markocosic

Sanded. Picking up finish tomorrow. Long weekend of priming, staining, and topcoating coming up. Nervous as heck!

Thanks folks; this sounds like a goer. 🙂 This be the nervous corner...

I have a wooden house There is a lot of plumbing in the "utility cupboard" that could, in principle, go wrong. (water pump gubbins, mechancial, de-ironing and softening filters, washing machine, general plumbing etc) I'm toying with the idea of a "tray" with floor drain in it, dropping through the floor to a hepvo trap that just drops into the (vented) crawlspace. In principle this will never see water. In practice it'll probably get the contents of a mechanical water filter spilled down it occasionally but that's about it. Do they stay dry / sealed from an airtightness perspective in this application? It's likely that it would be under negative pressure (suck from house, stack effect to roof) rather than positive. Ditto for the fridge freezer (power cut defrost don't destroy the wood floor) potentially; though that can probably just be a deep enough tray given the limited volume of water in a freezer. Madness because?

Mezzanine floor (light domestic use) 195 x 45 C16 joists on 600 mm centres spanning 3 metres. 120 x 28 mm tongue and groove pine/spruce floorboards. I would like to secret fix (screw through tongue) these boards AND glue the to the joists to avoid squeaks (caused by screwing through the tongue not being enough to pull the boards tight against the joist if the joist isn't perfectly level or the boards are not perfectly matched in thickness) Which glue and screw? "Yellow glue" (aliphatic resin) or "Bubble glue" (PU)? https://www.titebond.lt/titebond-original-wood-glue/ https://www.titebond.lt/titebond-polyurethane-glue/ Which screw? (note - softwood not ply)

For what it's worth this is what we have done did: MS Polymer floor adhesive, notch trowelled over SANDED OSB (told by man in shop who seems to know his stuff that it is important to sand to remove wax coating on the boards that's there for temporary site waterproofing), which at a 1300g/m2 application rate effectively gives you a thin layer of glue over the ENTIRE surface (aka an air moisture barrier - be sure to work it into the holes created by your wedge blocks as you go too) PLUS your raised ridges of glue to lay the wood onto. Secret screwed through the tongues too to keep it in place/persuade it to be straight/allow me to walk on it instantly. https://renove.lt/lt/klijai-ms-elastic-400-12kg Boards then graded by width (of course they're all bloody different once acclimatised, and indeed different end to end because they're trees) and wedged into submission (September being a "neutral" month for expansion/contractor) with the ends (where there has to be joints) routered/false tongue added/glued to avoid any moisture getting into the "ends" of the grain should anything get wet wet. Set the router depth off the face of the board to set these "flush" and make the glue take up any variation in board thickness (which is also all bloody different because wood). Prime/stain/2K PU laquer to go over the top in the coming weekends. For the entry mats I have left a gap (mat well) that is going to be edged in solid brass (say 10x5 mm, as a visual edge and to protect the wood; with the wood/brass sanded to be inlaid flush) then tanked before dropping in an underfloor heating mat and a coir mat to sit flush with the floor. That's hopefully enough to (a) leave wet shoes on safely and (b) dry reasonably quickly in winter. 🙂 Other tips - don't scratch your balls if you have slow cure floor adhesive on your hand and buy kneepads that you'll use and love. I rate these FWIW: https://lt.misupplies.co.uk/clothing-c12/mens-workwear-c635/trousers-and-shorts-c512/knee-pads-c519/helly-hansen-workwear-79571-kneepad-xtra-protective-p53480?utm_campaign=pr_r&utm_source=www.misupplies.co.uk&utm_medium=wi_proxy&utm_content=lt_LT&utm_term=c Start with a stringline, attached aline of blocks against it, wedge the heck out of your first boards to have them be bang straight. False tongue in the groove end and then lay boards from both directions having first checked where to start to avoid horrible part board cuts. (image pinched off internet)

Looks like the bigger rack mount units are pure sine rather than modified sine:

