Andeh

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.

Very few options I'm afraid. Thick curtains, ensure trickle vents are well sealed inside and outside (adhesive foam tape). Then something like the below, sleep with music or a good podcast on! https://www.amazon.co.uk/soft-headphones-sleeping/s?k=soft+headphones+for+sleeping

Yes, forgot to add... It is also expensive! Good point that.

Thanks for the posts all & Crispy_Wafer ...I imagine that was back breaking work, & trapped fingers with those blocks is a memory I care to forget.... I think I'm pretty much left to accept it. There are only two 'cavities' under the house accessible to pump it out or inspect, other 5 are now sealed up, so unknown amounts of water / nout I can do. Fortunately, I know how utterly OCD the builder was with the damp proofing, though I will look to do some land drains over the worst part of it. Thanks again

We had a whole setup in our last place. UFH and Radiators and hot water, several zones internet controlled etc. tbh it worked very well, managed it all together nicely and good app. It is an old system though, so is missing a lot of the new systems fancy tricks (Graphing, mesh networks etc) That being said, it is tricky to setup & really finicky to fault find if something goes wrong. There is limited proper support for it, so you are very much left to get help via online forums (ie automatedhome.com) - though there is help out there. I would recommend youtubes videos on it, esp set up & installation. Read the manual very well & follow the instructions. I probably rushed the installation which caused a few headaches, but looking back I would go with it again.

We are after a couple of high end Neff Appliances, Oven & Microwave. (WIFi/touch buttons etc). Everywhere I look I see they are out of stock! Is anyone else aware of an issue behind the scenes here, or a good route to secure them? Thanks

Builder has suggested our new build will enable us to claim back the VAT on fitted appliances, but not free standing ones. Is this correct? How would I go about claiming this back from the likes of Currys or equiv? Building is more or less providing turn key property, so we are not doing any VAT claims ourselves. Going through the build is an option, but he then adds his 9% handling fee. Thanks in advance

A drip for a week is probably within the realms of a DIY dehumidifier & heating on job IMO for a few weeks (dehumidifier for longer). I had over looked the 7 days statement, I have to admit.

Rigid insulation will be very thermally stable, even the wood will be providing it doesn't get wet & is dry when installed. A thick bead of silicone or expanding foam to seal the insulation in will be flexible enough to cope none the less.

Ring home insurance, get them to sort everything out. Pay extra £25 per year for next few years.... Worry not. Or just get a couple of demudifiers, turn up the heating and see how it all looks in 2 weeks.

Yep, exactly that. I would cut and fit rigid insulation tightly between those joists, and expanding foam to seal tight. Then external insulation/cladding right up over it

I just created a thread with exactly the same worry, in exactly the same scenario. Did you ever resolve it, or just accepting it?,