BotusBuild

@Hannah82w - do you have pictures of the controls that you propose to use for the bath and shower? They may help people to answer more fully. Where on the pipework fitted in the bathroom as shown at the moment would the shower controls and shower head be fitted?

One of the problems with building stuff onto existing properties is not knowing of hidden surprises. When this happens, adjustments maybe necessary and may involve unforeseen cost. Sorry to be the harbinger of some possible doom. But you need to be aware of this upfront so you can plan accordingly. You are going to have to take a balanced approach, and I think both you and your dad are right in wanting to approach the relevant people. You'll need to talk to both, find out what the lenders are prepared to lend, and what a builder is likely to charge. If you are handing it all over to someone to build and your funds are limited then you really need to consider a fixed price quote (Note: the builder will add a contingency figure into their quote as they will be taking on the risk to deliver the proposed extension). Obviously, if you are able to do any work yourself/ves this may help to reduce the overall cost. Whatever you do though, do not hand over money for work not completed. For materials, maybe on delivery is OK, but pay for the "doing" in installments e.g. foundations complete, walls complete, roof and windows installed, first fix, second fix, completion and snagging. Good luck. Don't be put off by what I've said, just be aware of it 🙂

I would love to try and do the skimming, but having just ordered 4 pallets of plasterboard (and that is not the final total) I think I will be calling someone in to do it especially as 260m2 of that plasterboard is on the ceilings - there ain't no way I'm going there especially with my shoulders now in the state they are from the build so far.

Do you mean buck ends? I ran out but had spare standard blocks left over, which I cut up. Set the blade depth on a circular saw to cut the notches in the sides. Bit messy, but does the job - Wear a mask and goggles 🙂

Thank you all ye Thespians - It seems it is nobler in the mind not to suffer the tape and joint of outrageous fortune but to take skimming tools against the bumpy boards, and by skimming, end them.

I bought one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07F8LFRCF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 It was £89 when I purchased it in Oct 2023

A bit like the clip together flooring. Interesting product/business idea

Ready to order plasterboard and see claims you can decorate straight onto the plasterboard, implying no need to do a plaster skim. Am I reading this right? And if so, then the main question (a la Shakespeare) is whether to skim or not. Pros and cons?

Which adapter should I get to connect the 20mm plastic conduit pipe to the socket metal back box? Male or Female? Logic says female. But logic has been wrong before.

For transparency - LZOH/LSZH is about 20-25% more expensive on a quick internet search

Just about to do this myself. Using metal boxes with conduit running through the EPS (Nudura in my case) then an adapter to hold the conduit to the metal box. The key thing is the cable must NOT touch the EPS.

Next time. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - one house build has been enough 🙂 Hang on - I have a garage to build and an outer porch floor to pour

At the top of the page click on your forum name - choose Manage Followed Content - click the appropriate button 🙂

A subtle (or crazy) feature of the forum - you have to "follow" you're own posts Admins - is there a way to setup "auto follow own posts"?

Glad it wasn't just me. They still insisted on sending too many bits that I have not used.

I didn't pay for the design. But I ended up with some extra ducting from what they reckoned I needed!!

I presume the same applies for plasterboard (guess what one of my next big purchases will be)

Best thing to do is to remove the show screen and refit the screen. Before refitting, clean the tile and bath surfaces really well and then use methylated spirit to clean away any greasy residue (including that from your fingers!!) Refit after having made sure that there is appropriate waterproof (bathroom) sealant between the bath and the hinge and the tiles and the hinge.

I had this problem, and there was a lot of "squashing" of high chairs and "fettling" of U bars. Alongside all of that I was fitting the UFH pipes to the mesh and trying to keep the whole lot with a 50mm coverage. It can be done!! Take time to think through the laying of the mesh. FYI - 2 layers of A393 is 30mm in thickness if you overlap them, not 20mm. If you get the overlapping at 90 degrees to each other that goes up to 40mm

Ooooh, we're nearly back on topic with mention of the BUS grant 🙂

Not of the final bracing, but it was follows: Scaffold boards laid sideways, then heavy concrete blocks every 2m or so, then some extra packing before driving 12mm rebar offcuts 600mm or more into the ground (so each piece of rebar was about 1200mm in length. Our pad is partial sub basement, so where we were in a hole (like most of the build time 🙂) I also braced between the side of the hole and the scaffold boards for extra security. Might be overkill, but worth the peace of mind, and not having to run around like a headless chicken at pour time if anything went wrong

Whatever you do, DO NOT rely on the upstand itself to withhold the pressure of the concrete. BRACE, BRACE, BRACE as they say when the plane is about to ditch. We used Jackon for our slab foundation, and it was very well braced come pour time.

Just spoke with someone who seems to be prepared to accept that I know what I'm doing and talking about, and will trust my heat loss calcs (based on Jeremy's ss). Will report back on what transpires

Context: asked for a quote for an ASHP + 300L cylinder and UFH buffer tank (for a zoned UFH system fitted by myself) Following MCS guidelines the heat loss calculations have resulted in a 6.0kW Mitsubishi Ecodan being specified along with a 300L UVC and a 30L buffer tank. From the quote: The total cost for the complete system detailed in the above specifications will be £6,764.62 + 0.00% VAT. A £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme voucher has been deducted from the installation cost above. So a total of £14,264.62. A quick interweb search: Ecodan 6kW - £3,162.66 300L UVC for ASHP (I'm going high cost case with a pre-plumbed unit) - ~£1,800 30L buffer tank - ~£300 Ancilliary pipe, cable, switches etc - I'm going to allow for £1,000 which I think is fair give the pre-plumbed cylinder. Note there is no UFH related kit except for the 30L buffer tank. So I make that a total of £6,262.66 Leaving £8001.96 for labour !! Two people to get all the parts into place (2 hours each) One plumber to do their work (12 hours being generous) One electrician to do their work (4 hours being generous) TOTAL hours: 20 hours Hourly rate: £400 Even if we round it up to 3 full days (24 hours) that's £333/hour I will let you all choose the first optional word to the two word phrase "******* off"

They would likely work, but what about doing something like this ... Dowels top and bottom of each vertical slat, short at the bottom, with a shallow hole in the bottom horizontal rail. Put two metal washers over the dowel before locating in the hole. At the top, the dowel and hole would be longer. Insert the top first, drop the bottom into place. This assumes you are fitting the top and bottom rail first then adding the slats. Otherwise, no need to make the top dowel and hole longer.