Bonner

The ducting is there for physical protection, not to keep it dry. I would be more concerned about the gaps where the cable can be impacted by external force. It should be armoured cable so belt and braces but it’s poor installation.

Couldn’t you join a twin wall flue to your chimney? Might not need a flue liner or chimney breast? Would need the advice of a HETA installer of course

You don’t put anything in and whatever is paid into your account can be withdrawn immediately. If you want you could sign on and take the £25 and opt out. Nothing to lose really

That’s an awful lot of effort, have you considered an exposed twin wall flue? I chose this over a chimney as I prefer the simplicity and preserve the room volume. Also much better airflow around the stove.

Normally agree however this can’t last. Axle are winning some bids at less than 30p/kWh and paying us £1. They have funding to prove the concept and get people on board. Eventually the rate they pay will fall in line with other companies variable export rates.

They pay for anything you export during the event. This will be battery discharge, any excess solar being generated and anything else, if you have a wind turbine for example. I guess they need to see what is going through your inverter to check you are not simply rerouting grid power from another supply. You can sign up here :- https://vpp.axle.energy/landing?ref=R-WHARJUFG

Depends on your battery as well. I have a 8kW inverter but only export around 4.5kW due to max battery discharge current (50A). Any solar generation is on top of that since it is not going in the battery.

Works perfectly for me with Fox ESS battery and inverter. I believe some other systems can be troublesome, some not supported at all. PM me if you would like a referral 😃

Always the case with stoves! Presumably you want to get this up and running before the heating season? The chimney shouldn’t be an issue as long as you have a suitable and properly installed liner. I would be inclined to cover the existing materials rather than cut them back. The regs do allow for combustibles less than 200mm from the flue as long as there is an air gap of 40mm.

@Gus Potter, apologies for the delayed reply, I have been out of the country this week. Initial searches have revealed a problem with the land title which may stop us proceeding. In any case I really appreciate your suggestions and, if we do go ahead I will be in touch.

Do a Google image search or Pinterest to find examples. I would be inclined to make the worktop 5-10mm overhang all round including overhanging the end panel. It is a different material/element, wouldn’t look right if it is flush.

Don’t think I used more than three words but something like that.

It may be they just don’t like building materials as it could apply to everything. My claim was only slightly more specific ie. plastering materials, electrical components, timber, decorating supplies. Where it was a mixed purchase, I picked the biggest value materials. That was 3 years ago so things might have changed.

The vendor got consent (with S106). It’s on a road with the other back land developments so precedent has been set. Presumably not full fill trenches otherwise doesn’t concrete cost eventually overtake piling? Maybe I am worrying too much about the trench depth.

It would a lot easier to share the whole report and I prefer in principle, to be open and transparent but in this case need to be discrete. I will try to redact it later. If I am not mistaken, It seems to be mainly a concern about trees rather than soil bearing capacity. The report states (as previous post, site investigations done in January) Groundwater seepage was generally seen at 1.00-1.10m, thought to be mainly a perched water in the granular Head Deposits but also locally out of fissures in the DF where granular Head Deposits were absent.

Thanks for all the comments. The site is a former garden which has been cleared of said former (smallish) trees. It is still bordered on one side by tall conifers within 10m of the nearest foundation. Site of the house is virtually level however the back of the site slopes gradually up from 5-10 degrees. No signs of standing water but ground infiltration test was nil, presumably due to underlying clays (consent has been granted to discharge storm water to sewer). Note tests were done in January.

Well here goes, a few extracts from the report. Note it does not say piles are absolutely necessary, only recommended due to trench depth, stability and potential heave. Once again, appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks, appreciate all the comments. I will post more detail later.

Traditional lead flashing would look good with brick and oak.

Thanks, I would be able to live with that sort of cost. If it comes to much more the project is not viable for me. Will get in touch with a few contractors.

Thanks. I know I will need to talk to a piling contractor in due course. Just trying to get a feel of the cost risk for valuation purposes. From fairly recent experience I can estimate the cost from ground up, just go no idea if I need to add £10k, £30k, £100k for piling.

After saying never again, we are looking at another self build ‘opportunity’! The plot is ideal in terms of size and location but the compromise is soft clay requiring piled foundations. A full ground investigation has been done by the vendor which concludes that piling is definitely required. I know it is a piece of string question but can anyone suggest a reasonable cost difference between strip founds and ‘standard’ piles + ring beam? Looking at 220m2 two storey house with simple form factor so 110m2 rectangular footprint, timber frame and brick skin. TIA

Looks like it, should be parallel thread with flat end to seat on a rubber washer in the hose coupling

I think you need to put some tiles on there to see how they lay.

Another vote for 4 however it could look very different on a large area. I used this tool https://nsxpwebapp.nelissen.be/publicconfigurator/?l=en-gb&_gl=1*kft2zi*_gcl_au*MTk2NjIxOTc5OC4xNzg1MTM1NjUy to visualise the difference but still built a few square metre panels before deciding. Went for the natural look in the lower half of the picture to blend in with the older buildings in my location. The upper part (unplanned/feckup) shows how it different it looks with a lighter joint, same bricks, sand and white cement.