PeterW

Anyone resident who has an address in the U.K. is allowed to comment. I could comment if I wanted to....

65mm is standard as you need the two refrigerant lines, a 1/2” drain hose, power cable and a control cable. The insulation will squash slightly and the rest can be foamed.

Not sure why you are buying contractor works..?? It should be the contractor who takes it out. GSI Southern are good at this sort of stuff - give them a call

They are builders insurers - look at a Self Build Policy through the likes of Sennocke or others

This needs designing properly ...!! There is no racking strength (ie what is stopping it twisting and falling) and that’s the minimum to stop it moving with anyone stood on it. What’s the purpose of this balcony..??? If it’s just for somewhere to stand when you come out of the French doors then extend the room below and make it a flat roof. Much more stable, and probably quicker as the builder will do 95% of the work. Whatever you do, it will need to be done to get building regs sign off as you cannot have a set of French doors opening into thin air so you either have to build the balcony structure or put some sort of temporary Juliet arrangement before sign off.

A fall from that distance could cause injury - potentially serious. You’re talking about potentially trying to cantilever some sort of staging from the side of a building, and that needs to be designed carefully. For example, the balustrade needs to be 1100mm high, gaps no more than 99mm. It will be subject to building regs so has to meet all the regs for structure. You'll also need to make sure the underlying structure is capable of taking the loads. This needs to be designed in from the start. You could potentially build a full cantilever beam from the inside of the structure but ... it needs designing ..! Has the builder come back with a price for the main structure yet ..??

Find someone younger to do it..!!!

A good split unit should run for 5-7 years before a gas top up. Nipping up copper fridge lines is an art - too tight and the cones deform.

If you read the earlier links, it does say that someone was told an engineer would be quicker to fix a fault if they removed their negative feedback on trustpilot ..!!

I’ll be really surprised if they let anything more than a 2mx500mm balcony through as a non material amendment ..! You need to design this properly - possible one for an engineer or add on for your timber frame company to do it right. This is not something to do on the advice of an Internet forum ....!!!

I reckon I could stomach it for a while ...!! May give them a call ...

@JSHarris I’ve just read the “Chinglese” instructions for installing one of these pre-gassed units .... So basically you have a compressor that is overcharged, and they calculate that 4/6m of pipe and a known evaporator coil has a volume. A quick PVT calculation later, and you can work out the “over gas” weight needed. The instructions get you to open the T-Valve (usually used to gas the unit) by quarter turn and wait 5 seconds “using a digital clock”... Close the T valve then open the vac valve (Schrader type) by pressing for 3 seconds. And then open the T-Valve and the isolator fully.... So in essence, they purge the pipes using refrigerant gas ..!!! Not the most environmentally friendly way, and I bet it’s easy to over vent ..!!

An insulated pipe at standard fridge spec Armaflex/Insultube is around 35mm in diameter - you could spiral wrap it to reduce a little but I doubt the fittings are anywhere near that diameter as it 9mm pipe usually.

Odd.... Visqueen is embossed both sides ....

..?? Roll I’ve got in my hand has same both sides...

Doesn’t matter.

0/1/2 for floors BD - Bed L01 etc all fits in 6 characters. Use different colour wheels too so you can see all the yellows are floor 0 etc without turning them round. OCD..?? Yep..!!

They already have. Energy poverty is a big thing and will get worse. Prices have doubled over the past 10-15 years anyway, and the way this is happening is the increase in standing charges. I saw a new build yesterday that had “glass panel radiators” and has an EPC of D (just..!) which shows developers are still happy to push for the lowest build cost and not care about ongoing costs.

Bifolds aren’t the bees knees and need a lot of detailing for something that could cost you £6-8k where a couple of pairs of french doors could be less than half that and be more practical. One consideration you may want to make is that the roof height and wall thickness of the house will be based on 2003/6 building regulations insulation levels so beefing up insulation in the floor especially could move the ridge height slightly if you want to keep the ceiling heights the same. Post the plans up here if you want comments on what can be done within the existing shell.

No Just fit it... CT1 (or cheap sealant if it’s coming out in the next 24 months) to the wall and be done with it, but bear in mind you should really have a fall on the duct to an outside vent so any condensation that forms inside runs to the outside not the inside. Bit of fibre insulation around the first part of the duct will help stop it initially.

Make sure they are nailed on every other rafter tail with the proper Polytop nails (and use the 65mm ones) and you will be fine. It is gutter that creaks and squeaks although I’ve fitted Brett Martin deepflow and even the grey one is silent.

I asked Lindab about this and it referred more to using jigsaws and recip saws that tend to pull and bend the steel. The one I saw done they cut with a hole saw and then also bent a couple of “ears” into the hole to promote the water dripping into the down pipe. I think they also used some cold galv paint on the cut edges too.

You’ve got the wrong product there ..!! Fermacell was made by Xella, it’s a mix of gypsum and recycled newspaper. They were bought out by James Hardie last year. Superb product and I’d use it again but it’s hard on tools.

Fermacell - like board and tape without the tape ... lovely finish and rock hard

That hole is tiny ..!! Should be 65mm or wider to match the downpipe. Can recut it fairly easily using the original hole cutter mounted inside the new one on the same mandrel. 5 minute job with the right tools.