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Greetings from Glasgow from a novice handym’am


Gow

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It’s a 1939 mid-terrace sandstone house with cavity filled walls, floating floors and an avocado kitchen and bathroom which will be going, going, gone soon!

 

The Aim: to eliminate draughts and add an extension for a wc/wet room and kitchenette for a sink and the electrics including the washing machine because there seems are too many issues putting it in the bathroom where it was in our previous house. Most kitchen units are in the dining room.

 

The application for planning permission is underway and the disagreeable architect will soon be a ‘thing’ of the past.

 

I found this site while looking for information about Positive Input Ventilation because condensation is an issue. Cold windows are the cause but there’s probably no draught-proofing in the window casings.

 

Plan of Action with a limited budget:

(1) Improve window seals to create an air-tight fit: Foam or caulk or what?

(2) Invest in secondary double glazing: Yes/No?

(3) Install continental-style roller shutters in the extension. We had fab wooden roll shutters but they are not fashionable in the UK. Would there be issues installing them in the extension? Yes/No?

(4) Install a PIV system in the attic

(5) Use reflective eco foil under the carpet underlay on the ground floor. Yes/No?  - The crawl space is home to hundreds of spiders.

(6) Add an extension with sun tunnels and ignore the architect’s disdain for them. Yes/No?

 

I failed to visualise the extension layout until the architect provided plans that I changed many times until I understood what the layout should be but with builders it won’t be possible to simply send plans back to the drawing board. I’ve never dealt with builders before but I crossed swords too many times with the architect so he won’t be overseeing the project. As I’m going it alone because Mr DIY has early onset dementia but I don’t want builders to pull the wool over my eyes so here I am looking for support. Thank you. 

 

Edited by Gow
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Welcome. 

 

You've found the right place for help.

 

Posting plans up is always good and people will dive in with advice.

 

I'm intrigued...an "advocado kitchen" is that a typically Scots thing as in a seperate space for preparing the things well away from proper foodstuffs?

 

:)

 

 

 

 

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Do you have to keep the  original windows or can you take them or and replace with a 3g unit??

Piv only works if your house has a lot of leakage.  So you can't really seal the house up and install it.  It relies on the unit pushing the air inside the house out via the fabric and replace it from the outside.  

You could remove all the flooring and skirting and put a membrane down and seal it to the wall do nothing from below can get through.  This will also stop draughts. A polythene type roll or a proper airtightness membrane will work,  just depends on your budget.  

Can you put the plans up to see what other options we could see with regards the  extension. 

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Hello and welcome,

 

I attached a little light reading which you may/may not find informative. ?

 

6 hours ago, Gow said:

(4) Install a PIV system in the attic

(5) Use reflective eco foil under the carpet underlay on the ground floor. Yes/No?  - The crawl space is home to hundreds of spiders.

(6) Add an extension with sun tunnels and ignore the architect’s disdain for them. Yes/No?

 

(4) Do you have a damp problem? Given your property you are not likely to need a PIV simply for air change.

(5) To save energy a reflective surface requires an air space next to itself. It could reduce draughts and act as a vapour check but as alluded to elsewhere there are other/better/cheaper ways to achieve this.

(6) Personally I would forget the Sun Tunnels. They will most likely cost more in lost heat than they save in electricity for light even without considering the additional cost/complexity of installation. Just fit a good LED lights instead.

 

Is the a listed property?

thermal-windows.pdf

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14 hours ago, Gow said:

[...] so here I am looking for support.

 

Welcome. 

This forum is probably one of the most supportive I've seen. The quality of the answers to each of your questions depends on the detail you give us. At the moment, it's too easy to reply ' it depends ' to each of them.

 

So I suggest you choose the appropriate sub-forum and ask there. A plan, a photo, or a scanned sketch help us to help you. 

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15 hours ago, Gow said:

(1) Improve window seals to create an air-tight fit: Foam or caulk or what?

(2) Invest in secondary double glazing: Yes/No?

(3) Install continental-style roller shutters in the extension. We had fab wooden roll shutters but they are not fashionable in the UK. Would there be issues installing them in the extension? Yes/No?

(4) Install a PIV system in the attic

(5) Use reflective eco foil under the carpet underlay on the ground floor. Yes/No?  - The crawl space is home to hundreds of spiders.

(6) Add an extension with sun tunnels and ignore the architect’s disdain for them. Yes/No?

