G and J

Do you want for looks? We've gone for weep holes, which are much less visible, even though there are lots of them, and vermin proof! (Uninsulated cavity between GF block skin round timber frame).

Can’t help with the connectivity, but I can offer a simple alternative. Rather surprisingly still available…. It saved us over £1k in portaloo rental fees so it really must be worth a few bob…. 😉

Natural fibres like wool are very good for temperature regulation. At least that’s what the smiling salesperson asserted when we signed up for a rather costly herdwick mattress. At that price I’m assuming it was made from real shepherds. So can we forget warm batteries now?

This sounds like a way forward. No, we did not lay ourselves, nor did we specifically ask the fitter to dry lay, mix boxes or look for repeats, but we didn't need to as they said they would when discussing beforehand and that's what they did. Only a couple of part tiles were moved, and this was only because they were very, very promenantly marked. For others reading, we chose to go to a large furniture store who actually had laid room size displays (on which they stood the furniture they were selling). Our installers had done similar in the showroom. This reinforced the need to choose a pattern/plank size we could live with. We then only used the small samples(1m x1m) to choose colours.

Our Amtico supplier/fitter provided the information when asked Our choice is both heavily patterned and embossed with a wood grain pattern. The format is 5 tiles (individual)in a 450mm square, so although there are repeats they are way less visible than they could be. Even then a couple of tiles were removed and repositioned during the process. At the end if the day they are not wood, and were bought with long term practicality considerations as well as aesthetics. Photo shows the initial laying out process (after the floor had ply and leveller) If you are really unhappy is it too late to change design now? Better that than live regretting it for the next ? years

Oh alrighty then, I won’t.

That all sounds reasonable. So only throw a blanket over more modern battery packs from reputable companies. Or better still, leave ‘em to do their own thing. I think the better ones come with little heaters to prevent battery temp going too low.

As already mentioned above. We had 60 odd square metres laid throughout upstairs. There is, unfortunately, a bit of a buyer beware thing going on here. The no. of designs vs planks info. is available, and then the style (planks vs small tile patterns) impacts how often you're going to 'see' the repeat. (We had to do similar research to make sure our 88sqm of porcelain tiles didn't suffer the sames issues). The design we chose is a small plank, this then changes direction regularly (broadweave), but even then, with 30 odd different face patterns, if you look closely enough over the whole area you can find a repeat, likewise the large format tile. Neither of them are, after all natural materials. So where you are now...... can you offer to pay a bit higher fitting cost to allow the planks to be dry laid and any "offending" repeats, in high visibility areas, be moved.

Was it machine gunned in a drive by shooting by an irate neighbour? lol

So, in my garage I have a dangerous incendiary device that requires an exclusion zone. Hmmmm. Should it say so on the outside? Some electrical devices do but not my Sunsynk battery. Should electric cars never be put under a cover?

So one should not insulate a solar battery?

Also just to mention, our timber frame supplier (no insulation provided) is a member of the STA and our warranty provider (and B regs) just asked for their calculations etc.

If you ventilate it well to keep it nice and dry then unless you heat it at times it will be flippin freezing. If your solar batteries are the main issue then is it worth just insulating them? I presume they need a bit of ventilation to keep them from overheating in summer? So maybe throw a blanket over them in winter?

I imagine it would be quite difficult to get a reliable cost comparison between factory fit and on site fit. I get the convenience, erection speed and possible quality improvement over on site PIR fit. But until such things become the norm and competitive pressures push down prices I’d worry about the extra cost. But then, I’m a tight wotsit.

I do like a puzzle. And the scaffolding is wide enough to lay down for a snooze in the afternoon sun…