joe90

It may be as simple as pre planning advise from the council. It's got to be worth a try

In my case the local planning department have been very unhelpful ( and have a reputation for it). The planners insist on replacing our bungalow with another bungalow or a room in roof. We want a cottage ( it is in Devon !!!!) we are two years and four planning applications into fighting and are now waiting for our appeal to the Secretary of State. The reason for our appeal is that national planning policy overrides local planning policy, a"bungalow" is a style and national planning policy states that local planning policy cannot dictate style. We also have many local properties that are cottages and as we have 1.1 acres we feel a modest 3bed cottage is a resonable request. My point is don't underestimate the local planning department , there is no national guidelines on what is allowed. My architect told us that if we lived 1mile away in Cornwall it would be passed with no problem and probably finished by now. I wish you luck.

I have had both and i would go with electric, no starting problems, dirt in petrol, servicing ( once a decade usually) I have an old electric mixer I was given as it had been left on site and the builder never got around to collecting it, after cleaning half a ton Of old mortor out of it it's never let me down and is about to be used on my new build ( if it ever gets started . )

I too am interested in this, my architect has not mentioned it's requirement ( yet)!

Pete, that's good news for me, I have hardcore laid down and the local farmer who is taking all my clay away knows a bloke that transports road planings away and has arranged three 20 ton Lorry loads for me, glad to know it works well.

I fully agree, I have finished my workshop and my wife asked if the house was going to be as big ?

Hi Warby, the wood stove is a must from swmbo, in fact we both would prefer to watch wood burning than watch ( most) tv. We have a wood supply and want it as part of our country cottage lifestyle out in the sticks, although I realise it's a very contentious issue. Jeremy uses his UFH running in reverse as a very efficient way of cooling the slab or even just pumping the water around to even out floor temperatures and we already have it for heating anyway.

There are some good deals on EBay, I bought a kingspan ASHP 5 Kw new for £700 and a kingspan oversized MVHR for £380. I plan to have UFH ( downstairs) running from the ASHP mainly on E7 and warm ( not hot) water from the same source and stored, I will then top up the warm water to hot for outlets that need it ( bath, shower,kitchen) with a modulating inline water heater, I think other outlets such as basins can be given just warm water. I will wire for an MVHR electric post heater during the build but not install unless it's needed, I decided against using stored warm water for heating the air from the MVHR as I would rather use the water for DHW. I will also use the ASHP to cool the slab should we have hot weather. I know it's a contentious issue but we are having a small wood stove for the depths of winter so we are covered for heating in very cold weather.

Small claims court for delay, extra expense, wrong measuring etc ? Can your joiner write you a letter explaining ( as a professional) what was wrong ?

I am with green energy ( no standing charge as its a building site so far) and they charge £75 to change the meter to E7 which I will more than likely do ( when I get the blasted house finally built!!!!!!!).

I agree with a local farmer to get rid of soil, I have had 100 tons of clay taken by a local famer for much less than " proper" disposal, he had an old small quarry he wanted to fill.

When I met my architect last week we discussed floor joists and he said his house had flooring nailed down and it all sqeaks, I always screw flooring down and glue joins = no squeaks

Glad your getting on so well, with this fine weather I am even more frustrated at lack of progress and hoping to start digging founds soon, just praying for an Indian summer ( warm and dry till Christmas ?)

Ah! +1 with wot Ian says above .

I am having a 100mm ground bearing slab on 300mm eps with steel and UFH pipes in it, I am going to power float it to give a "screed" finish. Mine is not supporting any walls as these will be built on normal foundations ( well nearly, see Golcar passive house on the green building store site).

I can recommend my ecologist, she was great but fair, she is Tamsin Lee from Lee ecology. In my case I want to abide by the ecologist recommendation but the council wants different!!!, this bit is also part of my appeal. In my case the council also wanted a loft space for bats that fly into a building ( or cave) and my argument was the bats were found in the small gaps under the old tin roof, known as crevice living bats and no large openings existed for bats to fly into.

Well we have just had a weeks holiday ( on site but no work) as my wife has not had a holiday from work since Christmas also, she is slightly miffed that I am on site regularly but she is still working 130 miles away and feels she is missing out on the progress ( what progress!!!!!), so whilst down in Devon she looked for jobs and found two so we may be moving down there sooner than later. She has just left for work and she looks so much better for the weeks break but adamant she will work down there ASAP.

good job I don't have to do contamination survey, my jcb leaks all over the place ☺ I second Jeremy's idea.

I am also late to this debate and affected by delays from my planners totalling two years (appeal not heard yet). Initially I would go nuclear but Jeremy's note above about a halfway move seems more sensible. Go for it but in a reasonable way. Don't take it lying down or they will walk all over you and look smug going it, these planners need a kick up the jacksey. Best of British and keep us informed.

Before I found the carrier dealer in Southampton I found a supplier in Germany, got the funds transferred, paid for conversion to Euros, then they told me it was out of stock and not likely to be in stock in the foreseeable future. I got my money back but not the fees for Euro conversion or transfer of monies. :(.

Sorry the paperwork for mine is on site in Devon and won't be there till Monday pm, I will write myself a note to look it out and post the details here, when I spoke to the Carrier dealer they were very helpful and when I told them of my eBay purchase they indicated they stocked all spares should I need anything.

I got mine direct from Carrier who have a depot in Southampton I think, I will try to find the paperwork and price I paid.

well it was all going so well, got the workshop all wired and decided a coat of undercoat and gloss paint on the timber rafters after sanding ( it was more like planed wood rather than sawn) would be sufficient for the LED ribbon to adhere too with its sticky back,. Wrong. :(, first ribbon duly peeled off after about two minutes). I should have copied Jeremy with the aluminium foil tape, I hope a thin bead of CT1 ( after seeing the utube video on here) will stick the ribbon now that it's sticky side has collected dust from the floor. Just a warning for others contemplating making the same mistake.

From what I have read about MBC they get a watertight structure very quickly and that's their job. I was planning a straw bale build a few years ago and that is much more prone to water damage and I planned to build a scaffold house around it and build within. Where you are you is exposed so may be a different situation. I would get on with it, we could well have an " Indian summer" ( personally I am praying for it as I am STILL waiting to start my build).

Well mine is 1967 !!!, don't need to change the hydraulic oil as it leaks so much it's alsmost a constant loss system :). I Grease a fair bit ( but must change some grease nipples as some are blocked. The King post has loads of wear in it but I am getting used to the general " slack" in all the controls.