epsilonGreedy

This is my first Selfbuilder's whinge and my plot is still a green field. The solicitors are debating the significance of a blunt felt tipped pen which equates to a 1.5m wide strip of land on the boundary of my plot. The problem came to light when the Land Registry rejected a search saying that the proposed land split (known as a "part" in solicitor lingo) included about 8m x 1.5m of land already sold to another neighbouring new build plot. I reckon the seller is at fault for depicting the plot divisions of the original parcel of land at a much lower resolution than the land registry uses. When the first plot sold the LR probably did their best to interpret a fat felt tipped line and now as the second plot is sold to me the slight shift in the true boundary has come to light. Given the good weather I might be tempted to let this go but the error creates a slight risk of a ransom strip that would prevent me accessing a private estate shared drive. At least the neighbouring plot owner has told me he is keen to assist in getting the error resolved even if this means him giving up the strip. And the moral of the story to future plot purchasers is, don't accept a plot plan with a fat hand-drawn boundary line.

I reckon you just saved me £1200 - VAT.

Having visited two built-in vacuum trade stands in recent months I believe the answer is that fine dust particles are not recirculated from the bag back into the room. I wonder what @lizziethinks as she is sensitive to air quality.

Interesting that your experience differs from @JSHarris Like a global corporation, can I apply the concept of jurisdiction shopping to my self build VAT reclaim by submitting to a Scottish VAT office for my English property!

Except an Aga cooker which only illustrates your point about complexity and that I was paying attention during an excellent Building Control presentation at the weekend Swindon Self Build show. In the era of the Passiv House I doubt many fit Aga's but what about a central vacuum system?

Either works for me, the smaller window variant says trad design updated with a degree of modern large aperture glazing and is safer from a resale perspective. Although I am new to the selfbuild scene I already sense that self builders get carried away and incorporate an excess of glazed acreage in their designs.

Just ask Mo Farah to jog around your house. https://goo.gl/images/4CfKiE

I can see some improvements on your first proposed design in particular I think you have resolved the problem of the linear tunnel in the kitchen/day room wing of the house. I am not reacting as adversely to the roof details as some here, it might be a regional thing, are the dormers inspired by a local Suffolk design? However there lingers a hint of Pennsylvania farmstead about it. Plonk the beds in sensible positions as it is a shame to waste design feedback bandwidth on rookie errors, have you upgraded the bed sizes in all rooms as I queried a few weeks ago? Move the large window in the formal sitting rooms to be aligned with the furniture that is orientated around the fireplace. The undersized door connection between hall and format sitting room still stands out as a design error in such a grand house. Likewise I feel your V2 design has further disconnected the hall from the kitchen/day room wing, is the front door to kitchen people flow the primary daily entrance experience?

Good question, there is a vestigial north facing garden that side of the house that will not be particularly private for 5 years until when the new hedge should grown to above car height. That side of the house will get some sun after 17:30 during the summer. We will put a stable door in this door aperture which might prove useful for creating some cross airflow when I burn toast or when the solar gain from the large south facing window overheats the kitchen. This comment strikes home, the commercial developer of an adjacent plot got planning permission for the very change you suggest. I had previously ignored his design on the basis this other house is about 20% larger by floor area. Following the forum's input, Swmbo and I now feel the openplan drop of the stairs into the sitting room is sound however we are now questioning the usage of the kitchen/snug area. Plan C involves moving the kitchen into the snug area, 12ft x 13ft so still a decent size for a kitchen. With the kitchen relocated the snug (dayroom) function can be moved to the old kitchen's location and so benefit from the property's 3rd fireplace and the large window facing the sunny patio.

Do closet Georgians outrank Victorians?

Thanks. Between posts I was doing some simple geometry and now realize that given my 10 x 6 size of the main house, then by definition the main ridge is only 4 meters long. Previously I had imagined the main roof been comprised of regular fink and attic trussed under the main ridge, this felt like a recipe for mathematical disaster at the remote cutting shop.

Is an attic truss an example of an engineered truss or is any truss where the joist does not rest on the wall plate, deemed to be engineered? I am surprised to read I might need steel purlins as I have been watching Aussie and Yankee YouTube videos showing hipped roofs being cut on site with nothing more complex than a graduated measuring triangle and lots of wood.

The roofer's comment about not seeing a cut roof in years is either a reflection of the budget jobs he undertakes or perhaps the poor state of the local economy means well speced self builds are few and far between. The largest roof segment will be 10m x 6m by external wall plan and there will be ceiling joists. Does this count as a big cut roof?

