Post and beam

The kinds of issues i saw during our build were not a big deal in the great scheme of things. But its also clear that they were not matters of specific trade skills being deployed that i would/could not be expected to understand. Therefore not details where the tradesman's level of knowledge would trump mine. Example #1 The 2 vertically protruding MVHR vents out of our roof were specified to ( and agreed) to appear 1 metre either side of a central dormer apex. An aesthetic and purely cosmetic issue only i know. They were actually installed with the first one 1 metre to the right of said Apex and the second a further 2 metres to the right of that. Example #2 I asked for the ASHP isolator to be mounted in line vertically down from the centre of the kitchen window that it was below. Again acknowledged and agreed by the ASHP installers sparky. It was installed 3 inches to the right. Yes i can hear some of you now saying i am a pedantic twat. I get it.

My slope path probably only about 5 to 7 metres. So it needs to be no more than 4.8 degrees for 5 metres down to 3.8 degrees if its any more. I could lower the whole of the driveway area to remove this wheelchair friendly path but then i have a steeper exit onto the road.

I may not have explained myself very well. The slope is only for wheelchair access because my driveway will likely be about 300-400mm higher than the level path to the front door.

It looks like i will need to provide a ramp/slope from the driveway to the path in front of the house. This will also need to be SUDs compliant i guess. So what is the recognised and preferred method to do so? All of the articles i can find so far describe the build up of a flat and level surface.

Yep, agree.

Backed it off to 16c for a couple of days. I can now say that even though it only resulted in a few degrees reduction it is noticeable and welcome.

Having just read the advice on DIY resin bound, i cannot imagine that anyone has achieved a satisfactory result without the use of a specialist forced mixer. Who has attempted it and more importantly got a good result without one. And what did you use if so?

Understood

Flow is set for a desired 12 degrees. Currently flowing at 11.5 degrees. Internal house temp has been 27 degrees for days. 30 degrees outside.

Has anyone that is running cooling through their UFH heard any worrying noises from the underfloor slab? I initiated cooling for the first time a couple of hours ago. I just heard a dramatic sound that appears to have come from our floor. Coincidence perhaps and i have no idea what it is. Sounded like a dull crack. Quite loud to be honest.

My pleasure Nick. The HeatXchange Ltd. Email: sales@theheatxchange.co.uk Plug, coding (VAI0020266328) = £8.16 inc VAT £7.80 Delivery This is for my 5kW vaillant by the way. Part number may or may not be universal but they stock loads of variants. keith

Found it and ordered one.

I have been searching around the forum for details of the plug spec. I am sure i have seen it before but cannot find it today. I know the resistor within is 4k ohm. I need to source the plug. Does anyone know what to order please?

Spanner in the works time... If anyone has ever actually used a clear plastic tube to do the water trick with a small bore pipe( 10mm say) it is actually a nightmare to get the 2 ends to settle to get a reading. The practical aspect of actually filling the thing with water is also not trivial. Ask me how i know. Sorry to wander further off topic.

Further to my questions about my need to provide a SUD's compliant pathway( and drive). I have dug out the route of a path to a depth that will allow 200mm of type 3 , 50mm of finer gravel? and a topping of some sort. I will edge the sides with courses of brickwork such that this 'wall' protrudes proud by about one course. So if the 'wall' has soil on one side and compacted type 3 on the other i guess/hope that a single row will be sufficient. Does that sound reasonable?

Having just about finished a build in North Herts i can say that my ignorance of the building industry and not being on site all day every day has caused me grief. Trusting that a tradesman will do exactly what has been agreed has been my biggest source of grief. No excuses, my fault but annoying all the same. I can state that not one tradesman has done exactly what they were expected to. Apart from the tiling of the Kitchen floor. Little things mostly. Being on site is crucial. I rejected the Potton recommended Project manager option when i realised that the £40k fee actually only got me a one day a week site presence. For a little more than a 54 week build thats nearly £1k/day. I can recommend a good brickie and a good roofer though.

Who can do this please? Scraping the crush off of our drive is enough of a job to be honest. Going down half a metre would be a nightmare. My plan now is to scrape the crush away, lay a membrane, perhaps a French drain away towards the rear garden,200mm of type 3, compact. Then worry about what the top dressing will be.

Is this a particular company as i cannot find them online or just a generic concept of a fabrication company can do this. Thanks

I intend to use steel posts for our 2 drive way gates. I would like to use some of our spare facing bricks to provide a decorative pier around them. Question is... the hinge hangers do not appear to protrude far enough to allow this. Have i misunderstood the thing or is there a special post for this application? Thanks in advance as always keith

I thought there was only one SUDs requirement. You are either required to meet it or you are not. One of our many planning conditions was that the front hard landscaping had to be SUD's compliant. The crushed concrete that we had poured to support heavy traffic during the build contains sand. It does not drain water when i perform the following test...... Run a hose onto a test area for 1 to 2 minutes, water should not pool more than 300mm . We do not get visible run off towards the house when it rains however, its finding its way underground somehow, just not in the way, or time, that the test requires.

It depends, is the only answer right now. If i can get away with grading it to fall towards soil then it will stay as it is. If it were not a planning condition to be SUD's compliant i would leave it as it is. Worst case, if i have to dig up what is there today then all bets are off.

Possibly true, i just need to learn what & how this might be achieved.

I suppose this very useful piece of 'theoretical' advice depends entirely on whether it is my choice where the test is filmed. no idea what kind of evidence is expected. But thank you.

Must be SUD's compliant. Otherwise i would not give this a moments thought. This is not my area, i have no idea. The frontage of the property is 18 metres wide, most of which was covered with the previously mentioned rubble. I did wonder whether channels could be cut across it to bury french drains and take the water to the side where there is soil. Otherwise i am back to ' i have no idea'.

When our house was first under construction a large amount of crushed rubble was poured to form a drive way, mainly to support the 35t Crane but also all the vehicles that visited. It currently performs as a perfectly serviceable driveway. But it fails the SUD's permeability test. As far as i can see then only option is to have it removed ! and then to lay a compliant type 3 base. Does this sound correct?