ProDave

I generally like that, certainly good for buildability. But the kitchen / dining / family has no south facing aspect. I provisionally sketched some ideas when we might have bought a north facing plot like that, and it would basically have been the kitchen / dining / living occupying the left half of the house from tv corner to study where it would have had north, west and south windows, lounge where you have it having east and south windows, and all the utility stuff in the NE corner. Even better would be to mirror that down the centre, so the east side of the house front to back is the kitchen / dining family getting east, south and north windows, you are more likely to use that in the morning to benefit from the early sun. and the living room to the front bottom so south and west windows, you are more likely to use that in the evening to benefit from the west sun. And utility stuff to north west corner.

I allocated a 5M by 3M space (roof space above garage) as "plant room" In reality very little endued up in there (now used as a workshop) The only thing of any size in there is the MVHR unit and the distribution plenums. Other than that it's just a pump and some small control gear for the heating system. The ASHP is outside (apart from the controls mentioned above) The DHW tank made no sense there as it would be too far from points of use, so that is not in an airing cupboard off the spare bedroom. Following on from that the distribution manifold is in the ceiling void above the utility room accessed from a hatch, again to keep all the pipe runs as short as possible. So how much plant room you actually need depends where it is and if it is suitable for everything together, or if the layout of the house favours a distributed layout of "plant"

We have a burn through our garden that on occasions gets close to over topping. My strategy was raise the ground level on the house side (and the house is already higher than the ground level) but leave the ground level on the other side as it was. So it will first over top onto the other side of the burn which in effect massively increases the capacity of the burn long before it over tops on the house side. Our own mini flood plain.

Perhaps a bit off topic as you don't want to change supplier, but Rationel had no problem making us a pair of outward opening French doors.

Been there and done that twice. It's normally a formality to get temporary PP for the caravan as almost a footnote to your planning application and the council will usually charge you band A council tax while you live in it. A very cheap way of getting temporary accommodation.

I doubt the lack of insulation in the sloping ceiling bit is responsible for all the heat loss. You need to look at every bit of the structure and work out what you can realistically do. With care you can get some insulation down there as long as you don't block all eaves ventilation to the loft, and improve the loft insulation as much as you can for a start. Thermal paint will probably do next to nothing, there is not thin paint on miracle cure.

That's the point of a wet room, no steps in the floor, just one continuous floor throughput. that does not mean it all gets wet.

Well done. We look forward to watching it all happen.

Would it really make a difference? A burst stream overtopping a bund is likely to be a lot more water than that will pump. Raise the bund further?

Hi and welcome. With that plot requirement, I hope you have very deep pockets.

Re the plant room too small. I allocated a large plant room, then found there was very little "plant" to put there. Just the MVHR and some valves and a pump. the HW tank went elsewhere.

Wow. that sounds a pretty poor detail. I take it this is because concrete beams and blocks don't bother about a damp humid environment as much as timber would? but I don't think I would be happy knowing it could be a wet muddy mess under there.

You are essentially building a bungalow that you could one day develop the upstairs. I would build the upstairs structurally now as if it was going to be 2 storey but do nothing with it. I would put the stairs in leading to a small landing with a fire door into a boarded loft storage space. You should be able to get completion like that and lower council tax banding. If you do then develop the roof later the council tax should not go up.

Surely only a water to water heat pump can do that? (wait to be proved wrong with a clever diagram)

Not understanding the floor build up? Diagram? I thought the beams span wall to wall infilled with blocks so where does the insulation under the B&B floor fit in? Surely that needs to be a ventilated space? Yes you are right I have never looked at a B&B floor between but I would have assumed the same principles as a timber suspended floor apply that you have a DPM and a thin layer of concrete to seal the under floor space (solum) and that is above outside ground level and ventilated so something has gone wrong if it manages to fill up with water.

Is the site layout plan north up? Assuming it is, what is the the left (west) of the plot? It is a shame not to have any west facing windows for evening sun

No they are not all equal. My little petrol one that I can (just about) pick up on my own is nothing compared to say the big diesel ones. For me it was a case of buy what came up for sale locally, or (in this instance) near a route I was travelling to get somewhere else so I did not have the luxury of choice. I found not many for sale so unless you are buying new, you might also find limited choice.

What about them? Obviously don't put the litter trays where the shower is. Not all of a wet room actually gets wet. Though I admit our cat does get up off the mat and leaves the room when you turn the shower on.

You want to dispatch them as soon as possible by whatever means. I have seen the result of them chewing plastic water pipes and plastic bits on the underside of a dishwasher.

My version of that is make your en-suite a proper wet room. Once you have had a wet room, you will never by choice have an ordinary room with a shower cubicle ever again. And put the bathtub, that gets used once in a blue moon, in the family bathroom (which is also another wet room) which actually means the family bathroom is slightly larger than our en-suite. Another tip for quiet, is NEVER place a WC on a wall adjoining a bedroom (your own or the other bedroom) they will know every time you flush it and the cistern refills.

Do beam and block floors not have a concreted "solum" with DPM as you do with a timber suspended floor?

Which one(s) are you trying to increase? they all look pretty good apart from the one on the right, which looks like it has some way to go if you want to increase it. Be aware there is no "stop" on the adjustment and you can unscrew the flow meter completely, then you get wet. (you don't need to ask how i know)

I dispute that. Sub zero temperatures here today and my ASHP is working fine to heat my low energy house. If you just buy and ASHP and get a normal * plumber and electrician to install it (or do some yourself if capable) they need not be expensive. * by normal I mean someone capable of reading and installation manual. I have been shocked on occasions at wrongly fitted ASHP's because they apparently cannot read and connect it as though it were a gas boiler.

You should have a CO alarm in any room that the flue passes through, so that will alert you if there is any leak long before you see anything.

Trying to seal under the door is a futile exercise. Just like people sand bagging the front door. No house it totally water tight as in swimming pool water tight. All you will do is slow down, not stop, the rate of water entering the house.