Bitpipe

Support for wall hung items such as cupboards, sinks, mirrors, TVs, etc. Either timber noggins, or ply/osb cladding unless a very heavy duty plasterboard is being used. (updated , Ian)

I spent less than £200 on my DIY IBC system (not inc. pump), however had the advantage of a exterior basement wall to protect the IBCs. Even after screening (very fine mesh bag filter) and settling, the water is murky and does not smell fresh - i would not want to use it in a washing machine without further treatment. I also recall a thread on eBuild from @JSHarris that you have to be careful using for toilet flushing as bird poo washed off your roof contains micro-organisms that would not be removed by RWH system and could pose a health risk. Also, if being used for internal use, you need to be able to replenish it with potable water to ensure you can keep flushing your loos and also have a seperate plumbing system for that purpose It's good enough for the garden and that's all I plan to use it for - its really there to meet planning reqs (slightly exceeds the 200l requirement), help out with the water calculation for BR and reduce usage for watering lawn etc. This link shows that one hour of hosepipe use is 1000l so it could go quite quickly!

All our outside taps are MDPE off the main. I wouldn't be over reliant on RWH - if its for the garden, given you'll need it most when it's warm and dry so it wont be getting replenished. How big a tank are you planning?

The stopcock is fairly recent (last 10 years) so would it have a NRV built in? When we replaced the our side of the main, the old cast iron pipe ran straight into it. Anyway, just realised that the supply that we ran to the caravan (25mm MDPE) which is still live and has been coiled up (potential additional outside tap) could now be dug out and re-run to where we need the irrigation, saving trying to find the main again!

So there should be one in our plumbing arrangement as the main enters the house (will check with plumber) and sounds like I just need to replace all the old taps in the garden plus use one on the new irrigation system. Cheers!

Gave a few a call and they seem happy enough to do that.

What about muck away? I know I paid VAT on the 2-3 skips we had during the build. I now have 2-3 grab loaders worth of spoil to remove after grading the front of the house. Can I get the grab-loader firm to zero rate that to me as a new build?

When we built the house we ran new MPDE to the existing (fairly new) stopcock. There was an existing run of MPDE to garden taps so the contractor tee'd off the main to connect to these (must be about 10m of MPDE between the tee and the first tap. I don't believe he put in a non return valve when making these connections, there wasn't one there before from the old property, just a cast iron main to the boundary which teed off to house and garden. We're doing final landscaping at the front and need to plant some new hedging as a planning condition, together with irrigation system. Contractor will need to uncover the new MPDE run to the house and tee off that - does he need to add a check valve to that? If so, is it worth adding one for the other tee for the garden taps also?

I proved through measurement that we meet the whole house extraction rate and noted the fan settings to achieve that (plus the other compliance. When I have my final inspection, I'll set the fan speeds accordingly and show my inspector if necessary. Then I'll put them back to where they are today.

Thanks, I'm supplying all of the landscaping materials so that's good to know. Don't see a way of avoiding the plant hire though unless the contractor includes it in his fee and zero rates it to me.

Landscaping is going well and turf finally being laid. Contractor is on a labour only rate (VAT free) and I'm buying in materials as we need them. Paving around the house etc was explicitly included in the approved plans, as was a new wall at the front with planting within as a planning condition (so that's covered too). However I'm not sure about turf in the back garden. Anyone have experience of successfully claiming VAT back for that? If it's a no-no then I'll need to see if the contractor will supply it and zero rate it at his end.

I'm pretty sure that my 4.5m sliders are fixed at the sides only (using custom metal straps fitted to the outside of the frame and the inside wall. Need to see if I have any photos of that stage to be sure..

Just washed the cell in the bath - it's surprisingly robust and the water was running dirty for the first few mins so obviously needed a clean - it is recommended that it's done annually in the manual. Used a nylon washing up brush in warm soapy water to gently dislodge any stubborn dirt and gave it a blast with the hair dryer. Will take a closer look at all the filter seals now as there must be dust getting through. Also plan to clean the incoming steel duct - my thought is to get a sponge ball (kids football) of the right dimension, feed through a rope and pull it through. My vents are at ground level (as unit is in basement) so easy to access however more likely to ingest dust. Now that we're landscaped, I'm hoping that will diminish significantly.

