MikeGrahamT21

From what i've read previously, you'll definitely need to pay the VAT, which you'll reclaim at the end of the project. Not totally sure about Duty. Have a read of this: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jan/21/eu-website-purchases-the-import-charges-uk-customers-have-to-pay And a calculator https://customsinsights.co.uk/duty-vat-costs/

Yeah you should have a 10 year NHBC warranty, pretty sure thats standard and required (someone correct me if its not). Mould is a serious issue for human health, so needs a permanent fix which in itself is guaranteed EDIT: Yeah thats right... https://www.bellway.co.uk/buying-with-bellway/warranty-and-insurance-protection

If its a big developer house it'll still be under warranty for another 5 years, this should be directed at them rather than attempting a fix yourself.

That might not be the case. I had the same thought about my bathroom window, I have just had a lean to extension on the side of the bungalow so they needed concrete lintels installing for the additional load, and when the builders took the bricks out they found a steel angle lintel, it was just small enough you couldn't see anything was there. Stick a drill in the mortar directly above the timber, and you should eventually hit metal.

Yeah its always been pretty decent here, though the mast is at the top of the hill and slightly down other side, i live in the valley, so its not really close as such. Certainly didn't notice any drop in strength. The aircrete definitely kills WiFi though!!

I haven’t had any issues with the foil backed, entire house has it in the ceilings/roof, for me I noticed the issue in just 2 of my extensions, both of which were built using aircrete/AAC blocks…I assumed it may be to do with the aluminium powder they use when making them to get the bubbles?

concentrate on the fine details and plan everything in advance, that way you get a whole house fabric first approach. Good Luck!

Maybe they took the average 4 years before and after?

Layering is fine, and generally a good idea. Kooltherm is the best product for getting a lower u value, and has 150kPa compressive strength, so it depends on what weight you are putting on the floor. 150kPa converts to around 15ton per m2, which would be an immense load to have on a floor. K8 their cavity product has a CS of 100kPa, so will be around 10ton per m2.

As i read this, it was most insulation improvements happen at same time as extensions, so a year down the line your annual quantity of energy has increased, but thats because although you've reduced heat loss, your floor area has increased, which is obvious really.

A cheaper alternative which will still more than do the job is HardieBacker Board (B&Q/Wickes) and also good for the tiles to stick to too and you can glue some PIR to the back of it. If you make a small frame perhaps out of 3x1 fixed to the back of the cream bit, either with screws or glue, and then screw the backboard to the same frame, intumescent silicone to fill the gap and then your tiles onto the board… if I’ve understood your project right

There are plenty of Hybrid silicone/adhesives these days which are also paintable but will stretch with the expansion/contraction. id go for one of these if I were doing that task

Id say 40mm is too much personally. How about some kind of detail before you start above DPC? Maybe slate? Terracotta? Not entirely sure what would be suitable from a compressive strength POV.

Currently no plans for changing the gas boiler which is almost brand new and still under warranty. I’ve 3 more sections of external wall insulation to complete and 1 more window to swap out for triple glazing which should do a lot of the heavy lifting.

went from 125 to 95, you forgot to take off the DHW amount. I’m now down at 48kWh/m2.a, hoping I’ll be able to half it again which would sit my heat demand in to the enerphit range, lot of work to do yet tho!!

yes you are right, I’ve always thought of it as open cell, which in board form it is, but the beads themselves are closed cell… “EPS is, in other words, composed of 2% polystyrene and 98% air. The manufacturing process results in a closed-cell structure, but not a closed-cell insulation board (due to voids that can occur between the beads).”

EPS is open cell, I suppose you could go as far as saying some gas may enter the cells, can imagine that would cause a fair explosion. https://www.houseplanninghelp.com/bens-self-build-story-laying-a-beam-and-block-floor/ found this which may offer some solutions?

One reason for the ventilation gap is to remove radon gas build up if you are in an area which suffers from this. And the other which has been mentioned is to protect from flooding, again depends on where you are located

some of the savings will be related to insulation, but one major energy saving factor of MVHR is how dry the property becomes, which makes heating it a lot less difficult. at this time I had 62m2 of heated floor space.

it’s very hard to pin an exact value as I made other improvements in the same year. at the point of installing the unit and setting it running, my yearly annual quantity of gas for the prior year was 8752kWh, of which around 800-1000 is for water heating, no other gas appliances. Almost exactly a year later my yearly total stood at 6938kWh, however some of that drop will be attributed to insulating 2 rooms floors. Hopefully it’ll give a rough idea. Since then I’ve done more work (as you’ll see in my blog entries) on insulation and air tightness and my yearly gas amount now stands at 4314kWh

Short answer is yes, definitely worth it. My bungalow had a fair few holes in it when I first put MVHR in, as I was still in the process of doing each room and got fed up of seeing the box, and it made a huge difference even with the leaks, much dryer house and my energy usage has dropped year on year for that and beyond whilst I’ve done more work each year. For me it’s still the best thing I’ve done for this property

A good elastic expanding foam (Illbruck FM330 is ideal) and then filler to finish

Few more up to date photos, 18 bags of plaster later. Aside from installing the blind, fireplace and TV on the wall where all the sockets and aerial point is, i won't be doing any more this year, drying the plaster out became a huge problem, i ended up sat around for hours while the basecoat pulled in, and moisture was getting in places id rather it not be, like the loft. Pretty much all dried out now after the cold dry weather arrived and had dehumidifier on to top up the MVHR's effort.

They do look like they've had a lot of weather and a nice covering of lichen, very hard to match to. Nearest i've got: https://www.salvoweb.com/33167-reclaimed-cambridge-yellow-bricks https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155202679090 https://www.salvoweb.com/29315-256-multistocks-ps250 https://www.salvoweb.com/24067-reclaimed-yellow-imperial-bricks http://www.lazdan.co.uk/reclaimed-bricks/ I'd say you're going to be looking at reclaimed for anywhere close. Hope this helps.

What is the height of the brick? These days you can get 65mm or 73mm, theres also 68mm but they are not as common. Are you sure these are brick and not brick sized stone?