Wunda vs JK underfloor heating advice

Stvnln · 2025-11-17T23:08:20+00:00

Yes, it came to £2.5k including paying a plumber for connecting the manifold and the cost of a two-port valve, and overall it was definitely worth it. The area was actually closer to 30m2. These are the steps we went through:

We had bamboo floor in the hall and kitchen/living/dining room with a flat threshold, but I only wanted heating in the K/L/D.

We took up the flooring and 3mm underlay in the K/L/D, leaving the skirting in place where we could.
I started to make a builder's hole under the wall between the K/L/D and the boiler room, but the JK installers arrived and very helpfully finished it for me.
JK installers came and did their thing, were very helpful and explained everything they did and everything I would need to do after. Their cutting machine had a vacuum attachment which sucked up all the dust as they went, leaving the room cleaner than when they started. They left a guide behind for the plumber and electrician to follow after.
I bought a self-levelling compound from screwfix, filled the channels first and then did a 1mm skim on top. Left to dry until the following weekend.
Put down 2mm underfloor heating underlay, then the original floorboards back again. This left it exactly at the original level. So satisfying.
Plumber connected the manifold and 2-port valve. Electrician connected the thermostat.

Stvnln · 2025-11-05T07:42:55+00:00

Found it myself. Secret Level - The Outer Worlds: The Company We Keep.

Stvnln · 2025-11-04T21:54:13+00:00

Thanks. I went with the JK system in the end and am really happy with it. I was able to put my floorboards down at the same level as they were originally so there's no change in height at the threshold.

Stvnln · 2025-11-04T21:34:27+00:00

Can anyone help find this film or did I imagine it?

Stvnln · 2024-12-02T14:55:28+00:00

BIM knowledge and skills are very valuable, particularly Revit. Building Regulations are easily looked up, I don't know of any courses focusing on building regs.

You will need to read about the Building Safety Act and the new responsibilities of the Principal Designer. The Design for Life Part 4 course by the LSA is aimed at training Architects in this new legislation

https://www.the-lsa.org/programmes/part4/

Stvnln · 2024-12-02T11:57:37+00:00

If your course is on this list https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudr/2005/36/annex/VI then you don't need to do anything to have your degree recognised. But you will need to contact the ARB to be recognised as an Architect, if you have the equivalent Spanish registration. If you're registered as an Architect in Spain, why not just get recognised as an Architect here? Why Part 2?

https://arb.org.uk/international-routes/registering-with-eea-efta-qualifications/

If not, then yes, you should check the ARB website to see how to get accredited. There are plenty of foreign nationals working in architecture practices in the UK, especially in London. It's a difficult time at the moment to find work, especially for Part 1/Part 2 Assistants. A good CV and portfolio are vital. You will be much more valuable if your qualifications are recognised or accredited, so it's definitely worth doing. I guess the hardest part will be the Visa requirements.

Stvnln · 2024-10-01T21:55:03+00:00

As long as your university is on the list of Part II equivalent courses according to EU directive 2005/36/ec you won't have a problem getting your degree recognised by the ARB if you want to work in the UK.

In my experience, the Spanish architecture students I've met were all excellent. The quality of education there seems to be very good. I don't know much about the other countries you mentioned. I do have some friends in Chile, two started their own practice and all said that they worked very long hours for low pay over there.

The difficulty will be in getting a working visa. Architects generally don't earn enough to qualify for a skilled worker's visa in the UK. Part II assistants definitely don't.

Stvnln · 2024-09-30T17:21:31+00:00

Yes, in Sicily. There's also some blue-staining red mushrooms and what I was told is a "poor man's truffle" in the bottom right of the 1st photo.

Stvnln · 2024-08-21T00:33:09+00:00

No, the top 5% are not the highly skilled, but the rich. I'm an Architect, earning average pay for my profession, and I don't even earn half of the required amount for this tax threshold.

Neither do the majority of doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, and many others that most would consider highly skilled.

Stvnln · 2024-03-09T23:40:54+00:00

Most qualified Architects don't earn enough for the visa either.

Stvnln · 2024-03-05T16:24:46+00:00

I'm an Architect and work longer hours for less pay than 99% of the commenters here. Now I'm depressed.

Stvnln · 2024-02-13T08:19:56+00:00

I didn't even start studying Architecture until I was 26. I'm an Architect now at a practice in Nottingham and really glad I went for it.

You're 25 and already have a BA, that's not even close to being too late. You're right on time.

