Gav_P

With all that water there you should build yourself a desalination plant... save yourself a few quid on those water bills. ?

Because of your water costs? Where are you? The moon?

Property cost is the killer... my mortgage is significantly higher than every other bill combined.

? My water is £7 a month

I have no professional knowledge so couldn’t recommend anything. However, I just used a fairly weak solution of about 4:1... I chose this as 3:1 is the recommendation for bare plaster walls, so figured a little less would be about right.

Yup. Diluted Pva is great for sealing concrete floor. Done it in 2 houses. Then painted one afterwards.

I’ve got a stove and a bio fuel burner. I use the stove all the time and love it (but don’t have a passiv house or anywhere near standard of build). I hardly ever use the bio fuel one. it looks a bit naff and weak, but can kick out a couple of kw of heat at full tilt - however it does go though fuel quite quickly when fully open.

Get yourself a wind up torch and you’ll be set. ?

Hi, this is a fun topic on here.. loads of threads already about fancy sheds. Have a search. But in short, the more you insulate the better it will be and cheaper to heat. Concrete definitely won’t keep it warm.

We have double glazed bifolds south facing... the really do heat up the room on a sunny day. So I would do this next time.

Quick question... what are the dimensions of the fire place and the stove? Have you allowed for enough clearance as per the installation instructions? what are you planning on lining the inside of the fire place with? Best not to have plaster as it will get baked and blow.

Clear view stoves are great as far as I’m concerned, so you are on to a winner already. Depends on what style house you have. Tiles? Flag stones, paving slabs, polished concrete, toughened glass, are all options I have seen before. maybe look for a stone / granite worktop off cut?

I think they are both trying to fully understand so they can give you some useful advice. don’t take anything here as people trying to be smarter than you.... it’s part of being a nerd, just wanting all the info.

Sounds bloody frustrating! I am a little lost on your system set up... You mention an ASHP and a boiler, plus a cylinder. Is the boiler just a backup for the ASHP? Is the cylinder for dhw or is it a TS? As prodave says, it’s not clear to us where the noise source is.

I’d be wary of a composite stable door... we have one for our back door, and it’s been replaced 3 times. (Complications of our door related to being a small opening in an old cottage, plus glazed top half, meant small surround of the actual door). And it cost £1550 ?

That’s the lesson I have learned on my last 2 renovations. The 1st didn’t have a cavity and so I just assumed I couldn’t do much about it so just threw in loads of heating. The other I just insulated to BC standards, which I now realise is the bare minimum you should have. I would spend most of that budget you have for heating on insulation and then you’d only need a smaller heating solution.

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How about a down draft extractor in the worktop? Or built into the hob?

We used mdf, fine if you want a cheap and nondescript, basic look. I have used tiles in the past and even glass, but I really like Pete’s idea of granite (if it suits your design).

If it was me, I would just crack on and do it, as I think it’s highly unlikely anyone would come and look at what you’ve built anyway. But if you want to play it safe, build the porch, get your certificate of lawfulness, then do any amends later.

Is that a window in the en-suite shower area through to the bathroom?

I agree. Although you have to give him a chance to rectify first don’t you?

Could you use a tiebar for the structural strength and 3D print a plastic decorative bit?

Could you use an existing one to make a mold and cast it yourself?