TheMitchells

This from the Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/26/every-new-home-should-have-air-conditioning-say-liberal-democrats All new UK homes should be built with air conditioning to cope with the effects of the climate crisis, according to the Liberal Democrats. The party says British homes are dangerously unsuited to rising temperatures, meaning passive cooling measures such as planting more trees in residential areas are necessary. The Lib Dems also want air conditioning to be mandatory in essential public buildings such as schools and health facilities. The problem of overwarm homes has been highlighted by a UK Health Protection Agency yellow alert for high temperatures to run from Tuesday morning until Friday morning for the south-east, south-west and east of England, the Midlands, and Yorkshire and the Humber. Temperatures in London are forecast to reach 32C (90F) on Wednesday, before cooling. Some other parts of the UK will be wet with notably lower temperatures. As well as being hot, much of the summer has been exceptionally dry. In July so far, there has been just 5% of the average rainfall across England, falling to 1% in the south, bringing droughts and severe risk of wildfires. The Lib Dems’ “climate ready” programme would make it a legal requirement for new homes to have either air conditioning or another cooling system. They say this is especially important for older people or those in poor health. The number of UK homes with air conditioning has doubled in the past three years amid rising temperatures, according to industry estimates. However, this still comes to only about 4m of the estimated 30m-plus homes in the country. According to polling commissioned by the Lib Dems, 28% of people said they had bought a fan or an air conditioning unit during the recent heatwaves, with 26% of respondents saying the conditions had left them feeling unwell or faint. Tim Farron, the party’s environment spokesperson, said: “This latest set of relentless heatwaves has taught us that Britain is woefully unprepared for extreme heat, and families across Britain are paying for the cost of inaction. “With another heatwave on the horizon, the government must step in with a new plan that takes the onus off already-struggling Brits and commits developers to build homes fit for the future – insulated properly and equipped with air conditioning.” Gideon Amos, the party’s housing spokesperson, said: “Air conditioning is becoming essential in UK homes, which are now among the smallest and hottest in Europe after previous Conservatives governments swept away minimum space standards. “Andy Burnham must see sense and enable the country to adapt fast – looking at how we build well for the future so that we give our society the security needed during these devastating heatwaves.” The heatwaves of May and June, during which there were an unprecedented three successive days of red warnings for extreme heat, killed about 2,700 people, with a peak fatality rate of about 440 people a day, according to an analysis led by Imperial College London. The statistics illustrate the increased risk from extreme heat exacerbated by human-created global heating. More than 40% of the people affected would not have died without the 1.4C of human-caused heating to date, according to the analysis.

I believe that is exactly what he is. Still something to find out. But yes, we are thinking that the majority of the prep work is stuff we could do so maybe i need to speak to the supplier again. Or just do a deal with the neighbour! 😁

As many folk, we are looking to install air conditioning in our bedroom, following the recent heat waves. Temperatures of 28-30oC in the bedroom are not pleasant! The quote has come in as nearly £2k for a Mitsubishi Electric 2.5kw wall mounted spilt system, with the indoor unit centrally over the bed (trunking will be required to get the pipework to the outside wall, after exiting the external wall the pipework would travel down the wall in black trunking to the condenser mounted on a cantilever bracket on the wall below the window) The install is as simple as it can be, with electric already there and an easy drop to the wall below. I am seeing the Mitsubishi unit for sale for less than£800 so that's over a grand labour for the install, which seems rather a lot. With a neighbour who is trained for heat pumps, and the refrigerant, who could do that side, is this something we could do ourselves as competent diy'ers? If it had been around the £1.5k I think I'd have said yes straight away. But now I think we are being overcharged due to the heat and demand for these units. Maybe if we wait till winter to get it installed, it will be less. Any thoughts?

Pictures of some of the sealant. The worst areas are on the roof, but as it was 35oC today, I was not going to get the ladder out and climb up to get the photo's😄 I'm quite embarrassed to show these as it shows obvious cracks which we should have sorted before now.🤔

Will do.

