jack

Wowsers, that's an impressive flush. ?

I think there are lots of reasons behind budget overruns. Sometimes, people add up all the things they think about, but then forget about all the little addons. For example, you budget for tiles, but then don't realise that adhesive and trims are a significant extra cost. They also forget the cost of things like an architect, pre-commencement conditions, landscaping and access. Our driveway is 45m long and we were surprised to learn just how expensive even the cheapest methods of making a driveway that long were. Another reason is the "upgrade as you go" model. That's where you budget everything out, then when you get to the bathroom you realise that by paying only 20% more for tiles, you can get something you really like, and hey, it's just for the bathroom, so doesn't add much to the budget overall. Then you do it for the wooden floors downstairs, then you splurge on an above budget kitchen. Do this enough times and a serious cost overrun will creep up on you. In my opinion, you can't go far wrong by working to a budget per m2. It depends on where you live, what spec you're after and how much you plan to do yourself, but if your figures are coming in much below, say £1500 per sqm, I think you'd want to have a good basis for such a low figure (several on here have managed that figure and a lot lower). Others will have better ideas of reasonable ranges than I do. It drives me barmy when I watch Grand Designs and someone suggests that they're going to build a large, bespoke, well-specced house for less than £1000/m2. Add extra frustration points if they're doing it via a main contractor and paying the architect to oversee things. One I particularly remember was the couple where the guy had had a stroke (I think - serious unexpected health problem, anyway), and they decided to build a huge house on the Isle of Wight. Their budget was £500k - my missus and I nearly spit out tea out! We said a minimum of a million, and I think they were at £1.2m or £1.3m by the end.

That said, I think you're right to underline this @lizzie. That's a LOT of glass. @Adam2, what direction is this heavily glazed elevation facing? Anything other than north and I don't think it can be overemphasised how important solar gain control will be. Be aware that while internal blinds will help, they're hugely less effective than stopping the sunlight before it reaches the windows. We have external blinds on some windows and they do a great job of cutting solar gain down to almost nothing. In the one room (east facing main bedroom) where we should have had external blinds but chose not to install them to save money, blockout fabric curtains still leak an awful lot of heat in the mornings.

Exactly this.

If eye-to-screen distance is the primary concern, you could always attach a cheap monitor arm to the desktop. You can then push it further way when using it (assuming it isn't against a wall), and swing it back in when you need the space behind it. My desktop is 65cm deep, and I have my monitor perched as close to the edge as I (safely) can. I find that perfectly fine.

Welcome to Buildhub! I can't comment on the substance of your post, but don't worry about your English, it's excellent.

Oh, was there a flexibility test too?

Yep, he's been through all that - that's the type 1, type 2 etc stuff, right?

Thanks for that. I think they're about to become effectively compulsory in many installations, so my electrician had already been reading up on them. Suspect this job brought forward his study a bit!

Assuming a passive slab was planned from the start, 900mm seems an awful lot to be digging down, even if clay was a possibility. Please don't think we're having a go here, by the way. It's just that someone may read this in the future looking for information, and it will be helpful for them to understand how this all happened (and how to avoid it!)

I'm sure you've seen the ICF and basements sub-forums. Worth a look if you haven't.

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People can always object, even without a basis. For a valid objection though, they need to have a reason supported by law. What I'm saying is that you don't need to own land to get permission that involves its use. For example, if I know your address, there'd be nothing to stop me applying for planning permission to knock down your house and replace it with a new one. The fact that you own the house is irrelevant in planning terms, and you wouldn't be able to stop me getting permission just because you own the land. The planners would advise the owners, just like the advise neighbouring properties. Of course, getting planning means nothing - I can't actually implement what I get planning for, because it's your land. There's a risk, but I'd be tempted to look into providing the required turning space by using that land on the assumption that an access easement already exists. I don't think it's something the planners would be interested in once they've ticked their box. The question would then become whether the owners of the shaded land want to fight you on the easement point. That said, it would be cleaner if you could buy it outright, especially given your desire to build on it.

