SimonD

I'm not so sure. I had a good look round the WISE building at CAT on a visit a good few years ago. Lots of cracks/gaps visible at various intersections at the time. I'd be curious to see how it performs now for airtightness.

Love the story, but as someone who now works in the trade as a result of my own self-build experience, I would not accept that from a customer and would not go back. For me, trust works both ways and that means a customer that pays for the labour and materials when it's due without holding anything back just in case. Cash flow is just so important for any business let alone a small one and I know from experience that any delay in payment can cost me in terms of charges with my suppliers and credit lines especially when 60% of my invoice is for products and materials. For this reason however, I don't separate labour/materials but charge for the job in one sum. For me, if you're planning on retaining something post completion of work, then that needs to be agreed upfront with the tradesperson so it doesn't come as a surprise to them. If you want to build trust, then by all means ask them to complete some smaller pieces of work on a day rate as part of that process. But with all that being said, I still have no clue about how to actually manage trades I'm paying for as they're all just a law unto themselves and I keep on getting let down too!!!

Or even better make the wall buildup hygroscopic and vapour permeable. I personally think there is still a lot left to learn regarding building physics and moisture movement in modern building practise, especially regarding hygroscopicity at its role in effective moisture buffering.

It's very unlikely to be a blocked overflow then, but as you've now got plumber booked, you can leave it to him!

Have you drained it at all since the leak as the water level is below the overflow?

I'm with @SteamyTea on this. Try to get a fan. I've got a secure metal garage I bought over 20 years ago to store motorbikes. Even with vent holes you get a lot of condensation internally simply as a consequence of the shed material and rapid temperature/humidity changes during the winter - sometimes I've gone into mine and thought the roof has been leaking only to see a lot of water droplets on the ceiling. There are a number of solar powered exhaust fans out there that you could use to help solve the problem, but it probably won't completely solve the issue of condensation on the metal.

Soon not. Our electrician had just wired this up on his recommendation. I hadn't even thought of it before he provided his advice.

Our electrician put in a socket for our dishwasher under the sink.

Honeywell's (now Resideo) replacement alternative is the T4 which is available wired or wireless. The T6 is a good piece of kit with smart control through app etc.but its limitation is that it has to be plugged in.

Our new electrician has recommended Varilight for all our led switches. They do sell toggle switches but ours will all be dimmer. I don't have direct experience yet, obviously.

I'm like @ProDave. No way would I use an app, must be desktop. I tried a similar solution last year that had an 'office' extension for desktop. The quote system was terrible as although it had a good database of products it was incomplete and out of date - the prices were nothing like I could get through my merchants. When I contacted their support about it they couldn't tell me why other than the system may not have the latest prices update yet..... Also, I quote a total job price, never for individual products, and my merchants have an online quote system that guarantees the price for 30 days. The other issue is merchant terms and prices, which are not available on a generic search. My quotes are all put together in my accounting software too as it makes life much easier for accounting and invoicing purposes. So for me it's merchant online quotes based on my merchant account terms & prices, excel for additional calculations and accouting software for final quote. With that all being said, the products are never the issue when it comes to quoting. It's calculating time and risk for each job and also covering contingencies in terms of both labour and materials/products. It's covering your arse on all of these things too!

I've come across a similar install in an old house where I replaced the boiler. The direct cylinder was built in under the stairs during a previous renovation with no access to remove and replace the cylinder without taking out the stairs! The solution was to install a plate heat exchanger external to the direct cylinder with a hot water/potable water circulator pump and then plumb the gas boiler flow and return through the heat exchanger. Then just wired up the pump to run when cylinder called for heat. Not ideal but when needs must an alternative solution.

As @ProDave suggests, post a picture of the wiring centre with the cover off sowe can see the wiring. It's also worth checking the thermostats wired to the troublesome actuators to ensure they're not sending a live signal to the actuator when they shouldn't.

I think you should tell them that you don't consider the problem to have been resolved if it is the same as before. However, you say that the problem has gradually returned? But from your description there seem to be some other issues going on: 1. System pressure - have you previously lost pressure in the system and have you had to top it up before? 2. Is it a problem with hot water at all outlets? If so, turn one of the most problematic outlets on and then go look at the boiler and check the water temperature shown on the display. Does it rise quickly to about 80C followed by the boiler switching off and then on again when the temperature goes back down?

