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Showing content with the highest reputation on 08/20/20 in all areas

  1. Tell them to FO. Better still, sell them your consent for £5k.
    4 points
  2. Hi Moved in on Saturday after 2.5 years but that includes doing up the house we were living in and renovating my sons flat. Flooring still needs laying down stairs and a new kitchen when finances allow,will come in at around 1k per square metre 300 sqm external. Have enjoyed the journey and thanks for the advice from yourselves.
    3 points
  3. A perfect message to clear the air for a harmonious and peaceful coexistence. Well done. Did he stay for drinkies?
    3 points
  4. So my neighbours have always had issues every since I put planning in . I needed to put a new drain in within the vicinity of a shared boundary . I originally emailed the neighbour with photos from every conceivable angle and that if any damage occurred I would be liable and repair or replace . Chance of anything happening would be near zero as I dug the drain trench by hand and it was a metre away . Neighbour kicked up a fuss and sent us down the party wall act . Total cost of that was around 5k ! Anyway today same neighbour came to me and asked if they could build on top the party wall probably about 60cm . You can imagine my response ... wtf is wrong with people ! . Sure increase the height of the wall via the party wall act . I knew various neighbors would need my consent for any party walls we share , just had to bide my time . Today karma kicked in .
    2 points
  5. He will need to serve notice on you. If you do not accept, the issue is considered in dispute and you can then appoint a surveyor at his expense. If he starts work without serving a notice or having an Award in place you can get an injunction from the High Court. It will cost you initially but you can reclaim the costs plus damages as Judges do not look kindly on people going behind the Act.
    2 points
  6. Take the garage roof off. Leave the side wall standing. Take down the rear garage wall. That will give you vastly better access for all the building work. When done, fit a garage door in the back, always handy to have through access to the garden, and fit a better pitched roof to give storage above the garage. Otherwise you will need the concrete pump again for the extension build, and getting materials through will be harder, and everything will have to be done by hand or with a tiny digger.
    2 points
  7. I think you have some excellent feedback above. I would add: 1 - I think you have too many small rooms. The library / study combo idea is excellent. 2 - I think there is too much circulation space - esp. the hall. See how the Edwardians or the Jacobeans did feature halls in their villa type houses - aiui normally they would get a dramatic staircase and some sort of reception or banquet space into something that size. If you want it dramatic I would move the bottom back from the door by some distance, and make it a Y staircase with 2 branches at the top. I would also make the staircase appreciably wider than a normal one -s ay 1.1-1.2m. The rake of the staircase also matters. You should be able to get a blow-em-away hall without quite such a sacrifice. 3 - Are you being conditioned by compressed London houseplan forms and small rooms? I had a delightful BH London-based visitor this week who commented that my 'orribly tight single bedroom was "medium sized". Different perceptions. Up until now I have thought of it as almost a box - room, with space for a bed, a bookshelf, a chest of drawers and a chair. Educational. Guess where London people who are used to smaller rooms will be sleeping now ?. 4 - Had some trouble with the font. I read them as "caveman's sports bar" and "petroom". ? 5 - When you revisit this the context in the plot - sun etc - will be the thing to take care adjusting. 6 - Cautionary. Make sure that you have the rest of your life too. The purpose of a self-build is ultimately to spend your time living in it not building it. We lost my dad at 72 to a condition where the seeds were sown when he was in his 30s, whereas mum had been hoping for another decade together - did not happen. There is a lot to be said for the 'Sacrament of the Present Moment" idea (that version is from a Jesuit idea) - time gone does not come back. That's something I'm coming to reflect on having had months of my otherwise-plans lost in lockdown. (I love the piccie of the dalmation - get a red setter on a floor like that and it will skating around like bambi on ice.) Ferdinand
    2 points
  8. Some people just take the piss if your too good, I believe in being helpful but you can go too far !!! @pocster sell them the party wall agreement ?????.
    2 points
  9. I am a believer in karma, in that bad things tend to happen to bad people and good things tend to happen to good people. I am fortunate in that I have good neighbours and we help each other and pool resources, it is so much easier than being awkward with each other. We have had a brief experience of an awkward neighbour and it is just so counterproductive.
    2 points
  10. It's amazing the number of people who don't get the concept of not being a dick. It's exactly why I went to some length to get a plot that just had farmers fields as neighbors. Having said that I may regret it when I have to dig 100 meters along one of the fields for electricity.
