PeterW

Not really - plasticity testing is done to check composition at various levels of water content as certain clays act differently at variable saturation points. Normally what happens is you get a nice long report stating the components such as sands and clays and it’s compressive strength. Have you discussed a passive slab with your architect ..? It may be something worth considering if you’ve got to go down the piles/raft route.

I thought you had a fixed price and schedule from your builder ..? if so, how has he priced raft vs piles as they are very different beasts ...! And it’s not up to your architect to design this bit unless she is a structural engineer so I would check that too ..!

I can write a DD&D report from 200 miles away ....... Working on TPOs is fine until you get a new tree officer like the one we’ve just got - young and clueless ..!! Degree in Environmental Science yet can’t tell an oak from a sycamore and thought a 40 year old oak covered in water sprouts was “healthy”... Wanted me to put a full application in to remove, I declined with a “if it falls onto that house in the interim it’s on the council insurance...” Mr Husqvarna 1 - Council 0 I know a couple of lads who have already put in complaints against her - doesn’t seem to understand what PPE is either ....

@Tennentslager use this stuff https://www.encasement-onlineshop.co.uk/PBSCProduct.asp?ItmID=20297796&AccID=120926&PGFLngID=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItciZvPvu1wIVy53tCh07UQoiEAQYCCABEgLCcvD_BwE

Sorry just re-read it - thought the cavity was 195mm..!! What about losing the top block and basically making it like a standard TF and clad the outside with wood fibre insulation ..? That would allow you a thinner internal frame but keep all of it warm.

Have you considered a beam and block first floor as that can hang over the cavity and give you the arrangement you want.

They had recently been accused of distorting figures by lumping together various sectors within differing types of output - residential and commercial for example - but not splitting the actual emission type. For example, large scheme pellet heating for district heating also got dropped into the same category as power generation which has vastly different controls I don’t disagree though that it does contribute however when you live 100 yds from a main line station and you see the diesel fumes coming from the “clean” trains then you do worry ....

Here... 6KW Monobloc

You can go to 50w if you use this stuff - Loose Wire UFH Cable Just halve the spacings. It's good where you can't get to lay a full mat and want to just lay it "freehand"

Depends how much you need. Wickes have it on 3 for 2 at the moment so you can get Knauf 170mm Standard Top Up Loft Roll Insulation for £16.66 a roll and then take off 15% with BLACK15 for the next few days. Makes it £2.30sqm or £4.60 if you go for 340mm

Yes but to bring in another £200m he would need to build 100,000 new houses in London and that’s not going to happen because once they are built if the people don’t like what he’s doing then they can vote him out .... it’s the vehicles his policy team go after as they are an easy target and there is a constant churn of new “customers” for the congestion charging.

most dry ice is manufactured as a by-product of the liquid air companies and is a short lived product so you're not really balancing anything meaningful !!

Doubtful.... for many reasons ! Sadiq Khan won't bring in any legislation that harms his "patch" as for example the latest round of emissions charges makes the residents in the zone pay just 10%. A "woodburner" tax wouldn't bring in the revenue (try £3-400m PA for congestion charging) that another extended mobile charging scheme will. He's not interested in a static tax as it won't bring in revenue - motorists are his target market and they keep coming back for more...

... and on another thought, there are enough of us spread across the UK that we could very easily and simply form a network that can do face to face or site meetings to "assure" the lending group that the person exists, has collateral, a plot and plans...

Most UFH thermostats has a switch on it too - or the ones I’ve seen mine are all (2 floor, 2 towel rails) on a single 10A RCBO into a timer circuit so are controlled that way. It’s dumb thermostats too as I don’t like the programmable floor stats as they are too complicated.

Switch that thing on and it will be like a bog on the space station ...!!! You’ll get vacuumed to the seat....!

Easiest way (and forgive the sketch...) is to make a pair of L shapes into your site entrance, this allows you to stop the fences being pushed over and dependent on site space you can either open inwards into site so you can park off the road to open up, or on a tight site you can open the floating panel outwards. A simple motorbike lock and chain is good for security.

Marley manifold is designed to be used in commercial buildings - the branches are about £25 each and you connect the pan direct using another fitting that is about £30.... you can’t put a horizontal extension on it the way you’ve drawn it.

Cement board would not provide the required DPM - you have a closer for both cavity sealing purposes and for damp control. Also, as it’s a TF cavity does your design not need the closer to be a fire block ie made of fibre ..?

So I would simplify Straight out from both pans. Use a 22/45 depending on where you get to from the back of the top pan to run it into the branch of a Y. Second pan runs straight into the leg of the Y and then into a standard branch on the stack.

I’ve got to ask the question why .... The heat loss is more via air tightness and ventilation loss - 40% has been bandied about - and having the membrane to hold the insulation in is pretty much helping you achieve that. I would expect that it would take a significant number of years to even get close to a payback for installing any additional insulation.

The other - slightly random - option is to go for a Corten finish and let it rust ..? I think you would need your SE to sign off on it but I think it’s a really attractive finish and if it’s not a structural part of the main house then may be seen as “external” to the fire regs ..??

If it’s being painted then it needs to be blasted first and as soon as they do that it starts to corrode. I would get them to paint it as they do it day in and day out. It’s Red Oxide normally too.

That’s similar @Nickfromwales to the million solar roofs project that was kicked off under Clinton in the US. The issue is usually one of legislation and people getting on a band wagon rather than financing - just look at MCS...!

They do .... it’s called a 50mm tee followed by a 50/32 elbow ..! At that size the pressure loss would be negligible.