ProDave

I got these from my neighbour, who in turn got them from an office unit they dismantled. They were spanning the ceiling in that. 10" by 3" timber joists 6 metres long. Quite old, but were used indoors and dry (until removed) Each has a scarf (I think that is the name) joint at about mid point. No markings found yet so say any grading. 7 I would like to use them for my car port that I would like to have a 6 metre span. That's why these 6 metre joists caught my attention. The car port will be 6 metres square, roofed in box profile steel sheet. I want to keep the span open, the side joining the garage can have as much support from the garage as it needs. the opposite side can have multiple support posts as can the back. Initial thinking is to use these 4 big joists to span side to side, which would put them at 1.5 metre centres, and then span front to back with something smaller. Thoughts please? Particularly about those joints, would I be wise bridging those with something like a steel plate bolted on?

I would not rely on the standard plastic cabinet feet to secure a peninsular unit like that. Okay when the units are along and fixed to a wall, the feet just take the weight. A joiner I know and respect never uses the standard plastic feet, instead he makes a rigid "box" for the cabinets to sit on, far more stable.

Then dry the stump, split it as much as possible with an axe. then burn it in the stove. Then retrieve the wire from the grate and put it in the bin.

If you know anyone in the catering trade, the likes of Booker and other food wholesalers sell things like that in bulk. We used to have a card when we ran the B&B

I've not seen wooden treads and painted risers before, but it looks good.

Do some tests first, don't just buy random parts and swap them.

I would recess the drain pipe into the wall to avoid this or route it differently. What is the wall construction? Spacing the units out means deeper worktops and wider gable end panels on the end of all the units.

Our neighbour discharges a septic tank into the burn just the other side of our fence, and the MVHR inlet is on the wall facing that, but at least 10 metres away. On a completely still morning in summer it can get a bit pongy there and the smell can get drawn in. If I notice it, I turn off the mvhr until a bit of wind builds to clear the air. The only filters I have are the built in filters either side of the heat exchange core.

Which room, upstairs or down? Who built the house, you or mass market developer?

Most have a power switch, cold, medium or hot. That selects how many heating elements are in use. My guess would be either the switch has burned out or one element has burned out and it is running on one element only. You might be able to diagnose it of you have any electrical knowledge otherwise replace it.

I am more interested in why it is "not suitable for Scotland"? My Mitsubishi Enthalpy MVHR is working just fine.

"Sorry this episode is not available" Shame we did not hear about this when it was on live, it does not seem to be available on catchup.

I thought you were going to tell us about a new source of satellite tv with a "certain type of content"

Call me particular, but things like rice like that, are solid waste as far as I am concerned. That is what sink strainer baskets are for, so the solid wast goes in the dustbin. That's me trying to be kind to me treatment plant. I also try to avoid cooking oil going down the plughole. I will send the consultancy invoice by email.

No, that says to me, the water is only slowly trickling IN to the saniflo and the pump comes on when it gets enough to pump for a bit. I would start dismantling the sink trap and pipework between the trap and the saniflo. I would have thought if the saniflo was full and only pumping out very slowly, it would keep on pumping.

So if the sink is full and draining slowly, is the motor inside the saniflo running all that time to try and pump it up a presumably now blocked pipe?

I am a more practical sort of chap. I didn't do any pressure drop calculations, I just connected it all, then spend a few hours with the borrowed anemometer measuring flow rates at each room terminal, and adjusting the terminals and adjusting fan speeds until I got flow rates that met the BR required rates. In practice after that, I reduced the fan speeds as it was slightly audible. Several years on no ill effects from running at slightly lower than BR required rates. I gather passive house required rates are lower.

That has just told anybody with land in the green belt, that they want to build on, to not manage it and let it become "dilapidated, neglected scrubland"

And 2 hours to fix the leaking pipe when you "discover" an unknown pipe that is touching the bottom of the board. When boarding my new build with P5 chipboard, at each end of each room, I left a half board wide strip, that has part of the tongue planed off and cut into shorter strips that gives an access trap anywhere you want at each end of the room. It should be possible for example then to fish cables to anywhere in the room. The access traps are screwed down with no glue.

There is a lot of that stuff up here, there is even a bridge over the river made from it. Galvanised steel walkways that probably originated on an oil rig or a ship. the pontoons at our harbour are made from it as well. TIP: if you need to kneel on it to tie mooring lines, take a bit of wood with you, otherwise it is like kneeling on a cheese grater.

Assuming that is another garage just below yours in the picture, the user of that might need to drive partly onto the bit in front of your garage to turn in or out. So a right of way is needed for them.

The lightweight blocks would be more prone to water damage and splitting when frozen. What will be on the outside? I would want the high density blocks, apart from anything else easier to fix things like shelves to and bomb proof even if left bare. Whatever you do you certainly don't want't to mix them.

At last renewal the company I had used had "withdrawn from the market" I went to Adrian Flux and they found me a policy without problem.

You need to work out if your builder is deliberately trying to use the wrong blocks, or he doesn't know the difference.

"suitable for use in most homes" is a bold statement for a 5kW ASHP.