joe90

No, as I said above building control are great, nice chap with an open mind to new ideas ( and tells people he is nothing to do with planning) ?

Well girls and boys here are a few pics of the site and work so far ( we could start before the appeal result as we had planning approval for a bungalow that had the same downstairs so the appeal allows us to build an upstairs. Pic 1 shows how high the water table is. Pic 2 shows my finished garage, pic 3 shows the footprint. more to follow:-

I think so from what I have read.

Funnily enough I didn't like bi folds because of the brush seal arrangement but a neighbour has started work with a window supplier as an installer and he says their bi folds have rubber seals and work well. If anyone is interested I will find the manufacturers name etc.

+1

As long as I stick to the plans, planning won't have anything to gripe about. The building inspector is a great bloke, when I first met him he informed me he was nothing to do with planning ( as everyone down here hates planners).

Yes, a two story cottage with small skeilings in the bedrooms to keep the overall height as low as possible. The council wanted room in roof with velux,s. Next door is room in roof and is taller than the cottage we are building. The council said our build would be dominant but the inspector repeated my point that it's smaller than next door and also is a hip roof ( unlike next door) so its mass is reduced by clever design. People power✌️

Don't tempt me ,!!!. No, quite the opposite, local red brick and lime pointing with local slate roof, painted wooden windows. A Devon cottage ? I am tempted with the " up yours" sign as our neighbour has instigated most of the objections and has even put a manakin with a high viz vest in his garden looking out our site to say " we are looking at what your doing" he has accused us of not abiding by planning laws but this appeal has stopped him in his tracks.

Dear all, as some of you will know I have been fighting for planning permission down in Devon and Torridge District Planning department have fought me all the way, even slapping a demolition order on a garage I was building under permitted development ( I appealed that as well) . Well I did my own appeal ( not difficult) and of four points the council original refused planning permission for they capitulated on three of them after I presented my evidence ( they had this information all along) . I have just received an Email from the Secretary of State inspector to say she supports my appeal on all grounds with no condition other than those already agreed with the council. She also mentioned the councils objections that I proved we're not valid supporting my evidence. Torridge council has such a bad reputation for being a PITA. You cannot go into a builders merchant without hearing builders complaining about the council. After the build I intend taking my story to the local press, " is Torridge Distrct Council planning fit for purpose, I think not" just to show they are wasting council tax on fighting planning appeals where planning should've been approved. I have also heard from my architect that the government are going to take Torridge into " special measures ". So, hip hip hooray, now the serious questions on this forum will start to appear.✌️

Well I intend putting the manifold next to the MVHR unit ( in a warm loft) and running radial pipes from there. I am lucky that the route to the lower floor is central to the house near the MVHR unit.

PeterW, Wunda. I agree that damage is most likely during installation/pour. It's been said on here( somewhere) that pressurisation during the pour should be 6 bar, 3 sounds more reasonable as that is like normal working pressure . Our build is being done over the winter and even if the water pressure was released it will be difficult to get all the water out to stop freezing whilst the house is being built. It also appeals to me to lay the pipes from/to a fixed manifold then screed over later. In theory I,d prefer to walk on pipes laid on EPS rather than point loading on steel mesh wobbling on chairs. As the pipes are in a thinner screed heat up times will be shorter. Confuscious he say, "there is no right or wrong, just opinion"

Dear Terry, my builders brother has been doing UFH for many years and a lot of his work has been with pipes clipped to steel and he has had to go back on a few where the pipes have rubbed on the steel, we also discussed the merits of pressurising whilst concreting or not. It his his opinion that pressurising can cause the pipe to swell and when the pressure is released, and during normal usage the pipe will be marginally smaller than the hole in the concrete and pumps can cause slight pulsing which could lead to ruptures in the future. This theory fits with my " purely theoretical" thoughts. He also expressed concern with walking on the pipes during the pour process and the possibility of the steel and pipes rising during the pour which cannot be seen. He tells me that most UFH installed lately in his area ( in new builds) is now done on top of insulation under a screed. " It sounds to me as if your builder is coming up with pseudo-science to support an approach which is easier for him and which is going to involve the transfer of a lot more money from you to him." You could not be more wrong, the installation of the UFH is purely my job at my cost, although he will be laying a screed in addition to his fixed price he is not charging me for it. He offered his brothers advise like any good builder would as he has a very good reputation locally and wants me to be as informed as possible. It's not " pseudo-science" it's real life experience from someone that does this work all the time.

Despite my post earlier we are changing our UFH design, It has been pointed out that zipping UFH pipes to steel can cause leaks due to vibration in pipes caused by the pump, also the manifold and pipe ends are left in the open during the build so could get damaged/ frozen. My builders brother does UFH all the time and he now believes pipes clipped to the insulation with 70mm screed over after the roof is on is a better solution for new builds.

Sliders, did you ever get an apology or even better your design fee back? I have just had a design by another company and reckon I can do better myself but did buy their kit as recommended by JSH.

I had ( in theory only) decided to hang mine from the roofing to disconnect completely from the floor/ceiling any kind of noise/vibration. I know the rods may be intrusive but worth it if possible.

I think JSH is posting on an electronics forum which has nothing to do with building.

I would threaten to put pictures on the web showing how poor their work is ?

Did they charge you extra for the crackle finish paint ✌️( I could do better and I am crap at welding)

What a great idea, I will have a small plant cupboard in our cloakroom so could install an MVHR extract duct in the cloakroom and use that for drying when the conservatory is not sunny enough ?

Perhaps seal the duct to the water pipe inside the house but leave it open in the meter box or whatever is at the other end. I did not use duct outside the house as we are in pure clay and even the electricity cable laid by SWEB left out the sand when they back filled the trench.

Have ordered some, thanks mate.

I have put our water pipe direct into the ground as I did not see any benefit from using a duct. I did put a bit of duct over it where it came into the house just to protect it from the whacked stone and concrete when the floor went down ( but the builder thought I was OTT. I would say however that you need to protect any pipe at the ends that are having fittings as the pipe can get scratched and I have a couple of weeping joints where the pipe got scratched.

Can you tell us where JSH is active please?

OOPS ?

But where can you read JSHs blogs, they seem to have disappeared ( a bit like JSH)?