Topsy Posted January 19, 2022 Report Share Posted January 19, 2022 Not a buying but an insulation related question. My girlfriend's living room has proven to be fairly cool in winter - she knew the flat (top floor) couldn't be heated very well with one little gas heating in the hall (no radiators leading anywhere or anything else!) when she moved in, but with the living room getting rapidly colder towards one corner, whilst some parts of the room and the others are acceptable(-ish) at 18/19°C, I thought I'd take a closer look at it. One side of the dining table is 18° whilst the other end of it barely reaches 17°. There's a very slightly, cool draught that I followed to a little built in cupboard in a corner. I found this to be a pretty efficient wine cooler.. At 11°C! I'm assuming that there's a completely hollow space separating the back wall of the cupboard from the roof. (inaccessible) Next time round I'll check if there's a crack inside that cupboard leading out, or if the whole rear wall is that cool. My bets are on the latter though, so I was wondering if there's anything that we could place inside the cupboard to insulate it a tiny bit? Everything is wood so it should be relatively easy to attach things to. I have however not once thought about insulation before and have no clue whatsoever. Plus there's nothing we're allowed to change permanently since it's rented and the owner is fussy. If there's a non messy solution it'd be a big plus! I thought being able to sit on the couch without blankets, or at least one less, in February would be a nice goal to aim for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_Fel Posted January 19, 2022 Report Share Posted January 19, 2022 2 hours ago, Topsy said: Not a buying but an insulation related question. My girlfriend's living room has proven to be fairly cool in winter - she knew the flat (top floor) couldn't be heated very well with one little gas heating in the hall (no radiators leading anywhere or anything else!) when she moved in, but with the living room getting rapidly colder towards one corner, whilst some parts of the room and the others are acceptable(-ish) at 18/19°C, I thought I'd take a closer look at it. One side of the dining table is 18° whilst the other end of it barely reaches 17°. There's a very slightly, cool draught that I followed to a little built in cupboard in a corner. I found this to be a pretty efficient wine cooler.. At 11°C! I'm assuming that there's a completely hollow space separating the back wall of the cupboard from the roof. (inaccessible) Next time round I'll check if there's a crack inside that cupboard leading out, or if the whole rear wall is that cool. My bets are on the latter though, so I was wondering if there's anything that we could place inside the cupboard to insulate it a tiny bit? Everything is wood so it should be relatively easy to attach things to. I have however not once thought about insulation before and have no clue whatsoever. Plus there's nothing we're allowed to change permanently since it's rented and the owner is fussy. If there's a non messy solution it'd be a big plus! I thought being able to sit on the couch without blankets, or at least one less, in February would be a nice goal to aim for! You've got to be very careful how you insulate things because you can create cold spots where moisture will condensate and you'll get damp. From what you've explained I'd suggest cutting some PIR (cellotex/kingspan/ecotherm etc) insulation and fitting it into the cupboard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manuel Posted January 19, 2022 Report Share Posted January 19, 2022 Seems like having ineffective heating in a flat you are renting probably shouldn’t be allowed? I think the landlord has to supply heating to all rooms, no? insulating on the inside is likely to be pretty ineffective, although pictures/a drawing showing which bits are cold or outside walls etc might help. And also it’s something the landlord should really fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davetrials Posted January 20, 2022 Report Share Posted January 20, 2022 18 hours ago, manuel said: Seems like having ineffective heating in a flat you are renting probably shouldn’t be allowed? I think the landlord has to supply heating to all rooms, no? insulating on the inside is likely to be pretty ineffective, although pictures/a drawing showing which bits are cold or outside walls etc might help. And also it’s something the landlord should really fix. Having rented for 12 years either that is not the case or its a law no body pays attention to. One of my older properties was a full blanket at all times jobby whilst seeing your breath in the living room Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isitafox Posted January 20, 2022 Report Share Posted January 20, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted January 21, 2022 Report Share Posted January 21, 2022 21 degrees! Christ. Maybe we need to stop banging on about electric cars and being vegan and just get people to turn their thermostats down! