jack

Correct. After MBC had laid the second layer in the area where we were running the pipes, I cut two channels about 300mm apart in the second (middle) 100mm layer, large enough to take 50mm polypropylene pipe (solvent weld stuff for drains, I believe it was). The pipes were wedged in place with EPS offcuts and then foamed in. I used an airgun to heat and bend up the end that came up into the plant room. Drawcords were put in place. When we eventually got around to installing the ASHP, I used self-adhesive foam tape along the required lengths of 28mm Hep2O barrier pipe (2 * 50mm covered the outside with no overlap). A bit of detergent to lubricate and the insulated pipes pulled through the polypropylene ducts easily enough. The temporary external pipework done up with Hep2O is still working fine. I do have flexis and will install them at some point. Even they will be heavily insulated, unlike my parents-in-law's 15kW ASHP which seems to be insulated with something like 8-10mm armaflex!

We have around 9-10m from our Panasonic 5kW ASHP to the tank. However, nearly all of that run is in the middle layer of 3*100mm of EPS, so highly insulated. I obviously can't compare to any other way of doing it, but the tank reaches nearly bang on 55 deg C (the highest temp of the ASHP in DHW mode) nearly every day. We used Hep2O 28mm barrier pipe, from memory, to keep resistance low and minimise losses. The way I figure it, if you're doing UFH, the temp is low enough that the losses won't be that high. For DHW, the temps are higher, but (depending on your setup) you only have it running once or twice a day for a relatively short period of time. I did some calcs ages ago that I now can't find, but I concluded that with decent insulation the losses weren't that great.

Maybe Onoff can fit it out first. It'll be a nice job but we may need to wait a while!

Perfect. Even has someone using "your" instead of "you're".

Good idea getting rid of the bath imo. The one in our ensuite has been used once in over a year. The ensuite would be a much more pleasant place, layout wise, if everything hadn't been shuffled around to make room for this white elephant. My next house will be perfect, concluded (wrongly) every self builder.

No idea, sorry - it's never been on without the silencer in place.

Our manifold is lined with acoustic foam but it's still recommended that a silencer be used.

Every. Single. Time. And sometimes even when you ask! BM pricing is beyond random. We mostly ended up at our local TP because we found they generally gave us better prices than Jewsons, but on some things they were randomly way more expensive and wouldn't/couldn't budge. The Housebuilder's Bible is actually quite good for this, as it gives you an idea of what sorts of materials/products are likely to have a lot of potential movement off the list price.

The local planning process?

Ah, sorry, missed that. It still seems stupid!

Build cost as determined by whom? I assume it's something along the lines of more expensive houses tend to have more bathrooms and more occupants, but still, what an odd way to charge for water!

My favourite kind!

Presumably to counter the fall that already exists? We're shortly going to be making the same decision as we have a large EPDM-covered terrace on top of our garage that needs covering. Currently thinking slabs and adjustable pillars - not sure! I won't be starting it until I've finished the balustrade on the main terrace, but sure, I'll take pics as I go along. Thanks Peter, they look good. I'd already found CFS but will look into East Coast as well. For those asking about balustrades, we used Elite Balustrades. There are several mounting options, and it's all DIY. You might want to get your BC officer to confirm he's happy with whatever option you plan. Our BC officer didn't ask for details beyond MBC's engineering drawings. The architect had used Elite's mounting systems before and was asked for engineering calcs, which they had done pretty cheaply by an engineer. We have Resitrix (a high-tech EPDM and modified bitumen based covering) on our roof and terrace. Although I believe it's crap installation rather than the product's fault, having been through what we've been through I still wouldn't touch an EPDM-based roof covering with a barge pole. I'd go for fibreglass if I were doing it again. From everything I've read recently, it can be made as robust as you want it to be. The two balconies we plan to fibreglass are quite small, and off bedrooms, so won't get much foot traffic. Thanks for that. Will look into multi-layer costs. From further research, it seems OSB3 is the only recommended substrate for fibreglass.

Hi all Made great progress today on the rails that will hold the frameless glass on our balcony. It's so nice to be actually getting some bits and pieces done after so long! Not long now and I'll be in a position to line and finish the balconies. At the moment, they're just open joists. We've been through several iterations with how the balconies will be finished. At one point, we were just going to put open decking on the joists and allow water to drain through. In the end, I've decided instead to fibreglass them. Very little rain gets in - there's a 1.1m high glass balustrade, an overhang, and sides, plus both balconies face away from the prevailing winds and weather. I've therefore decided to just have a small discreet drain with only the minimum required fall towards it in case we ever have a massive storm from exactly the wrong direction. I was considering buying one of those flat-roof kits you can buy by the square metre. Before I do so, however, I have a couple of questions: - Are such kits much of a muchness in terms of quality? - It seems standard practice to use 18mm OSB3 - any better alternative? - Tips for generating the falls to the drain easily? - Any recommendations for suppliers? - I'm considering using the topcoat as a wear layer. I understand that you need to take this into account by using thicker fabric (600g) or doubling up on the standard stuff (450g), plus for grip I need to add something like slate granules to the topcoat. Again, any thoughts on this approach versus perhaps building decking on top? - Any general tips or tricks I should know about DIYing this? @SteamyTea, am I right in thinking you have some experience in this area? Thanks all

Welcome Dave. What general area are you in?

I don't think most people in the UK have any idea of how seriously expert impartiality is taken by the courts, possibly because they assume we have a "gun for hire" situation along the lines of what they see on US TV shows. I've had bits and pieces to do with very large-scale (tens to hundreds of millions) litigation, and the extent that barristers and solicitors go to with their experts to ensure that absolutely no leading or coaching takes place - or even the possibility of this being alleged - is extraordinary. I'm about to go through this with the people that installed my roof and you're right, it's really frustrating how much effort I need to put in knowing I won't get anything for it and the likelihood they'll pay up when faced with the evidence rather than go to court. To try and offset this, I'm now claiming for every penny I think is reasonable, including a price reduction due to repeated failures to fix the same leaks.

Oh, and that doesn't include "local transport, foundation and installation". Presumably add another couple of thousand quid, at least, for all that. So it's as good as something that costs less than a third the price? And has a lot more to go wrong with it in the future? Where do I sign up?

Shame they're going out of business given their attitude.

I used strips of left-over breather membrane in some places. Very strong, but easy to staple-gun.

How did you get the kitchen? Did they offer to let you take it, knowing they were going down the tubes anyway?

Our ASHP instructions said that fitting of a bypass valve was compulsory.

Well clearly it can't be done now, and what's more it's Jan's fault! Good luck with that argument! No. One of the larger errors we made when building.

What a pain. Do you know why the building society doesn't accept direct applications?

Well no-one in my house (except me) does anything other than maximise the wetness of the towels and bathroom mat, despite my efforts to get them to stay in the shower for just a few seconds and get the worst of the wet off first. I do the "hand blade" trick you talk about (thought I was the only one!) We've gotten into the habit of hanging our towels on the balustrade outside the bathroom, and they dry completely in short order. I do know that the floor mat gets sodden and really doesn't dry out properly, but that's because it's usually so wet that I need to hang it over the edge of the bath. As I said though, 3 out of 4 occupants do their utmost to saturate it with every use, so your mileage may be different. I'm slightly concerned that the towels won't dry as quickly when they're hung in a more enclosed space inside the bathrooms. Will need to wait and see on that one.

Exactly. Anchoring with inflated initial price, large reductions in several "one-off" tranches, time-limited offers. I can't stand this kind of crap, and refuse to buy from any company that uses it.