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Thanks all for your comments. I’m delighted to say our fitter returned & after some discussion worked until late into the evening lowering all the units. After some gentle persuasion he also lowered the island. He eventually conceded they were a bit high & although initially told me it would be difficult to cut the plinths down (really?), did so to achieve the correct height (both ergonomically & technically) & close the over-sized gap. I’m very happy at the outcome although I could have done without the added stress but at least it was resolved amicably in the end. I hope some of the responses above might be useful to others.

Just be aware for those looking at UVC for a heat pump, Telford do a 300 litre with twin immersions as a standard product for around £50 more. Single immersion Twin Immersion Telford are fully configurable to allow placement of the pipework where you require, and will also add additional pockets for around £30 each if you want more monitoring.

To the OP: we have 100m2 downstairs, 55m2 upstairs, passive House enerphit (so slightly higher heat demands) PHPP says about 2.6kW max load. We installed a 8.5kW ecodan R32, oversized mostly for the DHW reheat time but also allows us to push more heat (or cold) into the house at the very cheapest times. (8kW of solar to maximize use of too) Ground floor is all UFH, the ecodan drives an electronic mixing valve to run it with very fine control, generally 24°C flow temp seems plenty but I set a little weather compensation boost when it's below zero out. The other zone is a fan coil in the loft which can run at a hotter or colder temperature (thanks to that electronic mixing valve). We'll only use it for cooling. Upstairs bedrooms are generally 1-2°C warmer than desired even with no heat sources in them, so glad we didn't! The fan coil will dump cold air in the loft, and hopefully a bunch of that will drop down the service void to each room. If not, we can duct it into specific rooms (bedroom, home office) very easily from up there UVC is an oso geocoil 300L. I looked at all the Mixergy/sunamp but putoff by the complexity. The OSO is fantastic. It stratifies amazingly well: bottom half never once got above 14°C when we were using the immersion only. The one downside is it only has one immersion or probe pocket. But in a way it's a blessing: it's forced me to keep the control systems really simple and dumb: heat the whole damn thing up from ASHP and the top up the top half from solar. Mitsubishi have a detailed CAD schematic for this system design, if anyone needs it let me know. I couldn't be happier with how it's performing. (so quiet it took 3 weeks running before we even heard it run, have to be stood outdoors right next to it)

Thats a very important factor that I noticed way too late - way too late. Our site 'came alive' when a few lads ( well mostly lads, one .... ummmm) were all working together - it was fun. Come to think of it, I find it much easier to work (usually at weekends) with people who drop in to lend a hand. means I work a 7 day week, but what the Hell. Laughter punctures the tiredness doesn't it.

My glowing ring ! ?

That first one looks like ~500 mm standing seam on a 9-10m long "1.5 storey" building (left side full height) to my eye - scale it from the velux windows? Slate example attached:

See, you're using your architect wrong, getting a person who's skill is in design to do cad plans from your scaled drawings is a waste of everyone's time and expertise. Maybe he's taken your plan and made into something that will achieve planning or comply with regs? You've said you've paid him for his ability to get things through planning and his relationship with the planning department, but then you've given him a strict design to follow? If you just want your drawings made into a planning set, use a good local technologist, they will do that cheaper, faster and without trying to develop your design. If we have enquiries from someone who "just needs a set of drawings for planning" and doesn't want any of the design stage we always recommend a technologist who we work with. It's just not a valuable exercise to pay Architects to do the mechanical process bits of a project.

