Bitpipe

I had a washing machine and tumble in my greenhouse and moved them into the basement as soon as that was watertight with temp power. Also had a site office in the container which terminated the phone line to DSL (powerline plugs to squirt it to caravan) and used it as an occasional office also but it was mostly a tea hut. Best part was the £££ saved - Caravan cost us £1700+500 delivery and we sold it back to the delivery guy for £1000 so a net outlay of £1200 - £122 a month for accommodation during the build. Also invaluable also to be on site for the whole event - helps that I mostly work from home too.

I've done this also, easy peasy.

Wow, takes it to a whole new level!

And with our provider (which had changed hands after the original underwriter had gone bust) on presentation of the completion cert, they initially refused to insure us (offered to return premium) and then insured us but backdated it to when we moved in two years ago, effectively lopping 2 years off the coverage. On balance of risk, I decided to stick with the insurance even though I have no plans to sell but will need to keep re-mortgaging and don't want to be tied to the same lender. Said lender's surveyor only asked IF we had a warranty, never asked to see it... Now planning a formal complaint to the insurer and then to the ombudsman if that's rejected.

They were still at primary school and were sharing the smallest room in a set of caravan bunks, were glad to see the back of each other afterwards. Son went through a massive growth spurt shortly after (now 14, almost as tall as me) was like putting a house plant in a bigger pot Personally I didn't mind it at all, there was a simplicity to it and only took 5 mins to have the whole place clean and tidy. We even had the mother in Law down to stay a few times when I had work trips abroad and she kipped on the pull out sofa bed!

We survived with two kids in a caravan in the garden for 18 months. Just.

Mine too, however was just tallying up fuel costs for another thread and saw that our generation uncreased this year so they can't be that dirty...

In our 400m2 ish house we're spending about £1.20 on gas and 90p on electricity (once the FIT is taken into consideration, average £1.55 / day). That's four of us, wife and I work from home so we're in much of each day also.

I had planned one of these but even the smallest ones still kick out 1500W ...

In an airtight house, opening one window does not make much a difference, you need to create a cross draught. You're also supposing that the external air is cooler than the internal air. True at this time of year but not in the summer...

Tank the walls behind the tiles if its an area that's going to get consistently wet (like a shower) and follow @Nickfromwales instructions on how to lay the tray. We used a cheap paint on system with a corner profile - first coat horizontal and second coat vertical. Basically you want any water that may get behind the tiles to run down and find a way back into the tray rather than into the floor. Provided your screen sits on the tray and is sealed properly, there should not be lots of water hitting the floor tiles so you don;t need to tank the floor.

I wonder if it's related to a fear of putting down roots when the work environment is not as certain, or there is an individual restlessness or uncertainty over what they want to do and where they want to do it. Certainly when life choices crystallise somewhat, finding a partner, starting a family, settling into a career then a secured place to live (i.e. ownership) becomes more of a priority. And this is not a dig at Millennials or whatever demographic follows them (Xenialls I think they're called) just a reflection that each generation faces a different dynamic and set of priorities and the fixed elements of society (housing modes, transport etc) take longer to change to catch up.

I'd suspect that if the market is cooling, potential buyers (especially first timers) will be inclined to wait to see if prices fall further. Which will lead to sellers dropping prices to stimulate interest and furthering the phenomenon.

Lovely house aesthetically but +1 on the WBS & solar overheating. Was snowing this morning and as I ran the hoover round in my t-shirt I was already feeling warm in our Passive standard house. UFH (ground floor only) has barely come on this winter at all. You have a massive south facing window in the dining hall which will make it very uncomfortable year round unless you use external blinds or apply a reflective film to the glass. On our build, purely by virtue of the plot orientation, we minimised south and north glazing. After a few months in an overheating caravan in the garden we specd external motorised shutters on the east windows (wall and roof) - omitted one south window in kitchen and in spring and autumn when the sun is low, it really heats up. West glazing is not as susceptible but still makes an impact in summer- we have internal lightweight drapes that reduce the effect but will probably build a bris soleil to give us a bit more shade. If your architect has considered these elements then it would be a bit of an alarm bell as to whether they understand the implications of building a well insulated, airtight home (whether passive standard or not). Get it modelled in PHPP or equivalent.

Great - many of us had zero prior experience to building anything more complicated than an Ikea wardrobe and have all come out the other end. Obviously relevant skills & knowledge are very useful but they're not a prerequisite.

As in no boards under the shower tray - the ufh mat alarm box gives you peace of mind during install. Once tiles are on you're good. Do take pictures & measurements of where the mat is before tiling, just for peace of mind. You can also put a plug top on the mat to test it and take a pic with a thermal camera - can't recall who said they used to do that to prove the install was successful!.

