Barney12

Yes. That's by design so that in the unlikely event that anything got past the upper DPC the lower one can drain. Its below the floor level so isn't likely to be the culprit.

+1 on plastic conduit and metal clad sockets. The plastic stuff is pretty robust.

Thanks guys. The upper DPC is drained with weep vents (you can just see them in the picture). The lower DPC will drain through open perps which when backfilled will be covered with clean gravel but its only a second line of defence as the second DPC is just above. I've been inspecting the cavities as we've gone up and they're very clean. Brick layer is pretty meticulous. @JSHarris the rain would be more like "bucket full's" than a hosepipe so I think my money is still on ingress through one of the windows/doors. What to folk think about the siliconing of the timber closer before rendering?

OK, so yesterday it rained, oh and boy did it rain. Torrential, sideways and relentless. The South and West elevations face open moor, close to 2000ft above sea level. We really can do rain. The blockworker (who's living on-site) and comes from Nottingham said "I've never seen anything like it, we don't get rain like that at home!!!" I wasn't on site all day as I was dying from man flu (have I mentioned that before?). So I head to site today to find damp in one corner. Now this corner was getting damp before the blockwork. But I thought "ah its just ingress into the frame, once the blockworks up that'll stop". Hah! Famous last words. Some observations: As best as I can tell its not coming from above. Although I guess that is possible but is tracking down the inside of the frame but you would think the hundreds of kg's of warmcell would act like a great big sponge in that scenario? The third pic below is the floor upstairs which is dry. It doesn't seem to originate from a door/window. But the bottom corner of the one right of the photo is a possible culprit. I know from past experience that water often follows what seems like an illogical route. If it is then its the seal or its getting past the air tight tape (which surely means its not that airtight!). We have two DPC's. One at ground level installed by MBC under the sole plate and one higher up (above the first line of those common rows you can see in the picture below. The higher is tucked under the external membrane and stapled. Thoughts: Time to add a bead of silicone between the timber cavity closer and the frame. Before the render starts? Another bead of silicone between the blockwork and the cavity closer? Get the hosepipe out and do some water testing? Anyone else got any purls of wisdom?

Just a second voice on this issue. I can look at the roof we've tiled and point out every slate that I'm not quite happy with, the dormer I clad I can spot the two bits of timber that don't quite match. Everyone else looks at them and says "wow, that looks great" !!

I don't know anything about Fermacell but dot and dab adhesive dries pretty darn hard? Something like: http://www.wickes.co.uk/Knauf-Gypsum-Based-Plasterboard-Adhesive-25kg/p/141933

Thats a real shame, clearly talented.

I love those oak(?) face units. The grain pattern even matches across the island. V.smart! Was it a custom build?

Sorry, was a bit dark. I've got full blown man flu and thus I'm even more grumpy than normal!! My wife is doing a stirling job in reminding me that sympathy is between shit and syphilis in the dictionary!

Ive done a few properties over the years (actually I've never bought a habitable house!), mainly refirbs but also a barn conversion and an almost complete rebuild (we left a couple of walls standing!). All have been 'traditional' in construction which I personally have found much simpler to control as the speed is slower. I dont think i'll build another passive slab and timber frame. The experience has been far from enjoyable. I'm going to be elated when these issues are finally resolved. I can then get on with what I enjoy most with is the internal elements of a build, I guess it's where I'm most comfortable. Actually im not sure I'll ever do a project of this scale and complexity again. Oh and definitely not on a National Park. Oh and I'm looking for bats in anything I ever buy again. So much as a dropping and I'm walking away

Our initial slab work was subcontracted to someone (called Matt) who then subcontracted it (from what I could gather). To be frank the initial guy onsite (with his son) didn't seem to have any experience and did little to fill me with confidence, in fact his attitude was very poor. Brendan and his crew did arrive later on in the work as they were falling behind. But, as seems to be the case with Brendan (and Darren) they would arrive one day and be gone the next as they juggled multiple jobs. In fairness (although still MBC's error) our problems were compounded by the timber frame designer (again a subcontracted element not an employee of MBC) getting the frame detail wrong and the initial slab crew cocking up the recesses that the window/door frames were designed to fit in. There was much remediation with a grinder and bolster chisel !!! As ive already said though MBC have been very helpful in putting things right. I just hope that we get the floor we want

Yes, ours was power floated.