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topsy Posted January 21, 2022 Report Share Posted January 21, 2022 (edited) On 1/19/2022 at 8:09 PM, manuel said: Seems like having ineffective heating in a flat you are renting probably shouldn’t be allowed? I think the landlord has to supply heating to all rooms, no? insulating on the inside is likely to be pretty ineffective, although pictures/a drawing showing which bits are cold or outside walls etc might help. And also it’s something the landlord should really fix. Not being in the UK I did a quick google and I doubt there's a requirement for all rooms to be heated. You may get a rent reduction if it's cold, but that's it. And the price is very very low to start with, so it's fair. I was round yesterday and took my infrared thermometer with. Contrary to my belief the wall is brick and not freezing. The cold is seeping up through the floor and is particularly bad in the corner where that cupboard is standing. I can't quite explain why it's that cold there though. Might not be possible to do anything since the floorboards of the livingroom 'continue' into the cupboard, so the cold would be transferred into the room at any rate I guess. A few photos: Cupboard on the left, roof on right. There must be a space between the back wall and the roof. The wall on the left of the cupboard is an inside wall. Blurry photo of cupboard: Odd decoration for a cupboard: Crisp. (floor near skirting board) Identical 'cupboard-roof' setup in the kitchen which is absolutely fine. Difference is the floor. Edited January 21, 2022 by Topsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 Just had a fireplace fitted, just needs a mantelpiece fitting (they’ll do that this weekend hopefully) and then all that’s needed to do is tidy things up a bit…paint the walls, wipe the slate and get some more skirting board. Should kick out some decent heat and be cheaper than using gas (especially with the price hikes incoming!) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted February 4, 2022 Report Share Posted February 4, 2022 (edited) Extension shell is all closed up, plumber came and routed the boiler flue up through the roof this afternoon and I've started to put the new back door in. Shame that since we took the mortgage out for the build, the cost of materials has tripled and the naked shell has blown the budget entirely edit: there is no chance of me changing career to be a door fitter! Frame went in lovely and square but after I'd packed it out I realised that the bottom catch side of the door was sticking proud of the frame and the lock hooks wouldn't engage without a bit of a shove. After much f**kery I needed to trim 10mm off the nose of the sill on the catch side and pack the hinge side up by 3mm. Door now closes sweet as a nut, all finishes square and flush and the locks engage properly Also covered in expanding foam ... Edited February 5, 2022 by forteh 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davetrials Posted February 7, 2022 Report Share Posted February 7, 2022 Solicitor called me to return a call, despite us already speaking on friday( after i had to call them) after i asked her to call me back on tuesday. so not only did she not call me back, she then forgot we spoke on friday. f**k my f**king solicitor you c**ts. So yer its going slow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davetrials Posted February 12, 2022 Report Share Posted February 12, 2022 Update, had to change solicitors, so thats basically £250 right in to the bin. f**k this whole process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted February 12, 2022 Report Share Posted February 12, 2022 Sorry to hear that Dave, solicitors cooked buying our first house up for us, made what should've been an exciting time pretty stressful. We've been threatening to move house for a couple of years, I'd like to have some sort of workshop at home which isn't possible in our current house and we've just plain outgrown it. Spoke to a mortgage advisor last year and they couldn't find anything viable really with Jenny being on furlough for a year, which knocked the wind out our sales as we've saved a nice lump for the next house, aswell as worked hard to get our current mortgage down to ce put of this place with a nice profit. Over Christmas we really fell out of love with our house, having a baby now and all the stuff that comes along with it the house feels tiny now, and I'll admit it is small, but its kinda not if that makes sense, it's one big living room/diner at 16ftx36ft but because it's one room it doesn't lend itself to many other layouts really so it just feels mega cluttered now. The advisors called early in January to see if our circumstances had changed, which they have, Jenny was laid off last year. They encouraged us to come in and have a chat as that might go in our favour. Had a good chat and took a good breakdown of my earnings and bizzarley there's more options available to us now then before, madness. Going to look at a 1950s detached in a few days, looks like an older couple lived there as it wants some updating but the important basics are there, recent boiler, recent double glazing etc. Really hope it's what we're imagining as there's a massive garage at the bottom of the garden that backs onto farmland, can't really bother anyone down there so it'll be ideal to move a portion of the business into, can work from home and spend more time with Jenny and Ray all being well. