garrymartin

I've eventually got around to typing up my notes and putting the photos somewhere accessible. See the new post below...

A couple of weekends ago, my wife and I spent some time at the MBC factory and got to ask some questions of the team there. There were quite a few different people there; sales, design, windows, even Kevin Blair, son of the founder Joe Blair, who took us on part of the factory tour. We were there for over 2 hours, including a 1-1 session where I covered any outstanding questions I still had. It was an informative day and great to see how they've developed and expanded. Seems they just keep buying more and more space whenever any adjacent units become available! Great session and I took a lot of photos. A couple are attached but the remainder can all be found at https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/11i21jn1n6ko1uclcbrm7/AMtb-Jt48ljlTc0lPfiQeKk?rlkey=f08zqofj4l1qllgrxphtnawtc&st=uxhdqk71&dl=0 They seem quite busy and are seeing an increase in demand from people building lots of houses, especially in the social sector where they explained it is easier for a company to secure any additional funding required for Passivhaus standards as they can offset it against potential future requirements to help with heating costs etc. From a pure materials perspective, they acknowledged the challenges of Brexit, COVID-19, etc. and how that initially affected costs and quotes quite significantly but things are a little more settled now and as they expand, they're able to secure pricing for longer periods as they're able to commit to larger orders. They're also sourcing from multiple suppliers and multiple regions as costs and availability flex due to growing seasons etc. Process Pre-start meeting - they discuss design guidelines and decisions with you and get your architectural drawings if available. MBC redo the designs in their software, including the 3D roof design. This takes about 4 days and they can then be provided back to your architect (if applicable) to update anything that did not translate from your original vision into an engineering specification. General arrangement - that design is then turned into the build instructions for the factory. The full structural engineering package is provided by Adept who MBC have been working with for over 22 years. They have 20+ engineers. Once erected - cut all your holes for service penetrations etc. and then MBC will come back to tape etc. and provide their full airtight package. These teams are all employed by MBC so are well versed in airtight requirements. PHPP - standard MBC timber-frame features are available for PHPP modelling, but they don't do any modelling themselves; you'll need someone to do that. Building Regulations - MBC don't do building regulations drawings/documentation so your architect or an architectural designer would need to do those. File ownership - MBC don't provide you with the source files from their various software packages but will do exports in various formats for you. General MBC Passive Foundation - they don't subcontract this (technically) as they own the company that does it. This is the same for the timber-frame insulation - they own that company too. You excavate the ground to (mostly) a 100kn bearing capacity and backfill with MOT Type 3. MBC then come along and puts in MOT Type 1, sand blinding, EPS etc. If you're putting UFH in the slab, you need to do this, MBC doesn't. Then comes the concrete. Site access issues - they can work around most issues. They've not been able to find some way to make it work. They send someone to the site to investigate constraints and then plan accordingly. What things influence higher cost - big open spaces, the weight of things (like green roofs) and features that require hidden fixings or complicated connection details. They have not seen any issues with mortgage companies or warranties concerning their timber-frame installations. Materials and Sources They source their materials from different places depending on the market and where things are growing. All timber is FSC sustainably harvested with documentation. They secure pricing with suppliers based on estimated cubed usage, and swallow any pricing fluctuations once a price for your timber-frame has been agreed. External walls and floors are treated. Some locations require additional treatments for things like longhorn beetles. Windows They supply and install Rationel and Velfac windows. Solarlux (generally aluminium) as a gap filler when there are requirements that can't be met by Rationel or Velfac. The Rationel windows are primarily timber/ali-clad with a larger profile, whereas the Velfac are composite, aluminium/timber and have thinner profiles. MBC are of course happy for you to choose windows from someone else so long as you use an installer that is manufacturer-approved and that they are installed to MBC airtightness specifications which they will provide. Choosing MBC to design and build the timber-frame and to install the windows can save some time in some situations; MBC will happily place the order for the windows based on their design drawings. Some window companies will want a structure to measure against unless you are willing to take the risk of measurements being incorrect. Furthermore, there is no possibility of the timber-frame supplier and the window supplier blaming each other for any issues if MBC does both! Installation of windows is by NKG as sole installers. They are very experienced with housing and deliver consistently good quality installs. Their window systems manager, Jason, was at Rationel for 15 years, was an installer himself for 3.5 years, and before that was a carpenter. How can you save money with windows? Bifolds are more expensive than sliders. The taller and wider the glass, the more expensive it gets, large spans especially. Openers are more expensive, but only marginally so in the grand scheme of things.

