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We are close to completion with just a few internal items to complete and the landscaping and driveway to do. Electric and water in. Surface water drain to do but not urgent. Hoping to be in within 3 to 6 weeks depending upon the purchasers of our current house next door. Balcony was an off the shelf purchase from Diomet in Sheffield:

A lot of a 'high end' look is also about style. It's possible to spend a lot of money and still have it look naff, whereas someone with taste can achieve a really good look on a budget. It's very personal though, what do you like? Can you spend time looking for bargains and have storage for things you find? Style only really matters if you plan to sell at some point.

I would say there is a lot you can do to make a house "high end" by attention to some details and some creative / lucky purchasing. We went for Oak throughout. So Oak floors, (engineered not solid and chosen on price after looking at a lot) Oak doors fitted into home made Oak door liners as ready made solid oak door liners were silly money. Veneered oak skirtings, look good buy not overly pricey. Kithchen was from Howdens but finished with Granite worktops. 3G Aluminium clad Rationel windows were in fact the cheapest of those that bothered to quote. Good air tightness and insulation does not in fact cost much, not if you are doing a lot yourself. Most of getting good air tightness is attention to detail, rather than expensive parts for example. Under floor heating by diligent buying was probably cheaper than a load of radiators, but much nicer. Air source heat pump DIY installed and purchased for no more than a standard boiler. And so it goes on throughout the build, each individual item chosen for a quality finish at a budget price. So I think what I am saying is if you want a nice finish, you need to be very involved in choosing and buying everything, and if you have the skills fit yourself, otherwise you need to only employ trusted or highly personally recommended trades. e.g. there was only 1 joiner out of the many I know, that I trusted to machine and fit an Oak kitchen worktop.

Is high end just something that's been given thought and isn't just the normal monopoly house, with the basic fitted kitchen and bathrooms. High end can mean nothing, it maybe just saying you spent loads on finishes, lights, floor, kitchen and bathrooms, doesn't mean it looks nice, functions well. In our pavilion (bungalow yesterday), we have a great kitchen and great bathrooms. We spend quite a bit of time on the design, then sourced the right quality at the right price. You don't have to spend a fortune to get a high end finish, but you can. If you entrust the buying and design to a third party you will pay a high price for you high end finish. As with all things self build, if you truly self build you are very much in the day to day driving seat, if you self build by getting a third party to do everything for you, you are a passenger who pays the fees.

I would say going beyond what is fine and will do the job Apart from UFH and MVR and slate roofs Most high end is on the finish

Put posi-joists in and create a 400mm void. Pump it full of cellulose and it will be graveyard quiet and very well insulated. Still run with resilient bars and 15mm SB plasterboard for cherry on ‘t cake. On another MBC PH TF atm and the silence inside is remarkable.

Like it! Some pretty smart lazer cutting there in the webs. Can I be rude and ask what the brackets cost?

I suspect it is the void between the roof and the ceiling that silences the rain. Nice looking house BTW.

“ high end “ is subjective . A ‘fantastic ‘ kitchen and bathroom with good finishes is important. I notice little things in other houses . Take taps for example ; they can look great - touch them and you can tell they are plastic not steel . Then I assume we have the illusion of expense without the real material . Light switches and sockets are a detail where plain standard white is just as functional as metal / glass ones - but gives a perception of ‘better ness ‘ . The “ over use “ of glass ; glass balustrade/ glass staircase etc. suggests high end I.e higher budget . But equally with some skill / planning you can make moderate costing items appear high end if customised e.g ikea wardrobes . Its a bit of an illusion unless you have buckets of cash . Also it’s relative to the properties value .

We have a 10 degree monopitch warm roof (not the garage). It's steel. There is no noise at all inside. It is very well insulated and there is a void between the roof and the ceilings. BTW you'll need oversized gutters/downpipes.

Good to hear. You have quite a lot of options with a new roof. Existing roofs are a bit trickier as you invariably end up adding more load to the roof so you need to check this out SE wise. I have a warm flat roof on part of the house. Starting from the underside. Skimmed plasterboard, 195 x 45 timbers @ ~600 centres, 18mm timber sheeting, vapour barrier, 200mm of PIR, 18mm timber sheeting and then EPDM. Yes.. you can hear birds etc trundling about and heavy rain, but we have a roof lantern and like to hear the weather and wild life. This roof is over our living area.. would be different if over the bedrooms, worse if you live by the sea and have gulls waking you up at 3.00 am at times. Yes you can put an acoustic make up on the inside under the main joists. Problem is that if you have a lantern the roof thickness becomes even more of an issue. But you can also use a Sedum roof. That will act as a good cushion. You can make an allowance for a bit of extra load. As I have put an extra layer of sheeting directly under the EPDM I could also put some thin slabs on runners or stools on top of the EPDM.. less risk of a puncture, again this I think this would work well. We are plagued with slugs here so have an idea of putting some small plant pots etc up there for a bit of fun. Yes it may mean that you need a few extra timbers at closer centres. But the good thing about a warm roof is that you can do this without loosing performance due to repeating bridging of the joists, all the wood is on the warm side so it has no impact on the performance of the roof. The good thing about the above is that often you find that when you are interfacing a new roof with an existing house it ends up too high and you can't flash it in easily under the upstairs windows. Also, with a lantern you often need a 150mm kerb. If you put sedum or slabs on top you keep them back from the perimeter a bit so you still get the kerbs and flashings to work as you have not increased the roof thickness where you struggle for height. There is another benefit around putting stuff on top and setting it back a bit. It can soften the roof edge and help you not end up with fascia's and verges that look unpleasantly deep. Lastly you can also look at inverted roofs... these are more common on commercial stuff and can be tricky re drainage etc. Have a look maybe to just rule that option out.

