Spinny

How much do you need to, or want to, raise the ceiling and therefore roof ? Perhaps it is feasible to build the new roof structure above the existing roof and then remove the original garage roof and ceiling structure from below ? Perhaps you could put a nice rooflight in the new roof ? Our warm roof has the ceiling joists - set level for a level ceiling - then firring strips on the joists to create the slight runs needed, then the plywood deck, then a vapour barrier/underlayer of bitumen type roof felt on the deck, then 150mm PIR, then a single ply PVC membrane adhered. Photos and piece of a drawing attached. As you can see internal gutters can be created in the insulation layer if you wish, and they don't necessarily need to run the same way as the roof slope i.e. they can be made to carry water around the roof to wherever you want a downpipe by sloping the bottom of the gutter that way.

@Walshie How big is your cavity and what is the wall makeup ? drawing ? I have 90mm PIR and lots of companies make it. The interlocking design is better. Is this what you are after ? Seems to be around ? https://www.nationalinsulationsupplies.com/products/kingspan-kooltherm-k108-cavity-board-1200mm-x-450mm-all-thicknesses?variant=48126096146779

I agree with your points, except several smart home hubs are not dependent on internet connectivity to function. suppliers are recognising the limitations of that approach. Samsung Smartthings uses local control now running on the hub, Home assistant has always done that; Local control is often via self healing mesh network technology like zwave and zigbee rather than wifi. Yes if you start using If This Then That and lots of cloud only stuff with a single internet feed. And no battery backup - hubs can have inbuilt battery backup now. On heatmiser I can change settings via the app - vastly easier than doing it on the diabolically tricky to use thermostats. Yes I accept they are stored on the thermostat and a wireless thermostat will go down if you ignore the battery warnings. TBH heatmiser is quite anachronistic in its architecture because it predates current tech and has had wireless and app grafted onto it like a frankenstein monster. I do agree you have to think these through. Wife alone has insisted we have wired light switches (oh how 20th century 🤣)

Wow, I make that 82k+ on paving alone from a landscaper around here. I presume your cost is based on mucho free labour.

...But it IS going to cost you a minimum of 2.5k/m2 😁 The problem with these estimates is cost for what exactly and whereabouts in the country ? with or without labour ? VAT included ? insurance included ? internal fittings, furniture, and decoration included ? the new electrics and heating system included ? standard size upvc windows or triple glazed aluminium custom size ? flooring included ? kitchen included ? Contingency included ? We were given that figure by our architect at the design stage. The overall cost is much higher than that. I suspect the majority of the time architects design things and they never ever get built because the client cannot afford them, and the architect gave a crude and over optimistic floorspace figure. Making budget allocation choices is really, really, tough, so many things. If you are going to live in it for 20 years - so tough to down specify.

Notification to the mobile phone or smart watch of anyone you wish to set up - yourself, family, neighbour etc. Automated actions in response to the alarm - flash a red light on the outside of your home, or the TV screen of a deaf person, turn off the electrical circuits serving the room that is on fire, turn on your sprinkler system, automatically unlock all the doors to facilitate escape or entry of the fire brigade, open the electric gate at the end of the drive, turn off the ventilation system so it doesn't feed the fire, turn on your webcam, establish that the TV is smoking and turn off the power to it, phone the police because you can see a fat Italian man smoking a cigar in your living room, play this at full volume on the music system https://youtu.be/CIrvSJwwJUE?feature=shared enough already ?

JohnMo, OK I guess we can debate it til the cows come home, but I think the world is different now. There are some things like external smart locks that I would still be rather wary of, but generally IP and smart is where the world is going. Even BT are scrapping the old POTS in favour of IP. Resilient internet isn't hard in a world of fibre internet, mobile internet and satellite internet and many smart home hubs support local control and SOHO routers often support automated failovers between wired and mobile internet. I do agree it is important to think about resilience and failover, but it can be perfectly doable in the electronic world. ''away from house it's a bit late anyway. Message pretty much pointless.'' Depends on your PoV, if I got a fire notification whilst on the world cruise I could not afford, I'd call up local friend or family or neighbour and say - could you possibly take a quick look for me ? Or indeed turn on any internal cam and check the footage. Do you not make a spare key available to anyone ? "essential home stuff, like heating, safety and ventilation should not be involved in so called smart home stuff" I have been using a Heatmiser app, hub and wireless thermostats to control my heating without any problem. My electric rooflight will be on a smart switch. I hope to put the stop tap on smart control. I like manual control too as a backup of course. Every manufacturer under the sun is using IP connectivity now to reduce maintenance visits etc. IMO it is a new world and it is coming whether we like it or not. I wonder what grok thinks ? I am getting on myself and you can tire of the endless march of tech and eventually think I really can't be arsed with an 8k, 16 speaker AV system, just like my parents liked their cheque book, and the MIL can't work her mobile phone. 😁🤪🤷‍♂️

