PeterW

Even a 6" head is £43 so pricewise you are more than double. Difference is you can pick an 1800 catnic up with one hand ..!

What insulation are you using as that's borderline building regs values.

Concrete internal lintels start to get expensive and unwieldy at anything above 1700mm as they are invariably 215 x 100mm and that gives 27kn loading. As an example using 1800mm lintels Catnic single (£32) Naylor Concrete (£69) £101 catnic CG90 £43 It does make sense if you go over a 200mm cavity as the pricing goes silly for cavity lintels at anything above 125mm

I don't think you can buy uninsulated lintels now ..! Yes it is a cold bridge but unless you want the joy of building two separate skins and managing the lintels and the insulation and openings they are no worse than the big expanse of glass below the lintel..!

Anyone got a link to a decent and reasonably priced ceiling recessed track ..?

Welcome ...! Slight worry if you have BC issues what's the chance of mere mortals ...! All good fun here - ask away and we may be able to assist. I think we even have our own tame BCO in the ranks somewhere...

I've never seen any paint that claims to reduce sound - products for sound reduction work by absorption or diffraction of sound and would either have to be quite thick or have an uneven texture. Echoing soon disappears when you put a few things into a room - I wouldn't be concerned at this stage.

You offered .... and we wouldn't want you gone - who else could we pick on ..??!!

You could throw yourself in the water feature ...

I plan on spending some money on a decent air tightness membrane and doing that properly to reduce the losses. I've got one room that I don't have a room below (unheated garage) but that is getting 200mm of well sealed PIR in the floor and all the garage walls are insulated so I'm hoping it will be fine. I may also put an electric panel rad in there or alternatively a heat battery in the MVHR feed.

No idea but @Andrew Bissell - Sunamp , @TerryE Or @JSHarris may be able to answer. The controls are very simple from what I've read. Cost is based on your configuration so I think that's why you don't see a price list per se.

Sunamp has lots of benefits - low losses, compact unit, simple operation, multiple heat sources. It's drawback is initial outlay but if you do a true TCV over 10 years then I would expect the comparison to a Unvented Cylinder is marginal. So I'm having an unvented cylinder as we can't afford the Sunamp ..!

If you really want or need upstairs UFH then look into something such as the aluminium spreader plates under the joists. It is a bit of fun though when it comes to the turns as you can't notch the joists so something such as the thin overfloor system may be needed.

So they do sound like Leylandii - and as @JSHarris states you can ask for them to be removed or shortened. I've taken a lot out recently, to give you an idea I did some work based on a March 2015 tree survey that states 4-5m tall, and in August 2016 I took them out at 7-9m tall...... They will cause issues with normal foundations, the birch I wouldn't worry about as long as it is managed and hasn't got any serious joins or inclusions in the bottom 6m.

Paying £900 but that is also subsidising the cost of the warranty (£1400) inspections so £2300 all in. And they are very good !

About 6m by my calculation which at 1:20 (its just water so no solids to worry about) is 75mm fall. Even with a standard insulation spec and 65mm screed you should have double this so I don't see an issue..??

I'd say your spec isn't a high spec - its a standard build with standard items and has been augmented to get to a better uValue. UFH upstairs is a bit marmite - some say you need it, some say you don't and its a lot to do with airtightness and also the efficiency of MVHR among other things. Replacing sound insulation with thermal insulation between floors to meet part E always causes problems in this scenario. If you want to save on build cost and also get good uValues then you have to think laterally - go for a 140mm blockwork inner skin and then use 200mm EPS board with render as EWI and you have the same uValue with a lower cost to build and thinner foundations. Use 250mm Engineered joists for the roof and you get the option to bury a lot of cheaper insulation into the rafters and get a better uValue. You may also want to review the spec on the floor to go either passive slab or go deeper EPS but it has a converse cost of more muck away. Good airtightness is not expensive, neither is MVHR. You can get a decent unit (assuming we are talking 3/4 bed house) with all the bits for less than £2k. Airtightness takes time and care, but isn't difficult with blockwork if your brickie full fills all the perp ends and points properly. Adding EWI rather than a cavity fill further seals the walls, leaving the ceiling/roof to do which there are plenty of membranes. Its also a DIY job (just ask @ProDave) I've never got this idea of slab and screed, it seems to be an odd way of building up a heated floor.

Hi and welcome :-) Where you say "annexe" is this attached to the house or more of a garden room..? Reason is whether building regs apply so the answer on trees may be different ! In terms of the trees themselves, have you got a rough plan of where they are and what types..? You can build under trees with no issues however it depends what type of tree and the age - the safety of any tree is the owners responsibility and the neighbours should be managing that part. If you've got any plans or photos it may help with identifying the options.

Consider this .. Floors (still achieving u Value) o Ground (0.14 W/m²K) § UFH in 100mm screed structural slab § 125mm foil backed polyurethane § sub-floor o First § UFH in 75mm screed 22mm Weyroc/Egger Chipboard § 50mm insulation 75mm fibre (soundproofing) § hollow-core slab Metal Web Joists § 150mm void for services (including MVHR ducting) · Walls o External (0.15 W/m²K) § Sand/cement plaster § 100mm block § 200mm cavity fully filled with pumped in grey beads & glue § 100mm block § Sand/cement plaster · Roof o Warm roof (0. 13 W/m²K) (assuming 195mm rafters) § 100mm insulation on top of rafters 40mm PUR below rafters § 125mm Spray foam insulation between rafters 195mm Frametherm 35 § Plaster board with foil backing Not sure why you need UFH first floor..? The floor build up using web joists will allow your service void to be eliminated. It also probably reduces your floor depth and associated costs of additional walls. Structural slab may also help with depth of dig out and costs there too. What size is the proposed property..?

You mean in the insulation below the screed and above the slab ..? Most likely yes assuming the length isn't too far and you're able to get a fall on it. Similar to what you do with kitchen islands, make sure you put an access plug on the machine end so you can get to rod it if needed. I'd also go for 50mm pipe to be on the safe side.

Nice design for the right location - it's not as hard as it sounds, I got agreement in principle from planning for a raised round house on a plot down from a grade 2 listed mill.... just pitched it as "a water wheel...." Good luck with the build and welcome ..! May be worth letting people know where you are in the country too ..

Normally you either go into a stack or can use an internal floor gully with an inset sealed socket to take the 40mm waste pipe. Any chance you can drop to an external and then route round underground to the existing waste..?

Outdoor shower is fab after a day of kayak / sailing and easily done - just stick isolators on the inside of the wall or even a cheap TMV and a push valve outside. I never unpack unless its 3+ days and only then when there is somewhere to hang shirts etc. Those lift up beds are really good for hiding cases, stops clutter being seen under the bed from another room too. A folding case stand costs a few ££ but can live in the back of the wardrobe for the weekend warrior who doesn't want to unpack.

Mine has been on 1 bar pretty much for 6 weeks - I reckon any leak is past the threads on the temporary plugs for the fillers

As @PeterStarck says, Sennocke are one of the most accommodating and pragmatic insurers that I have come across. The shame is sometimes they sit behind impenetrable brokers who are as useful as a fart in a paper bag ...