Stainless steel nails with oak is a must. You can get good quality 34 degree full head stainless steel nails from nailers.co.uk (Alpha Pneumatic Supplies). But also check your nail gun settings. Your other alternative is to use lost head stainless steel screws like these: https://www.tite-fix.co.uk/products/tongue-tite-plus/

You could try Cedar Direct https://www.cedardirect.co.uk/ I've used them and they were very good. Ask for British cedar and price will be a lot less than Canadian. The British is more knotty. They'll machine to the size you want too, but lengths can sometimes be random (although with my order they were all the same).

What brand of lockshield valves do you have? Some of them are total sh!te when it comes to adjustability. However, given the nature of hydronic systems, sometimes you find curious behaviour with valves at certain settings too.

.A properly sized combi will not provide unwanted bursts of cold water, nor will a properly sized unvented cylinder, but an unvented cylinder will run out of hot water and need re-heating whereas a combi won't. But a combi also has its drawbacks, especially if it has to provide simultaneous hot water to multiple outlets. First you need to sit down and figure out your hot water usage and patterns. For example, do you use lots of short bursts of hot water or do you tend to draw large amounts of hot water at a time, like for baths and showers? Also, what are your usage patterns in terms of timing for the main bathroom and the ensuite. Then you need to check your mains water flow rate and pressure (both static and dynamic). Together, this information will provide you with a more sound basis for your decision making because it will guide you in the direction of the best solution for you and the best solution might be worth the price of storage. But it's difficult to say without more information. Regarding specific products likened to storage combis, Alpha Innovation provide a boiler that has storage and pre-heat for DHW here: https://www.alpha-innovation.co.uk/products/FlowSmart/FlowSmart/1836534677 which is slightly different to a normal storage combi. Storage combis are great if you draw lots of small amounts of hot water as it reduces dhw cycling but some non-storage combis have a pre heat function that can be useful for this, so as i say figure out your usage needs first.

Go back to your supplier and buy some self-balancing trvs packs with lockshield valves. You then use an app to set the valve to the correct flow and off you go. Balancing using just the lockshields can be a painful endeavour, depending on the brand of lockshield. Lots of videos on YouTube as always which will help you. Oh, and for fitting both your trvs and lockshields I'd recommend you buy to Loctite 55 thread sealing cord - easier and quicker to get a good seal compared to using ptfe tape.

If you do replace all your trvs I'd recommend seriously considering self balancing replacements. They're a dream to get the system balanced and working properly.

24.5kWh for half an hour with a 30kW combi boiler does seem rather wrong. Best way to check is by taking readings directly from your gas meter. Then calculate actual readings. BTW what heating controls have been installed? For a 2 bed semi, the heating output of this boiler is minmum about 6kW which is probable double your actual heat requirement on a mildish autumn day.

Sarking is the best and the preferred option as specified by the Federation of Traditional Metal Roofing Contractors. For several reasons including better pull out resistance for the fixings. Plywood is acceptable and tends to be 'preferred' by the installers as it's cheaper and quicker to install and is certainly an acceptable solution. With some it's even okay to use osb.... so in order of best to worst: 1. sarking 2.plywood 3. osb (but don't use osb if you need high pull out resistance for screws or alternatively you need to reduce fixing spacing around both the perimeter and rest of roof area - this needs to be calculated).

There's a few on Abe Books but all seemingly to be shipped from the US here's one: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31377729374&searchurl=kn%3Djohn%2Bkrigger%26sortby%3D17&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title2

I scanned the articles rather than listened. It seems we repeat this same circle every so often with someone from the architectural world making the same complaint. Once upon a time it was Prince Charles complaining about the Southbank and city planning me thinks. I totally agree that a lot of what is being built is horrible, especially the monoculture estates being thrown up merely to maximise the profits of large developers while screwing the customers. I'm sure that being an architect designing these things must be soul destroying. Shame it's often missed that simple and efficient can also be highly aesthetic, but can also be more difficult to design as it's about more subtle relationship and proportion rather than a grand statement.

+1 - fit your lovely staircase as late as possible. In the US they often build a construction staircase that then gets covered with proper treads and risers etc. but don't seem to see that too often here. I built my construction staircases using plywood for stringers, osb offcuts for the risers and reclaimed timber for the treads. Cheap as chips. It has also been useful as we've been able to real world test the stair angle and riser/tread relationship to decide on a different angle slope for the proper staircase I'll be making shortly.