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For me, FF is everything before the cavity is closed with PB. Broadly agree with the services priority above but rather than taking a strict linear approach, after doing some preliminary planning for each set of services, we got the electrician and plumber (boss) on site at the same time and did a walk around of the site identifying any places where there would be a contest for space (I represented MVHR ) and we agreed alternative routes for a few things to make life easier all round. Because of steels, etc, we had a few 'highways' where lots of services needed to run but it got figured out in the end. MVHR can take up a lot of space if you have a high concentration of ducts coming together and the required bend radius can be a challenge - a poorly placed soil pipe can really bugger your plans. What you want to avoid is giving one trade carte blanche to do what they want and leaving the follow-on trades to figure out how they can live with what has gone before. Of course, if you have a detailed mechanical plan for all services prepared at the drawing stage then you can ensure that your construction has been designed to remove as many conflicts as possible - however these can be expensive to prepare so not everyone does it (and not every trade follows it) - plus you may change your mind about some things as the true internal shape of the house comes together - I know that our ensuite bathroom layout was constantly evolving until first fix commenced. Other things to consider - Data & AV requirements - cat 6 cabling for entertainment, media and old fashioned networking (computers, printers, wifi repeaters etc..). Don't rely on wifi to connect everything - if something is unlikely to move (TV, printer, workstation, STB, xbox etc..) and it supports wired ethernet then put a hard wired connection in - especially if its a high bandwith and delay intolerant service (like video). - Ducts for HDMI cables - we have a TV and media cupboard with trunking in the wall between them to avoid cables on the wall - speaker cables for surround sound (consider new innovations such as Atmos, 7.1 etc..) - Telephony (super old school but handy to have) Socket location for occasional or seasonal use like hoovering / ironing / xmas tree lights) etc. Guarantee is that however many 13a sockets you make provision for, there will always be one missing right where you need it. Double check your door opening orientation and make sure your light switches are in a logical place. Security system (sensors, alarm unit & keypads) Security video (perhaps use cat 6, is PoE a requirement?) Doorbell / Intercom / access systems (esp. if there are gates to be opened) Electric UFH power and control -( a last minute decision for us, had to pop some already tacked boards off over a weekend to make provision) Heated mirrors in bathrooms Drawstrings if the ducts are not dead straight (even if they are), always amazed at how hard it can be to thread a relatively stiff cable down a duct without it getting stuck. The old bit-of-sponge-tied-to-fishing-line-and-sucked-through-with-a-hoover trick is very useful. Noggins/ply for wall hung items such as mirrors, sinks, TVs etc - unless you are using fermacel or are plying/osb the whole wall. Double check the furniture measurements too - I totally cocked this up for bathroom sinks as I didn't check where the fixings actually were and despite putting in a huge noggin, only just caught the top of it. Pocket door frames. Support for stairs & banisters if fixing to wall is required. We had to rip out a slice of the hall wall, reinforce and re-plaster after realising that our chosen stairs were effectively cantilevered on one side and needed substantial support. Another part of FF that I forgot to budget for was joinery to enclose pipes, ducts, cisterns etc that sat proud of existing cavities in the studwork - turns out there was a lot to do there. Top tip - measure everything you ever want to find (or avoid drilling into later) and mark the dimensions clearly with a sharpie, making sure you allow or discount for FFL. Then photograph everything. Then photograph it all again and once more for good measure. Maybe take a video too and pan around. Can't count the number of times I have consulted these images to check what's where. Inevitable the detail I really want to see is just out of shot. Luckily our electrician is practiced at his and I've called him for help finding something totally unrelated I need a cup of tea and a lie down now - this thread has resurfaced a lot of trauma...

In case this is helpful to anyone we have just sorted out our site insurance. We got quotes from (with the actual insurance company in brackets): Buildstore (Catlin Insurance company) Buildzone (EC Insurance) Protek (QBE Europe) Self Build Insurance (Zurich) Self Build Insurance (Zurich) were almost 30% cheaper than the other 3 so definitely worth a call. We have gone for 24 months as it seems that lots of people on here end up having to renew half way through and premiums can be hiked at that point. Hope we don't need to use it. And hope we get it finished within 24 months.....we are starting tomorrow with knocking down our garage and will attempt to finally locate our water supply (where Thames Water, a diviner and alot of hand digging has failed hopefully a digger bucket will do the job ) .

Yeah I'm sure I'll manage that lol. We don't have a hallway radiator, as it's too small, so I'll go with the bathroom on bypass, as it can get as hot as it likes in there. Now all I need is black Friday to come along and hopefully a bit of luck that the evohome has a discount, I can hope lol

That eBay one is brand new - they use a standard listing and I’ve ordered from them and they are fine. Should take 20 mins tops to change it.

I searched for that and drew a blank. Rail was the missing key word.........bugger. Cheers @Onoff

Here & see @Nickfromwales link:

OK, a slightly different blog format...suggestion from aregular member... I am moved to recommend a book by Bill Bryson, who seems to shoot from the hip as it were to inspiring effect! In fact I pick up everything he's written in the local charity shop now. Sorry Bill if you're reading this, (which is extremely unlikely I know) I did by 'At Home...a short history of private life' at full hardback price, and worth every penny! The Book (reviewed in Guardian Weekend with a small excerpt), is a must, if only because it's a wonderful ramble through the history of how we have lived and survived: it's all loosely based around his 19th century rectory in Norfolk. He's adopted England, or exchanged his Stateside upbringing, in favour of various spots around the UK. There are many digressions and meanderings from extravagant country piles and the Crystal Palace to public health improvement, but it is very entertaining: worth £2.50 from abebooks or less in your local charity shop, indeed for the bibliography alone. Basically Mr B uses each room of the house and its activities, as a vehicle for history, discussion and development. I guess a Victorian rectory is a good a device as any. Essential reading for all architecture students and anyone who lives in a house and who is remotely curious about how we have arrived at 600 square feet dwellings without any storage or even a window in the kitchen. Right! Look out for all Bryson Books, covering the continents, and especially the development of our living habits, spaces and quirks of home life. Bill Bryson 'At Home...A short History of Private Life'...possibly to be compared fashion-wise with early Country Life yearbooks and the like.

+1 to everything that's been outlined above. It is all about detail planning, detail planning and more and more, if this work is completed early in your design stage, it can save you a lot of money, time and frustration. Depending on your house construction, it's not just about the internal fit-out before PB. The same issues are also relevant for the external fit-out, especially if you timberframe with cladding or rendered external finish. It's critical that you plan and make provision for supporting anything with any weight fixed to the external skin - satellite dishes, aerials, rainwater goods, balconies, fence posts, etc Penetrations of every variety are also critically important to plan and make the necessary provisions. Properly engineered collars in RSJ's to enable installation of MVHR ducts, pipes and even electrical cables ( see photo). Penetrations in external walls (for boiler flues, electrical and water services etc) before insulation is installed. This particularly important for a MBC type timberframe with blown cellulose insulation and for achieving an airtight construction. If you are installing wet rooms or similar, then it is important to review your floor joist locations and orientation in detail, to ensure that you install the shower waste and associated piping. My wife and I spent hours looking at the detail and moved several floor joists. However, we didn't consider the MVHR duct installtion in detail at the same time and it created a problem with a clash in one location, which we just got away with with some minor adjustment and some rework.

Just out of interest for those that want to compare "real-world" results to the model shown on the previous page, here is a plot take from our commissioning runs where I had our Willis heater running for 6hr at Economy 7 low tariff (cost ~£1.40). The house is still warming, hence the slab is still dumping heat into room space. But it's already got to the point where I am stripping off jumpers when working. The overall conclusions are: The slab is reacting pretty much as I modelled it. The output of the Willis is easily enough to heat our house. Our actual flow rates through the slab on the pump's middle setting are about half what I estimated, hence the out:return delta temp is nearer 5° rather than 2° but this doesn't matter. At this cost even if I use E7 electricity to heat my house the annual running costs will still be less than out BGas maintenance contract on our current boiler. The Willis is simple cheap and effective. Even if you have an ASHP or alternative, then it;'s still worth considering fitting one as a fallback heater Trust the physics, but validate your assumptions.

