G and J

Fab idea. I’d been wondering about the order of assembly upstairs. We’re planning on putting a VCL onto the bottom cord of our trusses then a layer of OSB then plasterboard. Given that ours is a panelised TF kit methinks rather than getting them to make the panels short I can simply fit the upstairs internal walls last. Unless there’s a complication I’ve not thought of…

A slight sidestep topic wise but I’ve quotes for a designed and commissioned MVHR system and could clearly save money by doing as others have in here, but… Our BCO has stated they require the MVHR to be commissioned by a suitable professional. Is there a sensible way round that?

That makes having a pool sound almost ecological!

Full marks for @saveasteading then.

Is a pressure balancing thingy needed somewhere to reduce cold pressure to match the hot pressure? Presumably it’s only the showers that such a thingy needs to serve…

Hang on. Has someone worked out how much more in resource terms these so called eco but actually short lived led bulbs (that’s what John Lewis calls them so I’m sticking to that) cost vs dead simple and resource friendly filament bulbs cost? I know filaments use more lecky but is it enough to justify all the plastic and precious metals that get thrown away?

Will do.

Our upstairs ceilings are 12.5mm plasterboard straight onto the bottom cord of the trusses at 600mm centres. The joints are supported by noggins, and maybe that’s less necessary if on 400mm centres. But these have been up 34 years and counting.

Thank you. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.

PS - we would of course have the same insulation and screed/constructional slab above both halves…

In about a month (fingers crossed) I’ll be standing on a cleared site looking at the ground we will be building on. At that point we will know so very much more, and will have the evidence on which to base decisions about the form of foundations and floor building up. Until then I’m trying to predict most likely scenarios and appropriate responses to those scenarios. I’ve posted separately about shallow drains and minimum falls and levels. That thread has concluded that I may be able to have a bnb floor where my drains run. But… The drains are all in the front half of the house. The ground slopes down towards the back of the house. BnB was the preferred option as it sidestepped the need for loads of sub floor build up. So… Is it ok to have solid floor for the shallow half of the house and BnB for the other, deeper half? The required foundations lend themselves to that, just a single (but aesthetically important) doorway crossing that boundary.

Take lots of pics with it installed. Then remove it and store it til the autumn. Then sell it using the pics, that way you’ll get a good price. In the meantime instal a small one that you will actually be able to use and that won’t conflict with your MVHR, i.e. one with direct air. Or accept that form trumps function and install a tv in the fire showing a vid of a fire.

I posted this in another similar thread a few days ago…. ”Welcome. In ‘91 we bought a plot, got full PP, and I promptly got quotes from several builders. The most highly recommended of which called me a moron. He had asked me why we didn’t build it ourselves, getting in trades as needed. I answered “well I’m not in the trade”. That’s when he called me a moron, but he was smiling. He said “if you’re in the trade you know one trade, so you have to learn the other ten. You have to learn an extra one - so what? “ Sage words it turns out, and that was before YouTube. Get in there. “ I suggest doing the main contractor thing may be right for you for many good reasons, but I suggest not being in the trade is not a good reason. We start demolition in just under two weeks. F Scary. F exciting too. Soon after that we start building what will be our second self build and I’m principal contractor and principal designer, may god help us. Oh, and when we did our first self build, with no main contractor but helped hugely by some really great guys, I was in IT and had no experience whatsoever.

Been looking into this for our meter kiosk install. EV point is right next to kiosk but house is further and I’ve been advised to whack in a 110mm twin walled flexi duct to future proof. I’ve also been told to go 25mm2 armoured cable to get tiny voltage drop (circa 10m). Could you just drop in a large duct to defer your decisions?

It all started with a concerted, sustained effort to reduce ‘stuff’. Our cupboards are now a lot emptier and we are happier for it. Then Tuck came along. He’s our (air) friar, mostly as an experiment in saving energy. Quickly realised how many of our meals I can cook with just Tuck and a microwave. Then came along da bungalow. When we planned the kitchen, which is visible from everywhere in our single big (comparatively to the rest of the house) room that we will spend most of our time in we thought about how we use our current kitchen and how that could be improved, that’s when I realised I wanted an invisible hob. Then I saw the price tag. Then I started thinking about and experimenting with no hob cooking. For me it’s quicker, cleaner, and suits our diet and psyche. No frying, some veg batch cook and frozen, no meat, smallish portion for just us two, few simple carbs (especially at home), etc. In parallel with all that we thought about making our kitchen area pleasing to the eye - for us that meant simplicity - qooker tap, no kettle, virtually nothing out on display; it also meant symmetry. Then when the question of location of dirty great big smudge of a hob came along our answer formed - it’s a tiny version hidden away till needed. So it’s not really about energy saving any more. It’s about how we want to try and live and how we want our environment to look.

All viable options. But no, no hob in me kitchen, just a little portable one in the utility room for occasional use.

Interesting. Will research.

Very good plan. Again, thank you.

Noted. Thank you.

Is that still true of a single easy bend?

Laterally, vertically, or both?

You could be describing the design for our new house. Re reduced worktop height, be a bit careful. Make it just a tiny bit too low and backache ensues. So I’d advocate prototyping it before committing. Our main kitchen area is part of the big room (kitchen, lounge, dining and conservatory). 2.7m worktop flanked by full height cupboards (larder fridge freezer on one side, oven, microwave and coffee cavern on the other). Sink in the middle of worktop, no wall units and no hob. Neat. Lots of storage in the utility room plus a portable induction hob for when I give in and use one (batch cooking mainly). Yes. When thoughts began re living without a hob I started experimenting with non hob cooking, mainly because I think even whizzy induction hobs are v ugly - a big dark lump in my nice light coloured worktop. We’ve a gas hob on our range cooker now and it’s surprising how easily I have found reducing hob use. Maybe that’s partly as I never cook meat, and I fry nothing, but it’s quite liberating trialling new ways of doing stuff.

Thank you - and Amen to the airtightness. I really appreciate all this guys. I want to explore this debate re what goes under the insulation. Before that I want to check understanding and put the drains issue to bed. Whatever goes under the insulation my poo pipes are going in the insulation and above my main DPM, assuming my BCO is happy with that. That means I can have a 100mm screed plus UFH or 120/150mm construction slab with UFH. Good news. I just have to have enough insulation to house the pipes allowing for their falls. I'm thinking I can use the insulation to carefully manage the falls to make sure I've got no low spots due to pipe deformation, so safe to use long lengths of plastic, if needed rotated to make sure any bend in the pipe is horizontal and not vertical and thus does not affect the falls. Is all that correct?

And presumably as long as it is of even thickness I can put a lot of EPS down there.

So the drains sit in the EPS layer above the DPM. Presumably one tapes up the penetrations and it’s all ok cos my plumbing is good enough to ensure no leaks.