mike2016

What about trying a humidity triggered fan in the bathroom? Something more automatic as people are probably not opening windows etc when taking showers / drying clothes indoors? A dehumidifier on a smart plug / set to a timer to run if you can get one that has a condensate drain?

Foam egg shells on the back of the door? Has it been cleaned recently? Try moving blankets to dampen sound or more radically a noise cancelling system (can't find any off the shelf though only ones like Quiet Bubble - Silentium). Bulk up door / draught strips as suggested. Reduce fan speed / prevent boosting but that reduces effectiveness.

I use Ubiquiti for network/PoE/wifi and Hikvision for CCTV. The 24 port Ubiquiti PoE switch died on me a few weeks after putting it behind a UPS recently but I got a refund under warranty (2 years) as they don't stock an equivalent model any more. Planning on trying Aruba next but found the Ubiquiti cloud key / two factor auth and associated information it provides very interesting. Didn't use Protect with Ubiquiti. No experience with the others mentioned.

It's normally 1.5m - 2m on a horizontal plane. That's so wind blowing one particular direction won't foul the intake. Vertically you've sited the intel below the exhaust which is good. You can get a combined terminal worst case so you're already ahead of the game there with 1m separation! There are some other threads worth reading on this topic on this site - see below:

Some CT clamps go on the meter tail, others can go on the consumer unit side - I had an OWL when it was free then switched to an Eco-Eye realtime monitor - has an LCD unit you can view and an SD card for data logging, after the purchase cost there was no monthly fee (no cloud service but you can setup a service to export to for a small fee on your own). The eco-eye used tails in the consumer unit, handy enough. There are other options, just depends where the tail goes and any monthly charge some of them have if you're ok with that! If you find an undocumented bomb shelter & lodger under the house using that 200w do let us know?!!

You could buy an energy monitor to track usage over time and analyze spikes, day vs night and usage in 5 minute segments via a CT clamp on your mains supply. There are some that can identify specific loads allowing you to tag them to bring unknown ones to the fore, although they aren't always accurate. One approach would be to power everything down, unplug everything, turn off fuse to ASHP, and see what the background load is and start looking out for that 200w load. Unless it only kicks in at particular times of the day at least you can rule out a lot. It's like the phantom load in a car, the lightbulb in the boot was always on when the boot was closed, some old houses kept a light bulb in the attic on to add a bit of heat for the water tank or link in a thermostat with a heater. There are probably many more wierder examples. My friend lives in a semi and the neighbour has a plug that draws off his CU ! You can get plug in energy meters (go into 3 pin plug, appliance got into that) but that's only useful for more accurately gauging particular outlet usage and raising awareness in the family of what leaving a TV on standby can drain, some are much worse than others. Could add data to your search though and a good starting point. There are systems you can add to your consumer unit to measure each circuit but once you can measure the whole house load and everything is turned off, you can then flip the breaker/fuse of each circuit to narrow down which one the 200w is coming from, a socket or light circuit etc. If it's that visible. Then it's elementary dear Watson! Happy Hunting!

I'll have to see if I can get hold of those title deeds - assume they are with the bank, good idea to check.....I think the hedge was put in not long after the build - it's perpendicular to the neighbours house, but not in line with the official land registry info which has than angle. Thanks.

It only influences the front driveway so that would need to shift a bit but then not align with the planning drawings. The build won't be affected but it's how best to square the circle with / without the neighbour.

I have planning permission but just noticed that the front boundary in the drawings does not match the land registry drawings which narrow towards the front of the site. There is a hedge that aligns to the planning drawings that has been there for 20 years or more. The question is do I proceed and build or talk it through with the neighbour? I don't know if changing / amending the planning drawings invalidates planning permission? I'd rather talk than go for adverse possession or leave it to a future owner to sort out, or if my neighbour sells spot it then. Any advice?

I'll refine it when I edit the drawing. Probably a bit off but was just to give me an idea what it looked like. If another Architect can take over a project and make changes to the drawings I assume I can. I do see a lot of legalese with the civil engineers quote around protected use of their drawings / material so I'll have to check into this - Thanks. Lots of strangeness with Irish planning law - "local needs", "passive surveillance" etc!! They want me to over look an anti social hub when I don't want to. They won't be the ones paying the bills for vandalism either or being woken up at night - great system, eh?!

I have to add additional window(s) to discharge a planning condition before I can issue a commencement notice as follows: "Revised plans indicating windows in the east side elevation facing XXXX Road. " I was thinking I could just put a side window in the upstairs bedroom but they say "windows" in their comments. The reason they give is for "passive surveillance". The Architect is taking their sweet time getting back to me so I plan to edit the plans myself and submit, I'm not going passive but had hoped to keep as close as possible. I'm giving them until next week to respond. This is plan B here to figure out the windows myself. Here is what I was thinking: Window #1: The rear living room/kitchen is open plan w/vaulted ceiling. I could add a high level window in there like I have on the west elevation? The planners can't complain about not being able to look out of it as the boundary wall is 8 feet high so any window here can't be seen out of. This window will however be visible from the road and will be nice for sunrises in the morning. Window #2: Then there is the upstairs bedroom at the front right of the house. I could do another high level window above the bed but it will be unlikely I'll ever look out of it, be nice for sunrise but the planners might object. A standard window like the 1st floor west ensuite window closer to the front of the building and to the right side of the bed as you face it might work. I plan to use this room as an office so with a desk at the bottom right corner of that room, it does provide some visibility although I'd have vertical blinds there for privacy. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Not sure - would get a quote from a few companies and see what it costs. Expect to have to do the same with mine in a few years. At least it's an infrequent expense and you need to factor that into the cost to re-commission. If you get a new MVHR they might offer that as part of the package?

