saveasteading

Back to entertainment systems. I know a company that will install a system in your Mayfair basement or your yacht anywhere in the world. When he shows his 'secret' client list people just gulp at the names. Once he asked if the client would like a pre-loading of music onto the system, and was handed the client's phone and told to spend up to £10k on downloads. Happy to pass on your contact details if anyone needs that help.

Shhhhhh !!

That would be the worry. That you think you know everything, like the boarder or the sparky mentioned above. But such a person would not be on this site, asking (or answering) questions.

This would look very odd and clunky made of several units, but is simple enough made of sections. Hence needs to be a company used to this, and not one mass-producing normal windows.

Some of us know a lot about very little. Some know a little about a lot. The above trades were people who knew very little about very little, but didn't know how little they knew.....they are scary... and they are out there now.

I have had a look at the Rationel website. I don't see any mention of them doing large feature panels (one is a full gable opening to roof). That doesn't mean they wouldn't do it. In such cases I provide an intermediate steel support to allow the glazing framing to be normal sections.

Great info thanks. My recollection is that Rationel (aluminium clad)were 50% dearer than upmarket pure aluminium ( ie without the timber). I have talked to Rationel at trade shows and they made no attempt to suggest they could be cheaper. I think this was partly that their product is clearly complex and very high quality, but also that their market (Architect specified) could handle that price level. £400 supply is much cheaper than I remember and that was some years ago. Perhaps the market has changed. I have sent their Aberdeen office an initial query. Also Russel timber at Glasgow.

Your sketch is brilliant at explaining the principles. The manufacturers don't do this as well as you. If you waive copyright I will print it for training the family and questioning prospective installers. I didn't know the system sent the right temperature in different directions at different times. Perhaps not all do. A basic question if you don't mind. When a tank calls for water does a valve switch to that tank only, and is the ASHP switched to provide the higher/lower temperatures?

Your thoughts are appreciated. I looked into this, but apparently they will be easy pickings for the squirrels and pine martens. I am now thinking how many midges it takes to feed that lot! Where should a swallow nest box be located? Fortunately, Swallows will use a special open nest box in an enclosed area such as a porch or outbuilding. A Swallow Nest should be sited inside a building which allows easy access for the birds via an open door or window, such as a garage or outhouse.

Thanks all. So the companies from Aberdeen and 'the south' are happy to travel 2 hours plus, to measure and to fit. Or have local reps and fitters more likely. Have used slate grey aluminium on multiple commercial jobs and had no colour issues, but will bear this in mind. I can see that the blue in it might go green if unstable. Thinking about it more, this was in a very populous area and we still had a company from 70 miles away to get the product and service we wanted. Rationel are awfully expensive though (last I checked) and we will have 40 m2 of windows. (Rationel's website says they typically do jobs over 100m2!. I know they target, and are often nominated suppliers, on school projects) Maybe I should extend the search 'to Aberdeen and beyond'.

Looking ahead somewhat to window and door supplier, in case we need to allow any detailing at the repairing walls stage. I have been trawling through the local suppliers by web search. Every one does uPVC, some do timber but none seem to do aluminium. Apart from £50/m2 differential is there a local reason for this? We are favouring aluminium to get a slate grey colour, and because there is a large feature panel where I don't think pvc will cope. btw I have a strong dislike for 'wood effect' on plastic. Also, I was once persuaded to use coloured uPVC and liked the saving, but not how the grey windows became lilac over 2 years. Perhaps the colouring is better now.

Worth paying a QS with rating knowledge to advise. The rules of valuing are laid down, and the QS can advise if they agree or can argue for you.

Good info thanks. The detail you show is better than many, But you need a bigger area than with glass for the same light, so more heat loss. Yes, that is the best detail. But the best steel will last a lot longer than the best polycarbonate (which is much better than fibreglass). Also the screws pull the steel very tight, whereas you have to be gentler and use extra big washers over the plastic. I know that there are many more leaks at skylights than at metal joints. Plus birds sit and peck at the plastic. That is new to me. there is a foam compression filler there, so they seem to be acknowledging some concerns. Never had any air test problems due to standard cladding, only when special details had to be formed for aesthetics. When I read your piece I hadn't thought of using these rooflights in a domestic setting, so was thinking of plonked on feature skylights. I agree that metal cladding can look fine for domestic, even in an urban setting, as long as it is like this profile and grey, as it looks like an old zinc roof, only modern. Some of my concerned comments are related to flattish roof slopes, and diminish on domestic looking slopes, but composite is horrible to lift and fix on steep slopes.

Had that. The glass was only siliconed at the base (and only on one side as instructions) and so pushed loose of the base. The wall channel held it in place and wasn't damaged, and the top stay also 'stayed'. Refixing involved removal of the line of silicone and doing it again. Therefore I agree with the above: always use a full length wall channel and a stay. In fact I would only ever use an integrated kit. I like PeterW idea of the spacers. Buildings move a lot and the glass could be stressed and break. In theory anyway and I haven't seen it...perhaps the wall channel rubber allows some movement.

