mike2016

My last Rationel quote was 0.88 U value, looks like they've improved since. My 0.8 U value on my current house came from Palladio - made in Limerick, Ireland. I got a quote from NorDan this week and they list U value of 0.8 too. It's harder to get better but I've two more quotes due in. I'm sure Internorm are great but I've found them expensive.

I'm going for U value 0.8 outside doors - pricing is bundled so don't have separated costs. Got 2 x Composite ones in 2020 for €4850 for my old house. They have similar U values although it wasn't a requirement for that project. Very solid & warm!

Suppliers will always do it for less if it meets the specification / performance values. Advances in spacers, coatings and glass have help keep triple glazed as the best balance of cost/performance. Some double glazed units aren't half bad in some cases too (modern ones). I'm getting a few Velux windows and they are quad glazed but all my others are all triple glazed to meet the PHPP U value requirements. Even finding some triple glazed with low U values can be harder where the area / ratio of frame to glazing is large (1m x 0.275m for example has a U value of .99 and .5m x .1m has .8 from one particular supplier). There are several performance metrics Ug, g, Uw, Uf all measured in the passive house specs to give an overall value. Very detailed!!

If it's a Mr. Cool pre charged system and you can comfortably run the condensate drain and electrics to the unit then it might be two hours. A mate did one for a converted garage he lives in. But installers are assuming they'll need an electrician and possibly a plumber in addition to their services, travel, call out charge and any other physical obstacles that might delay them and require returning to site to fix any issues. And insurance, pension etc. Lots of overheads for even a small job for a single A2A unit. I always start out thinking a DIY job is simple but am regularly surprised by how much detail and effort it actually takes!

I think the vents should face down as they otherwise would clog up with dust. You can purchase a humidity measuring device and move it around the different rooms to get an idea where it's highest vs time of day. I use a small sensorpush and just download logs to the app on my phone every few weeks. You can always open the windows for an hour after you get up if that's possible to purge the bedroom. Any drying of clothes indoors is going to increase moisture / humidity levels, I wonder which way the natural airflow is inside the house? You should remove all the vent covers in each room and check it's open to the outside, sometimes they are blocked / fake / barely working. A dehumidifier would be worth researching - check this video out:

Rented a few for my patio & driveway. Mostly went with same unit, had it delivered and picked up. Fixed handle so wouldn't fit in my car. They did have a smaller one with collapsible handle but it was too light I thought. I did rent a heavier diesel one once. All the ones I've talked about are pull start. The Diesel one was horrendous. Was shown how to start it but after the guy left spent 30 minutes trying and pulling my shoulder every time the pull cord pulled back, gave up and returned it!! So get one you can handle comfortably. There are roller ones but these are overkill unless it's a long driveway. My preferred one was a 18"/24" petrol compactor. Have a drive around to your local hire place and get a look at the models. Weekend rates, especially over a bank holiday might be very economical if you're ready to use it. (Rent for a Saturday, then ring in @ 4pm saying you're finished and the fee stops apparently, pick up Monday) Pavingexpert.com has some more info on types / weights: https://www.pavingexpert.com/subbase See "how much compaction" for a good read...

That's the problem alright - especially smaller players. Great while they exist, crap when they exit / change terms.

Can't get the damn thing off the wall. I'd break it trying - the power shorted so it rebooted, don't want to lose it yet. There was an ordinary analog clock timer there before. I'll have a chat with them as they haven't responded to any of my emails but if there's a cheap replacement out there let me know. It's an Irish developed device which took advantage of grants but not enough to cover their operating costs after 4 years now they've dried up. Oh well, time to switch or pay.....

I have a Hub Controller for my central heating (gas boiler) which is a locally developed system. It has a local LCD control screen and an app. They are moving to a paid subscription at the end of the year and only offer subscribe or return options. I can turn on and off the heating from the LCD but not change the schedule. It's a single zone for al heating/hot water. I assume I'll lose app access in 2023 if I don't pay. What are the alternative options (no subscription) if I want to rip this out and retain local control, even if I lose app options on my phone? Any recommendations? Thanks!

PIR is a lot cheaper too - I'm just wondering about the pipework under the slab though? I have a fixed ridge height (in a line of existing houses) and min room heights to meet so driving down is fine but doesn't that mean you have to go deeper with the drainage pipeworks under the MOT? I've to connect to the start of a drain run so it's at its highest at the back of my garden - there are two shores there. Or can you still dig down but keep the drainage at the required level to meet the fall required? Thanks.

Hi, What is this in relation to my heating system? I've a gas boiler but wondered where the air vents out if needed. There is one in the boiler, you have the radiator bleed vents but then what is this used for? Thanks!

I can go for thicker insulation, just not mad about PIR in the floor although both my sheds use it extensively! I must be an insulation snob! Surprised of supply issues as I thought we were past that point. Aerogel is too expensive and I won't miss an extra 10-20mm in the floors and walls to be honest!

