Thorfun

Ok. Noted and will do. how about number of holes per block? Able to advise on that?

tomorrow's job is to make a start on drilling through the dense concrete blocks in the basement walls to allow the MVHR ducts to be run. I have an SDS drill and some diamond core bits. will be using the 117mm bit for our 92mm ducting. my question is is it one hole per block or can I put 2 in a block? they're standard blocks so are 440mm wide so I could fit 2 holes next to each other and still leave 'some' of the block intact but it just feels like they'll be like Swiss cheese. I'm only going through non-load bearing walls btw. any advice before I make a mess in the basement in the morning/maybe afternoon depending on how my day job goes?

didn't realise storage needed approval as well as PV. why is that? it's not like the batteries will discharge to the grid, right?

try other architects. some charge a percentage and some charge a flat fee for each RIBA stage. we chose one that charged a flat fee and think we got very good value for money.

yeah. looked at it. more expensive than the Powerwall 2 was my conclusion! I'm not fussed about 3-phase solutions either as I'm planning on running the whole house on a single phase and already have a single phase inverter even though I have a 3-phase supply. if I get a 3-phase EV charger I'll just suck it up that I have to import on 2 of the 3 phases. I just think it's simpler that way! and I'm also thinking that as battery tech advances if I have to I can swap out battery modules and replace with newer tech whereas with these all-in-one solutions you're kind of stuck with it.

it's a relief to me too! although I'll reserve final judgement until after the blinds are installed. I'll be framing this and showing it to my kids.

I have to admit I've not read the new regs but the external blinds chap said I'd be ok with our external blind solution so I've taken his word for it although I don't believe it affects me as we're already at watertight stage. but I might be wrong. 🤷‍♂️

was talking to our external blind supplier about this and all this means is that you have to consider overheating when putting in the huge bifolds and lots of glass. it doesn't mean you can't have that, right? as long as you put external shading in, be that blinds or briese soleil or pergola or over-hangs etc then you'll be fine. I would've thought an architect like you @CharlieKLP would love the idea of designing in shading solutions. 😉

yeah. he's right. in fact the apparent room sizing changes as the build progresses and change from 'too small' to 'bloody hell that's massive' back to 'it looks a bit small' to 'I think the architect got it about right'. 😉

I'm looking at making an RHI application for our ASHP and it has a question "in the last 12 months, tell us how long the property was occupied for". our M&E have recommended putting in a date of more than 6 months. I'm worried that that could be construed by HMRC of evidence of living in the property and that they could reject our VAT reclaim when it comes to it. anyone know if HMRC looks at RHI applications and the stated time occupied on the form?

yeah. was quoted 9 months lead time as well and also the price has gone up £2k in the last 18 months. As such, I'm now looking at a Lux Power Squirrel pod (2 actually) and Pylontech batteries as mentioned above. using 2 x squirrel pods gives up to a 7kW charge/discharge rate and each one can utilise 8 batteries so you can have a theoretical 56kWh of storage using the US3000C batteries. obviously, I won't be going that high, but I do like the modularity of this solution so if the initial battery storage isn't enough you can just add another battery to expand the system.

I'm no expert in cost efficiency as my spiralling build costs would attest to! and I don't like commenting on looks as it's such a subjective subject. so I'll leave those questions to others.

the biggest thing that frustrates me about these 'off-the-shelf' products and also mass built houses is the fact that the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms are always different sizes! it's like I'd have to decide which kid I loved more and give them the biggest room. the beauty of designing your own house, whatever route you'd choose to do that, is you have the flexibility to do what *you* want. one of the first things we said to our architect was we wanted the kids bedrooms to be the same size. why should one child lose out to the other one!

great idea. but obviously after ensuring that the CIL exemption paperwork has been received! 😉

we bought our bungalow with planning and they'd already done a bat survey. when it came to us putting in our planning application the planning department wanted a refreshed bat survey. we managed to persuade the ecologists to simply reissue the previous surveys for a nominal fee as nothing had really changed. if planning request new surveys it might be worth a chat with the ecologists? completely understand this as you don't want to be digging foundations or building in the winter! we were ready to start last Jan/Feb but the groundworker said 'no' and he wanted to wait for spring. I'm glad he did tbh as the clay got really soggy and wouldn't have fancied them digging the basement in the winter months. as it worked out we had really good weather and very few rain delays for our basement dig and build. if you can plan it to be watertight before winter then you're on to a winner in my opinion!

I wasn't given the choice! the architects said BC wanted an independent exit so that's what we built, although we made it a bit bigger and have created a sunken courtyard as an outside space for the basement.

I know it's a kick in the teeth to have to go back to planning but, personally, I think it'll be worth it. but ultimately it is governed by your timelines and desires! reducing windows/bifolds from 2.6m to 2.1m will have a bigger financial impact that you think I believe. it's a tough choice and I don't envy you it as there are obviously costs and time delays involved in going back to planning when I can guarantee you're chomping at the bit to just get going! 😉

I agree with @Bitpipe and @Conor here and you should think about pushing the retaining wall to the back. Makes it a lot simpler and the SE design for the load from the house to the existing planned basement retaining wall will be complicated and expensive and probably won’t be stupidly more expensive to just do a full dig out. that was the advice I was given by friends in the trade and others on this site and we don’t regret it. And like it was said above you don’t have to fit it out to start with but the space will be there when you have funds to do so. Exactly what we’re planning. (I go through a lot of this in our blog on here)

Make sure your CIL documents and exemptions are in order as well before you start!

you can get AV slats which blackout the room and are sold as usable for AV presentations.

Don’t think it’s too difficult but I paid someone to do it for me. It wasn’t cheap but it was a price we were happy to pay. Probably ended up around £100/m2

Yep. Ordered mine before it all kicked off. Was told a little later that there wasn’t any more coming.

btw, we're also having areas of standard Siberian larch which came in at around £45/m2 for comparison. and the prices I've mentioned are not including labour

our batten costs are high as we're having vertical cladding so need counter battens and they are 50mm x 50mm battens to allow room for the external blinds. all in all our timber cladding will be a very expensive item but it should be amazing!

just a regular joiner (he did a friends Larch cladding and comes highly recommended and I've seen his work first hand so I know he'll do a good job). we had a huge amount, 230m2, and so we managed to get wholesale price which came in around £65/m2. so it's not cheap when you compare it to standard larch but it is cheaper than Western Red Cedar! at the moment though there is a shortage of Siberian Larch so you might want to hold off for a bit. 😉