I have been looking for a smoke and heat alarm solution which will link to a smart home hub to be able to send notifications to my mobile. I cannot yet find one. Building regs in England call for mains powered and interlinked devices - which is a bit daft in today's world of 10 year batteries, universal internet and mobile phones. All the smart home enabled smokes I look at are battery powered only, obviously because that is where the mass market is for retrofitting to existing properties where current building regs don't apply. I find it hard to contemplate installing smokes that don't notify you - seems absolutely vital to me. Nobody else in this world cares if an alarm sounds in your house. Your whole house will have to have smoke and flames coming out of the roof before anyone will call the fire brigade. Your half deaf parents will sleep through a 90db alarm etc. I am very interested please in exactly how anyone has managed to interlink mains powered smokes from the old world manufacturers like Aico into a smart home hub like home assistant (I currently use SmartThings). 🙏

Yes, we have used that acoustic pipe wrap for ensuite soil pipe running across a ceiling. The Mass Loaded Vinyl does seem effective. We found we had an issue with rain noise beating down on a singly ply warm roof like a drum, so we are sticking a layer of adhesive MLV internally to the underside of the deck between the joists. We tried it out in one room and it was very effective in reducing the rain noise. Agree with all comments above. Obtaining the right materials at the right time is a hell of a challenge. Builders & trades are often completely uninterested and unwilling to obtain anything which isn't immediately available off the shelf at any builders merchant. If you want anything other than the most basic spec items it is highly unlikely to be stocked by any standard merchant as they all seem to focus down their stock ranges very severely. The internet amazon style delivery model has taken over for anything beyond basic items. Often there will be a weeks lead time. And our builders were constantly over optimistic about when they would need items and we have stuff stored all over the house for months. I have had to help unload and carry stuff delivered on an artic lorry that couldn't get down residential streets. Unfortunately I consider the building materials market as pretty dysfunctional. Most materials are purchased by trades people and not the building end customer. This means many manufacturers focus on the needs and interests of trades which are distinctly different to those of end users. Trades want - off the shelf, low discounted price to them with high list price they can charge their customer, to use the same stuff on every job, stuff which is very quick and easy to cut, handle and install. One product variation, not 15 different colours, and 10 options. They don't care about 'nice to have's' or 'bells and whistles' or 'detailed spec requirements' etc. They are not going to live in what they build. They don't want 12 different trade accounts. This makes the building industry very resistant to change, and makes it very difficult for manufacturers to get products which benefit the end customer, but not the tradesman, into the market. I have used habito plasterboard...higher spec, higher price, heavier, and you have to work to source it and no tradesperson knows or cares that it exists. https://youtu.be/VltFR-kXtcw?feature=shared

Jilly & Temp, thanks, yes all too conscious of that. I want the exact position of the wall agreed and professionally measured from fixed points and verified at the build when the first footing blocks are laid, And that the position recognises the roof eaves/fascia. And based on construction drawings not the airy fairy planning ones where the architect has shown the land sloping in the opposite direction to reality. Somebody building a giant wall a metre in front of your glass door is not a pleasant prospect.

G and J, Thanks yes, that is what we want to achieve. We have nominated a surveyor for ourselves in response to a notice from theirs. However it seems rather odd that before even visiting or taking any full brief, our surveyor already seems to have agreed with the other surveyor on a third surveyor to be used in the event of failure to agree. I understand all these PWA surveyors are bound by their professional body and the Party Wall Act and are supposed to operate more like judges do rather than just as advocates for one party with respect to the other. But at the same time in any geographic area there are very few of them and they must work together frequently. One can't help but wonder whether one of them asserts the nomination of their drinking mate to be arbiter of any disagreement. I am possibly a bit paranoid, but our neighbours never even attempted to show us their plans or discuss them with us in any way, and they submitted them directly in for planning approval the day before Xmas eve, so that 2 weeks of the 4 week period for comments went by before we even received any notificaton from the local planning office. I know from our own experience that architects and planning authorities advise people to discuss with their neighbours first. Then I didn't appreciate that our local planning office now seems to be short staffed and populated by new young planning officers in their 20's placed under pressure to process every application at speed. End result - bad for us. Given their son is also doing the work we don't appear to start from a good place with an empathic and considerate neighbour.

