Nick A

That takes some cheek! Please see my real world experience of Rationel below.

Yep!

Hi everyone - we’ve just completed a build in the Outer Hebrides and purchased 17 Rationel Frames made up of x3 3.5metre sliding window doors, 3 entry doors and 11 windows. They cost us over £20k in total and I expect the current cost would be much more if ordered today. I would very much warn against anyone buying Rationel, especially in a more demanding environment. The particular issue has been with 2 of the 3 entry doors. They don’t supply Aluclad doors but the AuraPlus doors are laminated timber and interestingly, whilst they claim 20-40 year lifespans on their website, their guarantee on doors is only 5 years. The entry door to our small annex started to blister / delaminate after about 18 months of use and was replaced under warranty. However, the replacement door, and the main house entrance door, have both started to delaminate completely at their foot, one on the jamb edge and the other on the hinge edge. They are clearly not manufactured to be as durable as they should and it’s been a real battle to get these two door replaced. Both are still just within the 5 year guarantee and at first the manufacturer, Dovista, tried to blame work we had done for the failure of the door seal on the annex replacement door, but to be frank, that was just b******s! It was because the replacement door was too tight for the original frame. Their supplier in Scotland has been very helpful, but Dovista has only finally agreed to replace both when they saw that exactly the same problem was happening to both doors. So we are now awaiting the fitting of the replacements but my heartfelt advice would be AVOID. The attached pictures tell the story.

Have to say I agree with Alan & Marshian that if Dovista are prepared to replace outside their (5 year?) warranty, I’d accept their offer. Unfortunately, from personal experience I can say that Rationel durability is poor. We spent £20k+ on 17 Rationel AuraPlus Windows and Doors for our new home in the Western Isles and within 3 years we’ve had 3 quality issues, that’s an 18% failure rate. The distributor has been good but Dovista, the supplier has been unhelpful and reviews on Google and Trustpilot show that we are not alone.

Hi - we spent £20k+ on 17 Rationel AuraPlus Windows and Doors for our new home in the Western Isles and within 3 years we’ve had 3 quality issues, that’s an 18% failure rate. We still have about a year of guarantee and then we are on our own, so expecting some hefty repair bills. The distributor has been good but Dovista, the supplier has been unhelpful. Have a look at Google and Trustpilot reviews. I would very strongly caution against buying Rationel. They look good but my experience is there is dodgy quality.

Hi Omnibuswoman - coming to this late but we’ve just experienced the same problem with our Rationel sliding doors during a fierce westerly storm in Scotland. Did you get a resolution? Reason I ask is that I have found the manufacturer less than helpful on another quality issue. I’m very much regretting that we spent £20k+ on 17 frames & doors from Rationel, especially as we are now up to 3 serious quality issues in the 3 years since installation. I’m afraid there will be some expensive post warranty problems to come. Thanks.

Hi Alex and thanks very much for the suggestion. As it turned out, we got the Alu sheets and flashings from Architectural Profiles www.archprof.co.uk and are very happy with the results.

Hi, We are building a house in the Outer Hebrides with Plannja hard finish coated Aluminium specified for the roof in the coastal environment. I’m trying to get hold of Plannja in Sweden but they aren’t responding and their only UK distributor that I know of is Nu Style of Aberdeen and all you get from their automated phone answer is “this office is closed” which suggests they have ceased trading. Anyone know of a good supplier of hard coated 18mm aluminium sinusoidal roofing sheets and flashings? It’s only around 160sq m we need and I don’t want to use steel as I need something highly durable. Thanks, Nick

Thanks very much for your thoughts. I fear The Dreamer is probably right. We are going to use a Sunamp heat battery and the house will be all electric so I’m not expecting to generate any extra power that we can’t use ourselves.

Hi - I wonder does anyone have experience of a reliable PV Installer in the Outer Hebrides? We are building a house this year on the Isle of Barra and I’m struggling to find a local installer to do the work this summer. I may have to get them over from the mainland but that will add extra travel and accommodation costs so any suggestions much appreciated. thanks, Nick

Thanks The Dreamer - much appreciate your advice. Nick

Hi ProDave and thanks for the steer. Checked out Scottish Water who provide a service on the Hebrides and they can do 25m+ which means we are good to go. Nick

Hi there, Wonder if anyone has any experience of how far a standard waste tanker can be parked from a treatment plant or septic tank to empty it? Our Architect is suggesting putting the Graf One2Clean right by our access road but it’s going to be a real eyesore. I’d prefer to locate it around 20m from the access road - doesn’t feel like that should be a problem? Your thoughts would be much appreciated both on emptying and the Graf Thanks, Nick

Hi ProDave - indeed!

Thanks for your help. Crystallised my thinking - had the Structural Engineer lined up for a couple visits - yes, lots of peat, bog & rock! Will dispense with the Architect visits though.

Hi - our first post. We are self building a 115 sq m house in the Outer Hebrides this year, starting next month. Would therefore appreciate advice from those who’ve been there and done it! We have a trusted builder and electrician but because the location is 5 hours by ferry from the mainland, significant expenses for specialist skills are incurred before they’ve even started work. My initial question concerns progress inspections and their value. In addition to Building Controls, our Architect has suggested 6x inspections during the build to sign off the work so far, which they will carry out. We are not planning to sell the house for at least 20 years and I’m not sure if any inspections, other than BC are necessary, as long as we are happy with the work done. Any thoughts on the benefit of such inspections? Thanks, Nick