markharro

Hi @DamonHD yes apparently Miele ones do or at least some of them - their website states it can save up to 50% in energy costs....as we are installing PV and an ASHP it seems a good option albeit I expect its not going to be £££ savings.

Thanks for the various answers so far....this has helped a lot to focus my plans. So from what everyone has said so far I am convinced by the radial system. There are some finer tuning points I don't quite have my head around yet though. 1 In the kitchen we will have a sink and dishwasher. If we wanted to feed the DW with hot water from the hot water cylinder does that mean we need a separate pipe to it? If so would a 10mm do? 2 Back to the shower-room. My better half has her heart set on what will be a shower capable of a very high flow rate. More than I think 15mm will service. If she persists with this would this need its own radial supply or higher bore than 15mm with another 10mm for the basin? 3 In our utility room we will have a sink and washing machine. First of all are WMs connected to a hot feed? If so, will one pipe with a T serve sink and WM? Will 10mm suffice? thanks

So for the typical bath/showerroom with hot water needed for both basin and shower/bath how would you run 10mm to basin on this radial solution? 15mm to the room then split with 10mm to basin and 15mm to shower/bath? Or do you have 2 radial feeds to the single room - 1 at 10mm for the basin and the other 15mm for shower/bath?

Thanks @JohnMo I have had a couple of quotes from plumbers so far but no detail at all on how they propose to run the circuits. With you manifold solution does this add any complexity/cost other than than cost of the manifolds which I assume is not much? We have 2 showerrooms and a bathroom and planning only to fit out 1 of the showerrooms initially so this might be a good solution to that. What is the relevance of running 15mm pipes? Long runs - our utility room where the water comes into the house is pretty central - that said its about 12m as the crow files to our kitchen sink/dishwater - and quite a bit longer with all the pipe turns etc. There are no other really long runs however. Can you explain what "hot water circulation" is? thanks @Iceverge can you help me deconstruct this.... the MDPE brings the water into the house to the main stopcock? whats a "control block"? "radial" - does that mean separate pipes to each location needing a cold supply? How does a "standard" circuit compare - does that have one main pipe in a circuit with Ts off to each room? "UVC" - is that the hot water tank? So 10mm pipe only for hot water supplied to far off locations - is the logic that this gets the water there fast and minimises wasted heat loss from a smaller volume in the pipe? So 15mm would be the norm for shorter hot water feeds? Is that enough throughput for showers? thanks

Just about to engage a plumber for this. He is going to use Hep2o which seems well regarded but other than that are there any pointers eg recommended bore of pipe? Do you routinely insulate hot and cold feeds? I think there is also a choice between radial and standard but I don't really understand the tech pros and cons? Thanks

Hi @saveasteading I have thought about painting but I dont think Blackjack would be compatible with the EPS we not to cover/hide?

This is prob what we will do too to cover our EPS base - what are you planning for fixings?

Any chance you could share where you have seen the good Grohe pricing? thanks

Its a passive house insulated slab poured into a mould of EPS formwork

I have a small section of vertical cladding inset into a render wall - the render build up total is 63mm. Our cladding is 22 so that leaves 40mm or so for the battens! I am thinking 19 x 50 for the verticals and 22 x 50 for the horizontals. Any issue with this for sheltered area of around 7-8 m2?

I have a similar question. On parts of our wall we will have open vertical cladding above a lower section of render. The top half of the wall has black waterproof UV resistant membrane fitted so that rain passing through the gaps in the cladding will drain down without soaking the timber frame. The issue is how to stop this water then draining down behind the cement boards that will take the render? I guess having permanent moisture behind this boards will be sub-optimal? Do we need some sort of metal cill to deflect the water out and over the face of the render? thanks

Really struggling to find an answer to this. Is 50mm below the slab height correct? Or 100mm? thanks

Hi @Nickfromwales how do you manage this? We are building a PH and I am about to fix the battens for the cement board which will then be rendered. We need some penetrations from inside the house to outside for EV charger and ASHP flow and return and maybe some cameras. How to do these after the render is done?

can anyone offer any advice on this - need to find answers soon so I can progress. thanks

I am at the same stage as @SuperJohnG looking to buy correct battens and fit myself. The STS boards I am using has guidance and states 25 x 60mm battens but notes that a 50mm cavity is needed in Scotland. So that means a 50 x 60 batten which I can't find anywhere online as a treated batten. I had been planning to use 50 x 50 but not sure the 50mm width would be enough to butt 2 boards and provide for the 3-5 mm gap I need to leave between boards. Can you get 50 x 60 treated battens? Am I going to have to consider butting two 50x50 together? thanks

We got some nice Douglas Fir from Logie Timber last year.

I have just managed to persuade our BCO that cavity barriers pointless and not needed behind our open timber cladding for what it is worth. We are in Scotland.

We had a condition to our planning requiring an "archaeology" report. I sighed thinking that's another £xxxx to find. So I asked what they wanted and it turned out it was a combo of detailed photos of our old house pre-demolition and a narration of the history of the plot etc. So I asked if we could prepare such a report ourselves and the City Archaeologist agreed. My partner takes an interest in local history so had already done most of the research. I have a good quality camera and tripod. We made our own surveyor's ranging rod by painting a broomstick red and white and set to work. It took a lot of work and hours collating but we were commended for our work by the CA and it was satisfying to save a shedload of cash that would otherwise have gone down the drain.

Anyone have any advice on this? Need to drive 100mm stainless steel screw through softwood battens then into roof rafters. Guessing it may be best to pilot hole first?

Thanks @ProDave Is a BBA cert needed for building control or is it just something optional. Baumit give the impression of being a well established company and I have seen many references to their products being used so its disappointing to hear of your issues.

We are being quoted an extra £10 m2 to use the Baumit NanoporTop. The house is next to a moderately busy road. Any advice on whether it is worth paying the extra? thanks

Great thanks Dave - not bought the boxes yet so good to know I can use these if I fit deep boxes - thanks,.

I have been given about a dozen or so of these. I am keen to use them temporarily to save some cash and then maybe upgrade later. But the plates are a different design to the standard ones and I would be keen to know if I need some sort of special back box or do they just fit a standard one? ie I wont use them if they need a special back box. thanks

As per the title any advice welcome thanks,

Thanks got them!