Ferdinand

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I am beginning to try and think about my south facing front garden as a walled courtyard garden. To do that I will need a 3.25m (ish) powered gate across my driveway (no separate pedestrian path to the house). The road is a low traffic lots-of-dogwalkers lane. I have 2 immediate questions. 1 - Is it usual on such a gate to have a paertly open position so people can get in, but vehicles cannot? 2 - What are views about solid gates vs eg wrought iron that keep passersby out but allow a view in (eg for burglar deterrence)? Any comments or ideas thrown around welcome. Ferdinand

You would need to PM the OP of the thread.

I have a table that folds lengthways. I use it as a desk, but could be a transformable breakfast bar.

You need to make sure that *both* streetscapes are enhanced. We had a conversation last year about a side extension on the corner of an estate road where the proposal gave an awkward looking facade to the side road, and had been refused for that reason iirc. To be fair, the house was already looking a little awkward. This was suggested as an idea: Thread here: Ferdinand

Just pointing out that the cost was similar. Do you have a source for concrete posts with already created bolt holes? Could you link, as I do not have a source. It makes the install depth of the post quite critical (?) Ferdinand

Generally very much like it, and it hits your brief - which is a pretty good example imo of where the spec for a 'normal, pleasant' house is now. I can see a couple of very minor things I would try and avoid - those hanging electric cables in the kitchen are one. Your gravel and paving looks well designed to make use of simpler materials - like it. I like the paver spacing. When the children get older (assuming children) they will move some of them 5mm in different directions, and the asymmetry will be visible from space, and you will be discombobulated whilst necking your morning cornflakes and absynth on the terrace. One question - does that type of framework pergola significantly defray sunlight. I am guessing it works with angled sunlight (?), though I have never done the calculations. I always have a slight tickle in my stomach that I should be able to sit under a pergola in the rain without getting more than slightly damp. I have plans for something to protect my front windows from the sunlight, which may be more a lightweight loggia than a pergola, with some of my solar panels on top. And another question - what is the roof angle / treatment on that half dormer window? Ferdinand

This s a custom built-in-situ fence? £70 a metre is imo towards the high end of what one should expect to pay for a high quality installed 1.8m vertilap panel / 100mm x 100mm concrete posts / gravelboard 2m high fence. Anyone who knows their fencing suppliers and their own reliable labourers could perhaps get 20-25% off that. So you should have the option if you want it. My opinion. Ferdinand

Three things you could keep in mind. 1 - Keeping it simple. Emerge from complex analysis to the simplest solution. 2 - Build your cost models to cover capital, bills and a 10-15 year period of time. That is the way Passive House works - it only looks (roughly) for a 95% reduction not Zero Energy because the last 5% may be a nice badge but is not cost effective in emissions terms. 3 - Don't forget passive aspects like pergolas and trees. Ferdinand

I don't see how the Council can make a fuss about this - without there having been a screw-up in the CiL Law or a screw-up in the Council interpretation of said law. It is basic to Planning Law that ownership is not relevant to Planning Decisions (subject now to the tickbox that the owner has been informed), and that civil law is not a relevant consideration. I don't see how the CIL law can drive a coach and horses through that principle. I would email the Council Legal Team (probably not planning) and ask for a specific comment on the point if you need further reassurance. Word it so that the reply would be binding if you can. Ferdinand

Unfortunately I am three hours away. At my parents last house they had a yew tree with about 100 years of needles underneath; ditto Scots pines. Amazing compost. if you need a disposal point, try @pocster‘s lift shaft. Then he can get his fridge down there just by dropping it.

What is the aspect of that slope, and how long are you planning to stay there? If it is a sun trap then I am wondering about eg figs.

Excellent.

You could have some blueberry bushes near those pines, assuming they get a modicum of sun. They may not need an acid top dressing there. Unlike mine ☹️.

There are ways of doing things, but you need appropriate advice from your solicitor and tax accountant on how to work in your circs. Land registry practice booklets can be helpful background.

Hoping it may help, I would summarise the differences over say 10-20 years ago as: 1 - A well insulated house gets isolated from the outside environment more, as both heat (insulation up) and air (leakage down). The house itself becomes more stable. A tell tale was insights from quite some time ago (15-25 years?) when people started superinsulating that eg "the temperature in the lounge only goes down half a degree in 24 hours when I turn all the heating off". The overheating in summer thing is the flipside of that that took some time to be appreciated. 2 - That introduces big changes behaviour and management - heating and cooling interventions are relatively smaller (and bills are less), but that also means that there is less scope to fix overshoot and environmental factors with big interventions - when they happen (which is hopefully less frequently). 3 - That in turns mean that control has to be almost designed in, which is why we have all these simulations, PHPP, solar projection models and all the rest. 4 - Two of the differences that we have noticed here over the last several years are a) that low autumn / spring sun is one area of concern, and b) summer overheating in really hot spells above 30C is another. Which is why we have all these wooden lattices around windows, and are thinking about evolving heating systems - either with cooling built in or extra eg split aircon units - to also do cooling or overheating mitigation. 5 - Things like local microclimate and externals such as trees can become relevant. 6 - In my house which was done to perhaps some what better than regs at the time I have some of these issues that I am currently thinking about. 7 - My view is that these factors gradually become more important as spec moves from current building regs towards PH levels. 8 - I find that some of the approaches and tricks used by my-dad-the-architect or my attempts to renovate rentals to higher standards help to address this is my own (somewhat less analytical) manner seem useful, so I talk about those - even though a lot of it has been a combination of gut feel and conviction. Other people have looked at it through a lens of numbers and calculations. 9 - One of your needs is to reflect on this as far as you find necessary for your new house. Then over the next decade you get to test how right you were in your assessment. Action learning ?. Hope that helps to try and express a summary in plain English. Ferdinand

The back garden has a bush in it. ?

