saveasteading

I forgot to look at the walls when I saw the view.

Which is what we built on purpose. The stone wall has a recognised U value (0.6 springs to mind) , as does the gap, but not a lot. We built a stud wall of 100mm with membrane on the back and insulation in the gaps, then a plastic inner sheet. then the service gap helps too. A recognised solution and working really well.

Memory failed on the colour, but it was that side so was the left hand black one. The switch to the right that is off may be confusing things (The one with the tag against it) It is another matter altogether. An outside light circuit that pings in wet conditions. so it is turned off. Helpful. I would be looking for such, but why would that short? Exposed wire but the top one is not touching or near any other conductor??

It is a standard construction and cracks are normal. You pack the gap with stones in lime mortar, using as big stones as you can fit in , then smaller so that the mortar is minimal. Must be lime, with the grade selected to be just softer than the stone. Granite/ limestone/ sandstone?? removing the mud and replacing it with masonry is advisable, as long as it remains stable all the time. Do you think the crack was there when they hid it behind the stud? The absence of rubble on the floor suggests it was. Is there a crack on the other side?

It needs long straps by Simpson or equal. These. And lots of them tying the roof down to the walls. Not that the wall looks very strong either, so the ties must go down to the cross beam/ lintel and then that needs fixing down at the ends. Someone should have specified them by type, location and fixings. Worrying that nobody seems to have done so. Wind uplift forces are scarily high and you genuinely could lose that roof. Do Not take any brackets off.

I like the buckets analogy. Struggling with the hill though. Isn't heating or cooling the same process of bucket passing? Downhill for poor insulation, uphill for good? You mean that it can be woven from rock or glass or paper or oil, but the gas or air bubbles and maze of conductive routes are what matters?

No It's been ok for 30 years....and nowhere near my recent overflowing header tank (resolved 3 weeks ago anyway). Also nobody has been near that area. The switch is well clear of any water source....the fitting I will check when I venture up. Tomorrow is always a good day for unpleasant things. Removed without benefit. correct It is 30A. As 4 family members have just left along with many chargers, I've checked again but it still trips. Anyway, they would be on the sockets ring main not the lighting circuit. Much confused though as 2 switches tripped at the same time. Isn't that like a rope or chain snapping in 2 places? surely one part breaks and the other doesn't? DB3 the left switch, along with the red switch on the distribution board (or am I misremembering already and it was the adjacent black? ) I put some special food in the attic a week ago, and then more. There was scampering until 2 days ago. There is no smell of rotting rodents but they may have gone elsewhere to be tidy. Mice smell 3 days, rats 5 days. So tomorrow I will put on my new favourite wooly hat with lamp in front (highly recommended) and get up there. I believe I am checking the ceiling connection for damp or dead things, and the cable from light fitting to switch, looking for teeth marks????

A normal sized house doesn't need one, and the ancillary heat from pumps and tanks etc is in the house, so not wasted. If you do want one it never has to be as big as plumbers and electricians say...it's nice for them at your cost.

Take this photo to your local builders' merchants or plumbers' merchant. Not screwfix, toolstation, b and q. They will sell you the necessary few parts including flexi hose.

Agreed there are other considerations, including vapour. The geometry is often overlooked too, with any extra thickness clashing with the eaves or requiring a gable oversail. It's one of these questions where we don't know enough, and expert professional advice should be taken.

I forgot to end my post with this. Insulation anywhere will reduce heat transfer. You could put some inside and some outside and less heat will escape. If it's outside then the cavity will get less cold. But bricks have resistance and so does enclosed air, so it all adds up.

If it helps anyone, here is the Woozle principle that can be applied to almost any Mechanical Physics. In this case it is a heat Woozle. (WZe?) Imagine a warmed up Woozle in your living room. To me they look like a yellow emoji figure with 2 arms and 2 legs. It is trying to escape out to the cold, wriggling through microscopic gaps in your wall. Thus any resistance works whether inside or outside or in-between. Area of less resistance ( whether universal or local) allow easier escape. There are other factors eg condensation but that is a slightly different analogy. 😳 I can't find one with limbs. Some day I will introduce the pulling and pushing ones that make beams work. It isn't my theory. My wife was taught about Woozles at Uni by a prof who could communicate, and she told me. Often used by me.

