jack

Welcome aboard!

Hi James We're just up the road from you over the Surrey border. We knocked down a bungalow at the end of 2014 and are nearly finished its replacement. Feel free to contact me offline in due course if you want recommendations for local trades and suppliers And welcome to the site!

Great to see you Calvin! Hope all's well

Welcome back, great to see you!

Welcome (or "Welcome back", as I keep wanting to say!)

One of my major regrets is not putting underfloor heating in our bathrooms, despite having specially recessed the floor to ensure there was space to do so. Our tiled bathroom floors DO feel cold in winter, despite the rest of the house being at a comfortable temperature. I'm kicking myself for not taking the opportunity to put down at least electric matting if not wet UFH. I also have had a different experience with heating compared to a lot of people with MBC houses. I suspect it's largely about solar gain, but even with the recent warm weather, our house has never been particularly warm. I'm not saying it's ever uncomfortable - far from it - but I get the feeling our heating system was switched off a lot later this year than, say, Jeremy's (at least partly due to his house's microclimate).

The only reason I chose that name was because I was in a rush when I signed up to ebuild. The security question was something like "who is the prime minister", and the answer "notnickclegg" jumped to mind. I've cursed it ever since, so this was a good opportunity to change it I'll also change my photo in due course. It's a character from a fantastic sitcom called "Arrested Development", which I was binge watching at the time I signed up. The character is Tobias Funcke: http://arresteddevelopment.wikia.com/wiki/Tobias_F%C3%BCnke I'll change the photo so something a bit less crap once people are used to me as Jack instead of notnickclegg - there's enough change going on without adding further to the confusion!

Assuming you literally mean "powered by solar energy" rather than "light-triggered", I think you'll struggle to get sufficient power during a lot of winter. We have an 8.5kW array and there are long periods in winter where we get zero output while it's still technically "day". Perhaps if you have a big enough battery to get you through the dead spots you'd be ok, but given the lack of insolation during winter I'd definitely prefer to have a permanent power supply.

Welcome back. Great to see you again

Wish I'd thought about the sharpie idea - good tip. We did take a lot of photos before boarding, but even then they haven't always been enough. You need to cover every square inch of the walls and ceiling (and floor if appropriate to your construction type), including taking closeups where there's a lot going on. It's amazing how quickly you forget what you've done - in one case, a week after boarding the electrician and I couldn't remember exactly how we'd run a particular cable, even though we'd discussed it at the time. Imagine what it'll be like in 5 years when that electrician is no longer available and you need to figure out how something was done. The problem is exacerbated in newer houses given the amount of extra wiring we put in compared to houses built 20+ years ago!

Welcome back!

The two things about Internorm are: - you buy from a reseller/installer rather than Internorm directly. I've heard about big price differences between suppliers for the same windows. - competition in the premium window market has absolutely ramped up markedly in the last couple of years, as you suggest.

They had quite a bit left over on ours too, and asked if we wanted to keep some of it. In the end they took it for another job. I believe that providing storage space for materials like this is actually another of the drivers behind the UK factory.

So THAT'S what CLS stands for!!! I've long wondered... Thanks!

Welcome! We were all there at some point (some of us haven't moved that far away). If we all knew what we were doing there'd be no need for a forum and the world would be a poorer place!

Give MBC a call and ask whether they'd consider letting you buy some from them. They use loads of it in their builds. I'd mention ebuild and the new forum. No idea whether they can help, but worth a shot if you're desperate.

That's looking amazing Dave. Very, very sharp!

While my architect wasn't perfect, he were very happy overall with what he did for us. The design he came up with was a complete departure from the lines along which the previous architect we'd been using (and fired) had been going. It was far better, and more importantly, it was something we had a chance of getting planning for. Unlike many (indeed most) architects, ours is an absolute whizz at the planning process. He's very familiar with local and national planning policies, and shepherded our extremely modern design through to first time approval in a very conservative area. I like to think we helped by actively engaging with the community and our neighbours first (because we wanted to, I should add, not just because we wanted to get planning permission!), but the planning submission was a work of art. He didn't have many serious weaknesses. If there's one thing I think he could do with some work on it's his weathering details. Some of them really didn't manage water very well, but thankfully these were picked up and rectified by others before it was too late. There are two things I'd counsel: 1. You MUST get a fantastic personal feeling from the architect at every point until you sign up. Any misgivings, or misunderstandings, or odd vibes are a warning - if that happens now, it'll be HELL when things inevitably get stressful. 2. There are exceptions to the rule, but choose an architect whose buildings you like. There are very few architects who are so talented that they can design (or indeed are interested in designing) many different types of building well. Ours is a specialist in modern designs, and we largely liked what he'd done before. Don't go along to a specialist in neo-Georgian and expect them to design you a modernist temple!

Welcome! We were in exactly the same position three years ago (well, it was a 1952 bungalow) and are 95% finished the replacement house. It's a journey, for sure, but there're lots of people here to help.

You obviously weren't asking the right questions!

That's a great photo. Big changes are afoot - good luck!

Probably easier if there's a critical mass in an area. Also, Scotland's a big place!