G and J

Trust me (and almost everyone else with any decorum), I have no intention of asking. But as we are talking about such things, may I raise the grubby subject of bum guns? It’s a fair way down on my research list but I’m keen to understand the whys and wherefors and also plumbing regs too. Opinions would be welcomed….

Welcome. In ‘91 we bought a plot, got full PP, and I promptly got quotes from several builders. The most highly recommended of which called me a moron. He had asked me why we didn’t build it ourselves, getting in trades as needed. I answered “well I’m not in the trade”. That’s when he called me a moron, but he was smiling. He said “if you’re in the trade you know one trade, so you have to learn the other ten. You have to learn an extra one - so what? “ Sage words it turns out, and that was before YouTube. Get in there.

I thought that was exactly what it was. Sort of Victorian angle beading. Used to have that in an 1850s property we owned.

Is this what they call a wind frame? If not presumably then it’s predominantly to resist the weight of that which rests above it. If it is a wind frame then would the lateral forces impose fairly heavy requirements on the plinths?

Leaving one very hungry wolf presumably?

Is that on windows?

Our cunning plan is to use a bioethanol burner safely closed inside our WBS on days when we really don’t need the warmth but we need the comfort. Scary the CO alarm thing though….

We can export up to 5kW without further infrastructure charges, I have been informed. I dread to think about how many issues are preventing sleep right now only to prove to be immaterial to our future happiness. Only they won’t prove anything as we'll never notice said item and hence never think about it. And that is EXACTLY where I want us to be. In my mind it’s not about peak generation, it’s about increasing the number of useful solar days, especially as the panel cost is partly offset by tile saving.

Will do, though there are differing views in our household regarding the aesthetics of panels to the gutters. If we went for it we could have 18 standard panels in portrait. Just under 8kW

Coincidentally, I found out today that I needed circa 15m of twin wall 110mm ducting and on my first Google it looks like the min I can order is 50m. Plus I could replace those pipes if I had a failure. I think you may have saved a fair bit of money for us! Thank you.

Very good point. Ta.

Thank you....will have a good look

That’s good to hear as we have a remote heat pump. Did you do the pipes that way to save cost re the pre-insulated ones?

Interesting. We are in the process of our MCS solar dude working out if we can fit 2 rows. If not, as long as these can go flush (sounding unlikely if they are targeted on commercial buildings) then maybe this will be an option.

Not wanting to divert this thread, and truly sorry for your troubles @Mulberry View...my only bit of positivity...you've made it this far, you'll get there. At some point @Tetrarch could you post which roof lights you went with (sorry couldn't work out how to quote into a new post🤔)

Hmmmm, so do flush vents like ergovents get streaky marks round them then?

I do like the idea of a regular meet up, so well done for organising. Monthly is too frequent for me, but please don’t let me stop anyone else. I’ll happily attend every other month. As for format, I felt that the discussion flowed well without the need for encouragement, so I’m happy with just natural conversation.

Our neighbours (god bless them!) applied for both planning permission and a certificate of lawful development for a granny annexe. Exactly the same building/location4construction method. They were refused planning permission, but the LPA "had" to grant a CLD under the caravan act. They are clearly believing they will get planning eventually (just paid over 150k for it) but LPA/parish council planning frameworks would suggest otherwise.

Getting on ok with Northgate so far. We were warned that not all junctions were available as standard thingies (technical term that) and so the nearest would be used, but if modelling was needed it would hurt, cost wise. We have strict instructions re taking pics but so far no mention of an app. When we get our dynamic part O (makes me think of Batman and Robin, the dynamic duo!) in a week or two’s time I’ll be able to comment further.

We have engaged Northgate Building Design in Ipswich for our SAP, and after considering doing our part O dynamic stuff myself with PHPP we decided to use them for that too, which is currently under way. We’ve gone with Vantage for our building control, so far so good.

Snap. One of the attractions of the company we are using is that they measure, make and fit, without it being months and months waiting. But me being me I wanted to ensure we had the best chance of ending up with what we are planning to end up with. No alarms and no surprises please. And especially no surprises with egress windows

I live in a new house with a new oil boiler and everything. We built it in ‘91. So to me, everything is new cos we put it in. And the maintenance of this house provides some of the motivation to build our new, new house. Welcome.

Rightly or wrongly I can’t feel good about designing in foaming stuff. I get that it’s a useful tool sometimes but it doesn’t feel like the best starting point. We are going for as airtight as we can manage, and my head is all full of membranes and tapes. Should I view foam more positively? (We haven’t had the costs back for the frame extensions yet, so if it’s that scary I might be reading up about foam!)

Making good will be a lot easier with the regular small holes/ injection idea. You could try it in one area, and if it works without bloating the plasterboard then fab, if not you’ve only a small area to redo. As an aside, I now realise why our early drawings specified a bead of silicone at the bottom of all skirtings.

I finally nailed down the head tech chap at the window company. He chuckled, agreed with my assessment, and then mentioned that the window system we are planning to use has a thermally broken frame extension option for just this purposes. These add 20mm to the frame width and are applied on both side and at the top, with the cill performing the same function across the bottom. So with these to be added we simply increase the aperture size to suit, allowing 10mm for fitting. Job done it would appear. Sigh. Thank you for all the replies folks. .