ProDave

I am just back from a trip down to Oxfordshire. I saw lots of new housing estates. I did NOT see any new roads or infrastructure (other than the roads to access the new estates, presumably paid for by the developers) I would contend that the developers are being conned as the improvements to infrastructure do not appear to be happening. What about all new occupants of the new houses paying council tax? THAT is where the council will be getting extra funding from. Talk about cake and eating it. I don't know the situation in Scotland on big estates, other than the developers appear to install the drainage and roads at their expense before they are adopted by the council. In the case of a single plot like mine, there is no extra infrastructure needed, but you can bet if I was in a LA that imposes bribes, I would have had to pay many £K for nothing.

We are having wet UFH in our bathrooms. the bedrooms are having electric heater points to fit a small panel heater if it proves necessary. Our house is "designed" (as far as BC are concerned) for 5 people, though there will normally only be 3 of us in the house. One could argue that to replace the air we breath, we only need 3/5 of the BC required ventilation rate?

What's needed is a boycott. If ALL the big developers stopped applying for PP because the S106 or CIL charges were too high, then the councils would have to reduce or scrap them. Better still would be the developers only to apply for PP in LA's that do not charge such bribes. We don't (yet?) have those bribes here and I really feel sorry for anyone forced to pay such punitive charges. I was reading in another place of someone that has a couple of properties in an area zoned for development. If his properties and adjoining land were developed it would be about 130 houses. But he won't go to planning because of the bribes he would have to pay make it unattractive, and without his land, the scheme can't go ahead.

I only buy handsaws when Howdens do their "3 saws for £10" deal.

Could they have got in before the house was sealed and gone their to die? We have a peculiar thing here that ordinary "house flies" at the end of the season will crawl into the gap between the opening windows and frames * and go there to die. Should you open a window, it will unleash many tens of half dead flies many of whom fall into the house. * This is not a defect in the windows. The outer seal is a rain seal, and is open at the bottom to let any water that gets passed out. That is where the flies crawl in. The inner seal that makes the air tight seal between the window and the frame is not breached by the flies

Funny. I gained a set of ladders that none of the builders knew anything about. And some roadwork signs left behind by the subcontractors that made the road crossing. And a couple of hand saws.

Thanks @Ferdinand As always it's knowing the correct name for something. This should do the job with no hidden mechanism to go wrong and should not pop up should you sit on it http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BATH-WASTE-SWIVEL-FLIP-PLUG-TOP-CHROME-BRASS-BATH-WASTE-OVERFLOW-FACE-/391493900884?hash=item5b26dada54:m:mPyBjeg1TnJ4ImX7r8krstA

That's the point, with this sort of bath, you can't "get to everything easily" The previous pop up waste we had an issue with, one day it just would not pop up. Upon examination, it used a solid cored bowden cable type mechanism from the rotating waste "knob" to the waste mechanism. BUT the inner cable was in compression to push the waste up, not tension, and had buckled at the short exposed section. This taught me several things. NEVER trust a "designer" to have even the most basic understanding of mechanical principles. Always allow easy access to repair or replace components like this. If you can't get easy access, design a system for in situ maintenance. I have come across what are know as "click clack" wastes, you push it once, it pops up, you push it again, it pops down. Then there are the complaints, you sit on the plug and your bath empties. I could design something myself, like the mushroom vents of an mvhr where you rotate the plug and it rises on a screw thread. Easy, simple, top access, nothing to go wrong. surely someone must make something like that?

One more "concern" and that again comes back to the way you fit this sort of bath and the fact access is at best "difficult" The pop up waste. Now I have had a bad experience with a pop up waste failing, and needing to be replaced. It was an annoyance, but not a big job in a conventional bath with a side panel that you just remove for access, but when you have to lift the whole bath out to replace it, it goes from an inconvenience, to a major PITA. So what alternatives are there to a pop up waste? I don't think a plug on a chain will cut the mustard with SWMBO (though for reliability and servicing cannot be beaten) What about rotating wastes? I have seen them on basins, where a flat disc pivots in the middle and you just push one side to open it for emptying. Is such a thing available for a bath? or any other types of modern waste that don't rely on a flimsy mechanism (i.e not pop up actuated by twisting the waste fitting)

I found the mvhr is a bit like a stove. The mvhr unit is the cheap bit, it's all the duct, plenums and terminals that cost the money, (same as the flue will cost a lot more than the stove) I only bought the ducting, plenums etc from BPC but could not find anywhere cheaper.

I have included a plant room extract in ours, but mainly because otherwise there would have been more supply points than extract points.

Thanks @Tennentslager Interesting video. Having watched that, I have concluded it will be impossible to fit it the way they say, as the flatish side with the taps is going to go against a wall so it will be impossible to do the "lift it on blocks and connect" trick. I have now measured the bath and there is about 150mm from the bottom of the bath to the floor. That should be enough to fit a normal rigid bath waste, fit the bath in position then fit the solid waste from below without a flexi. I can't fit the taps in the wall. Due to a pinch point, that wall is not having any service void at all, so it will have to be deck taps with flexi pipes going down through the gap between the bath and the panel and out under the floor to connect to copper, using the top access devices mentioned in case the tap ever needs replacing. Anyone see any issues with that proposal?