Or this. Folds back into a column and disappears into the ground. No clutter in the house.

About 45 years ago I built my own speaker cabinets from plywood. The design came from a nerdy book with many designs and an explanation of the theory (of the volume required and either acoustic dampening or a long travel path for the sound waves to dissipate, and the need for a robust enclosure to avoid resonance.) The speaker is in a box to prevent the sound wave off the back of the diaphragm cancelling the one from the front, if I remember correctly. One of the designs involved screwing the speaker units directly over holes in the wall, with the drive mechanism in the wall, and using the cavity of the wall as the dampening chamber. That would be very neat indeed, but nowadays would be seen as a gap in the wall for fire spread. I think someone should try it and report back.

Composite panel (sandwich of metal around PIR) is pretty good acoustically. Noise is more likely to come from skylights. I think the noise 'issue' is touted by tile manufacturers. Yes but they are inferior thermally and not suitable for houses. Any gap in a composite metal roof (roof-light, flue) is a big risk for weather sealing, depending too much on mastic. This is a different thing. Composite panels only get sealed from above. This sounds like 'built up' roofing , so cladding insulation, cladding. Both skins should be sealed. Haven't heard that one before, and have had 10,000m2 used on roofs and walls. There is an issue with screws needing retightening, but I think this is the cladding bedding down when walked on/ wind chatter. The best sealant (in tape form) never goes hard if protected from sunlight, but it costs a lot more.

They were swallows, with nests inside, on ledges and roof frames. The nests are open 'bowl' shape. Not great when the space becomes your kitchen or bedroom, and they won't shut the doors behind them. We certainly won't touch them if nesting, but that would halt the work, , so will have to stop them doing so with a daily (or twice daily) shoo and removal of that shift's pile of straw. It would be nice to give them a replacement space but it seems they only like caves and hence buildings. Perhaps they will find other accommodation nearby.

The worst being machine operators. Over-digging (but they don't pay for muck away or more concrete Filling too thick before compacting. "Look at that, it is perfectly hard" (on top only). Not using the roller because "the tracks do it much better". Got a degree in this/ I'm the Engineer/ don't even do it because they are digger drivers and don't know what they don't know. I'm your boss's client works though. The worry though is that they are clearly doing this as standard and creating very inferior work elsewhere. Next come bricklayers......etc. An 'amateur' has to be even more diplomatic, and judge the balance between sensible control and getting in the way....but it can be done, and is important.

Or from anyone. This can be tricky when you know they are wrong but not prepared to listen. Often they don't know as much as they think, especially about design theory (the science bit). Generally ask questions rather than telling them what to do. eg, how are you planning to course the brickwork between these levels? What do you plan to do so that the wood cladding is all in nice big strips? How will you get the bricks through to the back garden? How many workers will be here on Monday?

There were 6 nests inside the building last year (wide open doorways and skylights), and they are not coming back as a daily sweep will stop nest building. There are no overhanging eaves.

Curling you mentioned. That is a worry as to curl it has to bend up off the underlying surface, so will crack when it drops back to pace when loaded. The If I had done this bad job to my own house I would let it cure completely, then stamp or thump all over it to make it crack, then rub it flat with a stone (a brick even) and fill the cracks cosmetically. It wouldn't be right but I'd be living with a risk of my own creation. BUT I wouldn't accept that from a supposed specialist contractor. Discussion would start as 'break it all out and do it properly'. It would probably end up as 'no more money, just go' on the assumption that thy haven't been paid. As you have UFH pipes in there it is very much more complicated. I winder what stresses are occurring in the pipes as the screed shrinks and curls. The pipes are working as a sort of reinforcement so the cracks may have been much wider (and more numerous) without it. If they are your general builder and you want to keep them, then only you can decide.

I have been looking into exactly this so can help a bit. Thick stone walls turn out to be better insulated than was believed. This is for a few reasons but mostly when the wall is made of 3 skins, as the central core is rubble pus 40% mortar. If the outer rock is of dense rock, well built with large stones and minimal mortar it sheds water quickly and there isn't too much heat-sucking evaporation. However it still isn't great on its own. Do you have/intend to have an inner lining? The floor will be a big heat sink, but do you have enough height to insulate above it, remembering that a higher floor may take you above door lintels. Whatever the heat source, you will lose a lot if the insulation is poor. Damp-course : There is unlikely to be one, but damp doesn't rise much in these walls. More on this later perhaps.

Well done for confirming whose product it isn't. I looked up Longfloor and they state that shrinkage is Drying Shrinkage - <500µm/m pH - ≥10 If I have my figures right that is 1/2mm per m or 1:2000 If your room is 4m long then a crack would be 2mm. Cemfloor are the same, so their statement of No Cracking is incorrect. We are back to: it should have had a crack inducer/former across the doorway.

Is that an intended change of term? cc councillor that is mentioned and your local one if different .