Our brief to our architects says we want a Passivhaus building but not to the extent that it constrains the way we want to live in any way. If we can achieve both, bargain! But if not, the ability to certify to Passivhaus criteria will be the element that we flex, not how we want to live. I'm in two minds about whether to certify it if we do meet all requirements. I like the idea of being able to say it is certified, but I'm not sure the expense is really worth it. As @joe90 mentions, I think any future occupants will be more interested in how little it costs to run and how much energy it produces rather than a certificate. I think this will be particularly interesting when (if) the Future Homes Standard and any requirement like that in Scotland ever makes its way to England regarding "Passivhaus-like" requirements...

We looked at it for our current en-suite remodel. Suppliers wouldn't provide a warranty for using it on the timber floor and shower tray. They seem happy if you're going on to a solid wall or floor, but it just doesn't seem to cope well with any movement and they said we could end up with micro-fractures that might leak. As it's a wetroom, we're back to tiles too.

I'm with Dave on this one. Your limited funds will be stretched even further by doing work like this in sections. It's much easier (and less prone to mistakes) for a plumber or electrician to blast through the whole project rather than doing it in stages. If it's a question of the limited funds relating to right now, I'd be more inclined to pause this type of work until you do have the funds to complete it. The idea of completing one or two rooms at a time isn't a bad one per se, but you need to think hard about the things that should be done in those rooms, and the things that can be left until later. In our architects brief, we're very clear that we'd rather get all the structure and facilities in place within our budget, even if that means we have to come back to them in the future when funds allow to complete rooms - the sauna and bathroom are probably two good examples here. We know we want them, but they're not essential immediately (en-suites obviously). We just need to make sure we have the space and that the key infrastructure (i.e. electrics and plumbing) are in place and we'll then "finish" them at a later date if we don't have the funds available to do it along with the main build.

Yes. You a) don't actually need to own the land you apply for planning permission on, you just need to notify the owner and b) don't need anything to be split from a deeds perspective at the stage of applying for planning. Do remember though that your "red line" should show the land you intend to develop *including* any land required to get you to the highway, and that you should "blue line" any other land that is owned by the same owner as the red line. For example, my red/blue line map is attached. I don't own White Lodge, but my plot will be split for their garden. I have notified the owners, of course. Location Plan including Access from Highway.pdf

Couldn't agree more. Stunning. Great work Bob. Have you ever discussed the project details and financials on Buildhub? Would be great to understand a little more about the project, layout, size, and build costs

I have an "acquaintance" who works for one of the large developers and has responsibility for finding sites and managing the site portfolio. They typically sit on land where they know developing it would not provide the maximum return on their investment; the future value conundrum. They only have so much capacity to build new housing, and certainly couldn't start on all the land they have available to them even if they were able to get permission for all of it. So they only bring forward land when the circumstances suit them, when precedents have been set in local appeals or in case law challenging appeals that mean they stand a good chance of getting permission when they might not have previously, or where the planning laws change in their favour. The problem with that is that there may be a wide range of other "developers" that might be treated more favourably from a planning perspective, who just don't have access to that land that the large developers are sitting on. So a community housing scheme or a group of self-builders might be able to get permission as under-served groups where the large developer wouldn't, but they just can't access the land. So here's my idea. If you are a developer, you should still be allowed to buy land, and can keep the land you have, but you must either turn that into deliverable housing within 5 years or you must relinquish the future rights for your company to develop the land for housing, and you must offer it for sale at the price you paid for it plus reasonable costs.

Disappointed in the thread title; thought you were pulling off a heist... 🤣

As others have noted, you can get any length you pretty much want, *BUT* as the length increases, so does either the width or height or both depending on what you are supporting. Attached are some examples from the MBC Timberframe factory tour I went on at the weekend...

If we assume by the "Right to Build waiting list" you mean you are on the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Register of your Local Authority (or more than one Register perhaps), then I hate to be the one to break it to you, but they aren't going to provide you with a plot. At best, you'll get weekly updates from your LPA on applications that have been allowed, including those designated as self-build or for custom housing. You may to able to approach someone who has gained permission and buy a plot from them, or you may be able to find a plot of your own and apply for permission, but it isn't going to just drop into your lap because you are on the list, and it certainly isn't going to be "given to you". I wish you well and hope you find yourself in a better position soon.

There were quite a few different people there; sales, design, windows, even Kevin Blair, son of the founder Joe Blair, who took us on part of the factory tour. We were there for over 2 hours, including a 1-1 session where I covered any outstanding questions I still had. Great session. I also took lots of photos so I'll write things up and attach those in a new thread and will provide the link here. Didn't really touch on labour shortages, but they are seeing an increase in demand from people building lots of houses, especially in the social sector where they explained it is easier for a company to secure any additional funding required for Passivhaus standards as they can offset it against potential future requirements to help with heating costs etc. From a pure materials perspective, they acknowledged the challenges of Brexit, COVID-19, etc. and how that initially affected costs and quotes quite significantly but things are a little more settled now and as they expand, they're able to secure pricing for longer periods of time as they're able to commit to larger orders. They're also sourcing from multiple suppliers and from multiple regions as costs and availability flex due to growing seasons etc.

