Spinny

Thanks for replies. I have put some water down and it is indeed feeding into the y branch. Looking at the current position, I am thinking the builders must have put it where it is for a reason - usually convenience and speed for them. It looks as though there is a pipe connected to the inspection chamber outlet with presumably a 90deg bend and then the gully on the end of that. So that is presumably why they deviated from the plan and it has ended up where it is. So any idea what parts would allow it to be connected in the correct position - can the gully be twisted relative to the grill on the top ? I attach more photos. Any idea what part/manufacturer the gully is, it seems to have something with a cap on it inside - maybe a rodding point ?

Hi, my departed builders installed a rainwater drain somewhat in the wrong place. It was supposed to be directly underneath the drain pipe position but has been put under the window instead. Is this going to be feasible to fix and how ? See photo's...

I have had 2 plasterers in and they said different things. One said take all the plaster off the top of the wall, the pink skim coat and the old undercoat. The other said he could wet plaster the lower part and then skim the lot. There must be a million houses built like this across the land - has anyone had this issue and how did they resolve it ?

OP hasn't posted here for a month, but HDMI can be passed over ethernet... https://www.blackbox.co.uk/gb-gb/page/44064/Resources/Technical-Resources/Black-Box-Explains/AV/What-Is-HDMI-over-Ethernet-and-How-Does-it-Work The answer to moving stuff around is to plan multiple redundant service points. I once put coax to 4 different locations in the same room on this basis. Of course 20 years later I had still only used one of them. It's the thing I hate about underfloor heating - you can't just pull up the floors again. I've just put a whole load of conduit under a suspended floor with u/floor heating - hopefully I will never need to use it ...but... you never know. Everything is going to IP now though and wifi keeps getting faster.

Need to get the staircase wall replastered in our 1930's semi. The hollow old plaster came off the brick wall all too easily, but then discovered the second storey is not brick but something else - cinder block or something ? Although some patches are hollow behind the plaster when tapping it, in general it is very difficult to remove because the 'cinder block' and the grey first coat/undercoat of plaster seem to be so well bonded you cannot tell where one stops and the other starts - there is no clear cleave point and you can only chisel where you think the join should be. It is going to be difficult to strip this off but a plasterer said if it doesn't come off and bricks are wet plastered then the lot is skimmed it will crack at the junction line.? What needs to be done to make this ready for replastering ? Am I really going to have to spend hours with a hand chisel trying to get the grey plaster pff the grey cinder block even though there is no real junction between the two ?

If fixing timber into the web of the steel, how would this be fixed to the steel - long self tapping screws through the timber and into the vertical of the I beam ? (And cut the timber to fit around the existing bolts and screws ?) And how does 'thin coat render' match with standard 20mm render on the block work elsewhere - one render guy said the render on the blockwork would need to be 32mm thick to cater for the render board + 20mm render. (plan is to use k-rend) And while I am here, how should the pesky weep holes be dealt with ? And what are the best render beads to use - plastic or metal ? And the side wall is north facing - should anything be done to stop algae growing on it ? (Steel is tucked under an east facing overhang, so I wouldn't have thought rust was an issue ? Had a 35 year old steel in the house and it was ok apart from surface rust.

An interesting thread. On sealing around electrical boxes in the dot and dab plasterboard - I am not sure I see the benefit. I'd have thought the problem is having cold air getting into the gap behind the board because that is just bypassing any benefit from the insulation in the wall. The issue is airtightness and stopping the flow of cold air into that space. Sealing the electrical boxes might stop you feeling the cold draught but if the cold air is still there behind the board it isn't doing anything to improve the room thermals at all really to seal the boxes. And it could stop you feeling the difference when it is made airtight - i.e. the draft from the electrical boxes disappears. I had/have some awkward spaces to insulate - in the end it took a good carpenter to resolve and fit the insulation nice and tightly. I guess if they can make a nice tight dovetail joint, they can do similar accurate work with PIR. I have a warm roof thank goodness - seems much easier to insulate. I guess that is insulation under the concrete floor slab - adding heating pipes at that stage would have been good I think. An infrared temperature gun and/or thermal camera seems like an essential tool for building work these days.

Are you using a 24V UPS then ?