An UVC can be smaller and wall-mounted, the problem you'll have is that I've fitted a few of those steam cabinet shower affairs and the mixer shower needs a far bit of oomph to get the occupant wet. Does the unit you've selected have a rainfall head, handset and body jets etc or just a rainfall head and a handset? The litres per minute flow rate requirements will be quite high with the former. If you plan on short showers, just to wash before / after using the sauna function, then that's ok, just you'll need to accept that. If the primary use is for steam sauna then just fit a 60-80L wall mounted UVC ( instantaneous water heater ) and have that outside the bathroom, maybe make an airing cupboard just to the side of the bathroom door for towels / water heater / CU etc? For heating FORGET wet UFH and Willis heaters and all the shart that goes to make up such a system. I've just done a similar sized annex with in-screed electric UFH wire ( NOT under-tile heating mat ) and it works brilliantly. Zero maintenance and running costs will be the same ( less than actually ) than wet UFH + Willis ( both will use direct electricity, but the wet system will have losses and two heating pumps ). In the immaculate solution, I would fit an air to air heat pump for heating, and use that in the summer for its air-con capabilities too. The better you make this outbuilding, the more you will fry in the summer. I'm just in the process of buying a dual / split unit for my 6m x 4m workshop / home office so I can heat and cool. I am buying one that serves 3 internal units so I can fit one in my boys attic room, one on the landing of the house, and the other in the shed / office. One stone, 2 birds.

We had corian worktop one time and never had any staining issues either. The advantage was it is very light and as it was in a motorhome, weight was an issue.

Have to disagree with you there, we have corian, never had any problems with stains, I’m not the tidiest cook and have spilt lots of things including beetroot and it’s cleaned off no problem.

I used the mat to cover my entire concrete slab just in case, just peace of mind really

I put in 3g because it sounds better than 2g. Nobody asks about the actual u values or coatings or wall insulation or airtightness but 3g gives buyers the impression of extra thermal efficiency.

Is this bathrooms / wet rooms? (if so 150 square metres????) If it is NOT bathrooms then the need for a decoupling mat shows you have the wrong floor material. Change the floor material to e.g. plywood.

Well done that sounds promising. Decent references count for a lot.

If only it was the first time we'd seen a picture of that...

OK, you'll need to find an alternative and then post up a technical drawing from the manufacturer with the new pipe centres / entries / exits etc and we can offer up some solutions.

personally i think that its all a bit of a hodge podge and too random. I would like to see streets with a particular style but individual variations / takes on that style. A contemptory house next to a mock Tudor doesn't look right. I think that Poundbury have got a lot of things right and seems much more organic than volume builders.

While some houses are ugly they're still far more interesting than an identikit volume developer house. I love the idea of having random designs, shapes and sizes in an Almere like fashion but it sounds a real pity that the development company are constraining supply in such a way that only a certain type of household can build and only a certain type of build will be possible to meet mortgage market valuation requirements.

Yep The boot is on the other foot now Trades are in demand The last five years have been manic I’ve enough work in till August 2023 The large sites take preference over one off jobs Find a Brickie and show him some love ❤️

@sean1933 much clearer and i wasnt having a go (having re read my answer it didnt sound as i intended) working together is great, sadly as mentioned previously, a lot of the tradies like the site `crack` and banter with others and find it hard working on self builds. But there are those that take pride in their work and would love to be part of your project, just few and far between.

Totally understandable - I should have worded differently as I did my best not to look over his shoulder and question other than to make sure we were doing it correctly (which occasionally needed correcting!). We were working together like a team most of the time I thought (I have dug the foundations, laid the floor beams, steels, floor joists, etc etc) so had hoped I had gained the right to not just be considered a 'interfering client'! Thanks for this - made me chuckle. Will have to find some time to read that properly!

Ask any tradesperson (politically correct garbage) and they will tell you their pet hate is having someone looking over their shoulder and checking/questioning everything they do. A good tradey will want to work on a price so they can get stuck in and make some money. Day rates are a sure fire route to boredom for good ones

