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Benpointer

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  • About Me
    We have had an offer accepted (STC) on the following village-located 0.85 acre plot with existing Planning Permission for a 160m2 2-storey house but we want to build something more imaginative that better suits our needs. We have sold our house and soon plan to move into rented while we do the self-managed build.

    We are aiming to build a distinctive, modern, eco-friendly, single-level house of circa 160m2 with an attached or separate garage/workshop of circa 40m2.

    We would like our house to incorporate the following elements:

    • High insulation levels and low energy use; target u-values of 0.12 max for walls, floor and roof.
    • Light and airy inside
    • Open plan living areas
    • High ceilings including pent ceilings where appropriate
    • Underfloor heating throughout
    • Air Source Heat Pump
    • Whole house Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery
    • Triple-glazed windows
    • Solar PV panels and battery storage
    • The design needs to be wheelchair-friendly - one of us is a full-time wheelchair user.

    Construction method yet to be determined but we are open to modern sustainable methods, including SIPS, timber frame, insulated steel frame etc.


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    Dorset

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  1. Benpointer
    I've spoke to our architect, he thinks we will be fine as we don't plan to build close to the tree but we will need an Arboricultural Impacts Assessment to demonstrate that we are taking account of the TPO. Power was put in last year - across the tree roots, I would guess - by the vendor and before the TPO was in place, so all good there. We have two existing buildings (a garage & a workshop) within 10m of the tree and we had considered knocking those down and replacing them but now I feel we can refurb them without any digging. Thanks as ever for the feedback / suggestions.
  2. Benpointer
    Thanks. There are no other trees within 50m of where we want to build. The oak in question is on our neighbour's plot. Our topographic shows it to have a 700mm trunk (I assume the surveyor can measure that accurately from a distance these days). The canopy (c. 11m dia) extends over our property by a few metres but not where we need to build - we should be able to build >15m away from the centre of the oak.
  3. Benpointer
    Yes, well, I am now worrying how close that oak tree is to our proposed build (plans not submitted). How far does a TPO extend?
  4. Benpointer
    Just noticed that the plot next to ours, which submitted full plans in early October, has has a TPO slapped on an oak tree on the plot in November and the Tree Officer has now complained the self-builders didn't take account of that in their (earlier) planning submission (!)
  5. Benpointer
    Brilliant! Thanks Alan. (Should be a pinned thread maybe?)
  6. Benpointer
    Chris, can I ask what you use as a trigger warning when you look companies up on Companies House? I assume it's not going to mark them up as 'about to go bust', nor give much indication that they have major cash-flow or credit issues?
  7. Benpointer
    John, I am intrigued by your suggested approach. Our last house (60s bungalow eco-refurb) had ASHP + UFH + MVHR and it worked really well. We had 6 zones. Most set to 21C but the main bedroom was set cooler (18) and our en-suite bathroom was warmer at 23C. Because we like it that way. We are now embarking on a new self-build. Early days yet but we will be aiming for near-Passivhaus levels of insulation and air-tightness. But: we want the bedrooms cooler than the living areas, and we want the bathrooms warmer. So I am thinking at least three zones, probably 6 to 8. I certainly don't want to be p*ssing around with balancing the flow rates to each UFH loop to set differential heating in various rooms. That sounds like madness when I could simply use a room thermostat. What am I missing?
  8. Benpointer
    I wasn't aware this was that sort of forum. 😉
  9. Benpointer
    I assume it's this spreadsheet https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66ec38e0c8398625c331e7eb/Planning_Performance_Dashboard_Table_Final.xlsx And the relevant columns for self-build applications are headed "Non-major development excluding householder development"?
  10. Benpointer
    Are you sure that's the water? 😜
  11. Benpointer
    I can't access the article. Does it suggest removing the self-build exemption for BNGs?
  12. Benpointer
    It should work out 3-4 time more cost effective to run than electric rads because of the COP efficiency. BUT... as others will point out, ASHP and UFH really needs a well insulated airtight house, then you can ditch the idea of heating on/off times and keep the house at a constant comfortable temperature all the time. Other things to consider: air-tightness, MVHR, and triple-glazed windows without trickle vents.
  13. Benpointer
    If it were me taking the roof off a bungalow, I'd use it as an opportunity to raise the ground floor enough to put in a decent amount of floor insulation + UFH and replace the bottled gas by ASHP. UFH upstairs too and an 'upside down' house works in your favour where you normally want the living areas a bit warmer than the bedrooms.
  14. Benpointer
    Amazing build! No idea how you did that with the budget you had. Mightily impressed by your hard work and tenacity. Well done!
  15. Benpointer
    We fitted electric underfloor heating to a large garden room we built on the back of our then house 20 years ago. It was really lovely... Until the first electricity bill came in, at which point we realised it was costing us >£200pm to run. We switched it off and resigned ourselves to not using the garden room in the winter. Of course insulation was a topic unknown to us in those days.
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