Alan Ambrose

In Aldeburgh?

I've done that and it may be tougher than you think as it might mean looking out some as-built records - otherwise the assessors will assume any old thing they like, usually to your cost. In my case, I made it clear that I didn't want a worse rating than the original (it was a flat, and nothing much had changed). After a bit of huffing, some original docs were found and the original rating was applied to the new doc too.

I think that your planning is along the right lines. You might want to check out the SUDS concepts and, if you want, you can get a SUDS calc for about 100 quid. This tells you the max storms you are expected to get per m^2 and therefore the max vessel size you need. Then SUDS assumes you slowly release the volume (at usually 0.5 L/S for a single dwelling). I've posted up an example of one of those calcs here in the past (search for 'Freeflush'). The calcs are location dependant, of course. Your 'vessel' might be some kind of tank or crate system (maybe look up soakaway crate) or the void space around some permeable fill. My MOT 3 driveway uses the latter. If it was me, I might have chosen a larger sump and a Tsurumi pump, but each to their own. Your proposed system seems a little lightweight to me, but you're right, if you're happy to treat the whole thing as a sump in a big storm, then so what. One thing I learnt recently (after installing a sump and pump) is perhaps obvious ... but the duty cycle of the pump depends on the size of the sump. You might not want the pump going off every 2 minutes. Also, pumps need a bit of oomph to raise water upwards, so you might want to check that the kind of pump you're thinking of will do that. You might want to experiment a bit with hose sizes. Otherwise I think you're good.

We're not that far from Sizewell. There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of people milling around this bit of Suffolk clad head to toe in orange with hats & glasses & gloves on at all times. I'm sure they do RAMS statements before going to the toilet. We're told (I have no way of knowing for sure): they need to wear all their gear before being allowed on the company bus; they're 're not allowed to roll their sleeves up; excavator drivers can't do a 360 and can't get out of their cabs without permission; they have go/no go electronic signs on the cabs; etc etc etc. I was talking to an architect friend recently and showed her some photos of the site. She was aghast that I was on the half-built roof (nowhere to fall btw) without a hat on. Now, in reality, I can't even get my carpenters to wear safety boots; I have to hand my key worker some safety glasses when he starts using a grinder or he might not wear any; my young apprentice is a mountaineer and likes balancing even when I tell him not to. All-in-all I try to watch out for everybody, intervene if I think they're doing something risky, look out and address any hazards, provide any safety equipment they need etc. So we should be like Sizewell and strictly enforce all the rules? Yeah, I expect my team would either laugh and ignore me or walk off site depending on their mood. I'm interested in what you guys do on your sites in practice?

I'm sure there will be another chance ... the basement stuff is happening over the next 3 months 🤐. BTW anyone know a local place with a table saw / band saw / resaw service? I have 12 bits of approx 3m x 100x100mm oak that I need sawn into approx 50x30mm strips.

“At its core, HEM is a building physics simulation. It takes detailed data about a home (its construction, heating system, ventilation, insulation, glazing, orientation, and local weather) and calculates its energy performance at half-hourly intervals throughout a full year.‘ Well it’s probably a step forward being single & open source / cloud / written & paid for by the government. It’s effectively UK govt’s answer to PHPP. The usual problems won’t entirely go away though: + since we have little idea how our current housing stock is built, there will be lots of guessing i.e. ‘assumptions’. So a bit GIGO. + we’ll need loads of custom psi calcs if the results are going to reflect the actual heat loss. + these are only models and reflect assumptions about how we live in these houses - probably there will be little comparison of actual vs. model (just like EPCs) so the man in the street may pay them very little attention. The 1/2 hour intervals are marketing BS and won’t help the accuracy one bit. Lastly, one of the helpful things about PHPP is its database of real world components - this will be key but a lot of work to replicate.

>>> Finnish timber as reliable but miserable. You think it’s absorbed all that Scandinavian angst?

Stainless steel mesh stapled (stainless staples) to close the gap at the bottom of the cladding would be a good start. Also, look for any penetrations through the plasterboard (e.g. in kitchen cupboards)and seal with anti-mouse mastic. Some pest control companies offer this service if you don’t want to diy.

