Bitpipe

Had all the same thoughts while watching We used to love GD and all these shows before we actually built a house and now I can't really watch them as so many things are skipped over.

We bought our Quooker before the fizzy and filtered water were options. We do love it, no kettle for us. Keep considering a scale filter as I've had to clean out the unit 3 times now. However the cost of the cartridges is eyewatering. Suspect the Co2 for their fizzy water is the same story.

Are you staying on site during the works or living elsewhere? Electric Your electric will need disconnected from the house and relocated to a temp site supply for the workers to use. You need to pay the local DNO for this, much cheaper if you expose the cable and dig the jointing pit, dig the trench & lay duct for the new route. You will need to prepare the temp kiosk and have your sparky prepare the DB board, sockets etc.. as the DNO only moves the meter and company fuse. If it's genuinely temp, you need to pay again to move it all back into your finished house. Now, many of us have only done the move once by putting in a more substantial kiosk and making that the final home for the meter. You then run armoured cable from there to your new build. In our case, we did the meter move early on, and ran temps to the old house (so we could stay in it for a bit longer), to the caravan (that we subsequently moved into) and to a site office. Plan was to try and reuse a lot of that cable but most of it got damaged and needed to be replaced, shame but only a few £100 in the grand scheme. Water This one is easiest - just chop the supply after the meter or stopcock into your site and put in a standpipe. If you're living onsite during the build then you'll need to run a supply to your caravan. As soon as required, groundworkers can run the new feed to the house - I was surprised that practically the last thing that happened - I.e. days before moving in, was the live water being connected to the plumbing system (there were pressure tests etc during first fix). Fouls If you're living on site then you'll need to connect your accommodation to the mains sewage (assuming this is what's present today). Otherwise you let your GW grub up all the old sewage, typically back to the IC before the main connection and build out the new set of ICs and ducts etc.. Any fouls and other ducts for power, telecom, ASHP etc need to be in situ before the slab is completed. Some GWs don't like putting in too much foul too early as it often gets damaged (i.e. driven over) by other site activity. Rainwater normally goes in later too as it sits relatively close to the surface and does not touch the main sewer but will go to a RWH tank or straight to soakaway. Gas Gas needs capped off by the network at the site boundary ahead of demolition. After this the meter can be disconnected and collected (or stored safely on site) by your provider. There is a fixed fee for this and it's not cheap. Some GWs will 'arrange' it to happen for cash in hand but this is at your own risk. It took the team who did mine about 20 mins. Located pipe, dug hole, capped it off, filled hole. Re-instating gas is cheaper as the new connection is subsidises and it was a much more involved process - proper days work for a 4 person team. Your GW will have installed the yellow perforated pipe that they will expect to be there. Telco If you're staying on site then you'll probably want to keep DSL and phone services. Not as easy as it sounds as you need to facilitate a 'move' which can mean loosing service for a week. A more common approach is to just get one of your crew to disconnect the cable from the house pre demo and if possible, run it near the new location. Then you call BT, and get them to 'fix it'. You then reverse this or ask for a new connection when you move back in. We ducted the telecoms into the house to avoid an overhead wire, we bought and pulled the BT cable ourselves and left one end at the bottom of the pole and the other inside the house where the master socket was required. I think this is it. Remember, ducts are easy to put in during the build, hard after. Think about external power (garden, garage or shed), lighting, gate controls, access systems etc. Put in a duct and one or two poly rope drawstrings and you'll be grateful later.

Another knockdown and replacer here. We got through planning on second go but were prepared for the long haul. Take your time with the pre-construction stage, work done now can speed up the build itself. Careful thought on services disconnection / re-establishment can save you a few ££

I'm sure the Sun has a GOTCHA! headline ready to roll. I do sometimes wonder if that section of the media wants a rerun of WW2 for old times sake, closely followed by the 1966 World Cup and then the Falklands.

A quick google threw up this, I'm sure there are plenty more - https://www.theconveyancingnetwork.com/index.cfm/online-conveyancing-quote/remortgaging/

Making provision for future services is a smart move, spare ducting is cheap and easy to install during the build (to run pipes and power) and can be robustly plugged at both ends i.e. a tightly scrunched ball of chicken wire (to keep out rodents) on a pull wire, some LE foam and some airtightness tape. If you never need it then forget about it. If you do, you'll be very grateful as it would be very tricky to retrofit. Are you installing solar PV? If you use in roof trays then you won't see it much and you'll save money on tiles underneath. Even if you don't export and claim what's left of FiT, the PV will help power any ASHP or split air conditioning. My guess is that the latter would have the most immediate relief, slab cooling is going to help but be a slower to react system.

