Thorfun

no problem and thanks for looking. I will bite the bullet and order some 16mm elbows.

that's a shame. thanks for letting me know.

actually, don't worry. I found a photo on the website for the company to show the plastic overlap at the bottom where I have it. https://www.uheat.co.uk/underfloor-heating-edge-perimeter-insulation-25m/ I figured it should be there but was having a special moment.

the yellow stuff I bought has a 'trim' of plastic with a sticky strip. I presume that is to go on the floor like the picture below? to stop screed getting underneath and behind the expansion strip? our screeders said to use gaffer tape for that but as this strip has the plastic built-in I presume we can just use that? or does it go at the top to stop screed splashing up and behind? what did others do with that plastic strip? edited to add: the eBay advert call it an overlap strip "25m 150mm x 8mm with self adhesive Overlap & Backing Strip" just doesn't mention where that overlap goes

thanks Rob. I think my Google search skills are a bit off at the moment! in that case I think these are the ones I'll use. it would be great if you could find some ufh pipe and see if they fit. if not, I might just buy them and return them if they don't fit! ?

yep. interestingly those 16mm fittings from JTM are bespoke: "JTM 16mm compression fittings manufacturer to BS & EU standard, The fittings is made up by hand of a 15mm compression fitting and a 16mm nut and insert. " So, are 15mm push-fit also suitable for this task? I'm confused as there don't seem to be a lot of 'native' 16mm elbows/fittings. I did find these (https://underfloorparts.co.uk/product/16-x-16mm-x-1-pr-elbow-pexal-multilayer-pipe-upel16m/) but they're stupidly expensive!

Ahh….so 16mm fittings do exist! I’ll try my local plumbers merchants next week. im not ready for the manifold yet and I’m happy to take the hit on the fittings. Self-building is stressful enough without trying to rush too many things before you’re ready. I’m learning that a more “que sera sera” attitude is healthier but does lead to a slower build!

I want to fill all the loops with water. so I was thinking of hose pipe in to the first pipe and then elbow to elbow across all the other pipes with a pressure gauge on the last pipe. I have 7 loops so that would be 12 elbows. once the screed has been poured and gone off they can be removed and the ufh pipes eventually fitted to a manifold.

@Nickfromwales (or anyone else that can answer this!) I know this is an old thread but I am nearly finished with our UFH pipes in the basement and I am going to fill them with water and am looking to buy the 16mm elbows for our 16mm pipe from Wunda. but, am I being stupid, it looks like all the push-fit elbows at Screwfix are for 15mm pipe. like this https://www.screwfix.com/p/jg-speedfit-plastic-push-fit-equal-90-elbow-15mm/97179 is this what I want or are there really 16mm elbows that would be more suitable? obviously there are plumbers merchants near me and I could go in and ask but I'm not sure I want to be laughed at while also being sold a left-handed screw driver and a skirting board ladder.

I can't recommend highly enough the slates we bought. After lots of research including a phone call to the owner of the company I found out that they come from the same quarries as the CUPA slates but are a LOT cheaper. They were the Mont Azul Lombeiro slates which are exclusive to Jewsons. I've attached the data sheet I was sent by the guy I spoke to. I had another builders merchant come to site and he was very impressed with the quality of the slates (I believe his words were "Jewsons are on to a winner there") and our roofer said that they were great. needed very little grading as they were very consistent thicknesses. check them out. I am one happy customer. my next blog will be about our roof so I'll go into more detail and have some photos when that is written. although, after writing all of that, I notice that you're after more of a matte black slate! doh! Lombeiro MA 12 Mont Azul Intro copy 2020.pdf

we bought a RAL colour card/chart booklet thingy when choosing colours for things. it cost around £12 from Amazon and has come in quite handy as we can compare colours to come up with a palette.

there's always the option to put these drawings on hold and go and find another architect to get basic concept drawings done. shouldn't cost too much and might be cheaper than multiple iterations of redesigning this one?

thanks Craig. I was thinking of contacting you anyway but thought you only did triple glazed but looking at your website again I see that Zyle Fenster offer double glazed units. I've back to back meetings today so I'll give you a ring next week sometime to discuss options with you if that's ok.

