Onoff

Tbh I thought the lounge was solid block wall until yesterday when I found it was in fact a cavity. I don't know for sure therefore, which walls are cavity and which aren't. Once you have the render off down here the same wall can be made of breeze and half a dozen brick types.

Euphemisms abound.

This strong sunlight coming through the patio doors is lovely and warm. As soon as the Sun goes in its back to bloody freezing!

The lounge diner knock through is on the cards. Got a few mates who've said they'll come down for a weekend and gut both for beer and a barbecue. That would be: Lounge: -Ceiling plasterboard down. -Hardboard and batten wall linings off -5/8" chipboard flooring up -4*2 timber sub floor up -Concrete base up Dining Room: - Wallpaper off -Floorboards up -Floor joists up -Dwarf walls removed All debris can go straight out the patio doors which need replacing anyway. Then assess what I've got to work from. Reinstating would be on the lines of putting a steel in and opening up the two rooms into one. I reckon I could hide that to end up with a new, flush ceiling. There would be lots of battening and packing to get the ceiling level between the two rooms. The floor would be dug down and built back up with insulation and UFH. This could be the new Bathroom thread! First though I need a temporary lounge! 😂

SWMBO just said "Can't we pay someone to do EWI?" Wouldn't that bring its own set of issues doing it as the house is? It could only go up to the eaves (bungalow). The paths, ground need lowering all round as in removing. The patio doors need replacing as does the front door. Then there's the mixed floors details, the noggin-less ceiling joists, the cracks. It just goes on and on. SWMBO wouldn't go for the knock down / re-bulid I know. Best I can aim for is the room at a time approach I've taken with two rooms so far. The study that was the old boot room is the warmest room in the house. That was just the single skin boot room I re-lined. It warms up and stays warm. Even there there's room for improvement. I'm hopeful once there's some heat in the bathroom my attention to air tightness and insulation efforts pay off. The temperature is a constant all year round in there at the mo even at the height of Summer...bloody freezing!

Since VVP invaded we've had the oil central heating off and subsequently been freezing. Running a 2kW fan heater in the lounge, a convector in the study and got a couple of oil filled rads as and where needed. Let's be honest we've all been spoilt for years with cheap energy but now it's really hit home how badly insulated my house is. The lounge is proper cold. Because of the house orientation it is often colder inside than out. Convinced I could feel a draught around the window I pulled the lounge sill off and there was a gale coming up the cavity (we've external brick vents). Then I stripped the trims off and the boards lining the reveal which were 5/8" chipboard. Cavity is only 35mm if that. Existing cavity closers consist of The Mercury from October 1998! 😂 Gaps, oh yeah! So far I've wedged some cut down pipe insulation in the cavity and foam filled. Going to line with some 25mm Celotex then pb over. Sticking plaster really as the inner brick/block skin is 1" batten, hardboard then woodchip paper. Draughts are still coming through where I'm pointing the pen at. I'd take the window out and move it inboard but where window sills are concerned SWMBO likes it deep! Onward with this pointless journey!

I'd first identify the high point on those walls. Foam fill the gaps and or wedge foam packing down there. Get some big, long clamps. Clamp long boards either side and concrete level. I squared all my bathroom walls off by shuttering / casting. Same deal. Where your walls are a bit more wiggly you'll need to gun foam the gaps and clean it off afterwards.

Got a couple of HIVE cameras in my Dad's place. One in the lounge and one in the kitchen. Can keep an eye on him via the phone.

Rebel that I am, I'm not sure I've ever read any forums FAQs, welcome page etc. I'm just not made that way. Dive straight into etc. Same with TV instruction books. "BE SURE TO READ HERE FIRST!" just doesn't compute with me.

It must go in cyles then 'cos "they" never learn!

All this stuff is though the preserve of the few who know about it or are lucky enough to have implemented it. The masses haven't got a clue about air tightness, most builders either don't care or won't go to the same level of detail that people on here do. It is simply not in the government or big business interest to save energy.

We really are the architects of our own destruction? A great headline in Sky on the lines of "Can Renewables Solve The Energy Crisis?" Talking to East European friends and colleagues and they are forever amazed at how poorly insulated British homes are by comparison to say where they come from in Poland. Insulation is what could solve the energy crisis. That's the bottom line, stop wasting what we have and using it inefficiently. We're fed this constant diet of b@lll@cks to switch to an EV, fit PV or a heat pump etc. The utter insanity of people getting free heat pumps fitted to totally unsuitable houses. Why can't the government beat the "You Need Only Fit Insulation Once" drum? The key being to do it right. It's all about the coin, how many times do we see mass house builders skimp on insulation or miss it out. Hell we've even had folk on here building high spec, low energy builds where they've entrusted the insulation works to a builder. The ensuing lack of attention to detail has meant draughts and higher energy bills.

😂 I've been playing with a section for a garden room on similar lines. Timber cladding / rain screen not shown...well not finished. Don't forget to add a good insect mesh detail at the bottom!

Imho you want 150mm min below your timber cladding and block pavers or rain will just splash up and soak the ends.

This has to be ace for moonwalking...

Will Mackenzie/caravan club, classic!

Go underground?

Hence the low crime rate.

Still haven't bought oil here. We just put it on for HW. Aiming to get the solar thermal panels (repaired) and up and running at least soon. Then try and address some of the insulation (or lack thereof) issues this Summer.

Thinking my next move is decide on the size of this veg patch and get the turf off? Then get any tree roots out.

I'm nearly at the bottom of the valley on a slight slope so though the topsoil is maybe thin it is continually washed with nutrients coming down from higher up.

Just cooked outdoors on the Chinesium (£18 from Banggood) fire pit. Didn't use bought charcoal. Just collected dead wood got going with some silver birch bark peelings.

The 3D battery adapters proved their worth in the Einhell chainsaw with Makita batteries. There were some runners from the cherry tree grown into saplings about 3" in diameter. I've logged some of it and stored them to dry. The rest of the rubbish I'll have a bonfire. All that's left aside from the hedge plants is an original apple tree that fell over years ago but still fruits. It's hard work this gardening lark! I'm going to splash on on an Einhell 36V hedge cutter to tidy the hedge up a bit.

I was thinking at the bottom of the slope so as not to shade the other plants?

Just been using the 36V Einhell chainsaw with the 3D printed adaptors and Makita batteries. Didn't skip a beat. For a little diversion: A brake servo bodywork grommet for a Ford Capri in 95A Shore TPU. Test run at 20% infill. Aim is to try and recreate the lettering!