patp

Thanks all. No mechanical ventilation. We have been shutting out the heat by closing curtains etc. Trying to cool the space when it is cool outside etc. It is like a full time job. The roof insulation is sheep's wool so easy to handle which is why I thought of it. Leaving the windows open at night? Being female it does make me nervous. When we were considering air con during last years's heat wave I remember reading that someone ran theirs all day in the bedroom to drop the temperature and then turned it off when they went to bed. I think it might be the only answer? We do have a large (46) array of solar panels that would run the air con so, apart from the initial outlay, the cost would be minimal?

Underfloor electric heating. We have several large windows facing south and several facing west We do open windows on the shady side but being a bungalow we are reluctant to have any windows open at night. There are no quarter lights We do have a large array of solar panels so our daytime electricity is paid for but at night we would have to fund the running of the air con. Did I read somewhere that someone used to rung the air con in the bedroom all day (powered by solar) and then turn it off during the night? Would that work?

We have been in our self build bungalow for a couple of years. We love it - but - we cannot get rid of heat once it builds up. The windows only have the vents and a small amount of opening on the latch to let in a slight draught. this is nowhere near enough to cool a hot bedroom. We are thinking of air conditioning but hate the thought of it for reasons of the environment, noise and our bank balance. My question is - has anyone removed the loft insulation above a hot room? What is the feasibility of doing so? Would it work? An even more drastic solution would be to put in a vaulted ceiling but, I think, that is a step too far. We have tried opening windows first thing in the morning, closing them and then drawing curtains all day to keep the sun out. The bedroom has two large windows facing West and East. Another thought was to change the windows for inward opening ones and fit a grill for security. Not sure we would be able to match the, natural wood, windows again

Congratulations on getting the approval. I would do as the police say. Make it a polite note and mention that you have taken the advice of the police. There is a law that prevents people from blocking driveway exits with their car. They can block it if the driveway is empty but not if there is a car parked in there. Can you maneuver a car into position where it needs to exit from the proposed new driveway? Now that you have gained permission for yours it may well cover you in your situation. You will have informed them of the approval that you have for a driveway entrance and they are now blocking you from exiting it.

Our claim is with the Self Build Accountant that specialises in these things. He is just waiting for our BCO to issue the completion certificate. We missed the certificate by a whisker before Christmas when he went on holiday

Whoever is going to want to buy a house on that site? There is a new development in a nearby town on a site that the locals have named as a "flood plain". It is all over social media that the site floods regularly. Anyone looking for a house in the area is going to be aware and no amount of reassurance will combat that knowledge.

Thanks for all the most helpful solutions above. I am going to investigate the ones I have not tried already. These are shutting the doors and closing the blinds during the day and opening them at night. This does not work when it is 26C outside. Once the room gets to 20C or more, which it did most of last summer, there is not way it is going to cool down unless we use. air conditioning. Building Control do need to take this in to consideration in sunny climes like East Anglia. We have three large South facing windows and five, large, West facing windows. MVHR is a possibility as husband (a time served heating engineer) says he could fit it easily. I cannot see how moving hot air around the house is going to help us? I like the idea of window shades. More expense - sigh. Ceiling fan is also a possibility. Does anyone have any experience with tinted windows? We have lovely views over countryside so do not want to spoil those.

Following. Our build is finished the hot bedroom syndrome is causing us huge problems. Trickle vents are useless and we live in a bungalow so opening windows would probably negate our home insurance.

We are now living in our, single storey, build and the problem of a hot bedroom is a serious one. We live in sunny Norfolk and, no matter what we do, the bedroom is far too warm at night. I spent all last summer keeping the sun out during the day and trying to release heat at night without sleeping with the windows open. Aside from causing a lot of stress (I am a poor sleeper) it just did not work. We got as far as seeking quotes for air conditioning. If we stay here then that will have to be the answer. I am even considering getting a guarding breed of dog that can sleep in the bedroom with us so that I feel safe sleeping with the windows open! The current Cocker Spaniel just does not cut the mustard 😂 Another solution would be to adopt the Spanish system of metal railing type fixings on the outside, and the windows opening inwards. Not sure if that would fall foul of the fire regulations though? Too late for us as the windows are already installed.

Ask a tiler Ours told us the place to go to get good quality. He had no affiliation to them other than finding their stock to be good quality.

No to the pub. Conservation area? I don't think so.

