Stones

Another happy Rationel customer here. 3g Aluclad, 14 windows, 2 doors (total 32 m2) £260/m2. Delivery was £600 or so on top due to my location.

Agree. I think it's perfectly possible to build decent affordable homes. After stripping out a lot of the luxuries that many on this forum are incorporating, basic build costs are I think reasonable enough as is, certainly reasonable enough to build a decent, modest dwelling. I look at my own garage as an example. A 150mm timber frame, clad with larch, tile roof, completed shell cost around £300 m2 for 36 sq m. You could certainly turn it into a spacious studio type apartment or a 1 bed house. Fitting out the shell needn't cost a fortune (another £300 m2 perhaps?) The main issue is all the associated costs - servicing, regulatory costs and land costs, but in reality can we really do much about those?

I remember discussing these units when several were on sale on ebay. I found a paper published in New Zealand suggesting these units were not ideally suited to climates with high RH. I wasn't convinced (despite the attractive price) that it was the right way to go because of that. That's certainly been our experience (3 previous MVHR systems), at certain times / temps condensation would form and condense out. Maybe the paper cores of these particular units mean this isn't an issue? All of our MVHR ductwork, in both previous and current build has been installed in the cold roof space, but crucially, underneath a nice blanket of insulation, or where ducting was open to the cold roof space, it was lagged. The only issue we had was in our last house but that was specific to our EAHP which exhausted air at -7C. I quickly noticed the exhaust pipe mineral wool insulation sleeves becoming saturated with condensation, so swapped it out for rigid EPS duct insulation which solved the problem. No issues at all with the other MVHR ductwork in a cold roof. A warm roof would have been great, but there was an additional cost (for our build) and ultimately, we had to draw the line somewhere.

I can't recall ever receiving or dealing with a complaint about stones etc being placed on a verge causing an obstruction. I certainly saw plenty of examples when out and about, and very much as ProDave says, they all seemed to be there to keep the place tidy and neat. If they are presenting a hazard then I would suggest calling your local Roads Dept (or whoever is responsible for the road) and the Police and let them assess. It may look like a hazard to you, and the road may need re-engineered, but the reality may simply be that drivers are choosing to cut the corner / drive in the centre of the road rather than actually reading the road and road markings and negotiating the bend at the appropriate speed. Driver error is by far and away the main cause of incidents on the road, not the road itself.

Even up here, unplanned power outages are uncommon and don't last very long. I am planning to install a crossover switch but may well hold off on actually buying a generator. £10 for a small camping stove and a £2 for the gas cartridges, probably the cheapest back up of all - hot drink and food.

I also wonder what the position would be in these circumstances.

Like @ProDave, I think the figures quoted are a work of fiction. The figure I've heard most builders quote is around 5% extra.

Yes, a warm welcome to you Lee.

Absolutely agree that you shouldn't need to check or be relied upon to do so, but it's simply a reality of life that mistakes get made / details get omitted. You could argue that is how the professional responds when he does make an error that he shows his true worth. Where does a client stand during or at the end of a build (assuming an architect is supervising) he finds a problem which is wholly down to an error/mistake/omission by the architect? +1 +1 Something that many of the 'managers' I encountered over the years didn't like doing or discounted.

I'm sure you've thought of this already, the space between family room and garage would seem the ideal boot / utility room and meet the next to the kitchen requirement. Out of interest, why does the utility have to be next to the kitchen?

Our last house was built using the Supawall system. 140mm frame OSB on inner and outer face, injection filled with PU. VCL onto inner face, battens then plasterboard. Outface of OSB clad with breather membrane then 50mm PU which covered soleplate. 100mm cavity between timber frame and outer block skin to account for 50mm additional PU fitted to outer face of frame. Helical wall ties required to tie TF to block wall. No issues with condensation risk analysis. I believe some SIPS manufacturers are now saying you can fit additional PU onto the outer face of the panel. Given that it has and is being done, it should simply be a case of running your proposed build up through a condensation risk analysis.

We had 50mm PIR underside of our rafters. Same issue. Vertical battens on rafters and horizontal battens between rafter battens to catch plasterboard edge.

We've gone for a mix, higher 2040mm metric doors where we have to pass through them, imperial 1981mm for cupboard and waredrobe doors because of the better range of sizes available. All our door openings are 50 - 60mm wider than the final door width to allow for lining and making plumb.

A couple of comments re the layout: Large master suite accessed from family room - it strikes me that wherever you place your bed, unless under the dormer, you are going to have a head height problem of trying to get past the end of the bed under the coomb. On paper it may look acceptable but in reality, you bob about when moving and will end up stooping over. I also think the stairs in the family room that lead up to that bedroom will really limit the useable space there. I would suggest moving that staircase entirely to the corridor that connects the kitchen to the other part of the house. Position the stairs parallel to the corridor over what is currently the utility door and part of the shower. That would bring the staircase up into the bedroom on one side of the dressing room, allowing you to put your bed on the far gable, still create some decent 'walkthrough' clothes storage in under the other coomb opposite the stairs, and have your en-suite. Downstairs you could then play around with the layout of the utility/shower room/bedroom/WC/Boot room. I would move the utility and put in a large en-suite to the ground floor bedroom behind the repositioned staircase, ground floor bedroom with a waredrobe either side of the door into the ensuite, then use the remaining space (currently boot room and WC) for a large utility and WC. I'm not sure what benefit there is to a separate boot room at that side of the house when you've already said the other door will be the main point of entry. A bigger combined utility / boot room serves both functions and would be a more comfortable space. Using that are for as utility also means you have easy access outside with washing etc. +1 on the study area upstairs The living room is a bit of a corridor given it is the hub that gives access to the front porch, sunroom and hallway to the kitchen. Maybe consider having this area open to the sunroom so it doesn't feel that you are losing as much? I like the 'skews' shown on the gables. What roof finish are you thinking of, and what are you planning for the skews?

