SimonD

I do wonder about that. My sister said the same thing, but the electrician dissappearing is mostly what's confounding me as I even did him a full day's work trenching as a favour when he was let down by a ground worker he'd employed.

No definitely none of that. I'm mostly running around doing my own stuff and out to work myself. I just leave them to it! Never clock watch just allow the progress to happen as it happens too and trust them to do what needs to be done.

So, after building most of the house entirely myself, I finally succumbed to getting some trades in to help finish things off. Main items were a chippie and electrician. I agreed start dates and scope of work with chippie, ordered all the interior doors and then the day before he was going to start he asked if he could reschedule for the following week. I said okay and then the follwing week he texted in sick and I haven't heard from him since. Next the sparky. He was coming in a day or two per week. Has done 1st fix downstairs ring main, kitchen and a few other things. Now needs to to ring for upstairs and then lighting circuits. I've paid him promptly and just let him get to doing the work. Now I haven'r heard from him in a few weeks and he hasn't returned my calls. I don't treat my customers in this way and am totally bemused. Am I doing something wrong and if so what could that be? I'm now starting to wonder if I need to do the electics myself and pay building control for sign off.....☹️

What often gets overlooked is the alternative and even more maligned approach: proper regulation. If the regulatory framework had been constructed and governed properly this crisis may well have been averted. It's not dissimilar to the financial meltdown and is only the beginning I fear as so many other companies are massively leveraged, many of which are inflation linked too.

Beautiful location. Strange as it may seem, take a look at Falu Red - an original paint from the copper mines in Falun Sweden. In several regions, it's the only colour you're allowed to use in rural settings and it strangely blends in very well. It also protect the timber in harsh conditions but lets it breathe. With Falu red you can use softwood. We've used locally grown Cedar for our current house due to planning (it's silvering very nicely) but I would definitely build a timber frame house finished board on board with Falu red one day - reminds me of my second home and upbringing. Here's a gallery: https://falurodfarg.com/inspiration/bildgalleri/

From the sounds of it,the builder isn't particularly interested, so @mjsx could mention to the builder on Monday morning that he has some misgivings, tell/show the builder and in the same breath say he's going to callGas Safe to get some advice on the matter. Then see what happens. Not really, from a Gas Safety regulations perspective it is very definitely the responsibility of the installer. But it is ALSO the responsibility of the builder managing the project. If the flue, for example, is found to be Immediately Dangerous, the builder could also be prosecuted by the HSE. Yup, me too. At the end of the day, the installer simply should not have left the flue, or permitted the flue to be left in that way, then self-certified the installation and permitted the use of the boiler by the customer.

If the op calls and tells them that the installer has installed the flue through an airbrick and left a great big hole round the flue, plus the 2m odd length of flue extension is hanging off a zip tie rather than any flue brackets, it will trigger an inspection at the very least. Gas Safe will get hold of the installer and tell him to meet them at the property where they will go through the installation. They will also, in all likelihood, ask him to go demonstrate the commissioning process step by step whle asking him questions about what he's doing and why. They might then also want to visit a number of his other installations. If the installation shows that products of combustion are coming into the property from the flue then in all likelihood, he will be RIDDOR'd and then he gets into a very stick mess. I know someone who was RIDDOR'd following a customer being admitted into hospital about 8months after a new boiler installation for alleged carbon monoxide poisoning. Investigations were very thorough and he was found not to be at fault - it was the gas hob installation - but he was asked to modify a couple of parts of his installation. You can report questionable gas work online here: https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/gas-safety/concerns-reporting-illegal-gas-work/report-gas-work-concerns/ or email them,or call them. FFS, actually, a room sealed boiler is one where WHOLE combustion system is sealed from the room. But here's the definition from the Gas Safe (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998: "room-sealed appliance” means an appliance whose combustion system is sealed from the room in which the appliance is located and which obtains air for combustion from a ventilated uninhabited space within the premises or directly from the open air outside the premises and which vents the products of combustion directly to open air outside the premises" Therefore if the flue isn't sealed correctly, including through the wall, it is no longer room sealed. I am gas safe registered btw.....

