Dreadnaught

Thanks @joth. This is the condition in my planning approval letter: "14.Notwithstanding the provisions of Schedule 2, Part 1, Class A of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 (or any Order revoking and re- enacting that order with or without modification), the enlargement, improvement or other alteration of the dwellinghouse(s) shall not be allowed without the granting of specific planning permission. Reason: To protect the amenity of occupiers of adjoining properties (Cambridge Local Plan 2018 policies 52, 55, and 57)." The way I read that, is that if wish to add an ASHP then it required specific planning approval as it is an "alteration". Am I wrong?

At the very least I can thank you for your kind contribution . (And I amended my poor phrasing too.)

yes, Ferdinand. I did know that. Hence trying to squeeze a few extras under the one fee ?.

To be honest, I am not sure I do either. I am mainly installing one in case I sell-up and a buyer wants it.

This is what I am planning to install. Not a hood:

I am getting close to starting. My latest job is to discharge the planning conditions. I have nine to discharge and I think I have now written drafts for all nine of them (including copying bits from when a neighbouring boathouse discharged their conditions for a rebuild about a year ago). But I also have a few non-material amendment (NMA) items to get through. And I have no idea when, or indeed if, to do these. Question 1. The NMA items I have are: slight resizing of a few windows and rooflights, some tweaks to the drainage runs disclosed to the SUDS people, and the addition of an ASHP. By the way, I know its a bit of a stretch to get an ASHP through on a NMA but perhaps its worth a try. What does everyone think? Question 2. (By the way, my permitted development rights were removed as I am in a Conservation Zone). Here's question 3. To save money on the fees (£114 per go on a group of discharges), could a sneak these NMA items through as a discharge of Condition 2, which reads: "2.The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the approved plans as listed on this decision notice"? See what I mean. Any comments or thoughts gratefully received.

@LA3222, forgive all my questions but I am very interested in your experience: What is the red sheet? Is it just a thick grade of polythene? How are joints handled with it? Mandated overlaps? Just taped? And how are penetrations handled? What did you use for bonding the EPS? Approximately whereabouts in the country are you? Its a good and innovative Tanner raft-design as you show in your other post (hope you don't mind me linking to it to help others), nice and thin concrete profile. EPS cut by Kore.

Perhaps the key question is whether your build progressing more slowly than planned, or even stopping for a period, would be a problem for you. For example, if your works mean that you both your kitchen and living room might stand open, exposed to the elements for an extended period, then that might be a problem if you were still living there. In my case, with a new build, slowness will be fairly un-problematic.

The compressive strength of PIR is an interesting one. Speaking to Hilliard Tanner he was saying that PIR is not used for load-bearing foundations, not because it could not take the weight but because it has not been thoroughly characterised. Its physical properties under load are not sufficiently well defined for it to be used. Unlike for EPS. (I am going to use PIR to insulate my insulated reinforced-concrete-raft foundations because the insulation will not be load bearing as I will have screw piles).

Very informative, @LA3222. Thank you! Water goes out of the house for what reason? Just an outside tap? Will you have any drop-downs in the slab for door mats, door thresholds, shower wastes, etc? Any cables or conduits going through the slab to floor boxes or to a kitchen island? Are you having a heat pump? Where do those pipes go?

Really nice job! I'm looking very closely as I'll be doing mine before too long. Those photos are before the installation of the UFH pipe? Is that 3x stack pipes? And what looks like three service conduits (green, blue and black), presumably in the area of a kitchen/utility?

Thanks for asking. Yes, all is well. Long story short: I had to change the design of my bungalow to have a green roof and pay for some expensive water calculations to convince the local SUDS-officer to agree to me being able to discharge storm water to the local drain. Quite a palaver but got there in the end!

Photo of the plot to give an impression of how overgrown it is. (Ignore the two small trees, I'll have someone else take those down).

Thanks @Drunkenmunkey. Very helpful. Not heard of NEC contract before. Looking at it now. Thanks for the warning on those items. Hand't noticed they were "allowances". No not level yet. Just a back garden, photo below. The site does undulate by about 400 mm because it has the concrete foundations for an old greenhouse. That's 200 m squared not cubed I think. No traffic management needed.

Getting close to starting now. Could anyone who knows about groundworks, or has had theirs done recently, have a look over this quote for groundworks and give me an indication of any areas where prices look high? I'd be grateful. (Note the inevitable South-East premium: Cambridge plot). (Prices assume 0% VAT.)

What's the pipe through the exterior wall for?

My tuppence on this subject. Smart lighting is currently developing at a huge speed. Strong rumours about Apple suggest in their next OS upgrade, scheduled for release to the public in the autumn, will include a feature to change the visible temperature of smart lights throughout the day as a standard feature (in Apple HomeKit, so called "Night Shift" for lights). Combined with this, as has been mentioned on BH before, there are initiatives to dispense with those little connected boxes needed to control smart lights (Project Connected Home over IP) which is supported by all the big technology companies, even including Philips lighting and Ikea. Thus within a year or two I think it will be cheaper and much easier to have lights that change their colour temperature throughout the day. In my case, with an Apple HomeKit home that works reliably combined and with a bunch of Philips Hue bulbs all running from HomeKit (not controlled from Philips own app), I wrote some routines using Apple's Shortucts app to make the temperature change. I works flawlessly. But I do look forward to it becoming a standard OS feature in the autumn. (Before others reply, I know that here on BuildHub some prefer not have any outgoing connections to the cloud for smart devices. My own view is that the privacy-first approach taken by Apple and the encryption levels inherent in Apple HomeKit are sufficient to allay such fears. Others may disagree.) Just my tuppence.

Miles off topic.@joth I think I recognise Half Dome in Yosemite as your avatar. Been up it?

@Weebles, sorry meant to say "I have noticed you have not named the supplier". My bad typing. Makes sense. Hope it works out well for you. As I say, I don't see any limitation on consequential loss in their standard T&Cs (from a quick read).

@Weebles A quick read of the supplier's standard terms on their website does not mention "consequential or subsequent" losses, at least from a skim read. I have the link to them but not sure whether to post it here as I notice you the named the supplier, possibly deliberately. Do you receive or sign any other T&C's during the purchase process that mentions consequential or subsequent loss?

I think you're reading the line for A-7/W35, which is 2.8. (Notice the minus sign.) The coefficient of performance for A7/W35 is 4.8, slightly better than your Panasonic monobloc (4.52). Edit: you saw it before I commented. Ignore this. Mods please delete.

Hi @Steve247, I too am learning my way with screw piles. But from what I have picked up by speaking to a number of suppliers is that their installation is considered to be quite easy. And that a competent digger driver should be able to handle the torque drive attachment. And a challenge comes only if ground conditions prove to be problematic (so that impenetrable rock is met during driving a given ground screw). Who provided your first quote (PM me if you prefer). I have a few names of suppliers and we can compare notes. By the way, I like the design that you describe for your build. Sounds great!

I am attending an official Fermacell one-day training course in Birmingham next Monday. Let's see if I the course sways me in favour. I will report back.

@Scuba, I heard back from my timber-frame designer. He is very much open to referrals, or just even a no-commitment chat or some advice, if that's something you'd welcome. PM me if you'd like his contact details.

@Russdl Yes, sorry you're changing direction. But its good that you can now forge ahead, renewed. Will you be still using the remainder of your Fermacell boards and just skimming them, or flipping over to now using plasterboard? Your experience has been instructive. It brings it home the importance in the regularity and uniformity of the underlying studs and battens.