Thorfun

our architect has specified a 2.5m wide opening with a single pocket door but I'm struggling to find anywhere online that would do pocket doors that size. this place (https://www.pocketdoorshop.co.uk/view-product/Made-to-Measure-Pocket-Doors) says it can do 2m wide. and I phoned these guys (https://www.madetomeasuredoorsuk.com/help-and-advice/view/11/bespoke-pocket-doors) and the widest they can go is 1.2m anyone have any experience of such a wide pocket door and know where I could get a price? I'm starting to think that we just get rid of the pocket door! probably save me quite a bit of money as well.

thanks for the response @Moira Niedzwiecka. can you comment on the sound reduction from the IC windows? I couldn't find any info on their website as to what sound attenuation they give. I would assume it's not as good as alu-clad timber due to the alu-alu makeup with PIR in the middle. also, the problem for us with IC now is they can't do a corner opening that we're after. in fact there aren't many companies that do! I started another thread on the topic.

I guess that's why the previous comments were to do the whole house in one go rather than a room at a time?

it does look good though. good job!

I assume you're talking about the external post(s) holding up the roof? if so, then no, not fully finished but I would presume that we will clad it in the same timber that the garden room will be clad in. not gone into those details yet, the architect is in the process of drawing up the detailed drawings and once we've got the SE and TF company involved we'll know more about the final positions and requirements for them.

all the steelwork has already been quoted for in the TF quotes.

yes we have and yes it is. but when it's your forever home sometimes you just have to push the boat out a little bit. we'll have the rest of our lives to pay it off.

the external post will be moved a bit away from the house btw, so it's further away from the doors. it will go at the corner of the overhang. hope that makes sense. if not I can add it to the drawing.

we have an external post holding the roof up. it's not obvious on the plans but is the circle outside of the corner doors. we'll probably have one in the other corner of that elevation as well to support the overhang if required.

something like these externally opening to the garden:

morning, we have a nice garden room in our plans where the corner of it opens up. we're finalising quotes for windows and doors and one manufacturer has said that they don't offer that sort of glass to glass corner openings as, in their experience, they cannot get them airtight, secure and watertight. but Internorm has said that they can do it and I've been supplied photos of one of their clients sites showing it being done. (not sure if I can/should post photos of a site without the owners permission). has anyone got any experience with what we're trying to achieve and managed to successfully achieve it without sacrificing air/water tightness and security?

I'm no expert but I would ask the question, what has changed since getting the 0.47ach result? primarily focusing on the external fabric of the building.

if it was that little a difference it'd be a no brainer. although I've not yet seen the idealcombi windows we could tell that the Internorm windows were just very solid and good quality. before Covid-19 hit we attended a build show and saw many manufacturers and still came away thinking Internorm felt the best. for us (we've got 42 windows which equate to 116m2 of glazing) the difference is about £15k. which buys a lot of other stuff! hence the dilemma.

sounds like a deal. as long as it's the incorrect size of course. wouldn't want any that actually fitted.

it helps massively, thanks!

is there a better way to learn than from others' mistakes? ?

we love the Internorm windows but at around 35% more expensive (not including the sliders as IC can't do the size we want) it's a hard decision to pay the extra! but we do love them. it might end up being one of those decisions where we pay the extra as I don't want to replace the windows ever so get it right first time. just another one of those decisions that need to be made at some point.

very useful, thanks @Mr Punter

did you get the Idealcombi or choose another manufacturer for the front door?

I'm a long way off being ready to paint (not even broken ground yet) but I'm interested in what spray paint machine gizmo thingy you'll be using so I can store that information away and retrieve it at a later date.

for those on the forum that have bought an Idealcombi front door are you able to comment on the quality of it? the quote we have for the front door is about £2k and the Internorm front door is about £5k! I was just wondering if you can notice it's a £3k cheaper door? from my reading so far I think I've found @Moira Niedzwiecka, @RandAbuild, @mvincentd, @Mr Punter and @Fallingditch have first hand experience of IdealCombi.

this is interesting as our windows include multiple of a larger size, including 2000x2100 single pane fixed windows and they've quoted for that size. we've also got a 1800x2600 and other large windows. the only thing it seems they can't do is large width sliding doors.

Hi @Dreadnaught. I've been reading your blog with interest and I look forward to following the rest of your journey! we're not a million miles behind you in our plans and I have a few questions for you if you don't mind. 1. what is the government grant for your fibre all about? we've had our quote from Openreach to put a new fibre connection in running from a pole, under the road and on to our plot. here's their scope of works: Description of works Second Stage of Work Full Scope of Works Property is to remain and lived in while they build a new house in the garden which they would like via an underground feed. When the property is completed they will move into the new property and would like to fibre if available. The current property will then be demolished at a later date. REQUIREMENTS PHASE 1 Civils to dig in approx. 15m (metre) duct 56 from CP (carrier pole) 1A to boundary of xxxxxxxxxxxx. Customer requires 1 x fibre to property – Openreach to supply details of nearest node to use. THIS QUOTE DOES NOT INCLUDE FIBRE IN ADVANCE. TM (traffic management) – ROAD CLOSURE REQUIRED DUE TO WIDTH OF ROAD N.B - Please note that this survey return is as seen during the survey and that these works may be subject to additional excess costs if any unforeseen or unobserved variations are determined during the execution of those works, or if there has been scope creep or changes to planned work after this survey was produced. for this they're charging us almost £6k inc. VAT We already have a phone line to the existing bungalow which will eventually be demolished but require the new connection to the new location on the plot. can you offer any advice on where I can go to look up this government grant you received? 2. We've shortlisted IdealCombi as a window supplier but due to Covid-19 haven't been able to get to see them in the flesh. I assume you did. if so, what do you think of the quality of the windows and, more specifically, the front door? the price difference between the IC front door and an Internorm equivalent is huge! I was just wondering if you'd seen the front door and physically touched it etc to compare the differences with other more expensive front doors. thanks in advance. Tom

yeah, cheers guys. this is where my thinking is coming from. we have a garden room where the whole corner of it will open. one slider is 5m and the other is 2.5m so it's a pretty wide opening when both sliders are open like this. but I can't help thinking that bifold would make a bigger impact and a better job of 'bringing the outside in' as they say. anyone know if bi-folds are generally cheaper than sliders when you get to this size of triple glazed sliders?

cheers. I read your blog btw. the new place looks stunning! looking forward to reading how it develops.