joe90

hi Gem, I lived in a static on and off for two years during our build. How much can you get done in the house/build before August?, if you could get the kitchen done then laundry and cooking will be taken care off, one bedroom to all sleep in, heating the caravan in later months will be difficult/costly but still cheaper than renting somewhere else so creating a flat in one room in the build will help in the winter. All living in the van will be “fun” at first but as the weather gets colder the novelty will wear off. Although you say self build, how much are you doing and how much (if any) contractors, if using contractors try to get them organised (if that’s possible!) with tight timescales to enable you to move in ASAP. Best of luck and keep us informed (we’ve all been there?).

As far as I can see, Fir a given thickness of slab, hotter water means quicker response but bigger chance of overshooting, I heat our house at a set temp of 21’ (if the wall stat had a decent hysteresis).

My wife and I disagree on planning for new houses, I see lots of plots around us that would be perfect for a house (small, not producing agri products) but my wife says we do not have the doctors/schools etc etc for more people in the area. A local primary school closed a few years ago despite being very good, my argument is if more houses were allowed local schools might stay open, village shops/post offices might not shut. It’s a chicken and egg situation, if we wait fir more services locally before allowing building it will never happen, if more people live in a area, services will have to follow and if there is not a shortage of housing their prices will fall and become affordable. p.s. More houses mean more council tax income.

On a previous thread someone controlled their UFH by mixing the flow temp to 1 or 2 degrees above required room temp. This was self regulating but required a mixer that could deliver a low temp with small hysterisis. My wall thermostat has too big a hysterisis, must get round to changing it.

Interesting vid about silicone, I wonder what our own guru thinks? ( @Nickfromwales).

David Attenborough has been saying that for years, perhaps this latest virus is the “Giai principle” in action??

no, my kids tell me it’s trendy to have unmatched socks ?

@Jeremy Harris kindly sent me a spare restrictor from his manifold and you break out rings to the desired hole but you can’t put rings back in, and I would have to glue them in. I will report back on whether this was a good idea (or not).

As some of you will know I like to build stuff rather than buy it, with our MVHR I built my own terminals and manifold/silencer, I had to invent flow adjusters fir the distribution pipes and wanted them at the manifold end rather than room terminals (which can cause noise in the room). Well here is the prototype, works well (but looks crap). But what’s not to like, it will never be seen? 10mm dowel, 3mm acrylic sheet, 2” nail.

More naff red bricks ????

the times I have come across “professional “ work that was bad is innumerable, at least if you do it Yourself you know you have done your best and not bodged it. When I was self employed as a small time builder I was called “D.I.P. Builders”, when people realised DIP was not my initials they asked what it stood for and I told them “do it properly”.

Waste water plumbing and plastering are two completely different skills, as a builder I did small bits of plastering but anything over a few square feet I would get a professional in (if I wanted a good finish) but as @Jeremy Harris says practice with a few fittings to get the feel and go fir it. Watch a few utubes vids, you will feel empowered when you do it yourself (I know I did 40 years ago ?).

@Home Farm I feel so much for you, I was very lucky and had a brilliant builder but with support here from people that know, this job is completely DIY-able (IMO). I am completely self taught and been a builder for many years (retired now tho) it only takes some common sense.

Not that I know anything about the subject but putting a rigid product on a timber frame does seem counter intuitive. The same reason I don’t like ridge tiles mortared on, timber moves, mortar does not .

Before I had a plot (just dreaming really) I went through lots of designs to get a grip of what I wanted and their sizes, also orientation. It took me a while to find what i would be happy with. Luckily we didn’t have to compromise as the plot we built on was large enough to allow what we wanted. Create yourself a list of “would like to have”,s.

Not Scotland I know but our planning authority (the opposite end of the country) made me apply four times as they wanted to dictate what they wanted (although most of our neighbours were on our side) it took an appeal to the Secretary of State to not only get what we wanted but also for the appeal officer to tell our planners they were not abiding by their own policies and they wasted two years of my life and a lot of money (for them as well). We have not met one person yet who does not like our build and people tell us it suits the location well. ?

ha, you’ll be in the cell next to me ?????

Psssstttt, when I went for sign off I had a copy of @Jeremy Harris figures but with my name and address on it in case he asked for figures ?.

My historic car needs no road tax or MOT but if it was diesel using red is still illegal (unless not used on the road ).

I am about to balance mine (if I can pull my finger out) but my BCO only said “you have not got fans in the bathrooms and kitchen because you have MVHR”, he didn’t ask fir any figures. I think I remember members on here (must read old threads) saying they had rates below what building regs dictate and they are more than adequate.

I hate mortored ridges, I used a dry ridge system and would never go back. On a garage I had in a windy location years ago I simply drilled the ridge tiles and used long screws to hold them down and they never moved.

+1, after years of cleaning grout I went for wall panels for our build and I am sooo pleased I did.

Yup, I installed mine easily but the programmer is sooo complicated (on mine) I use other controllers.

like @PeterW we used Warmstar but used 100watt just to take the chill of the floor.

Our house is near passive and I put electric UFH in our ensuite under vinyl tiles and it’s great, with timer it’s on fir the morning shower and evening use, just an hour each time.