worldwidewebs

Thanks Peter. I called Sennocke this afternoon and got what wasn't too bad a quote considering the factors

The floor is a concrete slab

I've made an error and I'm looking for advice on the best way to resolve please I was originally going to sit the MVHR on the concrete floor of the plant room with some sort of rubber isolation feet but decided that I could well use the space under the units so mounted it on the wall using the supplied bracket. I've now connected and taped everything up and switched it on - it works! The problem is that there is a faint low frequency hum audible in the adjoining room. This is something I should have thought about - it's a real error of judgement on my part as the wall is only a stud partition (with extra OSB and insulation) but I'm now not sure what to do. Do I rip out all the connections I've made, clean them up and site it on the floor as per the original plan or do I make some sort of platform (wood, steel, bricks!) that would just lift the unit up from the support and away from the wall? I'm short on time and patience at the moment so I'd rather go for the least effort approach in that respect but I also don't want to go through all that effort and find the platform creates its own issues. I feel a little bit swamped with everything I have to do at the moment

We have a Henry and it's very good, but it's a VERY poor relation to the Miele we also have.

I've recently spent a long time looking at sockets and switches - a lot depends on exactly what you want. Schneider are very good but many (all?) of their switches have their logo printed on them. Varilight also are very good. We went for Click Definity from Scolmore in the end and are really pleased with them and they aren't expensive - unlike you though, we wanted white ones so as to try and 'hide' them One challenge we did have though was that our LED lighting needs trailing edge dimmer control and the vast majority of the market is focused on the cheaper leading-edge variety. Again we wanted all-white back-plate and switches (screwless, flat-plate) and there weren't that many options. What we are doing is using the Varilight power grid modules (trailing edge) but morphing them with the Click Definity buttons and back-plate

We have engineered oak flooring in a herringbone pattern on a concrete slab with wet UFH. The boards are 16mm thick, as recommended by the chaps who laid the flooring. Tbh, a lot depends on the temperature you expect the slab to get to and also the quality of the boards

I'm conflicted if I'm honest. I phoned Hiscox yesterday and asked them explicitly if I needed BC sign-off - after a few minutes they came back with 'yes'. But, like you, I've never been asked the question and I don't see it in my existing/previous policy documents so I don't see how they could use a lack of sign-off to avoid paying out if needed. We still have a few things to do on site (slate cladding, landscaping, one room to floor) but I'm not really sure site insurance is needed at all now (or is it?)

Unoccupied? I need 'occupied but not signed off'

Did you mention it at the time of getting a quote? I spoke with Hiscox earlier and they said they needed BC sign-off

Do you have a contact number? I called 'a GSI' earlier on and they didn't know about Sennocke

Is the house insurance you have home and contents or just contents? Do you still have site insurance?

I seem to miraculously have a new figure of 121.45

I've just done the on-line calculator and it's coming up with a figure of over 160 litres/person/day!!! Any tips for getting this down?

So we should keep site insurance in-place until we get sign off? Is it not possible to get contents insurance without a completion certificate?

Given that we don't have a completion certificate from BC yet, what's the position with utilities, council tax, house insurance etc?

Thanks chaps - I'll get the water one done this evening We're moving in on Saturday although there are still a few jobs that need doing - all part of the 'fun' I suppose!

We're close to moving in and I've spoken to BC about getting sign off. A couple of the things he's requested that we haven't yet done are: MVHR commissioning certificate Water efficiency certificate Who generally does these? I fitted and am going to balance the MVHR myself. The SAP as-built has a lot of references to 'water' - is this all that's needed or is there something else?

Hasbean are ok but nothing special imo. I don't do too much experimenting with roasters these days but my two favourite at the moment are Round Hill Roastery and Square Mile Coffee

I got 15% discount from Eclisse UK direct. Just mentioned I'd spoken to them on the stand at the HBR show - I think the code was HBR2017

Have a look at the SL25 from Mere Bathrooms

Melton Mowbray BS I'm a contractor too and they've been superb - can't rate them highly enough

@Calvinmiddle - That looks really good, I'm jealous!!! How did you fix the Al to the EPS? I like @JSHarris idea of using the plastic headed nails, but I think that could be more tricky using Al than uPVC and I would be concerned about galvanic corrosion. Every time I think I have the solution I find something else to think about!!!

Jeremy, how did you fix the uPVC? Was it just to the underside of the battens that the cedar cladding is fitted to (and then the rest just held to by the stones at ground level) or did you do something else? I'm going to fit the expanded mesh and then will either get that rendered (unlikely) or fit Dibond aluminium lengths and I'm not sure how best to fit the Dibond to the mesh as I'd rather not have any fixings visible

The sample of dibond I got looks pretty good - gloss on one side, matt on the other. I did get a quote for powder coated aluminium but it was over twice the price and no better I don't think. One aspect I'm not sure about is the fixing of it to the EPS. What do you do with both the blue membrane and the plastic (damp-proof?) sheet? Do you just cut it off where the render finishes? The obvious answer is yes but I just wanted to check first

This was the one (well, 1 of about 4) area that MBC screwed up on. I'd had a site topological survey done previously so I got them back to mark out the area of dig and back again to mark out the exact area that the house should go once the base had been laid. Despite marking out with blue paint, steel pegs and setting the levels it was all ignored - I came back from work to find that they'd removed the steel pegs (they were in the way!) and covered the paint with the blinding material. They did wonder what it was for apparently!!! So, the moral of the story is to treat everyone as an idiot - most people are. And realise that experience is not the same as ability.