Dreadnaught

So sorry to hear the news, Moira. It was an enormous pleasure to have met Henry. You have my deepest sympathies. And your absolutely lovely house is, as you say, a wonderful achievement for Henry and you both.

Hi everyone, can anyone message me with the name of a good-value SUDS engineer to do a SUDS strategy for my local planners. I am getting quotes. I have one quote but its both pretty pricey and he cannot deliver the report until mid-April anyway!

My quote from December is: And without foundation (does not apply to me):

@Coops85, I have had a timber-frame company blatantly move the goal posts on me after a quote. In the quote, the company in question made a mistake by overlooking something which I had specifically told them about. When I double checked that they had included it they simply went away, investigated, and increased the quote without an apology. I bit poor in my opinion although they did then make a concession when I objected. Personally I would view payments terms as part of the quote and therefore would want to be treated fairly if a change was needed, with advance notice, an explanation and an apology. In your case, could it be a response to the Brexit uncertainties and import prices. By front-loading cash from you they can front-load their ordering too, reducing their risk?

Interesting comments. Very helpful. I think I will price up UFH, radiators, and skirting heating and see where it ends up. I won't base the decision solely on price unless the price difference is large. On DIY for laying UFH pipe, I have watched the pipe go in on a couple of builds and on video. With preparation and care (and the right equipment, such as a coil unwinder), it looks highly DIY-able. Food for thought.

Not yet Peter, no. I have spent the best part of a year preparing for my build and I still haven't even broken ground and I have already encountered other examples of suppliers inflating prices when they consider that the client does not know better.

Yes Peter, I tend to agree. I am seriously considering not having UFH, especially given the cost of the piping as quoted, and instead revert to the traditional approach of a few radiators. I will be having a gas boiler for heating so it is also what the person-in-the-street will expect to see and any future buyer will understand it. With the level of insulation I am planning, there won't be many radiators and, as you say, they are more efficient than UFH. When I get to this stage, I will do the costings and I suspect that radiators will win out.

& MBC have quoted me £1,952 for UFH piping (125 m² , no manifold), which does not strike me as cheap. Should I challenge such a quote? Hmm.

@Hecateh, that's a very kind offer! As soon as my layout is finalised (I am still in the middle of planning approval) I will do as you suggest.

I am going to have a bungalow. For those who know about these matters, is their any point putting next boxes under the eaves so low down? What might I do to help our wildlife neighbours?

@divorcingjack good to hear. I wonder, did you design the kitchen yourself, with all those details you mention? Its one of the steps I will find daunting so I am looking for some inspiration. I am awful at anything which involves visual design.

Hi @lizzie, I know you are careful about your air quality because of your health condition, so just add to what others have said … "Ultrasonic humidifiers should be cleaned regularly to prevent bacterial contamination from being spread throughout the air." It is from the Wikipedia article here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humidifier#Ultrasonic_humidifiers. Worth a quick read.

MBC's own team perhaps? But, I assume, only available with their timber frame.

Ah, this is what I have to look forward to. Neophyte here. Any tips? Which guidelines and authorities can I practice not worrying about?

Welcome. You'll find lots of help and advice here. No questions are stupid (as I can attest).

Original poster here. My negotiation continues with the drainage lady in the council. The good news is that, I have met the need for 2-litres-per-second discharge rate with an attenuation tank. Thanks for all your help with that! My next requirements from her are: I must pre-treat the rainwater. Not sure what that means. I'm guessing it is to remove fine silt from the roof. Anybody know? And I must ensure that the first 5 mm of any rainfall event does not enter into a sewer. For (2) by my calculation 5 mm represents 875 litres of rainwater. The obvious solution would be the oh-so-often-specified 1 m³ soakaway crate buried somewhere that is 5 metres from the house* such as under the drive. But in my case that's not allowed as I have a root-protection zone so there is no location on my land that is 5 metres from a building. Any other thoughts or ideas? Above ground soakaways don't exist do they (i.e. a flower bed)? I could try and convince one of the neighbours to allow me to bury a crate under their lawn. I can imagine their faces when I ask. As a last resort, I could convert my pitched roof into a green roof. The drainage lady has said that that would work as a solution but its a drastic re-design. * a building regs requirement I believe.

I think Charlie Luxton and his new build home has a green roof combined with solar PV. I had a look to see if I could find you an update but couldn't find anything recent. The most recent video I found shows the process of checking the roof membrane is sealed but that's from 10 months ago. It must be finished by now.

Make it a green flat roof? But weighs more.

You might want to anonymise the attachment, just in case (remove address and email address). Public forum.

Certainly striking! Looking at the profile, I would assume it can contain a standard LED light strip. The strips come with a sticky backing. There are loads available on Amazon, and even "smart" ones from providers such as Philips Hue. Yes, a small controller would be needed but one controller can run multiple LED strips so you'd not necessarily need one per section. Strips can be connected together using various connectors which you can buy separately.

For ceiling APs, such as the Unifi ones, you can paint them (with not metallic paint). The cover comes off easily. You can even buy sticker skins for them. Ubiquiti's getting in on the game too. The new Unfi Nano has skins available made by Ubiquiti.

To me that article looks like it has been written by a marketing person. For example the flexible ducting I have seen being installed is indeed ridged on the outside but smooth on the inside.

As I recall your (lovely) site, @Russell griffiths, you have little or no shading from any trees to your roof? Plus, given the area of your land, might you even consider a ground array some distance from the house? My vote is: yes PV.

Good point. I might well revisit this subject with them before I sign on the dotted line.

@Red Kite, I have been discussing the various wall systems with MBC for my forthcoming build. You may be interested to hear that I have been offered a guaranteed 1.0 ACH/hr at 50 Pa for the 0.11 W/m².k, 140 mm open-panel wall. I asked if they would guarantee 0.6 ACH and they said no, that's only with their 300 mm passive-standard frame. Which roof make-up are you thinking of choosing? I am going for the pumped-cellulose filled roof option, 0.10 W/m.²k, which given that mine is a bungalow should go a long way of giving me much of the benefit of low decrement delay.