Thanks, I guess it depends what we mean by 'smart'. The flip side to simultaneous power cut & burst pipe, is being away from the house with no way to turn the water off in the event of a leak. I once came back from a 3 week holiday to find the living room ceiling collapsed due to a water leak. Yes you can turn the water off when going away, but how many times are you going to remember that you left it on whilst on the way to the airport. (I think same with fire alarms - a fire alarm that doesn't alert you when away from the home doesn't seem like a fire alarm in this day and age.) Do you class the Heatmiser hub as smart ? I agree on a manual backup, or battery backup, although there is always the stop tap in the road. Internet can be backed up with mobile or satellite. Definitely a consideration though, and I don't fancy relying on smart door locks. This one maybe...(although there is no integrated leak detection)

Having my mains supply switched from an old lead pipe to a new 32mm MDPE barrier pipe. This will mean fitting a new stop tap and would welcome suggestions on stop tap options these days. The stop tap will need to go in the u/stairs cupboard and am thinking it would be nice to have a 'smart' stop cock which could be operated using a remote switch or smart home control, (and also perhaps one capable of detecting water leaks such as residual water flow when all outlets are off). I am also trying to maximise water flow to an unvented pressurised cylinder. I have seen the SureStop stop tap, but there isn't one with a 25mm bore connection and as it is not electronic it could only be linked to a smart home using a switchbot which doesn't seem ideal. I also wonder whether the stop tap should be capable of 'variable' control such as half open - perhaps just fully open/fully closed is enough ? Any suggestions or advice on this ? (PS just seen this one ? https://www.bes.co.uk/watersafe-remote-water-mains-switch-leak-detector-20604/ ) (or this very smart one, but very expensive and no reviews... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Consumption-Monitoring-Temperature-Replacement-Assistance/dp/B0DTYSPYYY/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?crid=20S8XVD56RZUD&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._ncRpJEcrbUZjsiRLjzJnQ.EHcJUrckhyOKnuyn4mWgZj2S3DY_mFzCMgb_KJf5afQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=watersafe+remote&qid=1741938442&sprefix=watersafe+remote%2Caps%2C102&sr=8-4-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.d7e5a2de-8759-4da3-993c-d11b6e3d217f&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&psc=1)

My thoughts are generally to build what the architect specified so that in the event of any future problem, you can point the finger at them, and they don't have the ready made get out that you didn't build what they specified. Any changes have therefore been bought off with the architect first, and using Marmox blocks would need to go around that loop. (Unfortunately the original architect left the practice early in our build and so the senior partner had to take over but we were then charged £100/hr instead of £70/hr!) I have done various bits and pieces as has sometimes been unavoidable (protecting the works & keeping the rain out, removing lathe and plaster ceiling and hacking plaster off the walls, putting preservative on the joists, putting in conduit and cables under the floor, driving across the country in a hired van to collect a rooflight from a company in liquidation. etc). I live on site so have kept an eye on the works and been a kind of makeshift project manager, come tea maker, and 'that can't be right can it' person, and having to source, order and take delivery of anything that can't be bought off the shelf at any builders merchant from underfloor heating parts, to LED strip controllers and profile, to smart home modules, to aerogel, to roof straps. I am in my 60's now having been a young man when work began of course 🤪👴, so not up to much any more.

I don't think it is that unusual these days is it ? The frame needs to be fixed into something and the cavity is PIR insulation and a cavity closer, so they fix the frame to the inside edge of the outer block. Not ideal as there can be some thermal bridging through the block and round the thermal break in the alu frame (although they end up with packers and foam around the frame too). We used two different window suppliers and they both fit like that.

Thanks Russell. It was all a last minute thing as the water pipe was supposed to be moled down the driveway, but they couldn't do it as the mole just kept hitting rocks in the ground, so had to come back next day with a digger to trench it. I woke up at 5am thinking, hey I could use that trench to conduit a future fibre broadband cable under the driveway and directly into the side of the house where my network stuff lives. So when the workman returned I went hotfoot to buy something as they were already well behind on the job and eager to get finished. They needed to get the job all done, so have immediately laid new patches of concrete where they had to cut through. I might get a second chance to do something as and when I replace the concrete pad. I suppose another option might be digging the hole 3m outside to get back to the conduit, then attach some new conduit to it of the same OD and then using the existing conduit to pull the new conduit through the same hole, but could be dodgy, and where would I find a 25mm OD underground conduit. The one I used I see now is IP54 rated - presumably would take many years to degrade in the ground though ?

The trencher had one but it wouldn't pass far down either end - didn't seem as flexible as the cat 6 cable.

Thanks for all responses. Further investigation today by pushing cat 6 cable down the 25mm flexible conduit (bought from Toolstation) shows that cable can travel 6.3m down the conduit from the house end before it meets an obstruction and only 2m down the conduit from the far end. So I presume the conduit must have been crushed (or possibly bent ?) at these points, though the henry vacuum does produce significant suction from one end to the other (!?!). The only good news with this is that 6.3m from the house end is just beyond the concrete slab in front of the house. So in theory digging back down 750mm in that one spot should allow the conduit to be cut and joined to a new piece to travel the rest of the way. I guess this means I can reassemble the qtr landing at the bottom of the staircase, but maybe need to dig the hole first.

Had someone installing a new mains water pipe. They ended up having to trench it the 25m to the house and managed to break the old lead pipe in the process. As it was being trenched I thought I would get some 25mm flexible conduit down the same trench before they filled it in (to take a future internet fibre cable). Spent quite a while messing about with a drill bit attached to some cord to work the cord down the 25m of flexible conduit and secured it at each end with something to prevent it getting pulled back and lost in the conduit. But god didn't grace everyone with a brain and the trencher buried it then decided to cut the 'spare' off the end releasing the string back down the conduit. Expletives were uttered - just another episode in my cursed 2.5 year attempt to get a modest extension. A fish tape was tried but got stuck a few metres down the ribbed conduit. An attempt to suck down some string taped to a piece torn off a plastic bag with a Henry vacuum only slowly pulled it a few metres. I still have the original cord taped to one end but of course the other end is lost, so we thought we would pull this cord out and try the vacuum again, but hell now even the cord is somehow stuck in the conduit and will not pull out. Seems like I am s###### again - any ideas on how to try to get something down the conduit ? Trencher believed cable companies use sort of air gun to fire the cable down ?

New bifolds are top hung and fixed into a steel I-Beam across the opening in the outer leaf. So the edge of the steel is level with the face of the concrete blockwork, but there is a deeper web in the steel to be covered over. Architects drawing says fix a render board over the steel and then 'thin coat' render whatever that might be. Someone quoting has said fix render board over and then render over but the finished render will end up quite thick over the concrete blocks to match the render board. So rather than 20mm thick finished render, would end up about 32mm thick. I am not sure how this is going to look where the base of the render ends at DPC level - might look odd ? Is this usual way to do it, and what is the 'thin coat' render and is that a better answer ? (Also should something be used to infill the web of the steel, such as timber or insulation and how should this be fixed in place. I can see the possibility of wanting to drill and plug the wall for fixings - e.g. for an awning, camera, etc, so leaving the web open and hollow behind the render doesn't seem ideal)

Thank you Nick, I have never come across Marmox blocks before, an interesting alternative to celcon blocks which seem to be essentially reinforced XPS blocks. Not something my architect or my structural engineer ever mentioned. Problem is the bifold doors are installed by the bifold company (not local), and I have already had 4 install visits to get to this point with the bifolds finally installed and working properly.The concrete blocks under the threshold were originally celcon. It is a long story... When the builders poured the heated concrete slab they decided to 'tack mortar' the celcon blocks into place under the bifold opening. Their plan being to avoid having to cut all the blocks manually down to threshold level later in situ, because they would be able to remove them and machine cut them and re-lay them. However unknown for many many months (until the bifold fitters arrived) when they did this the blocks bowed forward under the weight of the poured concrete hence the rework to cut the front of the slab square again. In addition when they relaid the celcon blocks the bifold company found some to be loose. The builders tried to fix by re-laying them with 'quick setting mortar' but they still had movement 36 hrs later. The builder insisted the celcon blocks were the problem because they didn't take mortar well. The architect said any competent builder shouldn't have a problem, the structural engineer said sometimes they could suck moisture out of the mortar too fast and it was important to wet the blocks. I said I am not playing trial and error building at my expense when the bifold company are charging me money for every failed visit. In the end the architect agreed that concrete blocks could be used with XPS on the outside. The whole shebang ran over many months. We have since had to sack the builders after a negotiated settlement and are now 2.5 years into an extension project that was supposed to be done in 6 months. So unfortunately paying the bifold company to remove and refit the threshold (2 visits from 5 hours drive away), plus finding a competent builder to re-lay marmox blocks or anything else, plus paying more architect fees at £100 per/hr and more structural engineer fees to sign it off, plus waiting months to achieve this, just isn't a viable option anymore. It is also unknown whether the bifold company would guarantee a fitting onto marmox blocks as presumably any fixings have to be carefully positioned. I think I am stuck with either putting a layer of XPS on the outside down to an accessible depth (architects recommendation), or leaving it out(another visiting builders suggestion). So still interested in answers and thoughts on my questions above.

