Ferdinand

Can you do a Jeremy and put it by the door to stop smells escaping? (Though for him it was one on the outside of the door in the hall iirc.)

I haven't followed the saga. But on the render / brickwork thing, you could just point out that the planning permission means that you can't render it without a further application - which I think is true. And perhaps that they could have made the comment then when they had the opportunnity. Can you trade that off for something else? And the chainlink fence sounds a good idea. Ferdinand

Thanks. Have read up on the Building Regs and I see it is all "should" not "must".

It's just in Notts - the bit of Nottingham that would go to war rather than admit it is in Nottingham ? . Just south of Trent Bridge - including the Trent Bridge cricket ground.

Not utterly sure that this is worthy of the Corner, but I am trying to identify the minimum open space required to site a soakaway. As I have it the regs are (in England): Edge of soakaway 5m from any boundary. Edge of soakaway 2.5m from any building ie wall. So if I have a soakaway 1m x 1m as close to the corner of a plot as possible that means that I need a minimum of (5m + 1m + 2.5m) x (5m + 1m + 2.5m) space to fit it in = 72.25 sqm. Although perhaps (he said hopefully) certain things, such as a car port corner post, may not count as a "building". On a compact site, that means putting it in the car parking area / driveway, or the middle of the private amenity space. Unless there is a supervening reason such as ground conditions, impossible to fit it in (though PP might be refused), or a high water table etc. Is that a fair summary? Ferdinand

Legal rulng, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58911296 (Imo the chap was an idiot)

Wickes seem to be a lot less than that. Minus 10% for your trade account.

That undermines the "standard", though. It's the old unanswerable one about the impact of different types of occupation, and are they to be taken into account. If you don't take them into account, then the actual numbers for an under-occupied 4-bed house such as yours or mine (I am one person in 200sqm) don't match, but if we do take it into account then it is difficult to compare your or my house with another one with a family of 5 in it. The dilemma is unresolvable, so you have to make some decisions and accept the compromises.

A long 102mm holesaw can be a useful investment. Or ask a fitter (eg gas or drainage) who has got one to drill your hole when he has half an hour at the end of the day.

Thanks. I see that the cavity tray over only applies to Newbuild, but not retrofit - which helps clarify depending on the OP situation.

Chapter and verse would be good. (I note that the OP did not ask for a full comment - just how to do the penetration)

I'm sure he'll be delighted if you want to pay half !! ?

What's the roofrack on your Skoda? And does it store under the boot floor?

Spring loaded backdraft damper is one way. Or get a fan with a built-in backdraft shutter. There are plenty around. If you want something sexy looking there are the Airflow Icon range. Or better get a through the wall HR recovery fan. I have been using Lo Carbon Tempras from Vent-Axia for 7 or 8 years, as they have a trickle setting. I use them in conjunction with a PIV loft fan, which gives me a poor-man's MVHR to protect my houses from interior-wash-drying tenants. Not exactly sure how you would do this once the beads are installed, but see para below. Though I'd enjoy a video of all the beads from your entire house gradually filling your kitchen, if you can get one ?. My standard method of install is to insert a section of 102mm soil pipe in the wall using foam at a shallow angle down towards the exterior (for drainage of any moisture) sticking out a little on the outside to keep drips off the wall, and mount the fan in that - perhaps just tacked in with foam. That makes replacement easy and works well with a HR fan with the heat exchanger in the hole. I think the way to do after-beads would be to core drill through, then push it out from the other side with your piece of soil pipe. Ferdinand

I tend to think that the boilerplate recommendations are the most flawed area, and that the way they are calculated is not actually that bad for what they cost (which is a tiny amount of money - subject to me not currently recalling how they handle air leakage). And perhaps the rubber-stamping approach by owners / developers / estate agents is a weakness - though I can't see a way around that without a permanent hike in energy prices; that is the only time mainstream people seem to pay attention. (Warning: Fag paper arithmetic incoming) However, even a saving of say 1 tonne kg of C02 per property per year, multiplied by 22-23 million houses, would be 22-23 million tonnes per year. Which is nearly 5% of the current UK total.

How did you evidence the extra insulation? And how much of it was there? (When I renovate something, I make sure there is somewhere the detail can be viewed, or have documentary proof.) If they do not see evidence, there is a series of assumptions in the procedure they have to follow instead. If they insist on following the assumptions despite the sufficient evidence for an easy life, then afaics you need to make them correct, or get a different EPC or a later EPC of your own if you need it for your purposes.

I read that as Cotswold Dolt Upper. As if the Queen counts dolts like Swans. Well, I make it one outright and one possible, from the three.

I would recommend you to take this question over to here as well, where they have 129 pages of similar threads: https://forum.gardenersworld.com/categories/garden-design

In mine I usually install a walkway over the bottom layer between one run of joists if needed, and put the top layer back on. With a notice. Cheaper than repairing a ceiling a tradesman has put a foot through.. *polishes nails for once* ? 57 to 67 seems to be quite a lot to me. How much C02 and kWh did that say it saved?

Welcome. Ideally we need a plan, plot plan, north arrow, entrance indication and nearby buildings - to an approx scale. A google satellite view would be a good start, plus a sketch plan. Probably on a new thread. F

Of course Ferdinand is right. Bah humbug as if it needs mentioning ! Everyone knows that except for: (... List of 4752 named individuals removed for Data Protection reasons ... the Mods)

You may get your loft insulation free if you play your cards right. Find your local ECO3 organisation, and do a touch of homework. Plus: an example of how to approach cost control / optimisation:

Interesting isn't it? All of those except perhaps 4 have been on the "basics" list since the 1980s/1990s ?. And yet, still...

@tjure2k Two more things I need to say. 1 - Take a *really* serious look at doing a newbuild not a rebuild. It will give a better result, exactly what you want and may well (often the clincher) be more cost effective due to no VAT and no CIL (if you are 'eligible' to pay it.). 2 - Issues around cooling on well-insulated houses can be huge, and is a major theme on BH. At one level you can eg get a reversible ASHP, but it needs to be a KEY element of your reno or build.

How has your "pipes only to outside" Joule Aero ASHP worked out? Ref: