Barney12

Just thought I would post in case anyone wasn't aware and wanted to wear some shoe leather http://www.ukconstructionweek.com/

We have a Coram screen in our current bathroom. I fitted it 2+ years ago and its been fine. We bought it direct via their eBay store IIRC. The first one was "bounced" by the delivery company and they replaced it without question and told me to put the other one in the skip!

Thats sounds fantastic. Looking forward to more pictures

cyanoacrylate won't bond aluminium with any notable strength. The one I installed by our door is trimmed with aluminium profile but with the flat on the floor so it could be screwed down. Thus the only visible edge is the 1-2mm of the aluminium and just creates a neat edge.

Not a chance! And as the average home buyer won't even have a clue what air tightness is or means then they never will! The regs don't need it and the customer doesn't know they want it! It just ain't going to happen and whilst demand for housing outstrips supply you are simply not going to see any change in regulations to make it happen.

I've always held this view. I've seen a lot of new builds post completion and a good deal of them suffer severe shrinking. Primarily down to the shear speed they put them up nothing gets time to dry properly.

Looking good! Look forward to seeing the final result.

Yep, that's my experience too. It just doesn't work

P.S. No idea why also but that first link causes my AntiVrius to kick in:

I've found this issue when posted eBay links to this forum too. It seems you have to paste the URL in full from the address bar. NO idea why! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUPER-SILENT-SUITECASE-GENSET-Kraft-SKT-2000W-Petrol-Inverter-Generator-/221468721602?hash=item33909081c2:g:lCUAAOxycmBS9mqx http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/25w-x-2-50w-Solar-Panel-10A-12V-24V-battery-charger-controller-12m-cable-/262337006061?hash=item3d148109ed:g:9dUAAOSwbsBXll58

We have an interesting challenge with this subject as our house design is split over two levels. with 600mm difference in the two. Despite asking I still have no idea how the passive slab will be formed. I guess their structural engineers will decide! I'm just hoping we don't end up with the need for strip foundations and dwarf walls as well as the slab. Add to this we also need to create a retaining wall as the plot is on a slope. Here's a rough layout: Blue (1m perimeter) Green: level 1 Red: level 2 (600mm lower)

+1 on the Crosswater fittings. They are what we fitted in all of the bathrooms in our barn conversion. Really good quality and still going strong 10+ years later. IIRC ours came from Bathstore at the time who discounted heavily to win the order. No idea if they still stock them.

I need to get one of those for work! Where do you keep her in the office?

I have a feeling @Nickfromwales likes the exposed shots

Thinking about this more..... what f you were to use something like Fermacell on the stairs instead of plasterboard, bring it down over the stringer as you've suggested? It's much much tougher than standard plasterboard and would take the knocks? Rather than a shadow gap you could add (say) a 5mm seal made out of some sort of compressible foam. Kinda like compreband? It would take some careful detailing but might work?

From what I've read (and it's a subject that really makes my brain hurt!) your chosen path is the best option. Along that is with keeping the temp at an optimum for the COP.

I assume that plan is purely for asthetics? Ill be honest and say I'm not entirely sure you'll come up with a good solution. A shadow gap is really the way to go for such detailing and you've discounted that. Have you considered not having a stringer at all and instead go for one of the modern cantilevered designs? They do look very smart.

It's obviously not a valid comparison but certainly the quote received from MBC (just the frame element of the quote) for our new house were nearly double that of a standard timber frame. Where their costs are justified is the all encompassing passive standard for the slab, walls and roof. You are paying for the peace of mind of a single contractor delivering a specified specification. As @Sensus has said (and I said previously but didn't articulate any where near as well!) you just won't gain so many of the benefits that such a system gives. However, I completely sympathise that finding a reliable firm that you can trust to rip the top of your home off is a big decision!

Good work. Looking forward to following.

Im guessing not ill resist my temptation to post a link to a couple of stem vases so they could become flower holders

That sounds like a good solution. Funnily enough I was only looking last night to see if I could get our MVHR in the warm roof section of our house. Because we have some vaulted areas its quite small but is much more central than the proposed plant room which is in the East corner.

If you want something free then you can't go far wrong with Sketchup. It's a bit of an initial learning curve but once you've grasped the basics it's very intuitive. There is a huge resource of training guides online. YouTube being the first stop. In the past I've also used Cheif Architect which is a bit American centric but the DIY versions are easy enough to use. HTH

I'm certain I read somewhere that a student did a PHD on pregnancy rates and hot tubs. From memory there was a very clear correlation showing increases in pregnancy and hot tub ownership. flesh + heat = frisky = promiscuous = babies. thus in conclusion........when it comes to self build; hot tubs and Kevin McLoud are best avoided unless you want a partner up the duff

So are you saying that if you don't want to comply precisely with building regulations you can simply tell your inspector "no i'm not doing that" ???

Right more good advise guys. So, Rev.3. The question is does the above meet (with the incredibly vague!) Part M regs as shown here. I've currently drawn internal walls at 150mm thickness so I guess there is a little wriggle room there. @ProDave I had already consider your "lightly fixed" door idea until the day after completion cert issued . Cupboard size cant really get much smaller to be useful as a cloak store.