Andehh

Via PM I have been reminded i never updated this thread, and to avoid that annoying situation when someone tells of their problem...but not how resolved, ill update here. Coming up to +2 years on now!!! Excuse the rush, got a busy day in the garden I want to get into...excuse grammar & spelling. The builder met with the architects first to put forwards his opening position, prior to me meeting with them. Before this I had very firmly coached the architects on my expectations. The builder & architect had a long list previous projects, but my prior engagements with them both over the build didn't overly (!) worry me about it...but obvious bias is inevitable, the industry works off it. When I met with the architects, with my view being I wanted 50% of our costs refunded for the delay (£5,000 to £7,500)...following the initial niceties they updated me with a ''following our initial negotiations with the builder have had us come to a middle ground of....you paying c£5,000 for the 9 month ish delay' . Suffice to say I ''politely'' went through the roof. I was furious of that as an argument & after much ''polite'' fury directed at the situation, I Iet them explain why....and it basically came down to the fact we chosen/walked c10-15% additional cost into the project (with another c10% what we paid over the fact due to inbuild problems) over the duration over & above original agreement (family bereavement mid build meant we put the money into the builder), some line items individually adding a few weeks to critical path without breaking a sweat. The vast majority being relatively 'small ticket' items ('extra retaining wall round patio, wood burner fireplace... 60-70 line items on the cost sheets) but they did chip away at any argument we had for the delays being because of ''builder's slow progress''. They also acknowledged that Builder was third generation, family firm...and that we have benefitted immeasurable from his professionalism & experience dodging, resolving and fixing headaches along the project as successfully as he had & the great working relationship we had....and the 'hang over' to that is from an evidence lead approach to this negotiation, any mediation or formal resolutions to this situation would have him in a powerful position to professionally explain, with ample justifications, his position to this settlement. Needless to say I threw this out the window and assured them even a penny more then a ''call it quits position of £0'' would have me expecting a detailed line item by line item, evidenced position, protracted negotiation, in person for every £ & penny..... knowing full well that the Builder utterly HATED anything that wasn't a short, polite, value add, straight to the point, no bullshit or emotions type conversation....which id benefited from before via plenty of phone calls with me going ''I disagree Builder, Id like you on site to discuss this in more detailed please...when can you be available.....'' which inevitably had him sighing & just agreeing to meet ££ half way. Needless to say, this is how this situation went again.... Everyone agreed to ''call it quits at £0'' and walk away with a balloon, even if they didnt get the party bag they wanted. I'm sure Builder & architect knew this would be the end position, but needed to 'put on the show' for me....but I was happy with how it all ended. Sometimes the game simply needs to be played, even if the result is pre determined. Ironically enough though, just this Friday gone (without any fight) the builder's team came out for 2 days to replace a slab of the garage floor due to cracks, because they acknowledged their contractor had ballsed it up....no hesitation even 12 months past the snagging point. So...... all ended happily ever after, even if at the time the emotions felt/feel very very heavy indeed!!! For those in a similar circumstance, trust me when I say whatever happens, it will all be worth it & the hotter the the fire...the better the story you can tell with a beer & plenty of laughter!! Also, projects rarely ''fully finish'' and knowing you part ways with a (good!) builder knowing you can pick up the phone to him when all is said & done, carries value in itself.

Is builder fully paid up? I presume cavity will be built around it? Your missing the outer skin bottom layer?.. Can you chisel out the mortar around edges so it doesn't bridge the DPC?

IANAL but the chlorine and water chemicals staining the bricks would be be a greater concern based on what I've seen spillages do to paving slabs. That and the porus nature of them. I wouldn't be comfortable relying on some aftermarket sealer as a perm solution. Considered shower type tiles as a feature wall instead?

Is this for an extension, stand project or a new build? You could do a tile splashback along the wall, tile boarder, narrow slit drain with fall to it.. then continue with your patio.

Bookmarking to have a thorough read later! Thanks

About 50mm overall... 10mm tile adhesive.... 25mm insulated trays...15mm thin screed then tiles on half, carpet on half. About 40sqm in total.

We did an overlay system in a 2006 house, 10 years ago. 25mm Insulated tray, on tile adhesive, 16mm pipe, latex screed. 50mm build up, but some careful shallow ramps with the neighboring carpet corridors meant it worked. Heat up times similar to radiators, so was controlled as one. Afraid this is the only pic I have from back then!

