Dreadnaught

I agree with the others. The manufacturer (Brink/Ubbink) designed my MVHR system (which I heavily tweaked). UFH-pipe supplier designed the UFH layout. In each case I paid for the design but that cost was deducted from the equipment purchase. Plant-Room in general, and DHW/space-hearing systems can be a little trickier. In my case, an M&E expert did give me (hourly-rate paid) advice on those.

New to me. How do you do such a thing? Where do you buy the bits?

Was recently looking for an air-tester near me for my build. A local builder offered me a name. He all but winked and said that the guy could do a certified test without a visit "if you know what I mean".

Buy some casters and build a wheeled dolly? Use timber levers to get it over the threshold? Does it need to go up stairs?

No you don't actually need a cloud key. You can set up the APs using a laptop, or even a smart phone and the app, and then leave them alone to do their thing. A Cloud Key is useful for remote monitoring of network performance, but who does that remotely in a domestic situation (only for professionals handling multiple sites and complicated setups, etc). With the advent of high frequency connections, especially with the forthcoming WifI 6E, the range of APs is reducing while the bandwidth/speed shoots up (2.4 GHz to 5 GHz and, for WiFi 6E, to 6 GHz). Therefore, in my 125 m² new dwelling, I will have three APs. And ceiling mounted too. I am not a fan of low-level APs mounted inside a wall. A rule of thumb is that a person attenuates the Wifi signal about as well as a wall. Overhead works best. I will have a fibre connection to my home capable of 1,000 mb/s. For the wifi speed to match that in the real world I will be needing everything that WiFi 6E can offer at 6 GHz.

They look stunning, but my word are they pricey, wow (!) Do you have them?

I wonder, how did you solve it? I was looking at pre-hung doors recently (I will need 8x) and nobody in the UK seems to be manufacturing pre-hung doors any more, or at least not for small manufacturing runs like mine. I contacted Jeld-Wen and they said no. And XL joinery don't make the door design I want. Predor, with their Speedset Plus option, might do but I am fully expecting them to tell me they only do those for large orders.

Could the turning place be required for fire regulations? The need for a fire engine to be able to manoeuvre if it is required to be a certain distance from a public road? Just a thought.

@TerryE, thanks for the post! Have you missed not having any cooling capacity for the summer months, which an ASHP could have provided via your UFH system?

Yes, it is down to heating demand. I was advised by someone experienced with UFH and he specified 125 mm spacing for 125 m² new-build well-insulated bungalow. Only downsides that I can think of are: pipe cost, cost (and space) of a bigger manifold, cost of labour to lay the extra pipe. Unless you are DIY-ing, labour is about the same as materials (if not more).

I used Roof Maker too, but for flat fixed passivhaus units (nine of them). Happy to share my experience.

From a timber frame company. She was their outsourced frame-designer. I did not use that particular frame company in the end but she impressed me. I visited a range of timber-frame companies while researching my build before I put a spade in the ground.

I am in the middle of self building. I am frame-up and weathertight, and now embarking on first fix. I did employ a part-qualified RIBA architect. She was a qualified Passive-House designer (which is something I would personally always look for in an architect) to do the CAD work and produce the design for planning and the D&A Statement. However, I managed the planning application and process myself and coordinated all the site investigations, etc., myself. And I am now project-managing the build myself entirely alone. My biggest recommendation to any architect from my own experience is NOT to stick to the RIBA steps-of-service. In my personal view, they are too rigid for a one-off small-scale self-builder-led project. Instead and more flexible iterative approach should be used in partnership with the self-builder.

p.s. I could not think how to make that ↑ rhyming (I tried).

I think we need more poetry on BuildHub. Mods, how about an annual poetry week, when all posts must be in rhyming couplets or automatically deleted?

Thanks @joth. Tips from those who have been there before are my favourite. Useful advice.

One side: Cedral Lap planks over battened ventillation void Other side: brick slips over over battened ventillation void Thanks for the advice.

My timber frame is up. The 240mm walls are empty, without insulation. Soon they will have Wamrcel (blown cellulose insulation) pumped in. I am thinking about the various wall penetrations. I assume that they need to go-in before the Warmcel. What about wires for external lights, external power sockets, and the door bell? Should they be ducted through the exterior wall? Or just as wires and, presumably, derated? Any advice would be welcome. What have others done?

I have an RPA at my new build and had a Aboricultural Method Statement, etc. Your works sounds to me like the sort of thing that would be allowed in an RPA. I'd ask a friendly arboriculturalist in a quick phone call whether it requires pre-approval or not. My guess is you might be asked to have a qualified arboriculturalist "supervise" the insertion of the ground screws, with a mind to relocate them if they would hit a big root. Are you on the radar of your local tree officer already?

Welcome @Ric88. I am over the border in Cambridgeshire. @Nick Laslett is in your area too. We are both self-building.

Just a comment on Wifi 6 (802.11 AX). Personally, I am not going to pay a premium for Wifi 6 and instead wait for 6E, which isn't out yet but will be a huge increase in network throughput compared to 6. Instead, if I do need to buy my APs before 6E models are available, then I will buy Wifi 5 ones (at much lower cost) and upgrade them to 6E later. My advice: get Wifi 5 or 6E and skip 6.

A good article out today on the new Matter home automation standard: https://www.theverge.com/22832127/matter-smart-home-products-thread-wifi-explainer

A couple of other things to note on MagPly: Its breathable. Its strong. I only needed 9mm thickness of MagPly to replace 12mm of Medite Vent sheathing board, Some of the building warranty companies don't like magnesium oxide boards in general, for reasons I don't understand, including LABC I think. Might be worth double checking with your warranty provider, if you have one, beforehand it if you are thinking of using MagPly. https://www.magply.co.uk/applications/timber-frame

I had this issue too with my timber frame. I swiped the external Medite Vent sheathing board for MagPly and building control accepted it. I also swapped the breather paper from Protect TF-200 to Tyvek Firecurb. The MagPiy was actually suggested by Building Control. My external cladding on the sides close to the boundary is Cedral Lap (with a ventilated void) so I did not need to change that.

@MikeSharp01, and others interested on open-source home automation, this might also interest you, this time regarding the Thread mesh-networking technology: "OpenThread released by Google is an open-source implementation of Thread technology, based on the draft Thread 1.1 specification." https://www.threadgroup.org/support#OpenThread https://openthread.io