Alan Ambrose

On this subject again - anyone used these things instead of wire mesh? Although I've used stainless mesh before for this task, it was a significant faff. And you're putting it everywhere the cladding has an edge - top, bottom, around windows & doors etc?

Yeah, if you assume there will be all sorts of contractors, tradesmen, authorities, planners, neighbours etc actively trying to delay / stop / trip you up etc then it’s just business as usual. Self build seems to me to often (a) require the exercise of sheer bloody mindedness on the part of the self-builder and/or (b) being prepared to play a bit part in a Beckett / Brecht play. Sometimes this is just hilarious. We just received a letter from the local environment geezers, courtesy our delightful neighbour, touting ‘light pollution’ ‘cos we forgot to turn the site lights off inside the building one evening a couple of months ago. Guffaw and carry on…

Congrats, now for a good rest 😀.

Presumably your foundations, slab and drainage would stay intact.

>>> Thank you. I'm buzzing! Check that you’re not accidentally plugged into an outlet 😀.

>>> Was told by last 2 BCO’s to “fill it full of water” Then you time it and take pics of your phone for stop / start times. We did today and everything was good:) I still wouldn’t mind a decent testing kit for UFH etc.

Ah, as Dunc says there are some calcs - by and large they ignore the roof materials and sometimes the location/rainfall characteristics. Don't know how I missed those...thanks guys. e.g.

Yeah, used that for some 110mm drainage, but strikes me it won't really detect v. slow weeps? Does leak detection dye have any use? Also kit, for say pressure testing UFH or Hep20 pipe?

I see that even the janky £200 Rotherburger pump doesn't get great reviews. And the Bailey bungs and manometer I wouldn't give to a 5-year old. What do peeps really use and recommend? My pressing need is for testing some solvent welded 50mm MuPVC. It won't have any real pressure in it, of course, so just for leaks.

Yeah, my experience has been unfortunate in that the two pre-apps I have been involved in gave results at odds with the later planning application. You might be luckier, but some LPAs treat it as non-serious and non-binding work for the junior planners. +1 for getting a quick heads-up from a consultant.

We did above and below - XPS is much better than EPS but still absorbs water a bit and thus loses it’s value as thermal insulation.

@MortarThePoint - can I ask (as I'll hit this subject soon) what you plan to soften and what you don't?

Neighbours are often confused about when the planning process starts and stops. I know mine are - they're still bitching about everything even though permission was granted 18 months ago. As long as you build to the approved plans, the discussion is over when the permission is granted.

BC won't care a bit about them and no need to tape the ends. At some point you'll want to terminate them and plug them into a big hub/switch. But until then, yeah maybe some fire stopping implications for the penetrations(s).

OK reporting back: after trying out lots of options, we cut the angle with a Proxxon Thermocut 650 and a home made jig. It lacks a bit of oomph and was fairly slow, but the flipside was that it didn't burn or smell much. We made the straight-through cuts with a big-assed circ saw - not crazily messy. You can get bigger hotwire cutters than the Proxxon and specifically for insulation, but we wanted to specifically cut 200mm deep. p.s. the wire is very thin and breaks quite easily. Although it comes with 30m of wire on a little spool, you might want some extra.

Yeah, OK I've learnt that while some windows suppliers are keen to claim they 'offer the open/close contact option' - when you ask them 'great, so where should I place my cable ducts then' they go all 'errr, nobody here knows, I'll have to check with the supplier'. So, my advice is to start this conversation v early.

I find this guy a bit dull, but e.g. (below) - he talks a bit about the export & inverter limits and how this varies with DNO and system etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvpl9pvg8zk >>> Where have you heard DNOs are interested in panel capacity?? Good point - I was extrapolating this from typical mppt clipping limits and no of mppts per inverter. e.g. Sig single phase hybrid has 2 mppts and max voltage & current limits giving roughly 46% PV panel over-capacity / clipping limit (depending on size of inverter). So, a limit on inverter size seems to result in an effective limit on the number of panels. A subsidiary question - what significance does the installer nomination have on the DMO application? i.e. can you use one installer to do the DNO application and another later to do the later installation. i.e. is the Spirit Energy offer a way of blocking in installs?

I’ve heard that some DNOs also want to restrict the size of your array / inverter output etc.

@nod >>> I use Venetian polished plasters Clayworks etc Without wanting to disrupt the thread, I would love to hear more about that finish. Do we need to search for a specialist who knows the material? Are there useful differences between the various options? Would you be willing to start another thread to give us all a basic primer?

I’m tempted to use Spirit Energy’s £150 DNO application. We are going ‘max-PV’ to try and get self-sufficient power into the shoulder seasons. Is there a sense that you need to tread lightly with the DNO and finesse your application to get closest to what you want - or just go for it and see what they say? Our DNO is UKPN, we have single phase supply, and we want oodles of panels to support shoulder seasons use. House is PH-like but not particularly low energy because of the geometry.

Maybe it’s worth re-visiting potential guardrail designs? You have one round the rest of the terrace, would one using the same aesthetics not blend in well? Maybe an hour or two of SE time to ensure the fixings work and satisfy BC? You might need that anyway for the rest of the rail.

In a word, ‘no’.. does the fence not do the same job, anyway?

Yeah, we’re just starting the basement part of our build. This is ‘not easy’ (basements are quite unusual in the UK remember) unless you’re very comfortable with risk and/or have deep pockets. Most UK suppliers won’t want to guarantee water-tightness, the odd European supplier might, but my experience is that they are v difficult to deal with. As others have said, without some kind of sketch - to give an idea of size & shape & ground levels, we’re fairly much in the dark, so can’t say much.

@FarmerN - very useful thanks - there's a Huws Gray that says it has a 'brick centre' 20 mins away. Lovely.

This is from a local church and is the look I want for the brick plinth around our black Suffolk-barn look-alike. Some of these will be under nominal ground level. Any leads on how I might find bricks with similar mixed colours? Any specific recommendations?