I have been offered a new, unused bath very cheap. It's probably this one https://www.bathstore.com/products/london-free-standing-bath-576.html If it's not that exact one, it is very similar, it certainly came from Bath Store. The person who has it for sale has decided not to fit it because it requires a "flexi" waste hose which he did not like. It comes in 2 parts. The surround that you fix to the floor, and then the bath drops into it and sits on feet. He mentioned inserting the bath then sliding it sideways to lock it in position? Firstly this waste thing. What is a flexi waste (I can make a pretty good guess) and are they a problem waiting to happen or are they in fact okay? I had a thought of inserting the bath first and fitting a solid waste from below, perhaps with a top access shower trap? I am not sure if I can do that as there is a joist immediately below where the waste would come out, so it would only have the gap between the floor and the bottom of the bath to fit in, and I don't know how big that is. (the seller can't do that as he has already boarded the ceiling below) And secondly the taps? I assume these are also connected with flexi pipes so you can connect them and then lower the bath in? I am sure I read on this forum (probably in @Onoff epic bathroom thread) about top access tap fittings. The bath as it is is not presently drilled for the taps if that is relevant.

I thought that while you agreed those bribe payments at PP stage, you did not pay them until work started? So giving PP and the site sitting undeveloped does not give the council those funds?

Can the councils or government not see the flaw in this "deliverable" measurement? Surely if 5 years worth of PP has been granted that should be enough, and the press should be used to demonstrate it is the builders restricting supply to maximise profit, rather than a failing in planning policy.

To solve this land banking issue, all that is needed is a policy to blanket refuse applications from major developers who already have land with PP that they are not developing. Of course if that were implemented then they would get round it by an entirely "new" company applying for permission I guess.

The mortar bed must be a regional thing. When I was down south they did that, but both builds in Scotland the wall plate goes straight onto the blocks (they do take time to ensure they are all flat and level)

The OSB is the racking layer to give the building strength. How does the Populair compare to OSB in that respect?

http://www.rugbyadvertiser.co.uk/news/long-itchington-couple-ordered-to-demolish-home-disguised-as-garage-1-8156294 What I don't understand is why they tried to disguise the new house as a garage? They bought a "crumbling house only fit for demolition" so why did they just not get permission to demolish and rebuild, which would most likely have been granted.

Exactly why our OSB racking layer is on the inside. Be warned, a whole host of passers by will tell you that you have put the frame up inside out.

A properly installed oil boiler will NOT produce any smells inside the house. In our old house it i in the utility room without issue.

When we were in Australia, on the Gold Coast, there amongst all the new posh high rise developments sat an old wooden single storey "Queenslander" house. It was painted bright yellow, and had the name "asbestos manor" painted on it, and was for sale for $5 million I see it has gained some notoriety http://likeacheshirekat.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/asbestos-manor.html

The day I laid off my builder (nearly 2 years ago now and thankfully amicably, he knew the situation) when re realised it was the only way to stop the project bankrupting us was a sad day. There has been a lot of soul searching, agonising, hatred for the financial "situation", hatred for the people that made it so, despair that the house might never get finished, anger at the sheer number of problems that lie ahead to be solved. You WILL find a way. We have. Our build will be completed, 99% by me and SWMBO by our sheer grit and determination. It will take longer, a lot longer. There are ways to find the finance, sometimes from unexpected places, but we are resolute, we will NOT borrow, I would not wish to give any bank the pleasure of collecting interest payments from us, I still hold them in too much contempt to add to their profit. When it is all done, and the old house eventually sold, we will have our nice low energy comfortable house. It will have cost us less than we expected but the payback for that is I will have done a lot more of the work myself. Your end game remains the same. It's just how and when you get there that has changed. Take your time, don't make decisions in a hurry, you will find a way. Like most problems that have been thrown at you, one day you will thank the banks for the fact they saved you so much in interest charges by declining your business. They are the ones that will be poorer in the end as a result of their choices.

Pic of your meter / CU? I wonder if you are on the "Total Control" tariff, something I think was unique to SSE areas and no longer available a a new install. The give away will be a comlicated looking CU with 3 main switches often labelled "A circuits" and "B circuits" If you do have that setup then one bank (I forget which one) will be specifically for "heating appliances" and will be available and metered 24/7 at the cheap rate. This is where you connect focal point heaters, the immersion boost, showers and towel rails.

Sorry to hear of the predicament. You are not the first to be shafted like that from lenders, it happened to us (in a much smaller way) a few years back. At least name and shame the lender so others can choose if they like, not to give them any business. (for the record it was Lloyds that shafted us) I am sure you all know our predicament, the inability to sell the old house that should have been financing this one. That is now let to a tenant and our new build is edging along ever so slowly on virtually a materials only basis as and when we earn enough to buy a bit more. At lest doing more yourself means you will in the end get a cheaper house. Don't be scared, whatever task you are confronted with, someone here will be able to guide you, that's what buildhub is all about. Do as we did, complete all the heavy landscaping, drainage etc so you have finished with the digger early in the project so you can sell it (there are not many people with a new house barely at first fix who have been regularly mowing the lawn for over a year now) I hope you have better house selling luck than we did. Get a static caravan ready for when you sell the cottage