joe90

ha, great minds think alike , I was just about to say exactly the same but make sure pipework goes straight outside or go downwards so no water is held in the outside tap to freeze.

Not heard of those, just had to look it up?. No the jcb does not but the furgy does. A local friendly farmer says the stones are not a real problem (now I have spent weeks picking them up!!) and when it’s drier he is going to come over with a power Harrow to get the ground ready for grass seed. Latest update........ just dug a wildlife pond, for once the clay we have has helped, visiting granddaughter loved helping puddle the clay (and falling over in it!). Been 48hrs and it appears to be holding water, just need to grade the banks .

https://www.stovesonline.co.uk/stove-hearth-size.html Any good? I bought my stove from them and they were very helpful.

I too have no signal a lot of the time so would be interested in any info gained here. (As long as it’s not technical as I am a Luddite ?).

With my new build I measured exactly where the plenums are, boarded over them, plastered then (using the measurements) cut the hole and pulled the plenum down, they were on a flexible pipe for minor errors. This worked very well and saved the plasterer working around them.

No, the ecologist supported my option of housing them I’m my detached workshop roof (even tho the planners wanted them in the house as well).

Is 140mm any good? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110-200mm-Bi-Metal-M42-HSS-Hole-Saw-Cutter-Drill-Bit-For-Aluminum-Iron-Pipe-Wood/264636749412?hash=item3d9d945664:g:wkgAAOSwi0RXzm03 i made my own plenums, can’t remember the hole size now.

Ah! so you did have bats, so did we but I was able to move them out to the workshop with the help of the ecologist.

If you had no bats why are the planners making you cater for them???

In our planning fight our ecologist agreed that I could build bat boxes into the roof of my workshop to stop having bats in the house, planners said we still want them in the house. At the appeal the gov inspector told the planners they were not qualified to over rule the ecologist ?

Well getting out of the ground is always fraught with danger, shame to cover the well (should have bought some walk on glazing from @pocster ??. Well done, looks good, a huge tick in the box.

Where is this insulation?, if it were me I would insulate all round a cupboard lining, so the cupboard is insulated and will stay draught free and the same temp as the loft room.

https://strawworks.co.uk/straw-bale-in-north-kesteven/

fairly cheap. Self build, very good insulation with a natural product, rendered with lime render. No concrete foundations as built on old tyres rammed with earth/gravel.

I originally wanted to build straw bale (been on a couple of builds as a volunteer) but health and age (and Devon is sooo wet) precluded that method. If I was young and fit (and had the money) it’s what I would have loved to do. I even priced building a protective scaffold house so I could build “indoors” and not be controlled by the weather. Dreams eh!

I was offered loads of reclaimed herringbone flooring from a local village hall which I fancied but it was about 2” thick which was no good for UFH, I did contemplate cutting them all in half and sanding it all but it was just too much work with the rest of the build so I bought antique looking oak flooring Which still looks good. I find new herringbone flooring on offer a bit “modern” (longer boards than traditional old flooring).

No, despite my previous comment about engineered timber above my kitchen is porcelain tiled and I would not have it any other way, my oak (engineered) flooring is in my lounge.

Oh no, one is more than enough. i could not possibly comment (as she often uses my iPad) ?‍♂️

Well I married for my plot!!,!, and had to supply “the house”. We had all services as that makes it easier/cheaper which is why “bungalow gobbling” is so popular. I did a lot of my own build but at my tender age (and I wanted it finished before I pegged it) I paid a local, very good, builder to put up the shell. Bought my own JCB, dug the foundations, did all timber work, plumbing etc. What it cost me is sketchy as I am crap at keeping records but I am sure £100k would get you a long way. Had I been younger (and more broke) I probably would have done a stick build as timber is what I am good at (and have all the tools) .

Forgot to say glued down engineered flooring is best IMO.

After fitting all these types (and seeing some problems thereafter ) I would go engineered, more stable than real and more solid than laminate and can be sanded to restore if needed. I HATE hollow sounding flooring and found so many laminates that float sound hollow. With our new build we also have a shoes off policy (like so many other countries do) and it makes a difference

I did not have an SE but the ties were specified in the architects drawing so already passed by building control.

I was very lucky, our builder was almost as OCD as me, and I was onsite every day (retired) so saw everything that was going on, not that I needed to be with him!!!

when I lived in shropshire a neighbour, who was an SE, designed his cottage using oak beams but the BI would not sign it off saying he needed steels, it went to a tribunal of some sort and the “judge” found the SE was more qualified than the BI and overruled him ???

On a slight tangent to this thread, the only regret about my new build is the sound transmission between floors despite 100mm sound insulation, in hindsight I would have double boarded the downstairs ceiling and/or resilient bars.