Alan Ambrose

Double PB is a bit hard work for typical PB back boxes as they're only designed for one layer. You can make them work if you really want.

OK apologies for the diversion...

I just received this from the East Suffolk portal: "Outline application (some matters reserved) - Outline application with all matters reserved apart from access. A phased development, including the erection of up to 35 custom/self-build homes (plots), with the development to include 12 affordable homes, public open space that will include equipped play and multi-use games area, landscaping, and other associated infrastructure. - Land At Victoria Mill Road Framlingham Suffolk" https://publicaccess.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/online-applications/centralDistribution.do?caseType=Application&keyVal=RF1V8HQXME800

Can I check, am I in the right place for the grumpy old men meeting?

While I'm all in favour of getting contractors to do a good job and addressing directly with them any problems - I think you need to determine first whether there actually is a problem. Tell him you're concerned about the issues you are concerned about and ask for an explanation - make this by polite letter by recorded post because that makes it sound like you're treating it more seriously than might be assumed from a quick text / call / email exchange. Send this to his home address / or registered company address if a company (get that from companies house). Also you can check rather easily what sealing requirement there is for the stove you have - either by looking at the manual or calling the manufacturer. Do the smoke pellet test yourself and get a CO reading. If you are still sure you have a problem ask him to explain / fix it - again politely but with a firm deadline. Use the final options if you have no other alternative.

>>> I believe you can get fast-tracked if it's holding up a property sale My understanding too. >>> it was processed in a couple of days. I had a freehold transaction close in January and the LR only took a few days to register it - I was pleasantly surprised.

Doing the calcs for ours, I see I allowed 30cm margin all round. I'm not sure where I got that from, but I bet I found it in some BCO rule somewhere. The margins will likely end up bigger than that of course as you'll need to fit an integer number of panels.

>>> we found that the new one hit against the batten at the back Yeah agree, the last kitchen I designed had 650mm deep counter tops to avoid this problem.

I sealed ours with the RAIS-recommended combination of high temp rope and special sealant. Of course, you will use caution until you know it's sealed properly. It's probably completely obvious if it's not sealed. You can get some test smoke cartridges which you're meant to use to verify. He's a HETAS guy?

>>> Plus ground and weather risks, so avoid doing it in winter. Yeah, good point - this is on clay so choosing the right weather / water table will be important.

>>> What stops you making the ground floor bigger? As I said, the LPA heritage man is very resistant. Loads of writing about 'modest and low profile design' and 'subservience' - as though we are still C16 serfs and need to touch our forelocks every time we pass 'the main house'. On a practical note, the two designs have been in to planning for a couple of months and are coming up to the end of their 8-week period. Yes, I could file another design or two, but ... The original planning was only obtained at appeal so maybe there's some LPA sour grapes there.

A ballpark for you - a new pole and stays, de-rigging a single phase overhead about 50m long, and replacing with about the same length of underground including digging was £16.2K. It's less if you organise the trench digging yourself. This was UKPN, but I think they're all similar - although there are some tales on BH of people getting sympathetic treatment from their DNO. >>> NPower regs needs to be 5 M away from buildings I think there are some provisions for temporary moves and also temporary protection of cables during the build process if that helps any. >>> the woman who lived in the rikkety house had signed a deal with the devil for a few quid to have a pole in the garden and comes with an easement. It's worth double checking whether this binds you to this same arrangement. My understanding is that if it's a simple contract (rather a deed registered with the Land Registry) it probably doesn't. However, making the DNO aware of their lack of rights and then getting them to do something about it may take years. OTOH if you have a sympathetic DNO, it may not. I guess in all circumstances, asking the DNO for costs and timescale (and the best way to reduce both) won't hurt any.

