Apparently I wasn't finished! 🙄

Had to dig out the bottom row of blocks and chip away at the sides to make it square(ish) made a fairly decent job even if I say so myself 😃

Builder is going to a small, one old boy aged 75! local quarry renowned for good stone for hearths, to get a hearth. 

Stove should be arriving tomorrow. Hopefully fitted before long, will need to get the joiner in to plasterboard etc and the sparkie in to look at getting an LED strip fitted inside the opening. 

 

Stove's here! Just need the builder to get a free day to come and start into it! 

Builder finally in and made a start, hopefully back tomorrow lunchtime to check to see if it needs a second coat. 

Fire's in! 🔥

 

Flue and hearth fitted on Saturday.

Fitter came by last night and said he would be by tomorrow night (today) to fit it......unless you want it done now? Eh, let me think 🤔 Took him an hour or so, didn't light it last night to give the fire cement time to go off. 

Inaugural lighting this afternoon, a wee bit fumy as to be expected, but warms up well.

Looking forward to toasty evenings. 

 

Stainless steel locally made cowl fitted this afternoon by the chimney sweep as well. Designed to withstand local weather conditions, none of this cheap Amazon rubbish! 😃

 

Happy days. 

As nice as it looks and feels is your builder who installed it Hetas approved ?

Your stove should have a minimum of 150mm clearance on both sides and around the back of it and 300mm on the front.

It just looks a little tight from the pictures you have posted.

Also get yourself a Flue thermometer so you know what temp range your are burning fuels at as if it's too low you will have excessive build up in the flue.

Oh and enjoy it. I miss ours from our last house. 

On 12/3/2020 at 4:34 PM, Turvey said:

none of this cheap Amazon rubbish! 😃

 

Don't let Lenny hear you say that!  

Does look lovely though!  

6 hours ago, Wino said:

As nice as it looks and feels is your builder who installed it Hetas approved ?

Your stove should have a minimum of 150mm clearance on both sides and around the back of it and 300mm on the front.

It just looks a little tight from the pictures you have posted.

Also get yourself a Flue thermometer so you know what temp range your are burning fuels at as if it's too low you will have excessive build up in the flue.

Oh and enjoy it. I miss ours from our last house. 

Not HETAS approved, very difficult to get one up here, but very experienced.

Clearances are 100mm all sides and 450 at the front. The 150mm airgap is, as far as I am aware, to combustible materials. The whole recess is lined with fire-board stuck to concrete blocks, and the front 'wall' is also fire-board. The minimum recommended airgap for the stove is 3 inches/800mm. Yeah, it's a bit tight but within regs and manufacturer's recommendations. 

Flue thermometer is on the shopping list 😉

It's one of the first jobs we said needed done when we moved here, it's just taken us a while to get there. So glad it's in before Christmas 👍

 

5 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Don't let Lenny hear you say that!  

Does look lovely though!  

Don't worry, I buy lots of cheap Amazon tat 😃

Totally different feel to the room/house now 👍

Wee upgrade to the fireplace tonight, how it fares with the heat remains to be seen but fingers crossed it'll be ok. 

LED strip light in a 45 degree aluminium profile.

It's actually less blue than it looks in the pic, a warmer white more like.

 

EDIT: It looks like light coming out of the cabinets at the side.......but it's just my bad painting and no masking tape 😃

On 12/5/2020 at 1:39 PM, TomsFocus said:

Don't let Lenny hear you say that!  

Does look lovely though!  

I bought my chimney cap from http://www.chimneycowlproducts.ie wasn't Amazon, I bought a few nice ornaments from Amazon and having spent almost 2k on Amazon doing all my Christmas shopping in the past month; I have to say I'm very offended by that comment; Amazon is a host for many high quality items,

1 hour ago, Turvey said:

Wee upgrade to the fireplace tonight, how it fares with the heat remains to be seen but fingers crossed it'll be ok. 

LED strip light in a 45 degree aluminium profile.

It's actually less blue than it looks in the pic, a warmer white more like.

 

EDIT: It looks like light coming out of the cabinets at the side.......but it's just my bad painting and no masking tape 😃

Looks great, personally I think a 3000kelvin would have looked warmer though a bit more yellow to match the flame, 
 

They look 'cold' in the pic compared to real life @BigLen a bit more yellow/warmer 😉

Onto outside jobs now that the weather's getting better. 