    2 points
  11. Hi I have put in some of my windows with a tolerance around the frame. I have been looking on the internet but not sure how to fill this gape now. This is a timber frame house and the windows have fire stops around them. Is there a flashing kit or tape for the outside I can use Should I just use expandable foam and sealants to the breather membrane With water Ingres and air tightness what is the correct way to do this
    1 point
  12. Seeing as we were going to be using the whole plot width and the overgrown garden would then be impossible to access (sensibly) with machinery we bit the bullet on a big clear-out. Getting our soakaway in also meant this was a good thing to tackle before the house so we've spent a few months of stripping things out so we could create the soakaway area, building a lot of gabion walls and laying artificial grass. Oh and we built a shed - a very fine shed indeed ? The soakaway is deep under the ground in the foreground - which helped to elevate this end of the garden to create quite a nice level area with space to the side for us to run drainage down and to plant some trees & other screening plants. The gabions are part filled with rubble and faced with local gabion stone. Gabion steps are a great idea but they aren't very durable left unfinished so we'll be designing a top surface for them later. We managed to redistribute a lot of the very sandy ground from the main plot area to level up the ground down here. Everyone needs a shed and every shed needs a base. Unfortunately there was a misunderstanding somewhere and the orientation of the slab didn't match the shed footprint hence the add-on on the right! we have some large over-hanging maritime pines which endlessly drop needles - grass would not last so after much research decided on artificial grass. This is mid-way through installation over a bed of 50mm compacted sand on top of the mainly sand base. From the top looking down
    1 point
  13. In all seriousness you could end up on one of those crappy neighbours from hell tv show. You are currently on the high ground. Chillax. Now he knows what people think of him,
    1 point
  14. From a build/construction point of view, it makes absolute perfect sense to allow for the new loft space now as opposed to later and via attic trusses as already mentioned. Be weary of the Planning side of things when considering a 2-storey vs 3-storey property. Depending on the area and the LPA, would they have reservations about building out a 3-storey property as opposed to a 2-storey and then the loft element via PD? Some LPA’s may even look to withdraw certain PD rights if they feel the maximum areas have already been provided meaning they can control any further development which would have normally been allowed via Class B.
    1 point
  15. Room sealed solves any issues with the mvhr. Mine is rated at 4.5kW and is in the largest downstairs room the kitchen / diner. That room opens with double doors to the stairwell and the other side of the stairwell 2 more double doors to the living room. All doors open and there is plenty of space to heat, and plenty of the heat will convect up the stairwell to the bedrooms. a 5 hour burn will typically raise the whole house 5 degrees and will be some time before the heating comes on again. You would not want to burn it longer than that. I think a mistake people make is put a stove in one relatively small room with nowhere else for the heat to go, and very quickly overheat that one room. Ours does a good job of whole house heating. If you were so inclined I bet you could use it as the only heating just lighting it whenever the temperature drops a bit. For us it is an "indulgence" We normally keep the house at a constant 20 degrees with the UFH. But there are times when on a dark grey damp day, 20 degrees feels cold, so we light the stove and indulge in 25 degrees at no cost (wood is free). I would not choose to pay more to heat the house to indulgence levels.
    1 point
  16. You can get a room sealed wood burner. The issue you would have to watch for is they can generate too much heat in a very well insulated house. As you don’t have a site in mind yet I would just keep to a room schedule and a list of wants. The specific plan of a house would be incredibly different plot to plot.
    1 point
  17. If you want a wood burner (and have a supply of wood) then fit one. Fitted properly, with a room sealed stove (combustion air ducted direct from outside) there is no reason they should be a cause of general heat loss, and if like us you have ample free wood, that free heat will more than repay any small heat losses it may otherwise have. In a well insulated house choice of stove is important and where it is fitted is probably more important.
    1 point
  18. Strangely enough he just turned his back on me and walked away . I’ve been too nice and complacent with people ( inc tenants ) eventually it always becomes give an inch take a mile . Took photos of the shared boundary wall . If *anything* appears on or near it I’ll jump on that and start litigation . Regardless of the costs - as I’ve learn’t ; to punish is worth any price . (expletive deleted) ‘em !
    1 point
  19. All done bed the tray tomorrow ?
    1 point
  20. I told him to go (expletive deleted) himself and that he was a prick
    1 point
  21. I would deduct from the main contractors bill.
    1 point
  22. I wonder if this website has had an uptake of visitors since COVID, whereby more people want to do the move into the country & self build thing. If it has maybes there should be a main banner entitled “thinking about self building ? Click here”. To allow people to gain an overall view from us who’ve lost our cherry. General steer as opposed to specific technical advice. I’d vote for Ferdinand's paragraph 6 above to be the first post. Wise words indeed. Our motivation to self build, on turnkey basis, was the same realisation that life is too short, after my wife was unexpectedly diagnosed with a massive brain tumour (thankfully she’s fully recovered).
