Timedout

Ref the above observations on my comment. These points were drawn to my attention by a West Lindsey planning officer a few weeks ago. I was seriously considering making an offer on a plot a few miles from my home but needed clarification on the current status as the existing consent expires in a few weeks. It was said that new full application would be needed but that the planning policy for the area required the NBG and an energy statement. I read up the policy and that’s where I found the requirements. There was no mention I could find regarding occupancy but I stopped reading at the words Passiv Haus. With the cost of plots and construction, self-build here is a one way ticket to negative equity and there is a limit to how much negative we can swallow. Passiv Haus consultant are not getting an opportunity to make our losses any deeper. It may be different for those wanting a grand design gin palace but we are modest people with a long record of creating modest homes with very good energy performance using standard building materials and a lot of care and attention. NBG would be simple. Just waste £1000 or so on a consultant and buy a nesting box. This is Lincolnshire and there is no biodiversity. If there was, the farmers would kill it. The policies are available on line should you wish to point out errors I have made in my interpretation. It did say no small site exemption. I do not believe that the authorities are interested in energy performance. The PH policy is just a cynical move designed to create a deterrent. I doubt they will impose it on the volume builders, just self build and small business. A bit like parking and turning in your own curtilage and all the other stuff the big builders never do.

The biodiversity net gain is now mandatory for all sites in the central Lincolnshire area that comprises three of the districts. We live in West Lindsey and discovered this a couple of week ago. They also require Passiv Haus whatever on new applications. No small site exemption.

You have to start with sampling and analysis. It’s the only responsible way to proceed. check out the HSE website , search HSE Asbestos Essentials. I have not looked at it for years but it used to have suggested task sheets. It should guide you on what you can and cannot do. It is not going to cost you £50k.

Don’t panic. Artex, textured wall and ceiling coating does not always contain asbestos. In my experience, less than half the stuff has an asbestos content. Get the coating sampled. With my own properties, I take my own samples and send the to a lab for testing. I think the last time it cost £60 for the four samples. I used Bradley Environmental. as an example, the bungalow we bought had four rooms with textured coating, all different types. When tested all four were NAD, No Asbestos Detected. I would be surprised if all of your coating tests positive for asbestos. Removal can be done by wetting the coating and scraping it off as a mush. You don’t need any fancy chemical, just hot water in a garden spray. In practice, most professional contractors just remove the ceiling entirely. in a self contained house or bungalow that won’t be massively expensive. In a hotel or flats, it can be much more if there building is occupied. if you engage an asbestos surveyor, be sure to explain that you won’t give them the contract for removal. Don’t take their recommendations for removal contractors either. That was standard policy when I was working in military facilities maintenance.

Is the heating and hot water controlled by thermostats and two port valves? If it is there is another potential cause. This has happened to me twice, both times with Danfoss two port valves heads. The valve head had jammed in the open position which means the boiler keeps on running when it ought to stopped either by the programmer of the thermostats. It was the electrical part of the valve head not the brass paddle valve bit. Giving the valve head a sharp bash made it release but it would jam again on the next cycle. New valve head fixed it both times. It should not happen but it does and you will find other people on web forums (or fora if you prefer) with exactly the same fault. It is always Danfoss valves. Your oil boiler will have two stats. An adjustable one like that one with the knob you described and another upper limit stat. That upper limit is high though, probably around 90. When mine was in that fault mode I found the flow temperature hit 92. That is far too hot for anything to be safe. Turn down your adjustable boiler stat. I have mine set to run at 70C flow.

If the septic is in good order and not leaching out and the soak away is functioning you will probably be OK. Septics must discharge into a drainage field and not any form of ditch or waterway. The rules you have to follow are the General Binding Rules set out by the Environment Agency. If the septic is an old brick one then it is likely it may be leaching out. They don’t last forever. Drainage fields (soak away) do not last for ever either. They clog with fine silt especially if the septic has not been desludged regularly. If this property has been owned by anyone from or remotely connected to the farming community then it will not have been maintained or desludged correctly. They are all determined that septic tanks work by magic and need no maintenance. if you need a new system buy an aeration system that does not have the blower unit mounted in the lid. Do not buy any form of rotating contactor disc or recirculating sludge system. They are crap. You will also need a new drainage field . Budget on £15,000+VAT for the lot, it won’t be much less based on an enquiry I made last year. I have done a couple myself but they were both over 20years ago and on new build and I can’t recall what the overall cost was. One cost a lot more because of the ground water conditions. One had very benign conditions.

Been in this position twice. On both occasions I did a deal with the nearest neighbour. I paid the whole of their water bill until our new supply was connected in exchange for using their supply. Sounds expensive but is far better than being delayed or having to trail water to site in a bowser. A bit of generous goes a long way in neighbour relations.