 

Welcome, Ms DIY.

 

1-2. I would say replace with good double glazing, which might not be that much more than secondary depending on the system. Do it gradually, according to how much a room is used or where other work is being done. No need to be messy. Choose a local supplier, carefully, and you can get a window done when you have a couple of hundred free.

 

3 Can be good, but relatively expensive so need a very good reason on a limited budget such a burglary area. I think these need to be electric, And built flush into the wall / window opening. 

 

4 As pointed out, these need an outlet for the air. I have installed a number ... what I do is have a outlet trickle ventilation fan at the other end of the downstairs such as a Vent Axia Lo Carbon Tempra HR fan, or simple fan equivalent. Seems to work well, and I have been doing this for a few years.

 

5 Air sealing floors is good if you have proper ventilation, but lifting the floor and insulating ... even rockwool and a staple gun would be good ...  is better.

 

6 Agree with your architect. Sun-pipes are for special situations or Grand Designs posturing.

 

Ferdinand

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Ferdinand
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The house is not a listed property. The rear of the house is south facing. I’ll try looking at sub-forum too but before that I’d like to reply to what’s been posted

Replacing the windows is not ecological. The windows are not old and not leaking. Neighbours replaced their windows but that didn’t solve their condensation problem.

 

Roller shutters: “I think these need to be electric

PVC sash roller blinds are as cheap as chip on the continent. Some cassettes are wall mounted above windows or doors and not set into the window frame. Our ancient heavy roller wooden blinds had fully working sashes dating back to the days of Yor! PVC shutters are lighter, better than blackout curtain and help make homes more burglar proof. What a pity they’re not readily available in the UK  

 

“P.I.V. only works if your house has a lot of leakage

“leakage” as in draughts?

There is no dampness or mould

MHVR: I was told it is not suitable in older houses  

Insulating underneath the floorboards was considered but I can’t find anyone willing to do the job. Maybe the workers are scared of the spiders - I’m not!    

 

Sun Pipes: Drats, I thought the thermal bridging problem had been solved. Sun tunnels seemed to be a good way of bringing natural light into the house plus a bonus, no windows to clean on the roof

 

Re: Penultimate plan attached

(The final plan is not accessible at the moment but there were only two minor changes to the attached plan)

The budget is limited so the priority is making the house wheelchair user friendly by installing a ground floor WC and shower. The extra door provides a straight run through from the front door to the back of the house for the wheelchair. 

  

Advocado = avocado a popular colour in the 70’s for bathroom and kitchen fittings

Plan_4hub.pdf

Back of house plan.pdf

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24 minutes ago, Gow said:

Advocado = avocado a popular colour in the 70’s for bathroom and kitchen fittings

 

Yep! My first 2 houses had bathrooms that were a vision in avocado. Lovely ?

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 16/03/2019 at 17:44, ProDave said:

Instead of PIV do the job properly and fit a MVHR unit (Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery)

Just getting the hang of how to reply

 

Does a MVHR unit work in older houses circa 1939?

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On 17/03/2019 at 06:36, recoveringacademic said:

 

A plan, a photo, or a scanned sketch help us to help you. 

Not sure how to add the plan correctly.  I uploaded it and it is now sitting on this website as a download

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On 16/03/2019 at 15:53, Declan52 said:

Piv only works if your house has a lot of leakage.  So you can't really seal the house up and install it.  I

 

Does leakage mean draughts?

This is an old draughty house

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18 minutes ago, Gow said:

Does leakage mean draughts?

This is an old draughty house

Yep any gap or  crack in the structure that will allow heat to escape.  It is via these that you will be pushing out the  damp air.  No gaps or cracks then no where for the air to escape. 

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22 minutes ago, Gow said:

Does a MVHR unit work in older houses circa 1939?

 

Yes, but you must have a low infiltration rate (i.e.  draughts/air change). Probably not more than 3m3/m2 /hr@50Pa (i.e. air change volume per unit of external envelope at a small pressure difference between outside and inside). This would be a significant achievement in a 1939 house.

 

25 minutes ago, Gow said:

Does leakage mean draughts?

 

Yes, or chimneys or trickle vents or other deliberate means of ventilation.

 

31 minutes ago, Gow said:

Not sure how to add the plan correctly.

 

Save plan as any common picture format e.g. .jpg and go to 'choose files' at bottom of 'write post' window and it should be automatic.

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