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Everything posted by Gone West
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(Near) passivhaus - next steps?
Gone West replied to Selfbuildnewbie's topic in Surveyors & Architects
If you want to build to PH standards then using PHPP is the easiest and correct way. I bought a copy back in 2009 when I was designing our house. It makes it very easy to alter single aspects of the build to see the overall effect on energy usage. It may seem overwhelming when first looked at but I read through the whole manual a couple of times before entering data. If you are accurate and methodical it's fine. -
+1 What I thought as soon as I saw it.
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You can check with the Wayleave Dept. at your DNO for wayleaves for the stay and overrsailing cables. You can ask the DNO to remove them.
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Quite a lot I should think. For example it seems to be common now for people to want a large living area that includes kitchen, dining and sitting space. I like separate rooms so in our new build we compromised and had a kitchen/diner and a completely separate sitting room. I also like verandahs so I put those into the new build design and Wendy wanted a balcony so we designed that in as well. That is the real advantage of a new build and if you know what you want you can do it yourself. I'm not saying everybody is able or wants to design their own house but to think it is solely the preserve of architects to design good houses is wrong. I have also built kit cars and rebuilt engines but I'm not a qualified mechanic but still did it successfully. Taking this arguement to the extreme no one should self build at all but employ an architect and then a builder to build a turnkey house.
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I thought we went through all this before and it was decided that design is a combination of function and aesthetics. Designing 'beautiful' houses is just aesthetics and is therefore subjective. How a house functions is dependant upon the owners lifestyle and therefore something best decided by the owner. We designed our own house to include all the features that we wanted for ourselves and we also at the same time designed a PH. After living in it happily for three years we sold it and had no trouble in finding a buyer very quickly so it couldn't have been too bad a design. We didn't need anyone telling us what we need, we already knew what we wanted.
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I’m confused about ubiquiti
Gone West replied to Adsibob's topic in Networks, AV, Security & Automation
I fitted a TP-Link Deco mesh system, as I live in an old stone walled cottage, and it has worked well for the last nine months. I then bought a Meteobridge Nano SD datalogger for my Davis weather station and it didn't work. After reading through a bundle of documents from the suppliers I found in the small print that it won't work with mesh wifi systems. I have now bought a TP-Link AV600 Powerline wifi system which according to the Meteobridge manufacturers should be ok. When my new computer turns up I'll try it out. Shame about the mesh system as it worked well but surprised it's not compatible with everything. -
Suspended ceiling at openings
Gone West replied to Pocster's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
I've seen GRP angle but not used it for anything. It's certainly strong stuff if you're talking about 50mm x 50mm. I should think it's easy to drill so bolting a framework together shouldn't be a problem. Maybe @PeterW has used it. -
I had a similar softener to that many years ago. We used to have a lot of power cuts and unfortunately it lost the time setting with every power cut. If I didn't remember to reset the time it would regenerate unexpectedly. It was less than half the price of yours though so I expect yours has a rechargeable battery in it.
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We had the first Isoquick foundation installed in the UK back in 2010. It all went well until the concrete was poured. Unfortunately the concrete laying did not go so well. A combination of cost cutting, by not using a pump, and the concrete setting too quickly left large voids in the 200mm slab which were detected using ultrasonic testing. The results were confirmed by drilling core samples. Fortunately we videoed the whole procedure and had the evidence to show to the boss of the company. The result of the farce was that the whole system was cut up using a diamond road cutter and taken away. The second time around it all went smoothly fortunately.
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Suspended ceiling at openings
Gone West replied to Pocster's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
https://rbjplastics.com/standard-profiles/glass-fibre-angles.html -
Suspended ceiling at openings
Gone West replied to Pocster's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
Sorry I didn't understand. You could use fibreglass angle if you're worried about thermal bridging. -
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Suspended ceiling at openings
Gone West replied to Pocster's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
Can't you just fix four lengths of aluminium angle in the corners hanging down whatever length you want and attach your ceiling struts to them. -
I already offered this a week ago - "We are hopefully replacing our oil fired Rayburn this year with an external oil fired boiler. Oil fired boilers are not quiet but I don't hear it when I'm in bed and it does produce very hot water very quickly. You are welcome to it if your new system doesn't work as you would like, although you would have to collect it."
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Sealing parallel threads on external uv filter
Gone West replied to Easain's topic in General Plumbing
There are two types of PTFE tape, the standard plumbing type and the gas grade type which is much thicker. -
New build floorplans - opinions welcome
Gone West replied to Indy's topic in New House & Self Build Design
It is certainly an interesting subject. The 'monstrous carbuncle' springs to mind. So was that good design, poor design or just mediocre. Interesting that there were so many different opinions for something that should be judged objectively. -
New build floorplans - opinions welcome
Gone West replied to Indy's topic in New House & Self Build Design
I don't think those two comments mean the same. The problem with design is that it is subjective not objective. -
New build floorplans - opinions welcome
Gone West replied to Indy's topic in New House & Self Build Design
I don't usually comment on these sorts of threads, and I'm not sure whether you have just worded that comment poorly. If I was paying to have a house designed I would want it to look like I wanted, not what somebody thinks I would like. If @Indy likes this design then what's the problem, he's going to be paying for it and living in it. -
Rigid vs semi rigid ducting?
Gone West replied to SBMS's topic in Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR)
It was a while ago now but IIRC the metal silencer had a rubber 'O' ring on the outside which sealed against the inside of the ducting and I don't remember any problems. I bought all the ducting etc from i-sells. I used Titebond PU gel adhesive to to glue the ducting together. https://www.axminstertools.com/titebond-greenchoicetm-polyurethane-construction-adhesive-311ml-952217 -
Rigid vs semi rigid ducting?
Gone West replied to SBMS's topic in Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR)
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Insulated Raft Slab Foundations - Finished Flooring
Gone West replied to TBlew's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
We used an Isoquick raft foundation. We had an I-beam frame with an I-beam sole plate. The installers fitted the sole plate around the whole perimeter and then when the frame was up they cut out all the openings in the sole plate at ground level. Even though the slab was power floated it had lots of dips and we used a latex self levelling compound. A picture paints a thousand words as they say. -
MVHR Supply and install
Gone West replied to SBMS's topic in Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR)
ADM Systems were really helpful when I first looked into MVHR many years ago. https://admsystems.co.uk/ -
Moving in to an unfinished self build
Gone West replied to hbooth's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
You may well have the council tax officer coming round at intervals to check whether it is habitable so they can start charging you council tax. If you are living in it they will charge you, strictly speaking habitable, or not. I did my VAT reclaim a few years ago once it was signed off by building control but I think you can use when you start paying council tax in order to claim VAT. I should check on that as they seem to change the rules at times.