A warm welcome to the forum. I think I can safely say that everyone is south of me...

Holiday or long term let, it only takes one person to use the worktop as a chopping board...I would have thought the risk is greater with a holiday let. I did have a look at them amongst others, and be they eBay sellers or direct websites, all, and I mean all, required significant extra over for carriage. Nature of the beast unfortunately.

+1, bite the bullet and grudgingly accept the extra delivery charge (you know I feel your pain on this subject) and make life 100 times easier for yourself. One comment about the worktop itself, IIRC, you will be letting the finished build? A dark worktop will show up every scratch, and given the care or lack thereof that some people take when they are in rented / holiday accommodation, it could begin to look tired pretty quickly. I would therefore as a minimum avoid the cheapest of the cheap laminated worktops, go for something with a bit of texture rather than smooth and avoid gloss like the plague. Solid wood may actually be a sensible option, as at least you could sand and refinish that every year to keep the place looking tip top. We've just had a 4m length of 40mm Oak supplied by our local Buildbase which was around £340. I did a lot of hunting around online but couldn't beat that price because of delivery costs (either arranged by the supplying company or me organising my own) which amounted to around £150.

One for your SE to specify I think?

Looking good. It's a great feeling seeing all the PB on, actually lets you see what the house is going to be like. I know we had the debate about the insulation previously. Have you got any heating on / heat input to give an idea of performance? When our vaulted ceilings were boarded, it was a two man job, one on the scaffold tower, the other lifted a board to him. Lowest row fixed first, rows above sat on top of previously fixed boards.

Apologies for the delay, lightening storms have somewhat limited broadband access (or at east my willingness to leave the router connected). It's certainly a useful 'how ridiculous the EU is' story, and from the governments point of view, lets them highlight how much better off we will be out than in. I've not read the court judgement, but can certainly see the aim of it - to ensure accident victims have recourse to a fund of last resort (part and parcel of ensuring that insurance is mandatory). I'm not convinced that it is needed here in the UK, as most of the third party risks that such a change would cover, are more than likely already covered by general liability policies. That may very well be different in the country where this case originated, be it different types of insurance policies or simply the fact that nobody bothers with any form of public liability insurance. If you read through the consultation document linked to by @Alphonsox that lays out all of the issues / problems from a UK perspective, and in fairness it would appear that the EU commission is trying to find a way of taking the judgement on board without incorporating too many of the downsides. Whether that happens quickly or not...I'm sure if they really wanted to, the UK government could delay making any changes by dragging out the consultation and parliamentary process. Does the current system work, in terms of road policing on public highways, broadly yes. Of course there are uninsured drivers out there (and nothing gave me greater pleasure than seizing their vehicles). Trailers, caravans etc, when towed on the road are of course covered by the insurance of the towing vehicle, so why insure them independently (third party risks)? I'm sure if changes are made, that the insurance market will develop policies for the lower risk categories, because it will be money for old rope. High risk categories may however become uninsurable - depends what risks are being covered. Motorsport is an interesting one, I suspect getting a policy to cover spectators (provided specific safety measures are in place) is straightforward enough, insuring those participating in the racing, not. Here in the UK, LGV trailers are tested by VOSA to ensure their roadworthiness. Having dealt with the consequences of poorly built (homemade) trailers on the road, I would be all for any form of trailer, caravan, horsebox etc towed on the road being the subject of an annual MOT - different issue but one which would make a difference. Given the limited mechanics involved, it needn't cost much and would take next to no time to do (could even be an optional add on to a vehicle MOT). Different issue though.

Can't see any reason why not given you'll have the plant on site. Assuming four piles gives you sufficient volume to satisfy your drainage requirements, the only consideration I can think of is that the piles would have to be shallow enough to avoid you tapping into / polluting drinking water aquifers.

Thanks for the kind comments. We're really pleased with how it all looks. I was over on site today and the house is toasty warm, the ASHP barely ticking over, even without part of the roof being insulated. Compared to our rental, which is freezing despite several large storage heaters being run at great expense... Can't wait to get in!

Business as usual up here...

We were fortunate in having all that stone / rock on site. We buried a good deal more of the poorer quality stuff (i.e. stone without a decent face). I was also very fortunate in having a digger driver who was interested in and enjoyed doing that sort of landscaping type work. There was an initial bit of experimenting getting the first stones positioned for our line, as I had initially conceived a sweeping curve at the back of the house, but changed on seeing the first few stones in position. I think it's worked really well, and gives the site a quite a natural feel. That may sound odd, but it's helped bed the house into the hillside such that it doesn't looked like we had to dig out around 1.3m at the back. It's certainly a lot better that than just leaving a rough cut behind the house, something I see quite often on my travels. It did cost a bit to do this, I think we spent three days shifting and positioning the stones, interspersed with grading the sub soil down to make sure the slope we would be left with was manageable (for the ride on lawnmower). The alternative would probably have cost just as much - excavating down to path height and sloping back from there - and given me the additional problem of more subsoil to spread elsewhere. The standing stone was something we hoped to have, and the stone we used had a nice shape to to it. Likewise the two stones either side of the drive, being similar in shape, were a nice way to finish that part of the drive. I still have a pile of stone left to use at the site entrance, along with a larger stone onto which I hope to fix a house name plate.

I sourced the package myself - ASHP, cylinder, feet and flexi connectors from the wholesaler previously linked to, for the plumber / electrician to install. Doing that saved me around £750 compared to buying it through the local supplier. No RHI.