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jack

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Everything posted by jack

  1. jack
    Well that's clearly false. It's "literally" possible that an error was made with a return and the goods ended up with you. Still, thanks for initial story and for following up with the results. Hopefully others will see it and think twice (or at least check their packages sooner) when considering ordering from Wunda. I won't go off-topic and bore you with the similar issue I had with the UVC I had from McDonald Engineering...
  2. jack
    Our ASHP is on the far side of our garage from the house, so it'd be pretty hard to hear even if it did make noise. However, if I stand beside it in heating mode (ie, not on full blast for DHW), I have to hold my hand in front of the fan to determine whether it's actually on. I don't know how much noise it makes when it's doing DHW, as I'm not generally up at the time it's on (4-6am). As Dave said above, if you have a well-insulated house and triple glazing, you won't hear it anyway. We have a train line that runs quite close to our garden and you can only barely hear that a train is passing when it's very quiet and you listen for it. If a window is open it can be quite loud!
  3. jack
    Erm, yes you do, because your employer (or the entity to which/whom you're contracted) has agreed in writing to "do" Durisol. Quite aside from anything else, why would any builder, irrespective of knowledge or experience with particular building systems, want to do anything less than the right job? Following a line is a fairly fundamental part of building, whether you're laying blockwork, building a stud wall or slating a roof! Looking back at this from a few months or years in the future, the loss of time and funds will pale beside the feeling of relief that your house wasn't ultimately built by these neanderthals.
  4. jack
    "A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once." - Ernest Hemingway I prefer your version - discretion is the better part of valour, etc.
  5. jack
    I found some galvanised conduit behind a rendered wall once, long before I knew about safe zones. I'm pleased it was there, because if it hadn't been I'd have gone straight through the wire!
  6. jack
    If you were expecting 10mm off the top, does only having had a couple of mm off make an important difference to your floor heights? None of our external doors would have opened if our floor had ended up 7mm higher than planned!
  7. jack
    Bollocks. Really sorry to hear that Ian. Keep your pecker up - we're rooting for you.
  8. jack
    Bit big isn't it? I think a room-in-roof cottage would have been more appropriate.
  9. jack
    Welcome to the forum Ticking all the boxes will tend to bring competition, for sure! Almost certainly more trouble than it's worth, I'd have thought, even assuming the foundations are (and can be proved to be) of acceptable depth etc. It also severely limits the flexibility you have with your footprint. I assume you've looked into it, but knocking down tends to be competitive with massively renovating due to the VAT relief you get on a knock-down.
  10. jack
    Same. We used our tiler's account at Topps Tiles and the price dropped 60-odd percent
  11. jack
    Our taps are set at the entrance to the shower, away from where the spray lands, so you can turn it on without getting your arm wet.
  12. jack
    I think the general (not universal) level of incompetence is what people are referring to when they complain about window companies. It's a fact that a significant proportion of people on this forum have had poor experiences with window suppliers, and it's rarely due to something that would have been picked up by the sorts of checks you're talking about.
  13. jack
    It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure mine was damp too.
  14. jack
    Based on my experience during our build, I don't know any good trades except our electrician and (to a lesser extent) groundworkers. Actually, I've since become friendly with a really good plumber (not the one who did the build!) who's coming around soon to price up a list of stuff we want fixing and changing. This is on the list, for sure. We have an identical problem with the water softener.
  15. jack
    Agreed. Our current arrangement is like this, and it makes a hell of a racket when the dishwasher drains.
  16. jack
    There was a whole range of these details on their site a few years ago for different wall types, many including brick and/or block. I'm sure(?) it's been engineered properly, but it doesn't look/feel like very substantial support for two masonry walls.
  17. jack
    Yes, I went for a 250L. No particular reason for the choice. We don't generally run out (I think we've done so twice in 18 months). We also have shower waste water heat recovery, which (given shower usage patterns) probably makes the 250L tank act more like a 300-350L tank.
  18. jack
    Glad to hear they're taking responsibility.
  19. jack
    Have a look at this thread, and particularly @Bitpipe's stuff about waterproofing:
  20. jack
    Here we go @Barney12 and @JSHarris:
  21. jack
    Insurers will always try to avoid paying. I have a written admission from our roofer that they caused the leaks in our house, but the insurer still insists that we have no evidence. That's fine, I'll be suing the roofer directly once the rectification work is complete. I'd have thought based on their website that Durisol should provide the blocks for free, and perhaps an additional contribution to labour to replace them. What else can you do but follow manufacturer's instructions?
  22. jack
    I was surprised at how few trades we had onsite who actually took builders' tea! Probably less than half - most seem to have moved on to tea with no sugar, and a few drank coffee.
  23. jack
    Sorry, I was away over the weekend and forgot to reply to this when I got back. I'll take some photos tomorrow.
  24. jack
    I've heard it suggested that building a "skirt" out of, eg, plywood to reduce drafts under the caravan keeps things warmer in winter.
  25. jack
    We had battens pre-installed within the reveal, positioned so that they stopped the windows in the correct position relative to the insulation. I agree completely about flush windows. In fact, I'm sure that I read somewhere (maybe A Pattern Language?) that externally flush windows are a major factor in modern houses not looking quite "right".
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