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1st Oct, layout decided at last


LSB

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At last, after a huge amount of discussion and lots of 'what about this.....' we have decided on our final layout.

Due to cost constraints, the windows are smaller than originally hoped for.
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As the rear of the barn has a low roof I have a ground worker coming on Sunday to look at digging down.

The floor currently has 4 different levels, I want them all taken down to the lowest so we can basically start from scratch.

We want UFH, but as the roof and ridge height are fixed by the LPA it will need to be slimline.

At least the slope of the roof is south facing and there is lots of it so PV panels will be beneficial and should provide enough hot water.

The ASHP will do the UFH.

Only the cess pit, rainwater harvesting and utilities to still plan.

 

I'm now focussing on exactly what we want in each room, last night I did the snug and that took 2 hours so a big task.

But, I can't get proper estimates until we know what we want.

 

I'm a bit vexed that I have received an invoice for the phase 2 contamination gas monitoring, soil survey and report, when it won't be finished until the end of the year.

I said I wasn't happy and they just sent me the T&C's showing that I must pay for what has been done.  It just seems odd that the total price is 5k and the invoice is for 4k, hardly a correct breakdown in my opinion.

 

It seems to me that lots of costs are nothing to do with actually buying stuff and building.

We've had 3 planning apps, structural surveys, 2 contamination surveys, possibly a remediation report and, of course, architects fees.

And we still need structural designs, building regs, asbestos roof removal (luckily only a small bit of the roof), all before we buy anything that is part of the house.

 

Any thoughts on the above layout, please go ahead.

 

 

17 Comments


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Which way is north on the layout plan?

 

You do know you cannot use a Cess Pit don't you?  I would plan on a small treatment plant.

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Nice.

 

The utility is huge as is the office.  With 4 bedrooms, 2 ensuites and a bathroom can be good.  Will you have a rooflight over the corridor?

 

I like the doors onto the covered area / verandah.  Have you considered privacy and overheating?

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6 hours ago, ProDave said:

Which way is north on the layout plan?

 

You do know you cannot use a Cess Pit don't you?  I would plan on a small treatment plant.

I know, I mean a treatment plant, just using old terminology, but thanks for checking

 

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6 hours ago, Mr Punter said:

Nice.

 

The utility is huge as is the office.  With 4 bedrooms, 2 ensuites and a bathroom can be good.  Will you have a rooflight over the corridor?

 

I like the doors onto the covered area / verandah.  Have you considered privacy and overheating?

Thanks for your comments,

all the windows are North facing, so I don't think overheating is going to be an issue, also having the covered area to make sure.

Privacy is not an issue, the only house we can see is the one we live in now and that is the side of it with no windows, the road is at the bottom of the hill so we will see car lights, but too far away.  I'm planning on blinds though at night though, not curtains, it's not that sort of build.

 

Both of us work from home some of the time hence the office as we need to be apart for phone calls etc.  We thought about having 2 offices, but that looked wrong and they were then too small.

The utility needs to be big to allow for all the gubbins that goes with ASHP, MVHR, dog washing, washing machine, dishwasher and tumble dryer and anything else we want to hide.

I think it will end up feeling rather small.

At the moment we have an outside toilet so we wanted one near the entrance that we will use to stop muddy footwear in the house.

 

Edited by LSB
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4 hours ago, patp said:

I love the idea of a snug!

AKA clean room, we have dogs, cats, horses so we are always getting dirty and I really want a room where only clean people and animals are allowed.

We will have to get used to keeping the family room clean, at the moment we have a tendency to shut the kitchen door and leave it a mess.

And, my husband sits in the lounge to watch the telly with his grubby clothes and even his boots at times.

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16 hours ago, LSB said:

I know, I mean a treatment plant, just using old terminology, but thanks for checking

 

 

If you are on a slope, why not consider something like an Aquatron, which needs no power.

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It worth bearing in mind that depending on what is structural in the house, the layout might not be final until later in the build.

 

Until you can walk around and have sunlight in the rooms etc you might be tempted to alter slightly.

 

We did a way with a planned internal wall upstairs once we were wind and water tight, worked really well for us.

 

 

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5 hours ago, patp said:

Good idea! Been married 50 years next year and my husband is nearly trained :)

oh gosh, I'm only 25 years so I have a way to go

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4 hours ago, Ferdinand said:

 

If you are on a slope, why not consider something like an Aquatron, which needs no power.

not heard of that, something else to investigate.

all the magazines and articles say that there are huge numbers of decisions and I'm finding that now, and we don't start anything until next year.

I'm trying to plan in advance, but for every decision I make 10 more crop up.

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3 hours ago, Thedreamer said:

It worth bearing in mind that depending on what is structural in the house, the layout might not be final until later in the build.

 

Until you can walk around and have sunlight in the rooms etc you might be tempted to alter slightly.

 

We did a way with a planned internal wall upstairs once we were wind and water tight, worked really well for us.

 

 

we are pretty limited, as a class Q barn conversion we can't change anything external and have to leave most of the existing walls, that is what's driven the size of the utility, bedrooms 2 & 3, bathroom and ensuite /wardrobe.

It took us years to get planning as the LPA don't like conversions of 'modern' barns so we had to jump through lots of hoops.

I think they got bored of me in the end and gave in just to get rid of me ?

 

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1 minute ago, LSB said:

not heard of that, something else to investigate.

all the magazines and articles say that there are huge numbers of decisions and I'm finding that now, and we don't start anything until next year.

I'm trying to plan in advance, but for every decision I make 10 more crop up.

 

There are a couple of threads on the forum about different options.

 

An aquatron is like a composting attach,ent on the end of a conventional system plumbing. It separates solids and liquids in a fixed spiral separator. Solids fall into a smell free worm composter which needs emptying every several years. Liquids go into a leach field or soakaway. we had ours about 30m from the house. very economical option.

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1 minute ago, Ferdinand said:

 

There are a couple of threads on the forum about different options.

 

An aquatron is like a composting attach,ent on the end of a conventional system plumbing. It separates solids and liquids in a fixed spiral separator. Solids fall into a smell free worm composter which needs emptying every several years. Liquids go into a leach field or soakaway. we had ours about 30m from the house. very economical option.

that sounds really good, would suit us well.

our current sewerage system is 3 tanks and a soakaway, never causes us any problems, but although that passed a check for regulation changes earlier this year it's not allowed for new installations.

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2 hours ago, LSB said:

oh gosh, I'm only 25 years so I have a way to go

 

We are all 21, in our heads.

Edited by Ferdinand
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5 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

 

We are all 21, in our heads.

very true, but being married for 25 years has it's advantages, I'm not worried about getting out there dating with covid.

Edited by LSB
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