Roundtuit

My quotes were supply-only, based on the sizes in the plans for the timber frame. Before ordering, I re-measured on site to check that a) the frame was to plan, and b) the brickies had made the openings in the outer skin match the timber frame. I was confident that the measurements were correct (- they were), but I'll admit to a few sleepless nights. As often, it just comes down to what level of risk versus reward you're comfortable with, but as @pocster said, you need to be sure there are no 'unknown unknowns'.

Interesting. When I bought my windows 2 years ago from Rationel through an agent, they came in at £11k less than my next best quote, for an arguably better product. I was told at the time that they were so competitive as they'd opened a new manufacturing facility and needed to put some volume through it. Don't know if it was true, but I do think there is an element of being in the right place at the right time when it comes to buying windows.

Induction hob. It's the future!

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but my understanding is that commissioning should be done on 'boost' settings, so that might influence the size of the system, and noise levels during normal operation should be much reduced.

Viridian Solar are worth a look. We've got a 4kw Clearline Fusion system; can't comment on the finer points of performance, but it looks good and I only had to run the ashp about half a dozen times for dhw between June and September last year!

From memory, about half of the (large single) garage walls were hollow panels of approx 1inch timber batons with 3mm asbestos cement boards fixed both sides. The rest of the garage was timber and rusty corrugated metal. It all went in a day, for about £600 plus vat I think, via two blokes, a chainsaw, sledgehammer and crowbar. And I swear, they were proper demolition contractors and licensed waste carriers!

As above, potentially you can diy it, but disposal is a pain. To be on the safe side, I decided to get licensed professionals in to take down an old garage at our last place that had some sort of cement board walls. The guys who turned up to take it down were fully equipped with shorts, t-shirts and sunglasses as PPE....

We had to get permission from the local internal drainage board, but no EA involvement.

Ah; maybe not an alternative you want to consider then! I used Howdens Burford contemporary primed mdf skirting (99p/m) and architrave (79p/m), and would probably do the same again even if the budget was more flexible. Doors look great; I spent the saving on beer! ?

I didn't see it mentioned, but are you using oak architrave, or painted? If it's painted, forget the oak door linings and paint softwood to match; it will visually 'frame' your quality doors better, and you'll never give it a second thought once they're in.

Looks great! I look forward to seeing it all come together!

I looked at rainwater harvesting; financially it didn't stack up (particularly as we're off mains sewage, so no sewerage charge). The environmental aspect is interesting though, but on the basis that Anglian Water can recycle water on an industrial scale far more efficiently than I can, I'm happy to contribute by buying it. A couple of thousand litres of rainwater might let you water the garden for a while during a hosepipe ban though...

Great work; looks fantastic!

Agreed, hence my question about whether there are trickle vents in the windows. If there is, that may explain some heat loss, but more significantly, it will give an indication on whether the builder has got a grip on the principles of an energy efficent build. FWIW, my build (270 sq m) is well insulated, fairly airtight (approx 1) and triple glazed, with UFH downstairs and rads up. No heating upstairs would have been a bad mistake. Downstairs sits comfortably at 21-22C at the moment with maybe 4-6 hours a day of UFH from the ASHP, and I can get the open plan living room/kitchen/diner up to about 25-26C with a couple of hours of the wood burner running (4.5kw output), but even with double doors open into a full height hallway, not enough heat would reach the bedrooms.

Sorry to hear you're still having problems, but if all the heat is going upstairs, wouldn't the upstairs be warm? Something feels wrong somehow; you seem to be putting a fair bit of heat into the house, but not hanging on to it like you should in a well insulated house. Are you able to share any details on insulation specs or air tightness strategy? Do your windows have trickle vents perhaps?

Wasn't your starting spec insulated plasterboard fixed to galvanised steel battens? Not sure how that can fit within a 60mm build-up? Perhaps you have a little more space to work with than you think?

The only downside I can think of is the challenge of fixing the pir internally. 100mm isn't a huge amount of insulation, but even that might be a pain in the ar$e to fix, assuming you fix with battens for plasterboard. By the time you've done all the additional fixing and battening, surely timber frame would be worth considering as an option (we've got 120mm in the frame, and an additional 40mm internally).

I left them full length when fitting, and just made sure I taped any airtightness membrane above what would be plasterboard level. The plasterers boarded and plastered round them, and I cut off the excess with a multitool when the plaster was dry, leaving them flush with the ceiling. Simples!

How about air tightness? If you're a bit leaky, it negates the insulation. Might be worth a check round for draughts. I assume mvhr will be feeding cool air into your bedrooms; might be worth checking it's not 'over performing' in terms of air flow. The supply air temperature is going to be whatever the outdoor temperature is, tempered by whatever heat can be recovered from the exhaust air, so if its cold inside, it can't do much tempering...

It's future proofed for putting a shower in at a later date, and the shower will go where a light switch would (unless I put a switch on the hinged side of the door...). TBH, now I've tried it, even if I had space for a switch I'd still go PIR sensor.

I fitted a pir sensor in the WC as I don't like pull cords, and I didn't have wall space for a switch outside. It works well, and in retrospect I might have put a couple more in other places. My mother-in-law did suffer a 'lights out' moment once, but to be fair, she had exceeded the allocated dwell time! ?

Assuming the boundary hedges are definitely yours, there is no statuatory protection in place (TPO etc) and no planning conditions to retain them, then I don't think there is anything to stop you doing a spot of gardening with a chainsaw. Are you cutting them back hard to get them back in good order, or grubbing out altogether?

Yep, another vote for osmo polyx oil. We used Matt on stairs and doors with rub down with a very fine sanding pad between coats; looks great and has finished dead smooth.

We've got an Apollo Gem; the sensor cable can be extended up to 100m with something like cat 5. I thought we might need to do that as our incoming meter is in a box on the boundary, but the sensor is fine on the tails into the consumer unit in the house. Installation diagrams/user manual is downloadable from their website https://www.apollosolarelectric.co.uk . Not sure it matters where your pv inverter is?

Should be fine with a ceiling fix as long as the glass spec is ok. That will look the dogs danglies!