joe90

I too won't be bothering with RHI due to paperwork and inflated pricing.

If it's a new build the contractor should zero rate his work and claim the VAT back on materials, this is what my builder is doing.

Just another case of building regs not being consistent across the country!.

I have always thought that!!!

Dave, Could you not put a stack on the house coming out of the ground and simply remove it and plug the hole after inspection as long as you put one next the the van?

Well I did similar, the end stack for me is my garage ( inside toilet) so no stack on the house, BCO accepted that.

When I used to live in Shrewsbury the bus terminal was all block paving and didn't show any great problems through vehicle weight , is it not down to preparation of the ground that causes any problems?

When I bought my JCB I asked for a narrow bucket and they asked me where I was going to use it, when I told them they virtually refused to sell me anything less than 400mm as the clay would make it unusable. Yes my 400mm bucket has teeth and like above if you can " rake" it you don't end up with a lump that won't come out. I have some very stout angle iron and was tempted to bodge up a thin spade type adapter bolted to a bucket to scrape a narrow trench for pipes etc. The other thing I was told to do to stop clay sticking is spray the bucket with diesel before you start but it does not last long before you need to do it again.

That's the sort of thing I used to do all the time!!! ( not any more) ?, well I was a mountaineer in a previous life.

Well we are lucky that we don't need a mortgage otherwise I would have considered some sort of warranty.

After looking into this myself I have opted to not get any, this has been discussed here before and I am planning to stay put for at least ten years but if I do have to sell I will take out indemnity insurance when I do sell and from discussions here before it's cheaper than doing it now ( and that's if it's needed) . It has also been said here before that NHBC indemnity insurance is not worth the paper it's written on if your trying to claim.

I would be tempted to get the water tested for pathogens just to make sure it's "clean" before you decide what yo do with it.

Gimp, certainly no offence taken whatsoever, yes my arguments may have been lightweight but at the end of the day I won my appeal on all points. I proved before the appeal that arguments the council had regarding our site were based on opinion not facts and they backed down because I had evidence to prove them wrong and I gave this information to the appeal officer. I proved that the LPA,s argument regarding the bats disagreed with the ecology expert that the LPA made me pay for and the inspector agreed that the ecology expert was better qualified to make a judgment. I argued that the proposal was reasonable for the site and once she had visited the site and saw the area she agreed with me. I argued ( wrongly) that the planning policy DVT4 was unfair but in fact she stated that our proposal did fit with the planning policy and intimated that the LPA wrongly applied their own policy. simplistically, I am trying to say don't be afraid of appealing, it can be done cheaply and there is a very high success rate amongst appeals. I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide.

Personally I dislike floating floors and the possibility of them sounding hollow or bouncing. In theory a fully bonded floor must be able to transfer heat, surely????

I am surprised about that as the appeal web site is supposed to list all relevant documents for all to see and comment on if they see fit. Our consultants input does not exist on the appeals web site. Also the LPA had to copy all their relevant documentation in their defence to me and information from previous applications were not forwarded to me.

I don't want to be picky but to clear up any misunderstanding my planning consultant had no input into our appeal whatsoever, her job was to help us win our planning application with the LPA when a local councillor called our application into committee because he thought our application was completely reasonable. Any "woefully weak" " techno babble" in the appeal was mine.

I have no problem with agreeing to differ, I spent two and a half years fighting the local planning system and reading a great deal on the subject, yes I did win and I believe in no small way because I kept it simple and pragmatic and to the point, my (ex) planning consultant was highly recommended but frankly her case was far from simple and I think too much techno babble. She did not win her case for me.

I tend to disagree, our planning consultant was an ex local planning officer for our local council and frankly she was rubbish, I could have done a better job myself ( and saved myself £1000). See if you can access the appeals website and find local appeals to planning and the details and outcomes, I think you will learn a lot from this, also the appeals office were very helpful in making sure I had input all the correct info.

Glad it was of some use, however if it is a brownfield site and fits with the local vernacular ( other than the new stuff the council granted planning for) i still think you have a good chance of appeal, what have you got to loose? We have a national housing shortage and I do believe ( through much reading) that the planning inspectors from government want houses built despite petty local planning policies. Developing brown field sites is being encouraged to save green field sites. Franky I would go for it. Can you find any other properties similar to what you want built recently ( precedent). I have come across so many people that have won their appeal despite local planning refusals. Best of luck and keep us informed.

My reason for considering an inline heater was to optimise the DHW demand for the two of us for most days but when guests arrive no chance of running out of hot water or secondly should there be a failure in the normal syatem the inline heater would cover use till it was fixed.

I, on the other hand plan to have E7 and run the ASHP overnight to get the slab warmed up and a tank of hot water for the day, either to be topped up manually during the day or by use of a modulating inline electric waiter heater. But the house is yet to be built ?

Thanks jack, my controller is in storage on site, next time I am down I will dig it out and have a look ?

With regarding future proofing I meant it as cables and pipes to multiple locations to cope with a change of mind in the future, a bit like installing UFH pipes in the ground slab just in case you decide to use it in the future.

here is the link to the planning application. note it says refused but also says appealed and granted? http://publicaccess.torridge.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=NUPZNPQK07X00 hope it works, i am a builder not an IT person.

I will get the details and post for you, or anyone else to have a gander at, in the meantime here is a picture of our foundations in the site:-