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Oh I bet that hurts, having to break into the "Emergency Annual Heating £5". Thought it would stay in it's glass case forever! Thinking further on this, trade Wendy in for @newhome and you'd get at least another couple of months grace on the heating!

Having promised my wife Debbie that I’d get people in to do most of the Work associated with the new house, i contacted two local demolition companies and got prices to demolish the old timber bungalow. The prices were £6,000 and £12,200. Being tight I demolished it myself, it cost the price of three skips, £540, The bonus for me was over £1,000 in payment for the scrap from the house, things like a hot water copper cylinder and piping, lead off the roof, the old cast iron AGA and two baths, the oil fired boiler, taps, light and socket fittings etc. The problem in demolishing a timber frame house is the amount of timber! So I saved as much of the timber as possible and cut up the rest into firewood sized pieces, I used leftover builders bags to store it and we’re burning it very slowly in the cabin, the problem is the cabin is so well insulated we only managed to burn half a builders bags worth last year!. An even biggest problem was the cedar shingle roof, it had been re-covered during its life so the shingles were two layers thick. I ended up cutting the roof up using a reciprocating saw, a lot less dangerous than a chain saw! The roof as then burnt on site, The roof being stripped. It’s going slowly! Progress. Finally clearing up the plot. All told it took me six months to dismantle the old bungalow and clear the site. luckly my time is free and I did save £6k and taking the scrap value into account I’m £7,000 in pocket to spend elsewhere.

Our site slopes, so we had the idea of digging into the slope and creating a walk in basement. Having done two trial pits into nice soil and clay during the initial design phase, we were confident that it was a simple soil dig out sort of thing! Once the bungalow was demolished it became clear we’d quite by chance dig into the only two areas of soil and clay and the house had been constructed on a large lump of limestone rock called Cumbria. After a hit of head scratching and a coffee with my neighbour Brian, he’s the ‘go to guy’ if you have a problem, as he’s usually got a solution and the solution was a local guy called Chris, a man with a machine and a pecker. Chris arrived on 1st November and twelve weeks and an estimated 1,200 tonnes of rock later we had a basement. Here he is starting clearing the site. The basement hole starts to take shape. This is about half of the stone removed from the basement hole.

Yes but put that it’s a wood burning stove for space heating when you send the claim form in.

I have one of these as it was bought in the days before the app was available. It probably does a similar thing to the app but it is on the wall in the kitchen and I can control all rooms from it. Heatmiser TouchPad

Yes set each room individually or from app. You can set a profile to have different times/ temps different rooms or all the same....my fave programme is nicknamed ‘toasty’ LOL. Heatmiser works fine once you get it set up was an absolute bugger to get going initially though.I’m happy with it now Ive worked it out.

You must be having a laugh? I had to pretty much beg for tea...twice! Got a sinking feeling this not having the tiles behind the wall hung wc perfectly flush is a big nono... @Nickfromwales?

If the wayleave is voluntary and there is provision to terminate this agreement and serve notice for them to remove the over sailing equipment, why don't you just serve notice? If they then apply for a compulsory deed etc, they will have to compensate you for loss of value of your property and pay your reasonable fees I would have thought. @Ferdinand is wholly correct in my view. The professionals including your lawyer when you bought the property, and architect should have identified the obstructions and advised you accordingly. I had a similar situation with powergen a few years ago on a site, There was an easement for overhead lines 33kv if I remember correctly. Usually they have you over a barrel and you have to pay the costs of diverting them. But on this occasion the legal agreement had a lift and shift clause, where on notice, they had 3 months to remove them from the site. Straight away Powergen advised us that it would cost us £250k and take 12 months, until I produced the legal agreement. They said it was impossible due to their network agreements etc to divert them in 3 months. I just pointed them to the agreement and advised them to begin working up a compensation package for our losses. They started treating us with a little more respect then.

We had to do something a bit more ramp like as the incline was too great for a single gentle ramp. It doesn't look too bad now that there is gravel and plants however. It's been used a couple of times for deliveries but other than that no one has been here in a wheelchair in 8 years.

I have about 40m of new dry stone wall to build, so a lot will be used there, the rest will be ‘lost’ around the plot levelling up sloping areas to form patios and level lawned areas.

They're a clay block very similar to Porotherm. All new Lidl stores are built that way.

We have heatmisers, 7 neos, 1ultra and the hub. Works well, good app. Can’t fault it really!

