Ferdinand

Just like all our suits.

The other structure like that that we all meet every day is the system of paper sizes. Each size has half the area of the next size in the same ratio, and A0 the biggest has an area of 1 sqm. It lets you eg auto-calculate in a spreadsheet the weights and therefore postage cost of letters just from the gsm of the writing paper and knowing that there are 16 A4s in a square metre. Minus the stamped envelope. Basic knowledge for mailshot marketeers so they can annoy you at least expense ? . But that works on the square root of two.

1.618. I thought you were starting from that from the title ?. We did it in O Level Maths iirc. It is the ratio of a rectangle with sides where the leftover bit has the same proportions as the original if you cut off a square. Draw it up and you see that that relationship lets you construct a decreasing series of rectangles where there long side of the next smaller one is the same length as the shorter side of the previous one, and that allows interesting progressions of shapes based around eg spirals. Have a play with some graph paper and cutting up rectangles in that proportion - should give a better feel. Mathematically you start with 1.618 by 1. Cut off 1 and you get 1 by 0.618. And 1 divided by 0.618 is 1.618. Geometrically if you draw a rectangle like that, you can visually see a pair of simultaneous equations that let you calculate it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio F

What happened to my thread?

At least I didn’t point out that there are 7896 photos of those gates. And one of those gates and a girl.

To narrow the island you could fit wall units one side, if the heights work.

if it is to be liveable do you not need to meet Building Regs? (Sorry)

https://www.harlechhouse.com

I would leave the cut corners because they are interesting and distinctive locally. And I like that they are quietly prominent.

Unfortunately that would also take the wall.

It's a very thirsty plant, so I have been feeding it big healthy drinks of glyphosate. Winning but slowly.

Aha. A Tesla Tonka. Yes - I'll give you that it is even fatter than mine. As Clarkson would say - you can very nearly get a whole American in it. ?

Yes - my Skoda Superb is an inch wider than a Tesla 3, and it currently has very minor scratches on 3 out of 4 corners. One reason why I am waging a genocidal war on next door's ivy that came over the wall is because it deceived my parking radar and made me scratch my bumper.

I'll need to make mine a bit wider to perhaps 3.5m - limited by the amount of straight all I have to slide it behind. I quite enjoy having the postman coming to the house, and people looking and dropping in. A few on my road have solid gates, and the different times they are left open for is interesting. One up the road which is never open is a recently retired couple, and is never open - and is actually covered in composite cladding rather than wood.

?

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.