Apologies. The above UVC would not be an instantaneous heater, it would store hot water. It would delivery high grade DHW instantly. UVC + no brainer. Or, if this is adjacent to the house, tap into the DHW from the house and pipe it out there. The steam cabinet will only accept heated water, unless you can find one that utilises an electric shower ( which would be a bag of shit ) plus you'll still need another multipoint ( instant water heater ) for the basin. Don't forget with all these instant water heaters, you buy in at 12-15kW so will need a whopper of a supply cable back to the meter / DB1 and then a DB2 at the annex to take the various loads. 3kW to the wash hand basin would also be the norm. The UVC will service both the shower and the basin, and will only need a 13a fused spur to connect to the electricity supply. The in-screed heater wire(s) will also run off a 13a fused spur, same with UTH if you tile and heat the bathroom floor. I would insulate the life out of the floor in the office area and lay an LVT over 2x layers of 18mm T&G OSB atop the insulation. That will mean the floor will never feel cold, and the air to air air-con / heating will warm the place with ease, and very quickly too vs in screed wire which will take time to bring the room up to temp. Heating via the ASHP will also reduce the running costs significantly and you can operate them via an app or timer to simply bring the room up to temp 30 mins before use. You'll also save the cost of screed. Forget a boiler, waaaay overkill, and annual inspections will be required increasing ongoing costs. KISS.

My tank heating strategy is really simple. Heat the whole tank to 48 degrees with the ASHP. Then top that up with the bottom immersion heater from solar PV which on a good day will take the tank to over 70 degrees. It's all simple off the shelf stuff nothing too bespoke about it. If the immersion was half way up, there would not be enough capacity to absorb a good days surplus PV generation.

But have you asked him to design something that he thinks will get planning or have you asked him to draw up your designs and try to get it through planning? It's two completely different requests. I can't fathom why he would waste time and energy drawing something different if his task was the latter, but then it also sounds like you've completely skipped the briefing and design development stages to get to a planning application so something doesn't feel right about the process....

did he accidentally put your name on someone-else's plans?

Pump, and flow switch, and a relay between the two. Items which need to be bought, items which consume energy, and items which fail. Every time a component fails, your perceived saving goes into the pocket of the engineer........and you know he will be back again at some stage Plus you'll have the extra, significant, associated losses of the external 'gubbings' and the cost of running the secondary pump which needs to run flat out usually. Due to convection, the external stuff turns into a waste radiator when the tank is static ( after being charged and the stat satisfied ) removing the heat to its surroundings. I get the knee-jerk attraction of part charging via the upper 1/3, but the whole point of providing low cost energy via the ASHP is that you can harvest the max amount of energy in the shortest window, eg the Go! tariff charges the whole larger cylinder once a day at 5p/kWh + the multiplication of the SCoP ( so DHW at ~2.5p/kWh on a good day minimum expected ). With that said, I have zero love for the Mixergy tank, and waaaaaaay less love for the PHE solution and additional costs / losses. Absolutely no sale there AFAIC. Folk get lost in an seemingly 'miserly' pursuit of maximised costs savings, and it's just a waste of time, effort and money. If you have cheap electricity and an ASHP, or PV and and ASHP, then you would surely want to maximise the yield and stuff the UVC full to the gunnels at each opportunity. These only lose a degree and hour max, so in 24hrs ( and with an suitably sized UVC aka energy buffer of 300-400L ) the numbers are far better eg that would be the most 'bang for the buck'. Telford stainless cylinder = lifetime warranty too, zero maintenance!!! This solution sells itself. On top of that would be the default of the immersion being used to convert PV into DHW directly, during the summer with the immersion only, thus not unnecessarily fatiguing the ASHP for the full 12 months of the year. That will promote reduced servicing and maximise longevity of the parts you least want to replace.

I have really limited experience of architects, but, if I were in dragster drivers position, I'd be massively pi**ed at what has happened. Reading the op's posts, I don't see confusion in how the thoughts are conveyed. Everything is clear enough. With that in mind, and, when it comes to detailed instruction on requirements for their design, it seems to me as though nowhere near adequate attention has been paid to what the customer has asked for. In view of that, I'd say dragster driver has every right to be pretty annoyed. I think if it were me, I'd be seriously considering whether to continue with this architect.

Good observations from the sole, much appreciated by me. It does look like the basic Client requirements / needs have not been met..a garage, annex.. that is stuff you thrash out at the first client meeting.

