saveasteading

I understand that electricity prices are averaged out wherever you are. So @ProDave pays as if it was gas powered even though he will be getting wind power, costing 1/3 but not passed on locally. If people knew their price could plummet then wind turbines might be loved more.

Are you sure of that? The aim is that a fire next door doesn't set your wall alight, so a surface treatment should do. Perhaps some closure to any cavity as well. Had never heard of this It appears to be a exotic, rainforest type timber, with ayous being one of many names. I have used 'larch' otherwise unspecified on many hundreds of m2. I get it tanalised and then prefer to colour it but that is opinion. Russwood is beautiful, but is priced accordingly.

Will there be oil at affordable prices in a few years? Will gas be turned off? (Putin related) Will electricity price fall? Are you constructing a new floor suitable for UFH anyway? And do you want to use less fossil fuel on principle?

They do that on purpose, just as you stand straight on the other side. It's not something I immediately thought of in doing a conversion, that there is a conflict between improving the floors, undermining existing walls, and door heights. An experienced builder told me that lots of people get it wrong.

When current houses are demolished there surely has to be a protocol for removing eps and pir? To ''energy from waste'? It won't be easy. Where does fibreglass demo go now? To landfill I assume. It should go to incineration , not for heat but to return it to sand.

I was cutting into the timber cladding for some reason and there was a strong smell of resin still. Some of the construction is superb, but lots is very poor. I'd summarise by saying the timber is good, the joinery workmanship is generally good, but some design decisions were very poor and it has had an interesting life. But it is still with us.

I have read that air moves readily through cross walls, horizontally. Thus any walls retained as stone features could be a heat sink. We have sealed the innards through boring modern methods, so any draughts are between the vapour control layer and the outsides. Repairs to the lime pointing will be the work of years. The floors are all modern now. Most of the farm quality floors had to be broken out anyway so are now insulated and heated. Beware existing door lintel heights if thinking of building up the floors.

Permission to worry you? This old house has concrete floors but were once timber. One area was damp and we found that under the screed were rotten timbers with concrete filled between. I've not worked out the original construction but it looks like it might have been hardcore, then joists on tiny or zero packing, then boarding. When that rotted they just threw away the boards and poured in concrete. moral: don't assume builders were better in the past or that there is much logic to what you have there.

You'll get plenty of differing opinions on here, but very few favouring ground source. Quite right too. That's unless you have hot rock underground, or the ground effectively has a stream passing through it to bring in new energy. Ground source sucks the heat out of the ground and it is not replaced. Slinkys are actually getting their energy from the air and the sun, so will work nicely in the summer, so forget them too. Air is replaced constantly so..... ASHP for my next project too, without a doubt. Stone buildings. Is yours like ours, granite with 600mm thickness in 3 layers? There is good info in Scottish 'heritage' sites. We have kept the structure as it keeps the weather out, and built a timber tent inside, for insulation and tidiness. The stone gives you more insulation than is normally imagined and dampness is also a minor to zero issue if you repair and look after the wall properly (understanding lime too). Results of our stone building: Only partially occupied. Very happy with temperatures and ASHP heating efficiency. No damp. Steading saved. Yours looks splendid and will be just great if you take best advice and study study study. ohhh and don't assume that the local builders know much (or anything) about science, or good building practice. . Good luck and keep asking.

All the advice is good. I would only add that a 'non woven membrane, is more resistant to tough weeds than 'woven membrane'. . where the roots can prise through the weave. But this is not the utmost importance. And lap by 150mm for the same reason. No need to poison the ground, just spray any leaves when they appear and the roots will die, You will get weeds as the gravel becomes dirty and allows seed germination, but it is easy to stay on top of it with weeding. The slabs should be laid on sand at the very least, with the sand straight on to the membrane, or mortar as best. pictures once done please?

Interesting. is there a source for this view? I live in a stick built timber house built 100 years ago. All looks good for another 100 ( the house, not me!) Any building done correctly will last a long time. they are all designed for 50 years, but should last much longer. As compared to polystyrene farming? I'm joking. your views are interesting.

That makes sense. But only today I came across an old photo I took of a cable puncturing the vapour control, and not sealed. So it is quite a good time for a bco overview. Did I ever mention a project where our client's electrician issued apprentice completion certificates (green versions of the full certificates, if I recall) . Nobody had pulled him up on it before.

