saveasteading

I see we discussed this in 2021! have I been on BH that long? But it was early days I hoping you recent completers can advise.

The steading is done. BCO final visit next week and ...ooops we haven't fitted a CO2 detector as required in one bedroom. A CO2 monitor should be permanently fixed and is required to be mains operated." Does this mean it needs to be fixed to the wall and hardwired? I . Having to be hard wired is a pain and awkward being so late. They seem to be very expensive. £150 and rising. Any recommendations please, considering cost, rapid availability, ease of installation and, of course, that they perform.

@Smallholdertoo as the others here, i worry that your designers are having trouble. This has all been done thousands of times but your people are making it up and getting it wrong. The sketches are skilled in draughtmanship but not building knowledge. Best change to an experienced designer not someone learning alongside you. Who decided on larsen trusses? Is that decision leading your whole process?

Then be sure. Inspect during and after the worst rain and take pictures. My hunch is to use french drains all the way to these ditches. That will spread your water over a big area and avoid affecting the peat. It will then spread the same water as currently, across the clay. Big storms reach the ditches. You might put a slight dam in a ditch to hold water back.

Is that freudian? Consciencous? EDIT: This typo is just too good to edit out. She's a keeper

If you use the ditch, will the water flow away ( and where to?) Or sit there until it dissipates? Any idea what the ditches were dug for?

Watch the guy doing it and ask what the cause is. I predict you will see a screw at that point. Tt may have ben protruding ever since built but some slight movement has touched it to the glass or vice versa, If so, screw it in tighter or change it. Or the glass is slightly too big and touching the frame there, again through some movement.

wise. We haven't even mentioned what size it should be relative to the frame.....leave that to the fitter too.

I have reverted to using hit-fix for this. The hole doesn't need to be so accurate. The same applies though...predrill the timber, then change bit and go into the floor, deeper than you need and you don't have to worry about dust. Then thump and it is done, but tighten if it will take it.

The Scottish and English guidelines are almost identical, but not quite. If one doesn't suit then use the other and you should be ok. BUT if you can't make it work by numbers then use logic. Where does water go now? AND if in trouble, go back to page 1. 'the Regulation' . Paraphrased It will say that " water must be disposed of to cause no trouble or flooding or whatever. Using the following guidelines will satisfy the requirement." It does not preclude other solutions. BTW the issue with percolation being too fast is that it can create sinkholes. That happens with Kentish (etc) chalk. It will not happen with glacial moraine, which is just short of being sandstone until disturbed. Too slow and a solution is to spread it over a lot of area, in different directions rather than a 'field' then with an overflow to a lagoon, where the head of water helps and wind will evaporate a fair amount. The numbers still won't work but the reality usually will.

I've said on here before...I have seen PIR floating.....not an experience you want or worth saving 50p/m2 for.

US post boxes have a flag that sticks up. Not so much fun as wires and lights perhaps?

For a transport company in the grottiest estate you can imagine, we had to tick a box for the LA. The ground was a bombsite dump, and any hole would result in rotting clothes and dead dogs. No holes and minimise the cost were the targets. Behind the garage was out of sight. So we bought 5 IBCs and placed the end one under a big downpipe, then linked them by tank connecting pipes. In theory they filled buckets at the end tap for slungeing out sick from bus floors. Overflow was from a higher outlet and so it could have reduced flooding too, if that had been an issue. Payback? At today's prices that might cost £500 all-up. What are 5 buckets of water a day worth?

Perhaps too complex in the existing tank, but the principle is good. You need a small manhole before the tank for maintenance, so make it a bit bigger and as a catching, ie in and out at the top. I then got our non bricklaying worker to build a brick wall across. The low quality mortar filtered the water after it had settled, but otherwise build it properly with a gap at mid height. After 2 years there was about 1mm of silt in the inlet side and negligible on thd outlet side. Do you need to waterproof the inside? An old tank is likely to be cracked and leaky, but these cracks would be fairly obvious. It's not for drinking water so bitumen paint should do.

In the office I mentioned, the water went to 6 x wc. It never looked any different to mains water and most occupants didn't know it was from rain. It was untreated other than leaf filtering and a settlement chamber.

Apologies, I mean the logic. For a new build or major conversion, there isnt much more work in getting great airtightness than decent. For extensions it has less benefit, and for refurbs it will be more difficult.

I'd say that would be wrong. Lack of airtightness is lack of control. Once you have good airtightness you can adjust and control the ventilation.....if you need to. I'm very pleased that everyone who has MVHR is happy. So they should be or something is far wrong. But I'm happy with everything I've done without it. None seem stuffy and occupants have never complained. I think there is enough fresh air brought in to replace extracted air (kitchen/wc) or when people move around / use the door. Any input on this from others? Do you have a stuffy home and wish you had mvhr? What a good idea. Why is that not standard? And dog or cabbage smells.

Do tell. How do you unsnap an aluminium trim without damage? I forgot to say that these were big panes, and I should have had a hop-up and/ or a helper.

I have twice put in rwh. One for my own offices another for a client. 2. Wasn't deemed a great success as the client didn't buy into it. It may have saved them money but they wouldn't have admitted it. 1. Was a huge success. 10m3 for 1000m2 of offices. I would do the same every time for commercial use because...lots of toilets plus garden watering/ caf wash. There was very little potable water (5%?) used. PLUS the sewage cost is based on the potable water used. By using a very big tank (twice the recommended size) and every drop from the roof going into it, it never ran dry. Overflow to soakaways then a lagoon. Against this argument is the cost of electricity and maintenance. The pump broke and had to be replaced every 3 years or so. Payback 5 years, and got awards. BUT for a house the numbers change. 90% potable? The double plumbing is quite a cost, and a smaller tank is not proportionally cheaper. So for our latest barn conversion we intend 3m3 in and for the garden. This will be a basic water tank taking half the roof water. Barrels at downpipes elsewhere. Currently I'm planning no electrics just a twee hand pump, but with easy use of a basic pump when needed for quantity or distance. For the garden the other water saver is lots of soakaways, not too deep, and a "no dig" regime with home composting and mulch. Don't forget to keep the leaves out of the tank. It's easier than the suppliers of fancy kit imply.

I would not recommend this. It is heavy and fiddly, requring an acquired touch. I think i scratched the snap-in beads the first time. Broke the new glass once, on a screw....and got better in time. Only because i ciuldng find s fitter on short notice. I wouldn't do it through choice.

New build is so much easier.

I had that size replaced last year. It was around£200. You don't need to research thicknesses etc, the fitter will visit and assess without commitment You won't want it recurring so the fitter should look for a likely cause...often a protruding screw or an absence of tolerance between glass and frame.

I will have said before: I worked "with" an architect once where the best quote for his design was double the client's stated budget. He designed what he thought it should be. I redesigned and built to the budget...more modest but functional. He said to me about another project with a similar issue that " the client will always find more money". I turned it down. Ask her how she knows it is to your budget, and for fun, who pays if it goes over.

It has become a discussion about rainwater. Can someone split this out? I am for and against. Circumstances. I've still lots to learn from advocates about mvhr which I've never used. And experience of RwH if anyone interested.

I don't understand. These are trickle fans expelling air, and in come draughts to replace it. Thus heat loss? "Something like dmev " could be natural vents like wc fans and trickle vents.???? It's good to hear that my ' do nothing' principle is actually scientific and has a name. I've got a degree including 'Building Science" so I just need some hokum explanation and the bco should accept it. DNAVS. Decentralised Naturally aspirated ventilation system. Seriously. We always have high ceilings if we can contrive it. That helps reduce stuffyness.