Jilly

Does breathable matter if the wall is (presumably) solid?

@twice round the blockThank you. It definitely seemed like a partial blockage. It seems to have resolved now we’ve thawed so maybe I need to lag some more. It is also possible there is a hidden dip somewhere in the pipe.

Hello again, thank you for reading. My Worcester condensing boiler has a history of the condensate pipe blocking. It was ‘boiling’ earlier which apparently is diagnostic. So far so good: I grapple under the sink to clear it, except this time it doesn’t seem easy/the same. There seems to be lots of water ensuing when I unscrew the pipe. So I flushed loads of hot water soda (sodium carbonate decahydrate) crystal solution down the sink which hasn’t helped. Do I really need to let it drain when I unscrew the condensate pipe? It’s in a pig of a location, and will flood under the cupboard. Do I need to get the pipe flushed from the boiler end? (Still under warranty). Ultimately relocating the condensate pipe would be good, but easier said than done… Thank you! ☺️

Be careful in that case, it can be a palaver to change things without another planning application. Also, I’m fairly sure, if your drawings for planning and Building Control don’t align, you can’t claim the VAT back.

20.8c 47% RH inside. Cold and damp outside.

Look up Biff the Biodigester

@SteamyTeahas put me off getting a wood burner, despite having free wood, as I have asthma, and I do feel better than when I lived in the old place. What about biogas? I know of people who have constructed homemade bio digesters which run off compost and animal poop. I’m sure it’s not perfect, but has fewer downsides than wood burning.

My ecologist started talking about this when I had the bat mitigation designed for the Bat Licence. The next ecologist who visited from the same company didn’t mention it, so I didn’t bring it up, so I’m not surprised it’s become another ‘thing’ to worry about. We’ve got street lights nearby, so I don’t think my odd outside house lights make much difference, but I’ve made sure that they aren’t like Blackpool illuminations, because I do care about wildlife. From what others have said, atm it looks like you can draw up something sensible yourselves. Maybe get some biology students to help. You could spend a lot of money getting an ecologist to survey and design a mitigation plan if you want.

Hi yes, things seem to be working now, thank you everyone!

Ah just before this the boiler had low pressure

Am just trying again, but it seems not. Have just switched the towel rail on, which seems to be working. I also put a floor on and that seems to have changed the flashing on that actuator and it now looks happy and is working 😊Thank you!

Not before it happened afaik, but the boiler lost pressure, so could that have caused it? I’ve done that since tho’ (I thought not too quick, but hey ho) hoping it would reset itself. Does that mean we should sit tight with the flashing lights?

Can you see from this?

Hi! We have an LPG Worcester combi boiler. Today the ufh isn’t working and the red light of the actuators is flashing rather than on steadily when the rooms call for heat. Hot water is working. I’ve tried turning off the electric for 5 mins and restarting but the same thing is still happening. Incidentally, this happened to just one room recently and it seemed to correct itself after a day or two of being off. It might have been the harbinger of a problem or I haven’t been patient enough? Back story, each room has a thermostat and we adjust the rooms according to how we feel (partner likes to boil himself, so likes to have the floors on a lot, I prefer cooler) and we switch the rooms off at night. Thank you!

I go by instinct too. The main builder I used had a system whereby you paid every 2 weeks as things went along. I thought it was quite a good system for a small business for damage limitation on both sides. It meant they kept their cash flow if they had laid out for materials. Bills were manageable and if things had gone t*** up, it was only 2 weeks money to fall out over.

Interesting comment about familiarising yourself with the drawings to spot mistakes. I know people are only human, but I found there could be teeny questions and mistakes each day, which if not put right, could be a big problem later. Course correction. As a general rule, if something looks wrong, it probably is, but I needed to research stuff (BH rabbit hole) in order to have a proper conversation about it and not appear like a whinging idiot. I think the reason @joe90 and @nod have had such a good experiences, besides choosing a great builder, was knowing what to look out for at every stage. Most self builders start from the other end and learn the hard way.

I was worried about this when we moved in, and we got condensation in the Al frames. As the building dried out over the next year or so, it’s stopped happening except on really cold nights. I also aim for RH of 55%. I couldn’t face the disruption of taking the doors out just to check…

If you are not happy, it’s acceptable to have the conversation, agree the financials and move on. Be prepared to compromise. It can be tricky booking good trades at short notice, mind you, so try to get recommendations from friends asap. If you can move in and rough it you’ll save rent, but trades hate working round folk.

I’ve got a cheap endoscope from Amazon which is useful for looking in difficult to access places.

The bug invariably starts with a renovation...

Silly question, but do you need a dehumidifier running most of the time in the damp/cold months? Is there some technology you could engineer (sorry side tracked from your ufh qu)?

Hi your post is titled ‘Mr’ and so wond be found. It needs to briefly state the problem to attract people with the requisite knowledge. Maybe repost? CIL is a trap for the unwary, you need to post the details to see if you have any hope of someone spotting something you could use. The previous posts give lots of suggestions.

I’m guessing external insulation wouldn’t work?

I can’t delete these 😵‍💫