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Well I went brick and block but with loads of insulation and have not regretted it. @nod said somewhere on this forum that brick and block was still cheaper than timber frame. I think you need to design your house then see what build method best suites that design. Don’t let the architect get carried away with what HE wants.

I think the original post has been lost over some tit for tat arguing! Poor @Jack757wont ever want to post anything on here again! Good luck with your plans and look forward to hearing your progress 😊

Not quite, because I call architects and builders/contractors eejits in the same breath! I am looking at drawings at the moment for some low rise private flats, no riser... no space for multi-service board, no space for a dry riser, no space for sprinkler tanks, no space for booster pumps, no space for anything really. Architect is in a huff with me now because I sent back her drawings with mark-ups of where I want risers and plant space. Builder/contactor will still build it wrong.

I designed mine myself, I would be interested to see if it makes you wince. We are very happy with it.

Yeah start on a Friday ! Always a good plan - then when you’re (expletive deleted)ed off with it you can 🍷

Yes but they tick the looney greenie boxes

All those restrictors are self-defeating anyway. Tiny volume of water doesn't flush the loo properly so gets flushed two or more times. Pathetic shower doesn't rinse off suds so longer is spent with the water running. 🙄

Ironically right now I'm selling my PV to the grid for twice what I buy it for overnight (15p Vs 7.5p) so it's better value for me to export as much as I can during the day and buy it back overnight to run the ASHP. This calculus will obviously vary as the tariffs change in future. I technically could make profit by discharging and refilling the battery each night too. 75p for an entire fill of the 10kWh battery probably not worth it for the degradation on the battery. (And definitely not from a needless configuration hassle point of view)

What has been built is utter shite. No I don’t think the architect drawing is correct either, but the interpretation is rubbish I could do better with a 4 inch grinder and one eye closed. You need to get the arch re drawn and find a better way of executing it.

The weight in a blocked up horizontal pipe run is crazy. The way we used to install in anything other than domestic short(er) runs was to fit a metal bracket protruding horizontally, with the pipe suspended underneath, eg so there was little to no shear forces on the fixings. Agree with getting it fixed well in a domestic setting, but I’ve never done anything other than plastic coated all-round band ( horizontal runs through posi-joists ) or plastic clips for vertical. All-round band is a joy as you just tighten / loosen the screws to raise / lower the pipe and set the fall. Tres bien. The rule for frequency of fixings is dictated by whether or not its a solid continuous piece of pipe, or broken up with joints. A rising branch, for eg, would get a fixing immediately either side of it, and then around every 800mm, or less if you come to another fitting sooner. Remember not to tighten a fixing where a fitting is captive, eg the pipe and fitting are not free to move together, as that can cause the rubber seal in the fitting at the bottom to be under very little pressure, and for it to be badly compressed at the top. A situation which can cause a weeping joint at the lower ‘relaxed’ part of the seal. If the pipe enters a captive fitting, put the band of that fitting and not the pipe immediately prior to it. For sound deadening; Kilmat deals with a lot of the higher frequency stuff, but as that lot was over a bedroom, I had my guys install an additional layer of acoustic insulation between the joists at plasterboard level, adding more where the spotlights are to go.

you might be best looking for a "magic repair man" "snagging repair man" rather than a local worktop company, a good skilled person will be able to make that joint look better than new

I would say your Architect has drawn something that is almost impossible to achieve on site using bricks and being done by brickies. If you want equal gaps on an arch you would have been better with off site fabricated arches using individually cut brick slips on a concrete or similar backing. If you look at your drawing you will see every brick is tapered along its length and with an angle cut end and I haven’t measure them but probably drawn longer than bricks are available anyway.

You are in a similar situation to us, we are a bit further along though. We have planning permission to demolish our bungalow and replace with a 210sqm house. We decided to go brick and block as this still seems to be the most cost effective. Someone in my area built an oak framed house and said it was about three times the cost as standard masonry, not sure how true that is for all oak frames. We have UFH downstairs, ASHP. We are just going through building regs now. We are trying to keep costs down as much as we can and ideally would like to bring it in somewhere under £2800per sqm. Where abouts in the country are you? We are hoping to get a single contractor to get us to first fix and then we will project manage the rest. This forum has been a huge help to me trying to navigate the process so far. Everything takes so long I just hope we can start sometime next year!

