ToughButterCup

Yes. Geberit do a series of them . I already have to use one (back injury). They all have an app from which you can operate the flush, the temperature and the flow rate. It runs on my phone. If I were further incapacitated, a carer could operate it for me. It also prompts you to descale and maintain it. It shows you how to do it with a video Of course my misplaced sense of humour got the better of me.... you're there before me aren't you.... I still have a considerable number of Brownie Points to go before she forgives me for operating the flush from my phone while she was on the loo, and I was outside in the garden. Honesty is not always the best policy.

This thread is about trust, not plumbing. @Dee, Forgive the change of focus to my experience: I write this to illustrate the point about trust. I paid my way round my first degree by cleaning the windows of the Great And the Good in Oxfordshire. Often, I (stupidly) gave a year's credit impressed as I was -then- by customers' status - many of them landed gentry. Think of the largest estate in Oxfordshire - it's an offical palace linked to Wellington. Well I cleaned there, and the Lord Lieutenants, a very famous bankers house(s), and a good few Peers of the Realm, not far from where Clarkson lives now. I had been working there for two or three years. At the end of one year, I asked for payment. The non-resident owner (he lived in Charlbury nearby) asked me how much it was. I've forgotten how much now..... He grunted, took a large roll of £20 notes out of his back pocket and peeled off £100 LESS than he owed me. "I'll owe you the rest" he said looking at the floor. I looked at him and his wife who was standing nearby. Her face flushed red, and glared at him . "Your Grace," I replied, "Gestures like that are designed to remind me that I'm down here, and that you are up there - and we knew that before I stated cleaning your windows: could you pay me the rest please" He hadn't heard because he had disappeared down the corridor. His wife silently took out her checkbook and wrote a cheque for double the difference. Next job, that day was the The Lord Lieutenants place - as it happens right at the end of the estate private drive. I was still angry when I got there. He sensed it and asked what was wrong. I told the story. "Hmm , he grinned " he just wants to make sure you come back: had he paid you in full, you might never go back. And he knows half the Board at St Cross (my college)- if you put one foot out of line, you'll never work in Oxfordshire again - you're not just cleaning windows - youre selling TRUST AND clean windows. Now, pop down to the wine cellar and choose yoruself a good claret" Top bloke. Sir Ashley Ponsonby that was. When I got my degree, he put on a silver service tea for my whole family at his private residence. Taught me an unforgettable lesson. Unless you have come to know and trust a tradesman, initially retain an appropriate amount. For the first time someone works for us, I usually ask for the trades day rate, and pay promptly for the labour. And pay for the materials after 30 days if all is well.

The first plumber I dealt with on my build was awful - to the extent of being actively mendacious. Knew his stuff (ostensibly) but was over-trading and under-capitalised. He might have turned up, but luckily - and with the help of colleagues - we cut the relationship short. The next plumber was ( is still) the exact opposite. Polite to the point of shyness, does what he says he will do to a proper (standard?) local price. And his company has just won a national award for excellence. And drops in on his way homne to fix my daughter's dripping tap. To your point @Dee: my example is the exception that illustrates the rule. It's nothing to do with you. Your experience is common. Trades also tell me that many customers are less than straight too. But we're not talking about customers here...... If our joint (communal) experience of working with trades folk were the opposite, this Board would have no - or many fewer - members. So many of us are here because of the £uck-it-I'll-get-on-and-do-it-myself and the How-much?-Do-you-think-we-are-made-of-money? aspect of the build experience. This place is to a large extent - How the Hell can I get round this problem? Would you have posted here if all had gone just fine and dandy? And - short term - there's no satisfactory solution to your problem. Thats what grates. There is one partial remedy: pay an appropriate proportion of your bill - and keep the rest as a retainer, payable (say) when the next stage of the build is complete. Uncomfortable, i know, but if the tradie is coming back - it's (or should be) no bother should it?

And thats about standards of personal behaviour. People who behave like that (couldn't-give-a-tossitis) are developmentally stuck in something like teenage. Think for a moment if that were not to be the case : then there would be no need for published Build Standards, no need for CPD, no need for statements of Best Practice because individuals would think it normal for colleagues to review one anothers practice and learn from the outcomes of progress reviews. Personal and professional development would become normal. Think of that. Normal. For the life of me I can't see how best to work with people like that: I'm not in a therapeutic relationship with people who work for me so it's inappropriate for me to tell grown men to answer-the-damn-phone, behave - clean up - know-how-to-do-their-job-properly. How does anyone build a bridge with people like that? And what's worse is we are desperate to get our damn houses finished. And politicians bang on about Life Long Learning. Doing it the way I've 'solved' it - DIYMAX - is not for everyone.

Dunning Kruger's yer go-to explanation . Painful to read your post... once noticed, you realise it's everywhere.

Has the manufacturer got some : If-Your-Name-Is-@Pocster installation instructions?

'... enthelapy and moisture heat ....' I know its early on a Monday, but its in at the deep end - for me anyway. Given that Tinternet is full of shared ignorance, could you point me to something authoritative 1I can read up on enthelapy, and moisture heat please?