It's worth it in the end!! Don't cut corners, quality over quantity and a life time to enjoy it.

Im not sure ASHP Is best suited for your place, I'd be tempted to max the insulation, over size the rads and stick with the Oil burner and re evaluate once you've lived with it all for a few years. Free ASHP might prove costly to then operate.

Likely an S bend even if slightly shallow... Can add significantly to the force required to force past it. If a strong hoover, and or blowing down one end with another hoover fails to pass string... It's been crushed!

Tried a more powerful hoover? I bought a screw fix shop vac and it sucked through a 35m x 50mn duct without an issue... Even drew the water out.... Plastic bag and draw cord did the job... That or UFH pipe, smooth, stiff and easy to push in....

Sounds like 16kw, unless insulation is the absolute focus for your project! We have a well insulated 270sqm bungalow (very very well insulated outside of build hub scales), albeit it a very inefficient design, and 12kw suits us nicely. Check it still runs on single phase, and obvs inevitably higher Elec usage etc.

Hammerite coloured paint!

We did the same! Very happy with it, albeit it we had issues with a bad batch of insulation sheets underneath shrinking and lifting, so it nows looks like a patch were quilt where they had to do localised repairs.

Pretty sure it was about 30% of what I submitted they wanted invoices for. They asked for then a few weeks post submission.

Correct, albeit it for CCTV the headline max speed isn't required, so I compromised with a few nasty bends in the junction box below camera...... And the system still works!

Well timed, I was doing my cameras yesterday! Buy Cat6a cable and use below on both ends. As long as you are consistent with the wiring at both ends, once you've figure out the process once.... They're very straight forwards. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CF21HT7F?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share The only issue I had was fitting the cable... Which is sealed in the wall... And the connections in a junction box below the CCTV. I didn't want to cut the cable too short in case the joint needed redoing, but the long cable was difficult to bend and fit in the junction box. Made it work though.

Ah I'm sorry OP, that's a real shitter! Not being funny, but take comfort there's 50+ others in the same situation!! Have you got legal cover on home insurance? Please keep us updated... But good luck!

I've found you can buy multi cutter blades for metal, and for masonary. Is there any reason why I couldn't use these to carve it all out in situ?

So I've fallen in love with cheap smart switches. They're cheap, smart and effective! The only issue is they need 20mm extra depth then existing backboxes have. The current backboxes are well plastered in, and the cables are tightly routed in. Any recommendations on how to best cut through the metal backbox, and then chisel out the block behind it in a reasonable fashion? Thanks

Yeah, we found similar! Just hope it's sustainable for them, their latest financial statements were/are late per previous post....

Our gates weren't on the PP, and we had them half installed and full invoiced a month before our VAT reclaim timed out. We paid the installers VAT, and added it to our receipts to claim back with their invoice. It wasn't one they asked for invoice copies etc, and they approved the claim. That being said electric blinds and garage doors which they did ask for invoice copies etc they bounced and said we shouldn't have paid the VAT, recover it from the supplier.

Your house is, on paper, noticeably better Insulated then ours, and not being a bungalow likely a more efficient design... Albeit it UFH at 35 degrees give us bigger heat emitters so more warmth at better efficiency (in theory). Could just be under sized radiators?? I'm sure I've heard Tower rads are generally a lot less effective then normal twin or triple fin ones.

Something not right. We're 250sqm ish bungalow, with 3.5 to 4.5m ceilings, lots of glazing (albeit it 45 sqm kitchen floor have around 25sqm of glazing.... Which is a lot in its own right) and our 12kw Samsung ASHP has no real issues keeping us around 21 degrees with around 12 hours run time even on the coldest of sub zero days. Ufh throughout though and we upgraded all our insulation. Can you post up your Sap report? What insulation is detailed?

Insulation looks pretty good all considering. Even some thermal bridging is fairly average. Could just be the fact it's 30sqm space with high ceilings and lots of glass! We have a room(s) similar and whilst it doesn't actually loose heat that fast, it does feel chilly due to significantly above average glazing and high ceilings. Check for strong drafts with a candle... And see if Windows need adjusting. If its connected to the rest of the house, could the warmth be drifting through the rest of the house? All else fails fit bigger radiators, adjust the heating schedule, and accept big glazed rooms feel colder then small windowless spaces! The price for extra heating... £25 more a month vs the cost of that extension.... For the couple months a year when it's properly cold.... Ya can't win everything!