Ferdinand

I seem to have developed a measure of tinnitus as (probbaly) a side effect of last winter's lurgy. Unfortunately that means that in addition to struggling to hear the microwave hum and warming drawer click, I am now running TVs and Alexa at nearly maximum volume, with a couple of surprisingly good <£40 bluetooth speakers for when I am outside. When this has all calmed back down I'll talk to a doc about it, but I am also going to need to tweak the sound system, Currently Alexa is an Amazon Echo G3. Can anyone advise on the best upgrade path? I think I want a second base (I think they can pair), or something that will give me a bit more amplitude with little loss of quality, I guess there are perhaps 3 rooms plus outside where it would be nice to have sound at this stage. I am not an audio geek, and all suggestions are welcome. I won't be buying SONOS, due to their previous loyal customer shafting activities. Cheers Ferdinand

On this one I''d say: 1 - Five bed is too busy - study can be optional guest bed. 2 - Move the asymmetrical pair of ensuites towards the master - that can afford to lose more space. 3 - Need natural light on the landing. 4 - Importantly - think about it in the context of the site eg position and arc of sun. Moving smaller shapes around in a bigger outline in mid air awill not give you an optimal place to live. 5 - I have not gone on real detail because I think you are thinking general concepts at present. F

Welcome.

This one? My tactic was to buy a tray that weighed half that...

it gets easier on the second house ?. Or the fifth house. So perhaps practice on the garage.

I think that one of the points of self-build that you don’t have to give a hoot if your requirements are standard or not. I think what I’m saying is just take enough time to be reasonably sure that you develop your ideas enough that you will get something good and you will not have any real Doh! Type regrets later. This thread is a very good thing to do, as you are getting lots of different opinions that you can adapt or consider then set aside. If you are dealing with a designer or architect at some stage, you will have that much more background to ask the right questions.

There's a learning point there. You are doing a sequential process - to fit your normal way of thinking / working. That is fine, but the risk is that you lose the links eg between the plan and how it can vary with different glazing types and positions etc. An architect might work more from a sketched network of room links and positions relative to the aspects etc, and then evolve it as an overall vision. Be sure that you go forwards and backwards enough times to make the links. If you are just a few feet in front or behind your neighbours for part of the width that means that you can get beams of direct sunlight much later or earlier in the day through a tiny bit of side aspect exposed round the end of next door. Ferdinand

Speaking of painting, have you considered spraying your undercoats? May be too late for this time! But worth knowing about as a technique.

Yep. It’s to do with giving appropriate compensation in cash or kind where they feel you have been sufficiently generous whilst you feel you have not been exploited. It might be a payment or eg providing a professionally designed and built shrub border over the bit of garden that your building project has trashed.

Welcome.

Five photos just taken in my house. Mine is built right on the boundary both sides. I was responsible for the conservatory .. the PP would have gone right up to the boundary but I did not want to get complicated with neighbours so left a gap which also means my middle lounge has a small strip of wall accessible for wiring, ducts etc on outside wall on my property. The test was done bŷ the previous owners who extended the bungalow in approx 2008. Personally I would not have the nerve to put those glass blocks in the garage wall. Translucent high window in conservatory. 2m garden wall 18” behind it. Next door house 3m beyond that. Panel in front door .. Edwardian style. For privacy bu5 that green bit is a peephole. Glass block window in garage. This is on the boundary. Roof window. Has stick on design as it would look onto next door. Tall window with permanent arrangement to provide a near field point of interest. Ferdinand

Disagreeing with that. No it doesn't. It means that you need to find ways that work getting light in from the sides, whilst not giving you a boring view. A blank wall - what a wonderful opportunity ! Also I assume there is space the other side so the next house is 2m or 4m away. Examples: - In the 1910s and 1930s they used all those wonderful part translucent, part stained stair windows. They did similar things where path was against path between pairs of semis. You get a nice bright glass design, no actual view out, and light in the dark part of a room. - In the 1970s they used glass brick panels. My dad on one occasion built a glass brick clerestorey (one row below a flat room) right up against a public footpath. I have a couple of "windows" made from these in my garage which are right on the boundary against the neighbour garden. - In yours there is nothing to stop you having a textured glass window at fence height, or as a horizontal window high enough up to get the extra light from the 2-4m to the next house.I have one in my conservatory. - It may be that etched glass, or a mosaic of leaded lights in different colours, would be interesting. - Equally you can put in a normal window (full height narrow say 2.2m high by 450 wide might be interesting), and do something interesting outside, which could be planting, a design on the wall, a bed of hostas or a climber, or similar. I know of one where the outside level is at 2'6", so they planted it up to have the feel of houseplants on a windowsill, but outside. - Or do something interesting inside to add interest to a blank-ish view, and distract from it. - If you Kevin McCloud you might get an external light well that looked like a chimney flue. I'm not saying think outside the engineering box ... I'm saying the box is actually quite a strange shape. Will try and find a couple of piccies. Ferdinand

It is easier to have a decent relationship with your neighbour such that you can work from that side for the short period you need. With an appropriate benefit to them. I hope you have this - better for all concerned.