The hedge/bushes have been annoying me since we moved in, far too high and nearly touching the house in places. Last year we got them thinned out and cut back a wee bit but I still wasn't happy with it so this week we got someone in to get them cut back a bit more. 

Didn't manage to get a pic before they started but the first one is after they had finished for the day on day 1. 

Second pic is how it's looking now! A bit too low Mrs Turvey reckons but I've told her it'll grow back 🤞

2 LWB high top Transit van loads of branches taken away! 

Still a bit of trimming and deadwood taken out etc needed but it's all stuff I can do in my own time.

9 hours ago, Turvey said:

Onto outside jobs now that the weather's getting better. 

The hedge/bushes have been annoying me since we moved in, far too high and nearly touching the house in places. Last year we got them thinned out and cut back a wee bit but I still wasn't happy with it so this week we got someone in to get them cut back a bit more. 

Didn't manage to get a pic before they started but the first one is after they had finished for the day on day 1. 

Second pic is how it's looking now! A bit too low Mrs Turvey reckons but I've told her it'll grow back 🤞

2 LWB high top Transit van loads of branches taken away! 

Still a bit of trimming and deadwood taken out etc needed but it's all stuff I can do in my own time.

nothing better than a well trimmed bush 😅

it will allow more natural light in through those windows too. 

Another wee project completed over the weekend. 

Codenamed Project Cheapskate Patio Pond. 

As you all know by now I like a bargain! What's better than a bargain? Free, that's what! Wanted to get a water feature in the garden but didn't want to spend too much on it so decided to see how cheap I could do it for.

First off I found a big wooden box used to deliver machinery parts of some description.

This I painted with a couple of coats of fence paint left at the recycling centre.

I then tried to line it with builders plastic from a pal but inevitably it leaked so I relined it with a bit of scrapped blue tarpaulin and over lined it with the plastic to make it look better.

Added old facing boards from around our doors that are getting replaced to finish it off.

Scrounged some plants of a couple of pals and currently got 2 aquarium filters (free from Facebook marketplace) going to try and clear it.

Water temperature seems to run from 8-13 degrees so far, if it warms up sufficiently I may put some of my White Cloud Mountain Minnows in it or Zebra Danios, I also have a heater in it but not switched on yet.

Total cost so far? Zero!

I'm quite chuffed with the result even if I do say so myself.

On the lookout for a half whisky barrel to make another feature out of but no-one seems to throw them out!

Here we go again! Last bathroom 👍

As usual I'm ripping everything out and getting professionals in to replace everything. Good quality stuff but certainly of its time! 

That'll be why the radiator never got hot!

7 minutes ago, Turvey said:

That'll be why the radiator never got hot!

If that's the rad sludge from upstairs than downstairs is going to be fun.

42 minutes ago, fiestaecoboostman said:

If that's the rad sludge from upstairs than downstairs is going to be fun.

Funny thing is that we've got a magnetic trap/filter thing and the downstairs rads get quite hot! 🤔

Looking forward to seeing this progressing mate, I highly recommend adding a bottle of "Endotherm" to your heating system next time your flushing it, 

https://www.endotherm.co.uk/ 

I've got Endotherm in mine and it does make a difference in heating cost aswell as heat up time 👍🏻 bought from https://www.smartgreenshop.co.uk/endotherm-central-heating-additive-500ml 

Also this item makes the process easier to add, 

https://www.smartgreenshop.co.uk/endotherm-filler-tube-12-bsp-fitting

Also recommend "bestheating.com" for great deals on Milano designer radiator or bathroom fittings,

https://www.bestheating.com/

Aladdin automatic bleed valves are also a trouble free addition, but there cheaper buying from smartgreenshop rather than bestheating, I told bestheating the valves existed, now they stock them for an extortionate mark up price🤭

Cheers @BigLen system was drained and flushed a couple of years ago so it's probably due another over the summer. 

Everything out of the bathroom now eventually! Had to call on the joiner to cut a few of the panels in half with a circular saw so we could pry them of the wall. 

Had to remove one sheet of plasterboard behind the shower as it was black with mould! Caused in part I think because as you can see in the picture there's a void behind it which is open to the attic causing cold surface against warm surface. 

Once the plumber's done I think we'll insulate it and board it up from the attic side.

Instead of trying to fix the plasterboard we're just going to cover what's there with new sheets. Moisture proof stuff behind the shower, plain for the rest. 

