joe90

I don't do blogs but here is a picture of the building work so far, as I said before I am very happy with my builder who is going to start the roof this week and I am going to do all the fiddly work with lining, insulation and eaves construction.

Stones, I wonder if the noise is coming from the air attenuation at the terminal, a reason that I like the idea of attenuation at the manifold?

I intend to make my own manifolds and turn them into silencers as well as I have loads of room and saves me making 4 boxes instead of two. The only problem I have is how to restrict air flow into each distribution pipe as I want to regulate at the manifold not terminal. I intend to line the boxes with foam as previously described.

My site is right on the cusp of 4g, now the scaffold is up on site I need to get up there and see what mobile service I get as I don't really want a land line.

Just watching it and did anyone spot the first gaff by the architect " MVHR works by mixing warm air from kitchens and bathrooms with fresher incoming air" ?

No comment milud. actually it was a blind date set up by our friends, her first question was "what do you want to do with your life", I said retire and build my cottage in the countryside and I don't care where." I asked her what she wanted to do with her life and she replied " I want to retire to where I come from, Devon, and I just happen to own my late fathers old timber and asbestos bungalow out in the sticks down there", ( and flattering her long eyelashes said) "but I don't have the resources to do it up or anything". Kerching ? ( not a bad cook)

Apart from the PV my plan is nearly the same. I will still probably go with the modulating in line heater as per JSH just to make sure I don't run out of hot water or tepid water is made hotter. I love the KISS principle. Jeremy,s blog shows how he designed a really technical way of controlling his heating and then changed his mind to a simple room stat. I hope you find a good plumber soon, I will be doing my own but I have a neighbour who is qualified and offered to look over my shoulder to make sure I don't cock it up completely. Keep us informed ?

DeeJunFan, have you finalised your plumbing design yet?

My stance on this is my reply will be " if you can do better then be my guest!" ( knowing full well that my better half could not!)

And there,s me thinking that C.E. meant" Chinese Export " ?

Well I designed our build over 20 years ago ( in my head) and it was not until I met my wife ( who had a plot with an old knackered bungalow on it) that I had somewhere to build, we just turned it round 90' luckily my wife liked the design, we both love cottages and it's the Devon countryside. What's not to like!

I was recommended by my woodstove supplier to bring the vent pipe up 600 mm outside. Not sure why? ( forgot to ask!)

No, an old guy ( neighbour) who was a JCB driver all his working life got it out by putting it in four wheel drive, revving it loads and using front and rear buckets at the same time and walked it out. I didn't have the bottle to try that.

Pah, you think that's muddy.......

But if its un heated and no insulation under the garage floor then there will be virtually no difference in temp?

Well I have told my missus if she wants to do it that's fine by me but I ain't doin it ( knowing full well she wont) ?

Well I was lucky ( in a way) that it took over two years to get planning and i built the workshop during that time under permitted development even though the council fought even that I won both the appeal on the house and the workshop ?. The fixed price I agreed with my builder was that I do most of the woodwork so I need my workshop to achieve that ( but it's full of materials ?).

My solution was to build my workshop before the cottage, great if you can do it.

I sold my last house " as is" I know I took a hit on the value but the estate agent(s) all said don't waste your money they will change it when they move in, even the gas boiler was not serviced and stated as such. The family that bought it have done loads of work and made it their own. Plus I could not be arse'd and wanted to concentrate on planning my new build. ( SWMBO keeps hinting at me doing work in our temporary house but again my thoughts are only on the new build).

I think you and I are in the same position, waiting for those that know to advise us !!!. I too am having a woodstove but not a back boiler as the house WILL overheat before any real heat is put into the water. Short, burst of feel good cave man flames followed by basking in the glow of embers. I wait with bated breath on the question of tanks, ?

I am following this thread (as best I can) because some of my situation is the same, I.e. ASHP but no PV. From previous threads I came to the decision to use an UVC DHW cylinder ( very well insulated) at a modest temperature because ( and correct me if I am wrong) this type of cylinder can give almost the whole tank of hot water till it runs out but a thermal store will give cooler water as it is depleated therefore not consistent "hot" temp.

Thanks guys, all good info but SWMBO is still talking tiles for some area,s so what about grout sealer?

I am beginning to plan for my bathrooms/cloakroom and I like tiles, I am pretty good at tiling BUT I HATE GROTTY GROUT,!!. Grout gets grotty because its porous I guess and I have seen grout sealer but does it work?, can anyone recomend a good grout sealer and does it work? I am also considering wall panels which does away with the dreaded grout but we still need the dreaded silicone which still gets grotty with time. Is there a good alternative to silicone?

Gosh makes my story sound idyllic ! Plenty of very good advise here from people that have "done that, been there" not " we can sell you that ". Chin up and best foot forward, looking forward to seeing your blog.

I know what crofter means, all the reveals in the timber frame bungalow we just removed used ply with timber corners, very DIYable but I agree with Nick, plastered looks more professional.