Dreadnaught

Welcome! It will be interesting to hear how you find it as you go. On may build, which is starting in the spring, I am hoping to do quite a lot of the work myself too… but without the benefit of any of your building experience I hasten to add. Good luck with the planning!

@Dan Feist, just checking that you know that Peter Warm developed an additional sheet for PHPP 9 for shading? It adds certain extra functionality which improves to some extent the basic shading controls, which are helpful if your site is tree-shaded. I used it in 2018 for my modelling and corresponded briefly with Peter about it then. Peter Warm's notes on the sheet: "An add-in sheet for PHPP 9, which allows you to easily model shading objects that are discontinuous and/or which have transparency. These include trees, tower blocks, brise-soleils, juliet balconies and plant-on glazing bars." Here is a link to download the additional sheet: http://www.peterwarm.co.uk/?dl_id=52

Purchased on your recommendation. £13 from eBay. Thanks!

This sort of thing: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10000003718589.html. Other (Chinese) brands are available. It works with DT82 curtain tracks. I hasten to add that I am still researching my purchase. Caveat emptor. Edit: to add that I think these systems are similar to the ones sometimes used in modern hotels.

Smart curtains/blinds? I'm eyeing up some automatic curtain-openers on AliExpress. I would an early adopter, at least here in Britain but am very tempted. They require power to the top of windows but probably not ethernet, relying as they do on WiFi instead of wires for smart control. They also require a special curtain rail but all-in-all they are not terribly expensive.

A layer of enamel model-makers paint on the glass edge in a colour that matches the cabinets?

Thanks @Temp. That's really helpful. I think the shower waste also explains why @PeterW suggested a second stack next to the shower (I was puzzling over it). On the 1-in-10 rule for SVPs, when I am next on site I am going go around the neighbours and see if I can spot any other local SVPs. The nearest boathouse has just been rebuilt. I hope that they will have one. On a related point, I recall a while ago that @PeterW implied that the waste from a washing machine was uniquely useful for keeping the drains clean. The regular outflow of soapy water (often containing digestive enzymes too) was ideal for the purpose. I was therefore attracted by the idea of a single stack with the washing-machine waste-water flowing past the WC. But I now realise that the longer run from the shower might then be a problem. I will now pay close attention to the shower wastes (both of them). And I assume I should also pay attention to the bath drain. Not as low as a shower but still quite low, especially as I plan to have a freestanding bath.

Thanks @Temp. Here you go … As you can see, I don't think I can avoid having the drain run under the house. I fully agree with having everything you said, including having the stack in the corner and using a radius bend. As I plan to be building my own partition walls throughout (using MF), I intend to build-in the wall-hung WCs. At Stack 1, the wall-hung WC will protrude into the neighbouring plant room. At Stack 2, I will do as you suggest and box it in with a half-height false wall with a useful shelf atop.

Can I run waste pipes (such as from a washbasin or sink) through the wooden I-beams of my exterior wall, which will later be filled with blown-cellulose insulation (Warmcel)? (I know its OK for water pipes. And only use a continuous pipe runs, so there are no inaccessible joints.)

Oh, by stack I meant a penetration through the concrete-raft (slab) foundation (i.e. the floor) by soil pipe which connects to an underground foul waste-water drain. I didn't mean an SVP (soil vent pipe). Did I use the wrong term? (Its a modern bungalow so only a single floor.)

Where do I need a slab penetration for a stack? I have this cluster of waste appliances (see diagram). Can I use a single stack for eveything or do I need multiple? And if so, where should it go? I have read Part H but I am still working out how things are implemented in practice. I suspect there is much wrong with this guess:

Thanks everyone. Helpful, thoughtful and thought-proving as always! This has got me thinking about gas too. What about gas? Would the same principle apply to bringing in the gas pipe straight in? Or is there some reason why that has to go underground?

In my opinion, the only options are obtaining comparable quotes or, as said, value engineering. It takes a surprisingly long time to save money and I work hard at it. It took me ages to eventually find an architect I was happy with, at a price that was attractive. And the same is now proving true for my timber-frame supplier. (I have only come a cropper once so far: with my drainage engineer has turned out to be a poor fit. I clearly made the wrong choice there.)

