Leaderboard

Updated plans and 3D renders. My parents are over the moon. WC adjusted to add a cupboard. We might lose the other hall cupboard for a larger dressing room.

Well, it’s been a momentous day today. It’s taken us a couple of years to get to this stage but we finally broke ground today. All watched over by an archaeologist and in the grounds of a listed building, I’m pleased to say that nothing was found apart from a few copper nails and a few fragments of no significance. Groundworker didn’t encounter any problems and will be back at it tomorrow. Visit scheduled in from Building Control (using Stroma) scheduled for Thursday. Limestone ridge at about 1.5m deep, so a nice solid base to sit on. Here’s some pictures taken by the Groundworker. I’m working away at the moment unfortunately but can’t wait to see what’s been happening this weekend.

Had a very nice unexpected surprise this evening. Came home to letter from SSE.... what do they want? Well it was a cheque for just under £1000 to me, three years after the connection was done. Costs incurred were less than the invoiced amount! References all square up to my paperwork. Merry Christmas

You don’t do things by halves, do you!?!? Looks really good.

18.75m

Looks fab!

Im with you on this!.News to me too.

Be aware with top hung ones that there is a ratchet spring in them and you need to push the unit out to its highest setting once installed to engage the springs. If you don’t do this, the sash just drops straight back down.

Following on from finishing our blockwork a few weeks ago, our brickie came back the next week and fitted the concrete cills. We then had a short wait before before our joiners could come back on site and fit the remaining Siberian larch cladding. Here are some photos. The next exterior job will be rendering, but with the winter weather it might be some time before this can be done. Our attention will now be concentrated on getting the house to 1st fix, fitting the insulation is the first job on the list.

Yes, looks really good.

@Hecateh, that's why I advised taking a break and replanning. Like you we split our plots and got pretty cash strapped before we sold the old farmhouse and moved in. Once we had, then we had enough cash to sort out a load of jobs, but the trick is to triage: a dust-sheet pinned over a door opening will give privacy and keep out drafts etc... Only make the stuff that is time critical high priority, for now. Don't rush the stuff that you don't need to: less stress and a better chance of getting a good job done.

It's not but you have a gazillion things to remember so easy to let them slip. Forgot to add UFH spur and duct for bathroom floors if you're having electric mats (highly recommended). We made a last min decision to do that (walls were boarded but not skimmed) so a hectic weekend of removing and re-fitting PB either side of the electrician... Its very easy and relatively cheap to get your all you electrical needs in during first fix, its expensive and sometimes impossible to retro fit. Once your frame is up, get some decent silver gaff tape and mark out all your potential locations, then walk each room & harea, thinking through furniture positions etc and make sure you have what you need...

We have our xmas tree lights on a 5a lamp socket - makes it easy to turn them off at night. Other random thoughts.... Plan external lighting and power, outbuildings etc. plus security camera locations (inside and out), intercom / gate controls if you're having those. Driveway lights, external xmas decoration lights. Power for hot tubs / inflatable pools / garden tools / We wired our hot return pump and MVHR boost into PIRs in each bathroom and into the light switches also - means that entering a wet room triggers both extraction and ensures timely hot water to the tap. Put data points next to your plant incase you want to run monitoring / control and also in hall cupboards for wifi boosters. If you plan to have wall mounted TVs, put data and power directly behind, plus duct to allow HDMI to media etc. to avoid trailing cables. Static internet devices (printers, TVs, internet radios etc) should have hardwired connections and not rely on WiFi, leaves your wifi network free to support mobile devices, laptops, tablets etc. Think on power and control for blinds if you're having them also powered roof windows in inaccessible locations. Heated / lit bathroom mirrors. Power for wardrobe lighting (we used the Ikea system, works great). Good coverage of floor level sockets for vacuum cleaners, steam mops, irons etc. USB sockets at bedside/ kitchen / study for charging devices Speaker cable in roof for surround sound systems - plan ahead for Atmos etc which are 7.1 - plus control & power for screens & projectors if ever planning home cinema.

Yes, they do, so you need to change the plugs, but that's only a 5 minute job, and dead easy to change back if you ever need to.

Related to that if you have a lot of 3 way switching. I used the Click Mode light switches, nice and cheap and good quality. But their "party trick" is the switch modules are interchangable, so it is easy for instance to create a 3 gang switch with say 2 intermediate and 1 two way switch.

I'm another fan of adding 5 A sockets switched from the wall. In our bedrooms we have double gang 13 A outlets either side of each bed, plus a single gang 5 A outlet either side, switched from the wall, so that bedside lights can be turned on as you come in the door. We also have 5 A outlets in the living room for incidental lights, again switched by a wall switch. We find we rarely use the main lights in either our bedroom or the living room, instead we just switch the incidental/bedside lights on from the wall. The only thing to remember is to leave the switches on the bedside lights turned on in the morning and turn them off at the wall switch ready for the following evening.

Im a big fan of 5amp circuits it provides you so much more flexibility with lighting. ive also always put double switches by the side of the bed in the master bedroom which switches the bedside lamp and the main lights.

This will show you where there's radon. https://www.ukradon.org/information/ukmaps

We had 5 amp sockets in our lounge and all 4 bedrooms in our last build. I really loved it. I much prefer table lights to a central light. Having the table lamps controlled by a light switch meant the central lights were rarely used.

That's very neatly done cladding - looking good!

From Sunamp: "We have just received your question regarding the ErP rating of our products. Our UniQ range of thermal stores in all sizes (3, 6, 9 and 12kWh) are A+ rated in terms of heat storage thermal efficiency. This is valid for all units designed to be primarily charged from an external thermal source, whether they have an inbuilt back-up electrical element or not. The “e” range of UniQ products are physically identical to those with a back-up electric element inside, however as they are designed to be primarily charged from an electrical input the ErP rating is automatically downgraded by a couple of classes as the certification system does not distinguish where the electrical power is coming from (excess solar PV for instance). This is a nuance of the current ErP rating system, but please rest assured that your system is still performing from an efficiency and thermal loss point of view in exactly the same manner as the rest of the UniQ range." So A+ if you don't use the inbuilt heater it seems

I did go and look at the Euroclad in Cardiff, great product, similar price to Tata, but you do need to rent a seamer tool at £290.00 per 2 weeks if installing yourself. The finish is similar to Tata, up close you can see the pattern on the coating. in no way does it look plasticky once it is on. I am in a National Park, showed them both Euroclad and Tata, they chose tata but what do they know? My advice is choose another colour than anthracite........ it really does depend if you are fitting yourself and budget. I have 300+ sqm to fit, have fun.

Here is the assembly drawing for the ridge beam element and supporting post. The same mortice and tenon join is used on our glulam frame for our sliding door opening (4210x2110mm) also pictured. I've also got the original engineering sketches but I don't think they show any more detail.