carlos21

good point to put in a valve in hot feed, the only thing that concerns me slightly with the thermo valves is they seem to only go down to 30 degrees in temp which is way hotter than i need it, although the condensation is so annoying id nearly hook it straight up to the hot feed.

yes i thought that could be the case, but i figured the not so hot water in the pipe would still be a lot warmer the the cold feed from the header tank.

good thread, i find this time of year a pain, it just always seems to be dark!! my tips that help me, a good head torch, a blue tooth speaker with good tunes( best christmas pressie) a list of dry day jobs and wet day jobs, try not to fight the weather. take lots of build photos, look back and see that you have actually moved forward! dont start looking at tomorrow's problems when its late and you should have stopped work ages back. even small jobs help , pick a job that suits your time frame and energy levels. all the best, evenings are stretching now carl

the toilet cistern is badly condensated due to the cold water feed being very cold this time of year, so I am going to T into the hot water pipe and put in a valve to adjust the amount of hot water plus a couple of one way valves to stop cross flow, or a thermostatic mixer valve, anyone done this or have any thoughts? thanks carl

did you have to ventilate the cavity between the stone wall and timber frame,? thanks carl

thanks for the replies, il keep an eye on it ,plus i must add more rads once the renovation bit is done so i guess that may change the pressure a bit. i should probably get the boiler serviced so i will ask the plumber to cast his eye over it. yes i have some corrosion inhibitor, but i must drain down again due to a sticking drain cock that i must replace. thanks again carl

I have just redone our heating system from open vented to sealed system, everything apart from the radiators was replumbed ( due to renovation). it is an old oil boiler( not combi) I have filled the system to 1bar when cold, but when the system is hot and running the pressure doesn't rise much, is this a problem?? everything seems to be working ok, ie hot water tank is hot , all the rads heat up ok. my thoughts is the expansion vessel is too big (18L) as I didn't really calculate it, I just erred on the big side. is the lack of pressure a problem or would the system function much better with a higher pressure? any thoughts welcome, thanks carl

we are really short on head room so i wouldnt want to loose any!!, even 50mm.

thanks for the replies, i had been looking into slim surface mounted units, so this may work or i might build a sort of back box out of pir, for behind the downlight. i took one out in another part of the house and despite being led i was surprised at how much heat it generated. thanks again carl

i want to fit led downlights into a dormer bedroom ceiling. there will be pir insulation between the rafters and insulated plasterboard on top. i dont really want to cut a hole through all the insulation but iam unsure how much air gap is needed around the light unit. would surface mounted units be better? any thoughts? thanks carl

thanks for the replies, yes it is a true warm roof with all the pir board on top. the vents would be just for the ends of the rafters around the overhang area. i was on the fence about the vents then i opened up all the pvc fascias and soffit order to find that i didnt have any vents so that kind of answered that for me. i could always retrofit some circular ones with a holesaw i guess. another question, wide (350mm) 10mm thick fascia mounted onto a thick continues timber, what spaces for the nails?? i did 3 for the width of the board ie one top, middle and bottom at 800mm centers but not sure if thats a bit skimpy, i just didnt want it to look like it was peppered with nails. thanks again carl

i have a warm roof, the cavity wall insulation goes right up to the underside of the roof deck and will be airtight sealed from the inside. should i put in a few soffit vents in the roof overhang that will be soffited? i thought it a good idea to have a bit of air flow around the ends of the joists. it will have standard pvc fascia and soffit. any thoughts thanks carl

update, the joists done, i went with notching as the room wasnt square i wanted to be a bit flexible with the joist spacing, plus i got to play with my new cordless circular saw! feel a bit late to the party, what a lovely tool to use compared to a mains one , so light and quiet. i did use joist hangers on different parts of the floor and they seemed strong and easy to use. thanks again for your help.

could you fix something into the ceiling joists above?

thanks for the replies, given me a bit of food for thought. its all internal so no cold bridging issues as such. great forum, always pops up when i google building questions, so thought i may as well join up. carl

cool thanks for the reply, the notch is only 10mm deep so as to make the bottom of the joist flush with the bottom of the i beam. thanks again, carl

hi folks, iam putting part of the new floor/ceiling 7x2 joists into a steel I beam over a new opening, iam just wondering whether its better to notch the timber and rest it on the i beam flange ( 45mm ) or bolt a timber to the web of the i beam and use joist hangers, it seems to me either would work ok, so just wondering if there was a reason for choosing one over the other. many thanks carl.