saveasteading

I'm prevaricating too. Just one more coffee and BH post.

Good point. No I'm being an individual who would design and supervise the process. Ie talking to buildhub not the industry. An airtight construction but with some flaws, with window vents and a 4" hole in every toilet wall and the kitchen, will get about 3.5. For a better figure, close the vents and covet the fan outlets. In real life these will all vent the house with or without mvhr. The mass industry will cheat, but the real houses will have plenty of air movement.

The future is definitely coming. The age of abundance? Began 1970 or so and applies to a small proportion of the world populace? US/Israel showing it could end next week for us lucky enough to have had some of it.

I'd get 2 air tests. One fully sealed, and another with trickle vents open, and some extractor fans uncovered. The second one to show 3.1 or thereabouts.

Smaller windows facing the sun, larger windows facing away. Perhaps skylights for central areas of big properties. Plenty of insulation and perhaps density facing south. Masses of roof insulation. Tiles make a huge difference. Shutters or full height curtains facing south. Opening windows and the effort to purge excess heat in the evening. High ceilings where excess heat will rise to. Discipline (teaching the family) to close doors to keep heat in or out. A lobby helps a lot as an airlock Dressing appropriately. That is easy and natural control. We can all live comfortably between 18 and 26°C, so a/c is an unnecessary luxury in the UK. Perhaps daily habits should change to suit, as practised in other climates. I.e. we embrace hugge in winter and siesta in summer.., and flexibility at mixed up times. If you must live in T shirts in winter and keep the house airtight in summer and yet have all views available, then that is luxury (decadence?) not sustainability. We should also assume that mains electricity and fossil fuels become crazily expensive, and design to suit, and adapt our expectations to suit. In the house as described there will be ufh, ashp, solar, batteries. No aircon. And I'm not convinced on mvhr either... I don't think my model needs it.

Like all those miserable people in the Mediterranean climate. It's OK.

If I remember properly, I read it that I would put a notice up in a suitable place , such as in a services zone, so that any future owner or maintenance orsin would have it explained. Ie just an explanation of the system. More formally it would also be in a maintenance manual, but that would get lost.

And 450mm isn't enough to justify beam and block. The very clear difference is that below a slab you can have ground, (which insulates) or insulation, whereas below beams you have a draught.

Having just had this done I can advise one concern. The guys putting the insulation in were very cavalier at such intrusions, and were keen to hurry the job and get away. Anticipating such issues I put my heel on the membrane at all such, and one gave way drastically. I settled on the fact that screed would fill the dent and make it solid. That's provided that the membrane isn't punctured and tape still in place. In your case thus concern applies outside the green foam. Inside the green circle perhaps stuff with insulation offcuts and put a sandcand cement screed on top. For anyone approaching the insulation stage I'd say either watch these guys all the time or do any fiddly cutting yourself and leave them with the easy cuts. Eg we had drain pipes with mortar bedding, some near stud walls, leaving slopes into small voids. I spent a day cutting triangular pieces to leave a flat and solid surface, and very glad I did. My mental test was to imagine a heavy concentrated load, eg bed leg or grand piano. Under an island it is more a matter of tidiness

It is often said "choose 2 because you can't have all 3". But that is simplistic. In reality it is a formula of the 3 to get the product you want. Round my way the mass developers are complaining that aren't making money, and in parallel applying for more permissions. The new products are selling more slowly, and the 2 to 3 year old identical units are a lot cheaper. They might be nearing the right cost.

7 That's mostly down to the choices made on cost and quality. Eg the door mentioned. They are avaliable solid and completely water and draught-proof but these are expensive. The choices are mostly by the buyers, of what they regard as acceptable. Also by developers, but they make what will sell. Then of course " builders".. anyone can call themselves a builder. There are very good ones but they cost more, so it's our choice.

It has been happening for decades. I worked with steel buildings which were made to order and slotted together beautifully on site. They were not even modular, but to any dimensions but there were parameters. Most of it was automatic manufacture, with humans just doing the odd tack weld to get it started. It was also possible to make a frame on site and lift it into place By chance I have a photo in front of me from some box sorting. THe odd thing was that the steel erectors didn't want to know about this. partly habit, partly macho, but the time difference was very small. The big difference is that you then took this hitech kit to a muddy site and worked at 8m in the air in all weathers.

My apologies. factor of 10 out. PHEW we are only paying £160/ household as dividend. That does sound more like it, but it is still a lot. I shouldn't do mental arithmetic with big numbers while sitting in the car (I was not driving). I chose 1M for convenience btw. and of course there is commercial use too, but we are the populace, so that huge amount could perhaps be better controlled.

Agreed. I found that the cost is pretty much based on £/m3 except for 100mm. As this is the big seller the merchants will stock it by the lorry load and know they will sell it all. Unconventional thicknesses may be special orders and so attract handling and delivery costs.

