the electrician who walked off the job at the end of first fix as he got a major contract for 10 houses. As we had no formal written contract we were stuck. As all the cables were in, none of the electricians would entertain the work other than as a final testing and inspection. After a bit of negotiation with the building control officer and we can go down that route. Upside is that i have saved a couple of quid as all i have paid for are materials so the final test will be the only labour charge. Plasterboard is about 60% completed and the plasterer is following us room to room. So far we have used 240 sheets including some sound and fire board. we have stuffed rock wool into all the walls and floors and will be pleased when finished as i hate the stuff. Its been a bit of a challenge to board the high points as the plasterboard lifter did not quite reach and i am still working out how to reach the roof of the galleried landing The next issue according to my wife is the colour of the sofa. not sue why when i still have to plumb the plant room

Just to confirm. 15mm hep20 will not fit on this pipe. just tried for research purposes. I have some left over. i will find out how much if you need any half rolls as length is marked on pipe. just checked i have a 20m length and a 77m length left

I cut all my slates with one of these. A lot quicker and safer than a disc cutter. so so easy to use http://www.mytoolshed.co.uk/p9997/Edma_Pro_Mat_Coup_Slate_Guillotine_Machine/product_info.html?utm_source=googleversafeed&vfsku=9997&gpla=pla&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIg7u-sLTz1wIVz7DtCh2SgAWjEAQYAiABEgKZL_D_BwE The only issue with slate hooks is the look. Although i would challenge anyone to see them 6m in the air. And to be really lazy get one of these https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjes6iLtfPXAhVkAcAKHY0dDx0QyCkIMDAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DX0Z4t40hmvw&usg=AOvVaw2dvodrZmOVhY9HTNTiUZ9q

We roofed our house using slate. I used slate hooks rather than nails as i found it easier If you fancy using slate hooks there a couple of tricks such as marking the batten so the slates all sit in a straight line. Run a couple of chalk lines up the roof so the slates all line up. I did this every 4 or 5 slates

Strange but TU still works

see below for some app options ignore first bit https://www.howtogeek.com/234608/how-to-enable-wi-fi-calling-on-an-android-phone/ not a proper app but should help now we have lost TU i also use whatsapp to call