That sounds like the introduction. I trust the detailed study will be published on here. Flavours, pack sizes, and any trends through time.

@SteamyTea wondering if you could continue your instructive, with reference to the photos. I don't understand why one pings rather than another, esp as the fault under discussion can trigger either. Switch in a room, up to the attic above where we would hope any damage is fairly obvious.

And knowledgeable. I've met some very ignorant roofers who don't understand lapping and flashing. Absolutely not a clue, and if was as easy to do it right as wrong. They were roofers because they didn't mind heights and the money is good. (And ceey few clients check the work). All the above advice is good....it must not leak at this stage. Post a couple of pictures and you can honestly say you've had it looked at by experts and they have to sort it and spray test while you observe.

Done that. It is a single light switch. I haven't ventured into the attic yet as there are children around for a few days.

Somebody will be more up to date than me. But it is going to be something like £500/m of perimeter and a huge amount of mess. Why does it need underpinning?

Attached photos of the apparatus. The old black box on the far left isn't an issue. Next along trips sometimes. The next along is a different subcircuit. Picture 2 is inside the second box for completeness..not relevant though. This power flies through the attic to the box in pic 3. It can ping on the orange switch to the left. At the adjacent black 'fuses' I found which circuit was the problem and then which switch, which is currently taped over and out of use....hence the fuse turned on again.

What a good summary. Save it for future discussions on the subject. In brief? A biggish business would demolish. A little builder might do a cheap tart up and pretend to live in it, a real diy can look after details and quality, and phase the work with lots of disruption. It is about cash flow.

Photos tomorrow.

No. It can spur off before it goes under the house. Take the chance to put stopcocks in all directions.

I don't understand fuses. This one can trip at one of 2 places. I might send photos tomorrow. Before we had these 'improved' boxes installed ( I can't work on your house until they are changed") we had the old wire ones and they seemed to battle through the minor issues.

If my logic is correct, the switch is simply a local circuit coming down from a rose ( or similar) above the light cable. If the switch is throwing a fuse, then the fault is in the cable over that short distance. Hopefully an exposed bit of it. Thus I'm thinking it must be an issue at the connection above the light or the cable from there to the switch. (why would this happen after 20 years? and I haven't been near it to trip on it.) Or a critter , again they don't seem to have been interested in the plentiful cabling over all these years. Maybe it would be simpler to disconnect at the light connection and see if the tripping stops. could circuit test from there too. I am always nervous with live cables so would rather only test an isolated circuit. I don't know if it's feasible to test within the switch box. It looks like an unpleasant crawl through the attic is beckoning.

Correct. The strength of a single skin is much less than half of the double skin. It would need temporary support during the work. THe support gets in the way. You would not live in the house while this was happening, and should move heavy furniture out. A new outer skin could be tied using brackets screwed to the inner wall: that is the least of your issues. It's not only structure though. Do not ignore the detailing at the foundation ( does the widened wall fit on it still?) Or at the roof. How does this new outer face line work with the current eave and gutter...you probably have to extend the roof at eaves and gable.? And at doors and windows? I wouldn't dream of doing this. Not with my house and my money anyway.

One light circuit is tripping the system. What to look for? I have narrowed down the area of the problem through gradually switching on more fuses. and then trying one light switch at a time. Tried taking the light bulb out on the grounds of wishful thinking. It is a single ceiling bulb, with a simple one-way switch. What should I do next? My hunch is that mice have gnawed a cable in the attic, because we can hear them up there. In a way that would be good news as it may be simple to resolve too. On the other hand, there are may reels worth of exposed cabling up there, and this hasn't happened before. Or is the pendulum cable connection the first thing to check? Do wall switches malfunction? .....or what else?