No, the damp is within the walls, its not damp inside the interior. That's why we didn't realise that it was so bad. Its fine inside. So we will need to remove the interior wall and see whats happening behind. But we plan to enjoy it for the summer then when we aren't likely to want to use it for a while, we'll take a look. But i agree, the number one priority is to stop the water getting in.. Unfortunely there are lots of seams! and all will need to be re-sealed as we dont know exactly which bits are letting the water in. as it is 17 yrs old, I am assuming it all needs doing anyway. I'm going to be busy😄

Thanks, its certainly worth a look. Some areas are showing 30% dampness which is pretty bad. They normally say up to 15% is a level for concern. We'll be taking an area out undr a seat to give ourselves a better idea what is actually happening.

we are thinking of having alook at an area under the bench seat to see what is actually happening in the wall and if its something we can sort out ourselves. But I can certainly start removing and resealing areas before that - it will just have to wait till its a little cooler!

Its definitely damp. We had seen a little bobbling in the 'wallpaper' of the lounge area, and had noticed it was spreading a bit. But then, after seeing a very nice new MH at a dealership, the salesman offered to take a look at ours to give us a part exchnage price. we agreed, just to give ourselves an idea of the value of our van, as we are not planning to change it anytime soon. We were horrified when he pointed out several areas of softness/sponginess in the walls and said it was damp within the structure. When we got home, we borrowed a damp meter and confirmed his findings. But when the experts at our local repair shop took a good look, it was actually worse than we thought. And to get to the damp within the walls, they do have to remove all the units. We assume they would need to remove the actual internal wall and replace with new insulation and wall. Such a shame 😩. Sandwich bonding is the current construction technique used by most caravan manufacturers and coachbuilt motorhome converters in an effort to reduce weight and cost. This doubles as insulation, the ‘filling’ being either expanded polystyrene (white) or Styrofoam (blue) insulation. The amount of insulation varies, with 22-25mm thickness on average, usually more in the ‘winterised’ vehicles and in the floor area. The exterior joints of most of the wall panels are sealed with sealant and its clear most of it has degraded, dried out and cracked, letting in rain. I had said for a while that we ought to renew the sealant but hubby didnt think it needed doing. He's regreting that now, though it obviously had damp already in the walls when we bought it. We've had it 6years and its been great. I feel quite sad for the 'old lady'.

I'll give these a try. I do recall WD40 being good for sealant removal. 😊 I guess it may be a case of trial and error and a steady hand with a sharp chisel.

Not building related, but i am hoping for advice from the forum on how to remove sealant on motorhome joints. We have just discovered that our 17 year old motorhome has quite bad damp, within the walls, that really needs sorting. However, this involves removing all internal units, cutting away the interior walls, removing the damp insulation inside the walls, and then replacing everything! We have been told it will cost over £10k as it will take 4 weeks. About 60% of that is labour. Our motorhome is only worth about £15k yet it is perfect for us and we did not want to replace it for another few years. Internally, there appears to be no mould within the living quarters. it all seems to be within the walls, and so far, we have never smelt or seen mould. Financially, it is just not worth us having the work done. It is highly likely that water has entered via the external sealant, now 17 years old. It is all very dry and cracked. So our thoughts are to just remove and reseal the external joints with Sikaflex 522 ourselves. And keep it going till we can afford to replace it in a few years or until the damp starts to show in the living area. Any advice on the best way of removing as much old sealant as i can before I reseal with new? I've done quite a bit of sealant applications in the past but not sure about how best to remove the old stuff. Thanks.

Got to tell you this - at my friends last week, the boss had left a young chap to fit the T&G osb boards, over new ground floor joists. We heard a yell and looked though to see a jet of water shooting straight up to the ceiling!! He had not taken complete note of where the water pipes went. I doubt he'll make that mistake again...... 😆

So what is the best way to fix the posts - get 10ft posts and concrete them into the ground (its clay) or use some sort of metal thing?