As the most serious form of fungal decay in timber, I wouldn't take any chances if you know it was present.

Think I’ve been a member here long enough to know that threads go off topic quite a bit sometimes! 😂

Sounds like knowledge gained through experience. I'm quite impressed.

Indeed. And the aforementioned case is mostly my fault. The alarm bells should have started ringing when I realised this guys wife was scared of him. Clients are as bad as companies, and you ( and I ) should NEVER go on faith alone. It’s a sad world we live in, where someone’s word means, absolutely, the square root of fcuk all. The only upside from these experiences is, that my business now functions with sufficient defence mechanisms that I cannot ever fall fowl of the first 2 bags of shit that I unfortunately ended up working ‘for’. The best information available on this forum is to follow the correct avenues and stick to them like Velcro. It’s a very nice thing to have a good rapport, but the devil is in the detail, and that detail being in writing. There are no friends in business, and I’ve learned that the very hard way

Now days it’s progress meetings followed by technical meetings all minuted. so every arse covering move is done by email to ensure rectus protectus All conversations turned into file notes and email over to design team and main contractor. Drawings downloaded and uploaded on some portal that you can see who does what and when. god it was easy when all I had to do was print out a fax transmission report and staple it to the fax drawing you just drew out and file it a box folder…..

We used to keep it short and accept work as per drawing number Rev 2 dated ……… So issue a drawing with a drawing number and get the quote accepted that way with a specification on materials and workmanship always best to have a discussion first, saves an argument later.

So, another evening grooming men then?

[Mod hat on] Please behave yourselves and stop bickering. [/Mod hat off]

An update, have bitten bullet and decided on Solar Pv - Sunpower Maxeon 6 - hopefully about 5.2kw and Powerwall 2. And having done the sums, the total energy saving gadget package of ASHP, MVHR, Solar PV, and Powerwall will have payback of about 11 years assuming some sort of E7 currently capped tariff. And payback 10 years with export such as the Tesla tariff. Assuming energy costs go up, e.g. no cap, then payback will obviously be better. Plus, I am guessing given inflation & related demand panels and battery may be more expensive. Also @SteamyTea have decided on a small laundry room with UFH and MVHR extract - so I will follow your advice and hang things up to dry

Eg Valid options are.. Cold Loft with Cold Roof Construction Warm Loft with Cold Roof Construction Warm Loft with Warm Roof Construction

Because the condition did not further specify that the property must maintain the rate of consumption indefinitely there is nothing to prevent a future owner from putting in whatever appliances they like.

that's the plan, but going to do the waste/soil pipe first and then I can run the hep2o around that to make sure it all fits in my service voids. one step at a time

Yes they are more than enough, as are M12 fixings. Space at 600mm ish between the joist locations

No, luckily I had the cash from a previous sale for my build, the building regs include water use and some, like Jeremy, got pulled up on it and made to instal water saving devises in taps etc, my guy was far more laid back about it. 👍

I used Floplast for all my drainage. I also had an account with Jewsons for the build and they gave me a complete list of everything they sold with the discounted price.

when I've started you'll get your photos don't you worry. gotta place the order for materials first! will probably end up starting on Monday.

The relevant bit of the Building Regs is Approved Document G.. So yes it is a more stringent standard than otherwise. Never heard of it being a problem for lenders. One option might be to ask the planners if they would remove/replace the condition if you install some sort of rainwater recycling system. Even if only for flushing loos. Propose your own ambiguous condition. What does the SPD SP10 say about rainwater recycling if anything? We have an underground rainwater recycling tank but its only used for garden/car.

Do you have a keyline https://www.keyline.co.uk nearby, I've used my local one for ducting, drainage and polypipe goodies. And they were really good with me, actually wanted to chat, answer questions, and provide solutions...

