Ferdinand

Interesting hour spent using stainless steel screws in oak... quite surprised by the size of the pilot holes needed.

Cheers. Doing the next bit of accessible house, in the form of a oak grab rail. F

Cheers.

A quickie. is is there a knack or trick to this DeWalt bitholder. It has come back from a loan to someone doing a job for me, and I am not totally clear if a thoroughly attached bit requires something to be pulled or pushed or twisted, or if it just indicates a bit of brute force with pliers. Chap got through 2 entire batteries just screwing and drilling ally and wood, Any advice welcome. Cheers F

In this setup I am not clear what the breathable membrane achieves that eg garden netting would not. I wonder whether even a breathable membrane will inhibit your ventilation too much. AIUI the underfloot joists need to have sufficient access to ventilation (which a breathable membrane may not provide), where the trad suggestion has been do not insulate below the bottom edge level and make sure your airbricks are clear, plus airtight the floor. Or make sure that no moisture at all can get in by filling it all and seal it up completely. Which is where Leca or Pumped Beads between the underslab and the suspended floor apply. F

That pattern is called "how to fold the lid of a cardboard box such that a small child cannot get back out". I am not sure what they are called, but I have a friend who gets his electronic goods delivered to his company in interlocking foldable wooden 4 sided collars with hinges at the corners, which turn into planters or compost heap holders just by stacking. I have yet to obtain more than about two, such is the demand. I quite like the "hinges for corners" technique. Ferdinand

Two to add to that list. "Unknown unknowns - o feck skippy felll down the mineshaft we just discovered." "Planner requirements, which may be justified - you shall reopen that quarry in order to get the matching stone" , and so on. I wonder if there is also the "once we have started they cannot go back" thing, that happens in politics. F

Is that not what GPs are rumoured to do with alcohol consumption self-estimates? Hands up anybody who halves it first ?

I wonder if the local policy of reuse says anthing about reuse when it does more damage to the planet? Best of luck.

You need to choose your battles. Some you can win anyway, sometimes.Soem you might win. Some you may lose. What do you want and what can you live without? Some you can split up. For example, is there any reason why you cannot just replace that garage door with a big window in the same opening now or as a separate project? the whole thing? I do not know the rules and the conservation area rules, which I assume you are in if the CO has weighed in. Can you replace the garage door with another garage door with windows in it now without violating CO regs, and then say in your PP that you are preserving the appearance (with an even bigger window than the one they hate) because of the conservation area ? Or do that as Project 1, and the extension as 2 . Saw one here where County would not change the parking setup because there was no access into the building. So he got a door, and screwed it to the wall, which presumably covered someone’s backside sufficiently to avoid blowback and prevent the inattentive authorities discovering the questionable decision ie they can blame him and claim Nelsonian, because they then changed it. Screwing the door on the wall was suggested by County people verbally... If you get into detailed and open ended arguments you than have to close off all their escape routes t9navoid your proposal or an acceptable alternative. Or you could get a basic pp then go back for a variation etc. How much elapsed time do you have? Can you manipulate the CO to get what you want from the planner? I think the Planner sticking his head down an ostrich hole is unacceptable. Perhaps try via your local councillor or the Planning boss .. “I wondered whether your planning officer Courtov Caractacus was on holiday” etc? That is an escalation, though. But you need to choose your points to dispute or it becomes a game of chess where you can lose sight of the overall thing. I think you will have to give them the smaller 1st Floor window, in exchange for the bigger ones downstairs. An objection to an Appeal just lost here cos the Inspector decided that my temporary close board fence to mitigate the current disturbance for a T was good enough that the Planning Conditioned Acoustic Wall the developer was trying to avoid building would be insufficient improvement over the existing to justify the condition, which has now been erased Win some .. lose some. Now the Dev has got to go back and agree something suitable with the Carncil from scratch, so back into the planning machine it goes. F

Better news. Since you know a lot about your house, why not get the Jeremy Thermal Spreadsheet and build a decent thermal model of it? Then you will know where you are. JSH will need to post a link, as it is currently not linked from his blog afaics. http://www.mayfly.eu/2017/02/downloads-from-the-top-menu/#more-802 Not quite as planned as it looks. The place where the ventilation tile needs to go currently has 28 solar panels on it ! It is doable but intricate, which is why it has not happened yet. F

Need to ask the painful question. How much insulation in your downstairs outside walls, if any? What is the typical u value of such?

I have a horribly complex room in roof setup, and my Nuaire Drimaster something something is installed in the toblerone space, entering the landing through the wall. Through the wall is iirc in a FAQ somewhere as OK. It is in a sealed in compartment inside the space made out of Celotex, and is supposed to draw its air through the roof. I suspect that to finish this off it will require a ventilation tile connecting from the outside due to the membranes as much of the air may be recycled from room leakage etc .. a little similarly to the way flues can go out through the roof. I think the bits are all available. I do not see why similar will not work for you. But access for filters etc will matter for you. I have the hall control version .. buttons under the cover ... but the remote and perhaps monitored version may be worthwhile. F

it may well be better, but you may run into a constraint in the capacity of ufh if your walls are not insulated well. The next step to have an eye on could be skirt insulation with eps in French drains round your house perimeter, but unlikely to be viable unless you are doing other groundworks such as eg replacing paths. Unless you have a minidigger and a lazy couple of weeks. Ferdinand

