G and J

Will read up on it. Thank you.

Derail away. I feel it’s one of the most powerful aspects of this forum, I’ve learnt so much following many diversions.

I think that the u values type analysis will help yield a sensible balance between insulating/cost/wall thickness. Where I am less sure is the acoustic performance of the walls.

I visit social housing often, and round my way a good few years ago some bright spark thought they’d foist huge ASHP units on properties as replacement boilers without changing the rads - I assume the business case was based on not needing annual gas testing. The result was overworked pumps that were therefore noisy and on constantly and cost so much to run that loads of tenants got into debt, and that was before the price hikes of the last few years. A good way to generate bad press and general loathing.

I’m more of a mind to trust it’s readings than anything clever with batteries. But as it doesn’t use an app it has earned me some very funny looks in the past.

Is adding a rooftop al fresco welfare unit permitted development?

I’ve ordered some clear tubing and I’m going to make a water level to cheque my laser based conclusions. The Hide (I wanted to call it the pig pen but apparently that would have given the impression we were going to keep livestock) and it’s attendant height was included in our planning app, now granted, and even if I did and I had the fall I needed it would mean an aerial sewer which would be a talking point (might get us on grand designs, you never know). I know a water level is a bit Blue Peter but it will do the job well within the accuracy I need.

That’s exactly the arrangement. Who needs a tv in the bedroom when one can sit watching the garden.

I understand and appreciate your ‘do it right’ sentiment, but I’ve a nagging feeling that following that mindset might land me in ‘merde’. I’ll explain. Potty in man cave sits on floor whose level is just above the invert level of the sewer manhole at the front of our site. If I dig a hole and put a pump in it, somewhere between the two, wherever I dig it in case of inevitable malfunction gravity ensures said hole receives all the nasty stuff that’s in the system. Nasty. Even if it’s only fermented pee. In this case gravity is not my friend. Imagine I lay a continuous length of black, 32mm pipe, from the potty, thence down into my duct, then more or less horizontal till it reaches my house, at which point it rises enough to finish its journey to the sewer manhole with a 1% fall. One great big extended u bend. Then imagine the macerator fails. Unless an emergency has recently happened the pipe will be full of only (admittedly stinky) liquid. I disconnect the macerator (if it can’t be fixed with a nose peg and rubber gloves) and the pipe just sits there, gravity in this case being my friend. Maybe I can even attach a garden hose to flush it, there’s a thought. Worst case new macerator, but I note some have five year warranties so that should cost me too often. Unless, of course, I’ve missed something essential. Yet again.

We are bungalow gobbling, and next door on one side (the one whose juice cable droops over ours) is a small two storey house, so we are replicating that which means no need for or advantage in having chamfered ceilings. We’ve owned properties with them and they do have their charm, but the look we are going for suits rectangles. We’re also rather traditional in the bedroom upstairs thing, but also our rear facing bedroom will get the morning sun and we’ll sit in bed drinking coffee looking straight out of the windows onto a little oasis of quiet, leafy back gardens. It’s an important part of the day for us. We won’t be starting in August partly because we’ve a planning condition that says we can’t (unless we get an ecologist to write a report promising that no feathered beings will be hurt in the making of this self build) and even if we didn’t have that we want to sell our house before we start. Sooooo, we’ve got time for me to agonise over everything - which is bad news for some perhaps but I am grateful as I am learning tons. 🙂

That sort of thing is the front runner/base case. Current thinking is 140mm frame with 120mm insulation between to give service void. In some places we will line with ply under the plasterboard to give flexibility in wall fixings and maybe slightly better sound attenuation. We will need another insulation layer but I’m a bit confused about whether that goes inside or outside the frame and sheathing board. Baton and counter baton the larch cladding so circa 255mm plus the extra layer of insulation. But I’ve a lot more reading to do yet. And no one has mentioned ICF yet lol

Our supply will be u/g, have gone through that with the network planner chap (incredibly helpful), but neighbours o/h supply crosses over where will be a single story part of the build. Not measured it but I would guess lowest part is circa 15ft. They have no interest in converting to u/g and they would rather we didn’t develop next door so we just have to work round it. Can’t have a temp supply either. Ho humm.

Which to varying degrees appears to describe most systems. There’s more work I need to do but it appears a very good plan is to build the downstairs walls (in that the details and costs vary as does the need for a second pair of hands, but there are all pretty similar) put on a ballon floor (likely using 304mm posi joists), repeat for second floor and get help popping the trusses up. Roof space is too small to bother making it a warm loft

He has, many times, but I still want to make our own informed choices. We did set out to find an architect would would work with us collaboratively, and we appear to have got very lucky.

I’ve not got the actual detail of the wall build up but from previous discussions with the architect but I believe even with our vertical larch cladding we are looking at getting within foot thick walls. That may be with only the most basic level of insulation, and I will be looking at ways to improve the insulation without excessive cost or wall thickening. If I understand the term correctly then the insulated box profile is the stuff I’ll use for the roof of my man cave at the bottom of the garden, but for the house we’ve got our hearts set on untreated larch to go lovely and silver grey over time.

With a wall like that would you be able to hear external sounds?

A proper loo, which will very, very rarely be used for anything other than a pee, would be a useful thing to have in the cave, saves me dropping sawdust if I’m making stuff or sweat if I’m rowing in the house as we don’t have room for a downstairs loo right by the back door. So it’s worth it to me to construct a water level to give me some accurate levels before I finalise my plans. Thank you for the inputs though folks, much appreciated.

Ok, so if I adhere to the no poo rule then all I need is a bush. In fact, that was the on-site welfare arrangements we had when we built the first time. It was a different world back then. We've got bushes so that option is free. Option 2, a macerator looking at circa £500 inc piping but opinions vary about feasibility. Option 3, a chamber and pump, circa £1,200, appears feasible but some think it’s overkill. Option 4, compost toilet - don’t know how much as I can’t contemplate it. Rather use a Thetford potty like in our campervan and I’d rather go without than have that. Unless there’s no other options I can focus my research on options 2 and 3.

Over half a metre. Oh my word. That would shrink our rooms quite a bit. The site is only 24’ wide.

We are trying to build with walls a foot thick, inside face of plaster to outside face of larch cladding. I understand and inherently trust blockwork, (emotional based thinking) which is what we used first time, but that would require much thicker walls. So you built your house with SIP panels?

Our architect said stick built as soon as he visited the site. As Jilly highlighted above there’s new and interesting stuff about now that might mean we can have better insulation than previously available for a given wall thickness. It’s a bit like careers though, all the big decisions have to be made long before one had all the info! So a leap of faith and trust in other’s experiences appears the best way forward.

Well, we did ok in 1991. We took just over 5 months to build, but then we were under the financial cosh as we had two mortgages running and we were right on the limit of what we could fund. Since then we’ve fully renovated three and done various other projects. I guess I look to norms and trends as guidance. Every SIP based project I’ve read or heard about used big panels craned in. If ‘micro SIPs’ are practical where no crane is needed then it would be an option, but presumably there could be a reason why it’s not a common solution, perhaps because of the greater number of joints and the sheer volume of glue needed.

Hmmmm, that’s less than I expected. Interesting thought, but not a solution I fancy. I know it’s an illogical response but for me I think I’d rather go without and trudge back to the house for a wee. But thank you for the idea, it’s not one I’d considered.

And it’s a man cave. None of that stuff is required lol

Well, my thinking started as just being for my man cave (v irritating to have to trudge up the garden for a wee during a workout) but now I’m thinking during the build phase it could serve as the site potty. And I’ll not hear the thing working over my music anyway! 🙂