Andeh

"When I asked him did he fit a cavity closer he asked me to define what I meant as he hasn’t heard of them. Builder for 40 years ‍" That really boils my blood, (expletive deleted)ing builders and their shitty attitude and fly by night nature. It would have been negligible cost and effort for him to use them. If it makes you feel any better we had a window fitter who was incompetent, lazy with a shit attitude to boot. Carpenters ended up finishing the window installation and fixing his faults, and they did a brilliant job in comparison.

I would probably drill a couple of 10mm holes and poke borescope through, taking pics. That will PROBABLY reveal a slump in Insulation. Buy a multi tool and cut a couple/few of 12 x 12inch sized holes (trying to avoid any wood supports/batterns) to enable me to push rockwook strips in, and using a pole push it either side of the few hole cut. Cut one hole and experiment to see how many holes you need to push rockwool. Patch holes by gluing/screwing recessedwood batterns across, then glueing/screwing plasterboard back into place. Fill, sand, fill, sand paint. If it looks poor, go with corkboard on top. Then sit back smugly over your success, and enjoy the return on investment in 50 years time!

Is it water running down the render and dripping, or is it soaking into the render and running down within it?

If in doubt.... More clout! (and beef up the insulation elsewhere, where you can... Roof? External? Draft proofing?)

Sorry, my bad spelling!! Borescope / inspection camera. However, what you'll probably find will be several inches of gap along the top insulation wise, so again consider where you cut the hole (central?) so that it gives you good access to resolve. One big access hole is easier to repair then several small ones. This sort of thing.... Inspection Camera USB Endoscope,7.9 mm Borescope Inspection Snake Camera IP67 Waterproof, Semi-Rigid Cord with 6 LED Lights,Tube Sink Pipe Drain Camera for Android, iPhone, iPad(9.84FT) https://amzn.eu/d/71FhiP2

Or drill a very small hole for a horoscope! They are pretty cheap and will do the job.

Honestly, the time cost and stress will out weigh the slump in insulation you'll find. Once all is said and done, whatever improvements you make will take 10 years to pay off.... Probably more. If you are hell bent on it, it a good sized central hole, so that when you find a gap in the insulation you can fix it via the same hole. Reality is.... You'll never notice the difference before and after. Ignorance. Is. Bliss.

Are the pipes all warm to the touch leaving and entering the manifold? Is there any temp difference between flow and return? Buy an IR thermometer for £10 and check each rooms.

Still difficult to gauge your finish, can you take some wider angle pics? This is south facing, so not as much driving wind, but I have pressure washed it all a few times, incl channels, and that does force water in.. But it sits in the channels a bit, but not enough to need more then a kitchen roll wipe up.... External grout is a bit rough, but we haven't snagged yet...!

Yeah, it came up in discussion with the architect when I was bemoaning some additional costs walked in by our structural engineer (who always felt expensively over zealous in everything he insisted we did....!!). Our architect brought up the fact she saw builder install heave protection (or clayboard? could have been something along those lines....) per building control and/or structural engineer and our builder was lightly grumpy about it as overkill,...and architect explained that everyone was having to take a few hits on the chin with the 'contract price' build the Builder had given us (and stuck to pretty well tbf) and also us taking on a few hits on prices walked in by third parties. Would clayboard or heave protection be 100mm thick insulation like sheets? Grey or white? or something?

Every now & then you get lucky & you find the nugget of gold you needed that will enable you to step back from throwing yourself off the room....... Short version is, the garage/bungalow was cut down into the ground by 3-4 feet due to the nature of us building on a hillside & the willow + garden being further up the hill from our build. This means the foundations were c1.8m deep....but they already started from a depth of 3-4 feet lower then the natural ground anyway....thus foundations being c2.5m below willow ground level! ------------------------------ Dear Building Control, As discussed this morning, we would like confirmation please that you are satisfied with the foundations of the new garage with the proximity/slight incursions into the willow roots. The arboriculturalist has confirmed this is okay from a tree perspective. Please find attached the arboricultural survey, engineering drawings and part of the architectural package including substructure, floor plans and elevations. Note that the design has changed from 140sqm extension to complete knockdown/rebuild and we are pending the updated engineering drawings for the rebuild element, although the extended element footprint remains the same and the replacement build element footprint is very similar. If there’s any further information which would help please let me know. Many thanks, Architect Good Afternoon Architect, The foundation depths do not correspond with Chapter 4.2 of the NHBC Standards and look to shallow. Have they been verified by a structural engineer? Kind Regards Building Control Hi Building Control, The structural engineer confirms that the footings are already at the right level as the garage is cut into the ground leaving the footings approximately 2.5 metres below ground level at the Willow. He will add some contours to the drawing to make that clearer. The arboriculturist confirms that he didn’t recommend a root barrier in his report. If the engineers have recommended something then they will have a spec. He’s not aware that a root barrier is necessary unless the soil is known to be shrinkable, but again this is something for the structural engineer to decide when they are specifying foundations. Best regards, Architect ****Sharing of several more drawings, contours & foundation levels*** Morning Architect, Thank you for the drawing showing the contours. I can confirm that I am happy with the foundation design. Did the Planners at West Northamptonshire Council set this as a condition? If so, they will need to be sent this info to clear the condition. Kind Regards Building Control

