Bitpipe

I figured as much so not too sore about it. Just figuring whether to get the render replaced like for like or go with timber cladding instead. Thanks - as the old saying goes, It's not the work that's expected, it's the work that's inspected.

Hmm, 1) not checking that the requested warranty for the render system was actioned which may have prevented the failure (due to a, now withdrawn, carrier board) and/or would have given us more leverage with the render manufacturer to remedy 2) not accepting the initial cash settlement from the render contractor and spending 6 months trying to get the latent defect warranty to cover it during which time the contractor ceased trading (and generally not being more on the ball to get it sorted from day one). 3) ordering a £5k front door without double checking the ratio of door and glass and not getting what we though we had ordered. Was able to live with that one though as at least the frame was the correct size! 4) not supervising the last of the basement backfill - crew obviously reverted to using poorly compacted spoil not stone (as specced and paid for) and that area has now settled making the patio decidedly wonky. 5) not checking where the fixings for the bathroom vanity sinks were (clue, the cupboard, not the sink) and smugly ensuring that there were noggins in place that turned out to be 100mm too high. However as complete amateurs we got way more right than we got wrong and prevented many other mistakes along the way, some at the very last minute!

We have wet low temp ufh on ground floor and it's rarely on, even in winter. Put 150w electric UFH under tiles in upstairs bathrooms and it comes on daily for a few hours to warm the tiles. Fairly inexpensive if you get the mats off eBay - we used Warmstar and bought fancier wall controllers than the basic ones supplied. Also have wet towel rads, turn those off outside of winter, MVHR dries everything out quite quickly anyway.

They are heavy, we specced blue board for the ceiling of the basement, ground floor and a few wall areas. The tackers made light work of it but I moved a few myself and there was a big difference. Whether they made much impact on sound transference is hard to say, I suppose they did not make it any worse!

Drink driving and seatbelt laws were same initially, as is/was speeding. Enforcement and consequences induce compliance. Attitudes change, I know you had a strong opposition to mask wearing but most people I know were more than happy with it. But all the Covid restrictions you disliked were written into law so I'm not sure what your point is. I think Brexit has killed the notion of another referendum for a generation, it's a poor way to resolve a complex issue. If we had a referendum on abolishing tax tomorrow it would probably succeed..

We generally don't directly elect administrators, bureaucrats or law enforcement in the UK - the exceptions here being metro mayors and police commissioners and there is considerable public apathy about those positions represented by low turnout. Our system, imperfect as it is, is to elect representatives to local, regional and national bodies, the majority in which administrates and appoints bureaucrats etc. The US has a more granular elective system for public bodies but it tends to over politicise appointments (personally I don't want to vote for a judge or health official, I just want someone competent in the role, hopefully independent of the administration). Similarly, we don't vote on issue by issue as such plebiscites are expensive, take time to legislate and organise and most importantly try to condense complex issues into yes/no options. Brexit is a good example. Again, US states like California (and Switzerland) have 'propositions' alongside state and national elections but they tend to be narrower focus. So bottom line is you vote for your representative (MP) and the biggest party gets to set the rules and enforce them. In our case they seemingly don't need to follow them but I digress.

Problem is when the govt wants to achieve an outcome and can't rely on individual preference to comply. See also drink driving, seatbelts, paying tax etc..

I don't disagree with a lot of what you say - here's the challenge as I see it. 'Big science' issues are usually extremely complicated, rely on different models and interpretation of data, expert knowledge and a lifetime in that field of study, funding, competing branches of science and mathematics etc. Lots of nuance and very little absolute certainty. Were the discussion focused on the expansion rate of the universe or the existence of some disputed subatomic particle then that debate could rage on within the confines of the relevant scientific community and Joe and Jane public would be blissfully unaware until some media friendly conclusion or discovery made it onto the 'panda' slot on the news. However when the debate does impinge on normal life, like Covid or Climate Change and 'something needs to be done' then governments need to deliver a simple, understandable and clear message and action to the public. Nuance and uncertainty don't work so statements are often made that may not have 100% certainty but to call them lies is probably a step too far. Bluntly, the vast majority of the population don't have enough education, experience or even inclination to look at the raw data and make their own conclusions, I mean even basic literacy and numeracy in the UK are shocking. Also, when the issue is solved with herculean effort (e.g. Y2K or even Covid so some degree) the reaction is 'what was the big deal'? It's like we need Ukranian levels of devastation for people to say 'Oh - that's bad, we shouldn't have let that happen'. I recently watched the comedy movie 'Don't Look Up' about the discovery of a comet set to impact earth and the superficial media and political engagement until the inevitable happens - while funny it reflected a lot of the issues described above. Also, I'll direct you to this - more comedy making a serious point.

Agree with your philosophy. While we can't say for certain, there is a lot of accumulating evidence that does not look good. This article is not climate related but is in relation to human activity. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/07/climate-crisis-amazon-rainforest-tipping-point

Timber frame, we specified a void where the blind box sits above the window to achieve a flush effect.

