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Crofter

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Everything posted by Crofter

  1. Crofter
    How does a light-tube compare to a PV panel and LED bulb? OK it's not 'real' light but it would be interesting to work it out in terms of installation cost and heat loss. You need the LED bulb anyway, so that's no extra cost. What's the U-value of a light tube? (Sorry just realised this is probably of no relevance to the OP!)
  2. Crofter
    Just to clarify, is your access at the top of bottom of the slope? I'm building on a fairly steep (1:7) slope with access at the top, and chose to raise the house on piers rather than dig it back into the hill. The access would have become almost impossibly steep if the house was any lower.
  3. Crofter
    They offered me C25 or C35 (I got the latter). The nice thing about volumetric lorries is that you only pay for what goes in the hole- with a readymix lorry you pay for a fixed load, and unless you're bang-on with your measurements you'll need to over-order, then have somewhere to dump the excess.
  4. Crofter
    Leiths are pricey because they are based down in Torrin. You'll probably find it's cheaper to use Eyre Plant Hire's volumetric mixing lorry- my concrete cost about £120/cube from them eighteen months or so ago. They're based near Portree so significantly lower transport costs. They are almost impossible to get hold of- no website etc- but I think I have the mobile number for the driver somewhere.
  5. Crofter
    Large chunks of our rail network are run by the state- just not our own state.
  6. Crofter
    Ah b*llocks, Curry's eBay store sent me a refund because the hob was apparently damaged in storage. So it's back to square one!
  7. Crofter
    Inwould just go for black for any extra ducting, that way the worst that will happen is that someone who hits it with a digger assumes it's electric and tries not to break it. And it should allow you to run electricity down it later without worry. I was told to backfill using anything that wouldn't damage/crush the duct. In theory you can just grade the soil that came out of the trench (remove larger/sharp stones) but in practise it's easier to convince the service people if you buy in some sand or dust. A lot quicker too!
  8. Crofter
    That's a good tip. I know what you mean about things 'migrating'. For me it's jackets and fleeces. Usually pop one on for the short walk to the new house, then at some point whilst working I get too hot and dump it, and forget to pick it up again when I leave. I usually have at least four lying around the site at any one time. I've found it a lot harder to organise tools as the house gets closer to completion- dwangs make great shelfs, so once the insulation was in everything ended up sitting on the floor. Fortunately a neighbour gave me their old sideboard as a house warming present and that's swallowed all my tools comfortably. Just need child locks on it now to keep wee sticky fingers out of there!
  9. Crofter
    Oh one more thing... to ply or not to ply? Plenty of references out there saying I should put 12mm marine ply down prior to bedding the tray. But are they talking about floorboards, which are prone to movement, whereas I have glued/screwed P5 chipboard which isn't going anywhere. I'm only putting vinyl down, not tiles, so don't really fancy raising the tray any higher than necessary. Plus marine ply doesn't grow on trees you know.
  10. Crofter
    Interesting to hear what difference the joist spacing can make to the floor deflection. I've got 300x63 JJI joists, 4.8m span, at 600 centres. I wonder if it would have been worth the extra couple of hundred quid to switch to 400. Oh well, a bit late now... I didn't want a tiled floor anyway...
  11. Crofter
    Possibly, because I can just nip into Toolstation/Screwfix and pick up a radiator, then get an eBay element to go in it, and it should work out cheaper that way. A radiator off eBay is unlikely to get delivered to me without a lot of hassle (e.g. the link you posted won't deliver here).
  12. Crofter
    Yes actually mine did too, I just needed to man up and give it a bit more persuasion. I think the rule is that everything fits compression, push-fit doesn't fit solvent and vice versa. I think. I'm sure the Welshman will correct me on this!
