Oz07

Where do we stand with these design and fixing details? How much common sense can be employed nowadays before you have to involve an engineer?

So you had your frames made 18mm smaller all around or made internal openings 18mm bigger? Or am i misunderstanding

The weight of the leafs ok on brackets like that? Do the jambs not bend?

Not a bad idea but could be a big dowel. You could make the dowel look like a big square peg if you wanted i suppose?

How far are your frames overhanging the cavity out of interest? Im always looking how people do this detail and finish it. Can door frames be fixed just on brackets too or do you need side fixings into substrate?

Youve only got a certain thickness to work with its not like you can fit 50mm insulation between brackets and plasterboard. Is the thermal performance of such a small amount of insulation really going to make much of a difference in this situation? Id be inclined to just fit plasterboard up that reveal with a full backing / bed of that fm330 air tight foam stuff hopefully then seal up those cavity closers

Are you happy with seeing the threaded bar and washers? Could you use some kind of coach screw from back of trimmer that the newel sits on into the back of the newel so not visible.

Id not be as concerned if it was just the slab and not foundations. Look for cracks in walls to see if foundations have moved. Internal corners often don't get the hardcore compacted as well so sometimes sound a bit hollow anyway. Maybe the moisture levels changing in the soil haveade the ground move a bit in that corner?

Loos work better on the reduced ceiling height wall if it works with your layout. No odd shower screen shapes or workarounds needed

Be okay if was just a partition but that looks poor for a load bearing stud. I can't believe the cut in the middle of joist is designed like that. How many are cut like that? Whats the bottom of that stud sitting on, is the floor below load bearing?

Use aircrete blocks or lightweight conc if worried about weight

Digression but have you seen how narrow some of the joints are on some victorian stuff. Very much like 6mm on some houses makes you appreciate how good they were at setting out and cutting.

So the plot we are looking at has planning for a single storey of approx 400m2, around 40m long and around 10m deep. Too big for us but would be handy to do it as 200/250m2 house with an annex to the other side of around 150m2 depending how much we loose on the central hall where it could split nicely. I wouldn't be doing it with the idea of splitting off, don't want to be living next door to a tenant. However it would be good for family who visit for long periods each year. Potentially even move parents in next door as years get on. Are there any gotchas to watch out for when re submitting planning for this? I think i will have to do either s73 or full resubmission because of the external changes I want. I will ask about this in a pre app. Am I best to mention the annex in pre app or will it negatively affect the prospects of application? Is it a case of stating only to be used by family in the new application or pre app? Do others just keep internal layout as 1 unit for planning then split on BR drawings? Seems unethical. Thanks

Not sure how much faith I'd have in any bc dept having a qualified person to check an elec installation. Last time I used them to sign off replacement windows they came and used their machine testing for the soft coat glass on the outside. As above of they did offer this service at all surely it would be subbed out and likely expensive.

Was the solar gain on glazing areas easier to pass under old regs could be one to watch for

I suppose the thermo brick creates a bigger buffer between the slab and outside masonry instead of just an insulation upstand. Sorry i was just thinking of the effect on the door frame. Are these ok to be exposed below ground then or do they still require rendering?

Unless you are breaking the bridge with a continuous course of these on the outside then surely you still have a similar bridge towards the bottom of the door jambs and bottom edges of the cills. Is the cold bridge towards the bottom of the building significantly worse than the masonry at 1m above ground?!

You could just stick to the self build product if the charge was bigger than the coat of switching to standard mortgage. It seems these mortgage providers are concerned with similar things you have to input for insurance quotes on comparison sites. I hadn't twigged that the material your roof was covered in effected mortgagability. Good tip there above @ChrisInKent

How durable are these thermoblocks. That outside render detail looks a right pita. Admittedly you wouldn't have to do this if using them on the inside skin of cavity wall but doesn't fill you with confidence. Is the thermal bridge on the bottom of a door cill that much worse than up the jambs that it justifies a row of these below frames? What about windows?!

Interesting on the cladding. Is it to do with being flammable? Also interesting about the lenders preferring to be on-board for purchase. I had a self build mortgage on my first and bought plot myself before getting a mortgage. Is it the case you can apply for the mortgage when you purchase and have the charge put onto the property then and only draw down funds when needed?

I dont think you need to stop the beads they are not going to wick. Cant they sit on the conc infill? I had dritherm bats so managed to keep 3" off conc with the ties but pretty sure eps could go down to bottom. I did the aircrete blocks kept dry on my current place. You dont nessecarily have to wrap the dpm back in although it would be neat. You will have another dpm at finished floor level anyway

They seemed to be an a standard part of the approval round here but I noticed them being dropped in last few years

I'd squirt some foam in there just to give the filler a bit of backing else you will just keep pushing it up?

With regards to s73 what dies this mean in laymans terms? Does it literally mean only altering the conditions not the plans? There is no statutory limit on the degree of change permissible to conditions under s73, but the change must only relate to conditions and not to the operative part of the permission.

Yes this would be dealt with in conveyancing. Its not been stated upto now so can't see it being the case. Yeh I was going to submit a pre app listing my changes and asking if they could be dealt with under a non mat. Like you say just marking the existing drawings. I will need to use someone for the building regs and pcc though so will eventually need the original drawings playing around with. I would get this double checked in conveyancing but If the agent has said the vendor has permission to use copyright (and presumably sell to new owner) i have to assume i am good? I was just unsure where you stand when you start tweaking. Maybe its a question for conveyancer to explicitly ask during conveyancing. Ie does vendor have permission to pass on copyright to existing plans including making any changes buyer would want to make or something similar?