Our daughter has seen a plot for sale that contains a burned down grade 2 listed property. Do the collective wise ones know if any planning permission would be subject to reinstating the building as it was? It is within a village boundary. The plot is up for auction at a very cheap starting price so I presume planning would not be automatic?

My understanding is that the planning committee's decision is final as far as the local authority goes. You do have the right to appeal to central government. From what we have seen they are less interested in minor details and more interested in the politics of getting more houses built under their watch. If your planning committee is the same as ours they have little knowledge of all the laws and a lot of interest in petty politics.

Thanks for all the replies. The air test has just been done and, as we have proper plastered walls, we passed with flying colours. We are waiting to find out if local electrician is qualified enough to certify husband's installation of air source heat pump and cylinder. He has popped round and was very impressed with what he saw. He holds the G3 certificate of competency. We got so stressed about it all that we were thinking of just leaving it as some people seem to do when they live in their self build. Calmed down a bit now so we are struggling on with getting it done. Mind you if we stay here much longer we will not be able to move if an article I read in Readers Digest is accurate. It was about elderly relatives and went something like this - Moving house in your sixties is difficult, moving house in your seventies is extremely difficult but if you are still around in your eighties then you can forget it! 🫣

For me to progress the SAP Assessment and lodge the EPC, I will require the following information/documentation: Passing Air test certificate (target 5): if one hasn’t been booked already and you would like us to do the test my colleague Louise will assist. Confirmation that fabric information is correct for as built. Confirmation of ventilation strategy, makes/models of plant etc. Make/model of GSHP installed and commissioning certificate. Make/model/size of hot water cylinder installed and commissioning certificate. Can someone explain these please? We have the air test certificate. The heating and hot water was installed by us including the ASHP and the cylinder.

Are you used to having radiators? If so I think it is fairly well recorded that underfloor heating takes some getting used to. We are finding this to be the case.

Thanks @joe90. We wondered if we could do that. There is a guy in the village who specialised in air source heat pumps so he might be the one to ask.

Husband installed all the plumbing and heating. He was a time served plumbing and heating engineer but does not have certificates now. I expect we are going to have to pay someone to come and give us a certificate for something that works perfectly fine

We, too, are at this stage. We just had the air tightness test done and have a certificate for that. I sent it to our BCO and asked if we could now expect a completion certificate. Got a snotty email back saying that he needed - As built SAPS, EPC, Electrical Certificate, Heating Certificate, Unvented Cylinder Benchmark Certificate, Any Other certificate needed for commissioning! A snotty sign off saying not to send them in dribs and drabs as it makes his life complicated! I had no idea that we needed all these I don't know what most of them are Husband, a time served heating engineer who hasn't worked in the industry for many years, installed the air source heat pump and underfloor heating. We fell out with the electricians over the c*ck up they made of connecting the solar panels. Oh Lordy Lordy Who do we contact about SAPS? Would our architect do them? Husband, he of the bowel cancer, heart failure and pneumonia diagnosis in the middle of the build, is of the opinion that we should just sit tight and ignore it all. Me, I am not so sure For one thing we need a completion certificate in order to claim back the VAT!

Firstly, I would keep an alternate heat source. We never know when we might get power cuts or breakdowns in heating systems. Plus, there is always the aesthetic value of a lovely log fire! We have visited lots of friends homes where they have either built or renovated to get large open spaces in their living areas. Our hosts will often take us to some cosy room or corner where they feel more comfortable. Large open spaces impress people but living in them is not the nicest experience in my opinion. I am not a lover of kitchen diners as I like to leave the kitchen behind when I eat my meal and do not want any guests around when I am cooking. Each to their own. I would not buy a house with such a large living area attached to a working kitchen. Another thought is the North East facing aspect. If you have the option could you not orientate more to the South or West to make the most of the light and sunshine that comes from that direction? After living in a South facing house I would never choose to live any other way! Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

Slow cooker?

I had heard the tip about freezing them but had not known how long for so thanks for that @Jilly

Ah - thanks guys and gals. He did fail us on wheelchair access We did it in a hurry when HWMBO was coming out of hospital. Brickie has been back to discuss solutions which will involve stretching the existing one out, to make it less steep, and paving the path that had shingle allocated to it as a surface.

We were under the impression that the BCO would not sign off our project until the landscaping had all been completed. Our, private, BCO has just told us that he is not bothered about a few flowers! What have others found? I wonder if they like the big builders to leave their sites in a neat and tidy fashion?

Do they fly in from outside though? It was my impression that they are imported in to the house in clothing and/or textiles.