Auchlossen

Well my build has actually started and going up - see http://auchlossen.blogspot.co.uk/ tho the focus at the moment is on the garage and 'studio/office', for construction strategy reasons. Here is my first take on heating and plumbing design, and I am looking forward to some expert critique to update the useful info on Ebuild which has guided the strategy. The general principle is Keep It Simple. House is PH 96m2 single storey 2BR. There is also a separate studio 36m2 with autonomous electric based supplies for heating and HW, with shower/wc/basin and sink. There will also be PV in the garage/studio roof - 12 panels 3kW - and I am considering a Sunamp for HW for the house, so need to get my head around the economics of this. Space Heating is by [sun sometimes!] combi gas boiler, UFH with small 50l buffer tank; I have rejected a wood burning stove; also no thermal store for HW. [Thanks JSH] Cooling by UFH and MVHR. HW by mains gas combi. I propose 10mm radial pipework from HW/CW manifolds in the Utility Room where boiler etc is based for most items, 15mm for bath. Maybe some of them will need to be co-supplied? I am looking forward to some cutting comments, thanks in advance. PS I found this Edraw freeware a bit of a pain to use.

Image ^^^^^^ looks like Hep2O '4-port valved manifold plated brass' 3/4BSP x 15mm, part no HX94T/15W. @ £58.34 list. There also appear to be cheaper non-valved manifolds for 22 x 10mm. Both types also available in 2/3/4 port versions. HTH

I also need to firm up on MVHR for a 96m2 house. BPC have suggested Xpelair QVI @ £1250 Airflow DV96 @ £1690 ADM have suggested Sentinel Kinetic BH1 then there are also: Paul Novus 450F @ c. £3300 Brink 400+ @ £1592 180 @ £1240 [or Ubbink180 @ £800 on disposal discount from CVC] Genvex GES EnergyS Nuaire WH2 Any views, recommendations, criteria, welcomed. I plan to investigate purchase cost, running costs [elec, filters], efficiency,...? I will use radial ducting. Also advice on controls welcomed.

I have also been involved with this 'contaminated' business, tho I am not yet at the stage of finishing and landscaping. How many loads are you bringing in? I think the samples cost £30 to test IIRC. Can you not collect a yoghourt pot full from each load, seal it up, bag it and send it off to the lab for test? If you are pretty confident of the source, you might even risk doing this after the load has arrived on site. I had [yet another] sample which I scraped up and sent off for a special quantitative test [which showed zero contamination!] in this manner, and since it was needed in a hurry, the van called by site and picked it up to take it off to lab. Normal turnaround is 3-4 days or 24 hours for a small premium. You need to strike the balance between a sensible/reasonable approach, complying with the bureaucratic procedures and providing 'evidence'.

I need to confirm location of Data points for Timber Frame Co. I am not very technosavvy, tho interested. I recall that, in my last build 11 years ago, I ran screened Cat5 wires to every room , and only actually put terminals on two for phone connection, since wifi had arrived meantime. So I shall run 2xCat5e to every room from the Utility room. Esp because builder suggests that wifi may not work well with walls fully filled with insulation. I shall put a duct in for twin CT100 coax to go to an external dish, which may or may not ever get installed. Any other precautionary measures? Maybe: a cable for a 'crash' switch in the kitchen to fire up the MVHR? Bathroom too? Some cables for sensors and temperature controllers as discussed in next thread on here? Coax to points in most rooms for aerial Any advice and pointers to other sites where the issue is discussed for the beginner please?

I am thinking of using a standard free standing microwave in a cupboard with uplift door. Cost of f-s microwave is 25-50% of built-in models.

i intend to use a simple 3-glazed fixed rooflight: ext insulated upstands with fall triple glazed argon filled glazing unit approx 3m x 1m, top layer in 6mm toughened top glass sits on upstands, inner panes are smaller and sit inside upstands on supporting ledge rubber seals on supporting elements top and inside upstands £1300 inc vat I am looking for a simple alu trim to use as a drip: F-shaped moulding with rubber seal in mouth of F to clip over extended top pane of glass.

I have just ordered Rationel windows too. Their cills are not deep enough to cover EWI. Nor does my architect consider they are robust enough. I have chosen the sparkly sable paint colour, and am advised that these are the only people who can paint to this spec,either with their own manufacture or another cill: http://www.mspcladding.co.uk

non-slip vinyl in rather ltd range of colours: http://www.forbo.com/flooring/en-uk/products/step-safety-vinyl-wetroom/wetroom-solutions/bk1co5 or Marmoleum Surestep or Safestep slip resistant the latter desigend specifically for wet rooms? I had marmoleum in my prevous home, and it was very comfortable to walk on, needed frequent but simple care - sweep, wash.

where is the filter on the Geberit device for screening out hair - or do you not expect to have any by then?

I see that JSH says that he used the solid 12mm strandwoven bamboo - is that onto concrete with UFH, as well as upstairs onto timber flooring? I noticed that Bamboo Flooring Co say that both the engineered and the solid may be used with UFH.

Garage is about to be built into 'hillside', with retaining walls on 3 sides, to varying extents. The retaining walls are to be built with Stepoc concrete blocks with steel reinforced concrete infill. There is an office/studio above. EWI will be used for garage and studio above. Question is: should I insulate under raft floor with 100mm of insulation? There will be large thermal losses at the edges. Arguably the half buried garage will be kept at a stable if not warm temperature by the surrounding soil.

Many thanks to the organisers for re-establishing this vital resource. I did begin to think that I was, and could indeed happily go on, spending all my time researching on ebuild and never actually make any progress. However, by some miracle, the winds blew, Sepa and the Council agreed and .... tomorrow two large diggers and 4 trucks will appear and the site fencing will be erected and the action will commence. Hooray! Photos to follow. So I still need your collective help, thanks very much in advance.

Here is my experience FWIW. I checked quite a few of these points before appointing my architect, who did a very good but slow job on the planning process. I felt that we shared values, particularly ecological values, and I liked his design. I tried to give him a fairly free design hand. Then he did an even slower job on the detailed design for Building Warrant and Tender, and we began to fall apart. He was not interested in pursuing my detailed requirements, He put in many fancy and therefore expensive bits, and did not want to take them out before tender - 'wait and see what price comes in'. Finally he was uninterested in pursuing the ideas of my chosen contractor, who had suggestions for reducing costs and simplifying design. I had thought about changing architect after the Planning stage, talked to several others: one I didn't like and another I could have run with [though I understand now she has since left the area], but all the advice I had was not to change if at all possible, so I hung on. Eventually after tender, I talked with 2, one of who had been involved in PassivHaus consultancy for me, and he took on the revisions to Plans and Warrant change very willingly.