By complete fluke, we ended up with a 25mm shower tray on the OSB deck being completely flush with the adhesive / backer board / UFH mat / latex / tile adhesive / tile. When we fitted the shower glass, it went on a bead of clear Sikaflex on the shower tray edge - we used a few 2mm spaces to get some clearance. Once the Sikaflex had set, spacers were removed and the gaps plugged up with more sealant. Looks smart. N.B. Nick has a bulletproof guide to tanking a shower area and fitting a shower tray - we followed it to the letter (even though plumber was not keen) and have never had any issues. Check the bath waste fittings now before tiling as you can plan a neater solution than the one we had to bodge, Nick also had a method for building a little wall around the opening for waste to prevent any water ever making its way down there (we had to use loads of SikaFlex). Another note - after tiling, the engineered wood floor in the hall outside the bathroom would have come up a bit short, so the floor guy built up a subtle ramp of latex to bring it all flush - you'd never know from looking at it. Stainless steel threshold to finish it off.

Insulation boards cover the whole floor area but the heating mat only covers the area that you'll be standing on, don't forget to go a little underneath the wall hanging toilet to save on cold toes for the boys Then you latex over the whole lot to get a flat surface for tiling - and tile under bath ensuring you have made allowance for drainage - the flex connector we got with our freestanding bath was not sufficient so plumber had to rip a big hole in the newly tiled and tanked floor to make space for a proper u bend. Thankfully we dodged hitting the UFH mat - heart was in mouth that day. Our tiler did the whole thing - I have the alarm box for the mats that warns you if they get damaged during laying, if you want to borrow. You need to take multimeter measurements when they're rolled up, unrolled and installed and record these for the warranty. Used 150W Warmstar mats off eBay - work a treat.

Number one, stop buying the magazines and save that money. Mark Brinkley's Home Builder's Bible is the book many here refer to - it's a little long in tooth now but still relevant although does not do justice more modern build methods and low energy approaches, however that's what this site is for Do you have a plot / existing dwelling? You will need a topological survey of that first as this is what the planning drawings are based upon. Plus you'll need to buy the locale 'tile' that shows what else is immediately around you. Do you have a house design? This is the tricky part - designing a dwelling that works on the plot (both aesthetically and from a planning perspective), meets your needs and fits your budget. Also need to take services into consideration (especially if you need to make allowance for treatment units vs mains sewage) as this can impact the position. Traffic is also a consideration - you will need emergency vehicle access plus be able to safely join the main road, turn a car etc. Any design will need to meet the local plan otherwise it will get rejected on that basis. One you have a design that works, the necessary documents are easy enough to generate. While some here (i.e. @JSHarris ) have done it all themselves, most others rely on the services of an architect or architectural technician or even a turnkey design / build service from a company (generally more expensive but you save VAT on professional fees). Many architect's will give you a free consultation and lay out a fee structure that takes you to planning approval. Zero obligation to use them after this, you can part company at any stage - lots of options to get your detailed (BC) design completed, discharge planning conditions etc. So, if you have the skills & knowledge or are prepared to spend time accumulating them then you will only really incur the planning app fees. However the best lesson from 'The Bible' is the cost / quality / time triangle. You can have have two at the expense of the third. This applies from the outset - if you want the cheapest possible planning app with no professional input, it will take time and/or you may be compromising on the quality of the design (and the application) leading to it getting rejected or getting permission for something you don't really want.

Currently having this argument retrospectively with my ground investigation firm as their site work was invasive (digging holes etc) vs a simple walk over study. However there is an element of research and report writing which would be eligible for VAT. They're saying that never in 27 years have they zero rated any services but I keep plugging away and sending them the relevant examples like above. Unlikely to get the VAT (or part of) back but will keep bashing away as it costs me nothing

I remember our basement looking like that - wan't much point clearing it until the rest of the house was watertight. At the end it resembled the trash compactor from Star Wars...

We adapted the passive slab design for our basement. Even more concrete and steel sitting on top of the 300mm EPS

Wow, quite shocked at that - @HerbJ used them also. I'll send you a PM with some ideas.

If its any comfort, our house was originally designed by the architect, and PP achieved, with no thought at all given to thermal efficiency, airtightness etc.. not until I discovered this site's predecessor. We were able to introduce near passive standards - slight reduction in internal area due to thicker walls but nothing really noticeable. If ridge height is an issue (as it was for ours) then you can look at going down into the ground a little if your sewer invert levels allow. If this really is your forever house then make sure you're creating an efficient space as running costs and comfort will be a big consideration in years to come.

+1 on Terry's comment - however still time to make changes if you feel the need. After insulation, air tightness is the second major source of heat loss and while not expensive to get a higher than BCO standard from a materials point of view, it needs to be designed in (and issues designed out) and needs a decent attention to detail during the build. MVHR is also required as the house will not naturally ventilate (in winter at least but also applicable in summer to a degree). Equally major consideration is solar gain as in a well insulated airtight home, overheating is a significant risk. Then you need to look at your space and DHW heating requirements and decide what system works best for your location and utilities. Fundamentally, your house should be thought of and designed as a system and there should be some degree of analysis and modelling to understand how all the sub systems interact, otherwise you risk having a well built and pretty but poorly performing house that is too hot / too cold / too expensive to run etc..