Ronan 1

Woods free which helps but the main thing is we both really want the open fireplace, I suppose it like a new Porsche or the Rally car in the garage or anything else we throw into houses or our lives because we like them. I'm prepared to put up with all the downside to have them so if as stated elsewhere I have to "buy" SAP points or whatever to satisfy this I'm ok with that. Horses for courses i guess I'll ?

Appreciate all the input gents ?

Hi Peter, thanks for the heads up and I appreciate where your coming from but this will be my "forever" home and SAP scores really don't register with me. The Open fireplaces are important design features for both me and my wife so I'd prefer have the house we want than compromise for a SAP score or such like. It's in northern ireland and I have a few relatives that built in the last couple of years and all have open fires so I guess I'll just have to see what they did and what my architect says if he ever gets back to me with the final plans . ?

Hi Temp, that's interesting o plan to heat my new build with a oil burner as it's the predominant fuel type around me , never heard of the thermal store before but I really like the sound of it , I will have to do some research and talk to my plumber . Did it add much extra cost to the system ??

The 600 plastic IC's will cope just fine with light traffic if you place a concrete surround around them circa 6 inches with a good lump around the lid . I have regularly seen these spec'd for use in light traffic areas and would be alot easier for you to leave a tidy job than brickwork unless you have some experience with brickwork and can bench the inside of it nicely to avoid and snagging or holding of debris that could lead to a blockage down the line.

That's great thanks, I'll know to make sure it's included now, the last time I got windows fitted there was no talk about air tightness ?

Gents on this does the window company usually take care of the air tightness sealing and tape when they are on a supply and install contract ??

Maybe try settlement pond designs, we would use these alot on large scale civil projects where we need to discharge large volumes of water into a drainage system or water course. Could be fairly easily adaptable to a swimming type area and if you had any running water you could diver it through with the reed bed at the start of it leaving the pond area clean and fresh... As for the heating side of it I'm in the same area as you and I would fancy the electric bills to make that comfortable in winter...?

Now I got it ?

Is it silicone in either end of the conduit ?? Sorry if that sounds stupid. Is it the air coming down through the conduit that the cables are in and out through the socket boxes??

And your entitled to ?

Not sure on your background but as a former pipelayer I can tell you that it is NOT a bodge, yes a rest bend or duck foot bend would be preferable but in a domestic setting and unless he's dropping more than 3 floors a well installed standard long radius bend will bend will be more than adequate.

Aparently they are designed to direct more of the heat out !!! But to be honest the fireplaces isint just for the heat and I don't think the fact it will leave the house non airtight will bother me that much, I supposed it's not high on my list of priorities for the build. I will just ensure that it is good and airtight everywhere else and well insulated as I said I'm used to very old, very draught and VERY cold.

Wonder would one of these glass doors make a difference

Joe would there be any benefit for it at all in my case if you were to forget about the heat recovery end of it and focused only on air quality and extraction. I hate them drafty old bathroom extractors and would prefer not to have to have anything like window vents.

That is nice Joe

Absolutely nothing wrong with them in fact I quite like them. I have a thing for open fires after been rared in a real old stone house with one in every room and moving abroad at a young age and it always was the one thing reminded me of home and the wife also has notions ?

Thanks Joe I was kinda afraid that would be the case.

Gents I've been reading a few threads on MVHR to try and decide if I want to include it in my build. Before i say something stupid I am completely ignoramt of the system but feel that for the fresh air benifts ive read about here id like to install it.I am building a 2 story 3430sq ft house heated by an oil condensing burner and UFH and I am going to have 2 open fireplaces and am wondering of having 2 open fireplace means it a bit pointless exercise. P.s The fireplaces are not for negotiation... or so I've been told ? Appreciate the advice

If I was you and the lane gets mucky and it's your only site access I'd use 6f2 and if you wanted put a sprinkling of type1 on it after if you wanted . Type 1 will just churn in the muck while 6f2 will stand up to the traffic better.

If you want a handy way to square up a corner use the very simple 3-4-5 rule. So simple. You pull your first line, go to the corner point measure 3 ft back from the corner on the line. Pull your line for the next wall and mark 4 ft on it and rotate the line until the distance between the 2 marks are 5 ft and then you know it will be perfectly square. You can use feet , inches meters, centimets any unit of measurement once you use increments of 3-4-5 P.s if I made a hash of explaining it try googling it but it's very simple and I've set pout corners of very large apartment blocks using it whilst waiting for my engineers to get their fancy GPS machines to work.

Ive tried a few different electric saws over the years. The electric will be ok for easy to cut materials like blocks and occasional lighter steel or rebar BUT if you want a heavy duty saw that won't lie down there is a reason all the professionals use Petrol saws.

I have seen these diverted without notice on small unidentified runs like this.? It should be possible to divert as it sounds as if it have plenty of fall on it to maintain a good fall over the extra lenght the diversion would add. It's shouldn't be that expensive or difficult either if you have room on small pipework you should also be able to get away with 450 or 600 non entry chambers which would be alot cheaper to buy and install than concrete manholes. Regardless if it's not on their maps I have never seen Thames Water involved where they anything only by their book

Is it in an estate ? If it's relatively new it might not be vested yet ? Have you a sketch of how it runs through your proposed build? How deep is it ?

Having worked on several large project for and involving Thames water, I'm afraid I would very much doubt it, you will probably have to install a diversion prior to starting construction dependant on sewer size and flow which would require Thames water approval and of course you would need room on your plot to do the conversion without encroaching on other properties. Another problem again depending on the value that they put on the sewer they may request an right of way or easement in you deed to allow access. Again you may be a rare case I.e always worth asking but I have never seen them let anyone away with it that they knew of. P.s are you sure it's a Thames Water owned asset ?