PHPP for a smaller passive house requires much lower U values than normal, one of the oddities of that approach. It's a simple box shape but size vs occupants is a challenge. There's an article about it below: https://passivehouseplus.ie/magazine/insight/the-small-passive-house-problem-a-solution

I've been repricing the floor insulation for my strip foundation - 2 x 140mm Kingspan K103 kooltherm phenolic insulation (u value 0.19) to get a floor U value of 0.07. The supplier told me they have none and to use K3 PIR instead (u 0.21), they also have a Mannok PIR product that's a lot cheaper. Kingspan confirmed they have no supply of the K103 anymore in ROI, this may or may not change in the future. The supplier heard it's only available in the UK for now. It is mad expensive though so maybe this is a good thing? I've not been a great fan of PIR, especially when it gets wet but I'd need to increase the depth to keep the same floor U value. Are there any other options with low u value for a floor? At least I plan for the house to be air / water tight when I lay it down so it shouldn't get wet. I'm also talking to Kore to determine the extra depth beyond the standard 300mm of EPS for a raft foundation but the local rep hasn't been enthusiastic to say the least about my enquiry! My preferred groundworks contractor isn't mad about rafts either. How much do you push uphill before giving up and just getting on with something?! Finding good contractor is hard enough, getting one that builds your preferred way is a lot harder! The walls & Roof are 220mm climawool & 50mm kooltherm for the wall buildup u 0.1. Preferred Builder doesn't do cellulose / twin stud, wish MBC was over here!! At the end of the day as long as I can get the house built and it meets the U values I'm after, it will all be covered up and I won't care how it was built at the end of the day. If it was easy everyone would be doing it!!

Well, found a THIRD pipe behind the first one and cut it open as I was sure it was empty like the others...wrong!! Found a black cable, 3cm diameter. Rang Electricity Board Emergency line and they sent someone out who I'd hoped would confirm it's not electrical. Nope, it IS electrical, a three phase supply for the estate! Now, this wasn't live, it's off the bus bar but was put in for exactly one reason, if someone like me wanted to build a house at the end of the estate! There is a mains Box a few doors down and all the houses are fed directly from this box in a hedge beside the street. This spur was just in case a new house popped up! So lesson learnt, expect surprises! The Board will look at what action to take to protect the cable before construction starts (re lay it deeper with tape over it or place a steel plate over the pipe) but at least I don't have to go digging to find the wire now! It's on my doorstep!

The cycle lane is fine for most bikes but scary when a bus passes by. There is a 50km/hr speed limit but it's more regularly 60-80 in reality. e-Scooters tend to use the footpath, joggers the cycle lane and anyone who wants to undertake, the bus lane. The big problem is a 3.5T limit was raised to 12.5T with school kids crossing from one side of the town to the other across the length of the road, makes it very scary, seen near misses but thankfully no impacts...yet! A wider cycle lane would be nicer but that's one of the few in the entire town!

Well, borescope revealed the pipes were empty of all other cables and no water, just cobwebs/debris. Rodded each end and the top pipe is 5 meters long, the bottom is 4.2. I suspect now the builder dumped them there and then concreted over the driveway when the estate was being built. The end house tends to get all the crap dumped in the gardens from what I'm told. Might still run a borescope down down one end of the shorter pipe but plan to sever/cut these at the boundary now so I'm free to dig them up on my new site side later. Should I plug an end cap into them or leave? I am pouring k-post so don't want that wasting into the pipes - so might need a strategy to allow me to move forward and secure the last concrete post into this hole.

Mine detect grid failure and switch off to protect line workers making repairs. I have an essential load function on the DC coupled battery but it's not hooked up - that WOULD work in that scenario. Without a battery you would need a changeover switch to allow the inverter to work without bring grid tied (if it supports this, some don't) and then either a generator or battery to carry the load an ensure minimum line voltage / current maintained when the panels get shade / clouds / voltage drops to avoid damaging your electrical appliances and maintain frequency. Harmonizing frequency and start up load and otehr issues need bigger brains than mine! So, it's possible but on their own - best you could hope for is to charge something, not run something without more kit.

The fence is front to back - acting as a side boundary down the middle of what was the old driveway (it's changed since this pic was taken, sold the drone!). Thanks though - there is a wayleave for the sewer/wastewater shores at the back of the property which was good to discover.

Sure - best I can do with my drone...!! They could be heading off to the main road to the right, carrying old telephone/co-ax cable from years gone by.....

Yep, no sound with the Stethoscope - a builder who dropped by said he thinks there might be a cable inside it - might be in use, or maybe not. I'll have to ring around the get a few views to see what this might be. One pipe might be rubbish but two together is definitely something, or was at some point!! Thanks.

Thanks - sounds thin walled / hollow when I tap it. Local utility think it's water too. Good idea about the Stethoscope. Have logged a case to get the mapping updated. Just hope its not looping around the estate as then it could bisect my planned foundation dig and be too shallow to deal with! Might have to prep part of the new driveway in advance with some reinforcement. Be interesting to see where this ends up. In Ireland we have a Irish Water & the local Council and they are playing football with this so far! Great fun!!