Yes, we were 33% LTV on predicted finished value so maybe thats why they were relaxed. When we applied for the discount after getting the final EPC, they initially required BC sign off also but then changed their minds Genuinely lovely firm to deal with.

Yes, the only thing I would have done differently with Ecology is immediately draw down £20k or so to get the lock-in clock ticking. They really don't seem to mind how much you draw down and when. There are no inspections or criteria to meet, you just ask for the cash yourself (no need to involve solicitor). We were working through a cash buffer for the first stage of works and when that ran out drew down 50% of the loan for the next major piece. Our thinking was that we were minimising our interest repayments but meant we probably over-ran by 3-4 months on the redemption penalty. However we did benefit from a reduced rate due to achieving EPC A rating .

So just got a call from the broker to say that the re-mortgage will complete next week, went for a 2 year fix as I don't see rates increasing dramatically in the next few years (based on the recent MPC guidance anyway). Decided to keep the monthly payments the same as Ecology as we're used to it now and cut the term to match. Never had to show any BC completion (which is just as well as it's still outstanding until a last few bits of glass go in) and the surveyor only asked if I had a warranty - never confirmed who with or asked to see anything. So, one less thing to worry about!

I have a 400m2 house and went for the Sentinel kinetic plus from BPC - when I calibrated it to meet the regs for whole house ventilation, it required both supply and extract fans to be at 40% (I easily exceeded all the other requirements). In reality I run it lower than this (supply 30%, Extract 37%) which gives me a balanced system and ideal conditions. Lots of threads on installation and commissioning - it's almost a self build rite of passage.

Didn't we use the same plumber? We have a hot return loop with very short runs to basins etc and, when running, I never wait more than a couple of seconds for hot water. The loop was supposed to be on a timer with pipe stat but we changed that to come on with the MVHR boost which itself is activated by PIRs in the bathrooms (daytime) and light switches (evening). Only the kitchen tap can be cold first thing in the morning if the pump's not been running but there is a MVHR manual boost in the utility so giving that a poke delivers hot water pretty sharpish.

Our plant room is in the basement, under the utility room. Has incoming water main, gas, electricity, and BT. Houses MVHR unit (insulated ducts to external wall above), gas boiler, UVC and one set of breakers for electric plus the PV controls. Also acts as a tool store. Plumber did not have any concerns on length of pipe runs, we have a hot water return so cold legs are not really a problem.

@AliG I did something similar - its detailed in a thread somewhere might even be this one. Here's how I finally did it. 1) I did my own ducting (with draw rope) up to property boundary from basement plant room 2) call regular BT sales dept and order a new line w broadband or whatever you need 3) OR will arrive on site to do something and at this point you show the OR person what you want to achieve. They will arrange for an OR surveyor to come to site in a week or so. 4) show OR surveyor what you want - he will produce a quote and will advise on what you can do yourself to save money. 5) you either accept the OR quote or let the order lapse for 28 days, do the pre-work yourself and start again from 2). This time the connection can happen on the first visit. In our case, pole was other side of lane to us so we needed to trench over to that (4m) and then pull 45m of cable into house. OR quote was quite high as expected as they charge £5/m to supply and pull cable, road works were a couple of grand - plus VAT, plus surveyors fees etc, etc. Surveyor recommended that we do it all ourselves as the crews they use (3rd party) are notorious for finding reasons to increase the cost of the job. Proper 10 pair gel filled cable was 50p/m from TLC and we left 4-5m at the bottom of the pole - took them no time to hook it up and test the connection from inside.

Yep, I've had them in and out already when I was fitting the remote plug in controller.

The Sentinel Kinetic has a bit of play on the filter position and I may well not have pushed it back fully home after cleaning (I like to given them a vacuum every month) - may be a bit of a design flaw also.

MBC definitely lay deck first and then wall panels on top with the airtightness detail mentioned above lapped from inside of GF panel, outside over the joists, back inside and onto the inner face of the FF panel.

Are these the bolts that hold the front cover or the bolts that hold the cell in place?

We have two high level horizontal slot windows in our two south bedrooms - cant say solar gain is a big issue and they let beautiful light into the roomm