SimonD

You highlight the biggest problem with combi boilers - and long runs from the combi. I always ask my customers who are considering a combi whether their use of water involves frequent small draw offs and in those cases, it's always more efficient to have a cylinder, or some kind of small hot water storage. Some combis with preheat help, but not by much.

Do we need a pronoun signature, I wonder? If we did, mine would definitely be 'it' 😉 I'll go back to my cave so as not to cause further offense.

This is a ridiculous idea, don't even go down that route. It's never as simple as people think to 'just' run a new gas pipe and then re-plumb the system for the 2 boilers.

I've used the Heat Engineer calculator once for a new installation and don't recall there being any input for connections, but that was about a year ago now. I'm not a fan of the software - I did all my calculations for the system and then after a couple of weeks it all disappeared from my account with no records available. Won't be using it again as I also didn't receive any reply from one of my support messages which was actually about why my payment wasn't going through when i was trying to set up a subscription! I prefer my own spreadsheet which not only has a rough calculation section for strawman design which is surprisingly accurate, but I have complete control of every input I want and can really play around with it as I wish.

Gas pipes need to be buried to at least 450mm under a driveway with light vehicular traffic. If you can't reach that depth then you need mechanical protection, like a concrete slab at least 100mm above the pipe. If you've got heavy vehicles, then you may need more depth, like 600mm. The pipework should be bedded in sand.

The multiplication factors for rad outputs and connections are: TBSE 1.00 TBOE 1.05 BOE 0.96 You're fine with TBSE

It depends on where you are and who you choose. We're not a million miles away but we are caught by the Bath premium (i.e. a license for all trades and professionals to bump their prices up anywhere between 20% and 300% or more depending on how much money they think you've got, which is always loads if you live in a particular group of post codes, not to mention a Georgian townhouse). All our architect fee proposals came in at about £8k to £11k to take us to design and planning, not including building regs/construction drawings or SE design. But this was way before Covid, so no idea where the fees might have got to since then. The only percentage fee we got was for a ridiculous 7% of build cost all in full services throughout but specified number of site visits. Best thing to do is get a few in to submit proposals for your project.

I'll ask her about it when I see her in a couple of weeks and see what she says. From talking to her before, it's getting the pigments right that is challenging, but she' been making her own paints for years so has learned that dark art well.

And if you can, get double dipped. Single dipped has a matter finish and double a slightly shinier finish and worth the few extra pennies. I also suspect that the stainless is 304 rather than 316, which is usually recommnded for exterior applications: https://www.thyssenkrupp-materials.co.uk/the-difference-between-stainless-steel-304-and-316.html

I really like clay plaster https://clay-works.com/gallery_category/residential/ I haven't got to use it in this project after finding out how much it costs and then having to use one of their approved plasterers. My mum made her own plaster and also pigmented it herself for her renovation project and it looks amazing - I don't have the time to even contemplate this though. So....I've gone for a half way house. Gypsum plaster finished with clay paint.

My wife has decided she doesn't like the finish of wood wool boards. Our plasterer hasn't plastered or come across wood wool boards before. Heraklith says in its website that the boards can be plastered, but I can't find out more details. I'm not inclined to go down the route of lime like so many others as their process is like a full thin coat render with mesh etc. Has anyone here plastered wood wool boards and know the process using standard gypsum? Is it maybe easiest to overboard with 9mm plasterboard and skim?

Thanks, that's my worry. If they used the same acrylic adhesive as airthightness tape, it would be fine. OSB as that's performing the vcl and airtightness duties. That's a good call. I used just 25mm service void on the 1st floor. I used Thermafleece cosywool for the whole timber framed section - couldn't get a blown cellulose quote for our curved roof when I tried, they'd just price for the walls. It is all wrapped in breather membrane externally with edges taped, so maybe I don't have to worry about it too much.

While plasterboard this weekend I've just found a load of problems with my first fix electrical installation, including that despite telling the electricians not to nail through my osb vcl/airtightness layer, that's exactly what they done when they've felt like it and in places I couldn't immediately see, turning some parts into a sieve. Can anyone recommend some self-adhesive clips I could use on the osb? I need some that can wrap around anything from one 1mm2 cable to up to 6 cables in some places. Also, are there some better clips than the hammer in ones that I so hate, perhaps that are fixed and then wrap around the cable? Silly little questions I know but I suspect I could spend hours searching the web otherwise! Many thanks!

