Tom

I've just used 16mm rebar for our footings, 18mm hole for the resin. All 200 of them.

Can I ask what is impressive about it? What made you pick that one above, say, an ecodan (apart from Mitsubishi's questionable environmental record, obviously)?

Going a bit cross-eyed looking at Ecodan ASHPs on the internet. I've seen an 8.5kW unit for £2,700 ex-VAT which seems less than others I have found online, but does anyone have any recommendations for where to buy from?

Aspect Windows in Exeter and Devonshire Windows in Newton Abbot - both good to deal with tbh.

We approached two local distributors of Internorm: one came back at 22k and the other 32k. We pushed the former harder and agreed at a shade over 20k in the end. The latter then said they would match it if it fell through! Goes to show how much of a mark-up some of these firms expect to make. Pays to shop around...

Thanks all, good to know my calcs are in the right ballpark.

Thanks both, v helpful. So about 5.5kW all in. Does that sound in the right sort of ballpark for a 280m2 single story, ICF build with 3g glazing and MVHR? All depends on the detail I suppose, airtightness etc. Guess I would go for the 8.5kW Ecodan to be on the safe side.

I'm trying to work out my ASHP size requirement too, but unlike nod I've been planning one from the start so have no excuses for not knowing the detail here, especially after reading this forum almost daily for the last 3 years...?. Anywho, I've put my figures into Jeremey's spreadsheet and it comes out with the highest monthly energy input (January) for the average OAT at 1807kWh. Where do I go from here? Thank you in advance

I guess it's down to how zealous the planners are - and each LA seems to take a slightly different view. You aren't allowed to add anything structural - and certainly they could argue that if you have to rebuild a wall to make it structurally sound then it isn't possible to be "converted" within the bounds of Part Q.

Not an option if a Part Q conversion unfortunately - though might depend on how quickly you can get the walls back up again before planning take an interest! Have you investigated getting full planning now that you have the Part Q?

We recently pulled the trigger on our windows, had whittled the field down to Internorm and Nordan: the latter was nowhere near Internorm in terms of quality. Also, where as Internorm are a true aluminium/timber hybrid, it seemed to us that Nordan were timber windows with a bit of aluminium stuck on the outside. The quotes for both were the same sort of ballpark, so an easy choice in the end.

Thanks all, and thanks Dave. I moved the enrgiser's earth lead to it's own spike and all seems fine now. No more clicking and the children's hair is no longer standing on end. I'll have a look at getting some of those ferrite things - IIRC back in the day they used to be attached to most new electronic gizmos but I think have fizzled out now? I always thought they were snake oil, a bit like those magnetic water softeners.

OK, further observation last night: the iMAC clicks even when it is switched off AND even if the wall socket is switched off (single pole I believe). It stops if you unplug it. So, I'm thinking rsather than a power spike or EM interference thing it must be to do with the earth?

Thanks all for the suggestions. Will investigate with a radio...

Here's a weird one. I have an electric fence energiser plugged in to the caravan's ring main (albeit via a spur extension running outside), it is earthed directly on to the caravan's earth rod. When it is switched on and happily ticking away, our iMac (also plugged in to the ringmain) starts ticking too (in time with the energiser - about 60bpm). The computer works fine and seems otherwise unaffected. Why so? I guess I'll move the earth to a dedicated rod when I get back this eve to see if that solves it, but just curious as to why it should be doing this. Any ideas?

Hi everyone - we've only just poured our foundations, but as ever I'm looking ahead to see what else I can start worrying about. I'm scratching my head over the roof build-up as spec'd by the architect. There is a large service void in the "living wing" due to the presence of some 356mm deep steels forming a portal frame. We don't have this in the rest if the build, as per the lower of the two diagrams - I guess MVHR ducts would be run down inbetween the timber joists here? Does the make up make sense? I guess it's a cold roof looking at the position if the vapour barrier? I guess what I'm asking is does this look reasonable or are there simpler/more efficient ways to skin this particular cat? E.g. use taped pir on the underside instead of vapour membrane/counterbattens/50mm rockwool? Thanks in advance all

Finished pouring our foundations today, only took 3 weeks and 88 cubic metres of concrete! Felt the need to share... my 6yo and 8yo don't share my enthusiasm for foundations....

This is exactly what we did Glenn, Part Q then full planning. Seems to depend on your area though, South Devon seemed fine with it ?

Thanks all. nod would you expect the builder to fill in the time sheet themselves - or just keep a close eye yourself?

So, our build has only just started and we're basically paying our builders on an hourly rate. We sorta know the chap - his daughter is friends with mine etc, so I want to tread carefully, but how are things normally done to keep track of hours worked? Is it done on trust? I'm thinking it might be an idea to put a year planner up with a pen, and ask him to put a figue on it at the end of each day. Does that seem weird? It's not so much a trust thing (well, perhaps a bit...) - I just want to know where we are rather than get a nasty surprise at the end of each month. Yes, I know this should have been sorted before we started - it's not like I haven't been planning this for about 3 years...

?roger that

Apologies for jumping in on this, can I ask about steels with exterior ICF walls? Our build has essentially a portal frame encased by ICF. The steels are 305mm wide so they will need to be rebated into the inner sides of the ICF blocks and so won't be entirely encased with concrete. Galvanised?

They won't be a toddler for ever. They'll be a surley teenager by the time you're on to the second fix and can give you a hand...

Just to round this off and to help anyone else in same situation, I tried a TMV and it was a bit of a pain, adjusting for temp etc and then got clogged when some debris came through the system. Anyway, found that MIRA do a shower mixer (Minilte EV) that has 110mm centres - there was enough wriggle room with ythe pipework to get this fitted. After the usual amount of swearing and skinned knuckles of course ?

Hi all, I'm going to pull the trigger on Internorm supply and fit for our build. In the final negotiation with the supplier, what should I make sure is included in the "fit" - eg compriband tape? Our build is ICF. Also, what is the usual arrangement re payment eg hold back 10% until it's all in and made good? Thanks all