OK, my understanding of the real risk of climate change is not just it getting a bit warmer than usual each summer and learning to live with it, it's irreversible (on a human timescale) change to the environment. These changes are also known as tipping points. e.g. if the Gulf Stream current slows down due to an increase in fresh water from melting polar ice then UK will shift from a stable moderate climate to North America style summers and winters (we're on the same latitude). Our national infrastructure is not built to deal with that so it will be economically challenging and disruptive to adapt. If extreme weather events, such as storms and flooding, move from being once in 100 years to once a decade or more then that will be extremely disruptive. If ocean levels continue to rise due to warming seas and melting polar ice then costal regions globally will be challenged. Lots more examples out there but they're all connected to a steady rise in temperature and other human activity and each one has the potential to be very disruptive to our way of life. And history shows that when life becomes untenable in parts of the world, people move en-masse to where it is better. Calling it a 'brigade' is a cute way to discredit a global scientific consensus and I doubt the world would have convened for the latest COP (even though the output was somewhat disappointing) were it just some fringe notion. You may well not like the medicine being prescribed and you may well be right that other nations need to do more but just ignoring it

We have Roma blinds and are very happy with them. They came fitted to our Gaulhoffer windows which we sourced from @craig not sure how they sell directly to UK market.

We got a fire pit during lockdown, when you were only able to socialise in the garden, one of the double skin resin types - https://www.garden4less.co.uk/product/pl/58255 Does not seem to get very hot underneath as the fire platform is raised off the ground. Biggest issue was wood smoke which became a real pain so we switched to using the smokeless logs.

I have 3 smart TVs (ours and kids) on wired connections, kids xBox, both our laptop dock stations, 3 BT WiFi discs, BT Router (backhaul of ethernet up to the IP switch), two NAS drives, BT/EE broadband backup box, Ikea smart hub - so quite a few bits & pieces. Printer and Revo would have been on that list if within distance of a Cat6 socket. I figure the WiFi b/w is best used for truly mobile devices - that said with the BT disc system WiFi is much better than it was before.

Agree - make sure you know what way doors are opening also. Made that mistake in the utility room...

I don't think any infrastructure based energy independence are quickly, nuclear power stations have a long design, approval and build time and require eye watering amounts of capital. Coal and gas would not be far behind. Ironically, renewables such as wind and solar are relatively quick to deploy and connect to the grid. We have fairly recently built LPG terminals and more coming on line in the next few years - here is one by example https://avonmouth.flogas.co.uk Both Venezuela and Iran are being courted by the US now and Saudi is coming off the naughty step - Biden rumoured to be visiting soon after giving them the cold shoulder after the journalist execution in Turkey. The UK has only 3 coal fired plants left, all due to be decommissioned in the next few years. While I suppose these could have their useful life extended, it would be difficult to do while staying aligned with the climate commitments that UK is legally bound to, as would building new ones. At what cost though? The impact of 'bloody' climate change is globally acknowledged to be real and effects are staring to be felt worldwide. Once that genie is fully out of the bottle you can't put it back in.

I set a 20 min timer and go down to plant room and kill the hot water. Half the time they seem to be sitting on the bog on their phone with the shower running in the background...

Or one of my teenage kids. Suddenly baths are back in vogue - moot point as they have replaced the 45 min shower.

Here's my golden rule of sockets (which I managed to forget myself). Any wall that is bounded by a door or full size window etc should have a pair of 13A sockets and a Cat6 connection. Where you expect a higher concentration of equipment (such as TVs & consoles, or PCs and printers) double or triple up. Sods law states that just where you want to put something, the nearest socket is on the opposite wall - I have this problem with our office printer it can only go against the one wall that has no cat6 and the supplied wifi module is unreliable. Think also about using mobile appliances like vacuum cleaners etc and make sure you have enough hall sockets so you're not stretching the cable to it's max all the time. Sockets in hall cupboards are also useful for charging battery appliances like cleaners, or drills, garden tools etc. We recently upgraded to use the BT wifi discs and they work well (other access points are available) however they work best when connected to a wired cat6 and not trying to reach the router via WiFi themselves - these ones also need adjacent 13A power supply but there are PoE alternatives. I thought we had more than enough 13A sockets during the build but am still reliant on multi gang extension leads here and there to get what we need. Big fan also of switched 5a lamp sockets, especially with a switch by the door.

Ok, two separate issues here. 'Green' energy, aka low carbon or renewable is one thing, reducing our energy requirement is another. Both seem sensible goals to always be working towards and both get us closer to energy independence (not having to import energy and needing less overall). And nothing is 'short term' in the energy world, apart from maybe sourcing LPG or oil from a different country.

Nothing special required, mine was fitted by Pod Point but guy was just a contract electrician.

Surely the best way to reduce dependence on Russian (or other unfavourable regimes) oil and gas is to reduce the overall energy requirement, as well as invest in zero carbon alternatives? The majority of UK houses are still hopelessly energy inefficient. I realise that I'm lucky to be in a self built passive house and as such have relatively low energy requirements for heating etc but we must improve the fabric of the nation. I expect that one upside of the painful increase in utility prices will be more careful usage and thought on how to reduce domestic bills permanently.

Well, you first need to persuade the insurer (or broker) to accept a CC payment - they may refuse due to the associated card processing fees for such an expensive policy. Secondly you may only be covered if the policy never goes 'on risk' i.e. if the entity that you pay (likely the broker) is not able to fulfil their side of the contract. We have had a good experience in getting a card refund in the past when our balustrade firm went bust with a few items still to deliver. Once the card issuer (John Lewis via HSBC) was satisfied that they were not trading and we had an independent report of the outstanding work and cost to address, they were quick enough to pay out.

The substrate does need to meet a certain spec also - many here had to provide a suitable bed of, for example, washed railway ballast and quarry dust, the EPS can't just sit on the subsoil. Given the house above will be passive and have a very low space heating requirement, the whole slab acts as a single zone and does not need a fast response time like traditional UFH. Also gives option, if ASHP is used, to cool slab in summer.