MortarThePoint

Just bought one as it was on my wish list and I do have a specific job in mind for it.

I saw an interesting video about stick build (or balloon framing) which I have copied below. Don't get me wrong, you can make them well and have a high quality house, but the factors that affect the US housing market are interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpxLLCdW_Gc

Yes, the Simpson CSA screws aren't cheap but they are a nice product. Milwaukee do a nice looking battery palm nailer: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Milwaukee-C12PN-0-Compact-without-Batteries/dp/B008ETLI0A Personally, I can't justify the cost. Looks like you can get a pneumatic one for around £30-£40 though if you have a compressor. I am tempted by this one: https://www.woodfordtools.co.uk/Bostitch-PN50-E-Pneumatic-Compact-Palm-Nailer/P19887/

For reference, below is what the Structural Engineer specified for the top of partition walls:

This is great news. Blue Peter taught me how to do that sort of thing years ago.

I was thinking it would be anchored to the walls at its ends using L-brackets or welded on flange plates.

I'd be happy to, but I still need a plan ?

The vast majority of my walls are blockwork, but I wanted some walls as timber studding for the benefit of possible reconfiguration. None of the studwork walls is structural. We have precast concrete on GF and FF, insulation below the concrete. Anchoring the studwork wall sole plates on the first floor (FF) will be easy I expect. Either before or after screed, I envisage using a Masonry Torx Frame Fixing Screw (e.g. below at 7.5mm x 122mm) through the 4x2 and into the concrete. 600mm c/c? On the ground floor (GF) it's more complicated. Immediately on top of the precast concrete we have a gas membrane. That means I can't drive a screw into the precast concrete. Thankfully there are only a few places I need studding walls. Below are extracts showing them. The screed will be 40-50mm thick so doesn't feel substantial enough to screw to (and I'd have to stop before the membrane). The WC is the hardest I think and there is an almost 3m section. Before applying the screed, I could put a couple of timbers (4x2 flat laid) at right angles that follow the lines of the studwork walls. These timbers could be anchored to each other and to the walls at the ends. The timber has to be thin enough to pass under the WC door and Study door. I could do similar for the plant cupboard. Either side of the chimney is easier as I can just anchor to the walls at each end and it's only 1.6m. Does all this sound even vaguely sensible? I'm worried that there are long unconstrained sections that could bow or shift like a diaphragm. If I flow the screed up to the timber it is constrained but puts a lateral load onto the screed. I wondered if there is a good approach using steel (e.g. RHS 100x50 laid flat) I could put along under these studwork walls with bolts pre installed to then tie the studwork down to. The steel would end up flush with the top of screed (but isolated from it by expansion strip).

I was windy about using screws and spoke to the technical guy at Simpson StrogTie who put me at ease. To paraphrase (so don't quote me on it) you should be able to use the CSA 4.0 x 30mm anywhere you'd normally use a 3.75x30 twist nail. He said they are hoping to do a paper on it. I needed to add some frame anchors to tiny truss infill that had already had tiles fitted to so didn't fancy hammering. Worked a charm. Don't use an impact driver and set your combi or screwdriver to low torque so as not to strip the thread when tightening. It even looks really nice when done, semi architectural. I wouldn't mind having brackets covered in these on show but I would be less keen on having brackets covered in twist nails no show. I'd be more nervous using them on a big girder truss, but I think that's just me being old fashioned. Screws are the future I think, as long as it's the right screw! A wood screw would be a shocker.

Polypipe bought Nu-Heat in February this year (link). Nu-Heat's other literature says 50 years.

Wunda say "18% higher heat output than ordinary Pex and Polybutylene pipe" as well. That could be a concern, but as long as the manifold fitting is a standard thread it won't matter will it?

The big one there is the 50 year warranty on the pipes which also covers the full cost of the remediation. If that covers the floor finish replacement as well (which I'll check) then your potentially looking at insurance against a worst case of ~£15k. Unlikely I'd hope, but still has a value, to me of perhaps 10% of the UFH cost which works out as 1.5% of that worst case. Mechanicals wear out and are easy to replace as long as fittings are standardised.

