TheMitchells

what about a vertical concrete lintel, 5 ft, against the wall and buried 2 ft into the ground with concrete around it, simialr to a fence post? https://www.diy.com/departments/expamet-concrete-lintel-l-1500mm-w-100mm/150794_BQ.prd

The soil level is probably about the same on both sides and I doubt the foundations are that good. Its on clay with the shrubs affecting one side so i doubt that helps. The chap who came to take a look has quoted nearly £3k to build two buttresses, digging out the foundations and tying it into the wall. Eek! 😬 Not something we plan to pay. not for something we intend to knock down in a few years time. So i am now thinking of getting someone in to dig out a couple of holes (where I planned to put the buttresses) and I shall build myself a diy buttress with some heavy concrete blocks just to help stop any more leaning. I can do basic bricklaying (block laying) and it may be enough for the time we need. I'm too old and knackered to dig the holes myself, especially in clay🙁 Hubby was thinking of digging a hole and bracing the wall with a sleeper we have but i dont think we could attach anything to it without the wall cracking further - so what would stop the sleeper sliding up and off the top? Unless it went in quite a way into the soil? We shall think of something.

Is it a regular occurance - moths caused by sheeps wool?? I had not heard of it before.

thank you. will give these suggestions a try. we are selling up hopefully so would like it to look nicer. But yes, definately need slippers!

I have a longish (20m?) wall alongside our garden. Its 50 years old, and we have noticed it is starting to lean - actually, it started a few years ago but it is noticably worse now. The soil is clay and there are some largish shrubs on the outside, mainly small stuff on the inside. so movement is likely and i am thinking of removing a couple of the larger trees/shrubs (self sown buddleja) As you can see from the photos the bottom half is full brick and the top is half brick (garage end) and cement holey blocks (gate end). The holey blocks end are not too bad, though there are cracks in alot of the mortar. But the brick top half is really bad and also full of cracks. This last photo above is on the outside fo the wall, where it has come away from the garage. its almost 2 inches at the top. It only needs to last another few years as i have planted a hornbeam hedge on the outer perimeter of the garden so once that has grown enough to forma screen, we can take the wall out. Also the blocky end is likely to go once we do the kitchen extension, again in a few years time. up to the yellow arrow. The photo below shows the outside of the garden before i replaced the box hedge with a hornbeam one. But it is only 2-3 ft high at the moment so will take a few more eyars to enclose the whole side garden. hope the photo's help give the idea. The shrubs have been kept a similar size but on clay, maybe we need remove them? I have asked for a quote from a local brickie to build 2 supports, in the worst parts, a third in from each end of the brick top. He suggsted 2 brick pillar, similar to this, i think. Would this be enough to support it? He said it would need at least 2 foot hole for foundation to avaoid any movement, which sounds reasonable.

wondering if this works or if you know anything else to use? I really need to put somehthing under the feet - any suggestions? In the front garden.

Udate - we called the installer out on Monday as we found there was a drip from one of the taps/joints at theback of the cupboard, as well as the pressure dropping. it must have been going on for a while as there was limescale on the insulation below. Seems the join between the filter and pipework was dripping slightly so he replaced the seal and it has now stopped dripping. Hoepfully the pressure will stay constant too. in regard to the water under the heat pump outside, after examining it for quite a while (in the cold) he spotted that when it goes into defrost mode, there is a drop of water coming from one point, along and around the unit, dropping down the front to where we can see it. he reckons by lifting one side of the unit fractionally, that drop will go where it is supposed to go, into the drain. So he will be coming back out with something appropriate on Wednesday (today) and fitting that.

I have two questions. 1. Since having the ashp installed at my parents, and once it was up and running okay, we have noticed the ground beneath the unit is usually wet with drops coming from the unit. should i be concerned and is this condensation, forming on the metal unit itself and dripping down? 2. The pressure guage was showing low yesterday, and for the last couple of weeks i noticed the top of the tall vertical radiator was cold. yesterday i bleed the air out of the radiator and it soon warmed up again. I hoped that would fix the low pressure but it did not, so today i opened the two black valves seen on the photo and the pressure went up to 1.5 which i gather is what it should be. Is it the air in the sysytem causing the pressure to drop? and is it normal for the pressure to drop occasionally? Ok - 3 questions! thanks in advance.

those prices look very good. it may be something i look at, if they stay good. Just watched the Youtube below. And certainly had not thought of the idea of just installing batteries. I always thought of them as purely as support to solar. But with the low cost of night time energy, i can see the benefit of installing batteries and using them to run the house while prices are high. And cheaper than solar currently.

ours only comes in 2 fanspeeds so not much to choose from. we keep then on low and only put one of the two fitted turned on, as they keep the room warm enough.

