NSS

15mm is what Scandia Hus specify and supply, but Mickey (the boarder) was really pleased to be using it and said he finds it much nicer to use than 12mm. All lifted by hand, indeed it was only some of the vaulted areas where it was a two man lift. Mickey was cutting and tacking the boards up, and David followed behind putting the rest of the screws in each sheet. I guess it's like anything, the more you do it the easier it gets.

In case any of you are interested, I've finally got our blog up to date (had some spare time due to an enforced lay off). You can find it at http://strawberrytreelodge.blogspot.co.uk/

Accepted £450 (less ebay fees). No idea what the buyer has planned for them, but they are off to Devon.

Now Sold

The way I read it is that the £2.5 billion investment is in the factories, and the intention is to build 25,000 homes per year by 2022. That's more than double the number of homes that Taylor Wimpey (for example) build per annum.

Primarily aimed at housing associations and local authorities as a 'build to let' package from what i've read. If it takes off it could kill the private rental market within 5-10 years. Won't be the first industry that the Chinese have been happy to 'loss lead' in.

Hampshire now charge £10 per sheet or £6 per 30 litre bag. I already have 2 x ton bags full to overflowing, and still have enough to fill another two Vaulted ceilings look lovely, but (as said earlier in the thread) create a lot of waste. Guess I'll be getting a skip in.

Mrs NSS wants me to incorporate them into a summer house if I don't sell them (and the sizes are given in the last image). Edit: not sure of the exact weight but I can lift them (just) on my own so I'd guess circa 50kgs each.

Now on ebay with best offer. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182387686733?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Very good point and, as you say, Joe has undoubtedly suffered penalties in time, money and stress and should be compensated for what seems to have been a 'frivolous' refusal. It should also be said though that developers who make similarly frivolous appeals should also be penalised for the costs incurred by the council's involved. Well done Joe and good luck with the build.

I'd certainly expect more than that. I used GBS and received detailed layouts in several planes showing duct runs/sizes, supply/extract positions, flow rates, details of unit mounting/connections and external penetrations.

I have to admit to being quite surprised that anyone still makes externally glazed windows.

I suspect the local play school could do better, using a few empty toilet rolls and a cornflakes box.

If there's room, and it would still allow a worthwhile increase in the kitchen size, i'd reduce the downstairs bathroom to a small shower room with WC and add an en suite shower room to bed 1 upstairs. I like a bath but I like en suite 'facilities' more and would hate to have no loo downstairs.

Sorry, no bottle in view, but coincidentally we've just offered up our MVHR unit to check clearances for the ducting which, as you can see, is of the rigid variety.

Hi Tony, as mentioned we're hoping the electrochromic glazing will control solar gain.

We looked into AirCon but decided against it (partly on cost). The Paul MVHR has an option to add a cooling function and we have also included a Panasonic air rad in our bedroom so we can provide localised heating or cooling as necessary.

Hi Mikey, sorry to hear your wife has a similar issue. Sadly my wife's condition has already progressed to the point where she has to nebulise antibiotics twice daily for the rest of her life (and still ended up in hospital with pneumonia and pleurisy again earlier this year). She's hoping the new house may help sufficiently to at least be able to reduce her dependence on antibiotics, asthma inhalers, antihistamines and steroids. Time will tell I guess.

Have gone with Paul Novus 300 for the MVHR as they appear to offer the best filtering levels. Many seem only to supply filters that would barely stop a whole flower from passing through, never mind pollen and other particulates!

Well, it won't surprise many of you to hear that some of this thread has whistled well over my head, but I've read it all and I'm actually quite encouraged by that which I have understood. It seems likely to me, as so often is the case when opposing opinions are articulated, that the truth (in this case best practice) lies somewhere between the two, and that (hopefully) is just about where my build should end up. The ambition for me was to create a house that delivers the best possible environment for my wife, rather than the most energy efficient possible. Her health problems include chronic asthma, eczema, severe allergies and bronchiectasis (a degenerative lung condition). Due to a very rare 'syndrome' she has no sweat glands, so rapid temperature/humidity swings play havoc (and not just with her asthma), and just to add insult to injury she is T2 Diabetic (despite weighing little over 6 stone) and has high blood pressure, reflux and osteoarthritis. As I set about researching the home I should build, air quality was, unsurprisingly, my main concern. Ebuild certainly informed my opinion, but I decided quite early that PH levels of air-tightness, insulation and energy efficiency were not for us. Yes we'll have a well insulated home; yes we'll have MVHR with F9 filtering (oversized so hopefully capable of more ACH than may be prescribed as we REALLY don't want to be opening windows); and yes we'll have it reasonably airtight (I'm aiming for around 2 and if we achieve better I may well engineer some 'leaks'). I don't expect the house will demand too much heat input from the UFH (driven by ASHP) but I'm quite happy to force a need for more by bypassing the MVHR unit's heat exchanger in winter (using the summer bypass, not by opening windows!) if that proves to help air circulation (due to the additional convection) and management of humidity levels. As for solar gain, I wait to see whether the SageGlass (electrochromic) glazing on the southern elevation proves to be as good as the manufacturer claims at regulating unwanted SG at warmer times of the year, whilst allowing us to benefit from it on sunny winter days. Finally, as we're building a chalet bungalow, it was a no-brainer to go with a warm roof throughout, even in the non-habitable spaces. Time will tell whether the 'gut feeling' that has largely steered my decisions will provide the home that can give my wife the best environment for her wellbeing, but this thread has at least convinced me that I have a fighting chance.

Interesting discussion. Scary, but very interesting!

Thanks Peter & Mikey. Will speak to both. Cheers

Hi all We're hoping to have enough left in the budget for an oak staircase (double-winder) with glass balustrades and have started looking at potential suppliers. Does anyone have any experience of a company called Max Stairs, or recommendations for other suppliers who provide good quality product at sensible prices? This is the sort of thing we're hoping to go for... http://www.max-stairs.co.uk/?c=gallery&m=18# Cheers

I was going to have a Solar iBoost fitted but I spoke to my solar installers today and they said they were going to have to fit a PowerDiverter instead as, apparently, a recent 'update' to the iBoost has resulted in a problem if they are fitted where an ASHP is also installed. Claims they simply go pop in such situations.

We've just had a 4.2m wide Novoferm electric sectional door (40mm insulated) in RAL7016 supplied and installed for £1,850 (no VAT). Seems pretty good so far. We went for the smooth finish rather than grained but don't think that affects the price. We used their local dealer in Southampton.