Thorfun

now I've written all of the above I believe I've actually answered your original question. I believe it's 'buffer > pump > manifold with no temp control.

ps. the pump that's in use in the basement was taken from a pump set that I got from Wunda (this one I believe https://www.wundatrade.co.uk/shop/home/underfloor-heating-manifolds-and-pump-sets/premium-pumpsets/premium-pumpset-grundfos-eup-pump-stainless-steel-manifolds/ which was £158 iirc) for the GF manifold. the heating engineers took the pump from that and plumbed it in as shown in the photos above so I now don't have a pump for the GF but I do still have the components that came with the original pump set. if that helps!

these are great questions! to which I don't really know the answer. (sorry!) in our basement UFH the heating engineers set it up like this photo. no blending involved, no wiring centre, and no actuators. and here are our tanks, hot water and buffer: they left a couple of tails going up from the basement manifold which will be taken to the GF manifold. these tails are on the same run of pipes after the current Grundfos pump that's in place which came from Wunda. Here's the GF manifold now, if we ignore the obvious that I should've got a right ended manifold for a second, the pipes will come up through the hole in the floor where the other utilities are coming up and across to the left hand side. would the single pump in the basement be sufficient for both manifolds? would I actually need a second pump for the GF manifold? on the GF we're planning on running it as a single zone but had it designed as 4 zones in case we find we need to split the heating up. that's a pump set, right? are the blending valves, thermometers etc required for a single zone system? as said above we don't have that in the basement but if it's best to have them then I can ask the heating guys to install a pump set.

this Friday our heating engineers are coming to connect our GF ufh manifold up. I need to buy a pump! what size, make, model pump would people recommend for the following loops and flow rates (taken from our design by Wunda) is there an easy way to calculate the required pump size or is it something that you just learn with experience?

i will be using metal for our drop ceiling, just not going for the office grid shaped look is all. 😉

the wife has found tiles she likes from porcelain superstore. I did a search on here but didn't find any results for them. has anyone had any experience buying tiles from them?

+1 and is what I was getting at when I said do all the lights need dimming! the other great thing about centralised lighting automation is you don't have to have everything dimming on day 1! live with the lighting for a bit and if you feel that something is missing or needs dimming then you can just add that circuit to the dimmer module and suddenly you have dimming where you didn't before. 🙂

Do you really need to dim all those lights?

As if

👊 😢 but it's so slow Can't afford those, it's Erbauer for me all the way.

will also probably be a lot cheaper to replace the blocks that to go for VIPs!! also VIPs are made to specific dimensions, can't be cut/trimmed and run a high risk of being damaged and then made useless.

on the same-ish topic as shower formers, I need to cut out the 22mm chipboard flooring to fit the former. 2 of the sides of the former will be against a wall. is there a circular saw that allows cuts close to the wall? I have a multi-tool but it's slow and (in my hands) inaccurate so I was wondering if I could use a circular saw set to the 22mm depth of the chipboard. only issue is that my circular saw has a massive gap between the blade and the edge of the saw so I can't cut close to the wall. what do the professionals use in this instance?

so Impey do a 1500mm x 800mm former. I've decided to get that and cut it down to fit the 1400mm gap. then I don't have to worry about what tiles are chosen!

£11.28 from Wickes https://www.wickes.co.uk/Knauf-Plasterboard-Square-Edge---12-5mm-x-1-2m-x-2-4m/p/104123

£8.40 standard 12.5mm was the last quote I had. Maybe prices are starting to come down. I will check out Wickes to compare

it's a tough call this one as i'm trying to reduce sound transmission from bedrooms upstairs and they will have engineered wood flooring. so an underlay of sorts will help reduce impact noise transmission but won't give as solid a feel. it's kind of a rock and a hard place scenario!

we used Roofshield. that web page has examples of what i'm talking about. 🙂

just to add, as you've got to re-tile the roof have a look at a breathable roofing membrane and batten/counter batten build up above the rafters as then you can fully fill the rafters with 100mm mineral/glass wool. obviously check with your BCO that they're ok with that method. ours was but sometimes they differ in their opinions!

put glass wool batts between the rafters as they'll 'squash' to fit the wonkyness to some extent and then put PIR internally. would mean you could reduce the amount of internal PIR and still get the U-value you want.

this is good to know. although many on here recommend to glue directly to the 22mm chipboard for a more solid feel rather than a floating floor.

you make very good and valid points in here @Gus Potter and maybe i'm being a bit guilty of trying to do too much and to tick too many boxes! our kids aren't little and so there isn't a lot of stomping around in their bedrooms (they generally sit on their beds and watch YouTube vids!) and so may double boarding is simply not required. we've already put 100mm of Rockwool between the joists and if i use resilient bars and a single 12.5mm board then that would probably give a nice sound reduction level. then we're building within the original specification and i save money on a second skin of plasterboard and also SE fees! i guess that's one issue with self-building and reading forums is that it's hard to resist the 'ooohhhh.....i need to have that!' temptation when you read about something that sounds like a good idea whether you REALLY need it or not.

You’re very helpful and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. 🙃

i really think you're doing the right thing and not just for your marriage's sake! well done and keep up updated.

i can't comment on that as i'm not a structural engineer.

according to https://www.bauder.co.uk/contact/frequently-asked-questions/faqs-green-roofs their lightest weight sedum blanket is 44kg/m2 maybe figure out the system you want to use first and then work backwards to figure out if your roof can take the load