RandAbuild

We had a bespoke oak door made by another company. Like many companies, Idealcombi's front doors looked pretty commercial, like what you'd find on a block of flats...

We have sliding doors in our kitchen to the patio. 4 panels 900 x 2145, centre 2 open giving an opening of about 1500. Triple glazed aluminium/polyurethane/timber. About £3.5k three years ago. Beautifully made by Idealcombi, but you have to clean and lubricate the runners to keep them running smoothly. We use them a lot - opening slightly gives some ventilation, but not as controllable as a conventional window casement. Another downside with any sliding doors is they are obviously not as robust as normal french doors - if anything goes wrong and you can't shut them, it's quite a security risk.

Take a look at Idealcombi https://idealcombi.com/domestic/

Our lawn structure was compacted type 1, weed membrane, 40mm compacted granite dust, grass. The weeds still grow though, most likely self-seeded above the membrane. I got loads of samples and it was clear you got what you paid for. We ended up using Easigrass - I think it was their Chelsea or Mayfair range. A good product but I couldn't recommend the installers (Easigrass use a network of franchised local fitters). They fitted it well enough but there was one section where the 'pile' of the grass was longer. It appeared as a 40mm wide bump running the width of the grass. Despite repeated requests, they failed to remedy it (at one point saying they would have to go out and buy some new scissors!), so I did it myself. Looks fine now. Overall it was very expensive at about £24/sqm + fitting. What you can see cost us £8k, but we had a lot of offcuts. Sufficient to do our daughter's small lawn!

We don't have problems with dogs/cats/foxes/peacocks here, but we do with incontinent pigeons, who seem to live on a diet of araldite and concrete. The grass stands up to it pretty well - it softens in the rain and I brush it off. And cut back the overhanging willow tree where they roost. We do get the odd weed coming through too. And squirrels will try to bury conkers in it. So it's not quite fit and forget

This is ours. Probably the worst ever shape for artificial turf! It's been down a year now. We're very pleased with it - it's great to walk on throughout the year and no mowing is great for me as I get hayfever pretty badly. Leaves are a problem though and I'm thinking of getting a lawn vacuum. Blowers don't seem to work that well, maybe becuase we have no 'corners' to blow it into.

The best way of finding out is to email the Homebuy Agent for your area: https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/equity-loan/find-helptobuy-agent/ The scheme is aimed at qualifying new build homes, but in principle I can't see why a self build would not qualify. I expect you would have to find a lender to fund the land purchase and build, and then switch over to the Government equity loan when it's complete. Be prepared for a lot of complex procedures though! Let the Forum know how you get on.

We fitted one of the BPC silencers in our system. Not sure what difference it makes - the Vent Axia is pretty quiet anyway and radial ductwork avoids any cross-talk. But for the samll cost, I think it's worth fitting

Total waste of time in my experience. We had one installed when we completed the build in 2018. I wanted to avoid having to submit readings (the gas meter wasn't smart, so we still had to send those through) and get a better handle on use. It was a SMETS 1 type that was tied to a particular supply (in our case Green Energy). The more advanced SMETS2 ones were in short supply at the time. It had 3 charging periods. The 4-8pm tariff was exorbitant - over 30p/KwH, but the midnight-7am a reasonable 7p/hr. The normal daytime rate was about 16p and Standing Charge around 20p/day. The meter linked to the Home Display unit for a couple of days, then lost connection. I tried to get it to work for 2 months of endless calls to Green energy, including a new one being sent out. I gave up and it went in the bin. The readings never seemed to get through to Energy Assets, the Data Communications Company. Our supplier couldn't understand what the issue was despite the 3G signal being fine. Then we switched supplier and it became a dumb meter. So now we have to send 3 readings every 3 months. Strikes me the industry isn't geared up for this yet, so you do wonder who's pushing them.

I would echo @Bitpipe's comments about overheating. There's a lot of glazing on the southern elevation and the solar gain could be very high. Once the sun heats up the interior fabric, it's hard to get rid of in a well-insulated home. So I would incorporate shading or roof overhangs on each window wherever possible, and don't rely too much on surrounding trees to do it for you. Love the design and model btw!

