Bancroft

We bought a trendy tumbler composter many years ago (not this model) - complete waste of time and money. The benefit of having an open to the ground Dalek-type composter is it allows worms and bugs to naturally get into the composter and do their stuff. A tumbling type with no connection to the ground does not. So, either you manually introduce worms/bugs or add in some special fluid from the manufacturer (for a small £££ of course...). Just get a Dalek from B&Q and, if you feel it necessary, add some foam around it to help heat it up. Our Dalek has been fed with all our household waste and some of the garden trimmings for nearly 2 years now and has never needed emptying (laziness has stopped me removing the mature stuff to use as compost - if I need that I'll go to the stables next door).

Apologies - missed your post. Solar conduit is just the cable in from solar panels into the house as we're mounting them on the carport roof rather than the house. Broadband is Openreach. I haven't spoken with them yet in detail but, talking to others, it seems that fibre and electric can go in the same trench. Two things to be aware - they still do need to be about 300mm apart and also check that the fibre cable isn't sheathed in anything that is metallic (apparently some are but I can't verify that).

Does it really need a dedicated software package? I think I'd be tempted to take a screenshot of one of your other plans which shows the whole plot, put it into PowerPoint, then add lots of different coloured blobs to denote trees, bushes, flowers, and other elements of the landscape. Put a key on the side of the drawing to show broadly what each area is (eg flowerbed, driveway etc). Then add an accompanying text document explaining what's in the flowerbed etc. similar to the attached document. (I know nothing about plants but a bit of Googling filled in the gaps between 'I want a wildflower garden' and a long list of impressive sounding Latin names...). I strongly suspect there's a lot of 'bullshit baffles brains' when it comes to planners and their Conditions. If something looks like it's been thought through then they're less likely to question it. Plus, to be fair, spending a bit of time on research (as opposed to learning a new software you'll never use again) will be useful and quite enlightening (who knew apple trees had different rootstock types which impact size of tree and harvest size?). Landscape layout details.docx

I presume the pump they supply is their own (ie you can't pick and choose)? If so, does anyone know if theirs is a copy of any of the more popular/common ones - most ASHPs seem to just be re-badged versions of the same thing.

I haven't looked closely at the depth of Surecav so thanks for that heads up. Given the choice, I'd rather go a little OTT and make sure everything stays stuck to the building rather than find it peeling away (or, worse, pulling the ICF foam away from the concrete).

Wouldn't have thought the load would be an issue as we're only looking at 300mm but I was wondering about how deep the battens for the timber cladding above would need to be in order to ensure the flint was inboard of the cladding. Do you mean faux flint? We're looking at real flint as a first choice but I am aware that flint brick slips are available and might be an option.

Talking with our architect today I mentioned this issue and he pointed me towards a product called Surecav. They have used it with a number of different external materials including stone and flint and seem happy with it. Anyone else got any experience with this product? https://www.surecav.co.uk/flint/

Would tile adhesive be sufficiently strong/permanent for an exterior subject to rain/snow/sun/freezing?

Was this to help take some of the weight as you built up and add additional purchase points?

Foam

We're planning to have timber cladding around the main part of our ICF build with a 300mm flint 'splashback' on the lower part of the wall (between the bottom of the timber and the ground level). What is the best way to secure/cement the flint pieces to the exterior of the ICF wall? I'm imagining some sort of scrim secured to the ICF which the mortar can then be worked into - but how is the scrim securely attached to the ICF?

This looks like a boilerplate response - very similar to what our planners sent to us. We had already submitted a plan but they didn't seem to realise that. When we pointed it out they came back with more rubbish and gobbledygook. I emailed them, dissected every point they made and showed how we had already answered their questions (which, from your plan I think you have already done similar) and asked them to respond to a whole load of questions about the inaccuracies in their responses. They then responded with "...on reflection we think your original plan satisfies the requirement so we will sign the Condition off". If you were to go back and start asking difficult questions (for example about how and why HP01, 04 and 05 have any bearing on the landscape plan) I think you might find they capitulate. And if they don't then at least you have more clarity about exactly what it is they DO want. Sometimes I think they only do this as a way of demonstrating that they are 'doing their job'.

"There won't be one home, but millions of different types". Not if the Barretts, Persimmon and Wimpeys of the world have their way! Interesting to see the glass with embedded LCD so that it can be clear/opaque - didn't realise that technology was so old. Shame it hasn't got more widespread use today.

