Gone West

Yes I agree, but I'm afraid I'll have to add to it and say I think you are lucky to have found a very good roofer and I like the look of your roof.

I should have said before that Compriband is great but the only problem is that it expands very quickly when the weather is warm. When trying to squeeze the tape in between a window opening and window frame it can be tricky. Also if the gap is larger than the tape is meant for, it may not be weathertight. There is a range of tape sizes for different gaps. If 3 to 7mm isn't thick enough there is 5 to 10mm or 7 to 12mm.

Don't say that, just don't. I'm at that age when it's not a joke anymore.

My windows were fitted, by the suppliers, with a strip of Compriband around the centre of the frame. I then fitted another strip of Compriband around the outside edge and I foamed the inside edge with Soudal Low Expansion Flexifoam. I didn't use any airtightness tapes or membranes and achieved 0.47ACH.

I have an air blown sewage treatment plant with a Secoh EL-100 air pump that had been installed for ten years. The air pump stopped working the other day and when I opened it up the inside was covered in metal dust. The magnet had obviously stopped running centrally and had been rubbing against the metal surrounding the coils. I don't know why it did that but I've replaced it with a Secoh JDK-100 and hopefully it will last at least ten years as well. It has run continuously for all that time so not too bad. The new one uses a lot less electricity so one bonus.

I did have one but I removed it about a year ago because of the risks with maintenance.

Our arris rails are 2.4m and came from Wickes many years ago. They haven't broken but a couple have warped.

Yes I agree that isn't very good against driving rain and I have done ours in the same way as you have.

I had the DPC under the sole plate and then turned up around 200mm over the outside of the OSB racking and stapled. Then the Protect membrane went down to the sole plate covering the DPC. It was just belt and braces. I didn't have anything at first floor level.

This year we tried cut and come again salad leaves and we only managed two crops before they decided not to grow any more. Have you had more success than that?

It looks good but I've no experience of that type of machinery, can you tell me how the log is held in place while being cut.

I may be wrong but I thought a mullion was vertical and a transom was horizontal.

Do you mean roof insulation or loft insulation. It's thermal conductivity is similar to mineral wool. Material W/mK Blockwork (light) 0.38 Blockwork (medium) 0.51 Blockwork (dense) 1.63 Brick (exposed) 0.84 Brick (protected) 0.62 Chipboard 0.15 Concrete (aerated) 0.16 Concrete (dense) 1.4 Fibreglass quilt 0.033 Glass 1.05 Glass foam aggregate (dry) 0.08 Hemp slabs 0.40 Hempcrete 0.25 Mineral wool 0.038 Mortar 0.80 Phenolic foam (PIR) 0.020 Plaster (gypsum) 0.46 Plasterboard (gypsum) 0.16 Polystyrene foam 0.032 Polyurethane foam (PUR) 0.025 Render (sand/cement) 0.50 Screed (cement/sand) 0.41 Sheep's wool 0.038 Steel 16 - 80 Stone (limestone) 1.30 Stone (sandstone) 1.50 Stone (granite) 1.7 - 4.0 Stone chippings 0.96 Straw bale 0.09 Timber (softwood) 0.14 Timber (hardwood - commonly used) 0.14 - 0.17 Woodfibre board 0.04

I have used Soudal Fix All Crystal Clear MS Polymer on my build. It's been been in use for three years and not changed colour yet.

Hopefully it's not pulsatile tinnitus but this gives a description. That's the problem with the internet, too much information. https://www.tinnitus.org.uk/pulsatile-tinnitus

I used Kidde. They seemed straightforward to fit and have worked ok for the last two and a half years.

I used my own and wrote it up in my blog.

We have used Jacksons Fencing in the past and they use a treatment which they guarantee for 25 years against rot. I have used Jacksons trellis at this house and it has been up for two years and has not changed colour at all, compared to the cedar cladding which started silvering before a year was up, and I'm impressed.

Thanks for the generous comment, glad you found the blog useful. The cedar was untreated and the colour in the picture is after it had stabilised. AFAIK silvering and durability aren't linked. Cedar cladding lasts for around seventy years without treatment and as I said even the ipe decking on my balcony has silvered.

I have yet to find a type of timber that doesn't become grey over time. Even the flooring of my balcony which is ipe has slowly become grey although slower than the cedar cladding on the house.

I looked at the Rehau system eleven years ago when I was researching for my build. I discounted it on the grounds of cost and complexity relating to requiring a pumped sump and an lot of silver lined pipework. There were also a lot of scare stories around at the time about contaminated ventilation air supply.

Ours was with SelfBuildZone the same as @jonM

Yeah I can understand that. A self catering holiday was a change for us. We did go to a pub that was doing takeaway food and had some excellent cod and chips. If the weather's ok eating outside seemed popular.

MSE has this article about the Green Homes Grant which might shed some light. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/07/homeowners-to-receive-p5-000-vouchers-to-improve-energy-efficien/

Last week we rented a 1 bedroom cottage on a farm on the Welsh borders. It was straightforward, we took all our own food but other than that used everything in the cottage. No one had rented it the previous week so even the maps, cushions etc were there. We had a peaceful time visiting gardens etc with out any problems. Even stopping at the services for the loo was ok as long as you remember to wear a mask inside the buildings.