Thedreamer

Most modern roofs incorporate a breather membrane but the PIR sheet would be a vapour control layer. What would be the point of the airbricks etc if the joists cannot be ventilated?

I have 'modern' suspended floor. I am surprised that 150mm PIR insulation fell short. My joists are filled with insulation but the bottom parts of the joists are exposed for airflow, I would not feel comfortable with having the joists covered underneath by PIR.

Just to say from my own experience of recently completed the VAT reclaim. I had just the one rejection and now resubmitted this invoice and will obtain back every penny due. The building merchant did not put sufficient information on a VAT invoice provided. This was for velux windows and was recorded as an individual line 'velux windows' on the invoice but the HMRC wanted to see the individual items listed for each velux window ordered on the invoice. This was oversight by me as I should have gone back to them then, but it was the busy point of the build and I had loads of invoices. They were pretty quick at come back to me when I explained the problem and provided the revised invoice. Just for reference here is what your invoices should show. https://www.gov.uk/vat-record-keeping/vat-invoices

It's tough in Scotland, less lenders. I had a knock back from the Scottish Building Society but got there in the end. Buildstore came back to me with Newcastle building society, but this had a ridiculous amount of fees.

I found there to be not much increase in cost compared to double glazing.

Larch (Siberian more so than Scottish) is one of most durable softwood trees varieties, therefore better suited for cladding.

I had that question for years even before the building work started, I remember somebody in the community laughing when I said that we need to convert a loft in my parents in law 's house to create a flat and then be able to save sufficient funds for the build. I have a bit of gripe now that the house is done and somebody 'says you are so lucky', like we won the house in a raffle.

Yes Yes that should work. The further away the less extraction and also if you have bends etc. I worked out the most efficient way to work for us and that's the system coming on during the morning and evening. It pretty rare for us to have a showers say at middle of day then I would open a window for ventilation. Our tank also has a dual immerser heater but never used that just rely on the heat pump. Yes, I believe this could be done, but it's going to be cold air, might not be ideal for all of the year. Some form of ventilation splitter could be useful, for the summer into the house and in the winter sending it outside.

The one in the original post by @ashthekid is an ecocent as you can see ESP on it. Mine is the same technology but is made by Joule, the exhaust heat pump is similar but was told by the plumber and house designer it was a better quality cylinder. I have set mine up as MEV system and it's pull air from the utility room, ensuite and bathroom. Although it is drawing heat from house it's not noticeable. You can set-up them up to draw from the outside, but it is less efficient. The cylinder definitely won't heat your house mine is just for hot water. My approach was to insulate enough not to need radiators or underfloor heating. I heat our house in the winter evenings with a wood stove surrounded by concrete blocks. I have free wood therefore this approach is very cheap for me. For the noise, the cylinder sits in a cupboard in the utility room and you hear virtually no noise in the kitchen and is no louder than a normal fridge/freezer when in the utility room. These systems don't work for everybody, my property is well insulated new self build.

I think one of the issues was that he wanted them placed where it cannot be seen or heard from his house!

I'm sure everybody has come across this before! Caution it has expletives might not have copied well for that reason ? angry ANGRY BT customer! Very Funny! - YouTube

Yes will be watching like a hawk. I just wish he came and spoke to us, we are not on bad terms.

No, it's not like that here. The croft is family land, so will be passed through the generations like a good quality watch. I think he just had a cheeky architect and wanted to see what he could get away with.

It's more complicated as it not a single site, but part of the next croft along, so he is able to position them elsewhere. This was really the only area that our house could be overlooked, as we control the other three sides, the bit of land where the application was submitted is in the corner behind our house on a crop of bedrock so did not expect any development, as it would require a bit of rock breaking, so was a total surprise.

When I finally got my line live, the first call was a fraudster from India claiming to be BT as part of their set-up team, I hadn't even told anybody my new number. The organisation is a joke.

It started with an unexpected receipt of a neighbour planning notification for a couple of holiday pods and a laundry shed close to our boundary. The proposed application would be in a raised position towards the back of the house/garden. After a while we started to jot down our objections and after a week of picking it up and down we submitted our comments to the planning department. Today we have received notification that our neighbour is withdrawing the application. It's unclear whether this will come back in a different location but it should not impact our privacy or amenity. I appreciate that most of the discussions on here is for obtaining planning permission approval, but when objections exist there are two sides to every coin.

So where does the unused treated timber go? I'm talking short offcuts, no useable pieces. How do they extract the treated chemicals from the wood?

A well done self build requires little to no heating. I didn't see the point investing in an expensive heating system that would be rarely used. Have you considered an exhaust heat pump? Our one acts as MEV, but you can connect it to extract air from the outside like a conventional heat pump if you already have MVHR in your design.

Hi @nickr Welcome, give us shout if I can provide any local information. @ToughButterCup did you have a bad experience with the midges?

Having four levels makes more sense on the size, but I don't think this is such a good idea for a large 1.5 storey. I think it also depends on whether this is your forever home. My kids are quite young so might regret a smaller house in the teenage years but the house will be the right size when they leave home and won't need to downsize.

Are you limited to preapproved design for your plot? I don't understand how you can jump between 113m2 and 313m2. One seems a bit to small and the other is too bigger. Cn you not get plans prepared, that works for you and your family? You don't need to have to have architect if you need to keep professional fees down. A house designer and structural engineer cost us under £2k for full plans for planning and building warrant plans.

4 bedrooms, 314m2 that seems huge. Our three bed build is 140m2. I'm not a fan of m2 calculations. If you need a mortgage you need to show a break down of your costs. You will also need to demonstrate that the final cost is affordable. I set a target of £500 a month for the mortgage/property bills a month. Last thing I wanted was to be so stretched financially that I did not have much disposal income.

Strange, I liked your post @jack at lunchtime and came home and I also had a package and VAT confirmation letter back from the HMRC Just one rejection for my velux windows, was not itemised enough by the building merchant, I'm asking them to amend it so should get 100% recoverability on all my invoices.

I'm OCD about the firewood store. Always have three weeks ready to burn in the store, three days in the house. Various logs are in different states of being seasoned all over the place. A moisture meter is a useful tool. I guess some people could view it as being hassle, but for me it's a hobby and an opportunity to do a bit of exercise.

Yes, I believe there are contestable and non contestable elements of an electricity quote. For our connection I was able to lay ducting myself with a draw cord, rather than have electricity blind the trench with sand by the electricity supplier. Depending on whether the quote is rural or urban any scope for reviewing the route? We had lots of correspondence and the quote seem to fluctuate up and down. Maybe just ask the quoter what can you do to lower the price? Is the other pole on your land, a few on here have used wayleaves or lack of it to obtain leverage on a new connection?