Conor

Yes, it would be crazy. Do not underestimate the amount of force and pressure even a 1.2m concrete pour exerts on formwork. Youll need a lot of extra support and bracing. It would also take much, much longer, defeating one of the big selling points of ICF. Look in to Amvic, Nudura and Integraspec as well for a full range of options and prices.

I'm putting in a basic shower trap in the corner of my plant room, connected to a soil pipe by a 40mm waste pipe. This is to mitigate a burst / leak from the manifold, heating system etc. I don't think BC will allow you one in the garage due to the risk of oil/chemical contamination.

You'd want it at least 1200mm deep - 600mm for the cylinder etc and 600mm standing room. How will it be accessed? You could get away with narrower if you had sliding doors or something along the long side -that's what we originally planned in ours - plant room a partitioned off strip in the basement hallway. Would have been the same depth s the stairs and we'd have a couple sliding doors so it could all be accessed face-on. In the end a separate plant room was chosen as we have loads of room in the basement.

Our main foul run to the public sewer is blocked. I know exactly where and why. This is what I get for taking a shortcut!! (temporary vertical drop as the manhole for the intended backdrop is buried) Anyway, It's about a 15m run from the upstream manhole to the point where I think it's blocked. It's completely blocked and the water level in the manhole is about 300mm higher than the crown of the pipe. The downstream manhole is about 3m from the blockage, and I've a digger booked to make it accessible. Never done this before, normal rodding kit enough or would jetting be a better option?

No right or wrong for a low energy house. Key thing is the energy use is minimal so the costs and impacts have a low baseline. Gas, oil, direct electric, stove, ASHP all justifiable options. So, if you want opinions... For us, in a 350m² passive ish house, UFH throughout and a ASHP. It's on once a week at the minute for about 8hours.ngets the house from 17c to 20c in that time, house then drops to 18c in a few days. Briefly considered a stove but it's probably the least environmentally friendly way of heating a house. And the least useful as it's not evenly distributed through the house. And ASHP with UFH is the most expensive option (ours came in at about £9k for everything) but it's the cleanest and most versatile option. Especially if you have a decent solar PV array and you can effectively cool your house for free during the summer. Can't do that with a stove. The cooling worked so well for us that I'm highly unlikely to bother with all the external shading the architect specced (based on PHPP saying overheating was a risk). At a guess it'll cost north of £4k... That is the same as the capital cost of the ASHP, and it's saved its own outlay instantly.

That means they are fully open. If the flow rate won't increase, it's likely due to the pipe loops being longer than the others and the pump can't overcome the pressure loss. Make sure the valves on the return end of the manifold are open as well. What's your pump setup and what are the flow rates on the other loops? More than one manifold? Edit, they seem to be about 3lp/min? That should be more than enough.

Did the above except the DPC on the front of the door block. Used self adhesive tanking membrane right up to the underside of the door frame. Pavrd right up to the door threshold now with no issues.

Weed membrane from garden centre is basically the same thing.

I've a full face job. It's great for hardcore work but it gets sweaty in there and not comfortable for all day use. I just use KN95 masks from Amazon. Fit well, and block all the dust. I've a half mask as well but don't rate them at all, don't fit as well as a full mask (never stays in place long), or even the good quality KN95s.

We got the kitchen guy to fix the top drawer to the next one down so both handles open the same drawer. Kept the symmetry in the kitchen and have a useful drawer. Mostly so not trying to open a fixed drawer tho! Ours is white as well, looks amazing.

I've an Elica recirculating hob. Love it. Bridge function, extractor actually works, timer to control rings so slow cooking is a delight. Wouldn't change it for anything. And doesn't scratch 🤣

Interesting to read that they will be getting a partial payment while issues with some invoices need addressing. I though it was an "all or nothing" system. If you had one issue, then the whole lot was rejected?

I don't think tiles can be beaten for durability. Larger the format the better as you've less grout to discolour Only other suggestion is a hard wearing laminate (AC4 or higher). That's what we have and feel it's a good balance between the soft look and feel of wood and the durability of tiles.

My architect once told me there was a house size threshold that once you go over, the quotes get exponentially higher... Purely because the contractors expect the client not to care too much about the details of costs and are more likely to be the type that will throw money at something until it sticks. And more likely to be demanding and a PITA, so it's priced accordingly. Not saying that's you, bit that's often the perception and prices reflect that. Also, you get to the point where you lose economies of scale. E.g. this build might need double brick crews, two ground work teams, a tower crane, onsite silo mixing, double the welfare facilities etc... So costs go up massively as your entering commercial build type costs. So I would be budgeting on the higher end of the estimate ranges, £3.5k would be cheap.

Before you do this, make sure you know where the valves are to isolate the heating pipe loop. Last thing you want to do is have a failure and uncontrolled release of water. Reccomedation from personal experience.

Are you going to do it yourself or get somebody in? A solution is only as good as the person applying it. Both are good options, along with fleece lined PVC. I did a GRP roof myself, easy enough if you have all the materials, equipment and prep done. Oh, and good weather. Good luck laying a 40m² GRP roof at this time of year! You need low humidity and warm temps.

You're a new user, you dont have the right to upload yet. Maybe @jack can help?

Yeah, mount the fully at the surface and just bring the pipe up. You don't have to worry about solids so a steep fall is fine. On my deep run I had to 45⁰ bends on one gully and at th nother a 45⁰ Y connector.

I've a TP link Deco system. Pretty easy to install. Probably take you 30mins to get three units up and running. A techy friend also reccomemded the Nest system.

You need openable windows for escape in some scenarios but also for rapid ventilation. It'll be noted on your approved building control drawings (if applicable).

Directly from Lindab, give your local sales rep a call and they should be able to sort you out. Details on the website somewhere I think. You don't need to be trade. Yeah, you'd run 250mm out of the unit, branch off to the manifolds at 160mm per manifold. You'll need a LOT of room for this equipment!

Steel corner posts. Your builder & SE should have this covered. What has the architect shown in the section drawings for the bays? Roof construction? Insulation etc?

Lindab. That's a lot of ducting and outlets, I'm hoping you've got two units for that or a big one with decent sized main ducts. You would definitely need to split that in to four manifolds, each fed by a 160mm duct back to the unit(s). You'll find that might also reduce your individual runs as you'll split the locations of the manifolds to be more central.

Before you go down this route, check to see if this falls under permitted development rules and what building control regs and process will apply, and these will dictate you construction spec. Eg. Its to be used /can be used as a habitable space (you've mentioned bathroom etc, so almost certain BC will apply), then you'll need to meet certain building regs, e.g. insulation, prevention / spread of fire etc. Do this first before picking a construction method.

@China21 if you are within 1m of a boundary, the structure must be made out of largely non-combustable materials. Sounds like it's mostly wood, so you've another issue to address. Solution might just b moving the whole thing so you're >1m from the boundary, allowing you to have higher eaves height (depends on your LA) and not fall foul of the non-combustable material issue.