Margaret - I am horrified to see what your builder is doing. 'Pushing RSJs into the house as far as possible' is not underpinning, it is guesswork. All you will end up with is a lot of steel and concrete which will act as a further deadweight under the house the retaining wall would have to hold up. This may increase the chances of a collapse. Looking back at your earlier photos of the house from the road, I can see the steps and path to your house themselves present quite a slope. With a physical disability, are you sure the house is suitable for your needs? It may be better to start thinking about finding a place that is more suitable which already has a parking space and level access. This would be both safer and cheaper in the longer run. As others have said, I think you should not do anything further without taking advice from a structural engineer.

That is very sensible Margaret. Come back here when you have more information and we'll try to help you find a solution.

Having looked at the additional photos you have posted Margaret, the change in level between your house and the road is much higher than I thought when viewed from the road. I would urge you to stop listening to your builder and get professional advice. When it all goes wrong, you won't see that builder for dust.

I don't think anyone can advise you without more information regarding the depth of the foundations to your house. It might be 3 feet but could easily be 10 feet, leaving you insufficient space for parking. I would echo what others have said - you need to get a structural engineer to design it for you.

Margaret - looking at your photos, that retaining wall could be over 6 feet high. You also have to dig out the foundations for the new wall, meaning further digging. This really is getting dangerous. Anything over 3 feet high needs to be properly designed and constructed. I've just done a quick Google of retained walls and here is one example from Local Authroity Building Control: https://www.labc.co.uk/news/retaining-wall-basics

I stand corrected Ferdinand, although introduction to make payments direct to tenants was phased in between the 2007 pilots and 2013 when Universal Credit came in. You are correct too that it created havoc - arrears went through the roof in many areas.

Whilst a Minor Works contract might be suitable for some self builders who will employ a single, main contractor, the Intermediate form of JCT contract is likely to be over the top for a £150k job, in my view. This is more about the lender having confidence in the way the contract would be administered, in that it would likely force you to employ a qualified Project Manager (architect or QS). The bigger problem would be finding a builder prepared to work under such a formal form of contract. I suspect they would add costs to cover such things as Liquidated & Ascertained damages, retention and unforeseen delay etc. I agree with @nod that another lender might be more flexible.

There are loads of firms online who carry out these desktop studies - look here for example (we used Argyll): https://www.landmark.co.uk/news-archive/envirosearch-residential-enhanced-make-environmental-guidance-clearer For a little over £60 you get a report detailing contaminated land, flood, ground stability, radon, fracking, solar and wind farms and ground stability. As it's independent (not DIY), the LPA ought not ask you for more unless they can show why more is needed. You're not building on an old steelworks are you?

I had the same planning condition, so I forwarded a copy of the Enviro Search report our solicitors obtained when we bought the plot. This report included the statement the level of risk is not such that the property would be designated "Contaminated Land" within the meaning of Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. I also stated that references in the report to the site being in an area affected by radon would be addressed through the usual Building Control process. They accepted this without any questions.

Same here

Now they are very neat! I have vent envy ?

That change of level would give me a few headaches, as the third dimension becomes more important. But I would have thought that using that cupboard / boxing-in at high level for the unit was possible if you had the headroom in the kitchen

+1 on the filters - you need good access to these and the take out the heat exchanger to clean it. On the plans: I would do away with ducts to the basement - getting one down there would be more trouble than it's worth All duct runs on the ground floor and first floor have sections that run at right angles to the joists - try to minimise this where you can. The airing cupboard is well located but probably too small. Don't forget you'll have 10+ 75mm pipes that have to meet up in there. It will be like Clapham Junction on steroids If you locate the unit in a warm loft, you've still got to get all those pipes up to it. This might need the space of a HWC alone Don't get me wrong, I'm a strong advocate for MVHR as a cost-effective solution to controlled ventilation. But it need planning in now and you need to give up space to have it

Easijoists are lot easier to thread the ducts through than I-Joists An MVHR unit can go in an airing cupboard if it's big enough. Try to locate it centrally in the house so the duct runs are kept short. Remember you will need a condensate drain We used BPC flexi duct. It's typically 75mm in diameter - these can be doubled up where required Rectangular ducts are available and can come insulated, but I think they are more expensive The general consensus is the supply ducts should go in the opposite end of the room to the entrance door (so a flow of fresh air is provided through the room), and extracts located centrally or close to (not immediately above) the main source of moisture The MVHR will be on permanently; there is usually a humidity control in the unit that provides a boost eg during showers. Our en-suite clears within about 5 minutes after a shower

Your new layout is just the same as ours. Works well!