 

45 minutes ago, Turvey said:

Once the plumber's done I think we'll insulate it and board it up from the attic side.

A bit of technical advice @Turvey the correct thing to do is to put a polythene Vapour Barrier behind the waterproof boarding, insulate the wall behind and if you do board it on the Attic side then use traditional Sarking or netting, not OSB or Plywood on the Attic side, that will just trap the moisture in.

The reason for this is that the Relative Humidity inside an occupied house is nearly always higher than the outside, therefore it has a higher Vapour Pressure and will try to migrate to the outside, which has a lower Vapour Pressure.

It should then make its way to the outside if the roof space is ventilated or has traditional Sarking and possibly no felt.   

@Tizer thanks for the advice.

 

Here's a pic of the back of the wall from the attic. The shower is in the extension on the wall joining the old bit of the house. As you can see all they did was knock a hole in the concrete block wall and ran pipes etc added a wee bit of fibreglass insulation and that was it! 

I think what is being replaced is, from the shower side in, shower boarding, moisture board and normal plasterboard to take up the depth. Would that be the way you would do it or add a polythene layer somewhere as well. 

 

EDIT: The only place there was insulation was between the back of the shower and the concrete blocks/old outside wall. 

 

I didn't realise that was in a modern extension and not an Attic conversion, so it should have been built correctly with Insulation between the Studs including the ones that adjoin the old Gable wall already and there should be a polythene vapour barrier behind the Plasterboard. If it was not Insulated you would know because it would be very cold.

In theory any moisture resistant board should act as a Vapour Barrier, although the joints are still the weak part. I'm a belt and braces person so I would still use a polythene Vapour Barrier behind the innermost board but it is not imperative in this case because you should have an Insulated Timber Kit, Cavity and a Blockwork skin already in place, plus you are not direct to the external air, so it should have a good insulation value already, plus the moisture resistant boards.

If you are replacing any Plasterboard then you should use the green boards that have been specially designed for use in Bathrooms and other places with intermittent moisture. Normal Plasterboard is just Plaster between two sheets of Cardboard, the green stuff has different additives to resist moisture.

I would buy a roll of Fibreglass Insulation and put it in the bay where the knock through is from the old Attic side and just just use some scraps of wood to hold it in place if necessary. The Timber Studs should be at 600mm centres so 600 wide insulation should not need much support.

Amongst other things I used to do Interstitial Condensation risk calculations, hence why I like to do things by the book and just in case your builder says I'm talking rubbish.        

22 hours ago, Tizer said:

I didn't realise that was in a modern extension and not an Attic conversion, so it should have been built correctly with Insulation between the Studs including the ones that adjoin the old Gable wall already and there should be a polythene vapour barrier behind the Plasterboard. If it was not Insulated you would know because it would be very cold.

In theory any moisture resistant board should act as a Vapour Barrier, although the joints are still the weak part. I'm a belt and braces person so I would still use a polythene Vapour Barrier behind the innermost board but it is not imperative in this case because you should have an Insulated Timber Kit, Cavity and a Blockwork skin already in place, plus you are not direct to the external air, so it should have a good insulation value already, plus the moisture resistant boards.

If you are replacing any Plasterboard then you should use the green boards that have been specially designed for use in Bathrooms and other places with intermittent moisture. Normal Plasterboard is just Plaster between two sheets of Cardboard, the green stuff has different additives to resist moisture.

I would buy a roll of Fibreglass Insulation and put it in the bay where the knock through is from the old Attic side and just just use some scraps of wood to hold it in place if necessary. The Timber Studs should be at 600mm centres so 600 wide insulation should not need much support.

Amongst other things I used to do Interstitial Condensation risk calculations, hence why I like to do things by the book and just in case your builder says I'm talking rubbish.        

Done alot of Google'ing in the process of reading that post 😅 regulations & relegations 

23 hours ago, Turvey said:

@Tizer thanks for the advice.

Here's a pic of the back of the wall from the attic. The shower is in the extension on the wall joining the old bit of the house. As you can see all they did was knock a hole in the concrete block wall and ran pipes etc added a wee bit of fibreglass insulation and that was it! 

I think what is being replaced is, from the shower side in, shower boarding, moisture board and normal plasterboard to take up the depth. Would that be the way you would do it or add a polythene layer somewhere as well. 

 

EDIT: The only place there was insulation was between the back of the shower and the concrete blocks/old outside wall. 

Looks like the windows 98 maze screen saver