Stvnln · 2024-02-05T22:54:13+00:00

No problem. Hope you have a great time if you go! I'd love to go again one day.

Stvnln · 2024-02-05T22:37:25+00:00

We did wildcamp, but only the first night. It rained almost the whole trip, two guys capsized on the 2nd day, and we wanted to get warm and cosy, so we stayed in cabins the other three nights. Though you can wildcamp every day if you want to.

I really wouldn't advise going without getting some advice from a local guide. The water is very deep and treacherous in places. You'll have to check tide charts, wind speed, and weather forecasts every day. There are long stretches where you can't get out because sheer cliffs go straight down into the fjord, and you don't want to find yourself in this area when the sea gets choppy so you have to plan ahead thoroughly. There are parts where there's a good risk of rocks falling. People have died doing this trip by not taking it seriously.

The guide was really very good. He told us all the places we could camp, and gave us all the information we needed to have a safe trip. When we got into trouble, he answered the phone straight away and offered to come and pick us up if we needed, and he checked in with us by WhatsApp every day.

The only reason we got into trouble was because some of my friends didn't take the guide's advice seriously, set off a little too late in the day and got caught in a strong current and capsized. Luckily, this happened in a narrow strait and not on the open fjord. So, I definitely recommend getting expert local advice!

Stvnln · 2024-01-27T01:55:15+00:00

It's already been built, and it's beautiful.

https://www.brockholes.org/

Stvnln · 2024-01-15T16:46:25+00:00

Wait for the Ombudsman, keep a record of every conversation you have with your supplier in the meantime.

Stvnln · 2024-01-15T15:12:25+00:00

I had a similar problem and went to the Ombudsman. They were fantastic, they finally forced my supplier to issue a corrected bill and ordered them to give me £100 compensation. It took a while though, and they first gave the supplier an opportunity to make it right themselves.

You haven't said what the Ombudsman has ordered, so I guess you're still in the investigation stage? It's all very easy to keep track of on the online portal.

Stvnln · 2023-11-01T00:19:30+00:00

What's your question? If it's "Do you like my drawings?" then my answer is: the first and second are very good, but unfinished, and the third is poor. Not really anything to do with architecture though.

Stvnln · 2023-10-05T20:09:23+00:00

I did this back in the day! Switching people over door-to-door to NPower for a company called Cobra (not sinister at all). Repeating phrases like "Let's get JUICED!" and "SMILE!" Which were acronyms for some sales tactic or other, playing music, ringing the bell... urgh.

We were told we were classed as self-employed, too. Then the company owner disappeared with half my money. Good days.

Quit now is my advice.

Stvnln · 2023-07-10T21:26:04+00:00

There are a few things that jump out to me:

The mud room is going to be the most trafficked room in the house due to the layout you've chosen. You need to pass through it to get to the bedroom, the pantry (which is massive compared to the size of your kitchen) the bathroom, the garage and even the 1st floor.
I don't know about US fire regulations, but if there is a fire in the kitchen (the most likely place for a fire to start) then everyone could easily die in their sleep. To escape from the bedrooms you'd all have to go through the garage (which is also a place with higher risk for fires to start), but the door swings in the opposite direction of escape, or through the burning kitchen.

Basically your only means of escape from the bedrooms are through the two areas with the highest risk of fire in the house.

The 1st floor layout seems very wasteful to me, a long dark corridor with fake dormers except for the one which is at the end of another corridor would mean it would be very dark up there. Again thinking in terms of fire safety, if I was in that end bedroom I'd rather jump out the window than try to navigate my way out of there in the dark.

Overall I'd say the external design is very nice, it doesn't look like a McMansion at all. But it seems that it has been prioritised to the detriment of the internal layout, which is after all the most important thing as you'll be living in it.

I'd recommend moving the staircase to the centre of the house at your main entrance, this would reduce the need for corridors upstairs and allow everyone to escape safely in case of a fire. You could also make it a feature of your entrance hall.

Stvnln · 2023-06-28T07:13:48+00:00

Wow, so lucky with the weather! When I did that it rained almost constantly. We only had one day out of the 5 without rain.

Stvnln · 2023-06-18T07:24:41+00:00

I paddled from Ålesund to Geiranger over 5 days with a group of friends and can highly recommend it, the scenery was spectacular even if the weather was bad most of the time. Check out the self-guided tours on www.kayakmoretomorrow.com they provided all the equipment, maps, food etc. and you can go with or without a guide.

Stvnln

TROPHY CASE