Big Neil

righteeo - and the Air Source unit was still cheaper.. And does the RHI still count. Seems if one is to own a property for some time, at least the 7 years i've got in my head, that there might be a benefit in initial cost vs planning issues, being reduced over that time. If the same rules and payments apply with Air though, strikes me as a nobrainer. Just don't know enough about the tech yet...

Morning Declan, No calcs yet, not even got drawn up plans. Was just interested in general terms. I guess given Mr Harris comments it would be interesting to know his ground conditions?? Also the question of RHI still stands.

Ahhhhhh interesting. I had no idea it would be that significant. Is noise a significant factor? - ooooo if planning is an issue with ASHP, would working in some sort of recess into lets say a garage wall, in order to have it flush instead of blistered onto the outside of a building, potentially help that situation?. Could mount it on a slider for ease of access to Service. And what about RHI? Does it still apply to ASHPs. A couple of finger in air discussions with people regarding Ground source units had them estimating the cost could largely be recouped, over the 7(??) year

Hello All, I once had an installer estimate for a Nibe GSHP, including the need for boreholes, for a circa 1800 square foot house over 2 floors with UFH throughout. Was around the 17 grand mark. Obviously only a fag packet estimate based on experience, but verified in part by an individual borehole company. This was to supply all heating and hot water for said house. Firstly would anyone in the know please confirm, is this broadly the same as the cost for an equivalent ASHP? Which would theoretically cost more to run, or are they both roughly the same? What other considerations apart from available land to run a loop/dig a borehole, has anyone who has installed either of these, found would be relevant as opposed to conventional wisdom? Also, knowing my luck exactly the same question has been asked before and if so feel free to point me to the right post and i'll delete this one if required.

What do you mean with this?? Are these the stage immediately after construction drawings? Are you effectively saying that If you have been absolutely firm about what is to be built at the design stage, and that there is no change in principal from the planning drawings, that the tender/construction drawings are one and the same and are just an expansion of the details on the planning drawings?

Found a company called Savant that seem to do whole home automation. Any experience of them?

does it still look like a "normal" house? I sort of have this preconception, probably from watching the Duckworth's cladding on Coronation Street years back, that cladding rarely looks like the think it is supposed to imitate (in this case full depth natural limestone). For that matter is it any cheaper than just us having the wall built as normal. The biggest concern really is that it should look the same. Any recommendations for real stone cladding companies?

Picture a cavity wall build with natural stone on the outside (main wall material and also headers and cills). Obviously in this system the inner and outer work together to form a structure so you have thick bits of stone with normal mortar in between and the requisite wall ties. If you've got an ICF and want the same external look, how is it achieve? Obviously the structure is all in the ICF bit of things, so does one still use ties and still build the wall EXACTLY in the same fashion? Are those bits of stone less deep, so say 60mm front to back instead of say 120mm? Are they just stuck on with some sort of compound?

An issue in what respect. I sort of picture in my head a length of copper pipe and a length of each of those and with the requirement to run something off those feeds, each one of them will need to be cut, a fitting added, and a new run of pipe added. Why is that more of an issue with a "plastic" pipe than copper?

On new houses Redrow used to offer the sort of system I think would be relevant, and it was called HiPP smart Home i thnk, but there's precious little practical information about it.

So i've been told by different people that both types of pipe can be used for not only hot and cold water and UFH systems. I've given to understand also they both use compression fittings. Does anyone have experience with plumbing either whole houses or normal remedial work, using these different types of pipe? Seems like the general benefits are speed of connections and maybe lightness of material? Am i missing any others, and also are there any significant negatives, aside from those which might arise from misuse/poor handling?

So I want to be able to install ceiling speakers in every room, run them back to a single amp and then have any input divertable to any room/zone, via an app. Any suggestions from your own experiences? Lets say total of 10 rooms plus hall and landing to 12 zones.

Is there a particular reason why this stuff is used a lot instead of fully enclosed conduit?