Check and triple check your FFL whilst they are installing. Unfortunately for us the Internorm fitters were able to clearly demonstrate the slab and in some instances frame was out of square. From that point forward they were rather "not our problem guv". Our first floor slopes a good 20mm, enough to be noticeable when you walk on it. MBC are having to screed that too. We've also got a lot of packing to do to get heads level etc. Our dormer walls are out of square by 25mm across 3m. When cladding externally I had to double batten by the time I got to the other end so that it was square. The internal battens have also been packed to get it square. As I've said before I do rate MBC highly and they have been very receptive to problems. However, you can be fooled into thinking they produce a perfect product if you read this forum and the old eBuild. For the inexperienced that's a dangerous trap and in some ways actually is to their disadvantage as peoples expectations are too high. Building is an imperfect science and the key guys at MBC are so stretched that they appear to be increasing reliance on sub-contract trades. Growing pains are the peril of many a company!

The big double doors between the lounge and the kitchen/dinner will remain open almost all of the time so the idea was this was all on the same level with no threshold to create feeling of space. I haven't checked the levels of all three but will tomorrow.

Tis up. Ta for reviewing

OK, so here's a floor plan: We have a split level slab which I've denoted with a dotted line. The higher section (right) concerns me less. I've marked the height difference points by the silder. At this point the slab is roughly 18mm as required. It then drops to c35mm at the other end. I've noted your comment about needing to see if all the door thresholds are at the same height. I'll try and do that tomorrow.

Sorry only just seen this earlier reply. I'll post something up shortly.

OK, thanks. I'll use the internal door threshold and the external door thresholds as my datum markers. Ill see if I can sketch up a plan.

OK, so I know my slab isn't level, you only need your eyes to see that. As an example; on the large sliding door I've got 20mm difference from one end to another (over 4m). I've got 5 sets of doors with level thresholds. Huge amounts of pre-planning detail was put into ensuring the doors would sit correctly into the slab so that the slab floor was 18mm below the FFL to allow for the tiling that is running through the entire house. I was lucky enough to be lent one of these: https://www.powertoolsuk.co.uk/bosch-gsl2set-floor-surface-lasers.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuZPQ3tiI1gIV6rDtCh3uSwV-EAQYAyABEgJ3z_D_BwE so in a spare hour yesterday (whilst nursing my severe man flu, sympathy please) thought I'd have a look at "how the land lies" (quite literally! ). Its an incredible peice of kit, very clever. But alas all it did was make by brain hurt . The floor levels run all over the place and I'm failing to see how a tiler is ever going to create the beautifully flat level access around the house which was so important to us. But im no pro tiler and so perhaps I'm just worrying too much (as we all know a self builders biggest affliction). So what now? MBC have offered to come back and level the slab but from the measurements I've taken where they will level one door they'll throw the levels out elesewhere. I was was wanting to use the laser above to gauge out the various level changes so that I got what I wanted (I'm not entirely convinced MBC have got the skill set to put this right). But with so many conflicting levels I just got myself lost. So so some specific questions: 1. How do you choose a rooms datum point. I assume it's normally the highest point and work out from there. Or do you just go with the middle of the room? 2. Can a pro tiler (like our resident @Nickfromwales) "loose" these level changes? Presumably by feathering out across as big a distance as possible? 3. Is it sometimes better just to grind off an area of high spot? Presumably there are tools for the job that are designed to do this and get into corners? (Without trashing my expensive frames!). Many thanks in advance.

Thats interesting. When I asked Sunamp if using as a heat source for UFH they said that it wasn't recommended? Perhaps though that's jus the case for the 'standard' units.

Funnily enough I let one of the labourers have my last bag of scrap wire and copper. His face lit up like a Christmas tree. He proceeded to phone me from the scrappies to say it had bagged him £ 40.00. He was over the moon

Surely the plumber could have soldered those two 90's and one straight too? Hardly much of a chore?

There has been loads of talk about the various low profile LED downlights. All have small transformers which presumably give off some heat. Can anyone tell me what the practical minimum height these things need to allow airflow?

+1 for boots. Ankle protection is a must in my opinion.

So, I had my 5th visit from the local authority building inspector yesterday. 1. Foundation/Radon barrier 2. DPC 3. Frame erected. 4. Block work DPC 5. Block work cavity inspection The meeting was a few minutes and went like this: Me: "Would you like to inspect the cavities?" BI: "I can if you like but if you're happy then that's fine" BI has a wander around inside and out making various comments about it looking well built. Me: "So when do you want to visit next?" BI: "Give us a call when it's finished. You know what you're doing." I then run through the various bits of paper he'll need for the completion cert. Me: "Do you want the water consumption calc" BI: "Have you done one?" Me: "No. But I can put something on a peice of paper" BI "Well if you like. I doubt we'll ask for it. Entirely pointless" Meeting ends!