Linto

I think you mean a peg board wall. Something like this?Peg board

Cheers Dave, I think I'm just being over protective of my fancy new windows. Not so bothered by colours as the frames are standard white on the interior, so they should be an ok match.

Has anybody had inframe blinds installed on their Auraplus windows? Were looking at luxaflex, perfect fit and intu blinds. But these all seem to use the gap between the windows and frame to fit. Looking at the windows there doesn't seem enough space for this, so does anybody have any experience of this or any recommendations for blinds?

Came across this report with a few case studies for older properties installing various kinds of heat pump. Haven't yet read it but may be of interest to somebody, it has some fancy looking graphs and stuff. I think it's a government funded thing to make the case that retrofit isn't as difficult as some would have you believe.

I'm going to use a similar process for retrofitting them to my window reveals, but fix them with something like this to solidly attach them to the masonry. Saves on using plugs.

Cheers Mikey, that looks just like what I was after. Plus I've found a few others now that I know the correct name.

I need some advice before I tell the boss that she can (or cant if I cant do it) have the wood floor shes after. To get access to the area below the house we have an access hatch in the floor in the hall. Its about 60x36cm. SO I need to see if there is a way to build in a hatch that I can secure, to stop the kids trying to go explore and that is safe for little toes to walk over it. I was thinking of having metal angle bars to create a frame that I'll fill with the flooring but am struggling to think of how to attach a locking mechanism and figure out what sort of hinges I'll need. Any ideas or guidance on where to look as screwfix and toolstation don't seem to have what I think I need.

I'm moving the windows forward to the edge of the existing wall, then I'll look to slightly overlap the ewi and use these to manage the joint. That in my mind will minimise thermal bridging. Ideally I'd move them into the ewi but it looks like there maybe a bigger gap than I'd like between windows installed and ewi going on.

Cheers for the advice everyone, I'll get thinking about how to best take the reveal plaster off. I guess it would be a good opportunity to fit cavity closers if they haven't already.

Standard, brick with cavity. Will eventually put ewi on.

Hi, I'm looking at installing aluclad windows and just wondering if they all need straps when installing them rather than fixing them through the frame? I know rationel ones do. As they will be replacing existing uPVC ones will I need to remove all of the existing plaster and cills for the straps then make good again after if we go for these? Or is there another way to do this?

Is this the River Calder in Cumbria? Where about along it are you looking at? I'm only asking as they're a lot of restrictions around new builds in the area especially if you're close to Sellafield.

Have a look here it's knaufs detail for using rockwool type insulation at the rafter level with PIR it sets out the thicknesses needed for various u values. May not lose as much space as you think. Plus as you can get it to fit straight in between the rafters it should save on a lot of cutting.

Cheers @nod I hadn't thought I'd need to notify for the change, glad I mentioned here now. I've got in touch with celotex for them to do a u value and condensation assessment of the new build up, hopefully it'll be ok. I knew about jewsons but not the TP service so I'll get them to have a look. I think I was just having a bit of a moan and woe is me day for most of the other stuff though.

As we've had to put our conversion on hold due to a lack of builders round here it's given me time to think about what we had been planning and if we could make any savings / spend in different places. So how straight forward is it to change the plans? One of the builders we spoke to suggested changing the roof build up so that it is insulated over rather than under the rafters. This would achieve what we want u value wise and will require less internal detailing as the installation would be from outside saving in labour costs. Worth change the plans or just let home quote on it off spec? Also I've been looking into integrated pv as somebody on here suggested it can be competitive with normal roofing, again what's the best way to approach this? Speak to installers and get a rough cost and then look to specify it or just include it in the amended plans and get people to quote as part of the whole project? Another thing I've been think about is potentially getting a QS to look at the plans and cost them (for materials) so that it's potentially easier to get quotes and maybe identify some savings, worth doing or a waste? I look forward to hearing your ideas as this has dragged on so long now I've gone over everything multiple times and am starting to get really indecisive after initially having quite clear ideas. Is this just me or a natural part of the course for building projects? Andy

Also look at Dekko Deceunick and Rehau which are similar-ish to the R9 but a bit cheaper. I know the local fitters for R9 now recommend the Dekko ones instead. Can't comment on the frames u values though. We still can't decide which to go with, I think it will just come down to which fitters have the best reputation as there doesn't seem that much between them.

