G and J

Maybe, but maybe it’s craftier than that. Mass developer hardly increases their costs as they were going to fit the stuff anyway, but can advertise zero bills houses. The adverts are up on billboards in Suffolk. Owners get zero bills till usage history disqualifies them and due to inertia octopus keep most of the disgruntled customers who are paying unexpected bills. Everyone important wins. Shame about the house owners.

Methinks this one sounds benign…… but….. Methinks this one sounds like an: “I’m sorry 😢 Mr Gullablecustomer, your usage exceeded your generation by 0.17kWh in the last 12 months. Sadly that means you no longer qualify for zero energy bills. Please settle the retrospective £132.54 pcm bill for the last 12 months within 7 days or face recovery action. Have a nice day (we know we will)” 😞

[shuffles to his feet, looking intently at his own shoes while repeatedly clearing his throat, gathering courage until finally managing to look up and blurt out…] I am a self builder and I believe in thermal mass. [sits down quickly, avoiding all eye contact.]

In that case it’d better get registering…. So, first things first, I tell em my details (only marginally pretending to be a volume housing developer…) and the first thing that happens is that I get an email back: Hi Geoff, Thanks for your interest in Octopus Zero Bills. As we speak, we're working with housing developers and providers just like you to make Zero Bills the new standard. For newbuilds kitted out with solar PV, electric heating, and battery storage, we'll optimise the devices using our Kraken tech platform to offer zero energy bills for at least 5 years, guaranteed. Ready to begin the accreditation process? Complete the template with data for your portfolio/pipeline and return it to this email. We'll have one of our analysts take a look and let you know promptly whether your homes are eligible for Zero Bills. Please note that, as a general rule, the total annual solar generation on the homes must exceed the total annual consumption for the home in order to qualify. This includes heating and hot water according to your SAP report for each plot or house type. (You can read more FAQs here.) Download Template Want to chat before you submit data? Respond to this email with questions or your availability for a call and we'll walk you through the process. Thanks, Octopus Energy So the first catch is that we have to use their control system (they decide when we are warm enough? Hmmmmm….), and the second is that the Solar pv requirement isn’t in terms of the size of installation but the actual kWh generated vs used - that feels dangerous to me. But I’ll plod on and keep posting.

To quote the Octopus site: Installation services for hardware including heat pumps, solar PV, batteries and metering So it looks to me like the catch might be a big capital cost upfront and doing as you are told in terms of what’s fitted where. Are you going to register and get details? @Little_Miss_Tidy If so I’ll hold off to see what you find. (PS if doing it a second time constitutes ‘serial’ then we are soon to be serial self builders.)

I admire your green credentials.

Our plans include a gym/workshop at the bottom of our garden. An essential mental health component (for both of us).

When we were planning our build in ‘90 we were gleefully told that the divorce rate amongst self builders was circa 80%. 😕

I’m talking to a timber frame company at the mo, and they insist that Celotex is breathable. One thought, is it too late to consider one of these metal skinned pir filled interlocking roof systems?

I’m late to this thread so my apologies. As someone who battles to control a wood mouse population (as well as their bigger cousins) I’d say the proposed flooring, if I’ve understood correctly, of membrane supporting slabs of insulation is perfect nesting for small rodents. I’d urge you to consider fine mesh directly under the membrane and maybe do your best to exclude them from under the building too. It is incredible how small a gap they can get in (guess how I know this). Gravel can be effective at stopping rats burrowing in to get to a void, and in combination with some form of curtain closure round the perimeter might achieve an effective barrier.

You mean you don’t watch Kevin McC every night? Scandalous!

The most annoying thing is, after hours of long deep thought, and intense web searching, the innocent question is tabled. The one that starts….. “why don’t we just….?” I get over feeling stupid. Eventually.

+1. I've tried clever stuff with long cables and feeding multiple displays but 3D works best with the source close to the tv/projector with dedicated and short (and actually cheap) HDMI cables. Sometimes I’m so busy being ‘clever’ I miss the bleedin obvious simple solution.