How could a new boiler 'struggle' in an efficiently built house with a low demand for heat? If the mains gas runs out? Either go for one or the other, not both. If you're not on mains gas than ASHP is the way to go and it will deliver perfect temperatures for low temp UFH but you need to have a means of heating your DHW to 60o plus to avoid legionnaires. Can be used for UFH cooling (best with passive slab) and can also be used to drive duct cooling for MVHR. Mains gas is still cheaper to run I believe and you have more installation options (trades) as it's the default option. Current boilers are highly efficient, will generate DHW at required temperatures but will need mixed down for low temp UFH. Just be aware that MVHR is designed for ventilation and not space heating / cooling - the flow rates are very low., even on boost. While it will contribute, heating or cooling your space via MVHR will only really act as a trim function and will only be really effective in a very highly insulated airtight house (passive or equivalent).

My De Longhi started to play up last year so I sent it for one of their fix price services. Super impressed - it was collected by courier and then within a week I had a diagnosis and a fixed price repair quote (£150 inc. delivery ) or return un-repaired for £30. When it was returned, they'd replaced the pump, grinder and a few sensors and it was good as new and has been no trouble since. Will probably get another 10 years or more out of it. While it was very expensive at the time (£1000) it was a treat after a windfall at work (company was acquired) and the rest of the lump sum went into the build fund.

Yep just like a trench or raft foundation combines concrete and timber frame on top - in my case the foundation is a usable space (basement) but structurally it's doing exactly the same job. We looked at ICF to build the basement and then the house above, would have had same airtightness and insulation but came out as a much more expensive option at that time, maybe economics are different now. A lot of the additional expense was labour and not having internal floors or walls included plus a SIPs roof was not cheap as a stand alone item. I was not in a position to DIY the construction and wanted a quick as possible build as I was living in a caravan in the garden with the family. I did all the PM, but to be honest that was easy enough as the basement and timber frame were quite comprehensive packages that left me in a good position. https://www.mbctimberframe.co.uk/passive-house/passive-wall/

I have been living in a MBC passive timber frame house for the last 4 years and am not aware of 'the problems'. I have plenty of friends who live in modern brick and block houses who are plagued with problems (overheating, damp spots, draughts, cracks in external walls etc). Irrespective of build method (brick & block, timber frame, ICF, SIPs straw bales etc) a well built, well performing house is more dependent on good system design and execution of build as the build fabric. Timberframe systems are not normally the cheap option, however their ability to be manufactured in controlled conditions off site means they should match the drawings more precisely and allow faster erection on site and shorted lead times for items like windows & doors as these can be ordered off plan ahead of time. My above ground works took 6 weeks to go from the frame erection over the completed basement to scaffolding down (I.e. windows, slate roof, windows, rendered walls, soffit & fascia) in 8 weeks. Inside was fully decked & framed out and ready for insulation pumping and first fix commencement. An ICF or b&b build would have required cheaper materials but require more labour and therefore time. Often windows & doors are not ordered until the apertures are built and measured as there is some risk that 'as built' will not match 'as drawn'. However there is no reason any of these systems should perform better or worse providing there has been the necessary attention to detailing wrt cold bridge elimination, airtightness etc. The reason houses are not like cars is that they are all one offs, built to order by trades of varying skill, to varying quality control using varying systems and varying budgets.

Hmm, not 100% I agree. I think planning is the same challenge on a green field vs an established plot. We replaced a very trad 50's brick detached with a very modern white rendered house over twice the size above ground (never mind basement). Obviously if you're in a conservation area or have similar restrictions then this will be an issue. If you plan properly then the elec meter move to a kiosk can be a one time deal as you run from there to the new, no need to pay twice. Also, while gas disconnection is expensive, reconnection is heavily subsidised and is a fraction of the original cost. No need to do anything with water along as you just put a standpipe post meter on your land.

ARC did it, they were happy with the single method as it was warrantied itself. The underlying insurer went bust but the policy was covered by another business so still in place. TBH - I only took out the whole building warranty to make it mortgageable and sellable, I would never expect to claim on it or for them to ever pay out given what I've heard. As you say, a drained cavity is a pointless expense if you use WPC, external would make more sense for belt and braces but that itself is no guarantee as it's only as good as its application and needs to be protected during backfill to avoid puncture by stones etc.