Just cut the ends off the old HDMI and use it as a fancy drawstring

I did float that idea with the architect, builder and plumber of cutting slightly into the wall but all of them were not keen on the idea. There is nice tiles on those walls and the walls are of a cardboard/honeycomb/egg shell design so the tiles probably give the wall extra strength and cutting into the walls may weaken significantly so took the compromise of a shorter bath. The Tempra that I have bought has slatted vents on the bottom underside edge that a push button lever closes. That will stop most of the returning fresh heat recovered air back into the room. Pushing that level will hopefully stop chills when showering as in effect the unit would just be running as an extractor fan. Will soon find out The drawing package I've been using is "Sweet Home 3D", it's free and very easy, very quick to use. I did upgrade to the paid version from Amazon for approx. £15 and got extra widgets to play with, I'm just amazed at how useful it is

Drain runs first, they have to go in straight lines and downhill so have first grab at available space. MVHR runs next. They don't need to go up or downhill but take a lot of room. Normal pipe runs next. Electric last. Cable bends easily and does not mind taking a more tortuous route to go around all the other more fussy stuff.

If it is a rental then have you considered installing a trickle mode + boost fan eg dMEV? For a rental the constant slow ventilation is very good background insurance against eg the T forgetting to switch the other one on, or the recirculating hood being less good than an extraction hood. I know you considered this in your bathroom, but what about the kitchen? On the T switching it off, I would play as loose with the regs as possible to make it more difficult to switch off - eg install a non-switched FCU or put it somewhere awkward. In my view humidity controlled ones are not worth the pfaff and complexity - the money is better spent on one that is nearly silent and won't annoy the T, plus some firm tenant condensation education at the start. Have you addressed the other end of making it easy to do things like dry washing in a way that won't cause condensation? eg 1 - Put tight shelves over or fixed covers across radiators to prevent washing being dried thereupon. 2 - Provide an outside washing line if you have the space. 3 - Provide an effective indoor drying facility that is easier to use than the rads and harmless - eg pulley in the bathroom and / or clothes horse if renting furnished. 4 - Clause in the agreement for condenser dryers only. Where I have externally venting tumble dryers, I tend to offer to get my handyman to do the fitting just to be sure. My own policy is to install a Nuaire loft fan in all refurbs and a Vent-Axia Lo-Carbon Tempra with Remote Monitor potential so that I can guarantee (subject to T switch-off) a continuous flow of air through the house from top to bottom. The retrofits have been a bit painful bank-balance wise since it is about £450 plus fitting for the two each time, but it is an investment I think justified. The mistake I made once was to put the Heat Recovery Fan in a small bathroom, which while it does recover 75% of the heat also guarantees that the incoming is slightly cooler on the skin, and the T complained about feeling a cold draft after climbing out of the shower in the nud - which was a fair comment. Now I put them in kitchens or utilities away from the cooker. Ferdinand

+1 and what I would have done.

Have you considered one of the insulation block approaches beneath the sole plate (Foamglas, Marmox...)? This is my approach:

I actually think what the builder has done looks nicer. I wouldn't worry about steam getting up into the area under the flyover. We have a fake wooden mantle around the hob and steam has had no effect on it. My wife also lets the pressure cooker vent right across the front of our painted cabinets which upsets me but doesn't seem to be doing any harm. An extractor rarely sucks all the steam into it anyway. Looking at it, I assume that the plan is for the hood to be recirculating and then the extractor on the wall to be the actual extractor which is allowed in the regs, although it needs twice the rate of extraction of a hood above the cooker. I would be concerned that it never gets switched on unless it is automatic and even then someone will probably switch it off. Tenants don't like fan noise and don't necessarily care about causing you problems with condensation so I would try to have something that they cannot easily switch off. Maybe connect the extractor to the kitchen light or get one that works automatically with humidity.

If I was there with my digger I could find that pipe in two minutes flat????

I think the answer is to point out to the mortgage company that because you own both plots you already have a 'quasi-easement' and that the law only allows you to convert that to a full easement when one plot is sold. Perhaps ask your solicitor if it's possible to formalise this in some way? Perhaps by inserting a covenant in the deeds of the old house requiring the owner (currently you) to grant an easement if that was ever sold?