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davetrials Posted February 12, 2022 Report Share Posted February 12, 2022 I cant even imagine the process of selling your house to buy a new house, we have both decided to die in this first place 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 Another big job done, finally got the lounge floor in which means the main bulk of work in this room is now done! Just waiting on the mantle for the fireplace and curtains to turn up but until then we can finally upbox the sofa which has been taking up all the space in the hall for nearly two months. The cat also approves which is a bonus 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manuel Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 'kin 'ell. You guys are smashing through it!! Looks great! Happy Birthday for tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 Love that shade of green, looks really good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted February 20, 2022 Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 I have my consultation with 1roof on Tuesday. For all those who didn't read my comment about 1roof it's an organization for lower income people to get them into homes by selling you the home at a discounted price by them keeping ownership of the land. The downside is you're obligated to sell the home at a discounted price if you decide to, but it's better that our current arrangement or renting. It's going to be a little annoying though because the consultation is really more of a financial planning session on what needs to be done in order for a family to be able to purchase a 1roof home. Budgeting, credit score building etc. But we already have the down payment (which isn't even required) and killer credit scores, so it might be a really quick phone call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted February 20, 2022 Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 Anyone on here knowledgeable on driveways? We have a sloped garden that isn't at all level, it's dome shaped. The existing driveway is the same shape and is tarmac, leading up to the garage. I recently chopped down the huge hedges at the front of the garden (Bottom of the slope) and made a new bed with wood chippings and smaller, tidy hedges, leaving enough space to turn the rest into a second, smaller driveway that would be side by side with the existing one. The plan was to use those plastic grids and fill it with stones, but they need to be installed on a level surface (Or do they? I know that's optimum and the best way to avoid them cracking / moving around, but would it possibly work?) In an ideal world I'd have the existing driveway ripped up and a new double driveway laid down, but I don't have the funds for that, so I'm looking for fairly low budget solutions that don't look terrible. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted February 20, 2022 Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 Best photo I can find at the moment, this was obviously before I bought the place. Those big hedges are no longer there. Photos don't really show the steepness, but to give you an idea, the Tiger bottoms out half way up the drive and normal cars almost scrape their bumpers when driving on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_Fel Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 Usually you need a good solid base. Depends on what the ground is made from but a general rule of thumb is to have 100mm-150mm of crush and run/MOT/Hardcore give that a good whacking down then whatever surface you are having on top of that. If you're planning on just buying bags of stones avoid getting small bags from a builders merchant. You're best best is a couple of ton bags or you can and get it dropped off from the back of a wagon loose ( there might be a minimum order usually around 7-15 ton. It will save you a fortune though. I ain't no expert though. That's just my advice. If I understand you correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 Yeah the calculation I did meant I need 800kg of 10mm gravel to fill the grids. It's more to do with whether the ground needs to be completely level - I know it can be on a slope, but mine is not level. Rather than plastic square grids I think I'd need some sort of flexible rubber instead, but I haven't found anything suitable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 I found this, but I don't know if it would look awful... https://www.matsgrids.co.uk/p/grass-reinforcement-mesh-tm1400/ EDIT: I found example uses, it does look awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC12345678910 Posted February 23, 2022 Report Share Posted February 23, 2022 You're on a hill right? To me it looks like your lawn has been battered up / graded like that to promote fall toward the bottom left of the photo you posted and the hedge you just ripped out was the natural drainage. So when you build a pad for the car to go on you'll need aco style strip drains, will you not? (Having not been stood on the job) My plan of attack would be scrape your lawn til level or 8in depth, whatever is deeper, within reason (which should expose that man hole nicely), bottom out, lay a concrete blind (a watery 3 3 2 mix (sharp, building, cement, respectively) floated about 5 to 6 in thick) having shuttered off provision for drainage at the house side with a sacrificial piece of skirting / 6 bi 2 or similar. Float in some fall so you don't get sumping/puddles when it's pissing rain and finish with concrete garden edging. Free laid paving slabs in colour of choice on top to tart the slab up optional. I'd just lay leftover hardcore/Mot in the strip provision and work on the idea that a French drain into a cheekily bored hole into the side of that manhole will be enough. With one of these 1 tonners on hire each process/stage would be about a 4/6 beer job (solo) and I'd aim to have it (mostly?) done across a bank holiday weekend. I'd be of a mind to grub out your hedge properly, trench out and lay more Mot int' hole to catch the fall and finish the job nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted February 23, 2022 Report Share Posted February 23, 2022 5 hours ago, CC12345678910 said: You're on a hill right? To me it looks like your lawn has been battered up / graded like that to promote fall toward the bottom left of the photo you posted and the hedge you just ripped out was the natural drainage. So when you build a pad for the car to go on you'll need aco style strip drains, will you not? (Having not been stood on the job) My plan of attack would be scrape your lawn til level or 8in depth, whatever is deeper, within reason (which should expose that man hole nicely), bottom out, lay a concrete blind (a watery 3 3 2 mix (sharp, building, cement, respectively) floated about 5 to 6 in thick) having shuttered off provision for drainage at the house side with a sacrificial piece of skirting / 6 bi 2 or similar. Float in some fall so you don't get sumping/puddles when it's pissing rain and finish with concrete garden edging. Free laid paving slabs in colour of choice on top to tart the slab up optional. I'd just lay leftover hardcore/Mot in the strip provision and work on the idea that a French drain into a cheekily bored hole into the side of that manhole will be enough. With one of these 1 tonners on hire each process/stage would be about a 4/6 beer job (solo) and I'd aim to have it (mostly?) done across a bank holiday weekend. I'd be of a mind to grub out your hedge properly, trench out and lay more Mot int' hole to catch the fall and finish the job nicely. Cheers for the detailed reply. It is on a hill yes. Drainage isn't currently an issue, but yeah I'd need to consider it with any driveway work. The problem with levelling the lawn is that it would make it a different height to the existing driveway - this is a problem because the existing driveway would be used to access it and the car would be parked 70/30 on the new and old driveway, if that makes sense. They need to be the same level. It's impossible to give a good view of the driveway in photos, it just doesn't show the angles properly. After reading loads of websites and watching loads of YouTube videos, I think we're going to just wait and get it all re-done with tarmac once we can afford it - any DIY job would just be a bodge, given how steep it is. Grids wouldn't work and that rubber matting stuff would look terrible. I did consider just laying gravel, but it's so steep I'd be brushing it up every day. So yeah in the short term I'll just chuck down some grass seed and maybe stick a little tree / bush on the end so it looks finished, then in a couple of years we'll get the whole lot ripped up and re-done. The existing one isn't in great shape so it makes sense to do it all at once. I must say that 1 tonner looks fun though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manuel Posted February 23, 2022 Report Share Posted February 23, 2022 https://www.toolstation.com/plastic-ground-stabiliser/p17975?store=BS&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=googleshoppingfeed&mkwid=_dc&pcrid=560261087208&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=Cj0KCQiA09eQBhCxARIsAAYRiyk2KfJbXwdrkyvqIvBji0rV4ilyHKkKBdqMMendTpKVSrLCXgsPSD8aAvoTEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds Something like this? my sister has something like this on her drive and its all grass and looks good (think there might be a green version on screw fix). Seems to do the job, your slope is quite severe though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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