116,000miles and going strong! I love it.

Good point! We have pigeons trying to nest in our wisteria covered pergola at home! I'll train it along the side only. 🤔

When I park on the driveway of the parents bungalow in the summer, the car is in direct sun and soon becomes like an oven. In addition, there is a prevailing wind from the road to the right. So I have been thinking of adding a pergola type thing alongside the drive, with slats to give shade and some wind reduction. The small window will eventually become the front door when we extend the shower extension further back to create a larger kitchen. So I need to make sure the structure is in line nearer the shower room window. (blue line) I am thinking of putting in 3 posts, maybe 6x6inch posts, with cross pieces over the car (about 1m) counter balanced at the other side and with a brace. then add slats horizontally down the far side and on the top. Its very hard to describe whats in my head! Here are some pics of similar things. Similar to this. or this. Please dont laugh at my drawings.☺️ The driveway will be north of the structure so should provide a good amount of shade while not obstructing the car doors and i can plant something nice underneath. I even have a wisteria that I layered a couple of years ago that is desparate for a pergola to climb over. Does this sound like a reasonable plan?? Any other suggestions?

Good luck with the move!

Thanks for the figures/costs. really helps those of us who are still planning/thinking about building our own house. One day.....

I'd be interested in reading that - though I would need you to keep it simple!

I thought the programme was pretty good in showing what could be done, as the vast majority of the public really have no idea. So in that sense, i think it did a great job. It was a shame that the church renovation cost was mentioned as over a million pounds! That will put anyone off renovating to such a standard. I know they did say it was unusually high but thats a number that people will remember. And they did not give an accurate figure for the Manchester house. I love Guy Martins enthusiasm and his explanations/experiments were great. But as said before, it will take a long time for builders to even think about changing their methods, never mind training for it. A friend has recently had to have her lounge floor joists replaced as there was no airbrick and the beams had rotted, with her floor dropping away from the skirting. As they fitted OSB to the beams, I mentioned to make sure the builder used airtight tape to seal the edges, to stop draughts before the new laminate was fitted but she was told it wasnt necessary/appropriate. I think it was a missed opportunity but then why should an experienced builder listen to a friend of the client - and a woman at that!

Looking forward to hearing all about the build! Though I did have to look up what Barcelona Pavilion and Brutalism would look like....😄

Oh and an update re the house move to the place next door to Mum and Dad's - it all went pear shaped in March, after months of delays from the place at the top. our buyers pulled out and found another property. we tried to find a new buyer but after a few weeks, we decided to stay where we are and continue as now. Mum and Dad were upset as they really wanted us closer, but both the OH and I are rather glad that we are staying in our current house, which we love. Its only 15 mins drive to the parents so i'm managing. 🙂

quick update - purging air first thing every morning by opening windows for half an hour or so. Also have bought a Puremate dehumidifier which is removing around 1-2 pints of water each day from the main room. I'm sure the purge will be shorter as it gets colder but at least they are doing it. The Heat pump seems to be working well as the hosue is always warm with plenty of hot water. Now I just need to arrange a service, to maintain the warranty. Unfortunately, there are very few companies doing ASHP servicing. The only one i can find is the installing company. Lets hope more start doing servicing soon, it may bring down the cost. I shall be watching to see what they actually for for the £250 they are quoting.

Thought I'd remind everyone of the shop and post some pictures of the stuff currently in the shop. Always worth a visit, if in the area, as there are tonnes of useful stuff. We have electrical, plumbing, decorating, as well as diy - nails and screws galore. Locks/handles/so much odds and ends. On Sheep St, Bicester, Tues to Sat 10-4pm. I'm there Tuesday mornings 🙂

looks a really interesting build - cant wait to hear more about it. Please do a blog for the process, if able (and if you have time).😄