Big Jimbo

As i am waiting for the structural engineer to do some calculations for my new house, i thought i would have a read of the new building regs part O. Blinking heck. Has anybody else had a look ? You have to do a hell of a lot of work. I spent the whole of yesterday (from 8am till 9pm) having a go at doing all the various calculation required. Basically part O is about limiting solar gain. You can do your part O calculations by either a "Simplifed Method" of "Dynamic modelling". Now me being a bit simple (dont all shout at once) thought i would have a go at the simplified method. At this point i should point out that it aint simple so dont be fooled. The first thing you have to do is work out which room has the most glazing, and what direction it faces. This will give your your values that you have to meet based on the direction that this most glazed area faces. You then have to work out your total glazed area in relation to your total floor area. When you do this you should take away the frame for each window, so you cant just use your brickwork opening sizes. So you need to decide who you are going to buy your windows from and stick with them ? Even though they double the price by the time you actually look to purchase. Then you have to work out your free area, so you need to know the angle that your window will open to, and the unrestricted size of your opening. Once you have done all that, or at the same time you had better make sure that you have all the relevant windows for escape etc. When you have done all that, and added in extra opening windows for ventilation you might just about be ready to tick that part o box, and crack a beer. At that point you will find out that there are several other bits to the building regs, and that you have fallen foul to most of them. Your upstairs windows are to low, and people might fall out. The handles to your windows are to high, so don't comply to disabled bits of the building regs. You have worked out the opening angle of your windows to ensure that you can get enough free ventilation, but they open to far and people might fall out. You have worked out that opening your windows at night for ventilation does not meet the security aspect of your property, but if you only open them on vent you are not getting enough ventilation. Then your head starts to spin. Window. Top hung. no danger, people might fall out, but atleast short people will be able to reach the handles. Child restrictors. No the fire bit does not like them, because people struggle to open them to escape. No windows. Live like @pocster in an underground cave. No. natural light requirement not met. No escape. No ventilation. Then, at that point you realise that you have gone mad, and eaten far to many choc bars to keep you going. Then you start to think, who wrote all these building reg things. Then you drink more, eat more choc, forget that you need the toilet. smoke more, and more. You start to think that you have failed. Not only at part O, but in life ! This isn't Yaz. In fact the only way is down. You start to sink further into your own twisted mind. You decide it's time for bed......... In the morning (now) you realise that all the different parts of the building regulations have been put together by different bodies. Various experts in there field no doubt. You also realise that most bits conflict with other bits. and that everytime a new bit is introduced it makes it even harder to comply, and that more experts will be required in order to get you over the line. You decide that if you ever get voted in as PM you are going to make all the people concerned, get together, and write One set of rules for building, that have no conflict with any of the other parts. We are getting to the point where it will be impossible to comply with building regs without loads of expensive experts. Within 20 years the portion of your budget to build that is required for your building regs will make all buildings even more expensive and out of reach. You again start to think about how simple you are, and wonder if there is anything good on the telly to watch this morning. That and worry that you have smoked all the fags, and eaten all the choc.

@Temp It happens.

@SteamyTea what do you call Gerrards Cross ?

I do love the Wera stuff, however, i do have some stuff that is Wiha. I want a lottery win now that i have been looking at the Wera site.

I done know @Dave Jones First, i dont have to have that bloody huge push plate right behind the lift up toilet seat. I tend to have a small button off to the side. I usually do the shelf in either Marble, Granite, or a manufactured stone. This provides a useful space for my expensive (Hugo Boss, etc) reed diffuser.

Can One of the Chickens be called big J please.

I have always done the lift off shelf above. I have never fancied trying to get my big hands in through the hole in the front panel

One thing i just thought about is the flow from a shower head. The crappy bungalow that i currently live in has a 10kw electric shower. It was fitted with the shower head that came with the unit. The Mrs always complained that there was not enough power to wash conditioner out of her hair. The head eventually scaled up and i replaced it with a cheap one from one of the sheds. No more complaints.... I expect that the new shower head has a lower flow rate, and this leads to the perception that it is more powerful. So i could look at having a nice big flow in the master, and less flow in the other bathrooms ?

Thanks Dan. yes i get the dedicated supply to each shower, rather than legs off. I would say i would like each shower to be say 10mins.

I don't see any reason why you should not. Perhaps a word with the manufacturer. I am only thinking of things like, the glue used in manufacturing is UV stable.

Thanks Dan for the reply. I'm still waiting for my building reg drawings so i can either do, or get some calcs done. In my world i want all the showers to be usable at the same time. girls, and me tend to like decent showers. 12mins looks good.

