Alan Ambrose

I just installed my German-sourced version. Works fine. 10 mins to install in software, 1 day to run the cable. Would prefer it if it came in white and had a gasket behind to ward off damp. The 15 degrees wedge was a bit much, so I might 3d print a 5 or 10 degree version. Yet to really see how it does on object detection and the doorbell answering feature when I'm away. There's an option to turn on or off the highlight led at night. Looks a bit creepy when you can just see the dull red of the IR LEDs with the highlight LED off - so that's good for security .

Post your design for us to admire?

>>> I do feel sorry for my mum. If it helps any, I got this kind of thing for my mum: https://ownfone.com/ ... and also she was able to use an Alexa box at home, 'Alexa call Alan' etc. We were able to see her on video which was handy.

I used to hang around in old Strowger exchanges waiting for my dad to clock off. Wow, they were noisy but fascinating. We got FTTP a few years ago here, so after having disastrous internet we now have something ridiculously fast and reliable. Incredibly there's fttp available at our new rural plot. We still have our old landline number on retention, but we've never seen a need to do anything but use our mobiles since we abandoned copper.

I think that anyone should be able to do the materials buying if you're a bit thorough. You can save bundles there if you're careful. Then maybe it's a judgement about what you feel confident doing / what day rate you're saving / what you can stomach doing. For me that would be chippy and installation (internal studs, roofing, cladding, plasterboard, PV) - tasks that are not too long or too skilled. Electrics and plumbing (and arrange to get the electrics tested and signed off). I probably couldn't be bothered with tiling or painting although I could do it. Plastering, bricklaying, screed I view as a bit skilled. But then my dad was the kind of guy who could do anything and we kids just assumed that was the way the world worked. Quite a lot of electrics, for instance, is pulling cables, installing sockets etc - some guys are billing £1K a day for that. Similarly plumbing, installing UFH etc. I would have to stop myself being too 'self-build', doing everything and exhausting myself.

@Iceverge - yeah, I'm not a great fan of Celotex etc either, so something else would be better. I haven't given it a great deal of thought or done much investigation yet - I should leaf through my passivehouse books again. Blown cellulose in Larsen trusses sounds a bit like wrapping the building in cotton wool . My inclination was to cover the frame in ply to make a big super-strong and fairly air-tight box and then apply the rest of the lay-up to either side. My understanding, on our current barn conversion, is that to avoid letting the old oak frame become unstable, the builder stripped off the existing cladding boards in sections and replaced them with some sort of wood sheet. Then he worked both inwards and outwards. @Papillon - that does look pretty. I did consider an inset balcony for the top floor but it seemed to take up quite a lot of space. If the planners were not so awkward and hung up on footprint, ridge height, building line etc, it would be easier. For Georgian terraces in town, fine, I get it. But for rural hamlets where everything was built before 1947 and exactly how they fancied at the time - not so much.

>>> and the odd shared bath Well somebody has to go: ooh err missus etc.

I have just been entering the bare bones of our planning application on the Planning Portal site. I just did a trial run through the 'Calculate Fee' section and see under 'Reductions': 'The application is an alternative proposal submitted by the same applicant on the same day for the same site'. I see a 50% reduction for the second application. Well we were planning to put in two alternative designs, so presumably that applies to us?

Congrats, one more positive score for the team

@eandg >>> the design will look much better on site than on paper Good point, the CAD images above are straight out of Fusion, and I should import them into SketchUp or similar to get some better ones. >>> a bit too much going on for me with respect to glazing Yes, I like natural light and we're around the upper limit. In fact we've reduced some areas since the images above, following a Part O Simple Method analysis. I'm intending to get TM59 running and then apply some shading / solar control glazing mitigation. We may still require some glazing reduction after that. My strategy is to apply for planning with max glazing and then reduce later once the basic idea looks like it'll get approved. I plan to do that using a non-material amendment following the full TM59 analysis. @Iceverge >>> Oak framed structure, wrapped in a hempcrete exterior wall or a lightweight timber frame with straw infill >>> Something about the mass produced nature of sheets of OSB and polystyrene mixed with oak mortars and tennon joints etc just jars a bit. I agree. My dad, in his later years, had some 'engineered' wood on his floors which surprised me. I still have an an aversion to OSB/mdf/chipboard and much prefer ply if we can afford it. Our current little barn structurally is all hanging off on the original oak frame and I planned to do something similar. Unfortunately I don't have the exact floor / wall / roof lay up for our existing place, and I have not figured this out for the new structure. The current barn is something like: membrane + 60mm Celotex FR5000 between studs + 30mm Celotex TB4000 + 12.5mm Knauf wallboard. Then external sheathing - not fully specified on the docs I have. There's something like 50mm Celotex GA5000 + Trioso super 10 + membrane in the roof + sheathing. Clearly, we need much better insulation than our current place. I see you can get SIPs with ply outer layers, so maybe that's the compromise.

