Gone West

Thanks all for your help. It's all back together again and working as normal. It's an RWC Floguard DCV so not cheap but from the picture looks like what @PeterW suggested. I am going to try to find a dimensioned sectional drawing of it to check the diameter of the plastic cup.

You'll be lucky, wait till Monday.

@PeterW Sorry for being slow, I see what you mean now. So half of one of the spheres on the DCV has somehow passed through the PRedV. Hopefully the other sphere is still working to prevent backflow and the other half of the broken sphere is still attached inside the valve.

I guess that means it's no longer working if it's that.

There's a 28mm double non-return valve before the stop cock. The butterfly valve ball is closed and not leaking.

Don't worry it'll be winter again tomorrow and for the next few days.

Do you mean the seal that the ball sits in. It's a 3/4" full bore so wouldn't the seal be more than 15mm diameter. https://www.bes.co.uk/ball-valve-3-4-bsp-p-f-x-f-red-butterfly-handle-11768#product-details-tab

@Nickfromwales @PeterW or any other plumbers. Any ideas before I connect it up again, please.

I don't think so. IIRC the s/s ball sits in a nylon type seal and it's a 22mm full bore valve so larger than 15mm. Everything still works okay, the ball valves and pressure reducing valve. I'm at a loss to explain it.

The water supply slowly stopped working over about a two minute period. I isolated the problem to the water softener and found there was no water entering the softener although there was plenty of pressure. I disconnected the pipe feeding the softener and found a small plastic cup 15mm diameter completely blocking the end of the flexible hose to the softener. Upstream of where the plastic cup lodged is the softener ball valve, pressure reducing valve, stop cock and double check valve. Could the plastic cup have come from the pressure reducing valve or even from somewhere in the supply pipework outside the property? The pipework etc has been connected and in use for at least two and a half years without being altered. I would like to have an idea before I connect everything up again because I’m very puzzled.

Horsetail roots can go down 2m and I dug up horsetail roots that were over a metre long in my front garden. The best way to get rid of the stuff is to dig it up very carefully. If only a very small bit of root is left in the soil it will grow again. In grass I've used Bayer lawn weedkiller which was quite effective but haven't seen it around recently. I've also used SBK and Roundup.

We have a triple glazed roof window in our bathroom and I specified a g value of 0.3 for the glazing. We don't have any problems with overheating.

I use SBK for all tough weeds like ivy.

Hi, welcome to the forum. Good luck with your project and as Bob Ross says 'We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents.

I used an asbestos testing kit from Amazon which was straightforward to use and got the results quickly. I only needed one sample. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Asbestos-Sample-Testing-Instructions-Postage/dp/B0862B9JZB/ref=pd_sbs_60_2/257-5754822-6372126?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0862B9JZB&pd_rd_r=e1648fa7-1647-4e30-9167-e6eaa20b1bba&pd_rd_w=C3uBz&pd_rd_wg=JGSt7&pf_rd_p=2773aa8e-42c5-4dbe-bda8-5cdf226aa078&pf_rd_r=39SWX28RMWZSXXT9YXRR&psc=1&refRID=39SWX28RMWZSXXT9YXRR

I used mine for gaps just like those.

The stuff I've got is 125 which I got from the local hardware shop. I don't know the difference I'm afraid. Edit Apparently the 175 is an acrylic sealant and the 125 is a one hour caulk.

I've used Everbuild Everflex 125 in gaps down to 1mm with no problem.

I doubt the pressure difference is huge but enough to unbalance the intake and extract.

Both the intake and extract vents should be on the same elevation so there is no pressure difference between them.

I guess it's continually being sucked into the house and concentrating there, whereas on the path it's diluted by the moving air.

My Caberdek was glued with foaming PU glue and nailed every 150mm with ring shanked nails. Can't remember the name of the glue but remember it bubbled up everywhere. At least the floor doesn't squeak.

Our timber frame, timber clad new build is insured with Aviva. Reasonable price and good cover.

@Russdl I did what you have proposed using 90 degree bends. I started at the highest point, the equivalent of your A, and ran the 110mm pipe next to the slab foundations, in what looks like a french drain, sloping down to the the end which for me was easy because I dump the roof drainage onto the road so don't need a soakaway. There are not many leaves to worry about in my case but if necessary I can disconnect the base of a downpipe and hose out the obstruction. I connected the downpipes directly into the 110mm pipe using a T connector and an adapter. The soil pipe is a little way out from the wall and so using bends at the end of the downpipe I could angle the bends one way or the other to pick up the T connector near the corner.

Possibly ADM. We had an initial design from them and they were very helpful.