  13. Crofter
    Well not trying to do this on the cheap, just thought several tubes of CT1 might not be the most cost effective solution! Would you recommend a powdered adhesive rather than a ready-made tub? Trap and waste pipe is all in place now, with a wee bit of wiggle room. Had umpteen test fits and getting a bit fed up of lifting and lowering that bl**dy tray onto my fingers Stopped up the pipe downstream and did a test fill, no leaks, so I think I'm good to go.
  14. Crofter
    Progress is happening! Waste is now all connected up, ready to bed down the tray. Instructions said to use a weak mortar mix, even on a chipboard floor, however I'm inclined to stick the tray down with something a bit stickier and with some flex in it. My suspended floor has a tin bit of bounce and I think mortar would just crack. A mate told me he stuck his trays down using expanding foam, not convinced that's what it's for, or maybe I misunderstood him! It's a big tray- 1500x760- so I don't think I'll be using CT1 for this, it needs to be something a wee bitty cheaper. On a different note- I'll need the towel rail soon. Anybody got any scare stories of poor quality stuff out there (paint flaking off etc)? I've seen electric elements that fit inside a conventional wet radiator, other than maybe opening up a wee bit more choice, it sounds like a bit of a faff, I guess I'm better getting a ready-made and pre-filled unit?
  15. Crofter
    @MAB just wondering how you got on with this? I'm about to install my tray and the instructions say to use a weak mortar mix for bedding it down. However given the potential for movement (suspended floor with a 16ft span, so there is a little bit of bounce) I'm inclined to go for something more flexible- and preferably something 'stickier'.
  16. Crofter
    That's interesting to note. I am considering doing this too, as I have a relatively large warm roof space which will be uninhabited but is within the insulated envelope, and is below the vapour barrier. I think that without an extract. Warm moist air will build up at the apex, and condense on any cold spots that are to be found. With my house being so small, I am actually finding that I want to put in more extracts than supplies. More research required...
  17. Crofter
    I might not be understanding correctly, but why not just remove all the stones? The only useful thing I can see them doing is providing drainage, and if that's strictly necessary then you have a bit of a problem, IMHO. I would get rid of all that shingly stuff and lay a new layer of crushed stone with fines (type 1) that will pack down hard. Then that gives you space for insulation on top. In fact you could make the whole 200mm insulation and that would be no bad thing, providing it was suitably, uniformly, supported underneath.
  18. Crofter
    It was a car radiator fan that Damian Hart Davies used on his DIY blower kit, he documented it in a blog somewhere- anyone have a link?
  19. Crofter
    I assumed that the OP must be referring to slamming exterior doors, as these are the ones with a tight seal. Internal doors have a decent gap at the bottom after all.
  20. Crofter
    Just to update, bagged a Bosch induction hob for £215 inc delivery off the Curry's eBay store. Nice! Just got the fridge to go now. I'm looking for a small undercounter integrated fridge with ice box, which is a fairly unusual requirement (fine for my wee holiday let, but not really enough fridge space for most people's needs). I may finally have to go brand new on this one to get what I need. Also I'm quite fussy about how much noise it produces.
  21. Crofter
    Your first option is essentially the same as my wall buildup, by the way, although as I had non foil faced boards I added an additional vapour/airtightness layer. All I can say is that, so far, it seems quite warm and hasn't fallen down...
  22. Crofter
    I swear there must be some secret rule that if you know the difference between a pozi and a philips, you're not allowed to become a 'proper' tradesman.
  23. Crofter
    Welcome to the forum! Have you looked up the local authority's housing plan? That can give some good guidance on what they will and will not allow. The fallback method for obtaining planning on agricultural land is to go down the agricultural tie route. But this is far from easy, is not quick, not guaranteed, and has significant downsides,
  24. Crofter
    There has been some recent discussion on this (would post link but iPad won't let me...) You'll be charged once you move in, whether the build is complete or not. And indeed you might be asked to pay once the council think the house is in any way habitable. So options for avoiding include to leave the water or power disconnected.
  25. Crofter
    You do know those bathrooms are for display purposes only, don't you...
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