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I stumbled on this site while researching MVHR and saw some great discussions and expertise. I have a 112 m2 top floor flat part of a mill converted in 1995. I am looking at sensible upgrades for the next 10-15 years. Presently I have Electrical heating (1995 storage heaters) 12000 kWh pa , aluminium double glazing from 2010 (3 x 6 panel windows 2.3mx1.6m), have heard mention that frames are not thermally efficient, thick solid stone walls (580mm window returns) insulation status unknown, 3.5m high ceilings lounge hallway and bedrooms, observed 200mm loft insulation. Lounge and bedrooms are long and narrow and perhaps not well suited to present (lack of ventilation) Perhaps the biggest immediate concern for next winter is high CO2 levels (measured by Awair sensor) in the flat unless windows are opened. It also gets very stuffy in summer and I suffer from hay fever. There is no vent fan (apart from cooker hood with activated carbon filter) in the kitchen. Its been blocked up probably because the flexible trunking collapsed(a neighbour experienced this). The only connections to the outside are two 95mm?(100 nominal?) holes through the stone work which are connected through boxed in trunking along the floor (wouldn't mind moving it up to reclaim floor space) to kitchen (originally) on one, and 2 bathrooms on the other. The bathroom fans suck but no perceptible flow at outside of building. Maybe disconnected by previous owner and routed into loft space (on the other side of a fire division - not good) I am thinking that PIV system might be best rather than MVHR due to forum mentions on air leakage, although a lot of it might be beneficial in terms of heat input... The available 95mm openings are in bedrooms and I need to minimise cold piping, Can I use one opening for fresh air and one to take kitchen and 2 bathrooms out. Or is there a way to alternate (breathe in, breathe out, like ....lungs...) For moisture control, I tend to finish the timed laundry for when I can use the dehumidifier on Economy 7 for a couple of hours in the morning (early riser). I see the dehumidifier as effectively free to run as I have electric heating anyway. Seeking expert commentary, please, especially on whether I can get good ventilation with the two 95mm openings to the outside. Can I anyone recommend an approach and contacts for HVAC design?

Hi all. Within my external wall, I have one particular stone that is showing signs of erosion - see images. Is this something to be concerned about or do I have too much time on my hands????

Hi,I am planning to do some work this year in July on my parents’ house which they bought 10 years ago, nothing considerable has been done on the house as they are can't afford the majority of the project that are present to them. I am taking on the project to help them out and to make a change, right now I am in the process of ordering the stone window surrounding set so it's ready for next week. I've talked thing out with my parent and we are looking to integrate the security roller shutter in the tight space behind the stone head of the window set so that box doesn't appear ugly. we are also planning to put a tilt & turn aluminium window in the two opening and put in a lintel above the 180 x 180mm shutter box. I was thinking of replacing the timber lintel to a steel beam with 200mm end bearing on each side. I will probably need to buy some arcow prop and some strong boy for this kind of job but don't know how many for a 600mm opening in a stone wall. probably 2, to support the timber floor joists inside and 4 for the window opening. Please let me know if am wrong.At the moment I need some advice on what lintel to purchase on your but need reassurance on the right lintel for the job.I will leave the detail below for your adviceSpan of opening: 600mmWall construction: Stone Wall (solid wall) no cavityMasonry height: 2m above, has roof load and floor joist bearing (2 storey)I will leave photos of the natural window surrounding set plan and a few photos of the 2-storey house.If you have any advice, I will be happy to listen

hi im looking for images that people may have or info on the bradstone keinton in masonry block type and in t form, these people seem to be hard work trying to track down samples and what actual types your looking at. Anyone ever used this stuff before? Any areas i should look out for when thinking of using this stuff. My thoughts were to combine the stone work with forticrete heads and sills along with flat finish coins Thanks

Two weeks ago today our stonemason started and poor guy it rained heavily from the very first day! In fact, so bad on the first day that I fully expected him to give it a miss, but there he was when I got home from work, grafting away on his own. Being a SIPs build, the roof is already in place, so of course all the rain falling on the surface area of the roof flows straight off - directly onto where he is building the stonework below. So this weekend, I managed to get the fascia board and soffit on, on the East side where he has been most busy. I plan to get the West side done this week, though it will be slower as I'm on my own and can only fit it in after work, plus the ever decreasing daylight hours limit outside work time of course. We are over the moon with how the stonework is looking! On a less progressive note, we are again having issues with our BCO. The same firm is providing our warranty, so two lots of inspections sort of rolled into one from them. when we got the trenches and foundations inspected, I was relieved to find the inspector was a practical guy, who where circumstances meant a slight change of plan took a pragmatic approach, and gave good advice. Come the next stage I rang him and left messages so them emailed him that we were ready but heard nothing back. After 2 weeks of this I contacted the firm - to be told he'd left! Shame no one had the gumption to think it might be wise to tell existing clients or at least check his company email account! Never mind, we got a new inspector. Nice guy, seemed a little nervous, but I increasingly suspect he is new to the job . When I'm asked by a BCO if Kingspan SIPs are an approved building material I do begin to wonder about his experience/knowledge. When I'm asked if the torn up, puddle ridden site mud, about 500mm at best below the DPC and with lumps and bumps plus a pile of topsoil 1.5 metres high in one part of the site is our final ground level, I really begin to wonder. Then I'm, told I must contact Kingspan and ask them what the shrinkage will be - I explain that OSB has (as the name suggests) oriented strands, meaning this is less of an issue, and forwarded him Kingspans technical documents.... but he still wanted ME to ask. In the end I emailed him and suggested that as a BCO, he was more likely to get a detailed answer from Kingspan (and even supplied him their phone number and email) which he did - it's miniscule, and even then he couldn't tell me the relevance to my build of his query! In one part the fabric they put on the SIPS has about a 6" tear. So as it's all stapled on anyway, the guys simply stapled along the tear, holding it closed. Fine? Oh no, on seeing that he insists I contact the erectors and ask if that's the approved method of repair. Now I'm not going to ring anyone up asking what I know to be stupid questions for someone else - you want to ask stupid stuff, you ring them mate. So I just said look, I'll glue it if you'd prefer. Next, where there were , <2mm variations along the soleplate, the SIPs folks used plastic packers - my BCO spots this and asks why is it not grouted, and are the packers sufficient and should it be grouted? Wants me to contact them and ask - two things here, 1. good luck trying to grout in places with sub 1mm gaps and 2. If they think it shouldn't be plastic packers then they wouldn't have put them there would they - and they're not about to say to me, oh yes, we deliberately put the wrong thing in! So I'm just not doing it. It's like I'm educating him - but that's not what I paid the firm for. He's also nit picked at the most silly things I've been polite, and have had a little sympathy for the guy, but the final straw was he'd told me the next bit he wanted to see was when our wall was at ground floor window height - no problem, so I texted him that he could do this early this week, and as a courtesy updated him on progress made inside (1st fix socket circuit complete and 50% of lighting, 1st fix plumbing water supply in, and all the stud walls now have 1 side plasterboard on). The reply I got is that I must not put any plasterboard up as he must do a "pre plaster inspection" and also inspect the electrics. Now unless he is that rare fish, a BCO who is also part P qualified, he is not qualified to inspect electrical installations. So I queried back asking about why my certifying qualified electricians issuing of a Part P certificate will not be enough - no reply. So I've emailed the senior BCO of the company explaining that I'm not happy - a week later and no reply!