G and J

If you hold the two probes onto something, say maybe a piece of damp wood - which clearly won’t be highly electrically insulative, what does the display say on test? If a perfectly insulated cable gives a ‘1’ then so perhaps might a duff test lead. I would assume that shorting the probes won’t damage the device, (but I can’t guarantee it as I’ve never used one of these things so I’ll let others comment on that), but if I’m using a normal resistance meter the first thing I do is hold the probes together and ensure that the display reacts accordingly. Testing for an absence of a reading is always a bit dubious.

Your daughter is a higher rate tax payer?

+1 As an iPad junky who powers up a windows (pan!j laptop as soon as the required diagrams get above v basic I second this question.

Welcome Nottingham Ted. Surfacing as in driveways? (Of course I’m now thinking Boomtown Rats….)

My MVHR knowledge is limited to planning our forthcoming build, so please bear that I’m mind when reading the following: You state that you find the master bedroom quite stuffy. I’m assuming that simply opening windows and turning the heating up (which was our architect’s suggestion when I mentioned my intention to instal a MVHR) isn’t an option, as you’d have done it by now. May I ask how airtight your house is? I ask as I think this is a fundamental….

I am sitting in front of a woodburner, nice and toasty. The rest of the house is circa 15/16C, because it was mild outside today. I grew up in a house that in winter had frost on the inside of the windows. As kids we used the heat of our fingers to draw faces, etc. in the frost. Life was f cold for half the year apart from short burst of lovely and warm. So it’s no wonder that millions of brits struggle with the notion of continuous comfortable temperatures. I can’t imagine living in a house (i.e. the one I’m planning to build) where it’s not cold first thing. It’s alien to me. Perhaps I should cut myself (and others) some slack in not understanding how such new fangled systems will work. Perhaps I should buy a few more pairs of shorts too.

Interesting, no DPC under the block and I assume under the beam ends. So the block and beam are ok being damp? Or is that relying on the blocks or beam ends not absorbing water and hence the majority of the beams stayed dry. I had assumed as the beams were steel reinforced then they should be kept dry with their ends covered.

I don’t either, but I don’t trust my intuition on this one.

True. Fancy watching cars going round in circles. Beggars belief.

My razor sharp wit has detected that your question indicates that I have something wrong. Bugger. Where is my DPM supposed to be?

Nothing, apart from the fact that it's carcinogenic and terrible for the resources that it's production uses. Tastes good though.

We had a top floor flat in an old maltings. Vented tank in cupboard heated by E7 and storage rads. Hot water tap flow rate was pitiful as there was no head. Maybe that’s why there is a shower pump.

Then student life is very different nowadays.

We’ve got full planning permission to build it, though we’ll do it after we’ve finished the house when we know what money we haven’t got left. We’re planning it at this stage partly because it may be a good idea to do some of the bits like the foundations at the same time as those on the house. The danger isn’t that it’s not built properly. The danger is massive over specification.

In none the flats I’ve ever been involved with would permission for those kind of penetrations be allowed. I looked at this unit early on, it appeared I could run everything in our house from just two 6” holes in our garage. I believe that the flow rates needed would mean that the air speed would mean it would sound like a chip shop extractor. Not an attractive idea.

In our case the initial purpose will be a gym and workshop, with a corner hived off for a shed (with that section having its own door). However, I would like to build it to last and it to feel good and solid (yes, over engineered). So that gets us a basic sort of spec/plan. Then I scratch my chin and think, “with just a little extra effort and cost I could make it…..”. Repeat that exercise enough times and I have a plan for an expensive building with the potential for easy conversion to a guest suite (I am not sociable and billeting guests at the far end of the garden appeals) or carers accommodation (we plan ahead). Not so much requirements ‘creep’ as ‘gallop’! So, day one it needs a floor as steady as a normal indoor floor. A bit of insulation would be nice but it isn’t really essential, but fitting it later would be a lot harder. A potty would be handy, but difficult as evidenced in other threads due to the fall of our site and the fact that inexplicably, none of the neighbours have offered to let me dig up their gardens and connect to their sewers. It needs lecky, as large TVs (essential for rowing, naturally) don’t run themselves and I’ve an 18v Makita obsession to constantly recharge. Now, all this seems a bit over the top. Until you factor in the presence, literally 250m away, of a leisure centre with gym, pool, steam room and sauna that I almost certainly will be a member of anyway. Then it becomes downright silly. But I still wants it, precious.

Methinks Sumamp is akin to SIPs. Great sounding idea, lovely in theory and a compelling sales pitch, but the dreary realities are another matter.

Sticking my oar in uninvited (I may know 3/8ths of very little but I don’t let that stop me) but if space inside is the limiting issue with an ASHP/cylinder I would contend that ecologically, an ASHP, etc. would be much higher priority than a battery. Better financially too I believe.

Sometimes, on some rhings, before the building work actually starts it’s hard to know what bits one needs to worry about and which ones one doesn’t. Me bring me I want to understand me options in advance. It can be a pain but it’s helped me a lot in the past.

I've been searching and reading and, I hope, learning. I think I've sorted some of the issues with my b&b damp proofing detail. I'd be grateful for a steer on what else is wrong with it....

Noted. Our garden is really sandy once you get below the soil. Hadn’t factored in the difficulty of getting the insulation level, I’d assumed a sand blinding would do that job without too much difficulty.

Good thought though because of the length of our garden that would necessitate a pump and access issues and cost would encourage me to do otherwise. I’m looking at beam and block floors for the house at the mo and I’m surprised how cheap it would be for the garden room, so that’s probably the other practical option.

I’m a dyed in the wool DIYer in that I tell myself to get a grip regularly. I post lots of daft questions too, but also I learn tons by reading the answers to other peeps’ daft questions. So fire away.

I think that’s rather a harsh generalisation. I’ve mixed it with three roofers over the years who have been excellent and determined to do a good job. The others I’ve interacted with have been ok but not really pushing the extra mile, but my experience is still overall, very positive.

I’m really liking the notion that the EV that we probably will have one day, could run the essentials in the house for at least a day in the event of a power cut. I think that’s really good resource use. In lieu of an assault rifle will a mildly belligerent and highly sarcastic attitude do?