That's interesting to see & difficult to know what to do with that info! I've pinged the photos & suggestions on foundation details off to our architects to seek their views & confirmation on foundations in this area. The foundations could have been that deep, but its difficult to remember other then remembering 'I couldn't see out of the trench'.

Can only trust the experts here on the depth of foundations, we had tree surveys specific for this willow tree, root assessments, structural engineer spec'd it then the builder was razer sharp in preparing them. We are about 1m outside of the root ball following the assessments, and it is only for a single story, cavity double garage end of the day! I can't find the dimensions, but I remember stood nervously in it & not seeing over the top and im 6ft!

There were surprisingly few roots we came across actually. I remember as I actually cut a few stragglers back (tiny several mm type ones). I was slightly nervous doing it, as the builder had warned me about deep foundations & wet weather when we were visiting the site over the Christmas period (My wife was supervising as my emergency help!!). The heave protection might have been something else though, the architect told me she saw them being installing heave protection after building control had demanded it, and I never asked anything more about it. What gives me comfort is not a single person visited the site & didn't comment on the ridiculousness of the foundations, the running joke was we built the foundations for the skyscraper we were going to convert the bungalow into afterwards. Thanks for your thoughts so far though!

Building control asked the builder to install polystyrene sheets around the foundations in this area because of the willow tree which he did (which I believe is heave protection?), you can see some of the bits of white in the mud where I have disturbed it! Foundations poured December 2021, garage blockwork finished July 2022.

Our build was completed over the summer, following 18 months of construction. Block built bungalow by a builder who was brilliant - and especially total 'belt & braces' approach to everything. He was not cheap, but always felt worth every penny & we do trust him/his work. A couple of months ago though, i noticed some cracks in one low corner of an outside wall. It's behind the single story garage in a secluded corner, so not an area anybody would spend much time. These cracks could have been there since day 1, just never spotted. This area is, however, c11m from a mature willow tree which was designed into the build. The foundations in this area are c1.5 - 1.8m deep, 900m wide, with heave protection - because of said willow tree. The render above & round the area is fine, and has been on the wall here since last summer. It's a low profile thin coat. I raised it with the builder who couldn't explain it, but thought it could have been impact from a digger bucket or equiv (as we had some landscaping done with a JCB in this area) but he wasn't worried & offered to replace the bricks or repoint if we wished. I said not yet as I wanted to keep an eye on it. The render above this area is fine & no where else is there anything of concern. Today i decided to dig down & have a closer look, pics below! Just wanted to see peoples thoughts??

I wonder if a few small holes drilled in these 'cold spot' areas, and using low expansion expanding foam squirted in could help? Maybe a discrete trial in a tucked away area?

We were in a persimmon rental that had an apparent 3.6 score... You could feel the draft blowing through the house on a windy day. Such a fraud.

We basically ramp heating up for octopus cosy periods, plus extra time for when it gets properly cold, then drop temps all other times. Bedrooms slightly cooler then rest of house by room zones. House varies by a couple of degrees over the course of the day, but it's warm!

There is an argument for form over function, just depends on your priorities!

Hi Robynrob..... can you post up pictures of your setup? Something like this may be of help, if installed externally? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07L2QNX23/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

We had a 1970s timber frame, already extended a few times. In reasonable condition, but when we looked at a big extension... It was cheaper to knock it down and start again. Youve gotta consider this!

4 is still a good amount below average for new builds In the uk, not great by buildhub standards but better then average!! Two £1.5m local to us were 5 5 and 6.9... No MVHR, but didn't stop them selling.