Spinny

Please can someone confirm arrangements re plumber photo id etc… Plumber has a Gas Safe photo ID card. Should he have a separate photo ID card for G3 certification ? Or should G3 certification be recorded on the Gas Safe Card itself ? (Plumber is claiming he has done G3 but not yet recorded on his gas safe card ? How do I check this ?)

I did wonder whether to look for hollow blocks (200mm deep?) and then have the posts run down through the centre of the blocks and into the ground ? Sounds like you resin bolted the posts to the blocks at the top of the wall using angle brackets ? Ideally I don’t want the wall-fence to be too thick. A normal fence is only 100mm square posts but this has to retain the soil.

That’s why I need it to look good with some decent blocks for the wall - any suggestions ? probably won’t be 9ft anyway - maybe 8ft - or even 7 where his patio is raised up. TBH could be very nice with some roses or espalier fruit etc grown on his side.

Yes it is on a hill, hence the retaining wall, fence will be 2m on my side. I am quite sure the neighbour doesn’t want me peering over a 3 ft fence on my side into his garden and it is North side so no impact on his sun.

How would people suggest building a retaining wall about 70cm high with a 5-6 foot fence on top ? Blocks need to look good on the neighbours side (low side). Is it better to run wooden posts down through the wall rather than somehow fix to the top of the wall. (Given wind load etc) drainage ?

Heatmiser do a wireless thermostat - the Neo air that is battery powered and wireless and connects to the Heatmiser hub. You could swap that in to control that zone. Another option could be the remote Heatmiser wireless air sensor but I see some reviews say it may not be very accurate. You could also try taking the floor temperature using an infrared gun thermometer - lots available on Amazon. There are also thermal cameras including ones that plug into mobile phones depending how much you want to spend. (Not going to solve anything directly just give you more data.) Another idea might be some kind of space heater that you could plug in and get Smart Control over that you then run automatically as a top up when the outside temp is very low.

Reckon one pipe is about 95m, the other about 60m.

UFH in 120mm concrete slab. Two pipe runs in one room/one zone. How accurate are mixing valve dials - are the temp markings on the dial arbitrary or do they accurately reflect the actual temp of the mixed water ? And what flow rate would people recommend and how would you optimise it ? (presumably if flow rate is too low the heat dissipates in the first half of the pipe leaving the far end cooler?)

I have u/f heating pipes embedded in a 120mm concrete slab laid over 150mm PIR. System is running controlled by Heatmiser with Neo air stat and Neohub. The concrete slab is currently unfinished and is to have a layer of levelling compound poured to level out the concrete. Then latex and LVT floor. I am thinking it may be a good idea to add one or two floor sensor temp probes. What is the best way to lay these given the concrete is already in place ? Q1 Thought I could put them in the levelling compound ? (This will be up to 20mm thick in places) Q2 Otherwise I would presumably have to cut a groove in the top of the concrete to lay them in ? Q3 Do I have to put them inside some small diameter sleeve or conduit and where might I find this ? Q4 How accurate are these things ? My thinking was a probe or two might be used to help stop the floor going over temp and lifting the LVT. Current using just a Neo air stat, but I have a manual infrared temperature gun and concrete temp getting up to around 26C in places.

PS Can anyone tell me the inner bore of MLC pipe crimp connectors ? (or is it an industry secret ?🫣)

Still seeking lead pipe replacement quotes. One suggested I should get in excess of 30l/m if it is done. Have checked the stop tap in the pavement and found that is lead too. So I seem to have lead pipe all the way past the pavement stopgap and on to the main itself. They updated the main about 15 years ago but seem to have left lead service pipes to the stop tap. How mad is that - they must have done half a job. Waiting for someone from the water company to come out and look now.

Yes but the noise is from the roof, so that is why the tecsound would be stuck to the underside of the plywood deck. I have put some up in the utility now and it does make a significant difference. Need to try adding 50mm rockwool directly under that now and wait for more rain.

