saveasteading

1mm thick stainless. Cut a radius line and lap the edges and rivet together for a cone. Then turn down the edges.

25mm could be added top or bottom. Gives an overlap too. Thermal mass is another conversation, but often used to justify over-designed slabs. Eps about £50/m3 pir £80/m3, grout £400/m3

I'd say that using steel 2mm or thicker won't be noisy. For a cone, cut a segment from a circle and reweld and that won't be noisy either. Is a downturn going to help? Maybe just turning with pliers will do it in crinkly fashion.

They aren't obliged to report the test run or do a best of three or whatever.

Why not increase the insulation? It's much cheaper per m3 than screed and you get better insulation.

That water is somehow being replaced every day. So it's either a very damp house (and a problem to sort) or fresh air in this very damp weather. I had this worry once. A concrete floor that the flooring contractor said was too wet.* We ran indsustrial dehumidifiers for 2 weeks, collecting several litres a day. Then we got a proper expert with a hhumidity measuring box stuck to the floor. It was fine so that water was simply coming from the air. * I learned then that this is a ruse to get out of the warranty. See also other discussions on BH about 1day per 1mm of slab for drying.

From what I've seen of heat exchanger construction it might completely block it.

If. I believe it is a skill that is fairly rare.

A spare room for a poorly or favourite sheep?

I'm confused by that. Any latency in dry screed is deliberately made on the surface for a smooth finish and should be minor. I can't see why you would have to do much to it. The main concern would be tamping ripples no worse than on a poured screed.

My thoughts exactly and I was going to have a read up later. So if anyone can point it out that would be helpful. I was once asked by the test guy 'what number are you looking for? It hadn't occurred to me before that I might want 3.1.

And a very comfortable shepherd. Isn't the point of a shepherd's hut that it's a bit basic?

I've been there more often than I'd have liked. Mostly with clients who didn't want to pay, basically.. ( 'never pay unless you need them again' policy) sometimes a rubbish subcontractors won't sort stuff. So I know you can be 100% right, win your case, yet still bd out of pocket and seething. We don't know your specifics or the right and wrongs... so all we can say is follow the processes firmly yet politely, check how much proof you have, and talk it through on here and/or with trusties.

All too common among weak and corrupt circles. Even getting genuine quotes in by a deadline ( at great cost to the contractors) opening them then telling their mate the price. I had a boss once who i'm sure only got work this way as schmoozing was his only skill. I didn't stay long.

The contract will include processes for valuations and disputes. You must follow this. The next stage will be you asking them to justify their requests for extras. You also state that there are quality issues, if there are. Then it gets expensive for both parties. There are specialist claims surveyors who work for you in presenting a reasoned and costed claim. The other side may do the same. Then layers and adjudicators get involved. If you're talking 20k dispute then it may be worth it. If the architect feels at risk they may take one side of thd other....again wrongly. Diy isn't likely to work. Anyway have a read up of the contract. And tot up the approx level of monies involved.

It does sound that way, esp as you weren't informed they were working together elsewhere. Have you proof of this or could you gather it quickly before protesting formally. For now just say you aren't happy and are reviewing before making any more payment. Is there a recognised formal contract in place? Who chose it?

Are these working chimneys? Why do you want cowls? Rain and bird guards or spinning ones? For the former, I googled and found 250mm easily, I suspect you may need to reduce the diameter to suit the biggest you can readily find. It might look odd and not keep the rain out unless modified. OR the non-mechanical ones look very simple and could be modified at hood and the legs, or fabricated even.

As necessary, if at all. The Steading isn't stuffy in he slightest. not as airtight as a newbuild would have to be, but plenty good enough.

It's just a primitive undulating washer sort of thing that retracts the bit then releases it. So it is still mainly scraping the surface. I wish I had learnt of SDS drills much sooner. I had thought they were only for concrete breakers.

It simply hasn't ever been a problem in any of our projects. About 5 family ones and many commercially. I think the reason may be that we only ever designed for the minimum airtightness requirement, so allowing some fresh air in. Plus window vents and openable windows always. If there is no problem with air quality then there is nothing to fix. On a few of our projects I feared a problem with stuffiness (school classrooms, nursing homes) but we discussed the options with the client and went for it. These were clients who would have had a quiet word with us if there was problem, but there hasn't ever been a word. This reminds me of the SE practice we employed for many years. They didn't do the portal frames part for us, but founds, other elements and other structure types Our main contact SE had either had, or knew about, many, expensive, problems with steel buildings and couldn't see how ours didn't ever have any problems. We concluded that we must have been lucky 300 times. Maybe, by building to the current reg's on airtightness but without mvhr, , we will have a stuffy building for the first time. If vents and windows won't do the trick, then we have a plan B which will be local extractor fans, discretely placed, perhaps linked to CO or CO2 or humidity sensors. Of course the fans' air will be replaced by un-heated air from the tiny leaks, and heated by our cheap electricity. It is a risk, but we are experimenting on ourselves.... But I'm confident it will be fine.... and lucky again.

I thought this was widely available. My battery drill has a setting on the torque setting ring, that switches into hammer mode. and a switch for 2 speeds. And lots of machines are rotation only and no hammer option. My very best drill, and without impact option, is a 25 year old Bosch. It is ultra smooth and effortlessly powerful, and with trigger speed control. I think the absence of features allows the motor and gearing to be dedicated to the one process.

We reckoned it was 20 years' payback for mvhr . We will spend half as much on a biggish photovoltaic array and battery and get a much better return. and putting both in would reduce the heat recovery benefit. ie if we are getting free power and then multiplying the energy by , say , 4 then using powered fan to recover free heat... That is logical, yes? We may also install big visible, attractive fans (Spanish style) in the vaulted areas to send down the hot air that has risen. The easiest way to increase the apparent efficiency would be to put rooms instead of vaulted space. Same energy nut divided by a larger floor area. But it is style and flashness.

I'm not paying £220 however good it is. I might get the Einhell pruning size as I have the batteries and my tools remain faultless after 10+ years and a lot of use.

Does nobody agree with me that the first issue is find why it is damp. It is unlikely to be a sealed building so extract fans will find air to pull in. There is a tendency to throw expensive technology at an issue before proper investigation. Gutter, dpc, render? @Potatoman where is the damp? On windows, walls, generally?

Good points. I will think further. I assume I wasn't sharpening the CsS properly: I had a simple round file, and thought I was following the instructions, but perhaps not. Thinking further, the hours of use for these won't be high so cheapo tools may suffice. And the tangled bushes will eventually behave better and the trusty bow saw and pruning saw will be usable again.