Declan52

I have a wood pellet stove that provides all my heat plus dhw.

Doesn't matter what way I work the thermostat as soon as my back is turned it some how seems to be increased by persons unknown(wife). I try to keep the rooms at 20 degrees so if by the of chance we get some sun then it doesn't overheat that much. With winter now starting and the cold mornings and nights I have my stove set to fire up at 5am and this makes sure the house is nice for the kids in the morning. All my kids are cold people so anything under 19 is like the arctic. At night it comes on at 6pm but depending on how much hot water the floors have taken and if some one wants a shower then it might only burn for 90mins before it powers down. If it's been sunny and the PV has heated the water then it might not come on at all. I have tried heating my thermal store to every temp from 50-80 and my sweet spot is 65 degrees.

The half brick you cut out will do the course above so it's only a full brick that gets slipped in to where the half brick was. Not a big job and will look much better than a piece of wood or plastic..

They will go into an rsj no problem. Used them to attach wall plate to an rsj and they don't be long drilling through. Obviously depends on your drill as well!!

Well then you have probably paid him enough. If all your drawings are done and dusted why else would you need him. Between you and the builder and on here I am sure any issues that come up can be sorted.

Think I paid £1600 for mine to write what was basically 3 very short worded letters confirming I had got to each stage and was done correct. You are really only using him for his indemnity insurance. It was a stipulation of the Ulster Bank so just had to pay up to get the money released. Who do you plan to use if you don't go with the architect to use to release the funds.

Make sure you let the drilling company know that you are likely to hit sandstone at a shallow depth. Depending on how strong it is you might not get a sample using a hollow spt split cone.

Your valid argument is that you have dug to a depth of 500mm+ at 4/5 different locations across the site and found sandstone at this depth. Unless you are going to attack this with either a 20t plus digger or a fairly powerful drilling rig you won't get anywhere near 4m. Maybe she would be happy sending samples of the sandstone away to be tested. Either get the spade out or get the groundwork guy to go at it with a digger. Either way will be much cheaper.

I used to do these. An spt is a test you perform on the ground that will give you a set of results that will give you the bearing capacity of the ground. It's nothing fancy at all, a length of steel rod with a point gets banged into the ground by an spt hammer( a big heavy weight) and the amount of blows it takes to drive down 150mm 300mm 450mm are counted. The likes of peat take 1-2 blows to go the full distance and boulder clay might take 50+. If you reckon you will hit sandstone at 500mm get the spade out and dig a few small holes to prove this. If it's there it would be a complete waste of time getting a drilling crew out as each borehole has to be dug to 1200mm depth by hand incase there are any services there that could be hit. The atterberg test is to determine how the soil will react if it dries out or gets very wet i.e how much it will shrink or expand. If you can prove that sandstone is that shallow then you won't need a site investigation.

I used my architect to sign of the stages of my build. He will come out have a look and then write a letter confirming your build is built to wall plate/first fix/plastered out etc and is built according to the relevant standards. This is the proof your mortgage company needs to release the next stage payment. If you are not using him for this then why pay him any more. If you are still on good terms with him and he has already been paid up for what he has done then he should answer any queries you might have and I would say he would be more than happy to call out and have a look at what you have done.

That is an excellent piece that even though the bco has clearly been a jobsworth you have explained all the issues without going on a rant. No way would I have been that polite and it would have ended up in a slanging match. Fair play to you and I hope it gets sorted on Monday one way or the other.

It's a great feeling to be able to finally put the feet up and relax and enjoy your house. Your house looks really well. Congrats and come on Ireland!!!

Don't forget to have a length of sewer pipe handy that might just fall into the trench for a future crossing and a £20 note/ 12 pack of beer for the guy doing the job.

The front cover.

The catch that holds the nut in place is useless. And the bolts are 30mm too long!!

Yeah I put mine in the bath and gave it a rinse out then used a hairdryer to dry it out. Comes out easy enough. Getting all the bolts back in round the edge is the fun bit.

Good pair of trainers will be fine.

Don't forget to put a few empty conduits in place that should you think of something else when the build is finished or a new type of all singing dancing cable is invented then you sorted.

Not sure how I could compare the quality as the original filters where pretty clogged up when I took them out. They looked the same to me!!

I got mine from here last year. Bought enough for 5 changes as they where so cheap!! http://www.fairair.eu/en/vent-axia-sentinel-kinetic-plus-b-bh.html

The scratch coat will seal it up then the skim will seal it up even more. Make sure they tape all the joins around the ceiling/wall junction gd as this is where it will crack.

I made mine out of left over scaffold planks

Your architect is earning way to much for a start, why is his bill so much?? How many Windows are you getting for that price and have you shopped round to get a better price than that?? You could buy a massive amount of paint for £500 and fire away yourself. Get a price from bpc for the mhrv. They do kits for £2k. Why so much for drainage do you have to put a treatment plant in or can you connect to the main sewer. Is the site on bad ground to be such a high amount for foundations. Have you priced round for a different timber frame supplier as that's a major outlay. You seem to be out a fortune just to get the house built and first fixed. Most timber frame companies will price a complete build including all you have as separate items, frame, insulation, plasterboard etc that should come in way cheaper than that. What is ceiling finishes, wet plaster ?? How did you come up with the actual figures, did you get different companies to price up their bits or did the quantity surveyor come up with these.

Paint it.

Put a mouse in it.