Yep, that's my understanding too. Plus if you buy it, I believe you reset the adverse possession clock as new own owner. As Dave says, there may be easement rights associated with existing use that could carry over, but I'd check with your conveyancing solicitor about the details of that. What about just applying for planning permission that includes this area as part of your turning requirements? There's no requirement for you to own land to get planning permission on it. The owner will be notified and can object, of course, but only on the basis of planning considerations. They could, of course, prevent you from actually using it according to whatever planning scheme you get approved, but that may be fine for your purposes. You could potentially agree to purchase subject to the required strip of land being acquired. Re: it taking a long time, in my experience, these types of situations can be hurried along if you're willing to be the squeaky wheel. Get to know who's handling at the council (or whoever owns it). Make sure they understand that you're trying to get this sorted so you can start building your family home. Be friendly, and don't overdo it, but if you're calling or emailing every couple of weeks just to touch base and see how things are progressing, you may be surprised just how fast things might move. The main one is that if the seller tries it on and isn't successful, you'll likely face a hostile reception if and when you subsequently attempt to negotiate a purchase. The upside is that the cost of proceeding with a claim is just the land registry fee and whatever your lawyer charges. That's likely to be cheaper than buying the land outright. In your case, you'd also need to find out whether the seller offering to buy has affected any adverse possession rights that might otherwise have been claimed. I suspect they'll really need to speak to a specialist about this. I'm sure you've seen it, but the Wikipedia article on adverse possession is a good starting point.

What Nick said, for sure. For neatness, consider spacing the pipes as accurately as possible where they come out of the slab before the pour. No big deal, but it does annoy me that mine are slightly crooked and unevenly spaced.

We changed architects and it was one of the best (if difficult) decisions we made. We got on brilliantly, but she just wasn't designing anything that inspired us, even after three full rounds of redesigns with several layouts per round. The first design from the second architect was just "oh yes, of course that's what we should do". Not saying that course of action is appropriate here, of course! The second architect had been our original choice, but he'd originally turned us down on the basis he was concerned about building to passivhaus standards. He was a lot more comfortable when we came back to him, because we'd found a building company whose standard construction method dealt with the basics of insulation and airtightness.

Welcome to BuildHub! I can't help with the other stuff, but assuming the parking spot is on the plot, I can't see why there'd be an expectation about others using a parking spot on your land. I assume the planning approval doesn't say anything about it being for the road (that would seem unusual to say the least). Have you checked whether there's any sort of covenant attached to the land? What about existing easements (eg, have people been using this land for parking for some time?) Assuming you haven't agreed anything in writing (including emails, ideally) and you're able to confirm that no rights to park exist, the seller can say what they like now, and I believe you can ignore it once you own the plot. You conveyancing solicitor should be able to confirm all of this.

Wow, that's about the best you could hope for in the circumstances. Building is an imperfect business, and all you want when things do go wrong is for the people involved to admit what they've done and put it right promptly.

Welcome! Does he have a reason for being negative about it, or is the lack of experience/knowledge driving his opinion?

Yes, I believe that's right. It will stay at the transition temperature as heat is extracted until it's completely melted, and will then start cooling again. Presumably the material can also be heated above 58 deg C, in which case it will cool like any other material until it reaches the transition temperature.

It should be loose before it's put together, but it shouldn't come apart like that. I'd call Wunda Loads of people on here have used Wunda - haven't heard a single bad word about them or the kit they supply. Same with Grundfos - nothing wrong with it at all.

This is where I got mine - price was as good as anywhere: https://www.wundatrade.co.uk/shop/home/actuator-auto-balancing/

Would it be possible to limit the supply water to 28 deg C?

Indeed, and it was exactly this issue that led to me bringing up this issue. Thanks very much for your work on this Jeremy. I'll have a play with it.

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