PeterW

@Hecateh are you having MVHR..?? (Another acronym..) With your upside down house design I would go for Wet UFH in the slab on the ground floor and then work out if air rads would benefit the lesser used rooms. Is the staircase open enough to allow heat transfer between floors ..?

Isn’t your architect married to the SE...?? If so, ask her to mention over the Rice Krispies (other cereals are available) that they have missed the skyhooks off the SE spec.... Short of running a steel from wall plate to gable both sides and then creating a long bar “A” frame for the gable to stand on, you are going to struggle. I’d ask a pointed question about how they envisage it working and then wait for the answer - and I wouldn’t be paying for it either ..!!

Climaflex 15mm will fit 16mm pipe. Question though - is this going under the floor as you’ve said you may have a vermin issue and they love eating insulation ....

What's the reason for not using a pretty standard set up of Hep2O and, if needed, their manifolds...? That would mean its all out of the box components that have no real compatibility issues, and if you want to have a "nice look" then you can transfer to copper for the last 250mm to the valve. If you really want a stainless manifold, the Emmetti ones can be supplied with 15mm cones.

A blog on here is just a quick upload process with a bit of text - it’s the same editor as the main forum. Benefit is that it keeps all your build in one place so it’s easily tracked. Its 2 mins for an admin to enable for you...

Decorators caulk is what you need here - or they do a light weight filler in a tube that is 99p I think. If you have a Home Bargains near you they’ve got Everbuild Decorators Caulk for 99p as well and it’s decent stuff.

The key with any of the self compacting concrete mixes is not to over work them - they will level to an extent but still need a bull float or similar over them to finish the job. The downside is that they seem to be made of smaller aggregate and more sand so the more you work them to get them flat, the more liquid and cement you pull to the surface. If you’re using it as final floor (polished..??) then take the advice of the polishing and finishing company as to what they want as otherwise it could be costly.

5 is a partial - you can claim for the fronts if the back and sides are created using plasterboarded/solid walls but not if it’s made up of chipboard sides. You also cannot claim any internal fittings.

Worth fitting these on every basin and then you have no issues at all with syphoning when the toilets flush. McAlpine Waste

Nah - it will have gone out of fashion by the time he starts tiling and back into fashion by the time he finishes grouting .....

I think he should just make some 6.973mm tile spacers (Waterjetted from 316 stainless...) and that would work fine and get rid of the cuts ....

Sack the SE......

QCAD is very nice and the only reason to go pro edition is to get some of the plug in tools. It’s currently running on my Linux desktop and I find it really easy to use too.

Where are you building ..?? This sounds like a mix of Scottish regs and potentially a Local Authority BCO - did they put in writing about the rejection as that’s a good start to an appeal ..! Get the list of 36 and put it on here - sounds like the SE talking rubbish ..!!

Been there .... Bought the cheapest fan possible with overrun, and just took the timer circuit out and stuck it into a box in the attic inline with my big new centrifugal fan. Quicker and cheaper than upgrading the fan.

We did one similar to what you describe and set old pavers on their edges about 10” into the ground. Nothing could get under it and it looked ok too as we used up broken ones with just the good edges showing.

I think there are too many variables on Wren for them to be consistent - they use subcontract fitters who are on a price to complete, and the showrooms are on targets to sell and upsell kitchens - that is a recipe for disaster..! Howden's can be just as bad with missing stock - my last kitchen from them was missing a box on delivery and yet even when me, the driver and the rep told the warehouse manager it wasn't there we were told it had to be as it wasn't in the warehouse.... it was on someone elses order.... Like you @jamiehamy I know someone locally who had a Wren kitchen and can't fault it and the fitting was perfect, but when they called them back after 3 months to sort 2 doors that the hinges had moved on it took 4 visits and 3 complaints to put it right. When they asked the last team what happened to the ones who fitted it, the answer was "they were sacked as they took too long..!"

@Lin Do you want UFH...? If so, have a look at this build up that both myself and @JSHarris talked about You could go with 100mm of PIR, 20mm EPS trays and then the flooring and still be under your 150mm build up but with a much more insulated floor. The downside is you have very little to hold the heat or transfer it to, so using it as an overnight thermal buffer wouldn't be practical.

... who I now believe are the UKs most complained about kitchen company !! I think @Nickfromwales refuses to go near them, as do a lot of people !

I have triple glazed French Doors and they are fine - glazing units were 38kg each but they have worked well and pleased with them. With no heating other than a 2kw heater it’s not cold in here and we have upped the insulation to 400mm of fibre anywhere flat with 25mm of PIR over the top of 200mm on the sloping bits which gives a variety of uValues from 0.09 to 0.18 depending on which element you look at.

Do you need one ..?? In England you need one on the floor on which the entrance is - that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the ground floor. If you want an additional one, as long as you have one that meets Part M of the Building Regs then it can be a very small cloakroom ..!

https://www.wundatrade.co.uk/shop/home/actuator-auto-balancing/

@Hecateh talk to these guys - they have a baby truck mount pump that will be fine for what you need. http://www.retfordreadymix.co.uk/concrete-pumping.php/

+1 to what @Barney12 said but if this is structural and not visible then it doesn’t need to be engineering brick. It’s also very surprising they suggest shallow fill foundations with no rebar on questionable ground - trench fill concrete would be quick and simple and even if you stepped them at the back they would be simpler than the way it’s drawn now ... and cheaper !!

So that’s barely to building regs on insulation (0.2 floor..??!) and trickle vents everywhere .... His trench layout and walls make no sense - trenchfill foundations would be much easier and simpler, and they could be used to create the retaining structure through the entire ground slab. Have you got the foundation plan and the calcs..?