Gone West

I didn't know anything about borehole drilling before we had ours done. This is the kit they used, IIRC it was a 150mm hole with 110mm sleeving. It was eight years ago, so might affect the price. It was the drillers who told me about the wonders of Bentonite which I have since used around my sewage treatment plant pipes. Sorry, a bit off thread.

I can't believe the costs quoted for borehole soil tests. I had a 47m deep borehole drilled and sleeved for £3000, and my soil test, which was for plasticity, cost £50.

Welcome to the forum Edward and Rebecca. @Rebecca Lewis there are a few of us in Kent.

Wendy thinks we should all hire a charabanc and go up there so we can pass the spanners, make tea etc and see the action in real time. We wouldn't be able to offer any useful advice just moral support.

I've found if they're any good, they will be booked up in advance. If some one can come round straightaway I always wonder how good they are!

When we moved into our current bungalow there was a very small wbs fitted. Someone said it was from a gypsy caravan, it was no more than 400mm high, we sold it for £50.

I'm no expert but that doesn't look right to me. I would have thought all that white pipe should be 110mm and under the slab not running through it.

I had this type of problem because a pipe moved after the slab was replaced. It was 110mm ducting for the water supply pipe and I used one of these to offset the entry a bit. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110mm-x-40mm-Waste-Pipe-Adaptor-/291514309082?item=291514309082&ViewItem=&nma=true&si=U4LuuKCsZavH%2BzIQ7TlciRWA2Z4%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

The silver coating is to prevent bacteria etc forming on the inside surface. I don't know if that is overkill or not, sounds like it might be to me. Do you have to use their ducting, so it would invalid a warranty if you don't for instance.

We used 22mm Caberdek as well, glued and nailed. The plastic coating is tough and being out in the rain didn't affect it.

Why not build a false wall out to the soil pipe and have a concealed cistern and wall hung toilet. Moving soil pipes like that is a real pain.

This might help. https://www.valuationtribunal.gov.uk/forms/appeal-forms/council-tax-banding/

We went through this when I inherited the bungalow we are currently living in. Apparently when a property changes hands the council can ask the VOA to change the banding which is what happened to us. We challenged it and the VOA didn't accept what we said so it was to go to tribunal. We had to put together all the evidence we could and a time was set for the hearing. The VOA backed down a few days before the hearing and we had the banding reduced. This was about ten years ago and was in England.

I think I misunderstood what you were saying. No it still calculates the flow rate in m³/hr. So did you calculate the flow rate in l/s from the velocity.

I bought a Testo 405i a few months ago and have been using it over the last few days to set up our system. It allows you to input the diameter of the tube that the sensor is in and it calculates the volume and lists that and the velocity and temperature.

Well done, it's looking good, like the windows.

Amazing, yeah I would think I was dreaming if I lived there.

Christ, 9kW, that would have the floor tiles curling up at the edges in my house.

I've recently finished laying the bamboo flooring upstairs. The first day I didn't wear knee pads and felt it, but after that I wore them and no problems.

It looks good but how effective will it be? Hot head and wet feet? Mounting it in the floor Marilyn Monroe style might work better, now there's a thought in more ways than one.

Review of our foundations and TF PM experience. Our project managing experience entering our first self build can be best described as minimal. We had totally renovated a Victorian cottage before starting the self build. The builders we used for that project were a father and son team who were members of the Guild of Master Craftsmen and required no supervision. Their work was exemplary and I acted as a labourer so I was naïve to the ‘real world’ of building. For our new build we used the Isoquick insulated slab system. I found this to be an excellent system but as with all systems it is how it’s installed that makes the difference. We used the, at the time, only UK installer. As it was the first Isoquick system installed in the UK Isoquick sent over a technician from Germany to oversee the insulation installation. That went well and the rest of the installation was done by UK workers who fitted the steel reinforcing and laid the concrete. This is where problems started and we saw poor working practices. Fortunately we were videoing the whole process and we used that as evidence of what we saw. We showed the video to the MD of the company and eventually this resulted in the whole slab being cut up with a diamond road cutter and a new system laid. This is detailed more in my blog. The MD of the company accepted their errors and the work was redone at no cost to us. The timber frame was supplied by a local company that has since ceased trading. The design of the frame is novel in being a portal timber I-beam frame which reduces thermal bridging. The design and structural work of the frame was carried out without problems with a lot of input from us including the slab design. The slab was reasonably flat and the sole plate fitted without problems. There were two knowledgeable TF workers who worked well setting out the frame. Unfortunately the leader of the two fell off a roof and broke his heels, not on our site though. After that things started to go downhill. I noticed poor practices in the racking of the frame which I reported to the MD of the company who sent someone out to ensure the badly fitted racking was removed and new fitted. I noticed the size of the stairwell was incorrect which meant the metal web joists had to be altered. The tall feature window opening in the hall was positioned wrongly which meant removing the racking and fitting new I-beam noggins. The job was taking them longer than they had anticipated so at the end we agreed that I would finish off in return for a reduction in the final bill. All the problems that I mentioned to them were sorted out without issue. I did discover faults after the job was finished such as a large dip in the whole length of the single storey roof and a bow in the side of one of the walls. I think that just being there and watching what was going on cut down on any corner cutting. I think we have been lucky compared to @lizzie and monitoring practices on site is critical. This is unfortunate, but seem to be the norm in the building world these days.

It depends on the glazing design with respect to possible overheating and whether the MHRV unit has summer bypass.

I may have it wrong but AFAIK T&T only open inwards and casement only open outwards. We now have T&T which is new to us and the advantage of tilt is useful for ventilation but having the windows pivot inwards can be awkward eg window blinds. Then again cleaning T&T couldn't be easier. MVHR doesn't need to be used in the summer when the windows can provide ventilation.

No I bought plastic ducting and fittings which I fitted myself. I did design the system myself so it was easy to work out was was required.

It has a built in EASHP which heats the water and heats the ventilation supply air up to 40C. That is supplementary heating because we also have electric towel rails in each of the three 'bathrooms'. These are 300W but are turned down to around 200W and are on eight hours a day. The heat from these is recovered and heats the supply air. We are not living in the house yet but it's kept at around 19C/20C. The Genvex Combi185LS has worked well for us so far but ours is a very low energy house.