My view is that you should just get on the phone with Gas Safe and do it now - you have a very legitimate question about your flue which is potentially dangerous and must be investigated. Neither I nor @Nickfromwales are overstating this risk and how it is viewed as a safety issue in the gas regulations. Your lethal or otherwise categorised as Immediately Dangerous situations are where there is risk of products of combustion getting into an enclosed space with a person, or a gas leak. If your installer has been happy to charge you for that standard of work and then self-certify the work, he really shouldn't be continuing in business without further supervision and training, or maybe not at all. Even a Gas Safe trainee will be able to spot the faults with that installation, and they're only the obvious ones in the photo. I dread to think what else might be found lurking around. For your own peace of mind, I wouldn't use the boiler until Gas Safe has seen it. But if you must, make sure you install a carbonmonoxide alarm and install it correctly in the space, which I see is another thing missing. CO alarms should be installed with every new gas boiler installation.

Same here. I've even just renewed with them for another year. What stage are you at? And I wonder, are you in Scotland?

No, it's not. For a temperature and pressure relief valve it needs to be a specific high temperature pump arrangement. Like this: https://theintergasshop.co.uk/hot-water-cylinders/959-pump-house-high-temperature-prv-pump-for-unvented-cylinder-discharge-ph-5l-hw.html And yes, you need a tundish plus there are other issues with the pipework generally complying with requirements. It's supposed to be a room sealed boiler for a reason - what you've got doesn't even come close. Flue should be correctly sealed up. I also doesn't look like the correct bracketing has been installed for the flue extension but a cable tie? See Gas Safe technical bulletin on the topic here: https://registeredgasengineer.co.uk/technical/technical-bulletin-152/ I don't install Viessman boilers but the general requirement is copper 1st meter from boiler. A quick call to Viessman would confirm. Boiler efficiency is determined by the boiler AND installed controls which means that new boilers need to be installed with a range of control. If there is no thermostatic control/weather compensation, then it's unlikely it complies with building regulations. Here's Veissman's article on the subject: https://www.viessmann.co.uk/en/heating-advice/boilers/what-is-boiler-interlock.html Personally, I'd ask the installer to come back and rectify everything, or you can explain that you'll give Gas Safe a call and ask them what they think of it. I'm guessing you've checked his Gas Safe registration?

Are you dealing with a structural warranty provider at all? If you are just wait and see what happens then. I've got structural sign off in an email from bco and the warranty company are telling me that 'all received [outstanding documents] and all ok' is not clear enough that bco is happy with it and so their underwriter wants more info. ffs! My rule is always follow up any conversation with an email and never ever delete any email at all! Take (expletive deleted) load of pictures of everything too and make sure you receive confirmation emails.

I moved in and went from self-build insurance to a home insurance cover using Towergate - I went through where we were at explaining all remaining works etc. with their underwriter. A few hundred quid more a year than normal buildings and contents insurance.

You can never have enough diagonal bracing 😁

I would just use some cls off cuts to make a stand - it's only 100kg.You could use the existing truss supports as one side. Then ideally a marine ply top (most plumbers just use WBP or equivalent mind you). You're not going to benefit massively with head height unless you decide to squeeze it right up at the top of the roof space.

I listened to a solar entrepreneur in an interview the other day. He said that governments are just too slow so as a business they're just getting on with it without them. He's involved in a load of projects around the world including large scale projects in Africa.

I think this is the thinking, even if it is a disastrous one - it fails to consider the material impact of over-sizing power generation to such an extent, which is likely to cost us all dearly in the long run.

The problem is that this might not resolve the issue. If these peeps have deemed the problem to be "insufficient gas," (which actually isn't particularly meaningful) it may just be down to a supply pressure problem rather than a gas flow problem. In this case, if they still see too low pressure at the meter test point, they could still 'fail' it - e.g. a 24kW boiler still needs 19-23mbar at the meter same as a 32kW one. This is really why gas rate together with inlet and operating pressure should be taken and used as part of the overall risk assessment. And they need to make sure they're referring to the Manufacter's specifications as to what the boiler needs at its inlet.

