ProDave

We are all mad. There will be times you wonder what you are doing and why. But there are also times when you enjoy every moment of it, and would be nowhere else. Prepare for a bumpy ride. Any other expectation would be false, but also prepare for some major achievements and a huge sense of satisfaction at "scratching the itch"

That was a West Coast job I did using an SBS CU. I had to replace 2 small CU's and relocate them. The small one had been fitted as an extra for the big electric boiler and had burned out. The SBS board had a 50A RCBO (not compact) for the boiler and was fitted with a vacant space either side. And Dave sourced a neutral bar that had 2 screws per termination for that board.

Hager do up to 63A mcb's, I have used one to feed a moster electric boiler. What I like to do when fitting something so big, is over size the CU so you can fit the big one with an empty space either side of it.

I don't have any pictures of it before it got boxed in unfortunately. But it was the standard metal case CU (in this case with a plastic front) screwed to the OSB that covers the frame. The wall was then battened with 45mm battens to make the service void, and then 12mm plasterboard and skim. That was just about the right depth for the front to go on and makke it look like it was designed all along to be flush mount. All the cables exit the top or bottom cable entries and run up or down the wall behind the plasterboard in the service void. Except for the incomer which is SWA and that enters from the side and is glanded into the metal CU again hidden behind the plasterboard now. I did have to be accurate cutting the plasterboard as not being a proper flush mounting CU there was no flange to cover any imperfections in cutting the hole. I bought all the rcbo's from ebay and I didn't pay more that £10 each but you can't always do that if you are in a hurry. I bought them over a period of time when they came up. The CU was fitted as soon as the house had a roof so I have plenty of time to populate it.

We used JJI I joists on the ground floor and posi joists on the first floor. I can'r remember why the SE recommended different like that, other then the obvious, hardly any pipes in the ground floor, but plenty in the first floor which is where posi joists really shine. Both have done the job well. In fact I would say the split is good. The JJI's downstairs have a natural ledge to lay strips of OSB to form a hard shelf to support whatever insulation you choose.

Plant a Leylanii directly in the path and point out to the OR person that it won't be long before that snags the line so it would not be a good idea to put it there. Then later when the house is otherwise connected, change your mind and dig the tree up.

I used a standard one, but flush mounted it. Basically the CU screwed to the OSB that made the back of the service void, then the plasterboard cut around it in front of the service void battens, just the right depth for the front to go on. You just have to mae the PB cut out accurate as there is not much overlap of the front to hide any imperfections. Mine was "pre 18th" but is a metal back with just a plastic front.

Start with something lie this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HAGER-14-WAY-100A-METAL-CONSUMER-UNIT-few-minor-scratches-on-front-see-photos/392429796260?hash=item5b5ea37ba4:g:9hYAAOSwRSFdf94R Then just add your rcbo's

I chose Hager. My reason being they are just about the only make that does not keep on changing the look of their circuit breakers, so fit a new one in an old CU and it still fits, something you can't guarantee with the likes of Wylex or MK etc. What you want is a bare "main switch" consumer unit, then just buy all the rcbo's. And it must now be metal but you can't buy anything else anyway. I got all mine from ebay for a better price.

The point is the Velux vents can be closed and seal pretty well when shut so not an issue. Fakro charge you £300 extra to NOT fit their automatic vent. I just could not stomach that.

I went through this recently. Firstly, I completely ruled out Fakro because their normal windows had an "automatic" trickle ventilator that you could not shut, and you had to pay a LOT more to get a "passive house" window without a ventilator from them. I object to the "pay more for less" principle. So with Velux it was a choice of 3G or 2G. I concluded the small saving in heat loss with 3G would never pay for the additional cost of 3G in my lifetime. So I opted for the standard 2G velux, but at least you can shut the vent. You really have to be dedicated to proving a point if you are even going to contemplate paying over £1K for a roof window. It will never stack up on purely economic terms.

I think you only have to pay £100 on a CC for the entire transaction to be covered. But if the limit is £30K probably not much help. I didn't employ a "timber frame company" but rather a firm of local builders to build and erect the frame. I paid them in stages in arrears.