Nu-Heat use a 14mm PE-Xc tube whereas most places I compare to would be based on a 16mm Pert-Al-Pert tube. Does anyone know the difference and which is better? Fastflo® PE-Xc tube Nu-Heat’s Fastflo® tube is a PE-Xc pipe. It is extremely strong and cannot be damaged easily – it would have to be physically punctured on-site to suffer from a leak. PE-Xc is a high-density polyethylene tube that is made up of five individual layers before being physically cross-linked. Cross-linking is essential as it enables the tube to remain strong whilst being flexible, helping to prevent kinking or damage to the tube during installation. https://www.nu-heat.co.uk/blog/a-closer-look-at-fastflo-tube/

I'm stripping there system back to the actuators and possibly the wiring centres so won't be using their thermostats. I'll then be enacting my own centralised control system with remote wireless temperature sensors. 1500m of tubing, three manifolds (5, 7 and 11) with actuators and wiring centres, clip rail tracks, pump, expansion vessel, design etc for a bit over £3k. If I put together a similar basket at WundaTrade it's £2k, but I can't see an expansion vessel on Wunda so I'm not sure what the score is there (suspect it's this for £54). If the parts are truly equivalent, it's basically £1k for the warranty, design an support. With no experience of fitting UFH before, the design and support could be very valuable to me.

Tin hat on as I know there isn't much love to nu-heat around here. I'm considering them just for the UFH, no the ASHP itself. Their initial price was ridiculous, but having basically said I could easily get equivalent parts from X or Y for half the price, an ask the manager conversation narrowed the gap to near reasonable. They have set up a system with lots of zones which I know is debatable, so I'll look into that and see how much it reduces things to have fewer (also remove any UFH for the hall/landing if they've done that). Has anyone actually gone with Nu-Heat and have any direct experience beyond the quote stage? Ultimately, is their product good, mainly the 14mm Fastflo tubing and Optiflo manifolds? Those are the hardest parts to replace. Am I correct in assuming that there is a standardised thread for actuators and so I can swap those easily enough? Nu-Heat's electrics look to be Heatmiser rebranded so no major concern there (?) They seem to use a Wilo Para SC7 pump. I have looked at Wunda and is another key option, but I'd like to understand more about Nu-Heat as there is lots of information on here about Wunda installs (probably for good reason).

Do you remember what brand of clip rail track you used?

I can't do that directly as the gas membrane is there but hopefully it will stick well. This comment concerned me a bit. Do you think the weight of the tubes will help out?

It is quite a new product that is structural and has beam components, but the reinforced web is 50mm. It and the gas membrane are installed, but nothing on top yet.

The stack up is: Insulation (325mm EPS) Precast Concrete (50mm) Gas Membrane Slip Membrane (if needed) Screed with UHF (~40mm)

I've touched on that in another thread and I'd like to have it on FF as we are likely to use the attic above and I don't want to risk having to have the GF too hot to make the 2nd F nice.

We have concrete* that is going to be directly under the screed with UFH in. On the Ground floor, the concrete is 50mm thick* with insulation below and a gas membrane above. Consequently, I can't use staples to hold down the pipes. I think that leaves the conventional options being: Insulated panels: don't want the insulation or bounce possibility Castellated panels: expensive ~£7-10/m2. seem very expensive when you multiply by the m2 needed. It's about 3x the cost of the pipes themselves which doesn't feel right given the restraint is to last about a day before the screed then holds everything in place. Clip rails: ~£1.90/m2. These feel like a good solution, but on the GF I'd have to rely on the self adhesive backing of the clip rail track. We plan to use a thin Anhydrite screed, 40-50 mm of Thermio+. We are not looking for a highly responsive system as using ASHP. Does anyone have experience of how well the clip rail tracks stick down? I could add screws to hold them down on the FF, but not GF. Do the pipes want to pull the clips off and make it a nightmare? I think I saw somewhere that some lay reinforcement mesh and then zip tie the pipes down. It's around £2.30/m2 for A142 mesh and has a good weight (2.2kg/m2) to it which would help hold the pipes down. * Thermobeam

Yes, I found it interesting reading so thought worth sharing

Here is a useful link about guttering layout design: https://www.gutter.co.uk/what-we-have-forgotten-about-victorian-gutters-and-drain-pipes/

One complication I'll have is on the ground floor we have a gas membrane, so I'll have to work out how to anchor the sole plate of the stud work walls. That will be easier after screed won't it, or should I be casting something into the screed? possibly the act of casting the sole plate itself in is the way to go.

Thanks Simon. Would you mind passing on the name of the supplier (DM you prefer)? I'm really keen for it to be level as that saves a lot of messing about and is one of those signposts that they have taken pride in their work which gives you confidence the rest has been done right. Is there a reason you added Kingspan upstands as well as the foam expansion upstand tapes? Are you then using insulated plasterboard above that?