Silestone also do a silicone.. https://www.howdens.com/hardware/sealants-and-adhesives/sealants/worktop-joint-sealants/silestone-colorsil-280ml-quartz-worktop-silicone-sealant-obj-sku-family-25393183

Will this be big enough to start it?

Another one for studs and epoxy resin. If you use those concrete anchors you will get the occasional one that won’t grab. With the resin every one will work if you follow the cleaning of the hole instructions. M16 studs here, but I am a nutter.

I used 22mm Caberdek P5 with D4 glue and screws.

If you want to use timber frame with Potton, use your own architect and ask for ‘frame only’ as it’s cheaper, no need to pay two design fees. You will get a kingspan insulated frame which I consider the best value for money. I don’t adhere to the ‘oh architects spend your money and ruin your design with their input’ slander, simply not true. a good architect will improve your design and help you avoid costly build errors. People who say this are know it all’s. @SarahG £2800per sqm is actually a very high build cost.

If you run the ASHP from octopus Go overnight, it's 7.5p/kWh primary energy so 2.5p/kWh of delivered heat. Giving: Winner: ASHP 75% lower cost than oil. (This only works on a highly efficient well insulated build where you can fully satisfy heating demand in 4hours of overnight usage, or with a very large house battery)

Echoing some of comments above, joins in quartz worktops (indeed arguably worktops of any material) have a structural role to play in addition to aesthetics so I don't think silicone would be an appropriate material to use.

We went for brick slipped lintels. They look much better but cost a fair bit. Depends what you want. Ours are full arches. We provided regular bricks and the company cut them to tapered slips.

The worktop fitters use some sort of hard setting resin that resists being pulled out or worn. That's what they used in the join between our upstand and worktop. Might be best going to a worktop company and asking if they have a product that suits.

Shouldn’t be silicone but that may explain why it needs refilling. Epoxy filler with a little pigment (maybe experiment by mixing a tiny bit of cement?).

Your architect has shown a flat segmental arch. Some options: https://www.ibstockbrick.co.uk/arches/

... neatly describing why builders call architects eejits and architects say that builders never follow their drawings anyway Another way of putting the same thing is : two groups of Competent People (CDM 2015) - for whose services we pay - do what the Hell they want and blame the other when things go breasts up Which is why - for us paymasters - a sense of humour is compulsory.

I totally agree Architechts design with no regard to cost Great at spending Your money

I found the manual fairly straightforward but lowered the normal airflow percentage to 20%. Is yours at 30%? Have you tried holding down the boost button for 5 secs to put it into purge mode 100%? Do it a second time to switch back to normal.

Yes so once you have started development the planning grant is effectively extended indefinitely unless there is a planning condition requiring completion within x years. Remember that there may be implications for your VAT reclaim. You are have to submit a claim within 3 months of completion. The HMRC definition of completion seems to change. Some people have moved in and taken years to get their BCO to sign it off as complete, then HMRC have tried to argue they were effectively complete years earlier when they moved in so their reclaim was too late. Others will have better idea what you can get away with but I would think about buying all the materials for the garage so you can reclaim the VAT soon after the house is signed off.

We went brick and block, no issues downstairs but as you mentioned, upstairs is stud wall etc so still get that hollow sound even with plenty of insulation. Neighbour used Potton and has had no issues but I’m always sceptical about a wood frame in this climate. Asked our architect about wood frame and was told they just save time and go up quick vs full brick and block

I designed a manifold system and used plastic pipe, never done it before but it worked out ok.

Then a manifold of manifolds ! (expletive deleted)ing easy ( photo of big balls won’t upload )

Silly SAP. It's very expensive and inefficient to open the windows in winter, as doing so lets all your expensively generated heat out the building. (Likewise in a summer heatwave opening windows allows all the expensively cooled air out). This was the first thing that got me looking into MVHR: I hate the wastage of open windows in winter, my wife hates the humidity and damp of closed windows.