MikeGrahamT21

I've still not got round to it yet! Had the window fitter here the other day, to take all the specs down and he is going to speak to his supplier, but looking to go with Modus profile, and Pilkington glass to achieve 0.8Uw. Standard Eurocell (Logik 70) is a horrid profile! I've got one of these, last double glazed window we put in, never again! 75mm is the thickness of the window units (not the sill), so the standard profiles tend to be 70mm and accept up to 36mm triple, 75mm gets you up to 44mm triple which is the sweet spot, and then Liniar do a 90mm which I think gives 56mm triple, or quad, but the gap in triple would likely be too wide to make it worth its while. There is also Rehau Geneo if you can get it, another 75mm profile, this one is quite different though, its actually a GRP Fibreglass profile, coated in PVC as a top coating, making it very strong and thermally efficient. Will post some pics when they are in, probably won't be til May/June time when its a bit warmer and less windy.

Yeah definitely going to run the cable through conduit, was just the pipes I was thinking of taping direct to the membrane.

Interesting stuff!

wow that is expensive. I've seen airtight silicone cheaper than that! Whats the difference?

not sure about taping to foam, doesn't seem like a reliable connection? OK, will consider running a couple of pipes through, seems like a decent solution. I suppose I should consider just running the pipes and cables bare as well, and taping them to the fabric, would be no different to when I did heating pipes a couple of years back and they were OK, maybe i'm over complicating things as usual! lol. I think its more the electrical wires which could do with being piped, and so I can pull new ones in if needed in future without disturbing everything.

Cool, at least im on the right tracks then. How much did you fit through one pipe out of curiosity?

Hi, Going to be starting the kitchen at some point soon which is in an extension I built about 10 years ago, got everything planned, but need a solution for the electrical cables and water pipes to come up through the floor (suspended wood) whilst being airtight. So i'll need two water pipes (1 hot, 1 cold) plus insulation, and then the usual plethora of electrical cables for the kitchen stuff and sockets. My initial thought was to use some semi rigid radial pipe (a bit like whats used in MVHR, but maybe 100mm diameter rather than 75mm) and leave a piece of rope through it to pull anything else through in future, should be easy enough to seal to the floor membrane on both sides. The entry point is the boiler cupboard, and the exit point will be about 2-2.5m away on the opposite side of the room underneath the kitchen units. Anyone got any ideas for solutions? Cheers

The plans were validated, with a target date of March 30th for approval.

I think you're main issue here is the width of the existing 'utility room', I'm assuming its 2.5m wide x 2m long? If you are going galley kitchen, or u shaped, the remaining floor space is going to be very restricted. My kitchen is 3.2m wide, and its tight. In an ideal world you would want the new extension to replace the existing utility and be at least as wide as the dining room. Try and think about the quality of the space you'll end up with. The picture you have just posted, is an example of what i've just described, so its obvious that you are dreaming of something more than what you've drawn primarily. Appreciate you are on a budget though, and I've never had to call on trades to do building work so I don't really know how much stuff costs, only the materials. Perhaps you haven't found the right builder yet? EDIT: Sorry just re-read your post, about it being a one sided kitchen, perhaps the width isn't too much of an issue in that case.

+1 for considering going full width, I don't see why this wouldn't be possible. Are you doing the build yourself or getting someone in?

All lintels generally require a minimum 150mm contact area on each side

+1 for dry ridge. If the roof is fairly old, and the tiles are concrete, be very careful walking on them as they will be quite brittle and could crack, so make sure you've a few spares knocking about to replace any which go. I always try and walk on the joints, as theres a bit more thickness of tile to support my weight.

The built in tape on the barriair is meant to form a tape to tape bond, which is very strong, but its hard to get a smooth seal sometimes, so I used both this and some more tape on the flapping bit of VCL to double seal it.

I was reading an article on the BRE the other day about explosive centre panes, according to them its a good idea to have a toughened centre pane, no idea how much it adds to cost, it said they experience greater stresses than the panes in a double glazed unit.

