Tetrarch

My Amtico fitter was outstanding. It is all he does and he is so good that he limits his quote area When he installed our >100sq m he trimmed every single plank on two sides at a 45 degree angle to stop the "glue squidge" problem. This was absolute genius and I cannot fault the quality of the install. I had some very fixed ideas about how I wanted it laid but all his "suggestions" were the exact right ones in hindsight. I have laid Amtico myself in a previous house and I got the "glue squidge" problem and a line where two plywood boards butted together, I was still pleased with my efforts but a proper professional makes a huge difference in quality Regards Tet

Amtico Spacia are the cheaper brand and the planks repeat more often than its more expensive sister-offerings You are also hampered by the laying pattern you have chosen. (IMO) Straight patterns show up repeats and duplicates more obviously. This is one of the reasons we chose a herringone laying pattern for our Amtico Spacia. Over time and especially as you fill your room with rugs and other furniture the repeat highlights will become less noticeable Regards Tet

I have an outbuilding that I'd like to insulate to make it useable as a workshop and to keep my solar batteries warm! I'd also like to reduce the rusting of tools etc stored there The visible sides are all loglap but the rear is a combination of old brickwork and (currently) sterling board I have some Versarend render board left over, enough to completely cover/replace the sterling board. Do I need a vapour layer and where? Regards Tet

We had a completely free choice as left/right wasn't a consideration. We tried 1200mm and felt it was a little too large. In the end the aesthetic and practical choice was to align the worktop in order to have both corridors the same. In practice this has worked extremely well As a comparison I attach the same picture as SuperPaulie's 1200mm example plus the plan view from which we made the decision Regards Tet

More digging: From https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/paving-your-front-garden/planning-permission When you click through from this bit: you get this:

I have read through this several times and I'm not sure you're right. The legislation is to counter the adverse effects of the addition of PD rights for new drives. The only mention of existing/replacement was this: "Existing driveways Existing drives can also be converted to be permeable or drain to a rain garden. You should ask a builder for advice because the drive may also drain water from the roof." Just to labour the point. I have an existing tarmac (non-porous) drive that empties steeply into the road. At the moment, after my renovations and a massive concrete lorry) there are a couple of bits of open ground (where a lot of the) water drains into. If I repair these (<5m) holes with non-porous material I am OK If I cover my non-porous drive with porous material (i.e. gravel) I am OK, In my personal opinion, and I stand to be corrected, I don't have to create a non-porous drive if one exists already, only new drives/hardstanding areas of >5m are in scope Regards Tet

Not sure if this is helping or hijacking, but what is the definition of "new"? Does this apply to replacing an existing drive? In my example I have a large downhill old tarmack-y drive that I would like to gravel over - Is this a "new" drive? Is the OP's drive "new"? or do all these regulations apply to any driveway maintenance and/or replacement? Regards Tet

I had exactly the same concerns about the duct and have none of the regrets that you do. Why do you wish you HAD ducted it? The only weird thing is the draught from under the island Regards Tet

Our downdraft has no external ducting. The post-filter exhaust vents through the plinth into the room. We have MVHR that gets rid of the moisture as a whole-house solution but we have a double extract over the island (you can see it above the bottom left corner of the island) Regards Tet

You could fasten the supporting ally structure to the verticals (house and garage walls) to carry the panels. You may need a support in the centre of the garage but this could be a non-fastened foot that justs rests on your flat roof with no penetration My solar panels are only at about 12° . The visual aesthetic was more important to me that the 5% increase in efficiency. Regards Tet

Sorry to hijack thread, but I would echo the above advice. My MVHR unit is directly fixed to a wooden backboard in the loft. I have noticed that the slight vibration generates a bit of noise as described above In the case that you do NOT have an outside wall - is there any advice for some kind of dampener for the fixing? Regards Tet

When I did my refurb I wanted CCT Led light strips under the kitchen unit run, in each of the three rooflights and also I have two (PIR controlled) inset LED strips in each of the bathroom niches I had different profiles for each of the locations but went for KSR LED CCT strips in each. I had seen them in an electrical supplier and they were very smooth in brightness and colour control. I had them custom-made for length to avoid any unnecessary joins and, of course, ultimately bought six drivers for control The rooflights and under-cabinet are synched such that they are controlled from the same switch Strip: https://gosparky.co.uk/product/ksr-ksr95184-led-strip-light-navara-14w-2700k-6000k-cct-ip20-cob-w-1m-lead-5m/ Control: https://gosparky.co.uk/product-category/lighting-controls/control-gear/control-panels/ (note: there isn't a dedicated CCT controlled so I went for the generic RGB one) They've been in well over a year and I'm really happy with them. In my personal opinion, the only way to avoid light pooling is to use an LED strip. I had my kitchen units routed out with a single channel before hanging. The channel and strip was then inserted post Regards Tet

it's not the direction of travel, just the pace that I have a problem with Regards Tet

Now you're getting it! We adopt a sensible policy and give ourselves some time to innovate and find an alternative. Regards Tet

There is disruption and disruption. The outage last April in Spain that disconnected 31GW of power for 10 hours was caused by renewables and the fact that renewable output isn't managed at the correct frequency as it isn't generated by tunable turbines There is a balance to be struck here, the transition needs to be managed and needs to be proceed at a sensible pace. We have got too far over our skis Regards Tet