Greetings to my Scottish brethren, I am in need of assistance. my brother had a stroke quite a few years ago and was lucky to survive. he has very bad aphasia and, because of that, struggles to communicate with people. he has moved to Perth and has bought was he believes is his final home. it is cold and leaky and in need of some new windows and EWI. first to be fixed is the windows and doors. he is getting quotes and after speaking to neighbours he seems to be getting the impression that the window companies are taking advantage of his disability and giving high quotes. now, this might not be the case and I've told him to get more quotes so he can compare but I was just wondering if anyone in that area of Scotland could highly recommend a quality window/door company/fitter that won't take the pi$$. I'm hoping that he's just a bit paranoid and the quotes he's got are legitimate but it's hard for me as I live so far away to be of any real assistance here. hence the request for help. After the windows are done I can broach the subject of EWI which I believe there are still grants for in Scotland. if someone knows of a company that will do both windows/doors and external wall insulation (some form of green energy consultancy or the like I guess) then I'll also take those recommendations. many thanks in advance.

I've no idea but, for the cost of a few extra blocks, why even consider the second option? a garden room may now only be an office but it's the sort of space that could easily be turned into a gym which would have heavy equipment and so might as well plan for something like that now. very hard to retrofit later!

I paid £9.16 I think it was for a 32m roll at Amazon. ended up using 3 1/2 rolls!

this week I learnt that not all duct tapes are made equal. trying to stick DPM to concrete and dense concrete blocks turned out to be harder than I anticipated. firstly a coat of diluted PVA was applied when it was noticed the duct tape just fell off. then the 'normal' duct tape would stick to the concrete as it was nice and smooth but struggled on the concrete blocks as they're rough. a quick Google later and I discovered that Gorilla Tape is the stuff and even stuck to the rough concrete blocks. job done. it is bloody expensive though.

I never understand planning departments decisions/requirements to "fit in with the local vernacular". what's the point of modern architecture if no one is allowed to use it? why not allow a modern architectural house to stand out in the environment and to start a new trend. why do all houses have to be stuck in the past just to fit in? it's all b******s if you ask me.

we have a glazed conservatory and we'll be dismantling that and will use the glass panels as a roof for a chicken house. ?

will this just save the cost of the demolition company doing it? if so, how much would them doing it really add? surely the digger can separate the bits quicker than taking it out by hand before hand? I'm asking as we will eventually need to demolish our existing house so this is quite pertinent!

I think this is true if the TF company offer a foundation package, e.g. MBC. I would say that if the TF company is just supplying the timber frame and you've a separate Groundworker doing the foundations then the SE will design the foundations using the point loads supplied by the TF company. this is how it was for ours, although ours is a little more complicated due to the basement. I think you need to decide what foundations you want to have as if you're set on a passive style insulated raft then get a structural engineer to design that for you (we used Tanners based in Ireland for ours which many others on here have too) and then you're not stuck with using what the TF company offers. but if you know for sure that you want a company like MBC to do your TF then maybe just get them to do the whole thing including the SE calcs. as I said previously there's a lot of decisions that effect other choices and it's very chicken and egg most of the time as you need to know the answer to one question to know the answer to another question but can't answer the first question until you know the answer to the second question etc!

I think that is an old table as Mitsubishi offer an R32 AHSP with A+++ energy rating.

If that was asking about Vimeo then it’s not really a trial. You get limited uploads per week/month but it’s more than enough for the odd upload. they seem to call it Vimeo Basic

I use Vimeo to host my blog videos.

is a ground surveyor qualified to design a foundation system? I thought that was the remit of a structural engineer? I'd be questioning this foundation system and ensuring a structural engineer takes a look! Building control will need to see the structural calculations for the foundations as well, at least mine did.