Mr Punter

It is worth finding out if it is really rising damp first. Often internal plaster can get damp at low level due to warmer internal air coming into contact with cold external walls, especially at low level, under windows and in corners. What are the walls built from?

From their website it does look like it has been spec'd on some credible projects. Down to price v. alternatives for required performance I guess.

Townhouse half the size of your place!

We have nothing so fancy. With 6 WCs, 6 sinks, a bath and 2 showers spread over 5 floors it would make the plumbers head explode.

Or tap to brush teeth?

Flush the bog while SWMBO is in the shower? I have not had reliability issues with the thermostatic ones, although I have had an idiot plumber mix the hot and cold feeds on one. If anyone does this, Grohe do one for just such eventualities.

I have a Whirlpool microwave that does three beeps when it has finished. It continues with the 3 beeps every 20 seconds and carries on forever until the door has been opened. Drives me mad, as what is the worst thing that could happen? Something cools down?

I think it would be normal to have a stepped cavity tray installed above the stepped lead flashing, but not an option retrospectively. Can you consider coating that damp wall with Stormdry Masonry cream? I have used it in the past and it works really well at repelling water and leaves the brickwork breathable. It soaks in and apparently lasts over 25 years. I am using it on a forthcoming build where there is an exposed brick section that will be difficult to access in future.

Type C drained cavity waterproofing to floor and walls with sump and pump. Metal I studs inside walls. Insulation and chipboard floor.

Maybe this was condensation originally running down into the stove and now maybe the join on the pipe got moved slightly and it is finding an exit point there.

I know it is 1 hour. I thought that having it in the floor zone with the 2 x plasterboard would be acceptable. Architect wants intumescent paint.

3 flats - 1 per floor.

Thanks both. I have a project at present where the architect has specified intumescent paint to beams in a ceiling with 2 x 15mm plasterboard. We need 60 mins but architect insisted.

Thanks @Ian. I do feel that fire safety is an important topic and it would be better if this was not left up to the opinion of BC but was something that could be relied upon to comply. I can understand opinion on site matters with things like foundation trenches, because ground can be variable, but a steel beam is something that could be assessed at plan check.

So on the basis that the steel beam is structural, is it OK to just have have it in the floor zone with plasterboard on the underside to give the 30 mins or 60 mins protection required? I sometimes get asked to spray with intumescent coating or encase the whole in plasterboard. It is hard to find consistent advice. The intumescent coating only works if you leave space around the beam, which in domestic floor zones can be impossible, but BC don't seem concerned with that aspect. The product manufactures understandably tend to just promote and test systems that include lots of their product.

There seems to be a big emphasis on fire protection for steel. I can understand it in multi storey, but for domestic I would think that once the floors reach >500C the place is finished anyway.

There is no real issue with the wall. If you want to neaten up the corner where the pier abuts you could scrape off the smeared mortar and apply a wide bead of low modulus sealant like an expansion gap. You need to finish it neatly though. https://www.sealantsonline.co.uk/Products/Expansion-joint-mastic-sealants

It is a good question and one where it is hard to find a definitive answer. Promat state: "Where beams are wholly within the cavity of a timber floor protected by a Promat SUPALUX® ceiling then test evidence shows that the cavity air temperature of the floor is such that the beam will be adequately protected to the same fire resistance by the ceiling that protects the floor. Where the beam is wholly or partly below the line of the Promat SUPALUX® ceiling, the A/V should be based upon the portion of the steel beam that is below ceiling level."

In a new, properly insulated house it can take much longer to heat up and cool down. I have had heating fail in the winter and not notice for a day.

Sometimes you have to as HMRC. We recently bought a freehold comprising launderette, 1 bed flat and 4 bed HMO. We asked for multi dwelling relief. We have completed and HMRC have not got back to us one way or the other. Makes £7,330 difference, so I hope we get this back.

Yes I think you are right. I spoke to another distributor who said they have a fair amount of leeway with pricing and were happy to quote against others. They also do windows by other manufacturers who are not part of the DOVISA UK / VKR / VELUX group.

Are they just supported at the base on those brackets? I assume you are doing EWI and cladding / render?

I will shortly be doing just that, when the window schedule is finalised. Was your quote from Mole Valley Windows?

Result. By the time we get to Xmas day you can spend the whole time in your Speedos!

@Jason L Fine if you cover what you have built with some wide DPC weighed down with some blocks.