Conor

5min job on Sunday night. Easy peasy. Just need to clean out the rust and debris and lift it down. Luckily only needed to cut it in half to make it small enough to fit through the hatch. But the Makita saw I bought cut through it no bother, would happily cut it again.

ASHPs heat water to a lower temperature (50c ish) than a boiler (65c) so you need a larger volume to deliver the same amount of hot water as there is less blending with cold at the outlet. Depends on how many of you are in the Josue and how much hot water you use. But you'll probably need something in the 200-300l range.

Tbh, a rainwater system sounds like the best system. With the lengths, pumping heads etc, I think you are looking at a lifetime of pain. A rainwater storage and treatment system would be a lot easier to maintain. And remember, for flushing toilets etc, you don't need to treat the water.

Sdr11 HPPE pipe is rated to 16bar. https://www.mjabbottdirect.co.uk/Products/DUCT,-PIPE-HOSE/PE-PIPE/Black-Water-Pipe/Black-HPPE-Water-Pipe/32mm-x-50-metres-HPPE-(PE100-SDR11)-water-pipe-to-BS-EN-12201-16-bar-BLACK You best option is to measure the water pressure at the main, run a direct 32mm connection to a break pressure tank at the appropriate head, then have your pump setup to push the water the rest of the way. You will, at the very minimum, get 15m head at the mains, more like 25m. You'll also need a surge reflief valve or vessel at you pumping station.

Don't know what you guys get for £250-£400 pa, but my last boiler service was £40. And you don't HAVE to do it every year, it's not like the boiler police call round and do inspections.

Depends on what you mean as tax. We had to pay higher rate of stamp duty on our purchase. We get to reclaim this shortly as we're selling our current home within the three year time limit. I don't think capital gains tax applies either. As long as your not renting out either property, I just see it as a transition from one primary residence to another.

Following this with interest. A few years ago, my electrician used one on a telescopic floor to ceiling pole. He left it with me for the weekend when I was setting out my kitchen. Brilliant. Pretty sure it was a deWalt. Made me realise very quickly that the walls in my house were built by somebody that was unfamiliar with spirit levels and plumb lines....

Welcome. How are your annual running costs? Not many houses of that spec and that age about. Cat 8 cable.... Even cat6a is overkill for domestic application. Can't fathom why you'd spend a fortune on 40gbs cable that you never make the most of?

One ICF builder is spoke to said he would nromally rasp down any high bits, rather than filling up depressions.

Will second what @Cambs says about P+ mag. Only one that features builds that are actually representative. Then again, articles one apartment blocks and hotels are a bit meaningless to the average self builder... It is an industry mag after all. Rest of self build mags just recycle the same old "look at me" stuff.

You are probably right that it's not a big issue and I could leave it... but I'm too nice for my own good.

Luckily I bought a full face respirator last week, I can pick up some chemical filters for it on the way home today. Thanks all.

Interesting results so far. If this was an exclusively Irish based website and audience, the result would be more like 80% block/brick cavity, 10% TF with block skin, 5% ICf, 5% others. Geography and existing build cultures are significant.

I'll give the grinder a shot tonight and see how it goes. It's a cheapy and I can see it expiring before the job is done...

Selling the house, and fully insulating and clearing the loft was one of the things we agreed to do in advance of completion. Regret not doing this years ago!

We've an old galvanized steel header tank in our attic that I need to remove. It's about twice the size of the loft hatch so you can see where this is going... I tried to drag it our from the eaves the other day and it's bloody heavy! The steel it probably 1-1.5mm thick. What is the best way to cut it up? I've a small grinder but I'm doubtful it could do the job, plus it's a small, unventilated space with exposed, rough, dry timbers.... Any ideas? Something like this manage the job? https://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-djr186z-18v-li-ion-lxt-cordless-reciprocating-saw-bare/8334r C.

I use dulux satin wood... Prefer the soft look compared to gloss. No yellowing issues. It does take 2-3 coats tho.... And you'll probably need to sand down or strip the existing gloss paint.

I used a sheet of OSB with a bit of fence paint as a temporary door on my shed, assuming it would last a few months until I had everything finished. After a couple of years it was still 100%. So I just glued and nailed on some T&G panelling, a proper lock, a kick of paint, and it's perfect. Glad I never bothered buying a "real" door.

Cheers.

Ok. I know it's probably my third or fourth post on this. Bare with me, trying to finalise budget for heating. I can either spend £4k on a Mitsubishi, Panasonic or LG ~5Kw monbloc. OR get what looks like the same kind of thing from eBay for £1k delivered. What sort of compromises and downsides would I expect for my £3k saving? Noise? Reliability? Rusting? E.g.... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-HOME-AIR-SOURCE-AIR-TO-WATER-HEAT-PUMP-HEATER-5KW-RRP-1299/352795450340?hash=item52243f5be4%3Ag%3AJF8AAMXQU6tQ9u81&LH_BIN=1 (My hesitancy to spend more than is based on the fact that our heating demand will be minimal, and solar PV / E7 can be used for DHW, meaning the ASHP I install may never be needed)

One of those aluminium working platforms on wheels would be perfect. You need edge protection when working at height, trestles are not safe.

Planning a fully insulated and airtight room in the basement using ICF to form a pantry. Will have its own external air vent. Will also have provision for a future air con unit (just like @JSHarris Recently I stalled in his bedroom) for £500-£700 if it turns out to be too warm in the summer. Price wise, a bit more than a large fridge but the storage are will be huge. I don't think you'd ever get enough water flow though to have a effective cooling effect. And depending on your water source, temperature of mains water can be in the mid teens in the summer. Ours was 18c this summer. You'd have virtually no cooling effect. You'll also have heat transfer through your floor structure to adjacent spaces. And I'd also be against it for a couple more reasons. As your water is going through more pipework than required, you'll have a slight pressure drop. Also, you might be tempted to leave a tap running for a few minutes for a better cooling effect now and again... A criminal waste of water.

Highly recommend Ecology for a mortgage. Bang on 4 weeks from posting application to getting offer, which is valid for three months. We were super organized and had very few queries back from us, just one missing bank statement and employer references. I'd allow at least 2 weeks to get your self organised for the application. So you want to be starting the process 6-8 weeks before your start date. We're planning to draw down on 1st November, day after our current residential mortgage deal ends (so no exit fee). Have demolition / ground works contractor pencilled in for then (but dependent on electric being disconnected and building control drawings submitted, but both on schedule). Contractor is taking on role as principle contractor for demolition and ground works, so will be responsible for insurance, welfare etc. I priced a couple insurance providers and neither would cover demolition or excavations over 2.5m deep...

Yes. This was the bane of our lives when doing GPS surveys. I remember one survey of a new watermain along a coastal road... The map shift was so bad, our watermain appeared to be in the sea! The reason for all this is that the original OS/OSI/OSNI maps were based on fixed trig points that were setout manually, decades ago. Along comes GPS, with millimetre precision, and the little errors in the base mapping became apparent. Errors got worse the further away from the control Points you got. In Co. Fermanagh, it was not unusual to get map shift of a couple metres or more. Over the last few years, there have been big projects by various mapping companies to correct the old maps to the "correct" positions. If you ever have a boundary dispute, using GPS to verify boundaries that were mapped 100 years ago can be problematic...

Up until now I've been assuming I'd be going for concrete intermediate floors. I'm open to option of posi joists. Is it possible to use these in conjunction with the bracing systems for upper story pours? Or would the timber be ruined? I'm assuming I'd need to put down temporary ply flooring at the very least.