Gone West

We have a Wren kitchen, supply only, which we fitted ourselves. Everything was delivered on time and for the price was good quality. Their kitchen 'designers' weren't much good in our case but everything worked out fine in the end. I had heard lots of horror stories but maybe we were just lucky.

The new two bedroom bungalow next door was rated as an 'F' whereas the original bungalow on the site was a 'C', as was our old bungalow. The owner didn't challenge the rating. Our new house was assigned an 'F' rating, which we appealed against saying it should be a 'D' and the VOA lowered it to an 'E'. I think the VOA make it up as they go along and hope owners can't be bothered to appeal.

As an update I've created an .stl file and got an estimate from the site that @Temp linked to. It all seems straightforward.

Couldn't afford to buy oil anymore, building the new house has cleared me out .

Painful, that's what it is.

VAT reclaim's in the past. Working on other things now. Onwards and upwards .

We have four AAVs and they are just above basin overflow level and are behind false walls in the bathrooms. We have been using them for nearly a year and, "touch wood", they seem to be fine.

I think the term 'flood level' in relation to AAVs refers to the basin overflow level.

I used Floplast AAVs which are "permitted to be used below flood level in locations where the temperature is in the range of -20°C to +60°C". I used them only very slightly higher than flood level but I don't see why they shouldn't be used below flood level as they are designed for that purpose. I think I would be cautious and check with some experimentation before final fitting though.

@Carrerahill It was several years ago and the product might have changed but I used the Marley Universal Dry Hip/Ridge System. It was pretty straightforward to use. This is the PDF I downloaded at the time, it might be of some use. Marley Eternit Dry Fix Systems.pdf

Excellent.

Openreach disconnection was free. UK Power Networks charged VAT and TBH it wasn't something I thought about, as it was after the VAT reclaim was submitted.

I like 3 best.

I have a dry ridge system and used 150mm stainless steel screws straight into the ridge timber.

I'm surprised that the difference between RWA45 and RWA6, which I used, is so significant. The RWA6 is rigid and from the data sheet the kN/m2 for 10% compression is 3.0 for RWA45, and 28.2 for RWA6.

@Onoff No I haven't done anything yet. I was trying to gauge how straightforward it would be to have them made and what the cost would be. The item is a small extension piece for the top of a vertical blind to allow it to be used on a steep slope. I was thinking possibly ASA as there might be a lot of UV degradation.

Thanks, that would be useful.

It's all in the title really. I may want to have around fifty small plastic hook and eye pieces made and I wondered if it was an easy process to get it done.

My life wouldn't be worth living if I cooled the house down when it reached 24C. The other day Wendy used the pyrolitic cleaning function in the oven and the kitchen temperature went up to 25C, Wendy was basking in there.

Certainly not the best but lasted me six years and cost nothing as surplus 4"x2".

I used Titebond Polyurethane Construction Adhesive. It's expensive but you don't have to worry about damp or cold.

Mine is a portal frame and each individual part of the frame was made in the factory and fitted to the sole plate on site.

+1 for the Stanley stapler. I've had mine for years and easy to use.

Our sole plate is a single 300mm Steico I-beam which has OSB3 web strengtheners bonded underneath at intervals where the plate is bolted to the slab. The 300mm Steico I-beam studs are nailed to the sole plate.

Mine was called a hanger plate, just to complicate things. Was fitted to timber frame though, not ICF