matthyde83

I’ve been asked by my mortgage company to engage a QS in the build and they want certificates of spend at each drawdown. Any else experienced this? If so what has been your experience with employing a QS? I obviously want to try to get as much value as poss without this being just another ‘cost’…

I’ve just been through exactly the same thing and reading around it I think these standards need to be applied as conditions in planning by the local authority. Failing that the standard standards apply… that’s what I’ve gone with anyway!

Thank you, I think I’m getting to the same conclusion!

I do have a separate triple garage with a south facing roof yes… problem is I’ve just built that… should have though ahead!

It’s the other gable, chimney is north so shouldn’t be an issue… I’m trying to work out if it’s much more outlay at the build stage because if not it seems a bit of a no brainer.

Ours was an online form on oval building authority site. Very simple.

Yep I realise it’s not the best. That’s why I’m asking if it a worth considering really… the south facing side is the right of the drawing so one side of the hip.

Do you know if there’s any planning requirements?? Would 3kW fit on the southern side of the roof? How many panels would it be? If it’s not a hell of a lot more expensive then I am more than up for a DIY fitting…

Excellent cheers ?? install cost may be more because of the weight but at £35 a metre they’re not expensive.

We have completed a lot of the landscaping externally before commencing our build. In order to get the floor heights correct I need to know which finish I’m using internally. Is there any reason we can’t use exterior porcelain inside? It is 20mm from London Stone and we’re really pleased with it but obviously thicker than usual interior tiles…

maybe try buildsafe. They are a broker but managed to get a price nearly £1k cheaper through SBZ than I got going direct…. I have bc through them but only starting next month so can’t comment.

I suppose question is saving on tiles vs pv cost plus the saving…

Hi all - picking the collective brain… Due to start our build next month and I’m going go through various options. We are based in Surrey and have the attached roof plan (south is the left hand side). I’m trying to work out whether is makes sense to fit PV or not… ASHP, no EV currently. Sahtas handmade brookhurst tiles. 54a1 f.pdf

I am also interested in this... I have a whole roof of these coming off in a month or so...

If you remortgaged and spread it longer than 1.5 years your affordability will go up. You could then make overpayments to bring it down quicker. The Habito mortgage rates are quite a bit higher than you have but it depends when you weigh up the additional £100k at a higher rate versus what you have obvs.

Habito are currently offering up to 7x multiple of you take one of their lifetime mortgages (up to 40 year fixed)

I originally had ours designed with a TF company (not to be named). Paid for it, about £3.5k. Got planning. Got quoted £160k for frame (300 sqm). I felt it was too expensive so I put the design into estimators online. When I added up all the elements that the TF were supplying the estimate came back at under £100k. I put this to the TF company and they said there had “been an error in the quote” and reduced it to £130k. Not impressed I sent the design to three other companies. One refused to quote on the design but two others came back at c.£100k. Original TF company then sent them all legal letters demanding they withdraw their quote as the plans were copyrighted. One of the alternative TF companies then said sod them and paid for legal advice and we ended redrawing and going through planning again. Now we’re ending up going down a masonry route anyway because of price increases and cashflow management. Absolute f*****g nightmare. But enlightening.

Yep I filed it after reading these posts. So we’re good to go. Had to inform utilities but told them no action needed as we’ve already moved all the service connections to the garage so can isolate the bungalow from there. CIL and no party wall agreements. All systems go!!

What about something like this??

Thanks. Will do. Plenty of opportunity, they’re visiting 13th Jan to inspect trial holes for foundation design. Will bring it up with them before that (may even email them right now!). Would be interested in what you come up with. I’m assuming we need some kind of thermal break between the steel and outer leaf or at least wherever the outer leaf exits the thermal envelope. Makes a lot of sense. Thank you! It’s been a journey getting this far, taken about 4 years. We’ve actually completed the garden and the garage first. Just still have a bungalow in the middle atm! Now all I need to do is build the house ?

The plan is to do everything we can and push as much as practical but not aiming for ph standard. I think doors are definitely going to be the key thing and clearly need to make some decisions, including on spend here.

Nope - although we’re east facing, garden west. So south elevation is more simple but not huge.

Some 3D renders I had done on Fiverr to bring it to life for the other half…

Yup it’s occupying a lot of my thoughts without really having a solution atm. I’m waiting for structural engineer to complete his bit before I then try to work it out / ask for help!! Again this is more about look of the house than performance. I love a log burner too but reality I think will be different. Especially as it’s going to be in my study now (we’ve played around with floor plan a bit, and still are!) We’re mid 30’s so it hasn’t been front of mind BUT we’re still playing with the laundry room piece and having an accessible bathroom or at the very least plumbing in place is a good thought. We’ll use stuff walls for everything outside of the three structural components so reconfiguring wouldn’t be awful if we allow for plumbing…

Ok so you didn’t use the OSB to support the windows then, just for airtightness. Could you reach in to the cavity to paint the seal to the outer (I’m assuming from the inside? Unless you mean from the outside in which case ours is a brick finish not render). I like the drilling of the board to pump in EPS under the cavity tray. One thought I had on the OSB / ply was the ability to build precise openings meaning windows can be ordered up earlier rather than waiting for structure completion given lead times. Yep I’m thinking of installing MVHR myself so this sounds like a good solution. Did you have MVHR designed separately or by supplier. I’ve had a quote from a renewables company that would design, supply and install MVHR, ASHP, UFH and 1st fix plumbing. But it’s a pretty penny. Like the look of the Lacuna. It’s a balance with what we’re trying to achieve on the ‘look’ of the house and its performance.