Gone West

I got outline permission for a two storey replacement dwelling for my bungalow first. I then did some drawings and took them to the planners to get their reaction. Then submitted full application and got the first of three refusals before going to planning committee and getting unanimous approval. Whether you get permission or not depends more on the planner considering your application. If they like the look of it you're successful otherwise not and they'll quote lots of ambiguous policies to back up their refusal.

How long ago did you get it installed? It's the Openreach surveyor who won't allow connecting up the existing underground duct, I laid, to new duct to the pole on the other side of the road.

Yeah, if I can figure out a way to do that, then I'm tempted. I use the mobile phone in the house and it doesn't seem any different to outside and I can use the cordless in the house from the bungalow next door.

I work to 1:40 for foul water drain pipes and 1:100 for just water.

As an update I've now had a third survey by Openreach and they have changed their mind yet again. They say, as Jeremy has stated, that cables can no longer enter the house directly through the slab. Even though I was given the materials and installations instructions in 2010 they will not let me use that ducting now. I'm looking into the possibility of using WiMax wireless broadband and not having an Openreach connection.

I've used a mixture of horizontal and vertical T&G cedar and brick slips. The cedar is untreated and supposedly has a 60 year life.

We've also got round door handles in our current bungalow and some are difficult to open because there isn't enough room to grip the handle well enough to open the door.

I find this table to be useful sometimes. http://www.hendersons.co.uk/pipework2/page2.html

I'm planning on soaking mine which is blown mineral fibre and hoping it is reduced dramatically in volume as it is a 100mm cavity.

I'm in England and Openreach have carried out three surveys for my new line. The first said they would mole under the 4m wide lane and connect to the nearest pole free of charge. The second said they couldn't mole but could dig up the road and connect it free of charge. The third said if it was undergound I would have to pay for the lot and to use their £3400 allowance it would have to be overhead and they would put a new pole in the corner of my garden. Like I want another pole!! They are still looking into it as my original application was six years ago and their policy may have changed!

Hi and welcome to the forum. It's a nice position and the design looks interesting. I've always thought architects come from another galaxy as far as costs are concerned! Good luck.

I would second 12mm Hardiebacker boards which I used in my bathrooms. I also got through a few circular saw blades cutting it, but once fitted it doesn't move.

I can't see a problem with your diagram. The shower room is small and I'm not sure there would be a dead area. I have the same set up in my kitchen with the extract point about 1.5m away from the hob hood.

There are many different internal and external window films for different applications and it sound as if the specification was wrong in that case. I worked in an all glass building built in the late sixties that was single glazed. It overheated in the summer and they fitted a mirrored film which even back then made a huge difference. The film I have had fitted has made a big difference to the amount of solar gain and glare in my sitting room.

My windows are fitted within the insulation layer to reduce thermal bridging.

Almost certainly that would be the case which is why I stressed it's suitability in a PH only. The proportion of energy used for space heating compared to DHW changes from a conventional house to PH. Reducing the amount of energy used to heat DHW is more important so hot water saving measures become more critical. You would not expect DHW demand to be above average in a PH.

I was told it was best to automatically turn off the ventilation system when the fire alarm goes off. I haven't yet looked into how simple that might be.

I wouldn’t use a Genvex 185 Combi unless it was in a house built to Passivhaus standards. It is useful in that it is compact and in a small house that can be a consideration. In a PH not requiring underfloor heating, where all the heating requirement can be met by the Combi, there are savings to be made by using a single appliance. If there is not a large hot water requirement, ie one or two occupants or water saving measures are good then the Combi is fine. It is good way of helping to keep the build simple rather than having a lot of different systems.

My palm sander has a hole punch plate so I can punch my own in cut sheets.

Had our window film installed today. Had to wait a couple of days for the wind to die down a bit. It's not easy to see the difference between glazing with the film and without. I'll have to wait till this evening to see what the effect is on solar gain.

+1

My first floor is 22mm water resistant T&G chipboard which is glued and nailed with 50mm ring shank nails at 100mm spacing into the metal web joists. I'm laying a floating strand bamboo floor on top with a thin underlay.

Hi Roger and welcome to the forum. It looks an interesting project. So does the polystyrene upstand on the Isoquick slab align with the polystyrene on the ICF walls limiting thermal bridging? How does the trussed roof join the walls to create the same effect?

We used RAL 7037 for our windows and doors and it was a good match for the chart. There can look to be a difference if the level of shine is different. We used what they called satin and it tied in well with other areas of the house with the same RAL colour.

I used 18mm timber window boards in my last house. I used HDF this time. With timber you run the risk of cracking and or cupping, but with HDF you don't. I bought bullnose profile, 4.2m lengths of the width I wanted.