Awwww, thanks. ❤️ When I'm interrogating asking questions of suppliers, I always imagine how grateful they must be to get someone who is so excited about what they do... 😉

Possibly another good example of how things change. Probably thinking about terrestrial TV, Satellite, and UHF radio at the time. Then you could buy adapters for either end of one cable that multiplexed all three into a single cable at one end and broke them back out again at the other meaning that you only needed one cable, but when the multiplexors first came out they would cost more than running three cables! But they were valuable if you only had one cable because the cost of ripping stuff out, running new cable, and redecorating was higher.

Always possible. The proposed site has access to Ultrafast 1Gbit FTTP... Need is such a strong word... 😉 My experience tells me that if I put the minimum amount of cabling into key locations and then *in the future* need to do something else, it will be far, far more costly and difficult rather than paying a small price premium for cables I may not need at the point where access is easy. You only have the think about the various interactions of technology and the choices you might make. The first streaming sticks were capable of just plugging into your HDMI port and working over wireless. Then you started needing to add USB power to them as the power requirements for additional features increased, and some TVs didn't have USB ports that could provide the power. Then TVs started having powered USB ports. Then it was suggested you might not be able to stream at high-def at high frame rates. Then the sticks started using quicker wireless standards and wireless network speed caught up. I have USB extension cables from my media hub to two current TVs in the lounge and playroom (though the kids are too old to call it a playroom now). I put them in because it allowed me to do some clever things with the Wii and Playstation at the time. Since we don't use the old Playstation any longer and the Wii will work quite happily on radio frequencies, they are no longer required, but they are also not doing any harm stuck behind a wall. Of course, if your personal circumstances or the design of your house make routing cables difficult or expensive, then you can make a personal decision about what you want to do. But for me, when it's easy and the cost is low, I'd over-engineer the solution every day of the week.

Gotcha. For timber/materials questions I currently have... Materials and sources - what type of wood? where from? is it sustainably harvested? what treatments are applied? how do you ensure supply? how do you manage fluctuating costs of timber and materials?

I am still planning to be there tomorrow if anyone has any questions for MBC or, indeed, about timberframe in general. I've asked, and they are happy for me to take photos and post any questions and answers on the Buildhub forum so I'll update this thread sometime over the next few days.

Never happened to me... Nothing to see here... Move on... 😉 🤣

I'd rather have one and not need it than need one and not have it! Of course, it all depends on the economics and ease of doing something. If the route is particularly tricky or long or would require runs parallel to mains cables, then maybe I wouldn't bother. But if I had easy access, and bearing in mind HDMI cables are relatively cheap (unless you've been conned into the high-end super cables), then I'd do it just in case.

As the forum search isn't the best, here's the link

If anyone needs to go further for any reason, best to look into HDMI repeaters rather than longer cables.

I was going to suggest that if no part of the development was going to be in the area that had been added in the second red line plan, you could use the original red line plan, and use a blue line to show the additional land that is within your ownership now. However, you noted above that the proposed development overlaps the (incorrect) red line. I honestly can't see any way forward other than a new application. It isn't just about the planners, it's a material change that would need to provide for other people and other departments/organisations to comment on your application.

It's not a *bad* idea per se, depending on the distance from any TV to the source devices. Although you can do HDMI over CAT5/6 etc., it's often more expensive and can sometimes come with issues of compatibility. In my current house, every TV has one HDMI cable that runs back to a matrix HDMI switch where various source devices are connected, a coax that provides Digital TV and Satellite connections, and two CAT5 cables, one of which provides wired Internet to the TVs and the other allowing "expansion" with various devices. These CAT5 cables route back to the same location as the matrix HDMI switch. The HDMI matrix switch allows any TV to select from two BT HDTV boxes, a Wii, and a NAS. If I ever get to self-build, each TV location will have an HDMI cable (possibly two), two coax, four CAT6 cables, and some single-mode fibre for future-proofing.

As of 2023, approximately 8.4% of new homes in the UK are bought with cash. https://eyeonhousing.org/2024/01/all-cash-share-of-new-home-sales-remains-elevated-in-2023/

I'm sure those that have gone through this will be along with some real-life examples, but for reference, take a look at https://app.croneri.co.uk/feature-articles/health-and-safety-file-key-document-site-safety