ashthekid

@Temp that is very interesting. I wonder if the neighbours are aware of that. I wonder if it matters that the pipe leaves our boundary and into the neighbours back patio before then passing underneath their property to the main road. That illustration shows it out front by the public pavement.

I tested it this morning and everything disappeared through to their side and nothing came back. Whether they are referring to the age or size of the pipe as well I guess I will find out on Monday.

We have our only manhole internally sadly and it’s right up against our boundary wall. The pipe directly from my boundary wall that runs through the neighbours patio and then through their property before connecting has been there for years and we are probably talking many many years as our property is very old. All the pipework within our boundary walls is brand new and been laid by our builder. The neighbours builder claims it doesn’t have the adequate gradient run from our manhole so it’s likely to block up and come back towards us. This is despite us having no issues whatsoever during the course of our conversion works with any blockages or backup. It all seems to drain away ok. My initial thoughts were well they broke it so they should fix it. Seems logical.

During the middle of our own conversion project the neighbouring property have just started their own extension and upon digging the foundations they have broken and damaged our main soil pipe which runs through their property before connecting to the mains drain. Their builder is claiming the pipe is not fit for purpose for our project and I believe the building inspector has confirms this(although not 100% yet as Alice only just been told about it). Where do I stand here? Does the neighbour have to pay to repair or if what they are saying is true and it’s not fit for purpose do I have to pay for it to be repaired and made fit for purpose? Apparently the gradient run on it isn’t great despite our project being underway for 12 months without any sewage issues whatsoever on site with a toilet, sink and all rainwater being connected to this mains outlet. It does seem a little bit if a coincidence that the problem has only studied since the pipe was broken into by accident.

Assuming an insulated flue pipe can be used I could still maybe conceal that flue pipework in between the rafters as long as it’s boxed in with an air gap inside the box? I attach what I think may or may not be relevant:

Hi, I’m not sure if there is an obvious answer to this question but I attach a CGI showing the layout of our kitchen/living area where we are planning on having a wood burning inset corner fireplace(to the right) where the flue cannot go straight up out of the roof so the plan is to either have the flue run along side the internal vaulted ceilings and then out the top on the opposite sloped roof side. Is there a regulation limit to the length of flue internally? Can it have bends? And finally could this flue be buried between the rafters/insulation board? There is 100mm gap between rafters and then another layer of 100mm insulation of top of the rafters so plenty of room but I’m not sure of regulation it safety. I’ve outlined the potential route in black if it’s exposed. It would be approx 3m.

Thank you @PeterW that’s exactly what I was looking for.

It’s the contractor who’s doing it but I’ve been losing a bit of faith recently so wanted to double check what other people thought to be honest.

I've just seen the lintel that has gone in above what will be a double front door but the doors are set back a little so not directly above. There are 3 courses of bricks on the lintel and then a wooden framed window, followed by a few more courses of bricks upto the roof line. This is not a load baring wall as the internal timber stud work is taking the weight due to the age of the property. I attach photos of the lintel. It's an L-shaped lintel. I'm no expert but my gut is telling me this lintel will not support what is going above, especially with such a wide span. Any thoughts?

There are no problems, it's more a financial to be honest.

There is a possibility of our contractor walking away from our self-build conversion project. If that happens can I take out my own site insurance to continue the works myself? Or does an Insurance company only allow a policy to start at the beginning or end of the project?

So I've discovered a few different PIV units: Vent Axia Lo Carbon PoziDry Compact Pro PIV Positive Pressure Unit - approx £300 Blauberg Fresher 50 PIV Filtered Air Condensation Control Fan(single room only) - approx £200 Nuaire FlatMaster or Dri-365(which both can be located in a cupboard rather than a loft space) - approx £600 Anybody had any experience with any of these units?

I could have it running continuously or on a timber but yes primarily during the night during the summer time but also at intervals to keep the air inside filtered and fresh. Project is located in Hampshire.

So you wouldn’t necessarily recommend a PIV system just to get fresh filtered air into the property along with your standard extractor fans in wet rooms and kitchen? The windows and rooflights all have trickle vents in them but it’s the rooms that don’t have any ventilation whatsoever that I am probably most worried about and then the upstairs bedrooms during the summer.

@A_L thank you. I have seen those "without outside box" air con units before but ideally don't want a bit unit hung on the wall inside either. Would rather just discreet vents like on a PIV like you suggested. I'm not so bothered about daytime cooling upstairs, more for night time and general health to be honest. @Marvin thank you. In answer to our questions, it's a newly created building albeit built on the inside of an old single skin property that is 200yrs old. Basically a timber frame built inside single skin brick or chalk cob walls. It's not intended to be crafty but it's certainly not airtight. 2 storey for 70% and the remaining 30% being large open plan double vaulted ceiling room. extractor fan points have been located in the obvious wet rooms upstairs and trickle vents are in the rooms with windows but there are a few rooms without any windows whatsoever that will require ventilation to meet building regulation. Approx 380sqm upstairs & downstairs. Very good question about winter time ventilation in those room without windows. I'm not sure of that to be honest. I did look at partial MVHR which I am still not ruling out because of the benefits. Extract from 3 bathrooms (not kitchen) and ventilate into 4 bedrooms upstairs and 3 rooms downstairs. But only if I could get a decent system like Zehnder Q600 for an affordable price really.

Hi, I've been looking at installing a MVHR into my project but am now thinking of scrapping that to just a system that provides filtered cool air without any heat recovery extraction to try and save money because the quotes I'm getting are crazy. Is there such a system that does just that and if so what do people recommend? I basically have extractor fans already position in wet rooms and kitchens so that's covered but I do have rooms without any windows or ventilation that will require some sort of ventilation and also with the whole of the upstairs being in loft space rooms they will be very hot a stuffy most of the time so looking to provide some kind of filtered air system for the family that will utilise the outdoor cool air overnight to naturally cool the rooms rather than your standard air con systems that I cannot have within a conservation area anyway (and I don't have anywhere to put an outdoor unit anyway).

So nobody uses any pipe insulation on sink/shower waste pipes?

So nobody has used one of these new Grohe Rapid SLX model cisterns?

I meant 4cm pipe insulation on sink/shower waste pipes that are within the joists.

Or would a wax be better seeing as it's internal?

Does anyone recommend a good spray can protection for some old oak beams that exists in my barn conversion project. They are approx 150yrs old and are located alongside new window lintels. Because they have been exposed to the elements for a bit of time they are showing signs of a bit of mould which I'm sure will just brush off with a wire brush but I wanted to see if there any suggestions to just treat the oak to protect it.

Don’t think that would work. I just need to find a short cistern. Does it exist?

Sadly not. Have already considered those options.

Thank you @JOE187 That’s only the SL model though. I’m looking at the SLX model. It’s been given an official Quiet Mark Approval seal so must have met certain criteria to pass that.

Anyone recommend a classy wall hung WC that is less than 450mm? I only have 500mm to the door opening potentially hitting the WC which is why it needs to be a short projection. It’s seeming harder to find than I thought. shortest I’ve found so far is 460mm for a wall hung rimless that will fit onto the new Grohe framed concealed cistern Rapid SLX(which I’ve gone for because it’s the quietest on the market apparently).