Tom

Can anyone recommend a black vapour-permeable membrane to cover ICF walls? Black cladding will have gaps so the membrane will be just about visible through, so need it black and preferably without any printing. Thanks all

No I didn't tbh, but have done the studwork now No reason tbh, other than being a better insulator.

Hi all - I need to construct a timber studwork gable end that continues on from a Nudura ICF wall over one of our cantilever steels. See pic. The concrete core of the ICF is approx 145mm so I've used the same width timber and plan to put some ply on the outside surface for rigidity, then 90mm PIR screwed on to this to make up the wall thickness to match the ICF. The interior surface would be covered in similar insulation with rockwool between the studs, see diagram in second post. I was going to put a breather membrane over the outside and vapour barrier on the inside. Does this sound right?

or a length of this stuff: https://www.armatherm.co.uk/products/frr-structural-thermal-break-material/

I guess still shows up the sh*t though? 😃

Helpful observations, thanks. The instructional video for the Ziplevel shows the cord being driven overv and all good, but I guess best avoided. Re calibrating - can be done quickly and easily with the provided extendable pole as I see it, so no great shakes, but, yes, something to be aware of in changable weather etc

"ZipLevel works by sensing minute pressure differences within a pressurized gas/liquid system." - doesn't look like it's new technology, used to be called the Stanley Compulevel apparently. The thing needs re-charging every 3 years or so, but I guess even laser levels need recalibrating.

I recently bought a (second hand) high precision altimeter https://www.groundscare-products.co.uk/ziplevel.htm#buyonline Highly accurate and simple, quick and easy to use - or so it seems. Haven't actually used it yet...

Given that materials are probably no more than 6 or 7k then he's charging at least £10k for a weeks work - I'm in the wrong job!

Aaah, brilliant, many thanks 👍. So it seems I can use the original title plan and annotate, as long as: 9.6 Plans based on an official copy of the title plan Whether in paper form, or electronic format, plans based on an official copy of the title plan will not normally be rejected providing: there are no manual alterations to the official copy that result in the extent being in doubt an electronic official copy has not been so distorted by the electronic transmission process, printing and any subsequent copying, that the extent is in doubt

Hello all - I need to produce a plan for submission to the Land Registry to show the access track to my site. This needs to be "Land Registry compliant" according to my conveyancer, but he doesn't give any more details. What does this mean? I have the unamended plan from the Registry, can I simply draw the track on this? Or do I need to employ a surveyor to do something similar and charge me handsomely for the pleasure? Many thanks

So I guess I would qualify as the property will be "self-built" in that I'm project managing. Does getting an ASHP now so as to get the grant make sense? Compared to a willis based system which I would have to pay 100% for. I guess it comes down to what the plumber would charge for installing the two systems.

The other complication is grants for ASHPs. Is there still money for ASHPs in a new build? I thouight not, but I spoke to a plumber earlier this week and he seemed to think there still was.

Thanks Iceverge. The slab is 200mm with 400mm EPS beneath, so should do the job nicely. I guess I can get away without a buffer tank as well, as short-cycling wouldn't be a problem with a willis - or, thinking about it, might make sense to have one to store any excess and smoothe out the ripples with intermittent PV generation when cloudy etc.

I've always thought I'd be getting an ASHP for our build and I have been dithering on pulling the trigger on one of the Cool Energy packages - unfortunately it looks like I've dithered too long as it seems their prices have just gone up by over £1k. This has made me think a bit more on whether we actually need one - and reading other's experiences on here with using a willis heater for their UFH makes me think this might be a reasonable alternative. I'm trying to work out a comparative cost for this but am struggling a bit, can anyone advise? So, putting all my vital statistics in to JH's spreadsheet I get the following: total daily heat loss power for January OAT: 5677W and for the minimum January OAT 6826W - energy input at 4224kWh and 5079kWh respectively. We also will be having a wood buring stove so this could be fired up on the really cold days. Hot water usage would be on the lower end of the scale. It's a 4 bed house but we take mostly showers. The slightly complicating factor which is making me scratch my head is that we will be putting back the 12kW PV array that was on the barns before we knocked them down. They're on a SE/SW orientation split approx 50/50. With a willis heater we could therefore potentially utilise more of our own generation for the UFH than we could if we had an ASHP - but exactly how much the array could produce in deepest winter is probably quite low, and could probably just as easily all be dumped in to the UVC without "losing" any to export. But this is all me guessing, can anyone help with anything a bit more rooted in reasonable estimates? If it seems reasonable, I'm guessing I could plumb everything in but with a willis heater in place of an ASHP, adding one at a later date if it didn't work out. Any views greatly appreciated. Tom

Thanks all, guess I'll try knocking them in. Good idea re the rope - or at the least leave a pile of clothes on the bank so they know where I've gone in. Hadn't thought of cantilever TBH, planned probably only 1 or 2m over the water itself, so could work, will see how easily the posts go in first and could be an option. Floating too, but need something a bit more solid I think. Depending on how the post driving goes it might end up floating anyway...

Hi all - I want to build an area of decking which extends over our lake but not sure how I should be installing the posts for this. I thought I'd don waders and simply knock them in with my fence post whacker - but I'm not sure if there might be something simpler and which would not involve me likely going arse over tit. Internet seems to throw up lots of vids from the states where they use pre-formed concrete pads which simply support the weight of the post and deck, but I think I need something a bit more structural as the lake bed is very soft mud. Any ideas? Thanks all

We've using 150mm thick steel composite panels for our roof, hopefully finishing it this week. Then planned an additional 200mm layer of wool or cellulose underneath these/between the purlins. U value should be <0.10, but of course the devil is in the detail

Yep, that's what I assumed. Though maybe I'm an ass

Wouldn't you multiply?

Quote from Cool Energy: "The standby power consumption of all of our inverTech range is 0.013kW/h or 312w per 24hours as per our independent TUV test data."

Apologies if this might already have been posted, but heard from Cool Energy yesterday (from the MD, about 30 mins after emailing - which I guess is quite impressive) that their 9kw inverTech unit consumes 0.013kWh on standby.

We got a quote for charred wood from Nakamoto Forestry, was a bit eye watering TBH so we will be reusing the boards the barn was clad with originally and will try burning them ourselves. What could possibly go wrong?!

We're going to be using a mix of black corrugated steel and black charred wood on our Nudura build. Would also be interested to hear what others experiences are with wood cladding as we will be having gaps between the boards. I was planning on just using a black membrane behind.