Mine has been running at higher humidity than normal. I have been runnning my PIV a couple of settings higher. I think it is too soon to conclude that you have a problem. It may just be a combination of the extra sealing (even on an old house new ceilings throughout are significant - with the floor you may have lost 30% of your "leak ventilation"), plus all that grout etc under the new flooring will need time to dry out, and it can't go down 'cos you sealed that with Celotex. Suspect patience required for a couple more months as it aclimitises again. Plus new plaster is a good sealant. 3 suggestions that could help getting the background trend moving in a better direction. 1 - Set your trickle fans to the higher trickle setting if they have two (like my Vent-Axia ones do - 6 l/s and 9 l/s). The boost may also be adjustable with eg a rheostat on the PCB. 2 - Do the usual ventilation things when at home etc. 3 - If you need you could try a dehumidifier. Domestic ones may help, but the one I swear by for leaks and rapid results is the Broughton CR40: https://www.broughtoneap.co.uk/products/dehumidifiers/ Something to buy and sell, not rent except as a trial. Should get for ~£400 if you decide you need one. Small and needs a separate bucket, weighs about 26kg. Worth having the counter so your next purchaser can see it is mint. If dehumidifying, important to run the temp high in that area. Should have an impact on a normal sized whole house. Or get a decent domestic one and try it for a few days - will not hold its value as well. Had I done that much to an old house, I would have a PIV as well as the trickle fans (normally do that in rentals) as a matter of routine, just for resilience and to keep air moving. Remember that a newbuild takes about a year or two to dry out, so 4-6 months might be reasonable for all of that stuff you have done. I say do reasonable stuff to control it, watch, and wait until next spring/summer to take a check. If you are measuring, a few of these min/max themometer-hygrometers might help see your swings. About £10 each. https://www.amazon.co.uk/ETI-Ltd-thermometer-hygrometer-indication/dp/B017KNQNZA/ Ferdinand

It looks as if I will be doing something like the above. Gravel raked flat over membrane. Requested play area is 8x8 or 8x6 feet. Fence post frame. Bolted or timberscrewed together. 50mm 600 x 600 mm slabs probably inside frame. 20-25mm rubber mats on slabs. Fake grass attached to fence posts frame. That gives a soft area which should last a few years without needing to be reconstructed (due to possible movement of base), and where a kiddie fence can be attached easily if require later. But which can be dismantled later. Cost will be about £250 (ish), but I have some of the bits already. Any comments are welcome - especially if I have missed anything. Ferdinand

Not sure that it is wise to have plans on the thread with the architect's name on them, or why they are needed here at all. If there are real issues and a split, then it will need goodwill or at least cooperation on both sides. Identifying them here will not achieve that. Suggest splitting the build query from the architect query, removing plans from this thread and posting an anonymised excerpt on the other query. (Quick action - well done.) F

I think you need to have a conversation with your potential TF companies about what they provide, and what input they provide. There maybe an overlap you can exploit. You may find your architect will be willing to pass the plans on to another professional such as the design dept of your chosen supplier. There are potential contract issues here - eg did your contract run to getting planning, or is it for the full build process. That could muddy the waters. If it was to PP only, then you need to clarify with the A. what mechanism they are providing for the build to continue; If you are trying to walk out of a contract, then what happens depends on the contract and professional practise. Could all be quite delicate. How is the relationship with your A? >1. Architect costing around 20K from building regs and detailed design I do not understand this. From BR and DD to what, and for doing what? Ferdinand

AIUI they put the thick edge at the bottom when installing. Indeed, you sometimes (I am told ?) get ones that are thinner at the bottom that have flowed upwards. Or could perhaps been installed upside down. Lived in a house that was still in possession of many original Georgian panes, but I admit I never went round checking any. I am sure Jeremy has a way of measuring the thickness of a Georgian window with a few cornflakes and some bits from a Standard Vanguard, but I was not in possession of a micrometer that would reach round the adjacent window frame. F

I would say it shows that where there are 2 options - studio or 1 bed - at the same price, they go for the one bed. To me that is market setting the price. F

Nice job.

Agree with Adrian on that. Remember all the people stranded in Studio flats in London in the last recession but one when the prices of one-beds went below what they had paid, so all the first timers went for one-beds? Ferdinand

I had something like that with a Brook at the bottom of a field. Every few years the bottom of the field would be flooded. I was glad it was at the bottom of the field :-). Best of luck.

UFH you need significant insulation underneath plus the layer with the pipes. So it would be about 150mm deep at least. Plus it buggers up your doors, which may or may not be a problem,

You need to run the numbers well enough so that YOU have confidence in YOUR decision. We all have views that are best considered as a supplementary checklist for the purposes of checking your assumption ... which was the request. Buy lunch for a neighbour who has restored one in the style you would likely do ; we all love talking about our projects over a donated lunch. My last one I ended up paying 3k extra for half a new roof that I judged wrongly. Assumed that a 1970 roof would still have 20 years in it. Wrongggg ! I was OK in money terms because I had saved more than that elsewhere and bought for less than expected. Still a shock when a leak appeared in my pristine lounge ceiling just a couple of months in. You could eg deliberately phase, or be ready to as Plan B, phase your budget and accept that you need an ultra-duvet for a few years.