Tosh

Gosh thats quite a difference to the 580 m3/h unit BPC recommended. What do you think BPC would've based their sizing on? When I spoke to them they just kept saying 'its based on the drawings you sent us' which obviously wasn't very helpful! Well not me at least..

Here's the layout that BPC sent back to me. A couple of points: we have no ceiling space on the first floor hence why the valves are positioned on walls; there is a ceiling void above the landing but stops at the gallery which I can some ducts but not sure if thats preferable to just feeding from below and up into each room throught the studs (oval ubbink?). The sitting room/gallery is not a closed room. The door is an error on the drawing, it has a balustrade to the hallway/stairs void. the xls I've populated dismisses the extract outlet on the large void as I read somewhere on the forum that all this would do is pull smells from kitchen?

Being confused is easy; my appetite to learn is ok, its the understanding thats getting harder as I get older 🤣 Yes I was pondering over that one. I'll tweek the adj figures. But what size unit do those calculations show i need? Would it be 2 x 263m3/h i.e. is the theory that if it was on full boost then it would need to up the supply as well? I'm not trying to penny pinch (cough cough) between units but just want some figures of my own as a basis to have some sensible conversations, if thats possible, with suppliers.

I need to order my ducting asap and have used a xls kindly shared by others on the forum. I've input the numbers but would be grateful for some sanity check and interpretation. Do the numbers I've input look correct e.g. 'air quality adj'? What size unit does all this info tell me I need? Anything else that doesn't look right to the well trained eye? I do have a design from BPC and they said I need a 580m3/h unit. They also used twin 75mm ducting to most outlets but I'd prefer to go larger and with less runs as our plant room is on the Grd Fl at one end of the house. I must admit I struggled to get much help when I quizzed them about the design. I got the impression that they didn't want to share too much info for whatever reason. Any advice appreciated 🙂

Just seen this announcement https://www.silvatimber.co.uk/silva-timber-investment-opportunity/. Shame, hope they find a way through.

I agree Zinc looks a wonderful material when you have a sample in front of you or when its 3 feet away from you. Our installer took me around a few jobs he'd done in steel and zinc and asked me to guess what they were before he told me. From the ground you couldn't tell any difference other than the zinc had mildly more oil canning. On one job they were still working on I even went up the scaffold and had to get right in the face of the zinc before I could tell any difference (he requested I kindly didn't mention this in front of his client 🤐). Needless to say I went with PLX in the end and absolutely love it. I also rest a little bit easier as there's many stories of zinc failing as well. Once its on I don't think you'll be disappointed with the PLX. More important to find a reputable installer and get the substructure right IMO.

This is what they're probably on about https://www.aico.co.uk/product/ei129-hard-wired-switched-input-module/ Its connected to the rest of your alarms and sets them off if your sprinkler activates.

I would think OSB3 would be fine as long as there's no risk of it getting wet i.e. its not certified for exposue to weather, though it can cope with humid condidtions. Its regularly specified for metal roof substrates with a membrane between metal and OSB. We've got around 150sqm of it on our roof so it better be ok 😬

I would say its more important you have a strucural engineer who understands ICF than the architect. After all an architect should be familiar with co-ordinating dimensions of any material e.g. bricks/blocks, etc etc. ICF shouldn't be that hard for them to get their head around. An SE on the other hand can waste you a vaste amount of money by over specifying rebar.

No just the standard blocks. Don't think xr35 was available, or at least we weren't made aware of them, when we purchased which is a few years ago now. Would defintely of considered them.

Lintels only on our Nudura 8''

There's no way that drill should lift from the metal with the mag on. How hard are you pulling on the handle?? That alone could indicate its f*****d to me. Sounds like it may have got overheated along the line somewhere. Plus pulling hard on the handle will put too much pressure and snap a bit. Theragain what bits r u using - annular or twist.

From a polish importers site https://debesto.com/en/blog/import-windows-from-poland-to-uk-after-brexit/

We've got SS roof and cladding. After some lengthy conversations we uncovered his labour was similar but was marking up the material way above others. Trouble is it isn't always clear when you first get the quotes so you don't know if he's overpriced or others have under priced. Unless you get them to quote on a Bill of Quants it won't necessarily be clear. Its a big ticket item in anyones book so my advice is research it well and choose carefully.

Companies will typically price on a sqm rate for the area to be covered plus a linear meter rate for verge, ridge, hip, eaves etc. Then you will have rainwater goods which usually are a mix of linear meter for gutter/downpipe and qty for things like stopends, shoes etc. Some will break their quote down so you can see what price you're paying for each bit, others will break the item down but not put the price against it i.e. you just get a grand sum for the whole job. So whilst you can compare quote A with quote B, trying to get 'under the skin' of how its made up can be difficult if they vary widely. I've had quotes vary by £30k. Our PLX came in at around £120 sqm all in i.e. lots of details like window reveals, cills, aprons, etc. Roll back 2yrs and I could've got zinc for that but to be fair I'm really glad I went with PLX in the end.

Extech DT100 https://www.test-meter.co.uk/extech-dt100m-laser-distance-meter I've dropped mine a good few times so glad its got a good rubber shrouding around it.

Was mobile data turned off on the phones that it didn't work on? Read somewhere that it can cause conflict with wifi calling.

I've used Lebara for a number of years which uses the Voda network. Intially couldn't use wifi calling on Lebara whereas Vod did offer it to their own customers. Thankfully Lebara now offer it. I believe Vod/O2 entered into an agreement 2021 to share infrastructure thus I wonder whether that 'merger' has impacted your local mast?

Have a chat to velux commercial. I've only ever used them once but you may get closer to your dream than you think for not much different money to an off the shelf solution. Worth a try 🤔

my thoughts as well.

Well done for perservering. LPA behaviour riles me though. We had an application and didn't even get to communicate with the CO for 6 months, no replies to emails, phone calls, zilch! Then when they did finally enagge with us they said they were leaving the council in 2 days time. The money, yes you wonder what you're paying for but the uncertainty can affect your mental wellbeing as well. Hope you came through unscathed on that front as well.

My understanding is different, I would've thought that this is reduced rate 5%

I've cut plenty of those with a 9inch grinder. Key is getting some good quality thin cutting discs.

Been fitting insulation between rafters today, same tomorrow. Will have Christmas and Boxing Day off then more of the same.

By chance I came across a very extensive table of major material suppliers price increases for 2023, mainly in Jan and March. I can't for the life of me find it now however just about everything had a price increase. I called my BM up to check it out and they confirmed what I'd read. They said plasterboard going up 17% from 1st Jan so got my order in now.