Tetrarch

You haven't said what your floor surfaces are upstairs. If you go for the surface-mounted spigots then you will have to consider how to "end" your surface covering, whether carpet or boarding etc right above your glulam. I went for a surface-mounted option per JohnMo's suggestion and I can heartily recommed FH Brundle and their product offering (pics below) - the pricing was incredibly keen Link here: https://www.fhbrundle.co.uk/products/18SB19B__Includes_19mm_Glass?campaign=506233955&content=&keyword=&hsa_acc=1133268878&hsa_cam=506233955&hsa_grp=1271037173114202&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=s&hsa_tgt=pla-4583039411608752&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=e&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&msclkid=ec2a85bb0fc1131b4c0fefd760f900b2 Regards Tet

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

I used regular exterior ply with a custom single piece 2mm aluminium extrusion made by a local fabricator. The main reason was these should never need any maintenance in my lifetime Regards Tet

I would have thought that explicit time-limited state guarantees would be possible until a the private insurance market can restablish itself Regards Tet

We've had our 900mm Neff Downdraft I98WMM1S7B for over 18 months now. Our MVHR has a double extract (almost) directly above the hob. The outlet vents through an open vent in the plinth, it has a 90-degree vent on floor level but isn't even ducted to the opening. I took the picture attached just now and took the opportunity to remove the vent and check the opening. There is absolutely no presence of any grease build-up or residue there. The MVHR vent is also grease-free as far as I can tell Regards Tet

Allocating your precious resources on the horizontal surfaces is (IMO) the way to go Your island will absolutely be the focus of your new kitchen. It is what you see and what you notice, it will become your social centre, your prep. area and the focus of your kitchen. I would suggest that the surfaces are more important than the cupboards to some extent You definitely should actually go and see the products themselves. Our kitchen supplier got us in to see the supplier of the slabs in their raw polished full-slab form. After a decision was made we managed to negotiate with the quartz finisher/installer to get the splashback in the same material at a discount and one waterfall edge thrown in for free from the initial quote I've since been back to the quartz installer to get window sills made up. Regards Tet

Both my digital showers were an early design choice (thanks to my builder's recommendation). It seemed to be a good idea to co-locate all the plumbing sources. They are both located in the cupboard where the megaflo, the CH expansion tank, CH pump and control centre are located. All the wet stuff (except from UFH) is here Regards Tet

Our downstairs 2m x 2m bathroom is cold. It has slightly less UF heating than I wanted. Our upstairs bathroom is too warm as it has the non-TRV escape from the heating circuit. I'd like to change the escape rad to the downstairs bathroom Problem: I have no side or floor access in the downstairs bathroom. The only way to run pipes would be from above Has anyone got any recommendations how to install a top-fed towel rail? - I can get an 1800mm one that will help to minimise the visible tails Regards Tet

I had a concealed Aqualisa valve explode in a wall - never again Surface valves are OK - Grohe or Hansgrohe for me Digital showers are (IMO) the best way to go. Permanent access to the rainfall head and a single pipe in the wall must be the way to go. Then you can put your controls wherever you like I've got two - a Vado and a Mira I prefer the shower head of the Mira and the wireless control but I prefer the aesthetics of the wired control buttons of the Vado. I would never recommend anything else Regards Tet

I love Para 4. - burn! I am interested in why you don't lead with the factual error as it taints the entire decision. The rest of your points are opinion-based and could be challenged but para 4 is a real humdinger. From a weight of argument point of view I would be tempted to start with the most fact-based and work my way down to the most opinion-based Regards Tet

I've got CCT's everywhere downstairs I have way too much lighting anyway. I have 17 RGB downlights that are actually not on very often but are great for a party I have CCT LED's in three skylights and under the kitchen cupboards all wired to the same wireless switch so that they all work together. We use the different colours frequently, sometime to soften the light for the evening and sometimes just aid close work over the island We also have three pendant ring lights that have CCT functionality - again these are really good for mood setting of an evening Regards Tet