    1 point
  23. Better to go 8.5kW and modulate down even on the Gold Coast... The various different calculators all come out between 2.5 and 4.5kW for our place IIRC but I'll be going somewhere between 8 and 10kW to ensure plenty of headroom for DHW.
    1 point
  24. Welcome, you're going to do well here Depends where you draw the line at structure. if you mean up to the point of first fix commencement - i.e. externals complete (i.e. weather tight) and all interior walls present, then I think we had spent about 50-60% of our budget by that stage? This excludes landscaping. Challenge with the post first fix stage is that the original budget can inflate again as you're dealing with more discretionary items and things that you'll actually see - kitchens, bathrooms, floor finishes, stairs, lighting etc etc. We definitely upgraded some items like stairs and doors to get the final finish we wanted. Usually, although we increased our original approved footprint by 50% by adding a full size basement once we'd secured planning for the above ground portion. No issues at all with that from our LA. You can always find a story to scare yourself with but I've seen a lot of basements and all are beautiful warm dry bright spaces that enhance the property no end. Like any other part of the house they need to be designed and built properly. if you have challenging ground or access then the cost may outweigh the benefit.
    1 point
  25. Depends - my 120m2 basement cost £100k in 2015 so no more expensive, if not cheaper than the rest of the house structure. It is of passive standard and constructed from warrantied waterproof concrete. The electrics, plastering, joinery and decoration were additional but not excessive and there were economies of scale applied with the rest of the house. We now have an amazing space that comprises two soundproof teenage TV rooms / dens, / music rooms (one has a drum kit and guitars, amps etc) a gym and a large library / craft room. Plus a plant room for services, all of which frees up the rest of the living space. Planners tend to turn something of a blind eye to basements (ours did anyway) as they don't impact massing or bulk or impact the street scene so if you're restricted in spacer those reasons they are an excellent option. However there are a number of caveats that will drive the cost of a basement, mainly ground conditions (inc soil type, bearing capacity, water table levels etc) and the access you have to build them. A full footprint basement will also act as the foundation for the above ground structure so you're justified in removing that cost from the basement - in which case I could knock off another £30k or so.
    1 point
  26. Thanks, although some of the blog photos were soon after being fitted. The roof today after two years is quite universal, although the north through last of sunlight will probably look slightly different in the next few years. As other have said the contrast in different slates is not a bad look but I suppose it's down to personal preference. To me it's similar to cladding, we got a few cracks in the Siberian larch but it's natural product, if we wanted to be completely sure of the flawless look we would use an artificial product like Marley Eternit. I suppose dust from ridge tiles etc and lead work can also create some temporary discoloration.
    1 point
  27. An eye for an eye, kick up a fuss and send them down the party wall act route .... or you would be prepared to accept an apology .... and £5k
    1 point
  28. I think that is interesting - what @Bozza has been able to do is the extensive learning process that all self-builders need to develop a (limited - architects have 7 years) subset / appreciation of certain parts of the architect skillset, and then to generalise it to a different plot. Spending open-minded time up front can help a lot of self-builders get a better, less 'play school' house for the same or less money. A lot do that, but some don't. The same applies to living in it as life changes. Ferdinand
    1 point
  29. Martin, when it does come to designing your house also don’t forget about multifunctionality. Take my house in earlier reply. The triple upstairs window on the main larch elevation has the best view in the house. My ten year old is getting that as when she has friends around & when she’s a teenager she’ll be in her Bedroom during daylight hours more than me and Mrs. We have a separate TV room downstairs at the back of the house. When my daughter eventually leaves home the TV room will become a bedroom (it’s next to a downstairs cloakroom with a future shower). And her bedroom, with a view, becomes an upstairs snug or whatever for us to enjoy. We've configured our house with three decent bedrooms upstairs - one a spare. But if we did sell, the downstairs TV room & study, both off a small hallway at back of house, become bedrooms. So we’ve built a big 3 bedroom house for our needs but a 5 bedroom one if we ever do sell it. box clever mate.
    1 point
  30. It’s a natural product - it will have variations. No two slates will be alike. If you don’t want that then you will need to use a man made product and change any PP to have that agreed.
    1 point
  31. Patches, it's the way it is. Step back 100 meters, and you can't see it. Zoom in, and you do. Enjoy it. Especially if it's the only problem you have.
