Conor

Cheers. Do you find it useful?

In our kitchen design, we have the main sink a fair distance (3m) from the hob and prep area. This is entirely deliberate. So I could do with some wort of prep/workstation sink on the island beside the hob for filling pots, rinsing veg etc. Doesn't really seem to be a thing here... seems to be a thing in commercial kitchens and bars or in USA. Love the idea of the chopping board sitting on top of an under-mount sink, with a draining rack and tap with a hose style outlet. Would be right beside the induction hob, maybe 600mm gap at the most. Anybody done something like this before? (obviously about half or a third the size of this!!)

Think I've exhausted my limited knowledge so going to shut up!

Each should be on their own 32amp supply coming from the consumer unit. Do you actually need to install them or just have provision for them? Who's going to be checking that you've installed them?!

We've not done the roof yet but I'll get those jobs included at that stage. All floors are concrete slabs apart from a short section of mezzanine. Ive loads and loads of timber from the demolition so I'll see if I can even get the top bit covered.

We're looking at LONG delays with our windows and doors (all three potential suppliers stating 8-12 week lead -ins... and with Brexit and worsenting COVID pandemic I'm expecting this to get longer!), so even though we'll have the shell finished by the end of next month, there won't be windows or doors until Feb 2021 by the looks of things. What first fixes could we do after the roof is on but still lots of openings? We have a 4.6X5m opening so I don't think we'll be able to effectively weather tight the house with boards/plastic sheets. MVHR ducting? Plastic plumbing? Electrics? I'm assuming all timber work like stud walls or stairs would be a no? same for floor insulation, UFH,screed etc? Trying to pull the programme back as much as possible and make most of me being off work for 3 weeks at christmas. Cheers.

In my experience in living in semis and terrace houses, is that most of the sound is transmitted through floor joists etc. We could hear no TVs, voices, or music from our neighbours but could hear them go up and down Thier stairs as clear as day. I'm not sure you can do much about that sort of thing.

I think you would need permission - even though it's the "side" of your house, it's clearly facing the public road, so in the eyes of planners that's the front elevation and you can't normally build in front without permission, regardless of the extent of neighbouring properties. I'd send your local planning department and email with photos and ask for their view. O did that when I wanted to build a concrete shed at the back of our property that backed on to a public alley way.

I'm going for Zehnder Q600 for our 300m² build. At 350m² you're well in to 2x MVHR territory. ASHP will depend on your heat demand. Try and get as much insulation and air tightness in the fabric and you'll end up getting away with a small monoblock rather than a larger (more expensive) split system. I'm going for an 8.5kw mitsubishi ecodan. I've no practical experience of either systems yet, so don't be taking my recommendations too seriously!

And I highly doubt the BC officer will get a measure and calculator out for all little branches in a build. My (external foul) drainage was signed off from about 20m away...

For such a short length, doesn't matter.

I've assumed there is an MVHR of some sort as well.

Downdraft extractor that either recirculates or vents through the wall at low level?

Happy to tell you, you are completely wrong ? I've no idea what happens after Brexit though.

Thanks @Thorfun, I'm thinking along those lines as well. I'm firing off an email to Paul heat recovery, they seem to have the best price on the Q600. I think they charge a £600 design fee that is then mostly deducted from the final bill if they supply the whole system. I'll check out Enhabit as well.

Budget and practical issues now dictate I'll have to settle for a single large MVHR instead of two medium sized ones. The largest Passive House certified (bonus, not a must) is the Zenhder Q600 - capable of up to 600m3/hr at 200pa. https://www.zehnder.co.uk/ventilation-units/heat-recovery-centralised/units-smaller-800-m3h/zehnder-comfoair-q600-st First stupid question - is this 300m3 on inlet and 300m3 on outlet at the same time? Or can it be biased to extract? I can't seem to find that info on the unit. Second, I've calculated my required "normal" extract and supply rates based on the Passive House design guide that gives typical nominal rates for each type and size of room. They then say 33% increase from this figure for boost, and 33% reduction for minimum flow rates. I've also done a sense check against the building control requirement on 0.3ACH. Is there anything I've missed? I can't quite figure out what flow rate capability I need... Edit: I can greatly reduce the extraction requirements - I've planned two 60m3/hr extracts in the kitchen, this can be reduced to one, and a extract in the vaulted hallway as I think it'll gather a lot of warm air and any smells that escape the kitchen through the mezzanine.

Your broker is wrong. We did exactly the sequence you described above. We found our mortgage broker a little bit clueless as well when it came to self build, that's why we went to ecology directly. The big caveat is that the house you intend to buy mist be habitable so you can get a residential mortgage. And the other that they "site" is valued to a similar amount to the purchase price once FPP is granted, otherwise you'll be digging deep to pay of the residential mortgage. Also be aware of early exit fees on your res mortgage. Luckily our planning coincided with the term ending and didn't have to pay the £3k exit fee. Another thing, as you'll be buying a house as a second property, you'll be paying the higher rate of stamp duty. This is refundable if you sell your primary residence within three years and move in to your new build (or a rental)

If the property is habitable, you'll need a residential mortgage. Then you'd get full planning for a replacement dwelling, then apply for a self build mortgage. The plot would then be valued as a building site, and unless the plot with FPP is worth the same as the residential mortgage you have, then you'll have a shortfall to meet with cash. We did exactly that, and luckily Ecology valued the plot with FPP the same as what we paid for it and was simply a matter of drawing down and paying off the residential mortgage. I think for any project, you'll need some sort of planning permission to get anything from a self build lender.

Thanks @Mandana. Where is it from?

That looks great! Looks big. Dimensions?

Only 28 days for Backfilling. ICF can start straight away.

The next day. Our slab was poured on a Friday, ICF started on the Monday, and poured 2 weeks after slab. You don't need concrete to get to full 28 day strength unless you are putting a lot of force against it, eg. Backfilling or concrete slabs.

Thanks @Oz07. What about internal doors? Would we be wise to make these a little taller as well? I had a thought that raising windows and doors would negate some of the effect of higher ceilings? re top light... That's what the door guy suggested. But by the time you factor in frame 5hickness, you only end up with about 100mm of glass and a load of frame. Hoping to find a 2400mm high door. A pivot door will do that but they start at £5k....

We have 2650mm ceilings on our ground floor. We're shopping for external doors and have realised that the architect has door and window heads of 2400mm all around the house. This is making finding a front door a little more tricky as most standard doors are a max of 2100 or 2200mm. Is it normal to have higher head heights for higher ceilings? If we were to drop the front door HH to 2200, would we be best dropping the windows as well?

Yes. For all water companies that's why we call them "boundary boxes" Re the stockpock. It's mostly likely debris or build up of minerals. Operating it from fully open to fully closed several times while you have a tap open in the house will help clear it out.