I'm just passed pre-plaster stage and yes, some of the stuff is from early on in the build, even though I provided all the stuff requested by combined BCO and Warranty Inspector. One of the issues was foundations. They tried to claim that there was too much water in the trenches and pads before the pour and therefore this would invalidate the structural warranty. I had an argument about this with them and they finally backed down, but it took a couple of months. Then they claimed loads of stuff was still outstanding and despite me forwarding on an email from the bco/inspector that everything was resolved and okay, Protek won't accept it - I still haven't had an answer from them what they need as who else can resolve the issues than the BCO? The BCO also told me their experience was also that the unknown underwriters have a regular habit of asking for silly petty stuff and unecessary details, including a ridiculous number of photos and documentation. I'v basically told them I'm not prepared to discuss anything further with them directly and that any outstanding items will be dealt with together with the BCO at final sign off stage, then they email me to say that was their decision too 🤷‍♀️ I frankly sometimes wonder why I bothered....

Protec has become worse. A total PIA to deal with and asking for ridiculous details photos and lots of other nonsense - the 'underwriter' arbitrarily adding new requirements as they go along that are incorrect too and won't communicate properly. Our BCO also said their company had stopped working for Protec because of this and will only work with Buildzone now. Just my humble opinion being one of their customers.

I'd go 38 x 89 at 600c/c and use 11mm OSB with a sole plate especially if you carry across. Change door no. 1 to inward opening so there is no risk of someone going into or coming out of to other loo getting smacked by outward opening door. Question for the BH masses - do any toilet doors open outwards?

No, you're not. Dealing with this problem I think is where zoning in some way is the necessary approach. Single zone weather compensated installations won't cope well with this because the sensor is on the north wall and there is no further internal feedback loop requesting more or less heat to the space, or a particular part of the space. I personally think this is where one or several internal thermostats could be used that provide combine load/weather compensation and also adjust heat distribution. Your simplest option is to add thermostatic radiator valves to the warm rooms, or add zone valves that are thermostatically controlled. However, following one installation I recently accidentally found that using self-balancing lockshield valves can adjust the heat output of individual radiators in this way, but I haven't done enough testing to know how reliable this is during a heating season. I have to question why you would look at adding technology to solve a problem with another technology's design and installation when you could simply modify it to work properly in a pretty efficient way to begin with. Look at your heating system first.

Yes 18mm plywood is fine. And Class 3 is what you need - that just stands for exterior grade nowadays. No other preparation needed but I would try to avoid the really cheap Far Eastern hardwood plywood as it can have losts of voids.

Don't go OSB with your standing seam roof deck. Use ply as a mimimum. 18mm thick is fine. VM Zinc have an approved warm roof buildup. https://www.vmzinc.com/en-gb/structural-roof Detailing for the vapour barrier is critical which is why the preferred method for standing seam roofs is ventilated.

You should be fine then. I have a cheap 25 liter Stanley compressor I bought over 20 years ago and it's still going strong. You don't need lots of flow capacity, just variable pressure - but even then you can buy cheap units that connect to the air line to adjust pressure at the tool if necessary. You can buy air nailers for just about anything. From 1st fix framing nailers that fire up to 90mm nails, to 2nd fix brad nailers, to staplers and metal connector nailers for joist hangers etc.

I personally wouldn't buy a used gun for what they cost new. I'm just different in my choice of nailer in that all of mine are compressor run - massively more reliable and easy to repair compared to the gas cartridge and electric, and for the most part they're more powerful & lighter too. An air nailer will run all day and in almost all temperatures. I've dropped and damaged mine several times, sometimes off scaffolding, and I just call the supplier and have the spares delivered next morning. The inconvenience with an air nailer is the air line and that you'd have to buy a compressor. But price comparison there's not much in it. A Paslode battery framing nailer will cost you around 6-700 which is about the same as a professional air framing nailer with compressor, but Tacwise sell some very good value air nailers.

I used Spanish at our last renovation - reclaimed a lot of the original Welsh slates but over a 1/3rd of the roof area needed replacement. The Spanish stuff worked great.

Is that all? You're a productivity machine, man! 😊

Where did you get those long spindles? I want some of those for our staircase too 😊

I think it depends on your budget and overall context of rental market. We already owned a 6 berth touring caravan to which I added a 4 season awning and thanks to Covid, we ended up living in it for 3 years! It's doable and saved us an absolute fortune as local rents are ridiculous around us. We all survived fine.