PeterW

Yep so if I’d paid someone I reckon £1k install and £1k unit ..? I got some decent eBay deals and also used things such as 63mm ducting rather than the “proper” duct. It does show it doesn’t need to cost loads and I think the issue is sometimes the “specialist retailers” tell you it has to be SAP-Q etc and that their ducting is coated with anti-COVID Unobtainium TetraOxide, so you soon end up a £5k bill for the kit alone.

Nope you can tank around a tray - it’s belt and braces.

Nope it was done by me - so about an hour per window..? MVHR ducts were probably a day, unit the same ..?

Total cost of airtightness and MVHR is around £650 all in for me. That’s £250 of tape and £400 for MVHR. Tape is only around windows and doors and tbh it’s worth every penny.

I’d be doing that as strip and ICF between garage and room too, ground bearing slab over insulation will give you exactly the same result with less complexity. Insulated garage floors are a bit marmite - you’ll need to go to 150mm thickness and 7x7m will need mesh in it regardless.

Its not the same area though - Passiv is 1/5th of the 20p per metre, or the gap between those 20ps at the bottom..

Just checked and it was these ones we installed and they come with up to 1” brass inserts. Fitted them with Tectite sprint push fits in brass as it’s all exposed copper. https://store.sterner.co.uk/products/aquafilter-10-filter-housing-c-w-1-2-ports?variant=32896725712950

The only reason it’s making it easier is that it works as a plasticiser - any admix does that.

Did the housings have rubber washers ..?? 1” is unusual - most have 3/4”..? Wherever you go from threaded polypropylene to brass you will have an issue. Alternative is to put Hep2O push fit 3/4 male fittings onto them, or if you can’t get those to seal then use a 3/4 nylon or ABS nipple and put a female Hep2O tap connector onto that. JG Speedfit do a 3/4 in acetal but I think it’s a face flange seal so only works if the filter housing is perfectly flat. Also speak to Sterner as they do filter housings with brass inserts.

@James94 if you put the ‘@‘ in front of the name and select from the list it also notifies someone that you’ve replied ..!

Standard plasterboard soaks water up like a sponge. Why not use a tanking product - they aren’t expensive - and do it properly rather than in 3 years time be having to rip stuff out to sort wet ceilings and rotting floors ..???

Sliders - at 2.4m you have a good chance of them sealing and can get them triple glazed and they don’t cost the earth. I’ve seen so many sets of bifold doors installed thanks to the glossies that never get used. They are a structural nightmare and on a cost basis when you include everything, at over 3m they become about 4 times the cost of the same glazed area of French doors. We replaced a full sliding wall (6m) from an architects design with 3 sets of French doors for 15% of the price of the bifolds, they are more useable and they seal better !!

That’s a very small extension - 2m x 3m..?? I wouldn’t bother with an insulated raft and you’ll probably find building control want a lot of paperwork for something where they would normally say “same depth as the house” and let you get on with it.

Below ground I would go 4:1 with nothing else - you won’t need it. Just make sure your DPM goes up and over the blocks when you do that. Laying blocks, get a straight bit of timber and see how much out of level corner to corner round the foundations you are, and see what the gaps are you’re making up. Much more than 30mm won’t muck up so you’ll need to cut blocks down to the “highest” point if that makes sense ..?? 20 blocks from 20kg of mortar is pushing it - it’s based on a 10mm bed and perps, so you’ll probably end up needing 50kg or so.

No point in spending the money. 125mm gives you bit better than building regs but the wall of glass completely undoes any benefit. Even using glazing with 0.8W/mK vs standard 1.0W/mK you are losing 10-12 times the heat through the glass than you are through the roof. To offset that wall you would need around 260mm of PIR in roof and walls from a quick fag packet calculation (purely elemental) What has the architect designed to meet building regs ..??

Not thick enough by a long way ..!! Use tanalised CLS, set below the joists 22mm and then glued and screwed to the joists. Then cut the ply to fit the gaps, glue and screw the ply to the CLS. That forms your deck for the shower tray to sit on and will be bombproof. Tanking would be preferable but LVT doesn’t really sit well on tanking. You could add a 6mm ply all over to strengthen the floor and sandwich a tanking membrane to stop any issues. I would be cutting the bottom 300mm from the plasterboard all round and replacing with moisture resistant board.

Pick axe swung properly will punch a hole in 1” cast iron .... and the water pressure will make it come back at speed !!

Yep - all inside a nice warm envelope..!! Leave stubs of drains, isolated hot and cold feeds etc and MVHR installed but taped up. Real no brainer to me ..!

So I would start by sorting that pipework out .... strain on the tee and the pipe going back under the right is horrible and it will fail eventually !!! Then get some pipe clips and some stand offs and clip it all up. Best thing for an outside tap is one of the copper and brass units from S’Fix or similar. Bring it through the wall, compression elbow on the end into a short section of pipe, compression DCV and compression isolator, then into your tee / elbow from the supply. But all that lot needs sorting first ..!! I can hear @Nickfromwales grinding his teeth from here looking at that ..!!

-+1 to the bungalow with attic truss design - do the expensive floor / founds / walls / roof now and then convert in the future. All internal low(er) cost to do and none of the major issues.

Fitted the Tenda AC1200 yesterday and really impressed for change of £70. Whole house mesh, set the first one up with the SSID and ID from the old broadband router so no need to change any of the devices and was surprised how quick it all connected and gave a good stable signal. Also very neat that you can set it to auto restart at 3am overnight so you don’t have the issues of lots of old leases hanging around. Will see how good it is in a couple of weeks but so far so good.

@James94 first question - has that ever been a bathroom ..?? That looks like ordinary chipboard not moisture resistant board so I wouldn’t want it anywhere near a shower. Same with the walls - that is standard plasterboard, so you will need to do some tanking in this area. What does your mum want in terms of floor finish in there ..?? That will affect floor build up, and also the decision as to how far to recess the shower tray (or not) and what you do next. Looks like the wall stops the door swinging open and hitting anything so you’ve got options for the shower tray in there - could comfortably get a 1400 x 800 in there similar to this https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/matrix-1400-x-800mm-ultimate-walk-in-enclosure-10mm-with-side-panel-tray

Self Build insurance is all risks insurance - who’s told you it isn’t ..?? You only need a joint liability all risks policy if your contractor doesn’t carry £1-2m in all risks insurance themselves. I would be wary of a contractor who didn’t carry that as standard (£5m is the norm these days) I would check what is actually needed as I’ve never heard of a self build mortgage provider not accepting a self build insurance policy ..!!

Looks about £8-9k of materials and same labour - not too far off the mark.

1.2 cubic metres is about 20 barrow loads .. 2 people on barrows, 1 rough spreading and it would be done in 20 mins. SLC - Self Levelling Compound, 5mm thick on 11m would be 4-5 bags so £50 if you buy smart.