Perhaps, but I would have thought insurance aspects do to the extent that they impact a third party and work is subject to the PWA. Surely the third party would be entitled to have a copy of the insurance policy and to verify that it covers the relevant risks - or if not a formal written legal statement that the contractor accepts full personal financial liability and has the proven financial means e.g. to rebuild both properties in extremis. As I understand it the whole reason for the PWA is to avoid the courts filling up with 'considered by others petty' disputes over work with impacts between neighbours. I would also say, how can you be a contractor if you don't have a contract. Yes low value work often gets done based on a written quotation and acceptance which doubtless forms a kind of recognised contract. But as we all know anyone spending major sums with builders without a written contract is daft. If there is no exchange of monies is there a contract ? I took the correct and responsible approach with our own build to protect ourselves, our property and our neighbours properties by taking out proper insurance cover. I simply expect our neighbour to do the same. I also know from speaking with multiple insurers that many require that building work is covered by a contract e.g. JCT and that contractors are verified to have £2M liability insurance, otherwise they will not insure/cover. I think most of us can agree that resort to the courts to determine 'lawfulness' is a last resort best avoided. And it is in everyone's best interest apart from those wishing to break or abuse the law, to ensure builds are 'lawful' before and during their execution. Despite this we sometimes see in the press builds having to be demolished. Anyway, all I am wanting to do is ensure things are done correctly and lawfully. My own experience with building is better to identify, plan and address issues early/asap and 'a stitch in time saves nine' applies to everyone's benefit. Bit of a digression perhaps, sorry for that.

Yes it is party wall agreement close. PWA surveyors are being appointed. I was hoping that might address it, but I remain nervous given the lack of any independent party (e.g. a third party builder) in the work, and the approach taken to planning permission which has led to previous planning precedents being broken. In normal circumstances the neighbour would be concerned to oversee a third party builder, but tends to leave his son to do as he wishes. Likewise a third party builder would be concerned to address risks, very careful not to build in the wrong place, likely include some neighbour contingency in their price, and take their own view re any matters arising. But of course none of that applies here. I would really like to have predefined certainty over all aspects in advance, as that seems the best way of avoiding disputes. What did your own agreements prescribe re insurance ? And did you have a mechanism to control the actual build with neighbours - e.g. to confirm footings were not in the wrong place etc etc ?

Just a thought here based on nothing except observing our own extension build... Cavities are commonly insulated with insulation boards like PIR and these seem to be commonly made to interlock at the junctions, and in sizes which seem to correspond to standard block and mortar courses. This then seems to make it more straightforward for wall ties to pass through the insulation boards at the horizontal junctions between boards, and for the wall ties and the board to be readily incorporated into the wall as it is built up. If you have sloping ties then you may have more issues with having to puncture or slit insulation boards to fit around them. Likewise those red circular clip things that commonly attach to wall ties to hold the insulation boards tight to the inner leaf may not fit so well with angled wall ties. My own naive understanding was that the ties have twists in for the very purpose of preventing water travelling along them anyway.

Neighbour will be having a side extension built by his son. His son does building work and has previously done some renovation/refurbishment for the neighbour. However we understand he does not have his own building company or limited company shell but operates as a 'sole trader'. The neighbour does not plan to have any building contract for the work 'because it's their son'. Given the work is close to us and the boundary I am concerned to understand what should be done to provide insurance cover for the work ? If the son has any liability cover (?), I would guess that this would only cover contracted work and not casual uncontracted and possibly unpaid work building an extension for his parents ? Clearly without insurance major risks such as a collapse, subsidence, fire etc of the neighbour's property or our property potentially costing life changing sums to fix are not covered. In addition I am concerned that even any modest payments to put right any damage done by the work may create immediate conflict if they are coming directly from the son's 'pocket' and there is no insurance cover. Can anyone clarify or suggest what insurance should be in place and how to verify it ?

The outside of my extension is to be rendered and clad. It is over a year since the external doors, bifolds and windows were fitted. Gaps around frames had spray foam applied by the fitters and externally this has now yellowed in the sun. Some gaps are small and other gaps are larger as shown in the photos. What is the best way of sealing and preparing these gaps prior to the rendering and cladding being done. I'd like to limit cold spots at the gaps and make it airtight. Is it just a case of more spray foam of some sort, or is there such a thing as insulated render board, or putting some cement or mortar mix in ?

