Declan52

First thing to check is when you last had the flue swept. Have you a flue thermometer?? With one of these you will be able to get the fire box to the correct high temp so it is pushing warm air up and out the top. If it's not at the right temp and you open the door it will drop further and pull the smoke down into the room. Also don't open the door quick. Open it slightly so the fresh air gets in and then after 20 secs open it and put more fuel on. How dry is your firewood??? The wetter it is the more smoke you will get.

Don't think of mhrv as just a means of saving you some heat. It's main bonus is the fresh clean air you have in your house. No stuffy rooms etc. If it also saves a bit of heat from escaping then happy days. By the sounds of it the way you are stripping the house back and filling every hole your already on your way to reducing your air leakage so might not be far away from a blower test of below 5 maybe even 3.

Yeah the rep called out and done his bit and theirs was by far the most expensive we got. There only based a few miles from me as well.

Really have sharpened their pencils then. I had 14 windows and the quote was £13k!!

They must have changed from my time. They where double my 3g baskil price for their 2g.

Who did you order the windows from??

How the papers in the rest of the UK haven't picked up on this story is unreal considering they hold the balance of power.

I think it's fascinating. Every day the more that gets revealed the more I reckon a bunch of pre school kids could do a more honest and better job.

You not following the rhi proceedings

Have you not got a shed that is for agricultural use to keep your tractor warm and put sheep in it one night a year. Know a guy who put his on one of these.

I would have him call out tomorrow but have a welcome committee waiting in the living room. Doubt you will need to provide tea and biscuits for the discussion that will follow. Definitely a close call.

I used a company in co Donegal called mcmonagle stone. They do both the cladding type and normal stone. I only have 2 pics on my phone. The corners are L shaped so look more like real stone work. Mine is silver and gold quartzite. I have the same silver quartzite flecks in my dash so when it's sunny they sparkle.

I looked at them at the time but most of their range was stone effect made from concrete. Their are plenty of real stone cladding companies out there. The adhesive for mine was just tile adhesive that you would use in a swimming pool.

If you are using real stone then you could use the wall ties that you use on a timber frame. These will need drilled in to the concrete. Or maybe as you build up you could put some expanding metal strips in between the blocks so they stick out 150mm with the rest inside the blocks, maybe 100mm. Once concreted in they won't move. When you come to build the stone there will be enough play in the strips to move up and down to account for the different stone sizes.

The major difference I notice is sound. I live beside a fairly busy road so triple glazed units where a must. How much outside noise are you likely to experience??? If noise isn't an issue I would go double and put pv in. The excess from pv generation is enough to heat my water for close on 6 months each year. What I generate covers all my electric bills so having pv is well worth the sacrifice.

Think I would have been fine on grand designs but Def not on the £100k house. That piers guy was always trying to get the builder to make walls from weird things like sheet metal and copper tiles. All of which would have cost more than plasterboard.

Every footpath in the country is a mix of different services at different depths and most of the older stuff isn't near the proper depths. Just take plenty of pics and accurate measurements just incase. Make sure all the ducts are covered with marker tape. If it saves you some money then fire away.

If we come round on day 3 of the frame erecting and rap the side wall will there be any sweets going??

Would you not be better reducing the cavity to 175-225mm and use beads blown in to fill the cavity. Easier and cheaper than what you propose.

But the camera would pan round for the scenic shot and you are standing back all proud as punch in your birthday suit with one foot on your ground windows giving it the full Kay's catalogue pose. I reckon that would be a grand designs first.

Your not criticising the roofers work the manufacturer is. Just have it in black and white what they reckon is wrong and show it to them all. Either the roofer done it wrong or he done it wrong because he was shown it that way by the local supplier/ trainer. Doesn't really matter either way. If it's not right it's not right. As you say the manufacturer won't give you a gaurantee so leaving the roof as it stands isn't an option. Only one left is strip it back and start again. And take lots and lots of pics this time. Can the manufacturer give you drawings /pics of how it should be done so you can compare these to the work that will be done on the new roof so you can keep a beady eye on it as it is being done. Ask the local supplier when he is out is he able to call in and check the progress as well.

Don't mention the black mountains, it will get him excited!!!

You can use Rockwool that is much denser than the Normal attic version that once cut to size it will sit there and won't say. Same goes if you intend to cut up sheets of pir. It's cut and squeezed in so it's tight against both sides. Any gaps can be filled with expanding foam.

No painting fences or waxing cars just straight in with the crane kick.

What about spraying the insulation in like @PeterStarck did with his.