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If doing single storey, I would still say a decent pitch on the roof and for the small extra cost built the roof using attic trusses, so you have the option to convert the loft space later of your needs change.

Afraid so, it is just the little one in the photo. I bought it second hand, so just a cheapy (£120), so a different stove might be an option. Thanks

Thanks @JohnMo that's really helpful. I'm thinking mine will be around 110sqm with a lean to of around 9sqm for the plant room/mudroom/porch. There'll be 2 good doubles and a study/small 3rd bedroom. I think that'll be enough for me. Good info re the insulation, thanks. Yes, I'm planning on having most of it vaulted.

My view on any significant solar gain, is that it's going to be happening in the warmer months, when the external temp is elevated also. This is where the electrically operated opener comes into its own, as the warmer air is going to travel up into the ceiling void where the rooflight is positioned. If that is opened up, it allows that warmer air to escape. If it were a fixed rooflight, then the need for control of any gain is more crucial yes?

I'm not a 1.5 storey fan although I have lived in a few. Single storey form factor is pretty pants especially if every ceiling is vaulted, like our house. You can compensate but insulation value needs to be sub 0.1 everywhere. We settled for 0.09 floor and 1.1 roof and 0.14 walls and triple grazed. But would add more insulation doing it again. Single storey is great to live in, when my wife broke her ankle, life was pretty normal - toilet, showers, beds all just as normal, no special arrangements. We did 193m² and it's 3 bed all bedrooms are generous doubles, lounge is good and roomy etc. It all could have been smaller.

If you want all the cooling now, go for two temperatures, if you want slow and steady cooling just do one temperature. Really depends on the depth of your pockets now and for running costs. Cold temperatures are just like high heating flow temperatures they take a big chunk out of your expected CoP.

Youtube has answered A plate between the top of the wall and the panel, then the eaves flashing goes over the top. The water falls between the two.

I did this a while back, may, or may not, help.

Anyone there? The hub seems a quiet slow place these days. Either that or I've upset you all 🙂

Good for you.

Hi @ProDave Thanks for your comment. Yes I did look at your build and others of a similar roofline too but if I'm completely honest I just don't like them. As I said I am also very tight on finances and taking the upper floor away will be the compromise that is needed to ensure this house gets built, finished and ticks all my comfort boxes. I've seen so many episodes of Grand Designs where people say 'I've got £150k to build a house' and end up spending £300k with a massive mortgage they have to work into their old age to service. A lot of the floorplan of my current flat is taken up with gear for hobbies etc that will live in the garage in my new house, so I can afford to go a bit smaller without it feeling cramped. I read a comment you made somewhere on here a while ago about how you built your first home as a 5 bed and then realised you didn't actually need one that big so built another smaller one down the road. To avoid following the path of building something bigger than I need and then having to go through it all again to get what I actually need I am just going to build smaller from the start. I really like a lot of single storey houses - here's a few examples...

Have you considered 1.5 storey with "gable end" dormers like I built? Cut roof built on a ridge beam gives a very open space inside far less cluttered than normal dormers, easy to detail air tightness and insulation.

This month I've been working to figure out the form factor of the house I will build. The options were: 2 storey 1.5 storey with dormers 1.5 storey with Veluxes 1.5 storey with mezzanine 1 storey with vaulted ceiling 1 storey with flat ceiling Local planning vernacular is for 1.5 storey with dormers, which I really don't want to build. The dormers are expensive to construct, feel pokey inside and are tricky to detail for airtightness and heat loss. They will also cause issues with solar panel layout and shading. Looking at the topographic survey, it is clear that I am never going to get permission to build a 2 storey building. The massing is just too great on an elevated plot like mine. I played around for quite a while with the 1.5 storey + Veluxes option, but I think if I am completely honest even that is going to stretch me too far financially. Ultimately I have settled on a single storey with vaulted ceiling. I've seen a lot of examples of this which I have found myself really drawn to. They feel spacious inside and should solve a lot of the issues (such as ceiling height) which I was trying to solve with other styles of building. Advantages of single storey I can have a 2 or 3 bedroom house instead of feeling forced into a 4 bed by the ground floor footprint. As I want a downstairs bedroom and bathroom for 'future proofing', the floorplan inevitably leads to 3 beds upstairs - far more than I need at my time of life. There is more roof on single a storey building. Whist this means poorer form factor for passive qualities and more roof material it is balanced by more solar being possible. No upper floor to pay for - saves on ceiling boards and flooring, posijoists, staircase etc. Less glazing to pay for. Less scaffolding - it should be easier to construct a building with a lower ridge height. More even heat throughout from UFH. Less bathrooms and one or two less bedrooms all saves money. Less plumbing cost, less electric costs, less MHRV ducting costs, less doors, skirting, walls etc. Less visual impact with a lower ridgeline. I can get a spacious, airy house without needing a lot of wall height in the ground floor - this should save on materials. It might be easier to tailor the roof angle to optimise for solar gain. I can argue for planning that this building is better for future-proofing as I get older. A smaller, more modest house suits the ethos of 'just enough'. I don't need a McMansion and I can't afford to saddle myself with something I can't afford to live in. I would rather have more disposable income every month to enjoy life with. My finances are very tight and I need to be realistic that costs will inevitably rise during construction. The best example of a single storey, 'just enough' house that I have found is Old Holloway in Herefordshire. It is passive certified, 3 bed, 99sqm internal footprint and built with straw-filled panels. It cost £135k (after VAT refund) to construct in 2017/18. Using Old Holloway as a starting point for the design shows that passive can be attained using this form-factor. The Old Holloway blog contains a wealth of data regarding solar generation, heating, cooling, and heat demand which will take a lot of the guesswork out. I don't want to build that exact house, but it's a good place to start from. I feel pretty good about this decision. It's taken a lot of the financial stress away that was nagging away in the back of my mind. Just please don't ever call my cool, funky house a bungalow - it won't be - bungalows have flat ceilings.