I guess it depends if you want to prioritize sound insulation or sound absorption. I'm no expect, but I would probably think about doing the following if build-up depth was limited: Sound insulation with some absoprtion: 2 SB + surface mounted Akupanels (50mm total) Sound absorption with some insulation: 1 SB + 25mm battens (mineral woold in. between them) + surface mounted Akupanels (60mm total) We have one ceiling panel where we'll use 2SB + 38mm battens + Akupanel, but we also have a wall that is already boarded, so might just surface mount, even though this isn't ideal from a sound absorption perspective.

Have to agree with this. If you can stretch to it solid surfaces such as Dekton, DuPont, Silestone, etc are the way to go but even in these you've different price points like Corian, HiMac, Dekton, etc. Corian and HiMac can get scratches which can be buffed out but Dekton is more durable again. I'd specify these products a lot for hospital reception desks, university canteens, etc where they need to last and be easily cleaned. The abuse they can stand up to is incredible. Going back to the kitchens I've Ikea carcass (all joints glued giving the solid feel) under an expensive solid surface worktop so the whole kitchen feels and looks good. We 'Ikea Hacked' some of the kitchen units to provide custom designs and purchased handles ourselves.

Cement boards are definitely a classic ? https://lemora.lt/stogo-danga-priedai/stogo-danga/siferis/3189-eternit-agrol Hardie plank is a safe option for a decorative open rain screen. It's heavy though. Not as pretty (looks plastic to my eye) but long lasting. The comments EPDM and not trapping moisture within the wall structure would still apply though. Standing seam - I suspect the first image that you attached looks messy because nothing lines up (roof vs walls) and the walls are covered in unnecessary seams. (that length can be made in one piece) Standing seam roofing can be premade zinc plated / powder coated steel too rather than made off the roll. Max off the shelf length on Rukki is 10 metres. It's ~€15/m2 in the baltics but how much it would be to import to the UK though. https://www.ruukki.com/roofing/products/roofing-sheets https://nordicroofing.co.uk/ "Architectural" panels have wider (~1m) spacing between seams if you want fewer of them: https://www.kingspan.com/gb/en-gb/products/insulated-panel-systems/insulated-wall-panels/quadcore-architectural-wall-panels-ks600-1000 You might want the opposite with MORE seams (or ridges) to make them less prominent rather than a hard seam every 500 / 1000 mm though? I think this looks clean because the seams between panels are much less visible, they're the same on the roof and the walls, and the gutter breaks any mismatch between roof and the wall:

We initially wanted a wooden 'wet roof' setup. We decided against it after discussing with a cladding supply company owner, who knew of 2 projects that had done this, as the roof was a complete mess after 5 years and all wood needed replacing. We went with zinc in the end. Happy with it now and the hidden gutter, drainage is easy to clean and I sleep soundly knowing it is unlikely to fail.