I’m going to respectively disagree - as I said our type 3 drive is working well. You can get a SUDs calc done, receive the volume you need to store, and then calc the volume of driveway that represents, bearing in mind the ‘void ratio’ or some such i.e. proportion of your drive that can be water. I’ve a calc like that here somewhere. Helpful if it can drain somewhere by gravity.

There's also Controllino as the logic should be trivial. Also Shelly. Agree that din mounted relays / dimmers in a professional cabinet would be good. Also RS485 - there's a bunch of RS485 controlled stuff - I've already installed some RS485 temp / humidity sensors. Bear in mind that I2C or SPI are not really designed for long runs / noisy environments. DMX? Loxone? Keep us posted - I plan to do something similar.

Ah Jill is going to drop in this Thurs after 5, anyone else is welcome too. Site is IP17 2RL and there are only 5 houses in that postcode and one building site...

This kind of thing. It also generates a list of Ubbink components to buy (surprise!) but the calcs apply to any manufacturer's duct of the same approx diameter.

The spreadsheet is pretty simple really. The other option I used for comparison and the one the BC preferred, presumably because they were independent calcs, was the free online Ubbink ‘Aerflux Project Report‘: https://www.ubbink.com/int/advice-service/aerflux-configurator/

FYI you can get geotextile socks which go over the perf pipe rather than sheet Terram.

Congrats. Also, good to think there’s light at the end of the tunnel. 😀

>>> the previous owner did a self-install That’s ok but they should have supplied you with a copy of the BC cert. I went that route by allowing a BC inspection and also detailing how I met the regs and manufacturer’s requirements. About a 6-page doc with drawings, photos during installation, test results etc. Getting anybody to certify after the fact will be hard - nobody wants the liability of someone else’s potentially dodgy work. If you bought recently your solicitor should have been on top of this.

OK I've modified the geometry with your feedback above. I think that'll work, thanks. A useless fact I learnt is that the water falls in a parabola, presumably dependent on the velocity it flows off the roof.

>>> I need a design for my house There's a spreadsheet on BH somewhere which I've used, also manufacturers have their own free calculators. My BC was happy with the latter. Not rocket surgery as they say.

>>> For new-build houses, Consumer Units (CUs) should typically be installed with the operational switches between 450 mm and 1200 mm from the finished floor level Hmm, for Part M i.e. wheelchair access. Thankfully, I think only common sense apples to the other stuff. i.e. you're out of the clutches of NAPIT. >>> otherwise BS7671 - Recommended Height Optimal Height: The operating switches (main switch) should typically be located between 1350mm and 1450mm from the finished floor level. Acceptable Range: A broader, commonly accepted range for accessibility (to allow for easy operation and maintenance) is between 1m and 1.8m from the floor.

>>> water should not pool more than 300mm . 😀 OK then suggest you need MOT 3 or similar. Not all our local aggregate suppliers will / can supply it. That should act as a big reservoir. Is there a way to get that to drain or are you on soil that will anyway? We’re on clay so we needed somewhere for the water to go after the MOT 3. p.s. might be interesting to remove the muddy layer on top (say the first 25mm) and repeat the test.

I'm monkeying with this geometry (below). How do I judge how much the metal roof should overhang the fascia so rainwater slooshes down and goes into the gutter rather than shoots over the top of the gutter (i.e. something like the dotted blue line)?

Maybe this is to drain the water away which runs to the bottom of the gabion. Any manufacturer's perf drainage pipe will do.

@Post and beam - how do you know it fails SUDS and what is your SUDS requirement? I ask because (1) our LPA doesn't seem to care about SUDS and (b) does it drain now (i.e. does surface water hang around for a long time) - if it does, then it's probably not a problem. We did this FYI: + made the levels at the bottom of the stone slope (and therefore drain) towards the ditch at the front of our property. + use MOT 3 rather than MOT 1. This drains fine even during the rainy winter. Various people told me that MOT 3 wouldn't be solid enough and that wagons would cut it all up. We didn't make the greatest job of vibrating this down (I didn't fully understand the vibrate control on the roller we rented). But it works great, 60T crane & dozens of trucks later - no problem.

I feel for you. I spent ages searching for a replacement toilet for my mum's place which had the pan connector at the right level.

>>> PoE cabling has been added to the 4th amendment I guess there's no limits on NICEIC / NAPIT - they'll want to control / make money from setting up your wifi next.