Interesting thought. Roughly how much was it and what distance @Russell griffiths? PM me if you prefer. Those are good points. Thanks.

Good point. But fortunately the roof joists will be full-filled with Warmcel insulation so the pipe will be very well insulated. I'd also run the pipe towards to the top of the insulation so its on the cooler side of the insulation. (I would also use a continuous pipe run as it ran through the joists, no joints. I wouldn't want to risk any leaks or have any joints that I cannot access.

Don't forget that it will need a condensate drain.

I am planning my water connection. Water main is in the access road. My utility/plant-room is on the opposite side of my plot (15 m away) right across a root-protection area (RPA). Which option to choose (see the image): Dig a 15m long trench across my plot for the water pipe, 750 mm deep, right across the RPA, with my arboriculturalist breathing down my neck. Dig a 3m short trench to the nearest part of the dwelling (a bedroom). Bring the water pipe inside the thermal envelope. Run a water pipe from there to the utility/plant-room through the posu-joist roof (its a bungalow with flat roof). Any problems with Option 2?

Big news for home automation: "Amazon, Apple, Google, Zigbee Alliance and board members form working group to develop open standard for smart home devices". Zigbee wins!? https://www.connectedhomeip.com https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/12/amazon-apple-google-and-the-zigbee-alliance-to-develop-connectivity-standard/

Good video! Interesting to see he puts even the 200 mm inlet/exhaust ducting in to the web-joists. I had planned for my build that it would go below the ceiling, boxed in. As his is a single-storey building, I wonder if he using blown-cellulose insulation in among the joists (a cold roof) or whether he has a warm roof with the insulation above the joists. (I am going for a cold roof for my modern bungalow.) If a cold roof, I wonder if the ducting could compromise the insulation.

@Nickfromwales, if you are iPad-proficient, consider Morpholio Trace and just import a set of plumbing symbols to you liking. With it you can just overly a PDF of the client's floorpan (or any pdf template) with lines and symbols as you like, and share easily. Its a superb app and getting a lot of buzz. https://www.morpholioapps.com/trace/

A helpful thread like this deserves a mention of SPONS: https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Spon's_Price_Book. My own view on QS's based on my experience preparing my current project was that, as I was using a somewhat unconventional building approach (timber frame and near-passivehaus, etc.) that the output from the QS may not resemble reality. The world of building is dominated by larger projects. QSs are part of the suite of consultants who attend them and that suite is what the entire industry is geared around. As I researched my project, I learnt that this suite was pretty well ill-suited to a single one-off bespoke house run by a self-builder. The usual fragmentation of the project into architect, QS, contract administrator, project manager, and the various engineers, etc., means that each individual parts becomes too small for each profession. It is barely worth their effort. And there are really no generalists who cover all the roles for self-builders. I also support the idea that an QS creates the mother-of-all shopping lists but are only helpful in terms of budget by setting a tentative ceiling. For tendering, I plan to work hard on producing tender with my architect's help packs for each chunk of my build. I believe a good tender pack leads to a smooth tendering process and can help achieve lower prices by reducing the need for the bidder to pad the bid because of the risk generated by vagueness and a lack of precision. For my budget, I tendered for many of the big items early on in my project (some a year before I obtained planning), and so increased the chance that my evolving budget will be born out in reality but I am still constantly re-iterating my budget as new information becomes available to me. I mark each line item with my level of confidence for it. Its like flying a plane under a bridge. Hands firmly on the controls!

I have someone to recommend, PM incoming.

@Thedreamer tangentially related to your question, when I was visiting another BuildHuber further along then me, on the subject of bath sizes I was told that 1.7 m is ideal length. I suppose it is subject to personal preference and perhaps you are taller than average but have you considered that a 1.7 m bath might be ideal for you and yours?

Cheap at £580: https://www.thewrightbuy.co.uk/cookology-90cm-touch-control-induction-hob-downdraft-extractor-fan-pack Rubbish?

I paid in 2018: £1,320 for legal fees, inc VAT, and £303.25 in search fees.