Thorfun

thanks @George. As an SE can you answer my question i posed above to Gus as to whether it's possible to design a balustrade to withstand the forces for fall protection where the posts do not fix to the parapet? happy to fix to the house where the parapet meets the house though as we won't have to penetrate the waterproofing there. if that's not even possible we can move on to find another solution and i won't spend any more time on it!

absolutely. and also all relative to your risk appetite. tbh, if i had enough land and there was unobstructed sunlight to it i probably would've gone for ground mount but i want to use our remaining land for a garden and we have trees around us so with the panels being on the roof they should get a bit more sunlight.

i don't think it's off-topic and is good discussion 🙂

there's nothing un-aesthetic about the GSE panels in my opinion. people come to our place and say things like "i didn't know you had PV. i couldn't see the panels". it's not like everyone walks around looking up at the roof! i can see how that would put you off but it has to be the exception. there are always stories of bad experiences of everything and if you let them affect you you'd never do anything!

there are systems for flat roofs but most seem to need to be fixed before waterproofing. yeah. probably deemed temporary. I was thinking that we could attach to the house wall where I have put noggins in place to accept the first and last post and balustrade and then have some form of U-shaped bracket sitting over the parapet that the other posts will fit to without having to fix but I don't know if that will work or be strong enough. it's why we're considering approaching a structural engineer to do the calculations. but I just don't know how much that will cost us! I'm wondering if it will be cheaper to fix through the waterproofing and then have the roofer back in to apply another layer of the waterproof membrane where appropriate.

Sadly we have waterproofing on both sides of the fascia for one side.

Good point. Thank you. Think I’ll ask if he can come and have a chat about it. Maybe while he’s here checking other stuff for sign off.

Yeah. Definitely too late for us for that!! 😢

@Gus Potter quick question and out of interest.....is it possible for an SE to design a balcony that could resist the forces required to pass building regulations WITHOUT having fixings on the long side of the balcony? as said we can fix to the outside of short sides through the cladding and in to the timber of the balcony. if it is possible are you able to give a rough estimate as to how much a design like that might cost in SE England? I don't want to waste a local SE's time with an enquiry if it's going to be £££ as we'd just be better off face fixing and filling with and fitting on to loads of CT1! we could then potentially get the roofer back to cover the fixings with the same waterproof membrane.

don't get me wrong. I want to stop people climbing on to the flat roof but fall protection needs to be able to withstand specific forces etc and I was wondering if a simple barrier would suffice as if it did ever fall over due to excessive force then no one is going to fall as the flat roof is above the level of the balcony!

yes. but that's from floor level, right? so as the tiles are about 400mm below the parapet we would only need to put a 700mm balustrade on it. the problem we have is we don't want to penetrate the waterproofing system with screws to hold down the balustrade. so we're trying to come up with a way to not have to do that and to also get it past building control. the side balustrades can attach to the outside of the balcony but the front edge has nowhere to be fixed to without penetrating the waterproofing. just another example of not knowing what we were doing at the time as if we did we would've fitted the fixing plates before waterproofing. but we are where we're at and need to find a solution.

hello. trying to figure something out before I approach building control. we have a balcony that leads on to a flat roof. as there's no "fall" per-se on to the roof does it need fall protection or simply a barrier of some kind to stop some muppet walking on the flat roof and then falling off that? here's a photo of said balcony -> flat roof obviously the sides of the balcony will need fall protection and the balustrades will be designed as such but I fail to see why the edge leading on to the flat roof would need to resist a force that would result in a fall as there's nowhere to actually fall and maybe a simply rail will do the job of stopping someone walking out on to the roof. anyone know the nuances in the building regs on this one? cheers.

there are many knowledgeable folk on here but @ProDave is the resident sparky. 😉

might not be financially feasible but can you put an application in to demolish the bungalow and build 2 x 2 story houses orienting them to suit? could be a nice profit in it? otherwise maybe a planning consultant could help? our case officer was against our development. we got a planning consultant involved to fight our case and we got an approval. sometimes it's worth the money to pay someone to fight for you!

You’re worried about UFH with underlay but do you actually need the heating on in the basement? Especially in a gym! Would’ve thought you want to keep the gym cool for exercising in personally.

i bought a Hikoki gun. after 3 or 4 months it started double firing or misfiring often. i took it for repair and Hikoki said "yeah, this happens. we can try and replace some parts but can't guarantee it'll fix it". i got my money back and bought a Paslode. that hasn't skipped a beat.

speak to a structural engineer who specialises in insulated rafts. you might be surprised what you can have. it might be that your current SE is just doing what they've always done and hasn't considered or ever done an insulated slab. if you're in West Sussex then i can recommend the guys i used. https://www.customclimates.co.uk/contact/ . small company and really nice guys and did very good work. they didn't do our MVHR but after seeing the quality of their work on my ASHP install i would've been happy for them to do my MVHR as well.

Welcome! Looks like a great project. Best of luck with it.

I have a right to. Finished in 3 years. How’s yours coming along after 10 years?

Nope. I am a plumbing master.

Just to one up @Pocster as I am an even bigger legend. I installed 4 of them. Very easy and are rock solid.

A God amongst men?

New Age man?

This is the system I used. https://www.rainwaterharvesting.co.uk/product-category/rainwater-systems/below-ground-systems/gravity-feed/ not sure about gotchas! Nothing too complicated tbh. Our washing machine has a low water pressure symbol on but clothes are washing ok. If I’d run 22mm pipe I’m sure the pressure would be fine so maybe that was a mistake? But if it becomes an issue I’ll just add a pump. Not had any slow toilet filling issues so far with 15mm pipe. oh! One thing I remember. Don’t put your reading glasses on your head and then lean in to a filled tank. 🤦‍♂️

Modern man