Thorfun

Agreed. But it did help with the water calculations. 🤣

ok. neither bag that I elastic banded to each AAV inflated so I think they're ok. think I found the source of the smell coming in though. we have a header tank in the loft for our RWH to flush the toilets with (we don't use it anymore as it was making the cisterns brown and scummy and we had a pressure issue at one of the toilets) and the header tank has an overflow that goes in to the soil pipe just below the AAV. I didn't put a trap between the overflow and the soil pipe so smells can easily come back up and in to the loft that way. so I've stuffed a plastic bag in there for now and will see if that makes it smell less. I really want to decommission the header tank and just use the RWH for the garden but it's so ingrained in the toilet plumbing system that removing it is a real faff! I think I'll just drain the header tank fully and plug up the overflow for now. it does still smell in the master bedroom though so maybe the dry-traps in there aren't doing their job properly. I guess I need to fix the source and stop the STP from being smelly. I'm hoping that leaving it for a few days for things to start working properly again will help. otherwise I guess I'll just get it de-sludged and start again.

is there a way to test an AAV? or, for the £60 it'll cost to replace them, shall I just replace them anyway?

STP has never been de-sludged yet but it's only been in use just over a year really. I'll check the traps but we use every sink/shower/toilet/basin regularly. the only anomaly is in the master en-suite we have 3 x dry-traps as space-savers. good idea about the bag of the AAVs and I'll give it a go but I'm now actually wondering if the smell somehow got in to the loft and as it's airtight has nowhere to go so is just lingering! no idea how it would've got in there though if one of the AAVs hasn't failed though.

need some help. our compressor pump on our one2clean failed a couple of weeks ago and it's taken this long for them to send a replacement pump (next time I'll just buy my own as a spare rather than wait for a warranty replacement!) so the STP hasn't been aerated for quite a while. I fitted the new pump yesterday and things are moving again in the STP but there's an awful smell in the house. our loft space is split in to two halves, we have a soil vent pipe above the master bedroom on one side of the house and then on the other side above the kids rooms each stack for their bathrooms has an AAV. it smells really bad in the loft above the kids' bedrooms. I'm wondering if there's been some kind of pressure build up and the AAVs have failed? is that a thing? obviously it's late on a Sunday so nothing is open to get replacements. if I can find a blanking cap for the soil pipes to block them off in the loft and remove the AAVs until I can buy new ones is that a bad thing? or do I just need to live with the stink until I can get to Screwfix tomorrow to replace the AAVs? any other ideas to help? if I lift the lid on a couple of the manholes leading to the STP then there's a bit of a whiff as well. I'm wondering if I need to get the tank de-sludged asap as maybe no aeration for a couple of weeks has screwed up the cycles in the tank and anything new deposited in the last couple of weeks won't now break down. I know there are lots of STP owners here so if anyone can give any advice then I'll gratefully listen! tagging @Nickfromwales as he knows everything. 😉

for completeness it was supply only. We fitted all our balustrades ourselves.

We used these guys https://www.wpshandrails.com who were very good.

We had a sample of this stuff and it was very impressive. But for some of the sizes of our windows we would’ve needed 2 panels per window and so would’ve had a line down the middle

Ducted upstairs with the units in the loft and wall units downstairs. In hindsight I think ducted everywhere would’ve been better if possible and affordable.

One year in and no issues with this so far.

No wind flapping that we’ve noticed. Maybe the triple glazing helps with that? and I don’t generally go out after dark in stormy weather to listen! 😂

Sure. Cost is important. But so are aesthetics! I think there are so many factors to consider. it’s one of the reasons self-building is so stressful. All the decisions that need to be made from loads of various data points.

We went with Venetian so you can still see out while shading. https://www.hallmarkblinds.co.uk/external-blinds-and-shutters-uk the Trojan ones.

external blinds will mean you won't need internal curtains so the total cost is reduced when you consider that speak to an AC company about costs for getting them to do first fix and then you can second fix at a later date when funds allow there are ways to reduce the initial outlay of costs and some costs can be offset by mitigating the need for other things later. e.g. adding solar PV now will reduce the running costs of the house as you live in it. so you're, in essence, buying your electricity up-front until you get to the point that you've paid off the install and then you're getting free electricity!

we have an ASHP for hot water and ufh (downstairs). the AC can do heating for the bedrooms but we didn't need that last winter at all so it's primary job is cooling.

my 2 cents..... 1. external blinds are a must. plan them now so they can be built hidden in to the fabric of the house. we use ours to shade from the sun but also as curtains at night so don't have internal curtains for privacy. 2. just install AC when i was researching i read a lot on here about fan coils and underfloor cooling etc and, in the end, it was just too complicated for me. not being able to heat water and cool the house at the same time just seemed a pain. so we planned for and installed ducted AC in the bedrooms and wall mounted units downstairs in a few rooms that we thought would need it. it is fabulous. the external blinds help and we have them automated to shade and follow the sun around but sometimes you just want to open them up fully and enjoy the view! so the AC takes care of the overheating and it's powered by the sun via our solar pv so i don't worry about running costs at all. our south facing bedroom has been a steady 21°C since April regardless of the outside weather. keep it simple, install AC.

Does it still look like an office ceiling?

We had to get an extension as the council tax department still (7 months later) hasn’t got around to the valuation yet. 🤦‍♂️

Ask for interest only

Just out of interest, what’s the flow temp you use for your slab cooling?

when are you atmos speakers turning up?

I find it hard to understand how/why people want 2 x subs as one has always been enough. doesn't stop me wanting 2 in my cinema though. 😉

About £2k 4yrs ago. No idea what she charges now

probably not worth using the YouTube video of House of Flying Daggers! doubt it's more than heavily compressed stereo.