We built a passive basement and house. Basement is cast in situ concrete (300mm thick) using the Sika waterproofing system (water bars, admix & plugs) - it is inspected on site by a Sika rep and once approved comes with 25 year warranty. We chose this method over ICF since we're entirely reliant on this single waterproofing system and wanted to see the quality of the pour for each section. This is one of the few downsides of ICF, you have to trust the quality of the pour as you can't see it. As the water table sits at 6m below ground level and the basement is 3m below ground, we did not see the need for external membrane (which needs perfect application) or internal membrane (assumes a leaky wall and needs sump + pump + backups etc). Basement sits on a 300mm thick slab of EPS 200 which extends beyond the slab and there are vertical walls of 200mm EPS 70 applied to the exterior of the basement walls. We used insulated MEA GRP light wells (simple window holes left in structure) and have an external door to a concrete staircase to ground level for emergency exit and to meet fire regs (alternative is sprinkler system). Basement is the full footprint of structure above and acts as the house foundation. Land drain at basement perimeter to soakaway and the 1m working space was backfilled with clean stone which acts like a giant French drain around the property. The house is a MBC passive twin wall timber frame - the inner frame is load bearing and sits on the edge of the concrete wall, the basement vertical insulation spans the twin wall gap and the exterior wall leaf sits on this. When the system has the insulation blown into it, there is an uninterrupted insulated layer that wraps around the house. Basement is inherently airtight as concrete and there is an airtight fabric taped to inside basement wall, up over GF and to inside wall of frame. GF is pozi joists over a steel web that sits in precast pockets in the basement wall. Essentially we mimicked the MBC foundation detail where the frame interfaces the basement walls. Our design was 'open box' by choice but no reason you couldn't do a 'sealed box' and have a slab at ground level - just need some thought on your heating strategy as in a normal passive slab you put the UFH pipes in the slab vs on top in screed. That would work in a basement GF slab also, you'd loose a bit of heat to the basement walls but doubt it would make a big difference. TBH, a passive standard house needs so little heat injection that you barely use the heating at all. Many here use the slab to cool the house in summer (needs ASHP) so that may be a consideration also. UFH on GF only, wet system in spreader plates under floor deck. No heating in basement or upper floors aside from bathroom towel rads and electric UFH under the tiles. UFH comes on for 2-3 months max over winter. Gas boiler used for that and DHW, solar PV on east roof with a diverter to top up UVC tank with immersion heaters before exporting. Big sliders downstairs, every window is triple glazed so house is super quiet. External motorised shutters on east aspect (street side) + east & south Velux which greatly reduces daytime solar gain, increases privacy and removes need for curtains. West side has curtains in bedrooms and gauzy drapes in living/dining room. We do get a bit of overheating in summer, later in the day, usually because we're not that disciplined keeping the doors closed during summer. MVHR obviously. MBC frame can support a render system (battens, render board & render) or practically any other finish - timber cladding, brick etc. As mentioned in other posts, basement cost variable is your ground conditions followed by your site access etc. You only really know what conditions you have following a ground investigation report - this is usually a combination of desk survey (to see what is expected to be there based on historical data), dynamic probing to 10m (measuring ground resistance) and some core samples. Gas and ground water monitoring is often required too. The SE should spec the investigation to ensure they get the data points they need and will then interpret the data to see what design and build method is required - i.e. sheet pile retaining walls if the soil is too soft to self support during construction etc. You then get a design which will include the bar schedules etc and shop it around local groundworkers to get a quote. most will sub out the concrete works to a specialised crew but will take care of the excavation and infill themselves. You can include other groundworks, site prep, services etc as part of the same package. Hope all of this helps.

Given it's also doing the job of a bathroom / kitchen extractor fan, you want it on all the time. If properly configured it should not be noticeable during normal operation - you may hear it on boost.

When you're a hammer, all the world looks like a nail. Now, this thread is incorrectly named as Brexit occurred Jan 2020. What we are experiencing is the end of the transition period with or without an equivalent agreement. Not as catchy.

Agree - 2nd fix. Quite often fixings is supplied with sanitary ware can be of poor quality. We bought some very expensive stone baths but the supplied waste fitting (intended to sit under the bath on floor) was a bit cheap useless and we had to do quite a bit of remedial work to chop a hole in the floor and put a proper waste fitting in. As long as it's itemised (to a degree) and matches the work done, pay up.

+1 on Topo, you'll need this for the house design process anyway, planners will want to see it etc. Do you have the budget to consider building a passive basement below the house? Effectively the externally insulated walls become strip foundations to meet the structure above and the insulated raft becomes the basement floor. You then have a suspended timber floor at ground level but don't need to insulate it. UFH can go in basement (but we didn't bother as the ambient temp is constant year round) instead we put it under the ground floor using all spreader plates. Effectively it's a more extreme version of what @ProDaveDave is suggesting.

We have pooling on our front flat roof - was a very dry winter (2015) so this only became evident later. Couldn't face the hassle of stripping off the GRP and getting the fall resolved and re-roofing it - would also have required the majority of slates to come off the pitched roof that abuts it as the GRP continues up and under the slates. No leaks in 5 years so it's an aesthetic issue - roofer said that he could try and build up layers of top coat to create a fall, but would be at my cost now. Rear flat roof top coating has failed though, curling up and peeling off. Roofer came to remedy last summer, removed all loose and re-coated but it's gone again. No compromise on watertightness but this is an aesthetic I will get remedied. Obviously forgot to get round to it during the endless sunny days this year but will get it sorted next summer. Can someone here explain why topcoat fails? It's only ever happened on this one piece of roof, rest is absolutely fine.

