tuftythesquirrel

The answer is 2m then. He has to certify. The only paperwork I believe I will get is the gas safety record, which relates to the boiler and flue installation rather than the pipework. The pipework manufactures documents say a minimum of 1 meter. That’s why I wanted to see it written in a regulation somehow, rather than someone’s opinion. Unfortunately, on that quote he proposed a 40kW boiler and I’ve fitted an 11kW, since the house heat loss is only 4kW, hence I wasn’t completely convinced by his competency. Connection to boiler yes copper, I would do all the main connections on the cylinder in copper also. In an ideal world I would but you haven’t seen my pipe run😁, so I will probably stay with plastic. Are you doing proper Viessmann install. With priority demand hot water and weather compensation? So without mixers or additional pumps? Yes, PDHW and WC, but not a standard install. It’s a 100-W system boiler and I’m using the Viessmann Plusbus EM-EA1 interface to control the burner and implement the WC using an Idratek automation system via a 0-10V signal. When I bought the manifolds and they came with mixers and pumps and I wasn’t convinced I didn’t need them. However, now I’ve accumulated a bit more knowledge and experience, I suspect they might be removed in the future. If you haven't bought your cylinder, get a heat pump one, with a 3m² coil. Your flow temp will drop and your recovery really quick. Yes, good point, I have. Thanks.

Hello. I am having a new gas boiler installed in our self build and I am carrying out as much pre-work as I can before the gas safe engineer turns up. The house is all UFH, which is obviously plastic pipe in the screed, as are the supply/return pipes to the 4 manifolds. The boiler is downstairs, with the plant room upstairs. I've run a flow and return in plastic from the hot water cylinders in the plant room down to the boiler. My question is do the connections to the boiler need to be in copper and if so, how long do they have to be before I can change back to plastic. I can’t see anything in the (Wales) building regulations and the Viessmann boiler installation manual has nothing. I have had a quote from a plumber that says he wanted to run 2 metres of copper from the boiler however, I read on the John Guest (Speedfit) site that they recommend 1 metre. Could anyone point me in the direction to where this regulation (if there is one) is written down? Thanks.

I sent them an email telling the the issue. The MD called me back so that was a plus. I ended up talking to a tech support guy. I explained I'd left the red wine on the floor for hours and it left a mark. He said that it was a sealer not a sealant, which is a different product. Their opinion was the wine was removed within an hour or so, it wouldn't have marked. So I might do a back to back comparison with this and diluted SBR to see what they look like on the floor.

Hi, yes they do talk a good job and seem to dominate this field with their advertising. I'll give it a go. Thanks.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, screed down over 12 months ago, so good to go. We are living a another part of the house and now moving in to the screeded area. I was thinking of diluted SBR only because it's not supposed to re-emulsify when it gets wet. I was just concerned it might change the colour. Our edges seem pretty good so far but yes we were going to put a strip of 18mm ply to hide the perimeter strip. Need to try a few test areas at different strengths. Cheers.

Good Evening, Can anyone suggest a good concrete sealer. We have a cement screed floor (Cemfloor) that has a good surface, so that is going to be our finished floor, it just needs a clear sealer. I've used a product called SmartSeal on a trial area, but it didn't perform as expected. I tried a small drop of red wine and it made a stain. Has anyone experience of a good product to use? Thanks.

Sorry for the sarcasm but haven't you forgotten the direct links to NASA and GCHQ? Good luck with that if you have an expensive architectural block wall and need to run surface mounted conduit of some form (20mm metal conduit). So you'll need maybe 5 runs just for the signal cables and a couple more for power. Could you tell my why all these are needed?

Apart from making sense, if you don't, you wont have adequate fire resistance, if you haven't followed the M.I.'s. If the BCO comes round as you are doing it he could reject it as not fit for purpose. Our space joist installation data says.... Plasterboard Notes:..... 4. Perimeter and intermediate noggins are required to support the boards at their edges. Perimeter noggins are required for all board thicknesses and joist centres, whereas intermediate noggins are only required for the thinner boards at larger centres. See fire resistance tables

We had an Internorm quote and they gave us 25% discount of the price. Our next door neighbour got 43%!! Never found out why. Ended up going with Idealcombi PH rated at about £400/m2 bought mid 2020.

