G and J

So these are wall mounted near the ceiling and the benefit is that they spread the fresh air better than a simple ceiling vent? That’s what I was trying to say as my base case. But maybe I’m worrying too much about sound. I remember being quite pleased with myself at how small the clearances were round all our doors in our current house. How times change.

Crumbs that looks useful - thank you.

Rodents sometimes use inedible stuff for nesting in. I’ve found quite a few wood mice nests in glass fibre loft insulation. But apart from that, there is always a good source, even if it’s only the bait you are putting down to kill em.

Just looked these up (it’s incredible the volume of new stuff I’m learning from here!). Without realising it I’ve stayed in hotel rooms with vents that look like these. I presume one wouldn’t use them for a new build MVHR as they’d be noisier and/or less effective than normal vents - is that correct? My interest concerns our guest bedroom which does not have an en-suite (I’m not nice enough to our guests lol). Default case is supply vent in bedroom and gap under door, which will also transmit sound. But could one of these vents allow a more acoustically sealed door (and stop me hearing the snoring so clearly)?

As I understand it the filters in MVHR units stop stuff going into your fans. One filters air taken from the house, one filters air sucked in from outside. So if the moths are the house side that means that they are present in the house, and it sounds unlikely to me that they are living in the ducts, merely that they get sucked in as they fly past the vents. Years of dealing with rodents and helping others do the same has taught me that peeps often miss food sources, leading to an ‘oh that?’ moment when they realise the thing they’ve discounted or simply forgotten is the food source, because like the professionals have told you, there always is one. Could there be something between walls or floors? Some wacky natural insulation?

MVHR will be running so doors and windows normally shut, roof I can insulate to death as we’re not restricted on depth of insulation there. I wish there was a system like u values for sound transmission.

Careful though, be warned, it’s addictive. 😉

Which brings me back to the start of the topic, the question of what we do ourselves and what we employ to have done.

I guess a big part of self build motivation for us is that it is done right, not necessarily to the standard ‘professional’ quality. I know I’m picky but I want better and I’m prepared to graft to achieve it. So I can see me intervening and taking over at times like you did (I’ve done it before!).

So, just had a quick google and I think I’m missing something about brown cellulose. I’m presuming it settles over time, and therefore if used in walls then the insulation will be reduced at the top of the wall sections. I’ve already wondered that about rock wool and the like. How does it work?

Our walls are going to be a lot thinner than yours, and your garage experience would be awful to live in. That said, we are tight each Sid to neighbours so I guess they’ll acoustically shield our two longest walks a bit, and it’s not near a busy road…. but still….

Will have a rifle through your blog too. When we planned our build in ‘91 I was adamant I wanted it built properly with block and render. None of that namby pamby balsa wood stuff that the cheapy volume builders bodge it with. The (sort of) architects used some stud walling upstairs to remove the need for steel. During the build I realised with a shock just how weak block work is. I’m happy with timber frame this time.

Will read up on it. Thank you.

Derail away. I feel it’s one of the most powerful aspects of this forum, I’ve learnt so much following many diversions.

I think that the u values type analysis will help yield a sensible balance between insulating/cost/wall thickness. Where I am less sure is the acoustic performance of the walls.

I visit social housing often, and round my way a good few years ago some bright spark thought they’d foist huge ASHP units on properties as replacement boilers without changing the rads - I assume the business case was based on not needing annual gas testing. The result was overworked pumps that were therefore noisy and on constantly and cost so much to run that loads of tenants got into debt, and that was before the price hikes of the last few years. A good way to generate bad press and general loathing.

I’m more of a mind to trust it’s readings than anything clever with batteries. But as it doesn’t use an app it has earned me some very funny looks in the past.

Is adding a rooftop al fresco welfare unit permitted development?

I’ve ordered some clear tubing and I’m going to make a water level to cheque my laser based conclusions. The Hide (I wanted to call it the pig pen but apparently that would have given the impression we were going to keep livestock) and it’s attendant height was included in our planning app, now granted, and even if I did and I had the fall I needed it would mean an aerial sewer which would be a talking point (might get us on grand designs, you never know). I know a water level is a bit Blue Peter but it will do the job well within the accuracy I need.

That’s exactly the arrangement. Who needs a tv in the bedroom when one can sit watching the garden.

I understand and appreciate your ‘do it right’ sentiment, but I’ve a nagging feeling that following that mindset might land me in ‘merde’. I’ll explain. Potty in man cave sits on floor whose level is just above the invert level of the sewer manhole at the front of our site. If I dig a hole and put a pump in it, somewhere between the two, wherever I dig it in case of inevitable malfunction gravity ensures said hole receives all the nasty stuff that’s in the system. Nasty. Even if it’s only fermented pee. In this case gravity is not my friend. Imagine I lay a continuous length of black, 32mm pipe, from the potty, thence down into my duct, then more or less horizontal till it reaches my house, at which point it rises enough to finish its journey to the sewer manhole with a 1% fall. One great big extended u bend. Then imagine the macerator fails. Unless an emergency has recently happened the pipe will be full of only (admittedly stinky) liquid. I disconnect the macerator (if it can’t be fixed with a nose peg and rubber gloves) and the pipe just sits there, gravity in this case being my friend. Maybe I can even attach a garden hose to flush it, there’s a thought. Worst case new macerator, but I note some have five year warranties so that should cost me too often. Unless, of course, I’ve missed something essential. Yet again.

We are bungalow gobbling, and next door on one side (the one whose juice cable droops over ours) is a small two storey house, so we are replicating that which means no need for or advantage in having chamfered ceilings. We’ve owned properties with them and they do have their charm, but the look we are going for suits rectangles. We’re also rather traditional in the bedroom upstairs thing, but also our rear facing bedroom will get the morning sun and we’ll sit in bed drinking coffee looking straight out of the windows onto a little oasis of quiet, leafy back gardens. It’s an important part of the day for us. We won’t be starting in August partly because we’ve a planning condition that says we can’t (unless we get an ecologist to write a report promising that no feathered beings will be hurt in the making of this self build) and even if we didn’t have that we want to sell our house before we start. Sooooo, we’ve got time for me to agonise over everything - which is bad news for some perhaps but I am grateful as I am learning tons. 🙂

That sort of thing is the front runner/base case. Current thinking is 140mm frame with 120mm insulation between to give service void. In some places we will line with ply under the plasterboard to give flexibility in wall fixings and maybe slightly better sound attenuation. We will need another insulation layer but I’m a bit confused about whether that goes inside or outside the frame and sheathing board. Baton and counter baton the larch cladding so circa 255mm plus the extra layer of insulation. But I’ve a lot more reading to do yet. And no one has mentioned ICF yet lol

Our supply will be u/g, have gone through that with the network planner chap (incredibly helpful), but neighbours o/h supply crosses over where will be a single story part of the build. Not measured it but I would guess lowest part is circa 15ft. They have no interest in converting to u/g and they would rather we didn’t develop next door so we just have to work round it. Can’t have a temp supply either. Ho humm.

Which to varying degrees appears to describe most systems. There’s more work I need to do but it appears a very good plan is to build the downstairs walls (in that the details and costs vary as does the need for a second pair of hands, but there are all pretty similar) put on a ballon floor (likely using 304mm posi joists), repeat for second floor and get help popping the trusses up. Roof space is too small to bother making it a warm loft