Your going to cause your loft to condensate There will be so much that you will think your roof is leaking

I got a recent quote for 1200x600 porcelain tiles that was £160/m2 fitted. They said their tile prices have increased dramatically since the start of the year. The engineered oak flooring from the same place was £150/m2 fitted.

In case its not obvious.. you should probably aim for at least double the insulation required by the Building Regs.

You need to block it off straight away. You could just fit a dirgo on it for the time being if the basin / shower are not draining properly, but allowing sewer gasses in where people are living is very dangerous. Some houses only have dirgos and do not have an external vent pipe.

30kW of PV is about the biggest system I've ever heard of on a house. That's going to be around £21k or £100 per square meter. Edit: without a battery. Tile/stone flooring works best with UFH but costs around £100-£130 per square meter according to checkatrade. Some stone is double that or more buy the time it's stuck down and sealed.

Our flattish roofs 12degs. EPDM/PVC with fleece below, 18mm ply, posi rafter 256mm deep. Underdraw with 2x counter 50mm battens, full filled with spray foam insulation. Then vapour control airtight membrane and a further 50mm counter batten and then 12.5mm plasterboard. Rain is a soft patter not intrusive, strangely you can hear grows on the roof but nothing else.

For stud walls one technique to reduce sound transmission is to have two staggered sets of studs, each supporting the plasterboard on one side. That way no sound transmitted through the studwork. Sound insulation can be woven between the two sets of studs. Sometimes two layers of plasterboard are used each side to increase the mass. Applying that to a flat roof you would effectively add a false ceiling. Eg one deep set of rafters would support the thermal insulation, OSB and EPDM etc. Then below/between that another set of ceiling joists (can be less deep) supporting just the plasterboard. if its a warm roof (all thermal insulation above the rafters not between) then this would increase the depth of the roof by perhaps another 50-75mm. Again sound insulation would be woven between the two sets. Another possibility would be to use resilient bars between the regular rafters and plasterboard, possibly doubling up the plasterboard to increase its mass. That would probably add 25-30mm.

I don’t think £2000 is too much to aim for as about average/good spec, if you project manage yourself it can take off about 10%

GSHP slightly higher CoP, but may not have at the tale end of winter, if you have cooled the ground too much. Not always inverter driven, so may not modulate as much, so will need a buffer. Generally a big faff, with digging and slinky and filling, ASHP easy to install.

Hi. ASHP’s ‘work’ all year round just fine. Slinky’s can be on sloping ground, no issues there. Unit can be at top ideally, as air rises, or you’ll need to make provision for venting any absolute high point(s). Would need to be a very adverse run to need additional venting, if the unit is at the highest point. You can have a smash and crash car derby afterwards, the pipe will be over 1m-1.5m down typically so do what you like once installed. Consider where the internal unit would go, as these are not quiet units, and can be quite a cumbersome installation once all necessary gubbings / ancillaries are installed. Monoblock ASHP’s have everything outside, so ask yourself “why” you need a GSHP first

We are indeed. I think the government should have been more upfront with people that this is what are doing. Boris has tried a little to make this point recently. It looks like Putin has played his last card though. The price has not gone up with the total switch off Russian supplies (see chart below) and, short of an unusually cold winter, it is unlikely to get worse from here. The price of gas is somewhat lower than it was when he first announced switching off supplies for three days two weeks ago. The current price is consistent with a cap of around £5000, so a cost of £2500 per household to cap the price at £2500 equates to £70bn a year, plus the cost to help businesses. Part of the £70bn could be financed from the £18bn of changing renewables contracts and the windfall tax on energy producers. I do feel now that Putin has done his worst that gas will drift down and the cost will become lower. As ever, the government is not really bailing us out, they are simply borrowing money on our behalf. There is economic value in this though, the government has a lower borrowing rate and stabilising the economy and keeping inflation down also saves money. The best thing we can do now is to continue to try and become more efficient and increase the amount of renewables in the system. The less gas we need to buy the better. I must say though that the reality is we cannot quickly add lots of renewable capacity and upgrade out housing stock. As a few of us have discussed, I do wonder if not allowing the price to rise more is not the best long run decision. I would at least like to see £2500 average bills. You need this to encourage efficiency. Alternatively if you gave every household a cheque for £2000(actually £1500, above average users should get less benefit) and then said they could effectively keep it if they reduced their use of energy it might work well. But I suspect political expediency means keeping bills down is the easy option. I remain hopeful the war will not last that long, I suspect the Russians will have serious issues when the temperature begins to drop in Ukraine.

