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This was the thing I was talking about. It's actually bigger than I had remembered: https://www.viessmann.co.uk/products/combined-heat-and-power/fuel-cell/vitovalor

You can already get a hydrogen boiler. Veissman make one in conjunction witha Japanese company, Panasonic I think. It makes the hydrogen from the existing methane gas supply. A useful byproduct of this reaction is hot water. It is really bloody clever. I was going to get one, but it took up slightly more room than I had. They are about the size of a full size fridge.

She didn’t I’m afraid. I don’t think the report even mentions his name.

I hope you don’t need anything in between screed and tile, because we haven’t! i think people only use ditra Matt when they are worried there might still be movement in the screed. If your screed has fully cured, and you’ve done the UFH heating cycle recommended by your screed manufacturer, then I don’t think you need ditra.

We laid it in an entire 800 sq ft flat, except a bathroom, so maybe 725 sq ft in total. Really no issues. You leave an expansion gap at the perimeter and that gets covered by skirting board. I'm not even sure the xpansion gap was necessary as this is an engineered fibre board that is coated with a laminate "photo" of wood. Not like real wood that does have some movement to it.

Not sure. You could probably glue it down, but I'm not really sure why you would want to. It works perfectly well with UFH even if not glued down. I had it at my last place as a floating floor on cellecta screedboard and it felt super solid.

Pergo is a really good quality laminate plank that looks and, subject to the following, feels like real wood. Apart from the fact that it feels ever so slightly colder than real wood (because the material it is made from conducts heat much better than wood, it is hard to tell the difference, other than the fact that it won’t age. It can be laid in kitchens and it’s really strong. I got mine for about £32 a square meter. Pergo will send you as many free samples as you want, then you buy from one of their suppliers, like Domus.

Comedy show indeed. I have found some grout that describes itself as suitable for joints that are 0mm to 5mm thick: https://products.kerakoll.com/en-GB/p/fugabella-eco-porcelana-0-5 hmmmm... now I'm really confused.

With Energy prices so high, I think a passive house will be highly desirable

But I thought the problem with grout was that it wouldn’t adhere within such a narrow gap? The gaps are probably 0.5mm wide or less.

Thanks. Any particular silicone you recommend?

I think their view is clearly set out in the material you found, which is very helpful, thanks. I’ve emailed it to the architect and given him a telling off and told him to stop instructing non-standard working techniques. It is odd though, because the builder (who did some of the grouting himself) was also reassuring me that this wouldn’t cause a mould issue because the amount of water in question was so tiny and almost all of the 6mm thickness of the tile has been packed out with adhesive. Does it make a difference that all water in that shower area is softened with salt? Reminding everyone that we are talking about a crevice that is less than 0.5mm thin and 2mm deep.

Architect is now saying they will fill it with very runny grout or ask the stone guy who is coming tomorrow to see if he can fill it with silicone. But I agree this is really starting to get ridiculous.

They were cut with a water jet cutter, off site, about 3 months ago. The porcelain is this stuff: https://www.marazzitile.co.uk/collections/grande_stone_look/piastrelle I wouldn't have thought it was porous, but what do I know.

Yeah, on reflection I really don't understand why they did it this way. They should have built out with a touch more adhesive to make slightly bigger gaps which could then be grouted.

I’m thinking of doing our niche with microcement finish. @SimonD is your noche made of cement board or something else?

Hmm, we are about to have a bathroom tiled with marble by a tiler, starting tomorrow. What mistakes did he/she make?

@Conor when was it poured and how thick is it?

Yes, that’sa good idea. I will give it a try. What is the difference between silicone and grout? Why is grout used in some places and silicone in others?

Cheap MDF leaks toxins. Although it only affects a small proportion of the market, very difficult to know what you are getting: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/feb/09/mdf-furniture-toxic-fumes-formaldehyde

For most rooms in our house, we're just going to have painted window cills internally. If I can still afford to get something better, I want to stay clear of MD. What is the next step up? Pine? If so, what's the disadvantage of a softwood such as pine in this situation? Would i be better going for something harder like tulipwood? Can anyone recommend any good value suppliers?

Yeah, I'm a little gutted because I assumed that being a semi detached we would never get permission to knock it down. About 6 months after we started our refurb, a house on our road, maybe 20 houses down (also a semi) was knocked down and they are now starting to rebuild something in its place. Should have done that.

Wow, that’s impressive. i really should have just knocked down my 1930s semi and started from scratch. Would have been quicker!

Thanks. I’m doing this on the wall though, not floor.

We are laying bejmat tiles (oven baked clay unglazed morroccan tiles - ie the unglazed version of a Zellige). The installation instructions (below) state that because the gaps between the tiles are so tiny, we should use a “very runny flexible liquid grout”. can anybody point me to a product that I could get in a terracotta colour? https://www.ottotiles.co.uk/how-to-installation-guides/moroccan-zellige-and-bejmat-tiles-installation-tips/