    1 point
  32. Backdrops not required. Given that this is only a gym I would want to reduce the cost by 40%. EPS insulation is fine under the slab and if you DIY will save 70%. You may get a more economical slab design. The £4,700 for the trench and buried plastic seems steep. With the prelims, because they are a percentage these should come down as well. Just use this as an initial quote and look at savings that can be made. Because it is a fair sized slab you will need someone competent to pour and finish the concrete. Regarding the build method, why not blockwork cavity walls with insulation? Does not need to be passive standard, just normal batts or partial fill pur. If you are keen to muck in you could load out the blocks for your brickie. You could have the brickie and his mate do a day a week and they would do it in no time.
    1 point
  33. 1 point
  34. This is solid advice - the plot should be the most important bit of the puzzle, find the best plot you can and then sort out the house design which really makes the most out of the plot - in terms of the design, what you can do is try to work out what spaces you want, and the relationship between them all - also work out your priorities in terms of the must haves and the nice to haves, as there may be a tough budget discussion to be had at some point...
    1 point
  35. If you haven’t found a plot yet I wouldn’t spend to much on your design/layout beyond just messing about. That was my mistake. When I found a suitable plot (with house on it to be demo’d) I had real difficulties doing my design. I then realised because I’d spent so long thinking about my perfect design it had influenced my creative juices. I had to teach myself to forget my old designs and start afresh. My plot was funny shaped and had great views which my design needed to take advantage of. Also the style you would love to build may not be acceptable by planners in certain areas. You’re better off having a wish list accommodation wise and assembling a portfolio of house styles You do like (Pinterest etc) for when you find your plot. Then the fun starts !
    1 point
  36. 25x50 but doubled up where necessary. I found the GSE instructions unnecessarily complicated with regard to batten spacing. If I remember correctly, the only figure you really need is the 'additional line' which differs depending on which size panels you have. Lay down extra battens if the mount fixings are unlucky enough to miss a batten.
    1 point
  37. My last place was 360m it was BIG. Just check you need 400m.
    1 point
  38. 400 sqm is a massive space so are you ever likely to need more space? If you do attic trusses, make sure you also leave enough room for a future stair too, and make sure your fire escape route could be protected too
    1 point
  39. Before During Finished! Spot the birdy Now just two more planters and a catio (google it!) to do and I might get my promise?
    1 point
  40. At the very least built the roof with Attic Trusses. the rest you can do relatively easier later if you want to.
    1 point
  41. Ditto, but doubled up (so 100 x 38).
    1 point
  42. 1 point
  43. Not true, you need to offer the branches back, but he doesn’t need to accept them.
    1 point
  44. It's the wrong example to use in this situation. The one @Temp mentioned/quoted is the correct one. I was just about to log off for the day, but attached is what is possible under PD. Firstly, the red is what I assume to be the "original" house... not existing or how it stands now but original. The blue line are previous extensions that are "not" original". The green is what can be done under PD, so a porch to the front under 3sq.m, a single storey side extension no greater than half the width of the "original" house and a single storey rear extension that does not exceed 3m (assuming it's a semi-detached or terraced property). Of course the OP can increase up 6m via Prior Approval and NCS, etc... Under PD, you "cannot" link the side extension with the rear extension as it will trigger the PD rules for both side "and" rear extensions and of which you would be greater than half the width of the original house. There are ways you can link these extensions but their overall widths have to be reduced to half the width of the house. There have been so many failed CoL applications on this and I can provide so many links to where people have interpreted the rules... incorrectly.
    1 point
  45. The bit that fills in the "L" of the existing house by the pantry is classed as BOTH a rear and a side extension so both sets of rules apply. Page 23 says.. That includes the "no more than half the width" rule for side extensions. Its unfair but true. It means L shape houses can't have a full width rear extension where as flat back houses can.
    1 point
  46. For very high ceilings, I have two amateur ideas: (1) I think a plate rail with a different colour scheme above helps deal with the height; (2) a dark-ish floor below helps anchor the floor. I have the lighting book @ToughButterCupmentioned (on his recommendation). Got more from it than I expected.
    1 point
  47. You could have pendants with long cords, so the light is closer to the area being lit. Any spot lights may be so high up as to have little effect. Have the lights at about 2200mm from the floor. Means you can safely access for cleaning / changing lamps. Look at wall lights / table lights / standard lamps as well. Make sure they are easy to switch, so you don't have to spend time groping about to operate them.
    1 point
  48. Have is got any rooflights in it or exposed structure etc?
    1 point
  49. Watching this. my 5m ceilings are giving me nightmares wondering what an earth to do with them.
    1 point
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