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Maybe I can get the floor widths down to 250mm, an 10cm would help. Wonder realistically how high I could push the ridge height undetected. ?

Hi all I have proposed ridge height of 7.75m, eaves 5m, maybe we could get away with cheekily pushing the ridge to 8m.. Going to use 195mm easijoists, so estimate the total floor widths would be 300mm, and I believe the standard ceiling height is 2.4m, so that leaves very approximately 2m of height for the loft. Now I'm wondering if it would be wise to reduce the ceiling height to 2.3m or perhaps keep 2.4m on the ground floor and reduce the first floor height as it only has bedrooms/bathroom. Any thoughts? The loft is a must as need the extra bedroom.

Hi all, I don't think this will be a "go-er", however land has come up in a good location for my office, any idea how I can get a reasonably looking, 2 storey office on there cheaply? I've looked at modular buildings which look good, not seeing many prices though. It will be around 8 by 8 meters. Any thoughts appreciated

I feel for you, I lot of us have been there, it doesn’t make it any less painful though :(

Really liking the idea of this, will contact them for an idea of costs. Would be good to hear from anyone who has used this method.

Thanks peeps, still mulling this over at the moment.

Thanks I’ll have a look at Tony’s build. ICF, I have to say I didn’t really give it much consideration before as I thought it may cause problems being a more unusual construction method. Flood risk, well it’s never flooded but with tail end risk plus climate change it could, with the EA wanting the FFL 600mm above this figure it’s not going to be an option to Elevate the house much and definitely not to the EA level. At the moment I’ve only been looking at u values, the solid wall idea is a new ish one after someone posted.

Not sure if it’s ridiculous to consider solid walls for a new build. I have done a lot of googling on the subject, it seems you can get a decent U value without the wall being too thick, some suggesting even thinner than would be required with cavity walls! Im considering it because there is a flood risk, and I believe solid walls are preferable in this situation, water in the cavity wouldn’t be pleasant even if I chose closed cell insulation. Other positives could be, depending on route chosen, dense block work could be a great sound barrier, or it opens up the possibility of more interesting brick bonds. Have double the bricks would be pretty expensive though. I can’t work out if condensation is a risk, some people say it is a risk with solid walls, others think cavity wall insulation will be the next ppi for its damp risks.. That brings me on to the next thing internal or external wall insulation, it seems external is preferable, however internal offers the chance to have more interesting brick work. In my mind I think external would be more effective, however with external surely you will lose a lot of energy heating the dense blocks? You wouldn’t have this with internal insulation. Hmmm. Going around in circles with this one!

any one got any thoughts on Internal vs External wall insulation? Seriously considering a solid wall. If i had IWI I could have a full brick wall, which would open up some different brick patterns, although this would be more expensive. I should be able to fit all the insulation myself, which I wouldnt be so confident doing with EWI. EWI I could use cheap blocks, and I think the render would be more hard wearing than bricks... Although the bricks specs are as following. Compressive strength ≥ 75N/mm2 Water absorption ≤ 7% Durability F2 Active soluble salts content S2

Cheers chaps, it looks like I’ll need a pro as the measurement need to be to the cm, the gps equipment is hugely expensive.

I suspect I may need to hire a land surveyor, however is there a way to measure a mAOD with basic (ish) equipment? Google isnt giving anything away. Thanks

Looking for some software to create scaled floor plans, which can be used for building regs and if possible planning. Tried draftsight but it keeps crashing, which seems a common problem, won’t install or register. Argh. Any other ideas?

I want to try and to as much of this process myself as with any changes the professional fees are already eye watering. Possible changes, WC relocation, building wider, possible loft conversion an changes to the windows (maybe add another one). So not much!

I read that as, some people don’t bother?

If my build evolves as I go along, I can’t be the only one, does any one know what happens to the initial approval? Do I need to do the whole thing again etc? is this something that is easy to do? thanks in advance

Hi all, I cant quite make up my mind on the best kitchen layout. The first and second include a space for either a full height window or door, the third is what I was originally going to do. The front of the house faces east, so the additional window will face south, however there is a single story building where the boundary wall is, which may limit light. Also it will over look the tandem parking spaces, maybe a side door would be useful. Don't think I'll bother with high wall units as it will make the kitchen look smaller.

A sound engineer has said a sealed doorway will reduce noise travel. Wonder if it a sound maze coupled with wall vents could be the solution.

Okay thanks. Still a shame as mucks with my sound insulation plans

Do you not find it draughty? Im wondering if it would be better to have an input and output in the bathroom etc. But that might mean there is a mass of piping etc

Ah, for sound insulation I was going to have air tight doors.

I was surprised there was only an extract in the bathroom, if the door is closed the air needs to come from somewhere right?

First of all, new build, not a PH. Around 130m2 over 2.5 floors. I have seen a lot of systems have one vent that draws the air from the kitchen, loos/bathrooms etc and blows air into the bedrooms and living rooms. Is this “best”? I imagined there would be a lot more vents... Also is there a decent slimline/small system?

Sorry @nod what’s mf?

Cheers. Looking at at both internal and external.

Im hoping small changes such as using https://www.forterra.co.uk/plugins/downloads/files/Thermalite_Turbo_datasheet_1.pdf will all add up.