Is it an airtight house? When was it built? I'd buy some moisture/humidity sensors and measure levels through the winter. You could have moisture build up and monitoring this will be key to keeping a healthy house - kitchen, showers, drying clothes, dryer, sleeping areas where we breath out a lot of moisture all need to move somewhere, outside preferably! Did they close/block/remove the passive air ducts through the walls or are there just trickle window vents? The MEV will depend on how it draws air in. You could end up pulling air in unforseen ways which can lead to new issues. Plus you're drawing in cold air, no heat recovery. Great in winter!! I put a positive air pressure unit into the loft and the frost protection melted the frost on the inside of the roof felt in the attic and caused a LOT of attic moisture on me last year - put in an upstairs MVHR instead for 3K. If you can get the metal ducts cleaned so they can be reused, then a replacement MVHR might be an option but baseline your house now with a sensor or two like Sensorpush & gateway from Amazon or something like that. You can get a blower door test to measure ait tightness but that and a new MVHR will lead to more cost so if that's not your immediate goal, open windows in the summer sounds fine but it's the rest of the time you need to watch out and plan for...... Looks like someone was thinking well ahead of their time....!

So took 'ol WD40 lubricant with PTFE to the mechanism and it's easier to use but still not as easy as I would like. There are springs inside the handle on either side of the door so that means to open the door you have 3 springs to work against, rather than just one. (Handle,mortice,Handle) Is it possible to disable these or do you have to replace the whole handle/mounting on either side of the door with an exact match? That would just leave the mortice spring which would be much easier on my Mum. Thanks.

WD40 has that lubricant w/ptfe I was going to pick up or I've also got 3in1 spray oil also to try.....

Thanks everyone! They are curved handles but very stiff to operate. Will take one apart and try WD40 and see what play that provides.

Hi - my Mum mentioned that all her interior door handles are very hard to turn. I can see what she means, she has arthritis so this is a problem for her daily. Is there any way to loosen the mechanism / spring behind the handle or does it require replacing something? If so are the door lock sets a standard size or not? Or is it just a case of trying 3 in 1 first? Thanks.

Thanks all - it's driven by cashflow - paying as I go vs getting a bank to loan me money to do it faster. Talked to self build insurance provider so they won't cover over 24 months so the longer term cash build isn't a runner as far as I can see. Had a massive problem with a major bank so was looking at other options. Also can't get a civil engineer but timber frame provider will let me use theirs but only if I use them! Swings and roundabouts....anyway, appreciate all the feedback and insights. Thanks.

I'm thinking of building a house in stages over 9 years. I watched Graven Hill grand designs a while back and remember the first house had its foundation destroyed by frost when the underfloor heating pipes expanded. I don't know were they filled and being pressure tested or if this was just by cold air? My question is this: is it possible to build an insulated raft foundation and leave it for two years with underfloor heating pipework throughout before adding the timber frame structure (also uninsulated for another year)? Or is it better to wait longer so you can sequence both in the same season? Is there any way to protect the new foundation without the structure or is this too risky? Thanks!

Hi, Tried taking a photo, hard to get angle as that's from the back of the garden and not keen on heading up the ladder for a close up.

I had 2 of these installed a few weeks ago. MVHR retrofit. 2 x Glidevale G5 Universal Tile Vent Black picture here: https://www.glidevale.com/versa-tile-g5-ventilatorterminal/p/31 Also 2 of these: 2 x Glidevale Pipe Adaptor 150mm to suit G-Range Roofer charged Eur 150 to fit both and folded back felt at top of new opening. The bottom of the Tile Vent has a sticky surface you use to seal the lower edge of the vent to the tile. Connected up to 150mm EPP for both supply and extract, kept them about 2.5m apart. Sorry - see you want wall vents, they have a few other options: https://www.glidevale.com/duracowl-wall-cowl/p/35

Sounds good! Many Thanks all!

I purchased a Zehnder MVHR which needs a Condensate drain. It comes with a 32mm weld or 40mm BSP adapter for the bottom of the unit. I was wondering is it possible to reduce part of the run to 22mm using Hep2o or something like that or why it needs such a large outlet, even more than my washing machine?!! Thanks.

Cheers - floor kit ordered and I'm pricing scrambling nets!

Ye 'ol Ladder - I've a very low pitch roof above and tiny utility beneath which presents other challenges! This is the best worst location without killing off half an upstairs wardrobe which is an excommunicable offense! Nice! So the MVHR would be floor mounted rather than rear mounted?