The best, home brewed

It’s not really about the design, it’s the finishes that make it high end, ie expensive. If you have a timber frame, things that will make it more expensive are large spans (glulam or steels). The high spec is lots of glazing, vaulted ceilings and the kitchen… porcelain tiles and underfloor, hidden gutters in aluminium roof, that kind of thing. There’s no reason a box that’s 100m2 is that much more expensive than an L shape etc. I think that’s a myth and I’ve heard it a lot. Simple, effective designs are no more expensive than cheap crap ones. They just look more high end. It’s cost vs perceived value to some degree.

I realised 30 minutes, and one nano second after posting that it was the FT, not the Sun.

I use a Cisco ATA plugged into the router and 2 old BT phones with adaptors plugged into the ATA, plus the Voiper app on any old Android phone lying around works too, no sim card required. All ring at the same time.

I started a new topic about this if anyone's interested...

I think it's worth it when you have those kind of views. We really like ours but some visitors take a bit of time to get used to it.

It looks very good. Personally I don't like clear frameless glass balustrading as it makes the occupant feel exposed and it is not comfortable to lean on. Lift and slide door, views over the village and the struck pointing are 10 / 10.

Looks great. How does water drain from the balcony? The frameless with the channel looks good, we went with some spigots and they have been a little bit of a pain to set.

Excellent stuff. You will keep the HERAS in place won't you: I'm thinking of the recent VAT threads ....

Nice Great views also

I think stick built timber frame may be the most viable option. Hopefully you have sorted the emergency fire access arrangements.

Absolutely no need to acclimatize laminate Anymore than you would acclimatize a chipboard floor Even solid wood floors are rarely on site for long before they are laid

For solid wood flooring then acclimatising or normalising is important, laminate it doesn’t really matter unless it’s coming from a sub zero warehouse into a hot dry room. During its life the material will likely experience wide temperature and humidity swings anyway. Main thing is to lay the packs down on a flat surface, do not stand up against a wall etc. in a commercial install the floor often goes from truck to laid within hours

Great - that's a relief. Very pleased that all should be well as it is When I install new ventilated soffits after the re-pointing, with the thin gaps around the over extended wall plate be enough to get air up into the loft. If not, any ideas how I can improve the ventilation there? I've no idea why they decided to have insulation at joist level and at rafter level. The glass wall in the rafters is quite thin. It's bonded to the underside of the felt. Not sure if it was bought like that or added. But anyhow, sorting the insulation is on the list of works to be done. As is making sure there is adequate ventilation by adding the ventilated soffits where there are none. Many thanks for all the help with this

Most of the energy is used keeping goods cool, not the air. The air in a fridge is a few tens of grams, with a SHC of 1. Just a litre of water, mass 1kg and a SHC of 4.2 will swamp the 'noise' of door opening.

Sounds like an cluster fudge of a design. Do you have a schematic? If it has a "header" in it, or a buffer vessel with four pipes, then you COP will definitely be awful. Design fault. Do you have a thermostat? Then your COP will probably be awful. Design fault. Share the installation drawings and the control methodology with us? If you don't have this from the installer then you'll need to find a competent one to correct the.mess that the previous one has left you with. Note that Mitsubishi are sharks, along with most of their distributors, and will advise you to install and operate the heat pump in a way that is totally different to the way that it is efficiency is tested. The efficiency is tested on a directly connected (no header or buffer vessel), fully open (no thermostats or zoning) system that runs entirely on weather compensation. This is efficient but it needs half a brain to make sure that there is enough flow through the system at all times for the heat pump to work. The manuals / distributors tell you to fit headers/buffer vessels and zoning etc. It will always work (so no callbacks) even if the installer is thick as mince. (or if the homeowner is thick as mince and refuses to operate the heat pump properly) Unfortunately the efficiency will be godawful as a consequence.

I laid thousands of them in Germany in the 90's They were fine. You need to get the first course set bang on level in both directions then it's just like stacking them out.

Anyone else been stung? Paid 90% with installation meant to start in a few weeks time and have just found out they went into liquidation yesterday. Been to the yard and there is barely a thing there. So despite one of my payments being entitled "Materials" and another "Manufacture" they have neither got my materials nor have they manufactured anything of my house. Anyone else been in a similar position? The more I speak to other trades and my architect the web of people they have let down is getting ever larger. The liquidator has informed me it'll be a week or more to get letters to all the creditors and then maybe a month or more before they know if there are any assets to liquidate. Feeling more than a little disappointed and have no recourse against them. More than that I now have foundations for a house I cannot afford to build.

While I agree with this, freezing at around double last year's prices should help. I just tried to explain the difference between a 3 kW resistance panel heater and a 3 kW A2AHP, that draws 0.8 kW, to my coffee drinking mate. He still think the resistance heater uses less and will store energy for later. He has magical physics that can prove it is better. He showed me a picture of his smart meter as proof. What he actually showed was the unit price, but has convinced himself that it is the daily total. His bill is going to be a shock.

My wife makes a broth soup full of lentils and pearl barley, that's all you need and a hose pipe. So come around for some soup, wait about six hours, all the biogas you will ever need.