One of our brethren from Bristol will be along in a minute to say that you need higher quality glass, and to offer to sell you some...

One question probably for @Mr Punter - does @pocster ultimately have the absolute right to refuse use of the Party Wall - or can his property right be overruled ultimately by the adjudicating third surveyor if the surveyors appointed by each party disagree? I might be inclined to insist on a party wall surveyor and (if possible) enough payment to defray the previous cost. Ferdinand

I think you have some excellent feedback above. I would add: 1 - I think you have too many small rooms. The library / study combo idea is excellent. 2 - I think there is too much circulation space - esp. the hall. See how the Edwardians or the Jacobeans did feature halls in their villa type houses - aiui normally they would get a dramatic staircase and some sort of reception or banquet space into something that size. If you want it dramatic I would move the bottom back from the door by some distance, and make it a Y staircase with 2 branches at the top. I would also make the staircase appreciably wider than a normal one -s ay 1.1-1.2m. The rake of the staircase also matters. You should be able to get a blow-em-away hall without quite such a sacrifice. 3 - Are you being conditioned by compressed London houseplan forms and small rooms? I had a delightful BH London-based visitor this week who commented that my 'orribly tight single bedroom was "medium sized". Different perceptions. Up until now I have thought of it as almost a box - room, with space for a bed, a bookshelf, a chest of drawers and a chair. Educational. Guess where London people who are used to smaller rooms will be sleeping now ?. 4 - Had some trouble with the font. I read them as "caveman's sports bar" and "petroom". ? 5 - When you revisit this the context in the plot - sun etc - will be the thing to take care adjusting. 6 - Cautionary. Make sure that you have the rest of your life too. The purpose of a self-build is ultimately to spend your time living in it not building it. We lost my dad at 72 to a condition where the seeds were sown when he was in his 30s, whereas mum had been hoping for another decade together - did not happen. There is a lot to be said for the 'Sacrament of the Present Moment" idea (that version is from a Jesuit idea) - time gone does not come back. That's something I'm coming to reflect on having had months of my otherwise-plans lost in lockdown. (I love the piccie of the dalmation - get a red setter on a floor like that and it will skating around like bambi on ice.) Ferdinand

I think that is interesting - what @Bozza has been able to do is the extensive learning process that all self-builders need to develop a (limited - architects have 7 years) subset / appreciation of certain parts of the architect skillset, and then to generalise it to a different plot. Spending open-minded time up front can help a lot of self-builders get a better, less 'play school' house for the same or less money. A lot do that, but some don't. The same applies to living in it as life changes. Ferdinand

I now wear a pair of these "Wilko Rigger Gardening Gloves", which are inexpensive and high quality for £3. Review well - better than the "gauntlets". https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-rigger-garden-glove-medium/p/0486975

(I'll also drop this post on the other thread) I think two key points amongst others for you are: 1 - If you go for a treatment plant, avoid one where any mechanics are in the goo. When it breaks you will be in deep sh*t, literally. Some bubble air through instead. 2 - Decide whether you want something powered or not, which will help refine your options. We used to have an unusual thing called an Aquatron for our last 15 years at the former house - which was also used in the famous Grand Design in the Cotswolds with the barn supported in mid-air, which was iirc the first Certified PH in the UK. These are easier if you have a bit of height difference (ours was installed using a Ha-Ha, GD one had it in the basement). There are other possibilities. These are threads you may find as useful background, though a couple of years old: Ferdinand

(I'll also drop this post on the other thread) I think two key points amongst others for you are: 1 - If you go for a treatment plant, avoid one where any mechanics are in the goo. When it breaks you will be in deep sh*t, literally. Some bubble air through instead. 2 - Decide whether you want something powered or not, which will help refine your options. We used to have an unusual thing called an Aquatron for our last 15 years at the former house - which was also used in the famous Grand Design in the Cotswolds with the barn supported in mid-air, which was iirc the first Certified PH in the UK. These are easier if you have a bit of height difference (ours was installed usinng a Ha-Ha, GD one had it in the basement). This worked fine for a family house with no odours and clearing out compost like substance once a year - worth a look, There are other possibilities. These are threads you may find as useful background, though a couple of years old: Hope your title hasn't got you propositioned by any coprophiliacs. Ferdinand

Further thought. How well is your distribution set up between rooms? Will it make your trickle fans more effective if you had eg 8mm gaps under your internal doors?