Cadent holds a lot of statutory power to enter property where it deems it necessary - but only with good reason. So it firstly depends on how the problem has been classified, if at all. Did you, or do you expect to, receive a warning notice from either Cadent or your installer? This will tell you what you need to know in terms of rights to rectify the problem. If it is deemed to be merely "At Risk" there is more flexibility as some At Risk installations can just be left as they are accompanied with just a warning notice, others need intervention. If it is deemed "Immediately Dangerous," then your boiler/installation would need to be capped off by your installer and rectified before going back on and is the kind of situation where Cadent can take action it deems necessary. If they haven't turned off your boiler and told you not to use it, nor isolated the gas supply, I'd just wait for someone from Cadent to get in touch and have an adult conversation with them. I'm sure they'll do their own risk assessment too. Unfortunately, the training in this area is not set up to encourage independent thinking but instead a fairly rigid binary mentality which some in the industry don't seem to be able to shake even after real world experience.

This sounds like a load of buck passing going on. We need figures here. What was the inlet pressure at the boiler? What was the operating pressure at the meter? Technically, if the inlet pressure was too low, your installer should not have commisioned the boiler and should have raised the gas pressure issue at the time of commissioning. So in essence the view that his work was fine but the supply pressure is faulty doesn't entirely hold water if it means the boiler isn't getting sufficient gas. I recently completed an install where the manufacturer had to attend due to an incorrect jet having been put in the boiler during manufacture. The inlet tests following repair showed a low gas pressure but one above the manufacturer's minimum - no problem at all. I've even had low pressure during a Gas Safe inspection (not my installation) but as it was above MI minimum the inspector said not a problem there too. The key determinant is whether the boiler is receiving the minimum pressure allowed by the Manufacturer. If it is, then everything should be fine. Gas pressure across the whole system varies, as does supply pressure depending on network demand. This means that you can't necessarily rely on a single test on a single day to determine whether the supply pressure is okay or not. Most manufacturer's will permit a very low inlet pressure for a small period of time for this very reason. The other issue with pressure loss across a gas system is that the design figures are theoretical - you can design the pipework for a 1mbar drop but in reality it could be measured as almost zero, in some cases it could be 3mbar or so for instance. From the perspective of the network provider, it needs to supply minimum of 19mbar but there can be a loss of up to 4mbar across the meter. This scenario obviously doesn't match the theoretical numbers and figures often bandied about - but it is uncommon. Unforunately you're at the mercy of a collection of people who don't seem able to figure their way through these rather simple steps in a pragmatic way. Or maybe something is missing in the data provided?

Most of these routers will have a 1/4" collet in the box - I think this one does, as well as a 6mm collet.

As @markc says 🙂

Thanks for the post, you reminded me I needed a new palm router! I've just gone and bought the Triton 880W Trimmer Router which basically does 2 jobs in one -might be worth a look for you? I have a big Erbauer router and a bigger Triton. The erbauer is cheap, chunky and absolutely does the job. The bigger Triton is much nicer to use but more expensive. The Triton trimer router is relatively cheap IMHO.

My home site is also a mess and it's depressing, but I can't somehow get a handle on it - same as you ever since covid/brexit/materials supply issues have caused some materials to pile up while wiating for others. Sometimes I think it's because of the scale of doing a whole house as a one man band and that there ar constant family pressures hanging over me. Meanwhile... somehow, while my self build is a mess, I seem to be able to tidy up everything everyday and as I go at my customer's sites, but on sites where I've worked with other trades, I'm constantly having to move their (expletive deleted) crap out of the way! On one site, I'd asked them and the customer to clear a whole load of space so that I could drill a few cores and run pipework through and area ready for next day. They cleared it all out for me and when I arrived the next morning, the builder had stacked all his sh1te in the very space he'd cleared out for me and left site for the day, plus all I did was move materials, tools and mess out of the way for the entire 5 days I was there!!!!

Gotta love the look of his workshop!

Isn't it just. It's one of those few things in life where you can't just jump off when it gets too much, you've just got to continue taking one step after another, hopefully getting you in the right direction eventually. And yes, you're absolutely right about standards, and the risk of paralysis by perfectionism. My only question has to be; why do so many in the trades set their own bar so low? Doesn't that just add to the misery of what they do (or don't do). I just wonder how they derive satisfaction from delivering below par standards of both workmanship and customer care?