Good shout @Dave Jones - probably far better kit than fleaBay / Alibaba special inverters and can notify of an outage at more rural properties. - Any idea what the standby usage of such units is? (to maintain batteries in a charged state) - What internal voltage do the run on the DC side? (is it viable to run them from a 12V car? if yes up to what size?) - How do they handle nasty loads? (motor start; induction hobs etc that might go from zero to hero or otherwise abuse the output stage) I may add a used UPS to the Xmas list. 🙂

FYi Europe tends to use plaster made out of nothing https://www.knauf.lt/produktai-ir-sistemos/produktu-a-z/super-finish.html https://www.knauf.lt/produktai-ir-sistemos/produktu-a-z/fill-finish-light.html If you put THAT over plasterboard it offers about as much resistance to knocks as a layer of emulsion. If you put UK plaster (brown multifinish etc) over plasterboard then it spreads the load and offers real protection against knocks. If you put the Euro nothing plaster over fermacell then it is also resistant against knocks - but only if thin enough that the layer of plaster doesn't "smoosh" so to speak. Been there made that mistake. 😉

Read the terms - it's a bait and switch. Price is £X...but only after you contract do they tell you the actual price. They also don't trench. "cable must be run along walls" means then only thing they'll do is nail a cable through walls and along walls. No basements. No digging. No hiding cable. No mounting chargers on posts etc. Their base price is one hole through the wall, tying into the meter tails, and bodging an ugly cable along the outside of teh house to an EV charger nailed onto the wall on the pish.

Back of the render; edges of render?

Assuming continuous heating in winter; no cooling in summer? Enough air leakage condensed water can eventually run back towards the wood? Doesn't need much ventilation/drainage layer to avoid issues.

Hope they're airtight internally...

If available I'd do it for vehicle charging and future PV / battery reasons. Most EVs have 16A / 3.6 kW chargers. Two or three of them. If two, then max charge rate is 7.2 kW. If three, then they only use two when on single phase (to avoid melting cables), but can use three when on three phase (to charge at 11 kW) Very few can do 22 kW charge; but two 11 kW vehicles can easily. Beware that smart meters may take longer to source when on 3ph in the UK.

Sorry, no clue. An AIR barrier won't hurt you. A VAPOUR barrier will prevent moisture in the caberdeck drying to the outside. Imagine wearing a bin bag on a run. The sweaty sticky mess inside the bag is your caberdeck if you use a vapour barrier. Now wear goretex etc. The vapour goes through but the wind doesn't. This is what you want. Glued caberdeck is enough. The areas to concentrate on are the holes and the edges. No point wearing a coat if the wind is howling through it.

Sadly on Sundays it's now the cars coming into the city from the provinces to shop at the fancy shops on the high street that aren't in the surrounding towns and villages.

Vapour barrier not required there. Glue all the caberdeck joints. Plenty good enough as an air barrier. Your difficult area is the caberdeck<>wall joint. That wants to be airtight. Foam won't cut it. You'll want an airtightness tape there.

https://www.fastbuildsupplies.co.uk/53650-150mm-vertical-extension-piece

This lands is in "South Cambs" legally for council tax / planning but functionally it's in "Cambridge City" My place is down the road from here. I've had dozens of lodgers over the years. Only two have had cars. None have been nice cars. Many have had nice bikes. Often worth more than the average car. The folks with nice cars are the working class folks with families; and they'll not be living here; they'll be living in Cambourne etc and commuting. Old money has a beat up old Volvo / Merc estate. The only difference between these and no money is how much work the car needs for the MOT and how expensve the dog inside it is. I have a car; for visiting family in Rugby/Corby or for when work demands a bunch of stuff be moved. It otherwise sits there rusting on the driveway. Pushbike for anything/everything in Cambridge; hop on the train to London or Stansted for everything else. We also once had an office in Orchard Park. (Future Business Centre) The only people who park in Orchard Park are the "park and ride" crowd. (see: Cambourne) They'll come thumping in off the A14, abandon car in Orchard Park to the infuriation of the half dozen people living there who actually have cars; then catch the bus into the city or dig the Brompton out the boot. Many are BMWs, Teslas, etc (knobbers from the provinces - you karens and tesco store managers etc) parking on the pavements) 30 spaces is absolutely ok here. The infrastructure not to need cars exists. They should be underground though because car parks are fugly. Planners are right but wrong to allow it. Bury the cars underground. And put in bloody nice secure bicycle storage underground whilst your'e at it; so that you're not dragging £10k bikes up into the flats.

