puntloos

I suppose the next question is: "how does one find out where those limits are"? Is 29.998cm the minimum below which they complain?

Were you too noisy, or were your parents too noisy?

Not sure you're just allowed to 'wiggle your way around' a PP? I suppose "13.5m" is only 3-4% away from "13m" but still.. Fair. Prep for a blood feud with our future neighbors. Got it.

Different.. how? Better? Worse? Do vowels suddenly sound like consonants?

Rug is a good idea for sure.

Just to recap a bit: I think the three options are: 1m: - pro: easiest - con: least amount of internal space 0cm: - pro: most space - con: asymmetric foundations - con: legal paperwork - con: favours from neighbours - con: similar issues for maintenance in the future - con: wall will be exposed to weather (no overhang) - con: internal scaffolding, harder pricier - con: planning permission approvals might be harder 30cm: - pro: decent space - pro: no asymmetric foundation - pro: overhang possible - con: still need to deal with neighbors - con: still planning approval challenge perhaps? All in all, it seems that 30cm seems to be optimal, but it depends a bit on the neighbors. Question: what's the absolute minimum width that can still use standard (non-internal) scaffolding? In particular, our neighbours also have a one-storey extension that is near the edge, best guess 1m away.. could be a bit less, but not completely at the border. Can scaffolding sort-of taper outward, or does it need to be xyz mm all the way down?

Is Amtico the 'most luxuriest' vinyl there is? I'm def. also concerned about reflections (more from an audio enthusiast point of view)... if I could sway my wife to pick this, that'd be good ?

Eh, agreed it's too long but the comparison works fairly well. And while perhaps age/experience allows you to understand the subtleties between "maybe" and "no", especially when you're young, both the 'sender' and the 'receiver' of the messages often don't really know what they want. If anything the culture around 'when misunderstandings happen' amplifies everything out of proportion. Some things are obvious, (force is used) but even an honest youthful mistake will haunt you for the rest of your life.. happy that I'm sorted

Hmm, while I like insulation (both audio and thermal) to be good, I prefer the off-site construction, accuracy and speed of standing up the house when onsite. I guess the audio is secondary...

Would ICF work well together with timberframe? ICF has great audio dampening qualities too, so I'd be very very tempted to pick ICF as one of the main components...

Clearly I want all-the-things at none of the thickness. Do you mean more active cooling (e.g. aircon over ASHP(alone))? Yup seen this too, and indeed my inside garden face is exposed to full sun between 10 and 4 (we're SE facing). So I guess I have to strike some 'fair balance'. Would you e.g. do the layer approach with one PIR and one cellulose layer stapled together or somesuch?

Frankly I've just been very scattershot with my 'what to focus on'.. But yes, this is a factor, I was struggling to achieve a certain size of room, seating area, kitchen next to it.. and the distances started to add up so to speak. Of course say 30cm ((440-300)*2) isn't going to make a night-and-day but I was basically able to achieve all my target distances between things if I could.. just.... get.. 40cm.. somewhere.. But yes, 250sqm house on a 420sqm plot. Fairly cramped. Yes I'll make tea occasionally. (and am deeply involved with design/architecture, probably project management bits too) But I will not be doing anything 'physical' other than perhaps some minor electrics. laid by the best mice and men. But also: Note that while the basics haven't dramatically changed we have recently received a major update from the architect, I will update the topic soon.. probably today Good idea.. when is a good moment though? Now-ish? Or if/when we have the external shell nailed down & submitted for planning? Clay. We're just north of London Indeed, I haven't at all made my mind up on this.. Yup probably true

Sorry, I appreciate I'm a newbie here, but combining the above 2 statements, can I say safely-ish that: - With MBC's 0.14, - making sure the render is on carrier board, vent cavity behind (I assume this is not part of the default MBC necessarily, so needs to be separately checked) -> and therefore staying under 300mm I would be 'okay' - mortgageable (perhaps not the industry-best rates but nothing crazy), warranty, insurable etc?

So would MBC's 0.14 conform to all the reqs, and be mortagable and insurable and all the rest of it? ? (since obviously 225mm is a very slim wall right there... nice..) I might go for a slightly larger services area since I'm a bit of a nerd (cablescablescables) but if I can stay under 300 I'd be quite happy...

Nice, I was assuming 440 everywhere, this is def an improvement. 360 I can work with

I've been searching but can't seem to find a decided answer. (so I guess 'it depends') but here goes: What's the minimum wall width one can achieve with 'modern' (fancy?) materials, yet still have sufficient room for services as usual, and achieve PassivHaus-level U values? (happy to be just on the border thereof for now..) Are materials the key element or does one simply need some width due to pesky physics that are all obviously fake news? Not made my mind up on material types yet, so for now let's leave any other consideration (aesthetics, or perhaps renewablocity) out of it?

300mm should be fine, my architect says that 1000mm is the absolute minimum before her above point ("asymmetric foundation") starts to become a problem. But still, is asymmetric *that* problematic or will it just be a bit more expensive? (where 'a bit' is perhaps thousands but not tens of thousands?)

One question that came up recently. My architect said that scaffolding is only one part of the problem. Building to the edge of the property also requires the foundations to be specially designed in an asymmetric way to avoid encroaching on someone else’s land. Assuming it's true in principle, is this a major issue to be avoided 'at all cost'? Can someone speak to the downsides, perhaps cost, quality of structure, etc etc?

Yeah, and London has gotten worse too. Thanks for the pics, yeah I can imagine a quick swipe with a cloth will be pretty efficient at cleaning it. So much so that it's probably not worth designing for with my 'downward pointing handle' idea. Of course we're not talking just about dust, especially kitchens might have a spray of grease.. but I guess not too hard to clean around the hob..

Indeed, I was wondering if 'using a plunger' is even a thing when a house is designed properly, but my current 1970s home needs plunging regularly (not the toilets, really only talking about basins, showers) and I don't think my family puts an unusual amount of 'non-watery-stuff' down the drains.

Silly side question but some of my current house's drains do not respond well to using a plunger. Some are so weirdly shaped that you can't get a seal, and a few others somehow dump the wastewater in the under-sink-cupboard (!!).. Is it a good idea to pick drains with this in mind? Or is plunging a bad idea anyway.. or..

Not yet decided, so perhaps we should indeed wait until such calculations become available. We're not intending to go strict PH although perhaps we'll try to certify if it's not a massive hassle..

Interesting, is that a known benefit? I thought most dust is created/brought in by humans, not pulled in from outside? Picture? What I've come to realise is that perhaps it's okay to not have a down-facing handle (although it's probably a benefit) but at least have a full-length one so you can swipe it clean with one wipe of a cloth (rather than having to dig into handles, corners)

It seems like a no-brainer to go for ASHP given the common claim that GSHP is only slightly more efficient and much more expensive. But.. a few thoughts - mostly concerning "predicting the future" - what if the planet warms meaningfully? - what if GSHP's become more efficient - what if you want to install one later? Honestly I'm just devilsadvocating at this point, but indeed getting a borehole going when there's no house there is a lot easier so I'm mildly wondering if perhaps I'd drill the hole and leave it or something..