It did take me a bit of practice to get the finish but even I managed it. I think Fermacell has or had instructions and videos showing what to do. A bit if trial and error at first but nothing you cannot fix with some fine abrasive paper on a flat sanding pad. No tape needed. Fill the gap with the Fermacell filler. That stuff shrinks so expect a couple of stages. The wetter you make it, the more it shrinks. Make sure it fills the gap, sand off flat to the surface. The instructions say to use jointstick on the factory edges but leave a gap and fill on cut edges. I found the joint stick could smear on the face as you locate the board and recovering from that is hard as the joint stick is basically like a glue and has a different texture. Overall I get a better finish just using the filler and no joint stick. you don’t need edge bead. At external corners cut the outer board a little oversize and sand back level. This stuff is hard and it does not flake or crumble like plasterboard so the edges are ok if sanded square and level. Fermacell do their own squeegee think but I have never had one. I put the FST on with filling knives, I have a 6” and a 10”, and then scrape off using a normal plastic bladed squeegee that I originally bought for windows and getting the drips off the car on the rare occasions I wash it. The FST fills the pores and any minor imperfections, it is not a skim. I do have a Fermacell cutting knife. It’s just a blade with a single tungsten carbide tip. You scape out a deep line by repeatedly going over with the cutting knife and then snap off. I also use and trash a few hardpoint saws every time. One thing that works for long cuts is one the cheap and nasty circular saws with a multi purpose blade, the ones that can cut through nails. Used with a guide (mine does not have a riving knife so is a bit wayward) it is a quick but messy way of doing a long cut. When you do a snap off edge you get a raggy finish when needs sanding off a bit. I also use one of those little block planes with the replaceable blades but I have seen a contractor using a surform for the same task. All this is why plasterers hate Fermacell. It puts a lot of the work up front. For me though, it eliminates their messy wet finish and I can screw things directly to it without having to insert extra support in the walls prior to boarding. I use it selectively. There is no real point using it everywhere, just use it where it is an advantage. I have only used the 12.5mm boards. The 10mm boards may be easier to handle. I have usually got the stuff through Travis Perkins but they source it from CCF (Contract Ceiling Factors) who are part of the same group. I have bought Fermacell compatible screws from a seller based in the Netherlands. They worked just as well and were less expensive. I think Toolstation’s European arm used to sell them, I have also bought Fermacell stuff from the big insulation outfits. I think one was Minster (part of Sant Gobain) but I may be mistaken. I just have recollection of going to their Truro depot. Another of the insulation sellers was selling it online and delivered, I recall being impressed that the boards were all in perfect order and the driver understood how to handle it. They are so heavy they can break under their own weight so do not go to wild when moving them. A good TP branch willing to talk to their partners at CCF should be able to help. CCF are a good source of dry-lining metal profiles too. I am an advocate of Gypliner type products, very useful stuff.

I have used Fermacell many times. Just follow the system. All the guidance is there. Use their screws, joint stick, filler and fine surface treatment. I cannot plaster but I can finish a Fermacell wall myself better than any plasterer can finish any plastered wall without making any mess than I cannot vacuum clean. For mounting stuff to walls like a kitchen, utility or bathroom there is no other choice for me. You can screw kitchen units to it, boilers, radiators, inverters. No pilot holes, no plug just 5mm wood screws. Yes it is heavy. It’s harder to cut which is why plasterers slag it off. You don’t need edge bead. It is recommended to put SBR on it prior to tiling in humid areas. I cannot see why a taper edge version is required at all. I have never used it. Personally, I found it is better not to use the jointstick. Simply leave a small gap and fill it with the Fermacell filler. Sand off and then go over with FST using a squeegee. FST is not a skim, it fills the pores and gives a uniform texture. If painting a good quality paint helps. The decorating lady prefers Johnson’s Jonmatt. Johnson’s Durable Acrylic is good for bathrooms. since it was bought out by Hardy outfit, they have tried to kill Fermacell in the U.K. The necessary materials like filler etc became hard to find. It used to come from CCF and the like but is scarce. Any plasterer you speak to will say it is rubbish but that is because they don’t understand it and never learn. It takes more words than you can fit on a beer mat to explain how to use it.

Highways conditions on planning consent are often there for the purposes o deterring development. The highways officer can operate on whim and will insert a tricky condition at the behest (not documented) of a planing officer. We have had it several times on our self builds. Favourite stunt in North Yorkshire. push them for genuine reasoned conclusions, not just a standard answer or a whim. Especially on an existing access. We’ve done it successfully.

R290 is good. It will be a better prospect for older properties and the country certainly has plenty of those.

