Andeh

Brings me back to my headache of an engineering degree I struggled for years, made a success of it... But also made a habit of being the most non engineer engineer ever! Timber joists, I should have added!

Our amazing architect left the firm, and the firm are being hopeless at covering the work with her gone. As a result I am trying to cover some bits off myself. We have some galleries/Mezzanines going in, which span the 3.1m width of the room, with 400mm centeed cross spans. To keep the Mezzanine as slim as possible I want the main cross beam to be 150mmm x 145mm in effect. This is outside normal span tables, can anyone point me to something building control would recognise? Thanks

We're hoping to be boarding 2nd week January! We're still holding pressure, though I think it's dropped by 1 bar over last few days but who knows with temp fluctuations and it all still temporary bunged up. Either way, hoping we got away with it! Got fingers crossed for you. Please keep us updated

Watching this thread with interest, I'm in the same boat!

Outstanding work OP. I want to build a cavity just to give that all a go myself!!

How did thing's work out for you Prodave?

Useful thread!! Building control have approved our Mezzanines (similar to OP's) with a ladder and handrail. Mezzanines installed by builder already. I am trying to get architect to ask them about a super compact staircase with right angles corner half way up. I figure safer then standard ladder and handrail... But we will see their verdict. I'll try and remember to post photos tomorrow.

Hi all, as per title. I am ideally looking for something that sits below approx 250mm tall? Just so not visible from the driveway. 125mm spigot needed for my 125mm ducts. Many thanks,

Thank you, that's the one!! I thought they gave it more air time, so obviously jumped over it as I went through my 5-10min chunks per episode.

Out of curiosity, what is the fix if it is worse case scenario, floor up with concrete via cutter/jack hammer, pipes pulled out, re-laid & rescreeded? (few days per room?). Or bury a pipe join in the damaged section, remember where it is & check pressures monthly until you forget about it? (for what its worth I lived for several years with two UFH couplers in our airing cupboard following a manifold move after installation and they never so much as wept once.... )

For what its worth OP, I have spent all day on the phone to my builder, his plumber, his site supervisor been on & off site three times etc trying to check my own exposure to this, i basically just didn't turn up for work today. My builder is 3rd generation, a wily but incredibly competent, professional, experienced individual & he is totally confident of this being a very very low risk of pipes freezing in concrete. He never said 'never' but felt it was incredibly unlikely, unless fittings are in there, dodgy pipework fitment, damage etc. I am a Mechanical Engineering by profession, and have real OCD on my build, and he still impresses me with his competency on a regular basis. He/supervisor/plumber etc have all seen fittings pop off, manifolds leak & pipes split when they are outside outside, in -8 degree temps...but for pipes to freeze in concrete is one he has never come across. Out of sheer stubbornness & frankly just telling them to 'do it for my peace of mind' I have convinced our lot to wire the two UFH pumps in & run all the circuits on a high flow rate to keep the water moving, i've got heated oil rads boxed in with insulation near the manifolds to try and get a tiny bit of warmth in them & the team spent an hour sealing & insulating all our open apertures (we are missing two big doors & some large sliding doors) before finishing today...... Just to try and limit any damage/further damage our end, its sat sat totally exposed for the last week before I found this thread & paniced myself.

Hi All, I am worried about frozen UFH pipes in our build, and want to show our builder the grand designs episode where an elderly women's UFH pipes froze & she had to have the floor replaced. i thought it was 'the Streets' but having flicked through the episodes, I havnt seen the house or scene I am thinking of. Can anyone remember which episode it was!? Many thanks in advance!!

Thanks Dave, yeah - really not sure how to proceed. They have agreed to drain the system as best they can, and ill ask them to seal the place up more so! Not sure there is much else we can do other then fingers crossed.

Long chat with my builder, and his plumber. Both long standing and both gave proven fastidious. Neither are the slightest bit worried, nor have ever come across pipes freezing and splitting. Both have seen joints fail, manifolds spring leaks, fitting come off through frost but both were totally comfortable with the pipes. Not sure how I feel about it, but I can't force them to do much, though they are going to drain as much of it as they can for my peace of mind. When I told them about that grand designs episode where the Ufh froze and split they were very surprised, and asked me to find the episode. Could only suggest damage during installation (rare) or very cheap/old pipe work.

Good luck, I spent an 90mins middle of the night checking our floor, our pressure was at 4.5 bar. Floor temps looking worryingly low (-1...) though. Heading back in 30mins to meet builders team when they arrive, and will be ringing him on the way. Feck me.

Welp, you arnt alone losing sleep tonight! Good luck to us both.

(expletive deleted) me if I don't sleep a wink tonight. Exact same stage of build with pipes in and most windows in.... Where in the country are you?

Also to add, your second set of temp drops don't seem totally unreasonable in my book. Your bedroom would naturally be warmer if there are two adults asleep in it, the body heat alone will make a noticeable difference. Remember the Matrix films?

100% rent a thermal camera, and crank the heating up for an hour to so and then go exploring! Should only need it for an hour or two.

We have sunflex going in, via folding futures. Very user friendly to date! Fitment due in January. 2.4m high, floating corner, 4m + 3m sliders, 1200 ish wide panels.

Well done!

Condensation puddling and getting through a joint? Just a layman's guess!

We are looking at three, may I ask what you paid?

The water is only a couple of inches so actually sits within the foundations, below the block surrounds, so no real way to drain it out. I will prob try & pump it out, and see if it returns. We are 4/5 the way up a hill, so in theory water should be draining down & away, as our ground water cant be that high, I hope!!

Yep, warm air. I had them in the ceilings in a previous house, but floor ones also an option.