Have you bought the stove yet? Mine only needs 150mm each side to combustibles.

Hi, I am fitting a wood burner into an old stone fireplace, and I am not sure how to deal with the combustible materials around the edge of the fireplace. I had some insulation fitted via a grant and didn't have a lot of say over how it incorporated the fireplace. You can see from the pictures that the wood studding is directly around the fireplace with insulated plasterboard ontop. My question is can I cover it with some type of fireproof board and fill any gaps with a fireproof cement, or do I need to cut it back from the fireplace entirely to a safe distance from the stove. Which is about an extra 200mm in my case as the spec for the stove is 500mm either side from combustible materials. Currently the distance from the side of the stove to the side of the fireplace is 300mm. The fireplace itself is stone and the chimney is lined, so pretty much good to go apart from the combustible surrounding surface. Cheers, Jonny

....Scotland and we see why the huge sums involved were made secret and only revealed in the 10 year release of documents from parliament. Harold Wilson demanded it was not revealed or "they" will vote for independence.

They have a population of 5.6million, so much easier to manage. They also lived with a huge political system threat next door for a couple of generations. Substitute Norway for Piddington and you may start to understand how a 'common enemy', can help any cause.

Honestly? Maybe it sounds good to a novice client. The bit about good design and management paying for itself can be true but is not often believed/ understood. Getting the money from MMC manufacturers concerns me. You recommend them and they give you commission? Several thousand You may well recommend one on true merit and being best for the project, but how do we know that? Then do they take it out of their margin, as a saved marketing cost? Or add it? If MMC is not the best approach, then you don't get commission. A perceived conflict of interest perhaps. Ditto Architect. I know too much, and perhaps it wil work for first time self builders. A question for interest only. How do you define MMC? In my business I used many of the principles (only when appropriate) alongside traditional methods. I wonder how you might include local contractors with the ideal skills but who didn't have a factory or sell kits. I watched Dragon's Den last night. How do you think you would fare?

I assume that must make the whole system design much simpler. I suppose the only down side is that you won't have rapid cooling to hand and if you have a lot of glazing, then on really hot days you may struggle keeping the rooms cool?

Can you put a cash value on that, or at least offer some sort of warrantee/guarantee/indemnity against errors and extra, unexpected costs?

That image appears to have disappeared and is just a broken link

Thanks. There shouldn't be condensation that needs to dry though. We design so that doesn't occur.

This is about condensation risk, and if water vapour from the warm humid inside air is likely to condensate within the structure, does it dry out or stay wet for prolonged periods where mildew/fungus/rot with then take hold.

Don't forget you probably need a ventilated airspace (50mm?) below the ply deck/above any insulation and install eave to ridge vents

Ubakus is used to calculate U-values and assess condensation risk for building elements. Unless you know the building physics involved rubbish in may give rubbish out. The drying period is that following a period of condensation build up (normally the winter months). Nothing to do with water from rain/snow. In this instance. Do not use a hybrid roof (insulation above and below the deck). Use a true warm roof with all insulation above the deck. Check MIs for the 'steel' roof as it probably needs a ventilated airspace directly below.