DownSouth

Weirdly Victorian Plumbing do 800,900 and 1100 pentangle showers - but no 100 🤷‍♂️ But QS Supplies have this one https://www.qssupplies.co.uk/bathroom-furniture-shower-taps/274018.htm?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17336560494&gbraid=0AAAAAD-qEFAo1RFcjedyK7pN6d5A7-JDy&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzLrEqIjZlAMVfo1QBh3FaBeBEAQYBCABEgIb8_D_BwE

@Super_Paulie Any reason not just go for a quadrant shower? The curve doesn’t take a lot more out of the room.

@junglejim Do your heat calculations say you need a pump that size? If it’s close to passive I’m assuming it must be a massive house you are building to need that sort of size.

Did you replace the trim yourselves or get someone in? I haven’t tried pulling the strip out yet but I’m assuming it’s a cosmetic thing, rather than anything we need to tackle urgently. We’ve moved in, still loads to do - could have done without another job and more expense ☹️ Hoping it’s a simple fix…

I’m so upset. Something is nibbling my window seals, my first guess was a mouse but not sure they’d be able to balance on the ‘ledge’. So maybe squirrels? I’ll get on to the window guys next week to see how we can fix it. Anyone got advice on stopping it happening again? I’ve done a search and the only google advice is spraying chilli spray on windows, not exactly a long term solution. Has this happened to any buildhubbers before? Any words of wisdom for me? Thanks

Our approach: We had crush which got muddy / sticky with clay over the course of the build. When we were ready to do the drive we scraped back the top, put mot3 and ragstone on top. It’s slightly elevated from the house, there’s a 1.5-3m planting bed between it and the house. It often puddled during the build. Now there’s no issues with drainage on the drive, even after Storm Dave. If it did need to run off there’s the plants first and then an aco drain round the house which collects to a rainwater tank 5000litres. This needs to be able to flow out somewhere else - we have a pond - so if there’s a deluge and it’s already full it can flow into that. So far it hasn’t needed to…

Fleming Homes took us through design and building regs, built into their package. They did our ‘as planned’ SAP and will get the ‘as built’ SAP / EPC sorted too.

Do you need to remove them? Could you put a sleeper wall in front, cut the top third of the rotten wood off, stick it in the gap you’ve made and cover it with soil and just top it up after the wood eventually rots down. If you plant in front of it you won’t see the sleeper angles.

We gave up on acoustic panels because of the cost and found that lots of little things made it less echoey - like cork place mats or cork roll over the table, tablecloths with a heat mat under it, curtains, cushion pads made from acoustic foam (foam factory does made to measure), thin acoustic foam or felt behind large pictures, small rug as a wall hanging, plants, books on a shelf. It all adds up.

We used charred wood cladding and can’t use abrasive cleaners without exposing the wood underneath, which then removes the weather protective properties. The very heavy charred wood is soft and flakes really easily. I’ve seen very light charred wood decks on websites which look ok for low traffic areas that get sunshine - so they don’t get mossy. If you’ve got some left try a light power wash to see what happens. It does have a residue even once brushed - so how do you stop mucky footprints? I think it might be one of those things that looks great but ends up being hard work to maintain it. Be interested to know how you get on…

It’d be brighter with windows on 3 aspects wouldn’t it?

Is the moral of the story don’t live in a rain forest? Or beware trolls?

We dumped our first MCS Certified ASHP designer - they refused to factor in MVHR ‘in case it failed’ as the BUS apparently required a single heat source calculation. So finding someone who is certified but also understands the reality of ASHP + MVHR and won’t oversize the heat pump because of the ASHP only calculation is key.

With you on that - last place we used white mosaics in the bathroom. Every time I went in I could see every single uneven tile. This time it’s 600x600 tiles for us. High end of quality isn’t about where you shop for your kitchen to my mind, it’s about how thoughtfully the room is designed and how skillfully everything in it is fitted. Buying things that won’t date too - I never want to refit the kitchen again in the new house. I think quality is things that feel solid to touch too - so fire doors throughout with decent metal handles, quality taps that feel tactile. Just finished geeking out looking at Hansgrohe catalogues and working out what bathroom taps to get.

