PeterW

Noooo... Indirect has a single coil that rhe ASHP is connected to. It hydraulically separates the UFH from the ASHP so you don’t need antifreeze in the UFH etc. Direct is basically a 60-90 litre cylinder with lots of connections - fluid from the ASHP flows through anything connected, including into the UFH loops.

Use them all the time now and so quick to use. Surprised they haven’t brought out a Quinetic ceiling rose yet.

I use MKMs version of Vent3 which is about £60/roll but is just rebadged Cromar.

1m gets used for hips and valleys sometimes to stop having to cut down rolls. Tend to use 1.5m on big roof sections.

Wonder if those heras bases holding the water up will become a permanent installation..?? ?

Buffer doesn’t need a low loss header - one or the other. Depending on the buffer you use (Direct/Indirect) then all you do is a feed from the buffer to each manifold blending and pump set which can either be tee’d or each manifold can have its own feed off the buffer. Returns can be combined to the bottom of the buffer. Stat on the buffer in series with the time switch controls the ASHP CfH signal. Some will say you need a zone valve to each manifold but given the mixing valves on a manifold allow very little flow unless they are calling for heat then I don’t bother. What is heating the DHW/UVC..?

Water with a bit of washing up liquid !

Even the pro’s when paid to do a decent job get it wrong ... this is in a very nice hotel, and is one of only two loft suites in the hotel so £300+ per night.. tiling is pretty good, then you see this behind the freestanding bath in the bedroom ..!!

A slightly different way but all mine are done like this now.

Why PIR..?? Just pack the cavity with fibre insulation as that’s better for sound reduction and easier to put around cables and pipes that will be running through the space. Have to say, the routed boards seem (an expensive) solution looking for a problem. If you have standard width rooms at say 3.5m, a 45 pitch will give you a ceiling height of over 5m at the apex, you won’t notice if the outer wall is 2m or 1.95m ..!

2m at the eaves is more than adequate so losing 20mm is nothing. You also need to consider that for an easy joist type system, the boards are glued to the joists to make the whole structure stronger. Pre-routed boards wouldn’t do that as well, and would also fill full of crap and rubbish such as plaster if the pipes were not immediately laid and then you would need a covering - either temporary or permanent - before you could continue. I would be using an overlay system and also getting insulation under the main boards for both sound and heat insulation - you want the heat upward ..! Have you discounted using one of the spreader plate systems under a standard floor..?

So reading that, you have to include Solar PV anyway - is it in the design ..? ASHP isn’t an issue - get the UFH and rads designed right and the insulation levels sorted and it should be fine. Also worth revisiting the windows - those don’t look good values for the overall openings but bank the savings.! Also, has he done the initial DER on the bare minimum values to get a pass ..?

Is the store part of the existing property boundary ..?? i.e. has it been used as ancillary to the current dwelling as a store..? If so, it is deemed to be part of the existing dwelling house and any conversion would be at 20% VAT not 5% VAT. The lower rate only applies for conversion from one building type to another (office to residential etc Also, it’s highly unlikely you will get PP for the second 1 bed dwelling on it’s own as the council won’t see it as such. You won’t get any refund under self build VAT as you won’t qualify, and your mortgage funder is unlikely to fund the second build as it would be commercial. Unless you must keep the store, I would bulldoze the lot and start again.

Got LXT batteries.?? https://www.cnspowertools.co.uk/makita-dub183z-18v-cordless-blower-body-only

Not sure you can install a septic tank these days, has to be a packaged treatment plant. The issue with “flow” is one of capacity as the new ones are multi chamber and that is why they need pumping out - the primary settlement chamber cannot overflow into the secondary chambers otherwise they stop working efficiently. The bigger issue with treatment plants that they don’t tell you is lack of flow. If they don’t have a continuous flow, nitrate levels can build up in the final stages if the flow is too low - some recirculate the water from the outflow tank to stop this happening back to the start of the process (Biodisc have this as an option). This is needed if the house is not permanently occupied or has varying usage.

That isn’t correct. VAT at 5% is only on certain types of conversion. If it is a building that has been part of another house such as a garage, then it is 20% VAT. The rules are not as simple as they appear ..!

It’s fine to link them as I have installed the AICO one - how big is the cupboard though ..?

Not a stupid question. if you are paying the builder for labour and materials then he should zero rate everything to you. So if your build consisted of £50k labour and £100k ex VAT materials, you would pay him £100k. He would pay £120k for the materials (£100k plus 20% VAT) and then he would reclaim the £20k on his VAT return. if you purchase the materials for him, you would pay the £120k out but then reclaim it at the end. In that instance you would reclaim the £20k. If it’s supply and fit by a VAT registered trader they MUST zero rate the whole invoice otherwise it cannot be reclaimed.

Frost won’t be an issue but your water company may not be happy as they may insist on it being 6-700mm. The site survey from the utility company should show that cable anyway - it seems very shallow for electric ..?

You can fit whole house surge protectors in domestic CUs - they aren’t that expensive at ~£120 or so. Have to get the right one for the installation though as they vary by supply type.

So arguably you’re looking at £750-800k with everything, as a top line. Assuming you are prepared to either head north east into Suffolk or Norfolk, or stretch the commute to hit the Leicestershire / Rutland / Warwickshire area (that is all <1 hr to London by rail) then you may be able to get what you want. £200k for a plot gets you something reasonable in those areas, but it won’t be huge. Add in £50k for fees / designs / prelims etc, and you have £500k as a budget to build. That will get you into the 230-275sqm floor space which is ok for 6 bed, but taking into consideration you want modern then it may be pushing your budget over the £2000/sqm as I expect you will be looking at a lot of glazing etc. Those are expensive things to buy, they are also very divisive when it comes to planners ..!! A modernist box is marmite - some will allow, and some will not under any circumstances, and you may need to spend on planning consultants to get what you want.

Welcome ..! So lets start with location you want to build in, and what equity you have in any current house or savings etc. That will probably be the biggest factor in affordability. If you’re in Weybridge rather than Wrexham, land will be considerably more expensive. Start with a rule of thumb that any BS or lender won’t go above 80% LTV for plot and build. Take a conservative 3 x joint income as a value of max mortgage, and add that to the equity. Then subtract a 1/3rd for land, and divide the rest by £1500.. you now have a very rough idea of what size house you are building .... So say you have £75k equity and joint income of £80k. Your total would be £315k, plot budget of £105k, build budget of £210k giving a house of 143sqm. That’s about the size of your average developer 4 bed box, and assumes you’re nowhere in the south east of the U.K. Start adding lots of other factors such as difficult sites, slopes, access, long utility connections and that £1500 goes up, your available size goes down. It’s all about location to start with, and how much you’re prepared to do yourself.

Telehandler will do that easily. A 10m will be fine as it will get over the scaffold. A 7m will struggle. If he really insists on a crane then an iron fairy will do that without a problem - that’s a truck mount crane with a 10m boom.

Yep that’s the point of leaving the gaps and also allows it to swell and not bend

yep it’s fine. just done a small sarked roof today - boards are 95x20mm rough sawn tanalised and laid with a 3mm gap between the boards. You need counter battens though unless he’s nailing onto the boards at which point I think they need to be 25mm ..?