Well, thanks for your thoughts. While we would love a more contemporary design, our pre-app had a design based on our existing 1850's barn. The planner's first words were 'it's very modern, isn't it?' Re the other points: we may not use oak if crazy expensive but instead use good quality glulam or similar. But we love the crooked oak frame in our current barn and I can't imagine glulam is actually much cheaper. I've built smaller green oak-framed structures before myself (i.e. several tons of oak) and, while not intending to build this one, I feel I know enough to control the cost of the exposed frame. For instance, green oak at retail in smallish quantity is ~£2.5K per m^3. I figure we have ~£60-70K of oak here, using 250x250mm sections, and that's at retail prices. I don't have quotes for the frame yet, but I would hope I can limit it to 3x the retail wood cost. It would be also be the main structural element (so the equivalent of, say, block walls and wooden roof structure) and, of course, a big aesthetic one. Also, my dad was a builder of wooden boats and he instilled in me a love of real wood. Re basements, if they add more value per m^2 than they cost and provide loads of good storage space without bothering the planners, then great. The porch is just a place to put coats and boots and provide some higher elevation light - we really like the light from the east-looking glazing above the front door of our existing place (first image below). Re the balconies, I'm sure I can design and source galvanised steel supports for the balconies, and find a sensible way to hang them off the frame. There's a guy locally who makes smaller green oak structures, but failing that, I wouldn't be above breaking out the chisels for that smallish job. And I can see sitting out in the morning or evening with a cup of tea or a beer observing the wildlife or admiring the view. On the south side particularly, the balcony also provides shading to the large glazing below. Following a TM59 analysis, I'm anticipating that we may need a horizontal shade for the bedroom windows on the SW side too. I don't quite get the 'glazed porch monstrosity' criticism - the prominent, perpendicular bay with double doors, often positioned in the centre of the main frame, is a traditional bit of Suffolk barn design. Time back, the planners wouldn't let you glaze anything much but that part. See the last 4 images attached. In fact, our current barn had a smaller version of that before it was converted into a dwelling.

@Gone West that was the sum total? Wow.

Suggest you: + learn about everything you can and try to spot all the problems you can up front, + if you can't/don't want to do that, then you need a trusted builder / handyman to do that work for you, + when that person is paid, they become a 'clerk of works', + monitor all trades closely, especially at the planning stage, unless you've used them before and know their work to be good, + be aware that some mistakes will always be made, but the objective is to spot the big/expensive issues up front and manage around them, This is the 'risk management' part of project management. Same skills as used in the tech business. I'm naturally a pessimist and assume everything can/will go wrong, so I'm a good project manager

I don't know if this is helpful - but one of the founders was an Imperial College engineering professor that I know. The objective was to help insulate existing housing stock - particularity Victorian houses which often have timber floor on joists, then air gap, then ... earth. Insulating new houses is actually a fairly easy problem (!) compared to retrofit. He won't be hands on, but the original idea would have been sound. He has consulted for Rolls Royce, he started the design engineering department at Imperial etc etc.

OK this kind of thing? Makes sense.

@Iceverge thanks for the passivehouseplus links - they have some very useful detail in there. @Conor I'm researching the kitchen / open plan / stairs thing. I've seen some references to 'Type 3 open plan' / Approved Document B and some sense that it may or may not be allowed in 2 storey houses with or without sprinklers/mists. I've yet to find the definitive reference though. @ProDave yeah, let me mull over the stair location options, including your idea of putting the stairs on the other side of the hall. 'Make the wall either side of the stairwell a supporting wall' - I don't quite understand that one yet, but let me think about it. Thank you for everyone's comments.

>>> We also have far too much glazing on the south elevation though. I was hoping to offset most of this with shades etc - which needs TM59 to check it. Did you have any calcs beforehand and did the real world not reflect the calcs? >>> What are the row of 5 small squares evenly spaced along the centreline of the downstairs? As JohnMo said, these are the centre vertical posts of the trusses. So there are 7 evenly spaced trusses in all. That's similar to our current barn which has 6 with about the same spacing. This might make you laugh - yes, the corner is leaning over crazily and yes, they did use any old bits of wood they could find.

Well thanks for everyone's fast replies - a bunch of things to think about. I've answered some of the questions below: >>> To get to the right hand study, you have to ascend the stairs then walk all the way round the gallery to get to it. Yeah, I had thought of this, but forgotten it again. >>> Our kitchen is open to the rest of the house, BC won't allow this, you'll need to close it off somehow. Interesting point - we expect to have sprinklers anyway as it's a big pile of wood. Is there a regulation somewhere? >>> Is that an existing entrance or new one? You look close to a road junction/laneway? An existing one and just a small bend. The road is a 'quietway' and gets v. little traffic. The plot does have existing planning, so in principle highways have already approved this entrance. >>> What going on with the roof? >>> Not sure of the mixed size of windows in roof and solar panels looks messy, try to standardize the sizes. 5 skylights on each side, otherwise PV panels. The skylights are the bigger Veluxes, otherwise standard solar panels. >>> Roof Pitch on both main roof and mid-stay porch, need to be steeper, in the 45°-50° range, and for a traditional timber structure it appears too wide. That looks good but to my mind wastes a lot of space / light / material. I should say that this roof pitch is 25 degrees and we live in a converted barn in Suffolk now, the original structure being from about the 1850's, and that is 20 degrees pitch - so I don't feel so bad about the slope. Our current barn, which is quite small for a dwelling is 6.5m wide (1.5 bedrooms, one shower room only). Next to the plot - there's another recently converted barn about 25-30m away (you can just see a corner of it on the block plan) which is single storey, 22 degrees roof pitch, about 8m x 22m. You are right though, the 10m width is pushing it a bit - 12.5m oak beams are the max that are commonly available. >>> I imagine you have a height restriction to combine the current width Yeah, effectively 1.5 storeys, say 7.5m, to be not taller than some of the neighbours.