>>> I ask because the cost of a basenent is about 3, maybe 4, times that of an enlargement of the area at ground level. To this you add the in life risks of drainage problems. The LPA are being a challenge - they've gone a bit loopy over our 1.5 storey design, so we may need to go with a single storey design. They are obsessed with 'subservience' to the fairly dull grade II 50m away. It seems every farmhouse is listed in Suffolk - there's 4,120 of them. So the basement seems a fairly easy way of getting some extra floor area. We can dump all the plant down there and have all the storage and workshop space we want. As long as it comes in at less than 4.5K per m^2 - which is the rough cost of quality housing around here, then we're ahead, believe it or not. I'm confident we can address the drainage problems with a bit of careful design - we'll probably do something very similar to @Bitpipe - which is why his post is very helpful to me. Actually I have a question for him re: "the pit was a separately cast open box which butted up to the insulated main structure". How was the joint to the main basement done - was it thoroughly watertight, or maybe it didn't need to be if the water table is always fairly low?

Thanks for writing that up in detail - very interesting. Your door opening was cast in the main basement part as it was done? Any chance of an anonymised copy of your GI spec for comparison - that is the bit given to the GI guys for them to quote on?

>>> Soudal Silirub 2 Thanks Craig - I used this silicone and like it . It flows fairly easily which I liked.

OK a couple of images of mine, these are oak and so the fasteners are stainless. They're 5-years old now so have gone a silvery colour. I got the suppliers to cut them and figured out the dimensions so they used either whole or 1/2 sleepers - so there was no wastage and no need to cut on site.

>>> but next time one pops up I’ll share the details. Thanks for that. It's this sort of thing, of course, where the barn-style building on the left is 'CGI' and superimposed:

Thanks for the reply - I've contacted one guy on there but I suspect he's more 'real estate retouching'. We'll see. I forgot to ask - anyone know the right term for this - compositing / staging seem to be close but not quite there? Similarly 'property CGI' which seems to be high-end photo-realistic stuff.

Hi, Does anyone have any leads / recommendations for imaging editing services - I want to drop our CAD house design into photos of the existing scene. This is to appease some LPA requests. The quality of the render of the house design isn't crazy important - it's the visual relationship between the proposed building and a 'heritage' building nearly that's the thing. Ta, Alan

Welcome to the forum. I don't know why there are not more self builders on BuildHub using oak frames - because there are maybe a dozen oak frame companies - and they're clearly building houses for someone. If oak frame is a possibility and will provide the main structural element, then one logical questions is 'what does it get clad with'? Well you clearly need some insulation and 'something to contain it', some air-tightness, some vapour barrier, some 'rain screen' (that is, the outside layer that sheds most of the rain off), and maybe something to help control racking. Larsen trusses and, say, cellulose fibre could be a part of that. I can see SIPs being a possibility also as they would provide some of the functions above. With sandstone rock and sandy soil (and therefore reasonably firm) and the frame distributing the load mostly around the floor plate / edge of the foundation by then you can probably use any of the foundation methods you have suggested. Maybe @Gus Potter (an SE) and @GaryChaplin (an oak frame guy) will have time to comment.

>>> Do you really need that pit / stairwell that badly? My understanding is that if there's any thought of 'habitable space' (now or in the future) then there needs to be two means of egress. Seems sensible too. As an engineer (at least, of sorts ), the prospect of draining any rain out by sump and pump doesn't fill me with too much concern. I guess this could be mitigated, if desired with say a glass roof to keep most of the rain out. Also the ability to get stuff down there fairly easily for the plant room / workbench is appealing as I was only planning a spiral staircase otherwise.

>>> Don’t be to quick to cross off a log burner Yeah, agree, one of my must haves. And I know that cellulose is popular here but I have some of the same concerns as @saveasteading

>>> Now non of us can actually live at the CET location Well presumably at least one person can

One option is just to let it weather to a nice silver colour - as long as there are no significant areas that receive regular water splash and remain constantly damp. You then end up with a nearly no-paint / no-maintenance finish. If you look at Elizabethan houses you'll find that the old untreated oak has gone nearly black and crazy hard. That's the beauty of oak.

>>> Softening the feel of a concrete slab floor Out of curiosity, I visited the battersea power station building yesterday. I swear the concrete slabs they were used for 1st floor and above flooring had some give to them. Is there such a thing as concrete and rubber crumb mix? Ah, I see there is: https://www.theengineer.co.uk/content/news/crumb-rubber-from-end-of-life-tyres-recycled-into-concrete/