These have been added to parents kitchen as there was no room for a radiator. They certainly pump out the heat but they are quite noisy. however, as it works, i dont mind. And Dad's deaf anyway! 😄

strangely, i cannot easily find any good sites explaining why to use a continuous bead to prevent convection airflow, though I would/have done so myself. even On the Trowel chap said on one video i watched, that he would only do it on certain walls. Can anyone find a good page to explain? I've been trying to explain it to a friend who's retrofitting but i dont think he believes me. 😔

Mine is Grant. 10kW i think.

Good ideas. have been putting up with the cold from the kitchen cupboards for over 20 years and now we hope to move in a couple of months so I will not bother here. 😀 But i shall certainly look at do this at the next place if needed. The draught from the patio doors was worth doing as we still have 2 months of winter weather to put up with. Its only with the thermal camera that i realised how much of a draught there was. Typically, as soon as I stop the draught, the temperatures are going up! 😁

Success! after trimming the foam, there were hardly any draughts and the temp was much better. I still need to add sealant to the very fine gap alongside the vertical trim. But happy with result. 😁 And it was this cold! Our gorgeous Lab still enjoying her walks at aged 13 1/2!

i think thats the one the window installers used. they left me some when they'd finished. but i used it up on our renovation.

thanks, will get some of that for all future work. i used Polycell expanding foam polyfilla, as I didnt know any different. Did try to find something that didn't expand too much but there was not much choice locally. As usual, the description sounded like it would be ideal.

thats the one. small screen but otherwise, no complaints.

I love my current house but every winter we suffer from cold rooms and draughts. Most of it come from behind fitted units in the kitchen and other places where there is obviously penetrations. But the OH refuses to remove the cupboards so we can insulate (I agree it would be difficult so understand his reluctance). The heating is blown warm air and it is quick to warm up but also quick to lose heat. The build is timber, with some (not much) insulation, membrane then plasterboard on the inside, brick facade on the outside. I have watched the YouTube videos of Mindsparx, and it looks very similar to how he builds his place, but without the second layer of insulation. It was built by Americans for their Air force personal with good sized rooms, but I wish they had added the extra insulation and taped the joins.

For ages I have felt quite cold sitting next to our patio doors🥶, but I love sitting there to watch the birds outside. However, i finally really looked today and after feeling a cold breeze/draught in the corners, i got out the thermal camera and found in the actual corner, it was down to 1oC, its minus 5oC outside. So I pulled back the carpet and trim and found large gaps at the side. I watched the guys instal the doors in 2019 and saw them spraying in expanding foam around the frame itself so thought that should be okay. But it must have left some gaps. I have been out and bought some Polyfilla expanding foam and sprayed it into the gaps. I shall let you know how much of a change it is, after it dries and I get it all trimmed, ready for the carpet and trim. 😁If it works, i may have to look for more areas to fill - dont want to waste the majority of the can and I hate draughts!

If i recall correctly, the system has a 2 year warranty which shuld cover any problems I have. We have noticed water dripping from the inside of the unit most days, with fairly damp concrete below the unit. I have told them and someone is coming ouot sometime to check. the boss said its probably just condensation. there is a pipe which goes to the outside drain from inside.

Our records indicate that your Air Source Heat Pump is due to be serviced in December 2025. Yearly servicing of the heat pump is essential to meet the needs of the warranty and prevent breakdowns. Our maintenance contracts include the below: • Heat Pump annual inspection and service • Hot Water Tank annual inspection and service where applicable • Check System is operating within optimum conditions to maximise efficiency • Check electrical components are wiring • Clean Filters and Coils • Check and lubricate motors and bearings • Telephone support Monday – Friday 09:00 – 16:00 hours The charge of the yearly maintenance contract is £250.00 plus VAT It does seem rther a lot for inspection and a little cleaning of the filters and coils, and lubricating of bearings. As they took nearly 3 weeks to get the settings correct and provide adequate heating and hot water after installation, I just do not have confidence they will do anything correctly. Think I'll go elsewhere. There has to be others around. Thanks for the comments.

After finally getting the ashp system installed and working, I have been sent details of the companies servicing quote - £250 plus vat. Is this a normal cost? I have emailed several local firms asking if they do ashp servicing and how much, but only one replied to say they dont do them. Before I accept the installers price, I'd love to hear if its about right. After all the problems we had getitng the system working properly ( nearly 3 weeks of call outs and promises that it will work fine now - it didnt) - I dont really have much confidence in the company that installed it. I'd rather find anothe local company that could come and do it. cheers.

Just been listening to a podcast with the founder of One Zero Energy company, Howard Johns, who has ideas for making as many houses as possible more energy efficient, quickly without having to pay huge upfront costs. He reckons he can do ashp, battery, solar, cavity and loft insulation in 2 weeks for around £21k (less the BUS grant). But he wants to do lots more, including arranging better finance for those who dont have that money but still need the equipment. Listen hear or read the notes, https://www.houseplanninghelp.com/hph366-could-a-home-energy-transformation-pay-for-itself/ Sounds a very interesting chap with plenty of experience and a real committment to helping as many people as possible. wish I lived closer to him 🤔would certainly be interested in his ideas.