kiwibloke

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Got a few options to consider.

Hi All, We have a 1970's 3 bed detached house in need of a renovation. The windows will all be replaced, however the Architect says that trickle vents must be installed in the windows as per the Scottish building regs. We didn't want trickle vents due to external noise and pollution issues. Do we have any alternative in terms of ventilation system or is he correct? I am pretty certain the current air tightness will be poor, although we will be improving it, though probably not to AECB retrofit standard. Thanks in advance James

Thanks Nick.

Hi, A bit late to this post but could you link to your website thanks?

Check out Michael de Podesta excellent blog, protons for breakfast. He covers heat pumps, MCS heat pump survey shortcomings etc: https://protonsforbreakfast.wordpress.com/2024/02/10/5-reasons-heat-pump-installations-have-problems/ He also describes how to perform a perform a sanity check on heat pump sizing: https://protonsforbreakfast.wordpress.com/2022/04/05/what-size-heat-pump-do-i-need-a-rule-of-thumb/ For background, he is a retired Senior Scientist from the National Physics Laboratory.

Thanks for your very detailed answer. No more questions on foundations for the time being ?

Thanks to everyone for sharing your experience and knowledge. Several people have mentioned digging test bore holes. Who would analyse the results of the bore hole, is this a geotechnical engineer or structural engineer job? What would be the cost of digging and analysing bore holes? Thanks again. James

Hi all, How does building construction type ( brick, block work, timber frame etc) affect the foundation cost? I assume that building construction types with higher mass (including walls, floors and roof) will require higher cost foundations. So for example a 100 square metre building area with brick construction would require a higher cost foundation than timber frame construction. My second question is what dominates the foundation cost, is it the ground geology or the building construction type? For the sake of argument If I am free to choose the geology and construction type what would be the best geology and construction type to minimise foundation cost? Thanks James

Hi all, We are just starting our research to work out if we have sufficient budget to buy a plot and complete a build. So many questions to ask! So here is a big thank you to anyone who replies to my questions. Cheers James