Ferdinand

I probably still have my quote on the email. PM your addy and I can send it through for a comparison. Ferdinand

The last time I looked the minimum national standard for 1 bed flats was actually 37sqm. Perhaps the LA has had a brainstorm? (Open to correction)

Ouch. Sorry to see that. Are there any other installs on the site to give a quality check?

What sort of awful smell is it - poo awful smell, stagnant drains awful smell, dead rat in the wall smell etc? Can you learn anything from the timings eg after someone has done a number 2, or had a bath or something? Are there any external factors that may affect? eg drain work next door? My first thought is if there is something coming back up one leg from another leg. Had that when we had just done my upstairs bathroom last month - because a bath running away puts more water through than a shower water was coming back up the drain of the downstairs shower and bringing gunge up into the shower tray through the drain. It also brought smells. The solution was a one way valve in the waste pipe of the downstairs shower to stop backwash. We put similar in when we added the pipework for a bath upstairs as it was all done in the very personal style of the previous selfbuilder and his belt needed some braces. And as JSH says - check traps. Ferdinand

Taylor made credible reason to give plausible deniability when you are tipsy. Cool.

There are also options now which use textured porcelain tiles to get the effect. If you have larger tiles may be easier to fit. Not unlike a brick version of the "wood" porcelain tiles you get for your floor. Somebody on BH has them and likes them - @Christine Walker maybe (?) Example not recommendation: https://www.tilemountain.co.uk/blog/brick-tiles-exposed-brick-without-the-mess/ Do this properly and you just powerwash it once a year ? . Ferdinand

I have seen these used in rentals quite effectively. Very good for "generation Instagram". My Letting Agent also PM renovations for investors, and they actually did a "scaffold plank feature wall" (with real scaffold planks). Here's one that uses Brick Wallpaper.

Believe the MAFIA offer slightly expensive contract options for proving yourself right if that calculation does not work out. ? (Payment would be required in advance) You need to think about everything. You can also get and need to think about (you may have done this): - Potentially a saving on roof tiles etc if you go "in roof". - A partial insurance policy against rising electricity prices (and potentially against policy designed to drive out gas - potentially quite quickly if the rhetoric-over-reality lobby win). - Similar against potential supply issues. - Potentially the lecky car saving / ability to start using batteries for short term time shifting if required. But batteries are to a major degree probably dependent on having solar. - The price of tech may change by the time you build it. eg I would expect the price of solar to fall modestly over the next 2-5 years (I mean 10-20%) after a fall of 70% or so since 2010, but a greater fall in battery prices (maybe) due to tech and scale. - You could use secondhand panels if you need for some years, or tweak your install otherwise. - Those numbers will only get better if energy prices increase. Which depends on policy, whether offshore wind lasts, and whether they build any white elephant supply options. (See Tidal Ponds, or perhaps Nuclear). OTOH I can see oil prices falling depending on the level of demand - 25-30% of global oil goes into passenger transport and that will shrink by 95-99% in half a century if we consider ground transport. - As a temporary factor, it could be argues that current mortgage rates make the finance free or potentially below inflation if you have capacity. - The spec of your house may change (or not meet or exceed your aspirations). - It is virtually always possible to reduce the cash cost of anything by 20-40% depending how you do it. - Finally you may decide to invest for the environment. This was in some measure my motivation. Mine are currently probably on a 13-16 year payback, but I jumped before the subsidies were cut, and have a Plan to move half of them to a South Facing roof (2 strings, 19kWp install) when I get my car port / veranda past the management. I think my call would be to build a long term cost spreadsheet incorporating 200 years of bills to explore options, maybe increase the house spec somewhat, and at least provision for the possibility to do it effectively in future. Then play your best informed game of "spot the ball". And remember that there will be wrinkles in the process - this does not apply to you but it is a good example. Ferdinand

I have Solaredge on all my panels (I think), though only about 28 had a real shade risk, and they have me a couple of spare panels and optimiser when I asked nicely the day before signing the order. in extremis I can probably find one in the garage and take a photo, though at present it will interesting finding things.

May be a consideration as interest rates cannot stay at their current level forever. However, in the absence of a Corbyn or similar spendthrift government (sorry, politics but necessary her) I do bot see them returning to 10% plus. Cost / benefit call on your part. Ferdinand

Philosophical discussions are fun. Mine tend to end with either Roobarb and Custard, or Paddington Bear. Here is Roobarb demonstrating by analogy why it is possible to overdo following the crowd. Not particularly a comment on angled walls.

As I see it, you need either quaifications followed by credible experience, or lots and lots of experience. Then you need to find the jobs, usually starting simply or at the bottom. The impression I get is that training can be through Apprenticeship or a course at an FE College. When I did my "bit of everything" 9 month evening class abck in 2012 ish, at my local college they were teaching it as a skill. That will not help you find a way in, but there seems to be demand at present. I will say that imo being good is the thing to aim for, even if it takes longer. And I expect that the investment needs to be at least as much time as money - and then it will be to your advantage to specialise in a niche or several niches. HTH. Ferdinand

One question: Have Sunamp sorted their problems yet, and can they now be considered a credible and reliable-for-the-future supplier? I hope so. (Yes / Maybe / No and one sentence will suffice).