So after giving up hope of finding a builder to start this year and knowing prices have increased substantially I thought I'd take another look at what we were planning on doing with our roofs insulation build up to see if I can make any savings. Currently we are planning a roof detail as per the image aiming for about a u value of .14 or below. But as the roof has supporting dwarf walls and areas that we aren't planning on plastering (we would just use equivalent thicknesses of PIR in these areas) I thought about putting the PIR insulation over the rafters instead. In my mind this will be easier to achieve with less complications and simpler for any builders. It seems like a straight forward swap from under to over and there are a number of details available from manufacturers but I fear that I'm missing a key detail. Ie where to put a VCL if needed? So the new proposed build up would be: Tiles Battons Membrane PIR insulation Mineral wool 175mm or 200mm (rafters will be 195mm thick so I'm unsure what to go for, compress the 200mm (probably will be 2x 100mm rolls) or 175mm and thicker PIR) Plaster What are your thoughts, any other ideas?

Have you considered using SIPs to build it? Probably towards the top end of what you are talking price wise but would be a straight forward build and you could clad using what ever you fancy. Something like this

I need people's thoughts on the possibility of changing my roof design for our loft extension from a traditional rafter roof design to a SIPs one. My thinking behind this is that we've been quoted >£25k for a temporary scaffolding roof and this is just destroying our budget. I'm thinking of speeding the build up and one way if doing this could be using SIPs instead of the traditional rafter design we are currently planning for. I know they will be more expensive initially but if i can save on the cost of the temporary roof due to the increased speed to water tight and just accept that we will need to repair some rain damage plus the cost saving in labour it should work out cheaper? Plus from speaking to a number of builders materials that are imported seem to be fluctuating in price and availability which is complicating their ability to quote properly, SIPs being built here shouldn't suffer from this? What do people think, how easy is it to change construction methods from that in the original plans and would it be worth it?

I'd probably look for minimum sizes too, some new builds are far too small. Also make building control and the builder more liable (or easier to hold to account) for any issues, if a building fails then it wasn't only built incorrectly but not properly inspected. I suppose this ties in with the inspect every building rather than the one or two on the estate that have been done right so that the rest of the shoddy ones can pass without being checked.

I'll try to get a closer view of the velux once it's stopped raining, so will probably be in the new year!

So after it not stopping raining for what feels like a month the roof has started to leak. It's not a massive leak and not all the time its raining but it appears after a prolonged period. Looking in the loft the water looks to be running down a rafter after coming through the tar paper at a nail hole, se the 2 areas highlighted in the photo. I can't see any obvious broken/loose tiles but the leak is a little below and to the side of a velux window. So how do I go about identifying where exactly it's coming through and what to do to fix it? To say this is a bit annoying is an understatement as the roof is getting replaced when we do the loft conversion so if I can avoid expensive repairs that will only be getting ripped out a few months later I'd like to hear about how to do it! Cheers

Ohh that software looks good to play around with, I think I may lose a few nights figuring it out much to swmbo's annoyance!

So I'm at the stage where I need to start considering lighting for the new rooms. I am thinking of something similar to this LED profile with LED RGB plus white tape inside with a dimmable driver and suitable control (not sure about the control it seems like simple light switches wont be ideal but anything beyond this seems complicated and going towards full home automation which I want to avoid having being burnt in the past) They way I see it I'll have the profiles on both sides just below the flat element of the ceiling shining up on to it. But I'm not sure if this will be too much light, not enough, the right kind etc. It all seems like a mine field so any helpful tips, guidance, thoughts would be appreciated. Both of the rooms are to be bedrooms and will have other more specific lighting by the bedside. One room will be 6m long and the other 4m and I'm thinking of having the LEDs running the full length of the rooms on both sides of the ceiling. The roof construction is full fill mineral wool between the rafters then insulated plasterboard over this. There is a void above the flat part of the ceiling which is where I was planning on running the wires and drivers for the LEDs. I've attached a very basic drawing showing what I mean.

Cheers guys, going to look a bit further afield to get a few more quotes. Problem is the builders I'll be approaching will be over an hour's travelling time away, any advice on how to get them to consider even looking at the job when most seem reluctant to travel?