Now that, that's interesting. .... unless I could automate a system I invested in four or five SensorPush data loggers. Work on bluetooth, log every few seconds, and while not cheap, they are cheap enough for me to buy some. Mine ran for four years before the battery failed. Still working 6 years later. The output is easily understandable and can be sucked into a spreadsheet with ease. Here's a quick look at a years' data..... suggestions for 'box' construction Dunno. But I know who will have an idea : @Onoff @SteamyTea, @MikeSharp01, @Jeremy Harris , @TerryE, @JohnMo and especially @MJNewton You bought a core cheap (FleaBay) Can you explain what a 'core' is - yes it's a heat exchanger - ..... but what's the search term I should use so I can while away the long winter nights fantasizing about doing the same as you have..... There's just one niggly naggly thing in the back of my mind...... The Apex DIYMAX man himself , @Jeremy Harris built all sorts of things on his MVHR installation ( he's likely building a nuclear reactor out of matchsticks somewhere right now). But four years after he had finished his install, he wrote about how he wished he had bought off the shelf stuff - maintainability and spare parts was the issue. FoockIt: the end result doesn't matter, it's the journey that counts, right? 😐

Might be a useful idea to log those temperatures over (say) a year and post them here. I'm really interested in the detailed design of what you did because we're fairly close to second fitting an MVHR system, but as usual don't have enough money. Do any manufacturers publish expected differences between the intake and outlet temperatures? Perhaps they might also do the same about the difference in expected relative humidity? Anyway, have you got any photographs of your self built unit? Don't be shy now...

It might be an idea to use an opening (for the fan) that's on the down-wind side of the house....

Drop in at my place and check mine over when yer driving south on the M6 from Cairn Ryan .... Are those numbers (or rather the differences between them) what you'd expect?

Ughhh. You have my sympathy. No point in looking back or anything like that. FLIR camera: good start Airtightness: key issue First thing - a survey of what's leaking in , where, and a judgment of how much - set priorities Go for the easy wins first - doors, windows, letterbox, sockets, ceiling rose A concrete block build you say - with cavities filled with insulation. Lets assume (for now) that that job has been done properly. Would you mind telling us the trade name of the build system please? Does the manufacturer have any guidance on airtightness? Has it been followed? Who designed the house? What was the Building Regs submission - what was the airtightness strategy in that submission. What was your air-tightness score? Break the problem into bits. Prioritise. Source materials. Ask us for advice on each little bit. Only too pleased to help (And we're nosey as £uck) Head-Down-Arse-Up-Go. Every single Self Build £uck-Up has its up-side. Look for it and you'll find it. Good luck. You are among sympathetic friends here. Ian

Not only training and experience, though. Attitude is one of those hidden aspects of any domain which hides in plain sight. You can be trained and be experieced all you like : if - post training - your attitude accepts a bodge as good enough - because you can hide it , then unless theres extrinsic motivation (...I'm going to lose my licence to pratice ..) , you won't develop as a PERSON Think check-rides as a train driver / pilot / bus driver. Who check-rides a plumber? ( shaaaadup @Pocster )

I have a strong feeling that the dire state of the housing sector plays a strong role in promoting poor work. Haven't we all talked to tradies who sneer at the building standards of the major providers? Who snigger at the Building Control regime. But the market will take care of that issue won't it? Building Control officers in Germany are really powerful. They can ( or could when I was there) recommend that builders (tradespeople) lose their licence to practice. And the trades' association vigorously police their members. A German mate once said to me - Why should I employ a chimney sweep who can't manage a large block of flats? - Cos someone else will do it cheaper...? ( I seem to remember it takes about 5 years to qualify over there) - Das ist Scheiße.... That translates as it sounds

Well how about her managing me then .... we all know @Pocster's a bit , well, you know ...... ??

The Due Diligence Process.

We often have this discussion about skills - it runs something like ' We need more skilled people for for trade xyz' And I always suggest that skills are just the icing on the cake. We need to give tradesfolk parity of esteem with their non-trade colleagues. Until there is a rigorous and universally accepted Apprenticeship Scheme - one that engenders respect in the pub and the building site, then we'll continue to suck our teeth with irritation. The German model isn't perfect. But it's better than ours. And Apprenticeship depends on an excellent education system: one where those not going to University have the opportunity to get highly respected qualifications as trades people. And there's less than no chance of that.

Ughhh, same here. I would say that most of the trades that worked here ignored Debbie. In the worst case, the MD of DURISOL talked at her while walking away - and faced me instead. When blokes treat her like that, I have come to enjoy the anticipation of the way she brings two verbal bricks sharply together on his withers.

In relation to the OP then, are we saying to @Seasider Felt the roof to cure the leaks Design and build an appropriate walkway using GRP Fit the walkway Because if we are, we've hit yer man right in the bank-balance. @Seasider - if you can bear it - ask for a quote ( .... erm 3 quotes ) to design, build and deliver you a @SteamyTea - approved walkway. Thinking of your bank balance, might it be possible to just have the walkway, and leave the rest of the flat roof 'til later?

It doesn't matter what it carries. If you have to wonder whether it's a significant problem, it is. So treat it as such until you have more evidence.

Hmmm, easy.... the discussion goes like this.... Muggins " How many ovens do you need love?" SWMBO "4" Muggins "Wha? 4 ... why ? SWMBO "How many cross-cut saws have you got ... and I think I saw about 6 or 7 drills - some of them huge in that massive cupboard of yours, then there's the table saw - and the 'spare' in the other container . And (warming to her annoyance) how much did that lot cost eh? Tell me that ? LONG PAUSE ................................................. Muggins "Well ducks, ya should have told me that a year ago when I asked you to approve the kitchen plan. ... not enough space now " I have learned the hard - very hard - way that when I play an ace, I should never - ever - ever - grin.

What you need @Ozpos, is a visit from @MikeSharp01 . I had a problem with one of my inlets. He took one look at it, grinned and said "You don't need that one" Top bloke.

Our cooker: 10mm feed intended - until reality struck. Now there's 10mm to a hewooooge socket and a 13 Amp plug to a Bosch (natch) induction fingy.... 10mm - I could hardly cut it with an angle grinder ......

10mm is 'king hard work.......

Plumbing isn't just a trade. Its a language too. Nipples, irons, CT1, tapered threads, 92.5 degree bends, noggins.......... 'King nightmare.