torre

How deep are your pockets? Have you looked at Idealcombi Futura+? If you're looking for better u-values but not necessarily timber clad then Decalu 88 Hidden might fit the bill too. Not a personal recommendation for either, but these are solutions I've bumped into researching options for our build

6 years payback for the whole system sounds great but payback for just the battery sounds like 8200 / 650 = 12.6 years . That's pushing the lifespan of the battery to payback at all. Factor in that battery prices approx halved in 5 years (and keep dropping) and I end up thinking that (unlike planting a tree) 'some time in the future' always ends up being the best time to install a battery. Using the above figures as an example, you could instead start without a battery and spend 5 x 650 = 3250 on 5 years electricity and as long as by then the battery price has dropped to no more than 5k you'll still be better off buying later. (and have a new battery) +1 for the heat pump dryer but drying times are much longer. Great if say you work from home and can make those longer cycles work, esp off peak.

A fire rated glass partition where the plans indicate a reduced height wall might be one solution for this, still giving the look of openness

We have experience doing something similar. Build up the blockwork first (think that's recommended for full fill inflation anyway) so you can be sure you can keep the ties running downhill. An insulation saw makes the vertical cuts @Tony L mentioned easier. The insulation should match the blockwork coursing. If you do the insulation yourself you'll be fine, if you leave it to brickies make sure they don't just let the tie drag the insulation down. You're right the coursing will run out, think in terms of 5*86=430 Vs 2*225 = 450 though You may want to use slightly longer ties to make up for them sloping down. You can also get two part ties but they're expensive.

The layout makes clearer what you were saying about wardrobe space - I'd lose the insulation rather than the wardrobe space (you'd need to lose quite a bit of wardrobe width to avoid feeling like you're squeezing around the door) As built does look a fair way from as designed - more like 1900 height than the 2100 planned and you should've had about another stair's worth of landing depth to work with too (and a bit of leeway to move the door). Did you have to make changes along the way? I'd measure that landing depth just to be sure it won't cause a BR headache later.

I don't know exactly how SUDS works in Wales sorry but for there's a recent rainwater harvesting thread here, might that be an option? Or an attenuation tank? Long shot but are you 100% sure as a replacement dwelling you're increasing the affected area enough to even fall within SAB approval?

I'd probably cut the insulation back as a preference for where the door is hinged, but @TerryE's solution is neatly done. (Separate point - the landing didn't look much wider than the door opening so have you checked it is as deep as the stairs are wide for building regs?)

What have they inspected? Just a trench or pipework and stop tap etc? I'd contact them and be up front you realised it's in the wrong place and dig another trench

On a narrow stair you'll already be taking more care and cope better with a shallow landing, plus it's much less likely more than one person will be sharing/passing in the space. Anyway you won't change the regs, you'll have to compromise somewhere. It looks like you might need to swap the top half landing for two quarter landings or similar. Don't you have plans for this? What stage are you at? Try planning just the top half of this using stairbox as suggested.

I don't think this on its own is a problem, but the end of the strap will still need to fit over the outside of the blockwork . It wouldn't be enough to fix with plugs etc to the inside of the blockwork (if that's what you're intending) - it's the difference between the whole folded area of the strap resisting pull forces versus just two or three plugged screws if check with building control that they'll be happy with what you're suggesting - it sounds so sensible from an insulating perspective you wonder why it's not the norm?Maybe just a bit harder to build, or maybe the people who think most about insulation would've already gone for a warm pitched roof

Maybe that wall is needed for mid span support of the last full width truss, given most of the kitchen and dining ceiling joists then hang off that?

NHBC have good examples of split lintel details (fig 21 & 22). You'd use the same cavity closer at the head as whatever you've used at the sides. If you're concerned about ensuring beads can fill the gap later between closer and tray you could fit something full fill like Isover 32 now, cut to the angle before putting the tray over. (We used concrete lintels for some of our inners as it's cheap and airtight, some of the metal have holes)

This sounds very challenging with some of your joist suggestions! I'd be very surprised if 12 or 13 stairs didn't work. At 220mm max rise that's 2640 or 2860. Try a site like stairbox and play with their options. That headroom diminishing to 1.8 is the absolute minimum so don't miscalculate and then find you need 15mm for PB You already have a dormer at the back!? Then I'd definitely try to stack the stairs better. Given you already have sufficient headroom for an unrestricted 2m staircase I think building control may well refuse to allow the 1.8 as that's intended for conversions where there is no other option, so do this as full plans, not a notice

So is it an off their shelf shell design or could you get planning to your own design and they'd still work as main contractor for the shell? How many units is the developer working on? If you're self building you really want a contractor that'll give you more attention to detail than the typical new estate box shifter, regardless of any spec on paper - it's all about the quality of work. Is the plot being sold with services already connected? That's one part they should be able to do reasonably cheaply and save hassle versus having to arrange yourselves, and maybe it'd work to have them do the groundworks as well - basically the stuff they're well placed to do at a competitive price, then find another contractor better suited for the main build. The trades they'll get on site if they're building say 10+ units will be much more vested in future work from the contractor than they will be carrying about your single unit. Another factor is how they prioritise your job once you're signed up, versus all the units they're developing to sell themselves - which do you think they'll be wanting to finish first? It's exciting to find a good plot, good location, but don't let that influence what you build or your choice of builder too much

The Flexi orb name is terrible but the initiative sounds promising and is long overdue. MCS seems to have turned into the worst sort of closed shop scheme - it's not working as a guarantee of quality (esp with umbrella schemes) and seems to be little more than a grant harvesting scheme - the government's giving 7.5k grants but the householder benefits only by a fraction of that with MCS installers taking the rest in markup that bears no relation to their costs.