SeanCrowley

Hi, Building a new house (to current standards not passivehouse standards or anything) and given we're having an ASHP looking at underfloor heating throughout (screen etc ground floor and "clippaplate" (heat plate fit from underneath between floor joists for 1st floor). The clippaplate system allows zones so we could have the UFH in 1st floor bathrooms come on separate times - we will probably put that on more than in the bedrooms on 1st floor. We had originally planned electric UFH in bathrooms but have realised we could use the clippaplate system throughout and just zone the bathrooms to come on at separate times. Question is does anyone have any experience of this actually working well? Given it is fit under the floor decking our builder (fair comment) has said it seems more for a whole floor system and wasn't sure how well it would work just in individual bathroom zones where the electric UFH was intended just to take the chill off when the rest of the UFH may not be on. Anyone any thoughts/experience with this? Much appreciated in advance!

Hi all, We're building a new build (sorry, slightly obvious!) and always planned for ASHP with wet underfloor heating ground floor and radiators 1st floor. However, our builder/plumber has said that the radiators on the 1st floor would need to be quite big (up to 2m depending on room size!) because the ASHP does not heat up the water as high as a gas boiler would. He's given us a quote for the 1st floor underfloor heating (wet) which comes out at around £10k for perhaps 80 square meters. Two questions: 1. Does anyone have this situation (ASHP and wet underfloor ground with rads 1st floor) - are the radiators that big? 2. Does the 1st floor heating quote sound about right? Thank you!

Hi, Just about to start a demolition next week and have just learned (doh!) that in addition to needing planning approval and building regs you also separately need to send a demolition notice to the council! Has anyone done a "method statement" for one of these which they could send me as an example? I imagine it is an incredibly simple thing - this is just a small bungalow which is being knocked down so I imagine it should be straighforwward. Thanks!

Hi, We've no experience building and so were planning on going down the main contract route so there is one person ultimately responsible for the whole thing. However, we've now had a detailed quote through from one contractor and it is significantly more than expected - for instance the demolition element is 8-12k more than a separate demolition contract price we received. We don't have the experience or time to do loads of separate contracts and tender out lots of different bits of work, but is there an easy way to split out bits of the contract to drive down the price significantly. Separate demo contract is clearly a winner given the saving, but I'm wondering if worth eg doing groundwork contract separately? I guess then you could have a contract for the main structure (and windows), then the fit out separately which would involve joinery, plumbing, electricians etc which all sounds an awful lot of work to coordinate and manage, which I'm concerned we don't have the time or experience for, but are there any other easy wins for elements that could be separated out to drive costs down? When people don't go down the main contract route do you split the contract into all these separate elements? Any experience or thoughts welcome!

The front is south east facing.

Hi! We've been going through and amending our plans for a couple of months now (we really struggle to decide!), but have got what I hope are pretty much final plans (just waiting for 3d renders and I think we should then be able to really visualise and push forward). Any second opinions would be gratefully appreciated! A few thoughts/questions we had: 1. 1st floor plan - we are pretty happy with upstairs but not sure about the airing cupboard location - I really fee like we need an airing cupboard but really like the symmetry of the two bedrooms on the left if we don't have the cupboard there (they are the two kids' rooms). Any thoughts on where the airing cupboard could go? I think the guest bedroom is quite big so could cut a bit of this. 2. Ground floor - again pretty happy with this (after quite a few revisions!) - would you have bifold or sliding doors in the ground floor? A previous iteration had a big wall on the left side and a big expanse of sliding doors, all of which slid into the wall. I really quite liked that but my better half overruled me as she really wanted a view to the garden when sitting in the lounge bit of the open plan (the garden would otherwise have been blocked by the 3 or so metres of wall). 3. Elevations - the elevations have taken quite a bit of work - we originally had a much more contemporary look without the bay window roof and the ground level roof generally - I know this does mean we are mixing a little bit with a more traditional front vs a more contemporary rear with single storey level in white render (a very modern look), but our architect has done bits and pieces to try and marry the two. Do you think this works now Of course any other major thoughts that jump out at people would be appreciated, but I am hoping that after 3 months we are very nearly getting there (just the whole build to do now - gulp!!)

Hi, Forgive what might be stupid questions (very new to all this!) - we are applying for planning permission for a replacement dwelling (demolish an old bungalow and replace with new two story house). During the 8 week planning period our architect will be working up detailed building regs drawings etc and preparing for tender, but I am trying to get ducks in a row so that hopefully if we can get building regs drawings finalised and a main builder lined up while the application is in planning that as soon as planning is granted we can get on with demolition and the project build. I have heard that gas/electric company disconnection can take a while - so am wondering about just cracking on and arranging that myself now (you can apply to Southern Gas Network and UK Power Networks for the disconnection direct), as it does look like an up to 8 week lead time. Would I need a temporary electricity connection during the course of the build? (looks like with electric you can disconnect or disconnect and set up temporary connection). Are there any other services I need to think about disconnecting? (I read online that water supply can be cut off by the builder/demo contractor) Thanks!

Thanks thats helpful will definitely give that some thought, cheers

Thanks, I think I would avoid BuildStore if I could for the reasons you say, but like your say with a 2.7% difference that's £2700 for the year for every 100k of borrowings which makes quite a difference. Fingers crossed as the bad reviews have prepared me for not the best experience with buildstore. Yes going down main contractor route. Thanks!

Great thanks, yes I think we do need to understand the elevations at the front. We just have sketches at the moment (below). Really happy with the rear elevations but bits to think about for the front I think

Thanks so much! Yes good point about soil pipes. Thanks!

Hi! Site plan is just a sketch at the moment, attached. The back of the building is north west. Thanks!

Thanks so much!

Hi ecology do look brilliant plus cheap fees and low rates, but as we only have build programme of less than 12 months bring locked into the higher rate (even slightly reduced because of c charge) for the remaining 12 months unfortunately makes thousands of pounds of difference which is hard to ignore even though it sounds ecology are much better!

Hi there, We are new build newbies (what have we let ourselves in for!), now have quite developed plans for planning permission (attached). In case anyone has any suggestions would love to hear any thoughts people may have. We really love the look of the contemporary back, but we aren't completely sold by the front at the moment (not sure why) - though the front does need to be a bit more traditional to ensure that planning permission is not a problem. The other thing we are definitely changing is the size of the family bathroom upstairs so that it is a bit bigger, but any other thoughts welcome. Thanks Proposed plans.pdf