Kelvin

I went to a builders merchants and it was all sitting outside with some vague tarp over it. I asked them about it and they said it dries out eventually but that will be sitting in free air. How likely is it to dry out inside a wall. That said if you get flooded that badly everything is soaking for a long time anyway. He could always stick a few moisture probes into this area in a few places.

It’s in the build drawings for a reason. Your builder hasn’t done it to spec. Tell your architect (assuming they are still engaged) Immediately take it up with your builder. Don’t get into a debate where they fob you off with ach it’ll be fine. Do you owe them much money still?

It definitely varies. I’ve been in houses that were taped and they looked perfectly fine even with light falling on the walls at the right angle. The plastering in our previous house was clearly done by different people as some of it was flawless and some of it was terrible.

Exactly what I did. I have an SVP out the garage roof, AAV in the roof void, and another SVP after the tank. No smells. No penetrations through the house and a clean roof with no unsightly pipes coming out of it. Graf system.

I’d definitely raise it with the council. Can’t you guide the water to where it exits naturally avoiding the flooding of the garage and shed which surely makes them unusable.

The other thing to factor in is the extra time plastering adds in and it makes a right mess. You can put down sheets and protect all the windows, woodwork, doors or whatever else is in place. We debated going taping and filling vs plastering (timber kit) and went plastering as I preferred the finish but we would have been much quicker taping I think. We also had to sack the first plasterer as he was crap and that added another several days as I had correct all his shoddy work.

There’s plenty of pressure without the pump as our drinking water tap comes into a small accumulator in the garage and bypasses the softener. The issue is the recharge rate so we would empty the hole throughout the day and it would take hours to refill hence the tank. In hindsight we ought to have fitted another accumulator in the garage and could have likely negated the need for the pump.

I thought about that but no room. The pipes come under the MVHR and it’s all very tight as it is.

Big tank. Ours is 1200 litres. Our borehole recharge rate is very slow and the borehole very deep (147m) with the pump at 80m. We had a problem last summer when we had a house full of family so lots of water use where the alarm in the pump control went off. There are three water probs in the borehole and the water got low enough to trigger the alarm (which stops the submersible pump) Because it can take a while for the borehole to fill back up it meant we used a lot of the tank water. I disabled the top probe so it starts pumping again more quickly but still has the protection if the water gets low.

Folk generally have become much better in front of an audience or a camera.

Speakers are fitted into enclosed boxes for a reason other than to stop them falling on the floor. The difference it made to mine was very noticeable.

It was a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A

In a previous house I made MDF acoustic boxes lined with acoustic foam. Knock something up.

“As is common in the building industry nowadays the offloading of the tiles is automated” A guy in a tractor took them off the lorry 😂 And how TV has changed. A huge amount of detail compared to everything has to be quick entertainment nowadays.

The most disappointing thing is the lack of ambition of current new builds compared to this from 44 years ago.

I looked at the Google street view and it looked like it has a small AC unit fan or something literally hanging out a window. I suspect it’s rather warm in the summer.

The fire regs aren’t to do with the speaker going on fire. You’ve cut a big hole in your ceiling and if there’s a fire in that room it can spread more quickly as the speaker is made of plastic mostly. I have two in the kitchen which has a bedroom above it for example. Depends on the room and what’s above it. I fitted them to improve the sound though. They do output quite a lot. Take your pick. You can size it to your speaker. You will need to cut it to fit. They are a pia to fit but with your 1980s office ceiling it will be easy for you. https://ceilingspeakerworld.co.uk/collections/fire-hoods-for-speakers?srsltid=AfmBOoqVbinaygWtUK1gX5ktvnSE2RlAqI6H7o1ggxG4MQ4MJBKM-nDB

Open backed speakers like these typically should be mounted so that they are enclosed. It improves the bass, and reduces sound from travelling to whatever is above them. There’s also a fire regulation depending on what is above them. I fitted all mine inside a fireproof hood and the difference in sound quality vs just having them open was significant.

Good stuff. How are you mounting them?

A reed bed system is different and not allowed nowadays. They aren’t complicated at all. Our field just has grass on top of it and it all looks like the rest of the field so there’s no change in the soil. Our Graf system bubbles the air on an on/off cycle so is slightly cheaper to run. After a year ours has 30% sludge depth so will likely need emptied before year 3 is up. pH level is 7, water clear and ammonia levels within spec.

Yes exactly the conversation we had with building control. I had in my mind at the outset it would be a soakaway largely because that’s what the SEPA website said and what they told me when I called them. When I had the land survey done the guy that came out to do it said he it would likely be a drainage field or discharge to the burn but that would need permission so we submitted the planning application with that in mind. When we applied for the warrant we had a more detailed design done for a drainage field. The original design in terms of size was 24m x 1m but this was changed to 9m x 2m for the warrant. We were fortunate that the Goldilocks position for it happened to be the only place it could go and the place where the percolation test was perfect. Despite having 1.5 acres of space there was nowhere else it could have gone due to our neighbour’s borehole location, the burn and the nature of our land. The guy I spoke with said the reason it needs to be a drainage field is for your reason above, build up of toxicity over time or if the treatment plant has reduced efficiency over time for some reason but he also pointed the need for the homeowner to correctly maintain the treatment plant and have it checked annually (or do it yourself)

Great to see progress.

Soakaways and drainage fields get used interchangeably incorrectly with a soakaway being a catch all term. Our planning approval specifically said a drainage field. Even the SEPA document I read on their website talking about soakaways to discharge into from a treatment plant. It really confused me at the time. The rules are also slightly different between Scotland and England regards using existing water courses. In Scotland you’re generally not allowed unless there is no alternative and you need approval from SEPA.

I’d still go individual and not a Biodisc. Ours (Graf) is a fair distance from the house and outflows to a large drainage field. Just had it serviced yesterday (free check up) and everything is tip top. For what it’s worth the company that serviced it cover most of the manufacturers. In order of preference, in their experience of least problems, it goes Graf, Marsh, Vortex but he said they are all quite reliable and it’s what gets put down them that tends to be the main cause of problems. I asked him about the Biodisc and he said they are the most common for self-builds (because architects use Klargester like Hoover is to vacuum cleaners I expect) and they aren’t as unreliable as they are made out to be but he wouldn’t recommend them regardless.

We have dogs sheep and chickens so need to keep them all separated and off the road. Fortunately we have a large guest/delivery van parking area that will be on the roadside of the fence and gate and then a long driveway and secondary parking area that’s behind the gate.