Oh yeah sure, I could play white noise at just the right frequency to cancel the rain drop frequency. Or else Tina Turner with ‘I can’t stand the rain’ at 90db. 😜😂

That's not what it's designed for, this stuff is to go on top of the joist, with a floating floor It does say… ‘This product, used upside down, can also provide the resilient layer required for customers to make up their own resilient battens.’ But I suppose scores of penetrating plasterboard screws may render it useless.

With 150mm PIR in the south of England shouldn’t be a problem ? Was thinking to hold the rock wool up against or near the underside of the roof using some kind of support like chicken wire mesh ?

Has anyone used joist isolation strip like this stuff between plasterboard and ceiling joist ? Worth it ? https://soundstop.co.uk/products/joist-isolation-strip?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkuSHpb7ShAMVKYBQBh0CDA3uEAQYEiABEgL59_D_BwE

Thanks for all responses. It is a definite drumming or pattering noise. At present with no plasterboard up it can seem like standing inside a shed. Yes a lot of rain is only drizzle, but when you are building something you want to get it right for the decades to come. I don’t really get why interstitial condensation should be an issue and nor did my architect. It’s a warm roof with its own built in vapour barrier. The whole point is the temp underneath will essentially be room temp ? I am not going to get rid of the recessed downlights and speakers because I want that aesthetic. This does mean the plasterboard will have some 25 apertures which compromises its use as an acoustic barrier. I can put 100mm rock wool between joists where there are no downlights. Maybe some acoustic hoods but they seem expensive.

Anyone know about Q2/3/4 ?

I don’t have a back entry gully on mine though, just straight pipe into an access point about 2m away.

OK thanks but have you ever had a blocked drain ? We have every few years as neighbours drain also runs into our manhole. Most recently the builder blocked things by dropping a piece of 40mm waste down it. If it backs up and leaks it would be very costly taking up a heated floor, units, worktop, sink etc.

My warm roof with PVC membrane is quite noisy when it rains. Almost seems to leave me inside a drum as the noise comes through the 150mm PIR and plywood deck beneath. I am also having recessed downlights and speakers in the ceiling beneath. So my plan is to stick a layer of tecsound mass loaded vinyl to the underside of the ply between the joists. Then a layer of 50mm rock wool. This will leave me enough ceiling void for the recessed lights. Does this seem a reasonable approach (as I really don’t want to mess about with resilient bar/clip systems) ?

Thanks. He has currently fitted the first of these. I am uncomfortable with this as it doesn’t seem like a fully permanent seal. We have had an occasional blocked drain and if this happened in the future things could back-up along the drain. If it isn’t a good seal, in the worst case we could end up with toilet waste leaking out into the subfloor void hidden from view & access. So I think the second seems better. Q1 But maybe the 110mm pipe should be extended up to just above floor level anyway (rather than hidden under the floor?) Ofher questions are: Q2 The smaller horizontal waste pipe is for boiler condensate. Can’t see anything to stop smells coming up that pipe ? Q3 A UVC tundish needs an outlet which might be routed into this drain pipe - how can I tell if the soil pipe is good enough for high temp (95C) water ? Q4 Is there a PB or PEX waste pipe fitting with a mechanical seal to comply with section 3.60 of the G3 regs ?

Builder has run 110mm underground drainage pipe through footings into a new utility room to provide drainage for sinks and appliances. There is a 110mm 90 degree bend on the end of the pipe to bring the drain in and up to floor level. Is this ‘correct’ or should there be a 110mm water trap fitted to bring the drain in and up whilst stopping toilet/drain smells from coming up into the utility room ? Also a boiler condensate and a HW cylinder tun dish will discharge into this drain.

So can someone comment on the effects of MLC pipe crimped connectors and the reduced pipe bore. As well as the reduced bore (what is it reduced to ?) someone has pointed out the Venturi effect whereby the downstream pressure is reduced by introducing a constriction e.g. see image. Seems to me using MLC pipe with crimped pinch points is a bad idea. Not much point connecting a new 25mm MDPE mains pipe with 20mm bore to a 25mm MLC pipe with perhaps only 17mm bore at every crimped connection ? Also would it be better to be using a manifold approach rather than just teeing off tap connections along a pipe ? Seems to be a lot more to effectively piping a UVC system than one might think.