MikeGrahamT21

Ahh fair enough, you've a good one there then!

Are you absolutely sure and not just landed on a dab? I'd be very surprised that a 2011 property wasn't dotted and dabbed. Tap along the wall, it'll sound hollow if it is.

Unfortunately it is all too 'normal' for modern houses, especially of the age of yours, before mandatory air testing was introduced. As said above, the walls will be dot and dabbed with plasterboard, and the air will infiltrate from outside. There is no requirement to ventilate this cavity, and doing so will only cause negative issues with regards to insulation and airtightness. Theres not a great deal you can do to permanently fix this issue within taking all the plasterboard off and starting again. One thing you can do is go around the perimeter of the wall (corners, ceilings, and floors), drill holes every 10-15cm or so, and inject some FM330 type expanding foam, elastic, and this should cure some of the air leakage paths, and its wise to do around any penetrations in the wall also, such as sockets to stop air entering the room. Given doing this, it still won't be great but may help somewhat.

Just noticed on the Octopus app, Octoplus, which is their rewards program for ESO demand flexibility for 2023 and this year also seems to include free import when there is excess energy. Should be a good add on to flux or anything really

Look at Marmox/Jackoboard/Wedi style boards, these should do the trick in a single product

Leasehold means they own the land, but you own the property that’s built on it from memory, definitely do your checks, but I don’t think the freeholder would have any input on internal works, however they would on the external look of the property. Every leasehold seems slightly different in one way or another though so get someone legal to look at it

My heating is still gas at the moment, and a full battery come first thing on a morning is more than enough to get me through even a busy day with appliances, so going to stick with flux for now, I should have done it sooner really but to be honest was just glad to get a fully operational smart meter 😂

Export tariffs always seem to lag behind import I’ve noticed.

Yeah that’ll be why, wouldn’t need it til post june22.

is this an extension you have built on with building regulations? If so depending on the width of the cavity you will require some internal wall insulation in order to get it passed as 100mm of any type of insulation in a cavity won’t cut it these days. Make sure all of the external walls if there are more than one are all done the same, which again you’d have to do for BR.

I’d agree with that if it was a solid walled property, but cavity which is filled should in theory hold its heat reasonably well, which is why like I’ve done, external wall insulation is a good addition to cavity, allowing the block work to even out the temperature. Aside from calculations though I don’t know of a property with IWI to compare with. At the same time I’m not in total disagreement with you, internal wall insulation will give a good reduction in u value but you’ll be left with a lot less specific heat capacity in the build up, meaning it’ll take less energy to heat the room to a specific temperature, but will need top up heat more frequently. I’ve a feeling that the heat will soak into another surface or pass through another element which is colder/higher u value, and IWI can create problems with cold bridging which could make even more problems. I never asked, what kind of radiator is it you are putting in (does it have fins on the back or not?), and have you tried any of the radiator panels/foil to reflect the heat into the room and away from the wall? An option like this should give a good outcome with no risk. What was the reason for replacing the radiator? Another question would be are you sure the cavity is properly filled with no gaps? Having recently taken bits of my roof off I found numerous empty pockets and ended up using a long length of timber to push it further down and fill the gaps before topping it up

It’ll help the heating respond quicker, but it won’t help the room hold it’s heat for as long once the radiator is no longer emitting heat.

Properly chuffed with myself how far i've progressed this year, but its a good time to take a break i feel, before the last huge job of doing the new bathroom, hopefully next year. Finished the external wall insulation off in the courtyard area, and got my new set of water butts all connected, should provide enough for the front garden and car washing (when i have the energy!) during a prolonged dry period. Just got the silicone to do on the corner and the join. Probably the most important job was the lower parts of the roof, to ensure the insulation was all good, and to stop any mice from getting in, which has been an issue the last couple of years around this time. Took off 3 rows of tiles and pushed the 4th row up, which got me to the natural overlap of the second row of felt, allowing me to take off the old battens, and put a new layer of felt under the overlap and down to the bottom. Also replaced the end of the dry valley, with a correct formed end, tiles need a little tidy up at some point, but its watertight. This was the mesh i used. It was then fully packed with insulation and overlayed with some ventilation trays which i didn't take a photo of. And the front was even worse, including the weather, of course it decided to pour it down the second i had the old felt off. Front existing felt was in very bad condition, and one of the battens appears to be fire damaged, no idea how The valley needs repointing, still on my to-do list. And a small indulgment, a bit of colour for the driveway, also filled with spring bulbs so hopefully will remain colourful right through to next summer

Yeah I came across this not too long ago, when I first heard of it I thought someone was making a joke, but no, it’s a real thing. many times faster than current wifi and barely any interference, so I guess my job of network engineer will turn into lighting designer before I know it 😂

I've heard quite a few reports of these exact trays coming bowed/bent too, i'm definitely staying away from them

I was going down the modus route, but when I finally got to placing my order, they didn't do the glass anymore that got it down to 0.7Uw, was nearer 1.0Uw, so I decided to go elsewhere. If you are buying from a uPVC wholesaler you may well be able to mix and match frame and glass, but unless things have changed, Eurocell now supply AGC glass, which isn't as good on the uvalue front.

im lucky to not have any radiators on aircrete walls, but yeah would definitely need a different approach to the ones mentioned above.

it’s what they usually provide you with to install a radiator Be no more than £5, job done. All my radiators are installed with these into brick, solid as a rock

Why go to all that expense? Just get some cheap long coach bolts and job done

I would say they aren’t long enough, the top layer 40mm+pb +plaster will be near on 55mm, your old plaster will be likely 20mm overall if it’s traditional wet plaster, maybe more depending how many layers is on, and then you need min 40mm in the brick. get yourself some long coach bolts, smaller plug on the end (length wise) and first hammer it in til it goes no further, followed by tighten up

North facing so it will never be baked by the sun. I suspect those bricks will be almost non porous too given their age. I wonder if the problem is actually further up, maybe on the chimney stack, and the visual representation is only being seen at ground level, there must be a large amount of water getting in somewhere. Also check the roof integrity near the verge. if it’s built on slate rising damp shouldn’t be adding too much to the problem. lime mortar will make a big difference once the cement pointing is out, but I feel there is an issue somewhere else also

It has to be the weakest area for the water to get out I’d say. Probably where the coldest temperatures are too, ground level is always a bit warmer. What’s on the inside roughly where the efflorescence is happening? And what’s below it where it isn’t happening? which direction does the gable end face?

Well spotted! I’d not seen the tiny slither on view. It’s likely full of crap behind it too, may need removing cleaning and a new plastic one putting back

I’m no expert but thinking this may be due to the pointing being done with cement, and perhaps a more suitable material would be lime mortar which can deal with the moisture much better. the solid surface at the bottom of the wall is probably not ideal either, be ideal to have a foot from the wall of gravel, and dig down as far as you can which should aid drainage

Definitely use the PIR be a shame to sell it and lose money, it’s perfect for the job. Ensure the eaves are well ventilated as they will experience a big temperature drop in winter once the habitable space is insulated