PeterW

opening -50mm on timber frame and then box out using 12 or 18mm exterior ply and you can create a very good airtight box to the correct depth.

Standard self build insurance, unless you’re hiring in your own kit then don’t bother with hired in plant, and make trades accountable for their own tools.

I’ve done a few with reclaimed and tbh unless you can get them all from the same location and have them all onsite together so they get blended then I would look to a new brick that looks reclaimed or old. I’ve had nightmares with TP cottage blend as they are inconsistent, and as @Temp says they can be a bit heavy - they can also be a mare to cut easily..! TBS have a nice selection - worth looking at for ideas https://www.traditionalbrickandstone.co.uk/bricks

Pan head 80mm concrete screws drilled with a 5.5mm drill bit. Depends on the blocks you can sometimes drop to a 5mm bit as the screws bite better

Less restrictions due to less need for elbows etc means the difference is negligible. On a pair of supply backbones upstairs and downstairs in a 5 bed house you won’t see a difference between the two other than time and cost to install.

Is that from Tuin..?

+1 to this - rainscreen it is fine, anything structural has to be done in a known quantity product

I’ve fitted copper of that size once in 30 years and it was copper waste.. never even seen it used in a domestic situation, even with ASHP 28mm is max needed. Decent flow and return backbone using 22mm Hep2O, tee off it into copper at 15mm for the rad tails if you really want to but unless it’s a 20 bed mansion and you’ve got a lot of rads, you don’t need anything none standard here.

£46k for a kitchen and utility in a 2 bed maisonette..? I spent £35k all in on a £2.4m 6 bed house with a 35sqm kitchen and that was Miele appliances and custom built… those taps are fairly cheap and rebadged no name stuff, you need to be buying quality where you touch it and that’s taps and handles etc.

£11,700 for “utility appliances”..?? Decoration is £20k tops, inc inside and out window cleaner is paid in gold I assume at £335, and cleaning a full house is not £2600… Most (all..?) of your Price Sums are double a reasonable price, and given the whole thing is being ripped to bits then the £19k rewire must be using gold plated unobtainium cables … UFH in a house this size off an ASHP with 40mm of cork on the walls will give you electricity bills that make Credit Suisse squeal.. That is a £300k all in job, with decent finishes, that even with the silly London premium should come in £425k max. He’s having your pants down and your shirt off ..

Yep - lip and spur wood bits don’t break either face and leave a decent clean hole.

If I know it’s a clear cavity I use Lip & Spur wood bits as you don’t get any breakout at all.

Is this for a vertical pull ..? That could be a challenge for any fitting. For heavy stuff with a decent bracket to cover the fixing I use Grip-Its

Ironically I would !! Use 15mm pipe and make any joins above ground and then use 15x9 insulation on them, duct tape the joints in the pipe insulation and then bury in the bottom of the screed.

It’s not polystyrene though, it’s ultralight aerated cement blocks so just like the Celcon thin joint stuff but with even less compressive strength.

Use Sikaflex EBT+ for the seal between the ultraflex on the upstand and the frame. Clean the ultraflex with IPA or Multisolve to make sure it’s squeaky clean first.

Point load will be your issue when the slab becomes a beam and bending occurs. 50mm is very strong however I would go 100mm and then chuck fibres in (steel or fibreglass will do) and it won’t go anywhere.

Depends where you are in the UK as cement product prices between Midlands and Scotland are about 25% different so you may have regional variations to deal with.

Someone want to tell UK Gov and BRE.. and most of the other researchers that input into the updates to Part L when they changed it to make zoning mandatory for the saving of fuel..??

They say all sorts on that site, not all of it being correct … heating efficiency isn’t affected by depth, the time constant and potential for overheat however is greater depending on the control mechanism used

If it is very cold you may find your ducting has contracted to the point that it’s barely visible …

Obviously not your builder who appears to not care about your bills once he’s out the door - overlay systems are not designed for uninsulated slabs. You could get a UFH company to plan it however your issue will be differential movement in the heated surfaces due to substantially different heat loss between the two halves. A better approach would be to dig up the old floor and insulate it and pour one single slab with UFH in it. That would allow for better uValues plus a better control mechanism for heating. Alternative option is have all the M&E designed properly from the outset so it works together rather than let the builder make decisions on the fly - out of interest what was in your building regs application ..?

@craigcan probably tell you where they are in the pecking order

You can’t do air conditioning with MVHR due to flow volume, you can do basic warming and cooling of the airflow using a water duct battery but it’s going to add / remove 5-800w at most. You’ll also find that MVHR duct is only 30% of the size of standard AC duct so you won’t get significant airflow without a lot of noise. The second issue is that you have to ensure the whole system is cooling ready if you drop the air temp low enough you will end up with condensation external to the ductwork which will cause damp issues. Secondary ducting is needed to do AC correctly if you don’t want to use wall units or ceiling cassettes - you can then use a ducted battery but these need minimum 125mm duct so that needs a lot of planning.

no they aren’t - warranty claims are down and NHBC aren’t paying out for a lot of issues that they used to. It’s an insurance policy and they will find every way not to pay. There is nothing in BS 13598 that states you cannot use the pipes above ground if adequately protected, nor in BS-EN 1329 or any of the others listed in Part H of the Building regulations as long as the pipe is manufactured within the standards.