People on here have been very helpful so far to this out of date old git. I'm building a house with 4 bathrooms. I need to be sure that i fit a system that will supply hot water to those bathrooms. It's no use saying make sure people don't use them all at the same time. I would like to think that a decent build, say 3 on the airtightness, and "u" values to 2023 regs, will be better than a house built 3 years ago, and much better than most of the old stock housing that we have in this country. As i am intending to have underfloor heating on the ground floor, i may step up to 200mm insulation, rather than 150mm, above the block and beam floor. I may also stick a couple of extra layers of insulation in the loft, say 400mm to 600mm. (Its a cold not very high loft) both of those are easy, and should not cost a great deal of extra money. I've costed for tripple glazing in the build. I would expect that the energy required for heating demand would be quite reasonable for the 2750 odd square foot of the property providing that the build and insulation is carried out with a bit of care. You would think that this would be a good case for an ASHP. My concern however, is the supply of hot water. My understanding is that stored water supplied by an ashp is, lets say 40 degrees. Where as normally, i would be storing hot water at say 65 degrees. This to me means that at 65 degrees i am using quite a bit of cold water in my showers, and blending it with my stored hot water to bring it down to a comfort level at my shower head. With my stored water at 40 degrees im using less cold water to blend. This to me says i need to have a larger hot water storage tank because i am going to be using more ? I think i like the idea of having an ASHP but, yesterday, i spoke, at length, to an engineer who is very highly regarded. Teaches. Ownes a company that installs both Gas and ASHP systems. He said that if it was him he would fit a gas system, and make it ASHP ready. The only other things that perhaps should be taken into consideration is that i have to have an electric car charger (planning condition), and i have set aside a budget of £10k for 10, or 12 400w solar panels that i will install pre roofing. i may or may not add a battery to this. I will also be fitting an MVHR for indoor air quality, and because i will have 7 wet areas, and dont fancy pumping all that heat straight out. is the fitting of gas boilers after 2025 set in stone ? Might that change ? Am i a bit mad to even be considering fitting a gas system. I should note that i may well sell as soon as built, but at most may keep it for 3 years. As i said i think the heating side can be easily taken care off by both systems. It's the hot water supply that is concerning me. I know i have sort of already been here, but would appreciate any of your thoughts. Thanks

What combo ? I've got the Festool and the guide rail. No prob. Cuts to the splinter edge of the rail.

@pocster The house should be worth 1.75m so i am working on the basis of 1.5m With my costings i should if needs be, be able to sell at 1.25m Lower than that i will just dig a big hole with my digger and bury myself in it. That way the life insurance would kick in. Thanks for all the contributions so far. @Alan Ambrose i do get what you are saying. However there is still such bad press around ASHP, and by fitting it i am concerned that i may actually put some people off. Lack of people to service etc. That together with the press saying "ASHP had sent Mrs Smiths bills through the roof" It's not so much about the actual. More about the perception if you know what i mean.

@RichardL Thats great, but you can't see any of that on a new house. What i think i might like to be able to see / do from my phone in a remote location. See what the inside temperature of my house is. Turn on my heating from my phone. So that it is nice and warm when i get in. Check the status of my home alarm / turn on or off Be able to view CCTV remotely Have a cctv in hall and landing to enable me to see if any intruders are actually in the property if the alarm triggers. (i did that for a few russians) be able to close any blinds, or shutters remotely. Be able to turn on / off a few inside and outside lights remotely. IMO we over estimate how tech savvy most young people are. They think they are because they can use tic toc and instagram. As @pocster has said. Nice quality front door. Decent light switches Nice taps and toilet roll holders. fec off big T.V and leave it there. decent internal door handles. Defo, stuff that you touch is very important. If you are going to have a couple of old cars, sitting on blocks on the drive, it ain't going to look good. Just now been reading about HPV. seems to be the next load of tec that i am about to be confused by.

Ask them to give you the name of the board manufacturer and the colour. Explain your problem nicely to them and try and get onto there good side. If they do a bit of digging they should be able to find this information for you. Once you have that, you stand a chance of finding a company that does boards cut and edged to size. If it is not a simple colour that they often use, buying in the board will cost you. Prob the cheapest way will be to chat very nicely to the B N Q person, and getting them to sell you an end panel at a massive reduced cost from retail price.