Sounds an excellent plan. However, if, @Amateur bob, you went this route there still may be quirks in lending criteria that you might benefit from checking out sooner rather than later. An example is that some self build mortgages dislike lending in a plot that’s already owned. With then you have to arrange the mortgage, do the next stage of work with your own money and only then will they advance funds. Appears bonkers from my armchair but it is what it is.

Don’t assume that logic that is self evident to us mortals applies to underwriters. It’s a bit like tax law, there will always have been a reason but it’s so buried in history you could never second guess it.

Isn’t this a classic problem for a water level? You’ll need a friend, some wood, some cable ties, a clear tube, a funnel and a marker pen, and of course some water. Cable tie the tube to the bits of wood so when each piece of wood is stood either side of the patio the tube forms a big u shape. Full tube till it’s at a sensible level to mark the level on both bits of wood. Dismantle, put the bits of wood next to each other and measure the difference between the two marks. Do lots of maths to calculate angles, sigh, then shrug and accept that it is what it is and dig a small French drain between the patio and the grass. Even better, forget all but the last bit.

We can do clever stuff like casting or mirroring (from various devices to displays) but HDMI offers simple local reliable connection. Looks like you’ve several sources of stuff you might want to watch in your comms area so HDMI is a really obvious choice if it’s less than 10m (you can get further but it gets a bit device dependent). Of course once you’ve turned on your tv and selected HDMI as your source you’ve then got to select what feeds that HDMI cable…. We’ve a complex system with a digital recorder that can feed every tv in the house including the projector and is controlled by radio from anywhere in the house. Pity we turned it all off a couple of years ago when we realised that all we needed was a streaming stick on our old tvs and a couple of 3D bluray players (one in the lounge and one in the kitchen). The av in the new pad will be so simple it’s silly.

We (meaning I) forgot to pay. How dumb do I get? (Don’t answer that!). Sorted in no time.

So…. I’m now looking at the sheathing material for the frame of our stick build. Much of our walling is less than a metre from our boundary so we need to design in fire resistance. I don’t think I can use cement board as it isn’t breathable and I don’t want a wet, sticky, suffocated frame. So far I’ve come across Magply and Econic General Purpose Sheathing. Both appear to have the physical attributes needed, (racking, breathability, etc.). Are there any others that might be worth considering? Has anyone reading this (or anyone you know) recently used such and got a warranty? I’m told that historically there has been issues where warranty companies dislike these materials - we do want a warranty and frankly I’d see it as a red flag and investigate further even if we didn’t. I will also approach the manufacturers but real life examples are far more reliable. As always, help much appreciated.

Each lender has their own criteria. Viewed from outside they will often seem strange and illogical but they’re likely there because of weird historical problems or mortgage fraud, both attempted and successful. I deal with peeps who struggle to prove identity and address and it really can be difficult to get round, so I can see that being a problem. If the potential, future mortgage you mention is to help you build I’d suggest opening a dialogue with a good broker pronto. You may find such a discussion illuminating, and that may well inform decisions on actions to take now that will make things easier later.

Our span means we could get by with very thick 254mm posi joists but 304mm will actually work out cheaper and will be thinner and lighter to handle too, and gives slightly less deflection so a better feel. And with flooring on top and plasterboard below that gives us damn near 8’ for each floor and cheap standard roof trusses. I like cheap and standard. No alarms and no surprises, please. (To quote a well known lyric!).

It means he wanted you to vote Labour. 😉

Hmmmmm. I’m now feeling like a bit of a troglodyte. Our planning, entirely reasonably methinks, requires our ridge to be roughly the same height as next door’s ridge. That means 16’ of room between upstairs and down unless I go for collared trusses and chamfered rooms upstairs, which I am not keen on. So it’s probably standard height both floors. Perhaps I’ll just think of it as homely (and not invite Kevin McC round)

Congratulations on moving in. Hope it went well.

And will you be somehow putting slack in between sockets?