Ignore the glass on H and S grounds. I think he was guessing. It could always be added.

Perhaps. I went to a modular factory and was surprised to see it was just an old shed, with people slicing osb and cutting battens, and another nailing it on a bench. The difference though was quite simply in taking away all manual measuring. A computerised machine drew cutting lines and part numbers, straight from a schedule. So there was minimal waste, and much reduced skill level. Also, they took in fresh timber, in wrapped 6m3 or 4.8m3 bundles, straight from the docks and it never got wet so the quality was more certain.

I'm shocked, so to speak. So let's say there are 1 million properties in the UK then we are all, as families, paying £1,600 to these owners as dividends every year. I can understand the article being vague, as few journalists these days do more than print a press statement and very few will have construction or scientific knowledge. I'm guessing though that if it is plugged in on our side of the meter, that it doesn't apply. Maybe just do it and see what happens?

That sounds primitive, dangerous and short term. Can't the outlet have a grille? I bet they are a standard thing. Or simply stuff some mesh in the pipe. Anyway, any creature venturing in there would get washed away and become effluent.

This works and is some concreters preference, but can also go badly wrong. Maybe you can find a way so they don't get displaced. I started doing columns this way but moved away from it. @B52s what stage are you at now? Is the concrete in place. My preference is always to have the concrete in first, to an absolutely precise level or with 25mm space for metal shims or an extra nut beneath. NB this can affect your subsequent detailing so keep the concrete low to do this. Then to draw the bolt cluster positions as 4 points but with the square projected, as you will lose the marks. Then drill for threaded rod and epoxy. Some people prefer to have a ply or metal template to hang the bolt clusters but they can be displaced. As @Nickfromwales and @Russell griffithssay... check and check, and have a permanent reference line. Checking diagonal distances with a tape is important, even if you've used a right angle laser... they can be faulty or be used incorrectly... I never found out which. This process goes wrong a lot, even with experienced operatives, so you're right to ask and keep asking.

That's not happening I'm afraid. When I followed your link I saw that Toupret do a big range of external products, I will look into this powder one for the smaller work and maybe a resin one for big gaps. https://www.toupret.co.uk/professional-filler/product/wood-surfaces/wood-repair-filler-white https://www.screwfix.com/p/toupret-wood-repair-filler-natural-wood-1kg/224HE?tc=JS7&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=895557794&gbraid=0AAAAAD8IdPyUeZdKJb4fWJQyzVOYn2BPQ&gclid=Cj0KCQjwkMjOBhC5ARIsADIdb3eeVmP0gJAcT6hADzZZVxvyI8Zn5Qvb7FE9IJQidD9BaJTrhiBXTDsaAhMGEALw_wcB

I've never used a laser level so am not able to recommend. However 2 things to say. The big names such as Leica , when I used them every day by sight to a staff, were much more accurate than the others and were adjustable and repairable. No electronics, just lenses , prisms and a pendulum. The latter is what needed adjustment. Is that still how lasers function, gravity on a pendulum? No matter how good they are, there is a lot of skill in using them properly, especially in challenging conditions.... I know this from picking up the mess from workers who thought having a laser level was the whole answer. And 3rd of the 2!. Learn the principle of equal back-sight and fore-sight for anything more than a room distance. 4th, treat them very carefully.

No, this is SE England. temperature isn't stable here either. I'd say -5 to +35 this last year. Anyway an update, I've tried the Bedec Barn paint and am extremely impressed by it in every way. Handling it, I've been brushing onto the bare wood, perished paint and the decent paint and it flows nicely and covers amazingly well for a single coat so far. And it goes a long way too. Finding some more at a decent price doesn't look so easy, as the stockists are far apart and seem to favour black.... most actual barn conversions here use timber in natural or black, whereas the local architecture is traditionally in white: and its for an old house, as the pic above. I'm thinking this will best be a Forth Bridge process of dealing with flaky stuff as it arises as various areas have different properties according to age (areas have been re-clad over the years) , sunlight, damp etc. The ease of using this product aids that decision, as it is very easy to just use some, and wash the brush in water. ie the previous regime of cleaning then prime and gloss, all in one hit, is not ideal.

Thanks. What do you recommend for external wood filler? Weatherboard, mostly ancient, where knots have pinged out, some boards where becoming porous on the surface (or chewed by wasps perhaps,) and some badly holed or split feature blocks. That may be 2 different products required according to the hole sizes. I've used Ronseal and really don't like it for handling or for the ability to smooth or shape it.

I don't know the Toupret product so used your link. The description says it 'does not flash or grin' . That's good to hear, except I don't know what that means in this context. Do you know?

This published Thursday and surprisingly the only mention I've seen of it. Not surprising. Maybe old news regurgitated.