So how does one ensure that a design for a house is adhered to, you know, so that all the walls are the right size and what not, and all the things like Roof trusses and floor joists that might be ordered prior to a shell being started, are the correct size?. Is the best thing actually to start with whoever is building the main structure, so the timber frame company, the brickie or whoever else, and get them to recommend someone they have worked with before, to ensure there is a proper set of working drawings? One worry is that you end up building something that is lets say half a metre wider or deeper than was intended by the plans, and that even if this can be materially compensated for, a planning officer would come along and tell you to rip it down for not meeting a planning application. I'd be interested to see an example of where someone has worked with an architect/technician, where the drawings they provided were sufficient for the builder to go off, and the framing company/block supplier or whatever, to do their own calcs.

I can't quite find the answer after days of surfing through various posts, but i've another probably very dumb question. I know that one requires a set of drawings for planning submission - "Planning Drawings". I know one must submit drawings for building control "building control drawings". But is there a name one gives to the drawings which act as the effective instructions to a builder/roofer etc etc to tell them how to build the house. Is that "Construction Drawings"? Do these differ from the building control drawings or are they one and the same? Also (side question), for anyone reading here who themselves knew exactly what they wanted and took their sketches and dimensions, to an architect/technician/technologist to do these drawings, (i.e. were looking for no aesthetic or stylistic input just the relevant structured drawings) what did you pay? I've yet to start playing around with any computer programs so i couldn't even begin to estimate how long it would take a pro to turn rough sketches into workable documents.

Almost .......a call centre. back to the original topic. These funky tile spacers/ Anyone used them?

It's a pity you're in Kent, were it Manchester i'd have jumped at the chance. Never miss an opportunity to blindly criticise something i couldn't have done better myself anyway!!

when you say plank type, do you mean like those wood effect ones that look a little like laminate/real wood flooring planks?

Hello Chaps, Been seeing a lot of videos on YouTube recently, mostly American and Canadian in origin, using these anti lippage tile spacers. Not seen any UK chaps using them, so have a couple of questions. Firstly has anyone here used them, professional or otherwise, and if so how do you rate them? I'm not suggesting the use of them would make up the difference between a competent amateur and a well trained Pro, but to what degree do you think this might be the case? Also and I don't know if this is a result of the apparently high use of that type of system, but those guys all seem to 'back-butter' the tiles where i haven 't seen many UK based chaps doing this. Again how do you rate this technique? Is this a belt and braces approach and also is it an approach any of you pro chaps would recommend to compensate for some degree of the skill factor between a Pro and an Amateur?

how about, a line of aircrete blocks in normal mortar, the the stud wall on top of that.

I probably haven't been too clear so my apologies. I just don't understand why if PIR is PIR is PIR, why if you have two different products whether from the same manufacturer or not really, with lets say the same compressive strength, both foil face which most of them appear to be, same thickness etc etc, how one could be for one application and the other would be recommended for something else. Is it a bit like how well done you have your fried egg. they're still a fried egg but a firmer one is better suited to an egg bap where a soft one is great on a fry up?

Interesting idea on the chemical composition/facing front. So if one were to find a product, again lets say a celotex product for the sake of argument which was suitable for use; as UFH insulation below a screed, as part fill cavity wall and between rafters in a pitched roof, does that mean it would perform worse in one area, i.e. would have better insulating properties in the wall but have less compressive strength or whatever?

So does anyone understand why within a given manufacturer for PIR, they have different named products for different products. For example Celotex GA4000 (4075) is not suggested for part fill on cavity walls, but can be used in UFH and is described as general purpose PIR sheet. It is the same compressive strength as another of their products X-somethinh or other, which comes in sheets which are a fifth the size, and that one is not recommended for UFH applications. Is PIR not just PIR?

could one use foamed/aerated concrete in an icf build. What i mean is that given it is supposed to have better thermal properties, would it A; add any thermal benefits and b; be strong enough?

Bloody good points. So it sort of works in principle, but insurance issues.. What do you think about that as a community storage. So lets say a small collection of homes, all with their own solar and battery backups, excess diverted through a system as suggested above. Could be put away from residential property then...