One question. This is non-standard construction (albeit Laing Easiform is one of the more accepted methods and relatively mortgageable). Since you are planning EWI is it actually going to be a better solution to insulate under the entire roof under the tiles ("the full tea cosy") if you are planning extensive works? Ferdinand

Welcome to the forum. I'm going to imagine that your name means you want the loft room for making moonshine. The problems that make a loft room difficult tend to be clearances (eg can you get a high enough ceiling over a big enough area to be useful once you have put enough insulation in to make it comfortable, can you fit a decent stairway in - not too steep etc without risk of bumping heads) and structural (can the floor be made strong enough without compromising some other element), and is it worth it on the price of the house. If it was done by people who knew their onions, and they chose not to 'regularise' it with the authorities, which would let them sell as an extra habitable room, then there is probably a damn good reason hiding in the woodwork somewhere. Otherwise why wouldn't they? One option is to get a loft conversion specialist out - they are everywhere just Google it - and say 'it was done in 1995 and we want to know what we need to do to make it a real room, please would you give us a quote". That way you may find that it cannot be done economically, or that it can be done and you need to do XYZ. You could find that some of the works are difficult enough to need a specialist. And you will have a better handle on the concepts. Ferdinand

@AliG "Laundry room". - I should have guessed ? I think your comment about many Americans not getting the point of hair shirts for the sake of it is well made. There is a parallel one where some green enthusiasts don't get the point of using energy efficiency for facilitating an existing lifestyle rather than making an even more tightly woven hair shirt. Good conversation. Do you have a number for energy use per unit area? Ferdinand

Can you do anything about that Tumble Dryer? eg Pulley Maid.

You need to borrow the head of somebody's secret police...

Following that up, On three rooms deep - my GF rooms one side are (F to B) study-lounge-conservatory, and on the other spare-bedroom - stairs with bathroom under - kitchen. Garage-utility are where the side drive used to be. I plan to remove the wall between the study and lounge to give me a through room to help with the darkish lounge. Ideally I would have double doors to a breakfast terrace under a loggia at the front, but the bay window is only 10 years old so it may be an extravagance to do now. The front will still be a study / 2nd living room, and I will have foldaway shutters or internal glass double doors. Try thinking about positioning the utility to the back of the garage, or make it more longitudinal - such that you can create a double aspect room running into the kitchen to improve light penetration. So you have one side that has blockages, and the other side that does not. In the posted plan, light is blocked front to back on both sides of the plan. Or do that and swap the lounge and study. If you look on the blog at how my downstairs shower room is done it is actually under the stairs / transverse landing. F

Have a look at what you could do eg with turning your staircase into a large light well. F

A swimming pool and a games room AND a 70 sqm kitchen? You old lounge lizard you. (Personally I'm planning a dance floor - but not enough depth for the sprung maple version without digging up all the concrete and the ufh).

I'd concur that it feels bedroom heavy. One solution might be to pull the garage forward to stick out a little. Could be a nice feature on the 'face' of the house. Jack and Jill bathroom spaces can often translate to two ensuites plus some storage. I am in a 4/5 bed bungalow conversion, where they did do the conversion after reducing it to three walls and a hole, with South also being the front. I am planning some changes, one of which his how to turn my sun-side into a practical 'front courtyard garden' such that a dining terrace would work on that side without impinging on privacy. The plan is perhaps an arcade or loggia. But I front onto a tiny lane. In your case quite a lot could be done with a relaxing space down the garden eg hedges round an italianate pool as a private sunbathing spot, bbq etc. Mine is too short to avoid shadows from the house all day. You could perhaps also get more living space by a single story space at the back. Ferdinand

In which case you can draw your "leave for the future" line around things which don't get included in the VAT relief (?)

Where's North? Am I correct the road is on the SE side?

What's a "facewash"? Genuine question - never heard of it. I use a sink of water and a bar of soap; is this why am ugly? @AliG So the pool is only 20%. Not dominantly enormous. But Tesla plus pool is nearly half. Can you do anything about that Tesla chunk? Battery system used on divert from the solar or picks up overnight tariff etc that stores up power to charge the T and run the baseload? In the kitchen you have approx 30-35 7W lights for 70 sqm. I have approx 16 4W LED GU10s lights for 26 sqm, so your intensity sounds only 10-20% high by comparison. Movement detectors as a solution? Can you just get more towels, so less need to wash so frequently (looking at the other end). Counting up what I inherited from mum gives me the best part of three dozen towels which could last me till 2030. I think your lockdown / non-lockdown difference might be worth considering - is the usage higher than last year? I'm taking it that you are on your best choice of tariff. Assuming you have no sewerage plant. Interesting little issue I have now is that I seem to have developed tinnitus in the last 9 months (think it's a side effect from a very nasty winter bug last year). I now sometimes have a several second periodic woosh-woosh-woosh in my left ear, which I first thought was a maintenance issue in the heating circulation - like listening to an AM seashell. But I now can't hear things like the warming drawer and the mcrowave when running, so I keep leaving them on sometimes overnight.