I have no idea; she didn't elucidate beyond what I quoted and the problem went away so I didn't enquire further. I can't help thinking that the whole BNG saga is going the way of the nitrates fiasco and that, at some point in the future, it's all going to blow up when Joe Public realises what's going on. As an example, we (the local village) used to have free access to a small river and water meadow here within the South Downs National Park. People used to go there on sunny afternoons to picnic and have the occasional paddle in the stream. It's out in the country so never any bother with bored 'Yoofs'. Then, suddenly, the whole area was fenced off and signs went up. Apparently, Biffa - out of the goodness of their heart and for no other reason than being a socially responsible company - had purchased the land in order to make it into a wildlife sanctuary. To protect the wildlife this required them to fence off the area so that it wasn't disturbed. Cue lots of unhappy people. It wasn't until recently that I realised that this was probably just Biffa offsetting BNG as part of a planning application for a new waste site. Now, multiply that by every new planning application being submitted across the UK (especially from the big developers) and suddenly we have a countryside that no-one has access to.

Slightly off topic but relevant I think. Our Planners started asking for us to update our BNG. I got back in touch with the Environmental Specialist who did the original one and she responded: I would be happy to recalculate the BNG for you however since I wrote the initial report the government have produced and then latterly updated, guidance which now confirms that BNG cannot be provided within private gardens. This includes all the hedges, trees, grassland etc. With regret I could not now write a report confirming BNG is achievable in a garden so you would need to secure offsite BNG. As she's the expert I can only take her word for it. But this does seem bonkers. Seems like the new regs are being made to support multi-build developers and their mates who are setting up off-site biodiversity offset sites. Luckily, when I went back to the planners and questioned their logic for a new report they caved in and signed off the Condition without needing a new one.

Kudos to you for trying in the first place! I do a lot of woodworking and I've tried a few larger resin projects - and now know why those lovely resin dining tables cost thousands! I find resin horrible to work with - messy and difficult to get a good result, even with smaller pieces. If you are trying again, perhaps look at some of the different types of resin available as they do make a lot of different compounds for different purposes. West System and Total Boat are two of the biggest companies that I'm aware of and they both have a whole suite of different compounds for different purposes.

We're now at the stage where we're about to create the detailed technical drawings for our new build (RIBA stage 4). We're expecting to have the full gamut of modern house stuff (ASHP/Aircon/MVHR/Solar etc). I've identified the different providers/systems I want to use for most of the systems - and they're all different! My question is - how best to integrate the design of all these systems into the building in the most effective/efficient way. Do I go to suppliers of each system and ask them to design their bit - or do I find a company that specialises in taking all my preferred systems and creating an integrated solution? I was planning to do the former but an architect I was speaking to yesterday implied that the second option was 'the norm'. Does anyone know of companies that will do as the architect suggests and that they can recommend? Or should I proceed as I planned?

I think I need one of these to go with my laser cutter and new CNC machine. My wife thinks different...

Have you fitted wireless switches in your new build/refurb project? If so, I'd be interested to hear about your experiences - good and bad - especially over time. On the surface (pardon the pun) they look like a good idea but I wonder about their reliability and, once you've bought and fitted all the support modules/controllers, cost versus normal switches. I can see huge benefits for those renovating and stuck with limited fixed cabling opportunities but, for a new build (with electrics planned intelligently), I wonder about their viability/value.

The last paragraph of the attached photo taken from Mark Brinkley's book might go some way to answering your question. Not an exact science but I'm sure there is a lot of blood, sweat and tears gone into that calculation!

Thanks for asking the question - I've been thinking about this exact issue for a few days now! What a great site this is for building on people's experience.

I think that's what the former owners did too. The present house is a genuine, old-style self build (they put it up without planning permission and got retrospective permission about 20 years' later - I doubt a building inspector has ever set foot through the door!). Scattered around the garden are 4 garden taps and we have no idea what torturous path those supplies might take...

Tempted to do just that. I'm generally a 'by the book' sort of person but I get a little peeved with these service companies who hold a monopoly over us and want £100 to come out and 'do a survey' each time you try to talk sense with them. One small fly in the ointment is that our supply is presently a commercial water supply (as opposed to domestic) so I would need to keep it that way until everything is sorted. Shouldn't be too much of a hardship but I dislike the commercial water company we're tied to. I presume that would also the time they would want to come out and stick a meter on the supply. Not keen on a meter but we would probably benefit from lower bills as only two of us.

Just had one of those wonderful illogical discussions with Portsmouth Water... We live in a bungalow on the plot where we're building a new house. The aim is to build the new one while we live here, then knock the old bungalow down. The stopcock for our water supply is about 6ft inside our main gate and only supplies the bungalow. Portsmouth Water say they are only responsible for pipework up to our boundary. I said I would dig the trench and make the connection myself - on our land and on our side of the stopcock. To which they then replied that they own the stopcock and I can't touch it, plus they would need to inspect my trench (on my land and nothing to do with them by their own admission...) Question - when the time comes to connect the new house, do I actually need to involve the water company at all?

Slightly off topic but have a look at The Restoration Couple on YouTube - they're essentially doing exactly what you're planning. https://www.youtube.com/@TheRestorationCouple