Good morning all, Could anyone recommend a really durable external wood paint? I’m using the following system at the moment: Gori 11 Wood Preservative Gori 99 Extreme Opaque Wood Finish It’s water based, so dries really quickly. I’ve used it before and it seems to offer good long term protection, however I have the following issues: It seems to really emphasise the wood grain effect. Where we have plain doors (no wood grain), I was trying to tone down the wood grain in the bespoke door frames we have had made, to get a better match. However, it seems to have really sunk into to grain. Last week I painted the door to our bat roost. The door was made last year and has always been kept inside. This week the paint still seems tacky i.e. if you leave anything on it, when you remove it, there is a slight “stiction” before you can move the item. The paint still seems slightly soft. Could anyone recommend a good long term painting solution. Many thanks.

Wise words, if only I had known...

Great suggestion, I'll do the same when my KOMFORT EC SB550 breaks down 😁

Yes and the slab is never perfectly flat, so there is more opportunity to correct any undulations going over it twice.

What they said above. When I used to phone a merchant and order Celotex, they just hear, that white stuff over in the corner of the yard and delivered Recticel regardless. The thermal conductivity for all the products is very similar in any case. The most important factor is how it is installed – what can be detrimental to the performance is gaps. I did multiple layers of it (because no one stocks it 250mm thick). I filled all joining surfaces with an airtight sealing foam as you would use mortar on blocks and also sealed the top of the joints with foil tape. A bit over the top maybe, but there ain’t no gaps. The biggest saving by far I found was to buy seconds locally. A chap delivered us 2 trailer loads, he said he gets it from the Kingspan factory. It was probably less than half price.😁

Lime & Cement I had a builder friend renovate part of our 450 year old house. He said he would use a lime & cement mix for the internal render, since he had been doing it "all his life". It failed and cracked in the time honoured tradition, so that you could see every one of the stone mortar joints under the render. When I susequently went on a lime building course at Ty Mawr Lime, Brecon, I relayed my experience. They said the mix was totally inappropriate and bound to fail. They also advised that the modulus of elasticity of the lime mix is some 400 times more flexible than good old cement. We removed it and re-rendered it with lime and it was perfect. Unfortunately, it seemed to me he had been doing it "all his life" wrong!

I've used these and the Everbuild Aquaseal is a much better (different) product, much more durable. TDS says "no rising moisture?

I was only looking for a waterproof, easily applied, durable covering. I've got an in built aversion to anything two pack. That is, manufacturers instructions say 30 minutes gel time and you're 15 minutes in and it's started to gel and your brush is stuck to the roof, mould or anything else you are using it on. This product is is way more flexible than polyester resin, even with multiple layers of fibre in it and you've much, much longer to get it on the substrate, literally hours. I've coated a piece of internal floorboard and left it outside 18 months ago (in the sun and rain etc.) and it still looks like I just put it on.

I wouldn't want to do any fibre glassing on the roof. I wonder why someone hasn't come up with a resin that uses moisture to set, like PU glue. I can recommend the Everbuild Aquaseal. I used it because it was a single coat application. I looked others, but priming and top coating would extend the job time. I put on a double coat of fibre glass, the second at 90 degrees to the first, then two more coats. It UV resistant out of the can, whereas other products need a top coat. I used it on a pitch change on our Kingspan Quad-Core metal roof. The professional roofer had attempted a fiberglass joint which blew off in the wind, it was worse than useless. I would definitely use this on a flat roof if it had to. Everbuild technical support were very helpful. https://www.sealantsandtoolsdirect.co.uk/everbuild-aquaseal-liquid-roof-membrane-coating-21kg-grey-aqliqrfgy21?language=en-gb&currency=GBP&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw48-vBhBbEiwAzqrZVIIoeVRo2Uq_AorAxtICel9dYxZNqqNpzFaSn7J-g7lzr8sZM2PNrRoCrEcQAvD_BwE

Could you tell me how thick was the XPS as it will affect the budget if I go thicker. Thanks.