I was going to use this, and even did one and copied it in, but the national validation requirements states that the map must be from an official source and have the crown logo on it, something OSM can't do. its terrible really, as the maps I provided were the same really, aside from all the official bits. if you look on the last page of that document you linked, theres all the reasons there you can't use the free stuff! I too hope it goes smoothly! I think I'm kind of glad the build will start next year and not this year, gives me 12 months to get my brain in gear!

Yeah you are right, not sure why I didn't change it, its literally one click in the application! Oh well, if they moan about it, i'll get it sorted. Absolutely, a vertical DPC is a requirement from BC. As for thermal bridge, not too concerned as the existing walls which are left are to be clad in 100mm EWI, and this will also prevent any damp, but BC will insist on this being there regardless of the EWI. EDIT: Maybe not, changing to mm messes the whole thing up, oh well i'll keep my fingers crossed, don't fancy drawing all that again! From the requirements it seemed to suggest it didn't matter what the units were as long as it was clearly stated, which I did on the submitted version.

So, as promised, here are the plans I drew up for submission to the local council, which these days are subject to strict criteria which last time I managed to 'wing'. So the plans all have to be drawn to an approved scale, here is 1:50 at A0. Also required is a Location Plan at 1:1250 and a Block Plan at 1:500, which last time I submitted plans I used the land registry document, but you aren't allowed to do that and have to buy them in, so that added about £25 to the cost. £206 for planning permission and then a further £30 service charge for using the central planning portal (which you can't usually avoid as the council don't accept them any other way). Side Extension Drawing.pdf So the waiting now begins to see whether they pass straight through, or not. Whilst I'm waiting for this, I'll get the additions and technical details put on these drawings for Building Control approval...and I've got a new Kitchen to install into the new Kitchen extension (which isn't really new anymore, its 10years old!) ready so I can remove and re-route the external drainage pipes to make way for the foundations to do in for the extension.

As ProDave said, you can only do this with a single in-line fan, just ensure that you divide the flow rate of the fan by 2, and ensure you get the correct flow rate per room.

This may answer your question? https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/polyiso-water-absorption-should-wrb-be-inside-our-outside-of-exterior-foam

Dry bricks aren't good for brickies, when my dad was still working, he used to drop the bricks in a bucket of water for a few seconds before he laid them

Has he ever done any extensions under PD before?

One cause of black mould is aspergillus, naturally occuring, and also can be commonly found in buildings, insulation and the like. Its been known to infect healthy adults, though its unlikely to kill a healthy adult it will make you very ill. If the mould spores settle in your lungs, they can grow. If you have any sort of immune deficiency then you are at serious risk. Clearly it is difficult to know whether it is or isn't aspergillus, which is why you should take serious precautions regardless. My wife suffered from an aspergillus infection, she was immune deficient, she developed an aspergiloma (a bit like a tumour) in her lung, they successfully treated it over the course of a year, but unfortunately not long after she suffered from respiratory failure from the damaged caused by the fungus. Its really not worth not taking precautions. If it infects your body, it releases a chemical called aflatoxin, which is both toxic and carcinogenic.

be extremely careful with the black mould, wear a good fitting mask when doing anything with it, and cover the whole thing with bleach first before doing anything else to get rid of it. Its extremely toxic, and can give serious health complications to fully fit normal people.

How about using resin based fixings? Another one to try is helical fixings, these are brilliant for aircrete, and may work for your situation too, perhaps get some samples to test, as they can be quite expensive. Thor helical is one manufacturer.

I suspect if someone else is building it for you, and you want something specific, or its a complex build, these plans are probably your guarantee that things will get done right, or leverage if they don't. Don't spend this much just for BC, as long as they see the bits of text they want, they'll get passed. I've always done my own plans for BC, but I build the stuff myself too, so i've only my own brain to rely on. I also do the meetings with the BC inspector myself too, I've known him for a long time, you find that as you get to know them, they trust your ability more, and know you will have done stuff right because of the quality of your work in the past. You may want to consider a local draughtsman, as soon as the word 'architect' gets put in, you may as well add £2000 to the bill, architects in my opinion are only required when there is something non-standard, out of the ordinary or overly complex, if you are planning something straight forward that fits into the surroundings, if you don't want to do the plans yourself, the draughtsman will be more than adequate, and will be sub £1000 for the plans through to a successful application.