She she must be obeyed also liked that style. Monopoly house / plain barn in burned wood is very much in season at the moment I'm told. If you're prepared to do it in standing seam metal (e.g. Rukki roof) it's pretty easy. Water proof / air proof but vapour open membrane. Vertical then horizontal battens. Metal roof that turns into metal wall. No gutter. Lift the bottom of the house >0.5 metres off the floor to avoid backsplash. Ditto in slate or other doesn't really rot type material. In wood... You can have a decorative wooden cover over a metal roof. Use trapezoidal metal panels with horizontal battens fixed to the ridges. Attach your "open facade" to those. Expect the tops of your boards to rot quickly. You can have a decorative wooden cover on top of an EPDM roof. Drape the EPDM over the "vertical" battens so that you have the equivalent of trapezoidal metal panels but in EPDM. Attach horizontal battens to these ridges. Attach your "open facade" to those. Expect the tops of your boards to rot quickly. "Open facade" approach not ideal. Leaves and other debris will fill that drainage cavity over time (it isn't getting huge water flow or wind to clear it) then your battens start to rot...never mind the hidden gutter detail. Make the "vertical" battens enormous to avoid this. Vertical tongue and groove is closed...and great for trapping water and reducing your drying area / airflow. Putting a metal ridge on top helps. Sliding a metal strip in the roof-eaves jointline to deflect water off the top of the wall boards would help. An overhang helps. Closing the roof deck / facade helps. It's a disposable aesthetic cover on a building. Make the wood as resilient as possible and it'll take longer to fail. Less disposable is your timber frame. The EPDM should not enclose your wall/roof structure. (don't put a hard vapour barrier on the outside of your wall/roof and expect the wood not to rot - in a heating climate the hard vapour barrier is on the inside and the outside needs to be less vapour open; else you're doing the equivalent of putting a sheet of glass over grass in the sun and being surprised at all the warm condensation under it) Use breather membrane to close your wall/roof, then vertical battens as breathing (for the wall), then OSB and your EPDM. The second wall/roof detail is madness I think. After some research we're going to try this... Overlap boards. Very traditional with pine tar an 3-yearly re-treatment. Less traditional with alkyd/acrylate paints and 10-yearly re-treatment. But if detailed right / maintained is supposedly good for 30+ years. (the limit being how well it is maintained) - Timber frame w/mineral wool (fibreglass falls down cavities; rigid foams between studs hard to fit/detail) - Water and windproof but vapour open membrane that can be laid hard against insulation (not all can be) - 50x25 mm vertical battens / 50x50 mm horizontals (to give nail purchase) every 600 mm - Make from dried 150 x 25 mm boards - Impregnate the boards (rough cut stuff is usually just dipped rather than pressure treated) - Overlap by 25 mm (creates vertical ventilation grooves) - Rebate (10 x 8 mm) the centre of the overlap to create a drainage groove / ventilation groove for the overlap - Paint with good alkyd or acrylate paint... - ...and paint the tops and the areas of the boards that overlap... - ...but leave the backs that are exposed to the cavity and those 10x8 grooves unpainted to aid drying - 5+ cm overhang - Seal the walls to the eaves - Vent from the ground floor to the ridge - Cut the bottom of the wall boards at an angle to crate a drip edge - Make provision to avoid splashback UNDER the house No metal. No EPDM. Wind proof membrane underneath doesn't need to be UV stable. Can replace with metal or slate when you get bored with maintenance. Can decide that in 50 years time you'll be dead and not care. Maybe not the look that they're after. Depends how much fot eh future work they're going to do.

So nowhere near the 50% ? go tell your neighbour. ?

For the benefit of someone like me that has never heard of them, can someone post an example of what is meant by an "In Frame" kitchen?

The driveway has been laid and I think they have done a fantastic job. I have also finally got around to putting up a postbox and a doorbell. I got the doorbell from a company called Metzler Trade that sells on Amazon and its own website, a lovely quality item. It always disappoints me when people have little plastic doorbells. I forgot to include power for the bell so put a Grothe wireless bell behind it. All the gutters, soffits and fascias are finished. We also framed around the garage doors in matching aluminium. This is an area that is usually just painted wood and starts to blow after a while. The builder just has a smallish list of things to finish off. Finally we can get the walls and doors washed down, I didn't see any point before the drive was down. The landscapers want to start in a couple of weeks now also which is good.

Yep, thats what it costs. GetcherWalletOutYouTightWalkOnGlazingExpert.

@Patrick has now gone to remove all the sharp objects from his house......

Everything South of say Toddington seems to be incredibly expensive. I'd like to buy a plot for under £200k to build a 120sqm detached modern house with a small garden. Having no joy via PlotBrowser / Plot Finder / Rightmove / OnTheMarket et al and local Estate Agents who almost laugh down the phone when I tell them what I'm looking for. Graven Hill appears to be the only place with a drip fed supply of practical plots but yes very expensive for how small they are and I agree there is a danger of ending up with either something extremely dull or beyond whacky either side of you.