jack

I think I have ours set to cool with 16 deg C flow temperature. Works astoundingly well downstairs. We have concrete floors and it's like walking into a cool stone church on a hot summer's day.

Read all of @Bitpipe's posts in the basement forum. This is a good start:

Hard to hear @Visti, sounds like there's a reason they went out of business previously. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Just to follow up on this, it looks like Spectrum is now out of business.

For use as an ordinary for bell, you can get them with a chime that works in real time. That said, I never have any delay to my phone, at least while I'm on the same WiFi network.

Not used to you being ironic Jeremy!

I will undertake a rare abuse of my mod status and delete any such thread on sight. There is literally (literally!) nothing wrong with 'MVHR' as a term. It's an abbreviation of a sequence of words that form a perfectly adequate and accurate description of the equipment's function.

The cable category question isn't just a matter of cable cost. The higher spec cables are thicker, stiffer (in some cases, a lot stiffer) and harder to work with. The necessary terminations are more expensive (again, possibly a lot more so). Also, the higher data rates are only reliably achievable if some pretty stringent installation standards are met - everything from termination type and quality through to max bend radii. If all that will ever happen over a link is switching and maybe KNX-type data, basic Cat5 or 5a is more than sufficient. Either way, consider getting LSZH (less fumes in a fire) and definitely make sure the wire is solid copper rather than CCA (copper clad aluminium). I think I got a good deal on Cat6 when I was buying, but for 90% of my wiring that was complete overkill.

I think I had in mind something like electrical access panel control, where some form of tool-operated closure is required (going from memory of something my electrician mentioned). I'm really just wondering whether something similar applies in this situation. Sounds like it doesn't. I don't doubt it. I'll have a rethink based on what people have said above. I haven't priced up alternatives to glass yet - I think I'll do that before making a decision one way or the other.

None of you will change my mind, NONE OF YOU!!!

Exactly, hence my reference to whether a tool-operable lock (which could be something like a bracket "permanently" installed to prevent the door opening) might meet the relevant requirements. I agree that a standard key-operable lock is unlikely to be sufficient. Another possibility I thought of but forgot to mention would be to replace the door handle with a blanking plate.

What might happen after sign-off is another issue entirely! My thinking is that a small lock is likely the cheapest and easiest option, if it's something that meets building regs.

I thought you were German? Why are you siding with the English and their irrational obsession with plastic sink bowls?

Could do, but regular access is needed for maintenance (massive oak tree right beside it, so lots of leaves), so any balustrade or Juliet balcony would still need to be hinged or otherwise movable/removable. That gets back to the same issue of what sort of lock or other restriction is needed to meet building regs.

Ours is presently at 1.5 bar. Water pressure isn't the issue.

I've asked my wife to do this every few weeks for years. She's never once done it in all that time. Also, stainless steel that's periodically scrubbed isn't going to be a breeding ground for anything. Same can't be said for a scratched-up plastic bowl that can't be properly cleaned. Even worse - putting plates in the sink that still have food on them. Drives me mental.

We're close enough to sign-off that we can taste it. Just need to order glass for balconies and install it, and we're done. However, we need a lot of glass - two balconies (respectively 7m and 4m wide) and over 20m to go around three sides of the flat roof terrace over our attached double garage. I haven't got formal quotes yet, but it's going to be many thousands of quid. We've been doing a lot of thinking about the terrace recently. It never gets used, and I can't really see a situation where it will be used in the future. We're therefore thinking that we could save several thousand quid (which would come in very handy right now) by not installing the glass balustrade around this area. Instead, we'll just cap the low parapet wall with powder coated aluminium coping. The only access is via a door from our bedroom. My understanding of building regs is that we need a balustrade around the terrace if there's a usable door to this area. The question, then, is what would need to be done to change this door to something more like an "access for maintenance" door. For example, would locking it with some sort of lock that needed a tool (rather than a key) to open it be enough? Obviously we'll need to discuss this change with the building regs guy, but I'd like to go in forearmed with some basic knowledge if possible. For the avoidance of any doubt, this door is not needed for fire escape purposes, so no issues there. Many thanks.

If only she were like me and had no annoying foibles.

My wife does this. Literally turns the hot water tap on full and stands there for ten minutes washing things up without ever turning it off, even if she wanders across the kitchen to get something else to wash. She also saturates the entire kitchen floor whenever she washes up. I've asked many times over the years how she manages to get so much water on the floor, but still haven't had an explanation.

Yes, and I can't bloody stand them. What is it about the English and plastic bowls in their sinks? I'm sure it's to do with the historical use of gravity hot water systems that would take forever to fill even a moderately sized sink. My wife never empties ours properly, so it's always full of standing water and a wet dishcloth. Eurgh.

Pretty sure he was talking about taped plasterboard rather than Fermacell.

We have two stainless sinks - one full size and the other massive. If I were doing it again, I'd still go for a massive one. It's really handy for cleaning large trays and hardware from the oven. However, I'd consider replacing the full size one with something smaller so it can be used for washing up with less water than the current one. Both are under-slung, which I think works well and is less work to keep clean than one that drops in. However, the narrow worktop bridge between them does tend to get scratched up (it's white corian - literally the worst worktop I've ever had). The ideal for me would be a pair of underslung sinks with no worktop bridge. Something like this but with a much larger second sink (not sure if such a thing even exists!)

We're just up the road from you (south side of Farnborough). The scenery along the A31 is pleasant all the way from Guildford, but it really gets stunning once you get to Bentley and beyond...

There are a few other vids on their Youtube channel, but this isn't a bad start:

We had severe problems with our insulated slab pour, which was done on a very cold day. The top layer never really went off properly, powerfloating didn't work properly for the most part, and we eventually had spalling over most of the surface. There may have been other factors at work (eg, the concrete mix), but I'd personally be very careful about pouring if freezing conditions are expected.