Buzz

HI @Charteris and welcome . How much additional space are you looking to create and what will it be used for ?

The first consideration once you have identified a potential hazard is , can the hazard be removed , as you need to drive down the road to access your home then ideally not, but it would remove the problem. as @pdf27 above if it is so dangerous why is it going ahead at the moment. Second would be to reduce the likelihood of the hazard occurring by adding preventative measures, a simple solution would be to paint 2 big yellow lines on both sides of the road thus removing the need to walk in the middle of the road to avoid parked cars, alternatively narrow the road and add pavements with a passing place half way along completely separating pedestrians and vehicles. The only advice i can offer is what would you like to see if the flats are approved ? by all means fight the application on the grounds of safety but the road hazards can be removed or reduced to a level that would be deemed an improvement on what already exists and the planners will be particularly happy if they can get these improvements paid for by Mr. 7 flats , win win in their eyes.

Hi @LnP i suspect you have read my post regarding our experience with architect No1 so wont repeat myself , at least your quote indicates how many attempts they are expecting to make for the money . Personally unless you know 90% of you design before you sit down on that first meeting i cannot see how it is possible to go from being a bit clueless as to what you want to sending to planning in 3 meetings. On a positive note when we engaged with architect No2 we explained what we expected from them rather than sitting listening to them tell us how wonderful they are, don't think we needed to have done this as the experience was like night and day between the two. It took a total of 9 weeks from the first set of plans to sending to planning , i cannot tell you how many drawings were produced but he took a different approach i can remember the front elevation initially was sent out with 4 different styles we dismissed a couple and then he sent out 4 versions of each of the two we liked from this we pushed and pulled it around to what we have now ,we feel that we have seen an example of just about everything possible that we liked and was in budget on the plot .this process was repeated at every stage always with an external smile and we felt the he wanted to make sure that when we signed off on the plans we were 100% happy. on one exchange with swimbo regarding en-suite ,walk in wardrobe bedroom 1 he re-drew 4 times in an afternoon i liked the first one but kept my nose out. My advice would be , be honest with each other about what you expect to see on the final plans if you really do have no pre conceived ideas other than overall size and number of rooms and room type i don't see how 3 meetings is enough to make the number of decisions that are required to turn a dream into reality.

@nodNot sure about price rises but i have got to wait until August for my preferred brickie !

HI @Mulberry View reading your post it sounds a bit like our experience , we are now on our second architect after the first failed to deliver a set of plans we were happy to send to planning . in total the whole experience took 6 months in which time only 4 drawings were produced , the first meeting was very upbeat with lots of talk regarding build methods , modern styles of architecture , attention to detail , designing cost out of the build rather than designing something difficult to build , forever home wow factor etc. What we actually received as the first draft missed the brief by such a large margin i found it hard to believe the person who drew it had even listened to anything that had been discussed in that initial meeting , over the next 5 months we then received 3 reworkings of the same flawed design . In the end it was clear that the way they operated was, 1st drawing sent for us to make adjustments , 2nd drawing now included elevations for adjustments , 3rd drawing final adjustments , 4th sent to planning , as this did not suit our requirements we parted company. On a positive note you have a concept you are happy with so i would definitely pick up the phone and talk through the parts of the design that need attention and get a time frame as to how long this will take to resolve , also diplomatically let her know that until it is right you wont be signing it of for planning so its in her best interest also to help you finalize the design quickly so to free up her time . I most certainly would not suck it up, explain how undervalued you feel and also give her the opportunity to explain if she has any frustrations from your side , maybe you can come to an agreement on how to proceed and get back on plan. If you feel during this conversation that she is negative and is not really interested in putting any more time and effort into your project ( already put more into this than i thought i was going to ) ask what options you have regarding walking way and using someone else to finish the design and only pay for the pieces you consider complete , which by the sounds of it are the concept drawings .

Reading another thread here today about fabric first i thought i would ask opinions on the most cost effective way of insulating my roof . It is a bit of a monster at 360m2 , i will have 225 deep rafters at 600 centre's attic trusses, i know the simplest way would be to 150mm pir between and 50 underneath but with the cost coming in at 8-9k for the board then fitting any other inventive / cost effective way to get to 0.14 for less ?

@Mike_scotland is that EPS or PIR in the floor .

Hi @Thorfun found this useful for working out number of slates per m2 required , and what's in budget.

depending on the floor build up ( on block and beam ) 150 pir delivers 0.1

Hi , @Mike_scotland U-value Calculator (uvalue-calculator.co.uk) Someone posted this before i found it very helpful, and easy to use . 150mm pir is passive standard.

Price for the minimum and then keep adding 2k at a time until you hit a number your happy with , if its in budget happy days if not something's got to give , posh kitchen /weak sap , ikea kitchen/good sap . not quite that simple but you get my point . For new build homes, there are two levels for a designer to consider: Limiting Fabric Parameters: The minimum requirements for an individual building element. However if minimum standards were used throughout then the home would fail the overall TER (Target CO2 Emissions Rate). Concurrent Notional Dwelling Specification: A set of requirements for all building elements which together should meet the overall standard (the TER). Area Limiting Fabric Requirement W/(m2K) unless stated Concurrent Notional Dwelling Specification W/(m2K) unless stated Roof 0.2 0.13 Wall 0.3 0.18 Floor 0.25 0.13 Windows 2.0 1.4 Doors 2.0 1.0 – 1.4 depending on glazing Air permeability 10 m3/(h.m2) at 50 Pa 10 m3/(h.m2) at 50 Pa

So a hands on contracts manager for 10% of the build cost ? assuming the on line estimator is not under or over by a large % on each step and if you haven't the time to self manage or the skills to diy large parts of the build this could be a sensible option .

Whats more important to you ? Someone to manage the risk or cost . Would option D be on site every day during the build Managing the sub contractors or would he just slice the job up and book the trades meet on day one and give me a call when your done and I'll come.and check your work. Whats the difference in price between A and D .%.

Probably drank worse and gone home smiling ?

Thanks @Vijay just had a quick Google, definitely worth further investigation ?

Thanks for the replies, I think its more psychological than a need for heat , just something about the flickering flames on a cold day , I do have caveman tendencies.

Just settling in for the night in front of the fire , I'm beginning to wonder if not having fire place in the new home is something I might want to reconsider? Can you have a good air test with a real fire place ?

+1 depends where you are , round these parts anyone spending 2k per meter would be losing money hand over fist on the finished value also making lending a nightmare.

Building a bungalow , about 260 foot print (at the moment ) got to have a high ridge to match the street view , so pricing for 400m2 and hoping for less , every little helps?

So £21m2 to get to .14 in pir , thanks i have somewhere to start ?, going to need somewhere close to 400m2 ?.

Thanks @bart so your pitched roof is coming in at £1667 for 70m2 or £24 m2 ? what u value will that give ?

Hi @bart , where have you found the most competitive prices for insulation ? need to start pricing my roof up ?

The other side of the county ! right on the Cambs border

HI , is your Godfather looking to invest the monies raised from the sale of the land to fund say his retirement ? of needs the full amount paying back over a short time?

HI @Buildmeupbuttercup do you have an arial view of your house including the plot ? if you know which direction north is add this too. There are many on here who will be able to offer good advice on how to get the most bang for your buck once they can see this ?