Gone West

This is an area I looked at when running PHPP. I tried different weather data sets but the effects on the overall results were small. In practice the local semi? microclimate has more of an effect on comfort in the house. Living a few miles from the sea in East Kent produces a very different climate from further inland. In the summer, on sunny days, we have Easterly onshore winds every afternoon which seems to reduce the effect of decrement delay. We also have much lower maximum temperatures. The maximum temperature here this year was 26C when further inland it was reported to be 32C. The humidity is also much higher all year round which should affect MHRV. In winter we have higher night time temperatures. These effects are presumably magnified in Cornwall.

I've dug out the paperwork from March 2010 and my memory of the cost was wrong. The fee was £1874.80 + VAT. This was for Pre Construction Assessment and Final Assessment and did not include drawings, Psi calculations or certificates for airtightness etc.

That was me and was based on the price of £1700 I was quoted by Peter Warm seven years ago for certification. The quote was based on the fact all components were PHI certificated.

On my last house I used lead for the flashing between the brick wall and conservatory polycarbonate roof. No problems with leaks.

Well done, hope the rest of the project goes smoothly.

@recoveringacademic Well done for persevering and getting a good result. Hopefully that's the end of the trials and tribulations for your build.

I have 110mm stub stack in my downstairs wetroom which has a 50mm pipe and 50mm AAV connected. It seems to flush with no problems. I wouldn't have more than one toilet with a 50mm AAV though.

That's a question only you can answer . If you're confident with your calculations and don't need the certificate for selling then no. The only way to know for sure is to pay for certification, if you think it's worth a couple of grand.

You can easily. Make the area a little larger than the plans and mark out with wooden pegs and string lines. Mark out the string lines on the ground with spray paint. Make sure distances to boundaries are correct and corners are square. Ours was a complex shape so took a while double checking everything but was relatively straightforward. We hired a digger with operator for £370 and he dug out around 90 tons of soil which he piled up in the orchard next door.

We were very lucky with our plasterer. We didn't have to touch the plaster anywhere except where it popped on a couple of screw heads. He admits to being OCD about the look of things and isn't happy unless it's perfect.

I use Purdy Elite brushes and Purdy rollers with a very short nap to give a smooth finish, which what we were after. I used Wickes Plaster Sealer which although expensive allowed us to seal without having to sand the plaster. The emulsion we used was Brewers Albany.

We went to committee and I spoke for three minutes. I also asked my local councillor to support my application and he spoke on my behalf as well. I hand delivered a document outlining what I was trying to achieve to each of the Planning Committee a week before the hearing. The only objectors I had were the Planning Dept. My application was passed unanimously much to the annoyance of the Head of Planning. I was not allowed to address the Planning Committee at the site meeting but I had a scale model on show and lots of photographs showing the affect my build would have on the surrounding area. At the site meeting members of the Committee asked me questions which I had to answer concisely.

I have 20mm MDPE from under the road to our water meter and then into the bungalow. I have teed off that in 25mm MDPE to the new house and then used a 25mm MDPE to 22mm adapter.

I used these for my electric towel rails. http://www.timeguard.com/products/time/immersion-and-general-purpose-timeswitches/7-day-fused-spur-timeswitch

Did you spray water water in there before the foam? I've found spraying water first and then foaming slowly allows it to expand fully. Hope I'm not teaching Granny to suck eggs.

Just make sure they get it level! Good luck.

It's a postcode lottery. The Highways Dept. and BC were quite happy for me to discharge roof drainage directly onto the lane where it runs into a ditch 100m down the road.

I'm a bit confused, my Secoh EL100C which is seven years old has a warning light switch and the warning light is remote from the pump. Are you saying the Secoh JDK series, which replaced the EL series, originally didn't have a warning light switch but now does and that the warning light is on the top of the pump? If so buying a second hand Secoh JDK pump you need to be aware of the differences.

The switch is there because when a diaphragm breaks the armature ends up offcentre and the switch turns on the warning lamp.

My windows are Rehau Geneo and are made from RAU-FIPRO which is a fibre reinforced uPVC. They can be painted any RAL colour and most people think mine are aluminium. Excuse the dirt.

A friend underpinned an 18th C. barn he was converting back in the 90s using the method I mentioned above. It didn't have any foundations to start with just a very thick brick plinth wall. It was hard work digging out cubic metres of earth but worked very well.

Usually involves underpinning the existing foundations. Can be done by digging out alternate 1m long sections under the foundations and filling with concrete. When set the intermediate ones are dug out and filled. The depth depends on what is already there.

Hi Phil, welcome to the forum and good luck with your project.

Hi Kerry, there are alternative means of construction which will give you uncluttered attic space or vaulted ceilings as we have in our house. Ours has been built using a portal timber I-beam frame. This is a picture of our landing:- Here's a link to my blog which shows how the frame is constructed. http://forum.buildhub.org.uk/ipb/blogs/entry/74-the-timber-frame-goes-up/

My ridge and hip tiles are both Marley Modern type.