A limit on ridge height might mean the ceiling joists will intersect with the rafters higher than the wall plate. I also want to create some attic storage under the ridge portion of the hipped roof on the main block, a 4m x 3m floor plan for the storage would be fine. There are no other plans to utilize the roof space, conventional flat ceilings are planned.

Talking to a potential slate tile roofer the other day he said he had not encountered a cut roof on a new build in recent years. Does cost rule them out? My house will have a 30 degree all-hipped roof and the L-shape creates one valley. Further complexity arises from the utility L portion of the roof having a slightly lower ridge than the main block, I also want some usable attic storage space in what is a smallish house short of storage space. Reading the House Builders Bible (HBB) I got the impression that attic cut prefab trusses bump up cost and so will the valley plus the ridge complexity. My reading of the HBB is that my roof will be close to the point where a cut roof is a reasonable option from a cost perspective. Now I am wondering about the experience of the roofer.

I did stop and think about fire egress routes. Even with the front door bricked in the sitting room is serviced by the french doors, the kitchen has a door which will in practice will be seldom used and then the unofficial main door will be via the utility entrance, this will be my M spec house entrance.

Which bit barks, you mean bricking it up leaving a faux front door?

The plot layout would not prevent main door access on any side, though in practice most foot traffic will arrive via the patio from the rear parking in front of the garage (to the right side of garage as shown below).

Ok give me 30 minutes to upload these. The maximum negotiation leeway I hope for externally is changing 16mm glazing bars in the sash windows for a lower cost commodity 22mm. The neighbouring plot effected a major internal layout change through a non material change application. Unlikely. The first planning application was withdrawn due to local hostility and mud slinging about a cookie-cutter gated executive estate ruining the character of the village. The architect then submitted some flowery prose about my house being reduced in scale and re orientated to create a lower impact street scene and more communal engagement with the existing village layout.

Good point, also I hope to be still living in this house when I am too old to hoist a yardarm in the Algarve.

In a standard urban setting I would agree. To the front of the house there is a large established native hedge and a 1m drop from front door dpc to the village lane. The house it setback 5.5m from the lane which has no pavements. I am thinking about a stairs winder but at the rear end, this is to avoid people stepping off the bottom step directly into the kitchen door aperture.

This was Swmbo's first proposal which I vetoed on the basis of fire regs because that would mean a stairs descending into an open plan kitchen. Have I misinterpreted domestic UK fire regs? Even if I am wrong about fire regs I am not sure I want cooking smells wafting upstairs. Anyhow it is good to get my preconceptions challenged here.

Yes something to consider, I cannot judge how well a non passiv house with MVHR will perform in this respect. The concern is mitigated by our intention to spend 4 in 7 weekday evenings in the snug next to the working wood burner. If we manage to get all our financial ducks lined up there is a prospect of spending 6 weeks early/late season on a yacht share in the Med which will reduce annual space heating. We have a cunning plan which is why I have reversed the stairs. We intend to fill the front door aperture with a block cavity wall leaving a decorative faux door to placate the conservation officer. The corridor effect is thus minimized.

Send it to me, I inadvertently created The Snake Ritz in my back garden last year when too many woody hedge prunings prevented the compost heap from rotting down. The summer residents returned a few weeks ago.

Is the traditional hallway a waste of space in this 1500 sq ft house? We are in an architectural straight jacket due to the village location and conservation area but Swmbo has suggested a revision to the internal room layout and 10 days later I reckon she is right. Plan A below was the original indicative layout created by the plot seller's architect when full planning permission was applied for. Plan B involves eliminating one internal hallway wall to create a more open arrangement with the stairs dropping into the sitting room. One motivation for this change is the plot orientation means that 90% of foot traffic will enter the house via the rear utility room door, on reflection we realized that the hall in Plan A is wasted space. Plan B also shows the stairs reversed with the lowest step at the rear of the house. Some context info: 90% of the time it will be just us, a mid 50's couple at home. During the working week we expect to spend most time in the kitchen/diner/snug area. The south facing patio courtyard ( 8m x 6m) walled on 3 sides is a big attraction of the plot. MVHR will redistribute heat and so loss of heat from the sitting room up to the landing through convection is less of a factor I assume. Plan 1 - Traditional Hallway Plan B - Open Plan