deancatherine09

So here's what we did; 1) We specified a separate return duct so all the outside lights and plug sockets go out of the building under the slab, then get routed behind the exterior cladding in the service cavity. 2) We have a specific duct in for the data and CCTV camera wires 3) We have two outside taps, one is teed off before the water pipe enters the house but the other one we ended up drilling through the house from the kitchen as it made sense given the location. We did all the airtightness taping etc and insulated the pipe. You don't want to mix data and power cables in the same duct so map out what you want coming in and out, and go from there. MBC didn't charge us extra for the additional conduits we wanted but we did supply the pipe.

Oh thank goodness & hope they do the same in England - hate the things. Around here pretty much every house has one and the air in the winter is sometimes like smog 🤢 so much for 'fresh air' in the countryside We've luckily got MVHR which will filter out the pollutants from WB smoke in our house.

We've got non softened water piping to our kitchen sink, tap in outside BBQ area & fridge supply. Didn't bother with the other bathroom sinks as I never normally drink water from a bathroom tap!

Go to the NSBRC if you can and play around with the exhibits there, most (if not all) suppliers mentioned on this thread have displays there. We were 100% set on a set of sliders until we tried some of them at the NSBRC. Same with windows, lots of the 3g ones have very thick frames. ETA Nordan windows are awful - they have them in the Scotframe exhibition house in NSBRC. They are a significant cut below the other manufacturers IMO.

The size of the windows was the biggest surprise for us too! Progress is looking good! Love the window seat idea

That's very poor Ours are all clipped at 600mm centres and fully insulated.

We've got Velfac - have been very happy with the windows and doors but they've only been in 1 year. We chose them as they have the thinnest frames and also offered the bi-parting slide door (which suited our requirements perfectly). However, performance of the approved installer with regards to manufacturing and fitting the cills has been a different story.....

That's positive!

It really isn't clear. After posting here I went on the BuildHub guide and on there it seems to suggest otherwise. I think, to be on the safe side, I will buy everything pre completion cert. For us its things like patio materials, tiles etc - things that are not needed to be finished for Building Control completion but would be allowable on the VAT reclaim.

Can you still claim for things bought after the official completion cert is issued?

We are going with microcement. Bought the kit from Relentless for 120sqm for just under £3k for the whole of downstairs and going to apply ourselves. Ours is an insulated raft with power floated concrete / UFH already in so the microcement will just sit on top.

We've always had a F&P double drawer dishwasher and love them. For us (a couple), they are excellent as you only have half the space to fill and so it means we are not running a half empty dishwasher. It also saves a lot of bending when loading / unloading the top drawer (which is the one we use most often). We got ours several years ago and paid £800 in the sale.

We've got a Velfac door which is beautiful, good U value (and was a reasonable price too!) but maybe too modern for you? This is ours, but they do other styles

We love the style of Steel Crittal windows / doors but were building a passivehouse, and the two don't really mix well! In the end we went with Velfac 3g units in black with glazing bars, which look really nice.

Diagram below shows house, red line is hardcore. Second pic is aerial view of what they have dug, green line original retaining wall.