Crofter

You could always raise the bed up by the depth of the skirting... if you didn't want to make any permanent alterations to the legs.

Doesn't the further away bed leg also clash with the skirting? If not, either the bed or the room is out of square...

Hard water is pretty rare in these parts. The cylinders I have seen secondhand are all direct only, mostly sold by people upgrading their heating system, so pretty genuine reason for sale. Of course in a few years time it might be me who is upgrading... but that's another story.

Last time I checked, I could get electricity from Bulb, amongst others, at a flat rate 24/7 cheaper than the "cheap rate from SSE. THTC has no advantages with pricing like that. You have normal priced electricity available on one meter, and super expensive (22p I think) from the other. Everything except space and water heating is supposed to be run from the expensive meter, so the bills fairly rack up.

@newhome no, the changing of supplier is yet another part of my to-do list that I have never got to. My plan is/was to stay with SSE but switch to E7, then shop around for a new supplier. I can't remember if I ever worked out what happens with the physical wiring in the house, with the second CU running the cheap rate stuff.

We're now getting stuck in to renovating our house, working on a very tight budget. Planning to fit a direct UVC (we are all electric, no boiler). I've previously had a cylinder from Telford, good piece of kit, and that would be my go-to option. But it's a fair chunk of the budget at nearly £500 for the sort of size I think I need (two bedrooms, one bathroom, so I',thinking 200-250l). You do occasionally see cylinders come up secondhand, at a pretty hefty discount. Is there anything I should consider when looking at one? Or too much of a potential headache?

Welcome aboard. What plans have you got for the place?

Welcome aboard. Are you going for a turnkey design and install package, or DIY, or somewhere inbetween? Lots of experience of MVHR here on the forum... ask away!

Sample doors from DIY arrived today- quite impressed with them, very thick and chunky, and even the foil ones feel a million times better than the cheap rubbish we have at the moment. It really does go to show how important it is to see things in the flesh. We've both agreed that shaker probably isn't the way to go after all.

Thanks for that. We had a second quote from Howdens which dropped the price by about 15%, still a lot higher than IKEA. Have also ordered some sample doors from DIY Kitchens. There are seemingly hundreds of other options out there, it's a bit bewildering, I'm seeing cupboard doors in my sleep now...

I'm looking for a pair of approx 300w panels, I'd prefer half cut but will take whatever is available easily. I know the likes of Bimble Solar can supply them at around £100 a panel, but they are right down on the south coast and I could end up spending more on delivery than on the panels themselves.

Will there be anything to stop a homeowner doing this themselves, or will it fall within the existing 'competent person' rule?

Presumably these can be powered from a lighting circuit? Seems like the easiest way.

We've got a Draper one at work, 1800w, seems to do a good job with plenty of power and they only cost around £50. I just bought myself a little 1000w vac, some unranded rubbish off eBay for £30 but it's actually been very good so far. And I can run it from my little generator which is surprisingly useful, it beats the socks off my previous cordless Dyson...

For those who have done tape and fill, did you get an acceptable final finish just using paint?

It cost me about £1000 to add a small stove to my new build- admittedly that was on a DIY basis. Includes hearth, flue, cement board to replace PB where necessary, etc etc. Stove itself was £600.

Don't bother with blockwork. Use steel flue pipe. You can use single wall vitreous enamel pipe for the first section, but you'll need sufficient clearance to any combustible material. Then switch to twin wall insulated where it passed through the ceiling.

Well after a bit of digging around I was able to get everything I needed in Hep2O. £140 on something that I hadn't even budgeted for, hey ho. It's quite easy to say "oh we'll just move that" when your new kitchen layout means putting the sink on a different wall. Hadn't realised how knackered all the existing plumbing was. A right mixture of copper and unbranded push fit, some of which had been installed without inserts, so a history of slow leaks and a fair bit of damage to the flooring as a result. But the new setup will be much more rational with shorter legs, better falls on the drains, and- fingers crossed- no more leaks.

In the last house I went Hep2O throughout, very happy. This time around, I'm renovating a kitchen and need to shuffle a few things about. I can't get all the fittings I need in Hep20, some are out of stock. Would it be a disaster to use a JG fitting if necessary? OK so long as I use the matching inserts? And on the same topic... I'm on a tighter budget this time around... I see Screwfix are selling very cheap 'FloFit' plastic pipe, but they don't sell inserts to go with it. My understanding is that the inserts should match the pipe, rather than the fittings, as it's all about the inside diameter. Starting to think I may be over-thinking all this, worrying over nothing and maybe I can just use any old pipe, fittings, and inserts. But if anybody has a firsthand disaster story, then I won't.

By good luck we found a plasterer at the right time- they're like hens' teeth up here- and he had our little cottage done in five days, about £900. That was a plaster skim over plasterboard. I then painted the walls/ceiling myself which helped keep the budget in check and the finish was superb. Every other house I've had has been a taped and filled finish- it's pretty much the standard in Scotland. And those houses have all needed wallpaper on every surface, to hide the imperfections. Maybe a pro can get tape and fill good enough to paint over the top, but in my experience you always see the transition from filler to the plasterboard surface, no matter of sanding will make that go away.

I hadn't thought about the insurance aspect. I had assumed that it might not be an issue in practise until the time came to sell or rent out a property. For how long has it been mandatory on new builds?

Of the three stoves I have had, the C4 is my favourite. It just works. Glass stays clear unless you throttle back too much. I also have a Burley which is a much cleverer design, supposedly the most efficient stove you can buy- but far fussier in actual use. Probably something to do with the installation, but I do wonder if squeezing the last few percent out of the combustion process has some drawbacks. A bit like a modern diesel car...

I'm afraid I can't remember the exact tile- it was three or four years ago now- but I think pretty much any tile would do. We didn't have an 'inside' as the stove is free-standing, although I have tiled the inside of a fireplace in a previous house and that was fine.

IIRC with stoves that sit up on legs you can get away with as thin as 12mm for the hearth. Lots of options, but insisting on a single piece of anything without joins will make the price skyrocket. We were going to go with tempered glass, but it was a bit pricey. Then looked up slate from Topps Tiles, who steered us towards a slate-effect porcelain tile instead. Much cheaper, and they said it was less liable to staining from ash spills. We had to have a join in it but you don't really see that. For lining the inside of the fireplace it's hard to beat tile. Slim, easy to work with, cheap. And of course totally fireproof.

Thanks, IKEA looking good so far. SWMBO has decided that solid wood is the right look for the worktop, I have to agree but it kind of blows the budget. Somewhat cheaper solid oak worktops available from other suppliers but when you need the extra depth for an IKEA kitchen that narrows the choice greatly. On a different note- what's the general consensus on the best types of doors? My feeling is that vinyl wrap is the cheapest and nastiest, painted MDF probably much better, and then there are various other options like solid wood, veneer, melamine, etc. But I also suspect that there will be variation in quality between different suppliers.