I wonder or if the can offer one in dark green, the colour of my oil tank?

What is the refrigerant?

First off I will declare that I am an advocate of Decra. Decra will have been specified because of its low dead weight and excellent resistance to wind lift and water ingress. It was not to make it cheap, because it isn’t that cheap. I have experienced it on buildings and it performs very well.

I was expecting one of the Brexit freedoms would be a return to black and red. My place would have come back into fashion.

Is it exposed to the sun? It is not UV stable. After a while is goes crumbly and mostly comes off with a light wire brush (not powered). The blue flexi foam is another matter.

The last few I have fitted came with a moulded 3pin plug. Hence it’s just plug-in and go. There is usually a socket outlet tucked behind with the mandatory isolator somewhere easy to access. if it isn’t that simple the rule should be, “if you have to ask, you should not be doing it”

What about solvent weld overflow pipe. There are adapters off the shelf. Very similar dimensions.

Inside, so much a better look. a couple of years ago I was talking to a lady who had moved to the U.K. from a Central European country. She told me that they laugh out loud at our drainage and soil pipes being slung outside. Where she comes from it gets to -30 and they would all freeze for the winter. She had even sent photos to her father back home to prove we really did it. Think about all those frozen condensate pipes we had here in 2009 and 2010 winters. The drainage pipes froze in our utility room those winters too. I had to put a heater (60W incandescent bulb) under the internal bits to keep the traps from freezing. It was a horrible rental.

Every morning and frequently through the day and evening I can hear to chorus of my own and many of my neighbours oil boilers. I find it hard to believe that the ASHP makes more noise than an oil boiler. Why is planning law putting up unnecessary barriers? Is this MSC employing another market control strategy?

Avoid the small Hikoki. Horrible switch, I have one. My ancient Hatachi 9” (same company, new name) is great, out lived numerous other brands including Makita. It isn’t exactly subtle though.

We have designed and built two SAP A rated homes. The first one no one at all was interested in the energy performance, just STATUS. Yes, a natural stone large 4 bed house on 1.5 acres had STATUS in the North Yorks country. So we sold it pdq. Next was different. Another 4 bed detached but in an urban infill. Relatively low value street and, to be open about it, effing horrible neighbours. There was no status. Only one person who came to recognised the benefits of the energy performance, the feed in tariff, the bus route in the street, schools in walking distance (she had two kids), three supermarkets, doctors surgery, pharmacies, wide range of shops, cinema, restaurants all in walking distance. She was a Polish lady who was able to have a detailed technical conversation with me in English. Husband was British and only interested in STATUS. The two had an embarrassing confrontation right in front of us. They subsequently bought a house in a nearby village that had more status but no local services at all, poor woman.

Has someone had a rave on your Decra?

I am surprised no one has responded to this. your walls - at 1930 it is unlikely to be solid. There will probably be a small gap between the inner and out leaf of bricks. We owned a 1929 house, rendered like yours and the walls were as I have described. I did internally insulate a 1901 house (not mine but one still lived in by a relative) using the very method you describe. The walls on that one also features that small gap between the bricks. This was done in 2015 and the design was accepted by building control and subsequently signed off. They were very keen to see that we sealed all the joints in the boards and to all the edges. Between the first floor joists was a bit testing. Because we had the floors out we made sure the wall and floor insulation was contiguous. That house had no physical DPC so we had also (laboriously) raked outed in sections and inserted a modern DPC. I believe all other types of damp proof treatments to be tosh. Things have moved on and I guess the BCO may want to see something like butyl tape under those battens to be sure of reducing the scope for humid internal air getting to the masonry. There is good range of fixings now rather than the frame fixer types we used then. When you set out the battens you need to be sure all the forces bear on the floor. If you rely on the longish fixings through the batten and insulation layer, over time there may be movement leading to joint cracks in the plasterboard particularly where it meets the ceiling. Common sense. If you are spooked by the idea of highly inflammable insulation in the house, there is a system I saw a while back in France. It uses Gypliner type tracks and adjustable plastic stand-offs. The void is filled with mineral wool batts and then a layer of smart membrane, then final vertical track with plasterboard over. Never seen it in the U.K. but forum members may have. I am fairly certain the useful bit, the adjustable plastic stand-off, was a Siniat product. Gypliner type stuff and its perimeter track is commonly available. If I was doing a project like that again I would seriously consider it myself.

I fitted one the Vent Axia Lo Carbon Tempra units, one with the humidistat. Dreadful thing. Terrible noise and useless humidistat. It was in our laundry room. The noise was unbearable and my wife would turn it off at every opportunity. She hated it and never failed to remind me of that fact. I seriously doubt it extracted any energy from the outgoing air. Never again.