I can't remember. I think I used the windows 'snip' function to get the image and then there was an easy-enough way to plonk it in the profile. I also vaguely remember trying 4 times, to get the picture centred optimally. Sorry. But if I can do it then it can't be difficult, and so can you I do like when people use it, as it helps point to the items likely to be of interest, or I can help........or not. btw You are in the 'interesting' category.

@joe90and @JohnMo Any more advice please? Do you learn to be more cautious, or useful techniques, or does familiarity cause carelessness? At present I have used it for about 20 nails and am scared silly of it. I wonder, and worry, if that is the safest stage? I'm knocking up some stud for site toilets. I'm using screws to create the shape, then banging in lots of nails at angles for rigidity. That way my hand is not tempted to go near the sharp end. Yet.

Your home page shows that some trees rem(ain. Have you tried a clip from that lovely pic as your icon? Your point is good, stick built is ubiquitus in Scotland but insurers remain ignorant that is is not high risk. They are about money and not technical. It could be huge business for an insurer that embraced the prinfiple.

Stone and sand don't shrink. Water is the issue. The right amount, as delivered in the mix,* mostly combines chemically with the cement and the rest evaporates. Any extra water evaporates and leaves that amount of void in the concrete. Your huge amount of mesh causes microscopic cracking all over, and stops big cracks appearing. Not the contractor's decision though, but the SE. *it is a precise design, with all the ingredients adjusted. The sand is even tested for wetness to ensure the right amount of water. Hardly. This would work as an upstairs floor or a bridge but is supported on the ground. A skilled contractor will get this flat and smooth enough and you won't need screed.

You can pay hundreds or adapt a standard catchpit. There's a half decent idea on Google, to make your own. But I wouldn't guarantee it and it may need regular cleaning. I would lay a stack of catchpit units on a concrete base. Pipe in and pipe out at about plus 200mm. The silt should settle.

Gus is right. I had not been able to see the photograph. That is a lot of steel, some of it very congested so may effectively sieve and separate the concrete into fine and coarse, which affects the strength. The SE may advise smaller aggregate. And another concern might be level control. I've seen plenty of contractors assume that having a laser level is all that is necessary. Controlling the pour levels and then the tamp / float is not simple. Ask how it will be controlled. Most importantly: do not let anyone add any water to the mix. Instruct the contractor and also instruct each delivery driver.

I don't understand the context. Why is a steel beam in the ground? What is above the top beam? Is it a heated and insulated space? How can you be going for passiv certification without having designed for it?

Only space below the invert counts as soakaway. If it was to fill above this then the pipes are not emptying. As french drains they will drain of course, but then what purpose has the soakaway? If the water is all clean, then little harm. If dirty then pipes and soakaway will clog in time. I suggest draw it as a cross section, and show water at various levels.

It is common sense. Each contractor should know how to do whatever they do. It is common to disallow flame on any work near to going home time. What would you do if a fire broke out? So have a few extinguishers. It shouldn't be. Timber needs to be exposed to severe heat, and have lots of air or it won't burn. Charring provides insulation. To put your mind at rest, think of the opposite case, that you have been challenged, oddly, to burn down a timber frame. It would start to look like a very poorly built bonfire that would never catch. As soon as plasterboard starts to go on, it isn't going to burn.

Any suggestion why? Do they mean warm water or heated wire anyway?

You may be lucky. It's possible that the manufacturer hasn't tested it for ufh and is being cautious.

The first few mm are a point and cutting section, and sometimes another bit clearing the hole. Then it converts to the thread at full diameter There will be a minimum number of full threads to cut into the timber and resist pull-out. I think about 4 or 5 turns typically. Add these up and 20mm sounds right. 3 threads instead of 4 is only going to be a mm or so, but you have lost 25% strength, even though lots of pointy screw is projecting uselessly, it's job being done. .

20m is probably too long, so it is not moving with temperature. Try the suggestions above but expect to repeat before long. Hence use the best material, at maybe 3 x the price. Is it UV resistan? You would hope they jad thoight about it. Don't trust what they say on cheap stuff. You need uv proof and lots of elasticity.