Thanks, that's helpful. I'm tending to the 2 sliders & fixed middle. Hi Lizzie, Thanks for your response - I've read some of your posts & they've been helpful, thank you. Yes a linnhay/linney is a cart shed or hay barn, ours is attached to the house so will be a 'garden room' aka conservatory, but with a proper roof. The whole length is 8m & the posts support a lintel on the open side. It's stone built & a lovely space. The glazing will be inside (behind the posts) so as to be less obvious. I think you're right about Internorm being the go-to place for large panes. I'm planning Kingspan to the vaulted roof. I'm undecided about 3g or 2g at present - probably 2g as this isn't the main living area but depends on costs, U values etc.

I didnt have a path or ramp installed, I had some concrete down ready for tiles but there was a gap of about 15-20mm from threshold to concrete on the day of sign off. There was a 20mm step up to that concrete slab from drive base (just tarmac binder) on the day too as gap left for resin drive. We got signed off ok like that. I have level thresholds at all external doors/sliders and 33" wide doors at every doorway except the one to the plant room, I have no internal thresholds. My whole house is designed to be wheelchair/disabled friendly and I sincerely hope I never have to use it in the way it has been designed...its a failsafe against the day that I have been told may come but fingers crossed. @Ed Davies I am guessing you don't have any experience of using a wheelchair or difficulty with mobility or I am sure you would realise that a 30mm step could be quite difficult to manage and take away an element of independence for the user. I am in complete agreement on Disability rules for buildings. My sister is a foster carer for disabled children and I see first hand how difficult life can be for her and them in buildings that do not cater for them in small but important ways. Currently she cannot visit certain people if she has a wheelchair child as access to the house is difficult or impossible. New homes should be built to cater for all. Sorry on my hobby horse again...its an important thing for me and I feel strongly about it much like air polluting woodburners.

I don't have any separate record of the roof window details so I've looked back through my PHPP data and it is a FTT with 3g and clear reflective outer glass. It looks like it's a U6 but they may have changed the spec. as mine was bought in 2010. https://www.fakro.co.uk/products/all-products/roof-windows/highly-energy-efficient-windows/# Sorry for the confusion.

I used the Nudura one. I also used it in strips for the wall to PIR under rafters junction. Works well, but you have to ensure the eps of the block is clean, dust free and dry! First time I used it I hadn't cleaned the wall enough and it didn't stick, but after a dry brush, damp cloth and allowed to dry worked well. The longer the blocks are out in sunshine you get a small amount of dusting on the block surface, so the longer (ie months) they're exposed the more brushing and cleaning needed. If fresh from delivery a quick wipe and dry and good to go. Easy to cut with a new Stanley blade and a straight edge.

If the posts are diving it up then you are looking at 3 seperate units. If the middles is fixed then you could have one slider, it would need to sit in front or behind the oak posts (dependin detail). With the sliding sections at either end sliding over the middle fixed section. Alternatively 2 sliders either end with a fixed window in the middle. Your probably looking at £10/12k.

You're right, it depends on the officers. I am 'watching' an enforcement notice locally for uPVC windows to be removed & original wooden reinstated.

@KernowGran we had. grade 2 listed cottage in a conservation area. People after us replaced with upvc without getting permission.....it was very well done though and eventually they allowed it to remain. I think it depends on the quality of the units and the officers involved.

Hi there all, due to the death of my dear Dad we needed to support Mum, and so built her a wood passive-principles place in 2016. I oversaw the build. The main chalet bungalow (that I grew up in) is where we've been living for 2 years, alongside Mum in the garden. Its proved too poor in construction to remedy it, so that decision has been to rebuild. 3 years in the preparation, we're hoping to demolish in April. We're looking at an economical build using Heluz blocks to ensure a passive- build. The economy of these will hopefully offset the huge cost of excavating and piling the sloping site to enable us to add a lower ground level, turning it to a house without looking different in the road. The pre-app has gone through smoothly, now to face the reality of living in a trailer tent, and funding the project. Specifically I'm looking at Kingspan Standing Seam roof and MVHR unit again. Looking forward to reading all your plans and thoughts! Chantal

http://www.heluz.com/ They're a clay block, with insulation already inside. they dog tooth together, and then a glue rather than mortar is applied between layers. So having seen it done its pretty impressive, and my builder has built a 4 bed house ready for roof in 4 days with the system. We like it for this reason plus its only 1 process to arrive at passive approach. I'll be looking at lots of other things like piling and metal roofing on here, its all new to me!

Wendy was referring to your heating needing to go on. No need for me to break into my Emergency Annual Heating Fund yet with current electricity usage of 1.4kWh per day . 1.4 kWh is wrong it's 1.1kWh for the last reading.

Our neighbours were told they had to fit a permanent access ramp before sign off. We devised our ramp as part of our landscaping design. The first part of the paving is flat up to the edge of the house then it slopes gently over the next 3.5m up to the porch door. The BCO was happy as long as there weren't any steps greater than 15mm high.