(Aside) Do you have a link to that shower? Cheers F

1 - I think you get wider or narrower margins between the "water space" and the "edge" depending on which tray you choose. Visiting my local shower shop yesterday with a measuring tape, they had trays on display with margins from 50mm to 70mm. That may give you the extra leeway you need to cover any potential variances if you go the "chase out" route, if you can find the right tray. Or you may have already done that. But they tell me that it is not a specification item, so you would need to measure it yourself, or get the bloke at the other end to measure it and confirm by email. Some may have a plan in their online photos which includes a measurement, but you would have to make clear that that dimension was an express requirement. OTOH 10mm is enough, but you need to be damned sure it won't go wrong eg if somehow you lost *another* 10mm. 2 - I would avoid a 1350 tray as it sounds like a thing that may not be easily available later. There (imo) be hidden dragons. 3 - I would go for a 1300 tray and box out. As for finishing the lower edge of the Multipanel, that is a detail which @JSHarris at least has published a detail for - involving iirc a 10mm gap at the bottom, a narrow L profile behind the panel slightly overlapping the shower tray top, and a bead of good quality silicone to seal and hide. I did similarly. Boxing out will leave you with a 'shelf' either at the bottom or top of the multipanel. I would put that at the top simply because it is away from the water and is less critical. There should be an easily obtained plastic profile to cover it - architrave or similar. It will just need a wipe with a damp cloth 2 or 3 times a year. If you put the 'shelf' at the bottom, that could be done with edging tiles to match the bathroom, or even a strip of Multipanel if you have offcuts (potentially you could have several replacements for that available from your offcuts). As I say I would have it at the top away from the water. I would not expect such a Multipanel strip to last more than perhaps 5-7 years, so I would have a couple of extras in reserve. 4 - Or go wetroom somehow. F

Have you got another one that works for comparison? Has it been overloaded for a time? IMO these seem to be temperamental. Once you sort it, if you do, I would consider using a PTFE lubricant (Halfords - saves replacing slightly sticky reel seat belts for example, and saved me a couple of hundred) on the runners. F

Mountings or pre-water-hammer? If you have an onset of unexpected water hammer, I am sure T will let you know pronto. Rubber bushes indicated?

Just having read all the replies, I hope you are feeling better. I think that tee shirt should read .. Cluedo: In the Winter Garden, with the barrel of Becherovka F

it’s the angle of the dangle... (No it isn’t.) For value, you need crude floor area. Only 1 in 250 would notice that wall angle difference, few of those would give you an extra 10k for it. But an extra 10 sqm would breeze into the numbers. For sun, I would stick a tall thin window in the end. Much easier. Audio .. why do you need the better audio characteristics? Roof resolution and complexity is the curse of angled walls imo. In this, I would say play with interesting integration of the inside / outside spaces, perhaps with things like flowerbeds, landscaping, water features and bar b cues or an outdoor kitchen. Pleached lime pergola or similar, to be like the dream sequences from Gladiator? Does this proposal shade your evening light on the terrace?

Get a sugar daddy tee shirt. Or remember STs ‘pony having a poo’ comment.

PS Given that MP is vertical all the way it will be a helluva lot of chasing out .. not like the edge of a bath.

I would suggest 1300 rather than digging holes in the wall. It is still generous though careful design needed, and you will never get a bath in there should you wish to do so unless it is a tin bath. Multipanel essentially gives you a new wall so take up the slack with extra battens, sealing should be as good and think carefully about your whole space including that behind the shower walls. Also think carefully about how you will make your pipe work maintainable, though 50mm is not a lot to work with for that. If you are using aquapanel joints then the Multipanel will have to be dismantled from one end. This could be obsessional by me, but given a leak in 2028 I would rather dismantle one panel not six. The last couple I have had done I have used the extra leftover to hide the gubbins and make it maintainable with a panel on the end. Most recently the self builder who did my current house turned out not to have put isolating valves in for each bath/shower, so we used it to add those and make them accessible, and allow us to run pipes on the bathroom side of the wall. Having had my recent experience of having to make bathrooms accessible I would also put the framing in knowing where it needs to be for future potential grab rails, shower seats etc (+document for ref) ... I ended up using screws up to 150mm in one place to find a firm enough hold. For future buggering about you will be wanting to use the first panel in the run for ease of restitution later .. eg if you install umpteen support stuff and then the person moves or pops their clogs due to reaching 93 etc. As has been said plan B would be a wetroom. Just thoughts. F

He’s Baromess Scotland’s dodgy staffperson?.

Not sure how useful it is, and I have no idea where prices are at present, but as a sighting shot Wickes 12.5mm 8x4 sheets are quoted at £2.60 per sqm, which means that by nurdling the normal discounts (Trade plus a Reloadable Cashcard) you should be at about £2.10 per sqm. That would give free delivery for £250 chunks of order.

That'll take a big cuckoo.