How do you actually check that, do you have to drain down or remove the PRV ? There is a photo of the Caleffi PRV above.

The full pipe route to the PRV is as follows: 32mm barrier pipe mains supply Right angle connection to approx 1m of 22mm copper pipe with lever stop tap 22mm connects into and out of water softener connector currently set to bypass short piece of 22mm copper pipe with right angle bend connection into 6M of 25mm MLCP running under floor 1.5m of 22mm copper pipe to connect from MLCP to the PRV So the full route from the 25mm internal bore mains to the PRV is 20mm internal bore with the exception of the press fit connectors at each end of the MLCP which have internal bore of 14mm. The PRV is about 1.5m vertically higher than the mains pipe (just 0.15bar) as everything is on the ground floor.

I think this is what the utility tap gauge already shows anyway though, because it is connected to the balanced cold coming from the PRV. Connected via copper pipe and about 4m of 16mm MLCP.

Problem DOWNSTREAM of the PRV ? Do you think the problem could be in the cylinder or in the pipework downstream of the PRV ? How would that work ?

What is a bit odd is that the original lead pipe provided 22 l/m and we raised the flow problem (regarding the shower being weak and becoming very weak when a tap was turned on) with the builders plumber. His response was to suggest it could be the PRV and he removed the original Gledhill PRV and replaced it with the Caleffi PRV. However it made no difference to the performance of the system when he did that. He never said whether he found any blockage or damage to the Gledhill PRV, just whisked it away to his van. I suspect he would have shown me the damage had he seen any. The PRV was changed about a year ago now. It lead to the mains supply being declared as 'the problem'. Now that is fixed but we still have a problem.

It continues to read 40 PSI with no change. I think this is to be expected I believe ?

OK. Definitely a huge problem somewhere between the mains connection and the downstream side of the PRV. The system pressure of around 40PSI as measured on the utility tap (cold or hot) drops dramatically to 20 PSI if any single outlet is turned full on. That shouldn't happen because the system should be refilling and pressurised from the mains to a much higher pressure than 20 PSI. With two outlets turned on the system pressure falls to just 16 PSI. I took some readings with the shower outlet partially opened with the following results... Utility Tap Pressure reading: All outlets off 40PSI Shower running at 2l/m 29PSI !! (A dramatic drop in system pressure as soon as Shower running at 4.4l/m 25PSI Shower running at 8.5l/m 22PSI Shower running at 11.6l/m 20 PSI Even flushing the loo sends the pressure down to 24 PSI There is also a sound from the area of the PRV valve a bit like a cistern refilling noise when opening and closing any outlet. Makes me think maybe the PRV is jammed and not responding properly when water is drawn from the system ? If it isn't that either the water softener bypass (seems unlikely), or the MLC pipe run have a problem - maybe some crap stuck in the pipe ? Is it possible to kink MLC pipe ? Or over compress the end fittings ? I guess if the PRV is removed the water flow and pressure at the input to the PRV could be measured which would show whether the water softener bypass/MLC pipe was choking off pressure/flow. It frustrates me that the plumber fitted no gauges to show the pressure or temperature of the cylinder. If I get a new PRV fitted (again) which one is best ?

Photo showing the water softener bypass valve...

No. You can see the utility sink cold outlet on the bottom right of the sketch. The 2.6bar is the pressure in the outside tap 15mm copper feed pipe (centre left of the sketch) while it is open and discharging 37l/m through the outside tap. I can measure it because the same copper pipe to the outside tap also feeds the cistern in the understairs toilet (not shown on diagram), and I can attach the PG to the cistern outlet and measure the pressure while the outside tap is running. So the mains supply is about 3.5bar static, and with 37l/m flowing through it the dynamic pressure in the mains supply is still 2.6bar. So even if the outlets downstream of the PRV are discharging a combined 37l/m, the PRV would still be able to receive an input pressure of 2.6bar. So there seems no reason for the pressure in the system downstream of the PRV to fall below 2.6bar. Yet the downstream pressure measured at the utility cold tap is only 1.4bar when the shower is running. It seems like something is choking off the supply through the PRV. So do you think it is going to be the PRV where the problem is ? There is about 6m of 25mm (internal bore 20mm) MLC pipe connecting the mains supply to the PRV, and this MLC pipe has a crimped connector at each end where it connects to copper. The internal diameter at the connectors reduces to 14mm. (but the outside tap still discharges 37l/m via 15mm copper pipe).