How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

look at nimtim

This one
https://www.nimtim.co.uk/fruitbox

My feet as I walk over it say no. I don't expect there's any insulation in the ceiling either. The whole bit of early 2000s extending on this place has been done so poorly that it all needs knocking down and redoing properly. Looking forward to that 🙄

Did the postman ever deliver btw?

Yep - I just remembered it was timber frame and similar 2/3rds width type arrangement. Maybe not super relevant - I like their work in general tho, fun and friendly without being full po po pomo 'lets make our house look like a cartoon from the 80s' vibe.

conservatory companies certainly play fast and loose with regs etc.

by the by - my wife saw this blog and said she wanted a 'pebbles garden' so I bought 3 tonnes of pebbles and shovelled them in like a mug. It was stupidly uncomfortable to walk on so I had to build decks and paths (with deck boards) to make the garden usable. It was however a reasonably cheap and simple way to fill the space where the concrete patio had been and i think if we'd used smaller pebbles - less agony underfoot.

their trustpilot doesn't have much good to say about them tbf

My DIY (spoiler: I work in the trade so not really DIY) heatpump installation went off without a hitch over the Christmas break and I've just gotten my BER assessor back around to redo the certificate for the place...

We've gone from a C3 rating to an A3 and he noted that upgrading the windows would most likely get us to an A1 rating which is a bit mad for an apartment built in 2004.

I'll take some pictures when I get home later on and a bit of info on the process but I wouldn't say it's outside the realms of DIY for a competent doer!

That's absolutely crap.

Oh interesting. What bit of the industry do you work in? Have you heard of Homely? Looks great for ASHP with bad built in controllers.

Oh I haven't actually, I'll take a look into them though!

We've got a family business that's been in heat pumps for the last twenty-five years almost, we started off doing domestic installations and gradually moved into bigger commercial projects and then when Covid happened we did a complete about turn and switched to building modular heat pump plant rooms so they're basically fully turnkey plant rooms for commercial and industrial applications.

We don't really have an upper limit on size but our minimum would be around 100kW (we have done an odd one for "special" domestic clients but they're not exactly affordable...) and we can also do up to 140°c steam with heat pumps now so some pretty interesting stuff!

Shameless plug : give us a follow on LinkedIn there :)
GS Renewable LinkedIn
GS Renewable Website

Go on...

Builders instructed for loft conversion. Get ready for 10+weeks of ranting from the end of March!

That's awesome. Love to see some pics / a write up when you have time.

I've had a few quotes for ASHP installations (I have two already, feeding 8 AC cassettes) but they've all been super spendy.

Did the postman ever deliver btw?

Yea sorry! I took a photo and forgot to send it to you 🤙🏻

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Does anyone have any good sources for 5 finger / basket weave / whatever parquet flooring?

It has to be 5 finger 12cm x 12cm.

Cheers.

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Trees are usually the best source. 🤪

Sorry, I don't know any good places to buy parquet flooring.

Facebook marketplace is good for reclaimed if you can be bothered with scraping all the old tar off them.

Cheers. That's a good idea I hadn't thought of.

There's a company that scrape the tar off for £10 per sq m.

I've got two bags in the garage (I was given) you can have - i'd say they were similar pale wood (didn't match mine)- will check size this weekend. These kind tended to be factory fixed to a bituminous paper backing to create tiles and then stuck to the slab - often its the joint between the wood and paper that blows.

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oooh interesting! got a link?

Starting from £12 now unfortunately...
http://www.parquetbitumenremoval.co.uk/

Lassco used to do a glue-down basket weave parquet - can’t find it on their website but might be worth a call.

If you want stripped and reclaimed parquet there is a couple sourcing it from Poland based in west Norwood Woodjob.co.uk
we were going to get a floor from them as partner liked the idea of having a bit of the motherland underfoot but flat has iroko strip so no need to replace.

When is the second fix happening to finish that off?...

Top forum tips please on 20% VAT avoidance when doing extensions/renovation...