Gone West

The only I-beam frame constructions I know of have been built on insulated rafts. I would have thought a beam and block foundation could easily be made to look like a raft.

More insulated slab laying.

Why is that? Our soleplate is a timber I-beam.

I've owned a few different block salt softeners over the years and always installed them myself. I've never had problems with regeneration, as the supplier has set the hardness value, so I'd be interested to know what the setting up tricks are.

Does not having to use the brakes as often cause any problems with the discs rusting or are they made from composite materials.

I fitted the doors, took them off, removed all door furniture and painted them flat.

Large heavy duty bubble wrap.

Thanks for that. I'm going to be using Enphase IQ7 microinverters so I'll look into how the inverters deal with that limit.

We have a 180l cylinder heated to 45C which has been fine for the two of us over the last eighteen months. It's heated by an EASHP which runs when needed.

I was going to use 4mm2 cable run in conduit in insulation, which as you say, in Appendix 4 of BS7671 would be ok for 26A. I'm thinking my system would be around 13A and the voltage drop would be small at 0.48%. So it seems I should be able to use the Rayleigh DIN rail meter which is only £4 more than the standard Rayleigh meter so would be a good solution for me.

What size system is that and do you have micro-inverters or a standard inverter?

The system is 10 panels each 305Wp so that would be 13.3A at 230V or 12.2A at 250V. The voltage around here is nearer 250V most of the time so is that ok or borderline?

This one is made in China, which I suppose isn't surprising, but seems to have the necessary approval. What do you think? Rayleigh Instruments DIN Rail Meters.pdf

I have received a quote from Wagner Renewables, thanks to @PeterW who recommended them, they were very quick. The quote includes a standard type generation meter and I was wondering if a DIN rail meter would be neater and take up less room. Has anyone used a single phase DIN rail generation meter in their CU for PV output? Are there any reasons for not using one?

A friend told us to discount Corian. We went for granite in our kitchen. All ours gets is a wipe down with a damp cloth and it looks the same as when we moved in eighteen months ago, although it is black.

Cap it off at the bottom and fill it with water. If no leaks from the solvent welds all good. Sorry didn't see CC post.

I would use solvent weld if buried in a wall, but would pressure test well before covering.

We have a Harveys Crown which is 490mm high and 460mm deep. The box is 210mm wide but with the pipe connections ours is 270mm wide.

If you just want to save time cutting the bevel this is an option. https://www.draindepot.co.uk/110mm-plastic-underground-drainage-pipe-chamfer.html

One of these cuts and bevels in one. I'm seen them a lot cheaper than this though. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Monument-Ppc110-Drain-Cutter-Beveller/dp/B0001P0GCG

We have an ensuite but I could quite happily live without one. I think buyers would expect an ensuite these days but just because you have one doesn't mean you have to use it.

We designed our own house back in 2009. At the time there was a scheme called 'Architect in the House' where a participating architect would visit you at your home to go through your plans in return for a donation for Shelter. It worked well for us, picking his brains to improve our plans.

We've used this stuff before. https://www.screwfix.com/p/fablon-window-film-frosted-675mm-x-1-5m/74393

Done.

Our house had a roof and windows for years before we started paying council tax. We had visits from the council tax inspectors over a number of years and just told them we didn't have electricity or water.