Russdl

We don’t need an extra duct just yet but I suspect we will in the fullness of time as the empty duct we installed to ‘future proof’ the house is now full of various unexpected cables that needed to get outside just three years down the line. Many years ago JS Harris posted about adding an additional duct through his MBC wall after completing his build project but try as I might I can’t find it. I’ve searched high and low, does anyone know how to find that post (and let me know where it is!) Ta.

@Adsibob is your garden sloping? If so you may be able to take advantage of that. The 2.5m restriction is measured from the highest part of ground adjacent to the proposed building which naturally makes the building higher with relation to the lowest ground if there is any slope. I hope that makes sense? Reads like gobbledygook to me 🤣

Wakefield Express

Only open windows when it’s cooler outside than in, as soon as it’s warmer outside than you would like it inside, shut the windows, shady side or not. If you can find some way of temporarily attaching a sheet to the outside of the window when the sun shines (closing the windows on it to hold it in place, make a timber frame etc) That would go a long way to keeping the heat out whilst still letting a fair amount of light in - unless you have black sheets…

That’s probably spot on @David001, have you got any photos of the substructure? Get some money back money off the original installer (if you can) and then don’t invite the back, take your time to find someone who can do a professional job (what you’ve got should be ok for a few months) and get it redone properly. Sounds like a complete load of bollox but even if it was the case it would just be the front part of the trim that would need replacing which is pennies in the grand scheme of things.

Can you put external blinds up? You need to stop the sun getting into the room and then the window opening/closing regime you’re employing already. Don’t touch the insulation.

@David001 I’m no expert, I’ve laid EPDM once but I don’t think your solution will last, mainly down to the detail Ive highlighted in your picture below. I don’t think you’d get an effective or long lasting seal on those corners and the roof will fail in the not too distant future. If it were me I’d do exactly what you are doing, namely asking on here, and if that failed I’d be looking at a minimum of bonding a strip of EPDM to the underside of that which is already in place and then have the correct gutter detail installed correctly, with the correct amount of EPDM in that gutter trim. Your ‘upstand to gutter’ detail could still be problematic. Ideally rip it off and start again but I can understand the reluctance to do that. Someone with more knowledge and experience with EPDM will perhaps be along soon to give you an alternative viewpoint and/or solution. Alternatively, ask an EPDM supplier what they recommend as a solution, the video link I posted came from a company that were very helpful when I asked questions.

Good grief.

Good spot, that does look like a line of very skinny rips. If you take a relatively close up photo with flash ‘on’ of the wall tiles/grout and the same for the floor tiles/grout that should put that argument to bed.

@David001 there are several slightly different solutions out there. Here’s an installation video of what I installed, which sounds similar to what you are describing. If it is, then looking at the pictures you posted I don’t think you have enough EPDM to lap over the gutter trim.

We used Phantom Screens but there are various other types, styles and suppliers around.

External blinds here, works very well but we have three east facing windows that we didn’t fix external blinds to and that was a mistake. If I were to do this again I’d have external blinds on all East, South and West facing glazing. So far any overheating risk has been easily managed with a very active regime of window opening and closing, the closing is the important bit. If we get another ‘summer of 76’ it may well be more difficult to control.

I can’t speak for the longevity of EPDM but I can vouch for its DIY-ability, recently did our garage roof 7m x 7m at the front and 5m wide at the back. Apart from getting the EPDM up on the roof, it was heavy, the rest was child’s play. The supplier of my EPDM recommended it was laid on OSB and not plywood, telling me that plywood delamination could be an issue, so ours is stuck on OSB. Maybe that’s the delamination issue you’re being told about? I’m sure someone on here has longer exposure to EPDM to inform further.

There is a specific gutter trim that should have been used, Google EPDM gutter trim and you’ll find it straight away. I think it needs ripping off and doing again as has been suggested, it wouldn’t take long or cost the original installer a great deal.

Timber frame, metal roof here. We used homeprotect.co.uk very competitive.

Go with your gut. Keep searching, they’ll be something else out there.

That sounds strange, it should be fully automatic and does its own thing depending on the exterior/interior temperature without any user intervention. As what @JohnMo says, you probably won’t need to bother about that, we never have.

+1 VAT claim is enough.

Whoops! Should have read the posts properly. Soz.

@Philxyz one thing to add, when I was doing mine I recall seeing somewhere that vents should be at least 1 meter from any wall, in your image some are right next to walls, may be worth considering moving them away from the walls if you can.

It’s going to have to be more permanent than that, especially if I get an EV charger.

Spookily enough that’s exactly what I want it for. The electrician told me: “…it would benefit from two CAT5/6 ideally. One to hard wire into Ethernet if available and the other for the comms to the current clamps.” Some of the above I understand. Plus he tells me I need 10mm2 for the garage so a plan is taking shape. So they do exist 😃 Two days ago I’d never heard of such a thing and I was surprised that a search of BuildHub produced no mention of them.

There’s no cable at the moment, just the one duct to take a future cable. I think that may well be the first plan of attack. Waiting to hear back from the electrician about the EV Ultra cable after Ian’s discovery.

@ToughButterCup thanks for that bit of research, I’d better check with the electrician if an EV Ultra cable is acceptable (just when you think the water is clearing, someone throws some mud in it 🤣)

Well I never! Thanks for that pointer, never heard of such a thing but the demand for such a product is obvious I guess. That’s a very straight forward solution that I never even considered!