I finally made a start on the floor tiling this afternoon I really could do with a week off to get on with it ut paid work has to come first

I fit mat wells into flooring as it looks better - usual problem though is the edging and I’ve now got a good local supplier of stainless angle who will TIG and polish the joints for £10 each.

If part of the bay is fixed it will be cheaper than an opening unit, if it is 90 degrees return on the bay it will be cheaper than other angled returns. Difficult to say price wise, as the actual sizes of the bay itself are not mentioned and what your ideally looking for within the bay. Ballpark, you mentioned slider. Is that to be within the bay? Without slider in bay and saying fixed at 4m with 2x 2m returns and triple glazed timber/alu & 2m height. You could be looking 4k/5k plus.

@KernowGran welcome to the forum. Ive lived in a conservation area previously and we needed to replace all the windows in a house we renovated. I borrowed a shop sample of a uPVC sliding sash window to show the conservation officer. Thankfully he was impressed with them as reproductions and allowed their use in our home.

I tried to give it away and I only had one guy turn up and he only wanted new wood! I even tried advertising it as firewood as we live in a rural area and a lot of people have woood burning stoves, again I only had one person come and look and he only wanted logs! I did manage to sell a lot of the internal fixtures and fittings. I reused some of the timber to make a site loo, it’s a lot nicer than a plastic Tardis Loo and it doesn’t blow over in high wind!!

@Russell griffiths I used Protec SAGM, it’s a multi layer waterproof and gas proof membrane, the gas proof ness was a building control requirement as we are in a Radon Area. We applied it during the summer and it slicks!! As the weather gets cooler it’s more manageable. https://www.proctorgroup.com/images/products/groundworks/Downloads/Protech-GM-SAGM-datasheet.pdf

I’ve been a carer and know about all the difficulties being disabled brings but I really can’t see the logic in ramps being a must in private one off builds , we had to fit a wide door on our downstairs bathroom in our last build for wheelchair access but the bedrooms were upstairs so should anyone disabled want to buy our house in future they would have had to have a stairlift fitted anyway.

I bet that was like music to Jeremy's eyes...

Wait until I start my "how to connect my one room in the house with a UFH loop to the 3/4" nominal bore , single pipe CH system". Wendy may suddenly become less interested in the subject!

It's 23.7C at the moment in the house with no heating and it could be hotter and Wendy wouldn't mind at all. I'm happy as long as it's above 21C. It will be interesting to see what temperature we end up with this winter.

Shaping the eps will be simple, after playing with mine for a week you can chop it, cut it, screw it glue it, and if you cock it up just stick the cock up bit back in. Why don’t you come over and play with mine for an hour to get a feel for it. Now thats an an offer you don’t get every day.

Sharpie on the sheathing, cable markers on the individual cores where they terminate at the breakers, neutral and earth blocks works for me.

Welcome. What's a Heluz block then?

These are quite pleasant.

You dont have to use Wundas stats Find out if theyre 230v signalling or 12 / 24v / other and then you can look at stats you like the look of and mix n match. What your looking for is called a 'programmable room thermostat' btw.

There's the answer chaps, wait three years before tiling!

The generic thermostat blending valves fall over when you ask them to run at low temp. They choke the flow when the return temp raises enough to leave no differential temp between flow and return. You cant blend hot with cold if your cold is the same temp as your flow which is exactly what happens when your up to temp. All gravy whilst your cold and getting UP to temp, but when your there the TBV just goes into meltdown. Many who think it doesn't should sit and listen whilst its running and you can hear them whining and attempting to strangle the flow. If you have an adverse installation which requires a primary circulation pump, then be 100% sure to fit a full 22mm gated bypass to allow flow back to the heat source when the TBV has had its fill. This is as always case specific advice and most are PH / similar, so you really need linear heat influx and the Ivar with the capillary blend set does work like a dream. Absolutely whisper silent. I suspect there are cheaper ones, but the Ivar comes with a top-notch Grundfos pump which is super energy efficient ( >A+ iirc ). £300 with the Vodka and Tonic but money well spent imo, and also has in-built adjustable bypass in the control group so one less bit of kit to buy and install..

Thanks, my order is 53sqm. After todays investigations I think I can get the alu/wood at better price than the alu/pvc from another dealer. Pays to shop around I would not have looked at an alternative dealer for the same branded product without the comments on this forum about different prices etc.....have looked ta Velfac, Rationel, Ideal Combi and one or two others. Mostly they couldnt do what I wanted in some way or another. Although the price is pretty much the same as I started out with if I can now get the nicer frame and alu timber not pvc for that money then thats what I will go with because it seems like not too bad for the better product. Once again I thank you all for you help. Its really been so useful.