Declan52

The simple answer is build what you can build to suit your budget. Price every option up from block to timber frame and work it all out. Each method has its pros and cons and it's only you who can make that choice. Once you decide on the method then it's not that hard to work out how much it costs to get each u value. @JSHarris has done a good calculator where you can play about with different u values for everything from the walls to windows and see how much better of you will be if you go 0.1,0.2, etc lower. No matter what method you go all the u values you will work out will be how good it will be in a lab, how close you get to that will depend on how much care and attention is paid to all the details you need to get correct during the build. No point in paying for 200mm insulation to be put in a cavity or between studs if it's installed badly. Is there a specific reason for going for a suspended beam and block floor??? Poor ground conditions for example.

Instead of blockwork could you use a wood fibre board system like @ProDave used. it would improve the u value and should weigh less and can still be rendered. He could give you a rough idea of cost and compare the two.

I would foam and tape the larger gaps if they won't redo it properly. I would agree with jack that it's probably what the guy has done before and had no issues but it's your house your rules your standards so it's your way or on your bike. That's how I would say it.

You would get away with it if it was only 1-2 course but after that the tie irons would be badly slopping towards the inside which is what you definitely don't want.

Problems arise when plasterers don't saturate the wall before starting which means the scratch coat dries out before it goes off and ends up cracking which cracks the top coat and looks very bad.

Give me a shout nearer the time and i will get you the number of the rep who done me and Dee a good turn.

I built my inside skin using a lightweight block . Outside skin is standard block. Why would you do the outside skin with them?? This type of block has a tendancy to crack badly ESP on large walls like gable ends.

I got all my windows and doors from them and had pretty much the same experience. They got hammered in the past because of the windows they installed on most of the sites here. Most of the builders wanted cheap windows so they got cheap windows. Not really Baskils fault. I know one of their fitters and they are flat out at the minute with most of the builds going for the 3g passive range. He obviously doesn't like them as they are very heavy!!!

The system for your house will depend on its sq ft. If you go onto https://www.bpcventilation.com/heat-recovery/complete-diy-kits you will be able to get a rough guess of what suits your build. My system is the vent axia on that page. It's been installed 2 1/2 years now and the biggest compliment I can say is you don't notice it. It works away with no input from me. It clears the house of smells and moisture so it never feels stuffy. I think having clean fresh air in the house is of more of a advantage than the heat recovery aspect. The fact that it does both is a bonus. As far as allergies go you can put different filters in to whatever system you pick to help with whatever is affecting you. It's a two minute change to do. Gary is a member here as well so drop him an email with your plans and compare all the prices you get.

Not sure to be honest. Put your plans in an email to Bpc Ventilation and Gary will get back to you with whatever you need. The majority of people here have used him as on price he is hard to beat. He is based in larne if you want to visit him. Mine is a counter flow system, vent axia, and my air is never dry. Not sure it's even possible as it's only fresh air from the outside that gets pumped back into the house that gets some heat from the out going air transferred to it in the heat exchanger.

There are two types of them. The one that is linked uses ultrasonic beam that reflects of the surface of the oil so as Dave says it comes back with a number between 1-9 depending on how much oil you have in the tank. Or the older type has a long copper strip that has 10 sensors on it that is lowered into your tank. What ever level the oil is at will vibrate one of the sensors and give you a number on your display. The boss also owned the largest oil tank making company here so he removed the clear dipstick on the front so you had to buy the first systems that came out. He only ran the company for a few years before kingspan gave him a fortune for the oil tank company and the company that made these sensor systems .

One of my first jobs was programming them and then repairing all the customer returns which there where many. A real grade A shit hole to work in. The boss encouraged everyone to use a Walkman as you weren't allowed to talk to each other. Lasted 6 weeks before he got told where to stick his job!!!!

Any clue on what type of hedge grows in the ground that is basically stone. My front boundary needs a hedge but i will be planting it in what amounts to rubble with some soil mixed in. It was made ground backfilled with the waste they dug out from when doing the M1 50 years ago. My dad planted a hedge 20 years ago but has hardly grown at all due to the poor soil conditions. Digging it out and replanting a new hedge with better soil isn't an option as there are 3 high voltage cables along the boundary that there.

Best £1 I ever spent!!!

I think somebody on Ebuild had trouble getting PV installed because of where they lived in NI was rural so their network couldn't take any more connections. I am not sure but I think it might have been @slidersx200 who has built in saintfield. I remember looking at a map showing the areas where there was still room when I put mine in. There was a vast uptake of the free PV systems here which has overloaded what is mostly a rural network.

Google says 8kwh of heat for 1 kg of coal. As a side note uranium-235 is way better at 24,000,000 per kg. Get a block of it and put it in the stove and your sorted!!!

If you have a look on the green energy stores Facebook page they do the type of battery storage system you are looking for. They are based in newtownards. They give a rough cost of £6500 so it's not cheap. Read some of the comments about the length of time to break even. I got £85 back from my exported electric this year so payback is 76 years!!!

Doesn't really matter if it was the tiles being out or the floor being out or the tiler being less than ok you have employed a PM to manger your job and it is up to him to oversee the job. You need to tell him you aren't happy with the work and want it sorted ASAP. He lined the tiler up so it's his responsibility to make sure the end product is good which going by the pics it's not. So tell your PM that it needs ripped up and relaid. Don't except a few tiles getting replaced. The whole floor has to come up and it won't be at your expense.

You must have some ass. Could put extra wide kitchen roll on that holder.

Put wheels on it.

He had to get the tank in place and then build the walls afterwards.

How expensive is the right adhesive and if you don't use theirs then what happens if your tiles don't stick???

I agree that the room can very quickly overheat. If I left my double doors closed it would very quickly get over 30oC. Once lit we open all the doors leading to my hall so the heat will reach everywhere including upstairs within 2 hrs. The heat will then stay in the house for a few days. It was lit on Sunday and no stats have called for heat so far this week. Could you put all the pipe work in to suit a back boiler but just put an ordinary stove in and see how that works out. If you need the back boiler version then put the first stove on gumtree and buy another one. That architect guy whose house we visited near Michaels had only a stove with a back boiler to heat his water but his tank was huge. Could have had dolphins in it!! Must have been close to a 2500l tank.

The next time you visit they will be falling over each other to serve you.

Let it dry out fully as it's just usually the mortar getting wet that shows through. Not much drying this time of the year as well so the actual blockwork will still have a lot of water still in it before you started to plaster it. An old wives tale was that the mortar had too much cement mixed through it.