I took a jolly jaunt to Build it Live, in Bicester, yesterday. First of all the Burger and chips was not worth £11.50. However, my wife said that the Pizza was worth £10. To be honest, i was not very impressed. I kind of understand, Gas boiler, underfloor heating downstairs, Rads upstairs. Nice big hotwater storage tank, to supply 4 showers. I'm still waiting for my Building reg drawings, so i wanted to see a few products, and talk to a few people. My thoughts for my build are as follows. I'm not going to keep it. I don't need a large house, and i won't be able to afford to keep it. I might stay in it for 3 years to avoid £60k CIL, but if i get offered a decent price, i will sell. I live in Greenbelt, about 10mins drive from Two London underground Stations, and One mainline Station. I expect, and have been told that the new house will most likely sell to a "30 something, moving out of London, to start a family" It's a nice half acre plot, 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms. Large garden. Double garage, and parking for 10 cars. Posh shed that can be used for home office. High hedges, and a big 16ft electric sliding gate. It will be north of 1.5 million. My thoughts, and this is where i could do with your help. Build well, but only to 2023 building regs with regards to insulation. Nobody can see, or will care if i have put extra insulation in everywhere, so i am told. Aim for a decent air tightness. I have built twice for clients in the passed, and achieved Airtightness of less than 2 both times. My own thoughts are that air tightness is more importantant than insulation. The reason being that you can have as much insulation as you like, but if you have a leaky house, or leave the windows open for fresh air during the winter (my wife) then it makes little difference to have extra insulation because it is being bi-passed. So, my thoughts are as follows. (i'm happy to be shot down and won't be offended) I'm not too concerned about the inside. I spent 20+ years making the inside of new build properties sexy. Kitchen, Studies, Hidden doors, Cinemas, etc, etc. I even won an award, 7th in the country for One of my kitchens. I like to think that i will make a decent job of the inside, even though i say so myself. MVHR. I will have 7 wet areas, and the house will be in the countryside with it's fair share of smells, lot's of pollen on the wind etc. It makes sense to do this so as to not be extracting loads of expensive heat to the outdoors, and for indoor air quality. The manufacturers must make a fortune on those things. They are so simple, and can't cost much to produce. (bit of a rip off cost wise IMO. Solar. I have got room to build in 12 panels on the main roof. Won't cost a fortune, so to me makes sense. I might consider a storage battery, and a diversion to the hot water tank. With the help of One of the other Buildhubbers, I'm going to stick a crap load of Cat 5/6 from a main hub to several areas. The idea behind this is that it will be available for any purchaser to play with afterwards. There were about 10 smart home companies at the show yesterday. They were all the best. I'm a bit old, and basically didn't understand what any of them were saying to me. I expect atleast 1/2 of them won't be around in 5 years. ASHP. This is One of those things, that dispite reading loads of stuff on buildhub, watching loads of Youtube etc, I am still not sure about. I know this is prob because im an old fart, and i'm used to the convience of gas. Lots of hot water, and powerful heating that has been able to bring my houses up to temp quickly. Enen when i have been away of holiday for a few weeks. I felt that there was a real lack of people displaying ASHP yesterday. One guy whose company is often mentioned on here, said if i was going to sell the place than not to bother with ASHP ! He said that the lack of installation understanding was an issue. As was the total lack of people to service and maintain them. This kind of threw me to be honest. This was a guy that sells them ? So ASHP or simple gas ? That and any other things you think i should be considering ? I don't want to go gas and having potential buyers saying "So yesterday" I don't want to go ASHP and have buyers going "What the fec is that thing" I'm a bit stuck. Any of your thoughts would be great. Thanks.

@ETC and @craig I've been here for a few years, and i have never seen either of you try and promote anything. What i have seen is fantastic help from both of you to other posters. So, keep up the good work. Regards Big Jimbo

Love it @Temp and @saveasteading

No planning condition, so would you think a tank with an overflow to the ditch would be better than a geo wrapped crate system with an overflow to the ditch ?

If the ground sloped toward the back, i would put a nice wildlife pond / wetland down there. Unfortunately, it slopes to the front and ditch.

I can always plant 6 square meters of bamboo above the soakaway. They drink like Billy the Fish.

Zoot the Hoot. Looks fantastic. You can take the weekend off now and enjoy a few cold one's sitting on that decking.

@ProDave I'm in a dip in the lane, so basically the road fills up and floods. I have been complaining to the council about it for years but they don't do anything. I will be adding to that flooding. I do have a legal right to discharge into it. It's just a shame that nobody bothers to maintain the bit that is outside there property. I live in a place where there used to be a local brickworks, who used to extract the clay for brickmaking. Local geo map says that the clay is about 12 m deep. I might try an email the water co, to see if i could connect to the sewer. However, my perfect cousin, Fergle Sharkey was on the TV again this morning. Even with agreement, we shouldnt really be putting rainwater into our sewers, whice are already under pressure.

Right, i have just spent 3 hours +. Local Council. You need to speak to county. County council. You need to speak to local. Local Council. You need to speak to Highways at county Council. Highways County Council. Not us, try and speak to enviromental Services. Enviromental Services. Try and speak to Estates. Estates. No we dont own any land outside the front of your property. Try Highways. Highways. We have adopted the road (Tarmac Bit) but have nothing on record about adopting any of the verge / ditch. So basically, i'm going to put a load of crates near my front boundary. With an overflow out to the ditch. I have no doubt that my soakaways will fill up, and thet i will overflow into the ditch. As my portion of the ditch is the only bit in the lane that works, it will overflow, and cause even more flooding in the lane. What else can i do ? The only other thing i can think of is asking the water company, if i can join up to the mains sewer. Affinity Water. I can't even find a telephone number for them. When the council knock and tell me that i am flooding the lane, i will have to point out that the flooding is being caused by the fact that nobody else is maintaining the ditch. Now i am just going to get that passed Building Control when the time comes, unless anybody has any bright ideas.