Hi was out digging a hole for a concrete fence post, setting the new boundary so I can go on to building on my site next year. I uncovered 2 x 4 inch black pipes stacked on top of each other about a meter away from the fire hydrant (heading that general direction). Judging from the thin sounding pipe wall and talking to the water utility they appear to be the water mains into the estate, and not marked on any service map! That would be ok except they are only 20cm below the surface. I'm worried about construction traffic cracking them. I could put a few steel plates over the area once I did another trial hole to map it out. For the driveway I'm wondering if I'll need some type of concrete reinforcement over that section to ensure they are properly protected later on? If anyone has had to deal with this let me know - curious what issues I should be aware of to avoid massive unexpected costs....Thanks!

Wow - that solar array - the house is something like out of grand deigns and the journey is certainly impressive to read! Well Done!

I've been looking forward to getting to a point where I can park my car in my driveway again, and finishing my July Post with a part 2 here to mark a finish to my Driveway project finally! Took a bit longer than the two weeks I was hoping!! I just finished adding up the damage and it was @ €7.2k all in all. I think the length of time increased the costs as there were days where I couldn't get to use the compactor and I had to get it back a few times to progress the project on. Some notes observations below: The big Diesel Compactors are heavy duty brutes but also take a specialist skill to start. They are all draw cord and they pulled the arms off me for 25 minutes before I gave up. I was shown how to start it but had to return it to my embarrassment and downgrade! Drainage took a lot longer than I imagined, plumbing in the drain channels was very difficult - I replaced both gully traps and one was encased in concrete by the original builder! Just getting the right couplings and things to fit took me a while to figure out. SDS comes in different sizes, SDS Max chisel bit wouldn't fix my SDS drill so ended up buying an SDS Max drill off Screwfix! I now own 3 angle grinders, started with none! A Screwfix one that won't let me change the grinder to anything else, then a 5" DeWalt, then a 9" Makita. I prefer the cut using this to the block cutter but the dust is gruesome! Grab Hire worked out well, took away 2 x 20 ton loads to clear the site and was able to drop two loads of MoT 804 exactly where I needed them. All moved by hand / wheelbarrow at that stage, was very difficult to find anyone hiring a skid steer for one day. Lots more sand and cement than I thought, all mixed with a wheelbarrow! Using a digger is scary when it starts tipping to the side due to doing something stupid! Two injuries: #1 drilling concrete screw into wall for new side gate, it got stuck and the SDS drill spun violently out of my hand, 6 weeks sprained finger didn't help! #2 seagull poo'd above and dropped inside my goggles, put them on and got acid splash into my eye. Now store goggles between jobs closed to the sky! Broadband issue is fixed - tree roots crushed the pipe on my neighbours property, stump was still there for years. I tried to find the pipe to create a new junction to my new house hear the boundary but only ended up finding the gas pipe by accident with the digger, just the tape over the pipe, where it shouldn't be - should be out on the road according to the gas map. Went to the other end near my old house and finger traced the pipe to a point near the new boundary and created a shore there. Thankfully after two years complaining a crew came recently out to remove said stump, run new draw cord and I'll have no issue getting broadband into my new house now, 1 less worry So I've to finish the very front and put up two more concrete posts and panels. I've to grout using Rompox jointing compound and see how long that takes. Hopefully it will keep the weeds away! But at least I can relax a little bit and use the driveway again. Would I go it again?! Well, I learned valuable lessons, to pace myself, what I can do when I put my mind to it, very useful for my self build next year. My body is certainly feeling the pressure and I'm glad I'm in my 50's and not my 60's!! I overestimated how much work was involved but learnt a lot in the process, not just specifics but about groundworks and hiring plant and grab hire which was new to me. I did get a digger & driver for a day and could see how they made short work of things compared to my efforts so picking and choosing where to spend money best is a wise course of action! Full costings below if interested! I Kept all my receipts for idle curiosity! All inclusive of VAT. Best of luck to anyone out there thinking of doing same! My Driveway area is 75m2. 7265.52 Total 1984.38 Tobermore Paving 210 Paving Block Cutter (€400-sale afterwards) 200 Recessed Manhole Covers 32.69 Spade 690.78 Sand, Easypost, Cement,Gravel 100 Diesel Compactor - unable to start, returned! 32.66 32mm plastic waste pipe as screen level 300 Compactor Rental 39.92 Donegal Quartz stone 89.95 Dewalt Angle Grinder 102.57 Sand/Cement/Gully 44.95 More Gullys 35.47 Lubricant / Sealant 147.08 Donegal Quartz stone & gravel 24.48 Plastering Sand 76.65 Sewer Gullys 11.32 Sewer Pipes 19.56 Sewer Pipes 19.19 Concrete Screws 200 Hire Compactor 500 Hire Digger 19.58 Plastering Sand 86.35 Manhole Cover 292.15 Plant Rental 69.65 Cement mix & misc 45 post and line levels 93 replacement wheel for wheelbarrow & cement 17.7 side gate lock and hook 5.99 petrol can 284.55 rompox jointing compound 12.45 tape 257.31 sds max drill 82.04 kpost 7.15 coupler 38.8 drain caps 15.95 sds max drill 37.25 bits and sockets 38.95 draper cold chisel 700 Grab Hire - removal of concrete/topsoil 300 Delivery of MoT 804