ProDave

The argument is the E and N "outer" are usually copper on split con, and as N is classed as a "live" conductor, there is no steel armour protecting it, so it's not considered safe in the same way SWA is. Termination is always a b it messy, it does not just go into a nice gland like SWA does. That doesn't seem to stop people using it, but I would not like to be the one justifying why it was used when someone has just dug through it........

I read it that the "forest" was a planning condition of a previous development, so he has breached that previous planning condition. Surely the enforcement would be a fine and ordered to reinstate the forest. It was a bit daft of the applicant to buy the land without looking at the planning history as most of us would realise the chance of getting planning there is slim, and the council will know given the previous condition they must uphold that otherwise they will open the floodgates to lots of other land in a similar situation if he is seen to "win" in this situation.

But is a grey area not formally being recognised in the wiring regs and not recommended for direct burial (though the DNO do sometimes use it as such)

I would be using 2 core SWA and putting a rod in for the earth that far from the house.

This mirrors my findings the spreader plates are not very effective. Downstairs we have UFH using a biscuit mix as the heat spreader and it works very well. Upstairs we have UFH with spreader plates under the chipboard floor, then tiles. It works to take the chill off the tiles but is next to useless at actually heating the rooms.

+1 If it is anything like our burn, it can get quite full and quite angry. I would not want to be doing anything to the bank below "flood level" that may impede flow or create turbulence. Under spate conditions, it is only the vegetation that keeps the soil in place and stops it getting washed away.

I was going to ask a related question. I have all UFH so plastic pipe and brass manifolds. All pipework is copper. ASHP has a stainless steel heat exchanger. All valcvs are brass bodies. The ONLY ferous metal at all in any of the pipework are the circulating pumps. So why is it, that the heating water, with 25% inhibitor / antrfreeze is starting to just turn a little brown in the "windows" of the flow meters on the UFH manifolds? I would have expected it to stay completely clear, with nothing (but the circulating pumps) to "rust"?

The problem is if you skimp on insulation, you are heating the earth more than your house. 100mm really is the minimum you should be considering. There are lower profile systems but of course less insulation Have you given any thought to digging up the existing slab to gain more height?

Cut off water, remove toilets, basins, sinks, baths so there are NO facilities.

Hi and welcome to the forum. Your problem is lack of insulation under your present slab. You could lay 100mm of insulation and then your UFH but will you really be happy then with a ceiling height of 2300mm or less? Was your mega expensive quote to dig up the existing screed, excavate a lot, lay new insulation and screed with UFH pipes back at original level?

Best of luck trying to predict how much hot water you are going to use and only heat just that amount. That is the essence of what this does. We have a 300L tank (only heated to 48 degrees) and some days that is only just enough,m other days it is ample. Only heating the tank to 48 degrees normally, still allows plenty of capacity for surplus solar PV

I thought from a previous discussion you were just going to build it out on stilts over the bank. What is that the other side? Your land or a neighbours garden?

We have gone the other way with ceilings. 2440mm downstairs in all rooms makes it feel cosy, but upstairs one bedroom has about 3200 ceiling and the other gets the vaulted ceiling right up to the apex about 4000mm plus a mezanine. A good way to use the roof space to give some wow factor. Rectangular hall 1900mm wide by about 4000mm 900mm wide stairs (minimum in Scotland now) Decent wide 1100mm half landing and big square landing upstairs. We had to make the stairs an odd number of steps to fit in so ended up close to the maximum rise, but increased the going to make them less severe.

Pester your installer and keep pestering him and make it clear you are being held up for the lack of certificate. Are you sure he really is HETAS approved?

Re rodents. Our last house was built with a standard cold roof, i.e insulation at ceiling level and loft space cold, and ventilated. We didn't know any better then, that was the way every house I have ever lived in was done. We had mice in the loft regularly and kept a pot of rat poison to sprinkle regularly. I think we worked out mice could climb up the outside of the roughcast walls and get in through the eaves or soffit air vents. A mouse can get through a small hole, even the hole in an air brick. There seemed no way to stop them so send the cat up periodically or poison was the only way. It is imho now, a flawed way of building. The new house is built with a warm roof, i.e insulation between (and above) the rafters. result ALL the inside of the house (even the bit we have partitioned off as loft space) is outside the reach of mice. No more little feet scurrying about in the loft and no more poison needed.

Keep a bucket handy. In case as you cut into it you find you have not shut off the water to that pipe.

Easiest way is 15mm compression coupler on the right hand end, 22mm compression coupler on the left hand end and short bit of 22mm. reducing coupler, and 15mm in the middle. That bit can be soldered as it will be soldered out of place. The coupling piece may end up being too long so you may have to cut back the 22mm end. When you cut the pipe you will be able to see if either end has any slack to push the pipes apart a little. If not, one of the couplings, probably the 22mm one will need to be a slip coupling,

That looks a bit of a b'stard. It's the soldered 15-22mm joint that looks to be leaking. To re solder there would be tricky, you would want an aluminium plate or some other heat shield slid between the pipe and the flooring before attempting to re flow. I would be looking at a compression repair. If you cut the 15mm tight to the soldered fitting with a hacksaw, or multitool (but it won't do the blade any favours) and de bur with a file I think there is just enough to get a nut and olive for a compression fitting on. You might also have to cut the existing 22mm back a bit depennding how you do the reduction.

Well you need somebody that understands it. For some reason the float valve is not turning off, that is either because it is broken or jammed, or it's adjusted wrong and the water reaches the overflow level before it shuts off. Try pulling the float up as high as it will go. If the water shuts off then, then it needs adjusting. If the water does not shut off when you pull the float up, it is broken.

Call the plumber that fitted it back.

My experience with neighbours and noise was not good. At a former semi detached house It was inevitable that noise I made would be heard by the neighbour and it was equally predictable that they complained. So I tried to be reasonable and asked that they could let me know when they went out, so I could do all the noisy jobs while they were out. They blew their top and said "why should we have to go out so you can make noise" I tried to explain I was not asking them to go out especially, but just to let me know whenever they were going out so I could do the noisy jobs when it would not bother them. They never did tell me when they were going out and we didn't speak much at all after that.

Re the stump. Get a chain saw. Cut 2 slots down into the stump at 90 degrees to each other. Then from a fire get some really hot burning embers and lay them on the top of the stump and try and get some down into the slots you have cut, If it takes it will slowly down to nothing. Be careful with a chainsaw cutting into a stump, it may have picked up stones,

Careful what tape you use. I was wiring an extension recently and noticed a lot of the silver tape just peeling off with very little adhesion. I think it is vital to make sure you use a good tape and ensure the surface is clean and in particular free of dust before applying the tape.

We had the same inconsistancy. Initially Highways stated we needed a visibility line of 90 metres in each direction, but also stated we must "demonstrate control" over the splay. That was the crucial problem as part of the visibility line is across neighbours gardens that we don't control. However when I pointed out to the planners that just a year earlier planning was passed for another house in the same road and that only demanded a 60 metre visibility splay and crucially did not require the applicant to demonstrate control over the land, they applied the same condition to us, which was easy to comply with. I don't think anyone ever came to look at the site. And the "problem" is although we are a single track rural road that only serves 10 houses and 3 farmers fields, there is no speed limit, so they applied the standard formula for a national speed limit road, with no though that 99.9% of traffic is doing a good deal less than 60.

I was using Screwfix before they introduced Electricfix and Plumbfix. When they came on the scene they just auto enrolled me into Electricfix, presumably deducing from the fact it was mostly electrical stuff I was buying I must be an electrician. They never asked for any documentation.