Family sized estate car with towbar, roof bars, and rented trailers IMO. Pay the delivery on bulk materials by truck Rent a trailer for the medium stuff that you want the option to load slowly "I want THIS board and THAT board and NOT THAT board etc" Keep a sheet of 22 mm OSB and the roof bars for "fudge, I need another sheet of plasterboard" or a giant roll of pipe / cable etc 3 metre long oddments (pipe, curtain pole, etc) go straight in the car along with "white goods" sized things (cylinders, heat pumps, air conditioners, bathtubs etc) If it's boxed / bagged and liftable goes in the car If it's shovellable and dry then stuff t that can also go in the car if you're not in the slightest bit precious about it? 1.6 TDCI Focus Estate for us (the 90 bhp version) with a 2cm lift kit on it. Costs £0.20 to buy. Does 1000 km on a tank of diesel whilst running around. Takes 3m pipes inside it with ease. Open the tailgate and you have a cleanish seat with a cover to have a cuppa in the rain. Not banned from the tip like vans. Not subject to speed limits like vans. Doesn't get broken into every 5 minutes. Doesn't whinge too much when I rent my favourite 6 metre twin axle trailer form the place next to the sawmill. Needs to be dry day with bit of a run up to get that up the grass hill though! If the site is a wet mess a van will be worthless to you IMO (gets stuck) - you'll get further in small front wheel drive car with decent ground clearance; small 4x4 car; or a real 4x4.

In hindsight, what were the warning signs? Irish travellers? Some other flavour of dishonest, tax dodging, uninsured oiks with not a contract or fixed address in sight? If you don't have a negotiating position it's always a risk hiring petty criminals Arriving for 10 rather than 8? That's fine I'm ok with you stopping by until 7. Don't mind if you prefer starting at 10 to miss the traffic either. Need to leave after 2 hours work? That's fine. I'll owe you £150 of the £600; less whatever extra it's going to cost me to hire an adult to finish the job at short notice. We can settle up once the hours have been done though and you might even owe me. Letting them finish the job then reneging on the renegotiated deal is karma though! Worth a nice letter to HMRC, the work and pensions folks, and the child support allowance folks as their reward perhaps? 🙂

There are usually flue length restrictions on those policies. And they often don't honour their contracts anyway. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5956167/british-gas-homecare-mis-information-ongoing-problem - get a fresh EPC now - hot water cylinder or a little heat pump got water cylinder (tank with a heat pump on top) for better efficiency - oil filled radiators (the portable things with wheels) or a mini split AC for better efficiency (and upsell value) Through wall AC units exist if there's no balcony to make use of.

The trv might actually work too. (yhey sense air temperature, so want to be higher in the room than they are usually installed)

Good for you! IKEA basic for me the first time. Bashed up Bora the second time (still to be installed - new glass in these €300 BTW so if you see a smashed one nab it) Wanting to try the hob in a shop for the third one. 🙂 (different places; not unreliable units replaced) Don't assume they're all the same is my suggestion.

That cover is worthless. If cash is tight get a credit card. Use it to pay for repairs in the event that they are required. Pay it back in installments or with a personal loan etc. it will be cheaper than the insurance and involves a whole load less paperwork aggro. Servicing (check nothing has fallen off, check flue gas emissions, check water quality) every other year is plenty for a domestic installation IMO. They don't suddenly dissolve overnight and a decent tech will flag "deteriorated but not needing attention yet" in addition to "need fixing now" etc. Probably once every five years if it's a decent installation to begin with. Perhaps even plan to cap the gas and swap to a heat pump one day. (e.g. adding induction hob when renovating kitchen) This eliminates the pipe and a chunk of carbon emissions at the same time. 🙂

Not entirely true FYI. Many induction hobs revert to "pulsed" power at the lower outputs. It is often pot vs ring size sensitive. If you try to cook at a low output with a thin pan, it's like waving a thin pan through a gas flame for 6 seconds off / 3 seconds on, and you won't have an even heat. The pans with substance to them will smooth this. So will nicer hobs.