Big Neil

Obviously if you were building your house yourself, the tools you have are likely to be a mix of makes, ages, conditions and the like. And of course if you had to go and buy everything at once for some reason yopu'd again likely pick a mix of makes for various reasons. But lets say you had to pick a single brand of tools right from your hammer and saw to your mitre saw and nail gun, which would it be. DeWalt, Makita????

bloody loving the data - thanks...

whats the average panel weight for a PV panel - something like 20kg if I recall (variable i know, but roughly speaking). So ten panels at lets say 22kg including mounting brackets etc. I wonder if it might be achievable with a modification of existing static mounts plus some automotive parts such as wheel bearings at each end and at a couple of intermediate points for support, running along the middle

Two sprockets from a pedal bike (one from the front and another from the rear) connected to a motor which itself had a speed controller programmed with the sun timings for that day. How would that work as a DIY system? Or a motorised bottle jack instead of the chain and sprocket system, but with broadly the same idea relating to control

Hello @Ed Davies. I was thinking more in terms of keeping the PV systems cool to maintain efficiency - particularly on warmer days, and I hadn't considered a combined [panel, although i suppose that actually makes sense. I'd love to see one. A big old heat-sink on the back with a piping system to hold an antifreeze and then a heat pump. Sort of like a GSHP but on a roof - a RSHP if you will!!

Fair play @JSHarris. Is there a system which allows the two sides n a system LIKE this, to be seperate, where you could use the hot side for something - heating water for example - and then the cool side be put elsewhere? Would some sort of heat exchanger system work, a bit like the product as in the link below, albeit under the panels instead of on top of a roof/external surface. https://www.thealternativeenergycompany.co.nz/products/water-heating/retrofit-system

Obviously as the forum dunce i'm likely to be chastised for this, but would a peltier plate system work for cooling, where the warm side could be in the void under the panel, with the whole void being fan-assist ducted out of said void, to help reduce temps. Could this have the dual effect of keeping the panels cooler therefore the efficiency higher, whilst also giving a sort of warm layer of air to assist interior temperature by 'insulating' the roof with a layer of warm air? Also - are easyroof and GSE the only/best in roof systems? Struggling to find any others

Aldi do a great range of Marlborough region Sauvignon Blanc - and their cheapo mozzarella is not bad either

'THermal Mass' as a phrase seems to me to represent most peoples understanding about energy conservation with a physical space (at least in the contexts i've seen it used). Maybe it's something which could be expressed as a figure which is arrived as by a combination of these things like u value - decriment delay - air-tightness and such like. If it doesn't really have number, why do we not give it one, or express it as a factor of these other measurements; 'My house has a thermal factor of 7 because it has a u factor or .19, has 1.2 ACH, but poor decriment delay.

Try 'soda blasting'. Just uses bicarb I think

Can't you get doo-daaa's you can attach to taps which measure the water as it runs through?

@Sue B i shall read while i have my takeaway later with interest. I'd ask you why you might be poly-phobic but that would ruin the surprise.

no idea what you mean?

THanks @JSHarris. Is it another one of those products which one could use if going with a belt 'n' Braces approach, much like using rebar even though it might not be needed? I started thinking of the stuff in the link below in terms of repelling water. Is there a house based application for this?

Would it work as an element of say a peel and stick building wrap, so: Peel layer (throw away) - sticky bit - airtightness membrane - waterbar type material - then another peel off layer?

Riiiiigght, so it's like a water version of an intumescent strip then. Bang on. So why doesn't everyone use it just in case? For example when you've dry laid your first course on top of your slab and made sure it is straight, attach it along the joint between the two on the outside edge.

so - is it sort of a dam you put on vertical joints to stop water travelling up the joint. Just watched a SIKA video for their project and just can't grasp it. Does it perform the same sort of function as a groove you might have cut in a stone cill to stop water coming back underneath?

probably 2.4 X 1.2 then - seems the most common size. 2.88 m2 per board

See that seems like a reasonable idea to me - Possibly I would get the block dimensions in hand first, including data like web spacing, then get those varied onto the plans you already have before passing them on to each manufacturer. Have you any particular manufacturers in mind as it stands, even though you might not have decided thus far?

also - i don't see a real problem with it but would love to see it exposed. Is it sort of best to think of it a bit like a ktichen sink - at least in terms of sealing it?

Big thick layer of neoprene?? I know it's not a building material as such, but it (was) often used in power-lifting straps as a cushioning/weight distribution material - same for weight gloves. I had a chunk of it sewn under the base seat material of an Elise some years back and it worked there fine.

Although not exactly what I had in mind it's interesting to see that someone is having to work a variation of what i was thinking about. Throw a go pro on while you're doing it chap so we can see how it goes. Currently Manchester. I've been to see one in Gatley which was on pour day albeit i arrive don site about 30 minutes after the last lorry lad left. I'm waiting to hear from thermohouse if they have one anywhere i can see. Going to a home build show next week where i intend to speak with Nudura who I know are there, plus then if he is still in need of any help i will get to see Russel's in May. Can't seem to get hold of Alan at Polarwall at the moment but had been trying to find out when i could visit a project somewhere near Preston. If anyone knows of one near me though i'd be excited to bob along to any. I hadn't considered this actually, and exactly the sort of thing i was hoping to be pointed out. I guess you can't - fair point. Again - fair point, something else that seems obvious now but wasn't clear when I was thinking about it to start with My initial thought was to dry fit something a bit like the fox buck that fox blocks have, or jackon are just developing what amounts to a slips to close cavities (basically just a 700 kpa strip of XPS), and then support them as i see most people doing, with wooden bracing at the windows and doors. See i think this is an interesting idea - logical. I shall explore it more. Just to pass further comment i know the way I ask questions might seem strange, but it's really just down to the way i learn. So if i ask you could use a steak knife to cut rockwool slabs with for example, it's just because i've found a parallel and want to understand (aside from the blindingly obvious), the reasons behind this.

Other than the feeling that the study off the drawing room looks a bit odd (such as i have how it would look pictured in my head) i think it looks fine. Probably the only thing I would think about adjusting is extending the upstairs in line with either Arthur or William's bedrooms on one side, so you can play around with the dividing wall between their rooms and give them a touch more space.

Honestly John you're such an angry man - you remind me of my dad. Exactly why i want you on my team in the Annual BUild-Hub party bus punch up The core of what i'm asking, is not to disregard block manufacturers recommendations, simply to try and understand the ease of a process and see if there are any other ways. If you read the original topic and subsequent comments again, you'll notice that my questions surround how to efficiently get a structure up and create openings. I haven't suggested at any point that I wouldn't want to insulate where there is a gap. I would - I just haven't been specific about how I would achieve that because it wasn't relevant to the information i wanted. If we all just did things as instructed, this forum just wouldn't exist because the second someone suggested the internet as a thing, another person would have just said that Ceefax was fine as it was. I'm having pulled brisket burgers and chips for teas tonight John - what about you?

I probably should have clarified, thought it was obvious from my first post. I mean putting the forms up and cuttting them prior to adding any rebar or doing the pour.