We have 200sqm total, zone 1 ground floor, zone 2 on the first floor, a controller / temp probe in the hallway on each floor. We’ve switched them to 19, from 21 degrees and it’s comfortably warm to work in. It might need to go back up when we are eventually just sitting around 😊 but while we’re still working away inside it’s nice and warm. We parted company with our original ASHP heating system designer because they refused to do 2 zones, wanted trv in every room and wouldn’t factor MVHR into their calculations. BC were happy with the two zones so that’s what we’ve got.

we are using a mix of Ikea where we need standard size white cupboards and Lark&Larks because the carcasses can be the same colour as the doors, so gives a nice finished look. Also they come built so big time saving, and can be custom sized and have matched coloured end panels for an in-line look. Not yet onto fitting wardrobes but pretty pleased with dining room although not quite finished.

https://www.scottishconstructionnow.com/articles/fleming-homes-opens-new-factory-and-invests-in-advanced-cnc-technology We used Fleming Homes for our house and did a road trip to the factory when it was being made. So we met the people who had helped us design it and the hands on makers. I was really pleased to see they are expanding their offer - secondary insulation, membrane and battens factory fitted… that would have saved us some time. Insulation = worst job ever 😆 and fitting up scaffolding in our vaulted ceiling was no fun. News of factory insulated roof ‘cassettes’ almost made me want to do another 🤣 (my biggest self-build fear is we’ll finish and I will want to build again…)

We just showed ours on our site drawing. Ashford BC has loads of info online about where it should be placed to not affect street scape/ be detrimental to the appearance of your own house. ABC advice is to be no more than 15m from collection point - but we have a long muddy farm track up to our bin store by the garage so it’ll be a bit of a trek taking the bins out. We went overboard, added a bike store and clad it in the same corrugated steel so it fits in… On discharging conditions, hope you’ve seen the advice to do as many as possible together if your council charges for each application?

Trying to work out when to switch to house insurance from build insurance - we are moving in and will complete the rest once in.

there’s some confusion over whether the date the house is built is it when we started building (2024), when the structure was completed (2025) or when it became habitable (2026). What did other people do?!

@ToughButterCup your post really resonated. It’s 15 years since I worked nights. 3am was always the killer, lowest point on the circadian rhythm, the witching hour. Now we seem to take it in turns to wake between 1&3, then find it impossible to get back to sleep. We’ve just done a 22 hour weekend on top of full time jobs during the week, so it’s not because we’re not tired. There’s just no switching off. It’s the daytime grumpiness that’s so hard to deal with, both being grumpy and coping with someone else who’s grumpy too.

+1 to goats https://biogoats2rent.com

Are you after a custom build house? Usually a few houses on a plot, different styles, some variation between neighbouring houses and you can specify some changes and decor/kitchen/bathroom spec. They do services, planning, building regs, build. What area/s are you looking at?

Welcome. +1 What’s the rationale for having a 2 bed when you have the footprint for 3? Do you have loads of clothes? To future proof could you move the en-suite next to the bedroom and dressing room to where the en-suite is? Then you could have a door to the corridor that’s locked until it might be needed. Appreciate pipes/drainage will shift but it would give more flex later. Also imho en-suites are better if they are close if you need to get up in the night. It’s quite a walk as laid out. Could be an easy change - i think you can shift internal layout without reverting back to planning but might need amendments if you change externals/window positions. Someone please correct if that’s not the case.

Agree with @MrSniff buy good quality kit. I am one room away from rollering the whole house (with my sister’s help) and we have used the same 2 brushes and 2 rollers. @Lincolnshire Ian My top tips (which might be obvious to BH-ers): - when cutting in paint 10cm or two brush widths on each wall edge - so you can roller up to the edges and it blends better. - Wooster 4-8’ extension pole was worth the money - easy to do the 2.4m wall in one movement up and down, hardly ever needed scaffolding except for cutting in the top of the vaulted ceilings. - the related roller is a must as it clips in so can’t swivel round the pole like screw on pole attachments, meaning you get good pressure. - get a paint scuttle or two, we used pelicans with liners for brush work (has a magnetic side so your paint brush doesn’t fall in!) and Wooster 15litre scuttle for the roller. - paint kept for a week or more with lids on, great for self-builders like us when it was a week between site visits. - wrap brushes and sleeves in cling film, just wash brushes every so often when clogged. Wooster sleeves still not yet washed/replaced so were definitely worth the ~£9 each cost. - wipe the roller frame ends and frame down at the end of each session though, magic wipes good for this. - make sure the brushes are stood up in the pelican when not in use - bigger people might cope with big rollers, being little myself I went standard 9’’. - found paint drips came off our window frames with a soft cloth and water so just kept a bucket handy and wiped spots up when touch dry - might be worth seeing what your paint does on an inconspicuous area rather than trying to mask off. - on that note, don’t try and paint window reveals when hungover 😆 - get a couple of work lights if you don’t have natural light/ lights up yet, hard to see drips if there’s just one direction of light source. - drips can be gently sanded back with 240 sandpaper so don’t stress if you miss any, just make sure they’re totally dry first. - get friends/family in for a painting party if you can. our mist coat (60/40 paint/water) downstairs was done in one day! To go from dry plaster to a patchy white coat in a matter of hours was a huge boost. - if you do get help then give instructions- the mist coat shouldn’t be perfect but my experience is that people will try going over the same bit again and again, so you do have to explain what you need. - take before and after photos from the same angle, it is so satisfying to look back. Best of luck