OK we think we're getting fairly close to submitting this. This is one of two designs we have - this one is parallel to the road as the planners prefer. The plot is in a small hamlet in Suffolk and the design is a modern take on a Suffolk barn. That's a style we like and we hope it should also go down OK with neighbours and planners. We want that the two of us can work from home comfortably and have friends & family to visit. We may go for a basement if the clay ground conditions and budget allow. This is planned on a timber frame - oak if we can afford it - hence the regularity of the plan. We've probably got too much glazing right now according to Part O, but expect to do a TM59 analysis later to optimise the glass. All thoughts welcome. TIA, Alan

OK I finally found time to pursue this. I measured the pressures and did a bit more examination: The incoming pressure is 6.1 bar and, after the cold water shut-off ball valve, goes straight into a Reliance CWIC355090 Monobloc ( https://www.reliancevalves.com/sites/rv/files/2022-06/Reliance Valves 22mm Compact One Piece Inlet Control Group Data Sheet.pdf ) 3.5 bar PRV with 6 bar relief. This also has a 'balanced cold water take off'. The expansion tank air pressure was about 2.5 bar (with the hot water pressure released) and I topped that up to 3.5 bar. I see the hot water pressure itself is 3 bar normally. About 0.2L of hot water comes out when I shut off the incoming water pressure and open a hot tap. I sort of convinced myself the hammer was less when I topped up the expansion tank a bit. I see that some of the pipes could be better supported and I ordered this kit ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0956LDKSQ ) which should arrive today. Then I had a bit of a brainwave - the hammer is largely coming from the cold tap but the expansion tank is on the hot circuit. Duh. So, its likely the HW set-up is fine. I should say that it's hard to see the exact pipe routing and connections as the pipes are mostly behind the HW tank. So, I may need a low volume expansion tank / arrestor on the cold side? The only problem is that it may be very difficult to fit with the pipes where they are.

Look at annular cutters - the go to brand is Rotabroach. I would rent a mag drill if you’ve got more than a couple to do. You need a slow speed, cutting fluid, to clear the chips out regularly (e.g. with compressed air) and to control the drill pressure. The forces are high so be careful as others have said.

I think UKPN have a spec somewhere, concrete base etc - ask them. But this kind of thing: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193232069236 not necessarily that size though. One option is to keep the meter in there for ever.

Thanks, some interesting insight. Clever to make the North facade the most glazed. I was surprised that you had to increase the size of the windows, my feeling (I have not done the ventilation calcs yet) was that I would be struggling to keep the glazing I want. The paper I listed above showed a comparison between IES VE and EnergyPlus and the conclusions included "Significant differences were recorded between predictions, with the EnergyPlus models recording a high overheating risk in seven out of the nine cases, while IES VE predicted a low overheating risk for all models." That suggests to me some TM59 game playing by choosing the package that comes up with the most helpful results? I can't help feeling that Part O is very badly thought out. I'm reading a bunch of stuff on PHPP & TM59 right now.

Ah, thanks I see you have an image in this thread: https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/topic/31617-ideas-wanted-to-pass-part-o-simplified-modelling-or-to-use-dynamic-modelling/#comment-467880 FYI another couple of things I couldn't get a clear steer from the 'regs' (in the Part O Guidance) are: + there doesn't seem to be any sense of angle to the sun in the Simple Method - so roof lights are a bit problematical. Which compass direction are they facing - well often mostly 'up' of course. + in a similar vein, if you have roof lights over a 1+ storey void, then do they 'belong' to the ground floor or to the one above? + re security - if you live in the countryside, is it considered 'secure' (only for the purposes of these calcs) to sleep with ground floor windows open? Doors? (As far as we're concerned we normally sleep in summer most of the year with ground floor bedroom windows open.) And general observations: + Part O is all about the problems of solar gain, nowhere does it mention or consider the benefits (economic / climate / amenity) of solar gain. + The actual TM59 software mentioned in the Guidance examples is: IES VE 2021 3.1.0 (this is 'send for quote') TAS software v9.5.2 (£200 p.m.) - it's curious that CIBSE has specified in TM59 some simulation and CFD calcs without specifying (a) exactly what those calcs are, (b) a list of software which is deemed to observe the calcs, (c) a verification method for that software. I see also that DesignBulder software claims to be TM59 compliant and uses the free US-based EnergyPlus for simulation and HVAC. There's some TM59 notes for using it here: https://designbuilder.co.uk/helpv7.0/Content/CIBSETM59.htm

@Susie - thanks is it possible to add an image of the elevations so we can get an idea of what that % of glazing looks like in practice? TIA, Alan