You're welcome. We were clueless at start but know a bit more now we're done One of the best spaces in the house, when it's not full of junk!

My landscaper is just finishing a Costco log cabin - says that the 4mx5m ones are going for about £3.5k as DIY (£5k installed). He says this is a crazy low price as he used to work for a local log cabin firm and the equivalent footprint and same quality would be £10k plus installed. On a related note, a friend is asking me what regs are required to build and rent out (AirBnB) a garden room / cabin? He's up Banbury way in a nice village and they have a high demand for holiday rentals but also HS2 crew accommodation (one upside of it running within 500m of his house). He has a decent sized area next to his main garden that's already naturally separated with mature hedging, connects with the main drive to his house and making power, fouls and water would be straightforward enough. He was thinking of a log cabin or similar, enough for one studio bedroom or bed / living with kitchenette and bathroom. My understanding is that you first need planning permission if the dwelling is not exclusively for the enjoyment of the household (i.e. a garden room) and then the applicable BRs apply depending on whether it qualifies as a mobile dwelling or something more substantial.

We don't have a cleaner (had one in our previous pre-self build life). Always promise that we'll get one when then the house is properly tidy post build so 4 years on my money is still safe. However our fingerprint operated door would be perfect as you're not issuing keys etc and can revoke access whenever. We adopted some of your principals above - a continuous surface for the whole GF (resin) no joints etc to get dirty. - shoes off on entry, turtle mats at thresholds and a shoe drawer / bench in the hall - agree that MVHR reduces dust, pollen, leaf litter etc coming in - you just need to look at what the filter captures each month I'll have a word with the cat on containing her roaming, may not succeed on that front.

Our baths have central plug with tap coming out of wall at middle of bath (long side). We also have a shower hose for each bath which makes sluicing it out easy. We do nothing to ours apart from hoover and a monthly go over with a steam mop. They were pre-treated and are still quite water resistant. The daughter's floor came up lovely after four years of no treatment - was just an hour or so of elbow grease. Sanded out a few stubborn water stains and they blended in well with the OSMO product. Serious dings and dents can be raised up with damp cloth and hot iron and then sanded flush, although most you never notice as its a natural product. Issue with tiles is always the grout - gets absolutely filthy so either go for dark grout or be prepared to get the toothbrush out regularly. Amtico or Karndean is much better, can scratch if you drag something heavy over them. if you have UFH then even tile will be warm under foot. Wood, resin etc are naturally 'warm' as they don't conduct heat away from the foot. Major issue with carpet (and we had nice pure wool) is that it absorbs dust, dirt, dead skin, pet hair, crumbs etc and even the best vacuum only gets some out. When we would have it cleaned annually the sucked up water was jet black. We also were in toddler stage at that house - those stains never came out no matter what we did. Sudocreme was the worst. If you're having a shoe policy then it should be front door or don't bother - we've never had anyone have an issue with it and nice soft resin underfoot is quite pleasant to walk on.

I have a Neff hide and slide and you can remove and dismantle that door and clean inner panes of grease and dust. 'Someone' broke the inner pane over the summer so had to bite the bullet to do it - cost and arm and leg for the glass from Neff but was easy enough. Agree that self cleaning oven is great - best for a sunny day and do it with the PV However the wire racks still need cleaning with wire wool or in a bag with oven cleaner.

Induction hobs are near flush to the worktop and are very easy to clean being a flat plate of ceramic/glass. Ours has about 2m clearance and it can get a little grubby there but I can get a cloth or brush in to clean if required. We have resin floors and they are pretty bomb proof, but as I discovered susceptible to bleach style liquids being left on them but pretty resilient if you catch the stain quickly. They do show up dust and dander quickly but a regular hoover and a weekly steam mop and they're good as new. Wood is surprisingly resilient - we laid pre-waxed boards upstairs and recently redecorated one bedroom. Floor was quite grubby and we used an Osmo product and some elbow grease and it came up beautifully. Recommend investing in washable paint if possible, we have that in the hall and it does clean up well (fingerprints etc) whereas the regular finish just rubs off the wall. I really don't like carpet as in our old house I was horrified at what used to come out when we had them washed annually. As a result the new house is shoes off at door which was borne of necessity as it took 18 months to get a stable clean surface outside after we moved in. Our kitchen has a putty coloured composite stone (Silstone?) and it is pretty stain resistant. We have a Hacker kitchen and mixed glass and matt doors, gloss really show up streaks and fingerprints. We have Neff steam ovens (one dedicated and two regular turned out to be steam also) and never had any problems with the water cassette.