Pay at least £100 on a credit card for section 75 protection. I have just paid up front for my kitchen worktops, entire payment on a CC in case of issues. Check the limit of liability for section 75

I would say that is a must, so the UFH can also be on a different time controller. You might want the UFH to come on earlier (because it takes longer to warm up) and then go off earlier in the evening for the same reason.

Well at least up here, plots are available for sale, so it's not like down south where they are rare. It's just a case of finding one that you like and feel is a fair price, then doing your due diligence on it to make sure it is viable. Sounds like your sister will be a big help in decision making.

Yes you will lose some heat to the ground, but if that is enough to force a larger boiler, I would say it does not have enough capacity anyway to deal with a cold snap. I suspect your architect is used to retro fitted UFH with no insulation? I would take what he says with a very large pinch or salt.

i used the 75mm plastic radial ducting system, quite easy to box in a small pipe like that. Either at the eaves, or along the ridge with a slight "flat top" rather than the ceiling going right to a point.

The market is very different up here. Self build is quite normal, and there are always plots for sale some at quite reasonable prices. The only reason we had trouble finding a plot was because our search area was too small. I did find one in the end and paid the going rate for it, which was exactly the price a similar sized plot about 5 miles away was on sale for. Our plot was about 20% of the finished value of the house.

As everyone else says, very poor job. Have you discussed it with the tiler yet or are you just preparing your case first? It can be frustrating paying someone to do a job and then realising you have had poor work. Did the tiler come with a recommendation? I got someone to tile our hall and utility because it was slate, irregular sizes, irregular thickness and some not very flat. He did a pretty good job overall but what really frustrated me, was I had pointed out to him some of the larger tiles were bent, and to use the best ones first and use the more bent ones under the kitchen units. He ignored what I said, and at the end, there was only one of the large tiles left over, and it was the nicest and flattest of them all, that I would have used first. Also I knew we were going to be tight on the amount of tiles so I had suggested not doing under the kitchen units in the first pass, on the basis if short, it would not matter if the pattern went to pot and we just used offcuts under there, but he ignored that as well. Luckily we did not run out, but he closed off that option too early on imho.

Welcome to the 5 year club, that's where I am.

For this application a changeover switch loos like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ESR-SECO125-125A-CHANGEOVER-SWITCH-GENERATOR-TRANSFER-INDICATOR-SINGLE-PHASE/253453017862?epid=15015581863

I have left mine bare OSB. BUT there may be BC issues with surface spread of flames and it may need painting with something. I am hoping in my case it won't as it's a non habitable room above the garage behind a fire door. If it is just a room off the house I would pretty well expect it needs panting if bare OSB. If it's fixing things e,g pipes and cables you want, how about OSB then 9mm plasterboard directly on top. Screw / nail through the PB into the OSB. It will look nicer than bare OSB and be easy to paint etc.

Hi and Welcome @selvbygg We did just as you are doing in 2003, we moved from Oxfordshire to the Inverness area in 2003, so I am fairly well placed to help you on your journey. Our search actually started in 2002 when we had a holiday up here and bought a 1 bedroom flat (to become a buy to let) Later after completing on the flat we came for another holiday to get the flat ready for rental and that's when we bought our first plot, which we completed building in 2004. We are now nearing the end of our second self build just 2 doors up the road from the first one. We had a similar range criteria that we wanted to be no more than half an hour from Inverness and we ended up pretty much on the northern limit of that. North of Inverness is cheaper than any other direction, even more so if you are prepared to go further up into Sutherland. By far the best place to search for plots is here https://www.hspc.co.uk/building-sites.asp If you want another recommendation for a solicitor I am happy to send you a PM. If you are wanting a static caravan I can point you to the two local dealers And if you find a plot close to here that you want someone to have a look at I am happy to oblige if I can.

Speaker wire is probably what you want. I would just look in one of my boxes of cable and see what I have. A common misconception is "it's only 12V I can use a bit of bell wire" but the fact it is lower voltage means it's higher current. Pretty irrelevant for led strips but I have seen some horrors where people wired strings of 12V MR16 halogen lights with inapropriate cable.

That's up there with sending the apprentice to stores for a Long Weight.