Alan Ambrose

Those look like simple beam calcs to me (it’s a long time since I studied ‘structures’). It just answers the ‘how big should the beam be’ question. I would ask if they intend to provide construction drawings / specs or whether it’s assumed the rest of the detail is understood by the builder. This is not so dumb if the builder and the engineer regularly work together. Alan

Congrats - I think mortgage companies and surveyors are super nervous atm about ‘non traditional’ - sparked by the cladding thing. Nice heh. They run a mile as fast as they can at the earliest whisper of trouble - ‘corporate social responsibility’ anyone? Then their marketing departments will trot out ‘we’re just here to help’, ‘the listening bank’ etc. Alan

I find it funny that there a great deal of heat here re CAD files. I do a lot of 3D engineering CAD and really, either way it’s not such a big deal: + it’s not _such_ a big deal to re-create some CAD files from some images or ‘paper’ drawings. Yeah it’s a bit dull and take a few hours but done carefully and checked, sometimes it adds a bit of increased quality to redo the CAD - as it might any job where you do it a second time. I’m assuming here we’re not talking about dozens or hundreds of drawings. + re Architects & liability for files changed by someone else. Goodness gracious me, what a fuss. The architect should just specify that their logos and ID should be removed if changes are made (if that’s what they really want) and that they obviously don’t have any liability for someone else’s work (it’s not really necessary to point that out though). Otherwise welcome to the digital world, embrace it. Supposing my job is to write reports - would it be OK to insist someone always re-types my text again? Maybe I would just insist that they give me credit in any new docs where they quote my work. + I regularly import photos, shots from Google earth, and images acquired from all over the place into CAD. I scale correctly and read off any approx. dimensions I need. Be aware that this in an approximate process for a few reasons, but if the need is to get an approx. result only, that just works fine and is very quick. What level of accuracy are you working to? I suggest 10cm for groundwork’s and 1cm for building is as accurate as you can reasonably expect. It other fields I regularly work in nanovolts, parts per million and microns. Get a grip :). Alan

I know this is an old-ish thread, but recommendations for East Anglian groundwork’s folks would be good. TIA, Alan

Hmm, am I right in thinking: as there are not many small plots sold, I guess there's not a lot of business and/or experience actually out there? Alan

Ah I see - the time of say that the sun shines right up your .... ... nearly south-facing windows . Nice - hopefully, that kind of argument will sway the planners. Thanks, Alan

>>> We faced the main glazed orientation of our house to about 155deg ( South being 180deg). This was partly for views but it also brings "house noon" forward by about an hour helping the house heat faster in the morning and reduce solar gain in the afternoon at the expense of overall daily global solar gain. <<< Ah sounds clever. Google isn't helping with 'house noon' - possible to describe? Alan

Hi, Does anyone have a solicitor or conveyancer they would recommend for a fairly simple plot purchase? Bonus points if they're based in East Anglia . I've searched the forums here but can't see any actual names. Someone must have had a good experience? TIA, Alan

Ah OK understand. >>> Design what you want. Explain your reasoning to the planners. Good point. I plan to do a pre-app with our preferred orientation making a big deal about the 'eco-benefits' of good sun orientation - hopefully and bearing in mind the recent heatwave those arguments should have some sway - I'll let you know. Alan

For anyone else reading this thread, I make that £36.3K total i.e. £291 + VAT per m². Alan

@Johnnyt Errr, with the various drone, solar planning and Google earth shots, I can't quite figure out which way is up. Google earth & solar planning - North is up? Drone shot - up is South East? Alan

>>> East - west split for PV will be plenty useful enough, and that’s what I’m doing. My ridge runs S - N. I expect a very long solar day. Yeah, we also have an existing little barn which is '15 degrees more SW facing' i.e. the ridge is about 345 degrees (NNW-SSE) and we like that orientation a lot. We get morning sun on the front and evening sun on the back together with no S-facing windows so we don't overheat. That's what we are trying to emulate on the new plot plus adding some solar panels. Alan

OK, v. good info and thanks everyone for the quick feedback. Alan

Ah interesting, thanks. Alan

>>> Can you not design the front at the front, just to please the planners, but have other sections of house orientated to do what you want. That's actually a bit tricky as the plot is long-ish and narrow-ish. The questions is: are there actually some 'rules' somewhere or is it just convention? Alan

Hi, I have a question I have not been able to find the answer to after a few hours of Googling... It seems generally accepted to design with the principal elevation of a new house parallel to the road. Depending on the compass direction of the road though that doesn't work necessarily very well for the best orientation to the sun for solar panels and shading etc. Ideally, for best sun direction I would like to orient the house about 45 degrees to the road. Are there some 'planning rules' somewhere which might prevent that? TIA, Alan

Hi, I don't claim to have done an exhaustive market analysis - but I just replaced an Uponor UFH set-up (the thermostats / controller / actuators) with a Heatmiser one that is app-controlled. Works fine. Alan