Yes you are reading it right. Photo attached. So would be putting 25mm XPS externally against the blockwork and it would end up below ground when the patio is made up to level with the threshold. I don't want to create a problem 10-20 years down the line by having it there or getting ants in it etc. Clearly there will be still be cold coming up into the blockwork under the bifold through the footings, but I guess the external XPS would inhibit losses out towards the ground under the patio which is nearer the surface and therefore gets colder in winter.

Just a thought, you could consider adding a smart switch module into the wiring to enable the LED to be controlled independently.

My rear extension has a 130mm concrete slab with heating pipes within, all connected up and functioning. The slab has 150mm PIR insulation under and 25mm PIR edge insulation around the perimeter just inside the blockwork walls. There is a 3.5m wide opening with bi-folds installed at one end and the inner leaf of the cavity wall was left out so the concrete slab runs out to the outer leaf of blockwork under the bifold. The bifold track is installed on this outer leaf of blockwork. The original specification had a course of celcon insulating blocks across the bottom of the opening and under the bifold track and a 25mm upstand of edge insulation inside this, then the concrete slab. However the builder had 'construction issues' and to resolve these it was eventually agreed to allow concrete blocks to be used instead of the celcon insulating blocks. Furthermore the front of the concrete slab and the course of blockwork was found to have a bowed outwards curve under the bifold opening when they came to fit the bifolds. To fix this the blockwork had to be removed and later relaid while the front bow on the concrete slab was cut off to straighten it up with a big circular cutter - this also led to some damage and reduction in the effective width of the 25mm edge insulation. So the designed insulation at the bifold opening was reduced from 25mm PIR + 100mm celotex block to 15-25mm PIR only. To provide some compensation for the loss of insulation the architect advised adding 25mm XPS insulation on the outer side of the concrete blockwork under the bifold. The ground level outside is going to be made up with hardcore and a patio to be level with the bifold track, so the XPS insulation will be underground when complete. I am in the UK at about the same latitude as London. My questions are: 1/ How long will this XPS insulation last in that position ? 2/ Am I best to add a cavity drain membrane over the XPS to help to keep it dry ? (or is there a waterproof coated XPS product out there) 3/ How do I adhere the XPS insulation to the concrete blocks ? 4/ Given the XPS insulation will be to a depth of 300mm (maybe 400mm) and this insulation will complicate the patio construction - will this give me a worthwhile heating benefit or should I just forget the XPS altogether ? many thanks...

I have two rainwater downpipes running down from extension roof to be connected into pipe runs to a soakaway. Both downpipes are located at internal corners on the outside of the building. I have been shown standard bottle gullies which provide a water trap but cleaning or access for rodding seems a problem. I also see there are alternative gullies for downpipes which have a leaf catcher built in and a removal cover to clean, however they do not have a water trap to stop odour - is this something I should worry about ? What do people usually do for downpipe gullies to a soakaway (I am putting a silt trap in at the soakaway) ?

May be posting this in the wrong section, but currently have lots of materials and other items which have been delivered but cannot be installed due to extremely long build delays. This is cluttering up the site and getting in the way. Can anybody recommend the best approach to storage problems ? There are self storage units, getting some form of storage on site, splitting the items up and storing in different places on and around site, purchasing a storage building/container of some sort etc. There will be items needing storage for many months yet. All getting like very hard work trying to research the best approach. Initial self storage provider enquiries are coming out around £450 a month for 250sqft which assuming up to 12 months storage is £5400 ! There appear to be absolutely no discounts for a committing to 12 months storage, or paying a year in advance. It is a lot of money to spend on something intangible. There are all manner of items you don't want getting wet or frosted etc. The site has a slightly sloping front area and only narrow access to the rear. Unsure if shipping container makes sense when unheated through the winter etc. Any advice ?

I’ll check, but it is 4 rads, 2 standard rads, one 3 column rad, one 2 column rad. Nothing bigger than 600 by 900. Plumber has been to rebalance them 3 times now. The last time he has been dishonest and turned up the boiler to 65 without telling me to try to escape the fact the rad pipework must be a problem.

Builders plumber started by saying the PRV could be a problem but he has now replaced it but it has made no difference. Gledhill PRV has been replaced with a Caleffi PRV. Plumber claimed the old PRV would be returned and tested for faults. But I never saw it as he must have whisked it out and hidden it in his van - perhaps he didn’t want me to see it wasn’t clogged. I rather doubt anyone is going to test a £30 part for faults! He also couldn’t get offsite fast enough.