@joth Out of interest what were the "tricks" he wanted to use. I had our BCO tell me I could I could tape up the windows and doors - but I don't think I want to, since it sort of defeats the point of buying the triple glazed windows etc. and we won't be living like that. I wasn't clear where all the "rules" were written down 😏

Hi @Big Jimbo, I've had a response from the BCO, who seems to have changed his story, in that he now agrees with me that the BS 7671 EIC form can't be used. He is now saying that the building control (or council) maintenance team can be used to do this. There is a special Development Category (D71) for "electrical work - carried out by others" for which there is a fixed charge of £650 (inc. VAT). He said there are inspections at the first and second fix stages, which I'm going to try to change and ask them to review my electrical schematics before I start the install, rather than them pick things up after they have been installed. I've also asked him what type of documentation they produce, since the Part P approved document says that neither the BS 7671 EIC and EICR are suitable. I'll see what happens.

Thanks @Big Jimbo I think that helps me - well keeps my moral up at least. I think I will propose that to my BCO and use your reasoning. I hadn't realised there might be instances where you couldn't get an EIC due to the circumstances you mention. The building regulations sort of steer you away from what is now called an EICR (below), but I think it is the only sensible alternative and I have no hidden cables at the moment. 1.29 A third party could only sign a BS 7671:2001 Periodic Inspection Report or similar. The Report would indicate that electrical safety tests had been carried out on the installation which met BS 7671:2001 criteria, but it could not verify that the installation complied fully with BS 7671:2001 requirements – for example with regard to routing of hidden cables

Sorry but as I said in the thread, I am not a craftsman/tradesman. I was responsible for the design of systems in terms of the hardware and software (of the automation) but the installation and testing was another individuals responsibility. So I don't have any form of "card".

Hello, I am in Wales and am attempting to find out from my Building Control officer what paperwork I need to satisfy him regarding the electrical work. He has said I need a BS 7671 EIC (Electrical Installation Certificate). I’ve been an electrical engineer for decades so I want to carry out the electrical work myself. However, even though I have a degree in electrical engineering and worked in the automation industry for that period, I do not have an 18th Edition Wiring Regulations (BS7671:2022) qualification. My electrician says he can’t provide an EIC, since he won’t be carrying out the work himself. BS 7671 says “the person signing the EIC is responsible for the "Design, Construction. Inspection and Testing". That’s seems quite reasonable. The current approved document P, as I understand it, seems to cater for installers who are not qualified e.g. contractors or DIYers (See 1.24 below). It then specifically says not to use the BS 7671 EIC for the certification (See 1.27 and 1.28 below). It doesn’t say what you need to provide and hands it over to BC, who in my case ask for a document (EIC) that shouldn’t be used! c. Where installers are not qualified to complete BS 7671 completion certificates 1.24 Where such installers (who may be contractors or DIYers) carry out notifiable electrical work, the building control body must be notified before the work starts. Where the work is necessary because of an emergency the building control body should be notified as soon as possible. The building control body then becomes responsible for making sure that the work is safe and complies with all relevant requirements in the Building Regulations. Certification of notifiable work.... c. Where installers are not qualified to complete BS 7671 completion certificates.... 1.27 A building control body will not issue a BS 7671 installation certificate (as these can be issued only by those carrying out the work), but only a Building Regulations completion certificate (the local authority) or a final certificate (an approved inspector). Third party certification 1.28 Unregistered installers should not themselves arrange for a third party to carry out final inspection and testing. The third party – not having supervised the work from the outset – would not be in a position to verify that the installation work complied fully with BS 7671:2001 requirements. An electrical installation certificate can be issued only by the installer responsible for the installation work. So my question is does anyone else have experience of what I need to do (in Wales would be nice), since what my BCO is asking for doesn’t seem correct. Thanks.