Ferdinand

One aspect which is totally unclear as yet is how the providers of the plots manage risk and long term risk, of which they will get a lot more than before due to the extra upfront investment, and deal with the peculiar decisions of local authorities. Some people view plots as bottomless pits of tax money waiting to be harvested, others view LAs as bottomless pits of bureaucrat costs. That is not resolved. And in reality it is really really difficult. One of the interesting things about Gravenhill is how long it has all taken. Kevin McLoud’s street of 10 houses took iirc 6 years from first mooting. And Gravenhill was set up by the Planning Authority ... imagine a developer trying to do the same with hordes of yammering NIMBYs everywhere demanding that they are suddenly interested in the welfare of foxes.. Or look at something as allegedly simple as Build to Let. Legal and General have everything they have built so far targeting the top 10-20% of the market at rents about 1/3 above the General market afaik. And it is taking years longer than the initial commitment. The first lot of plots at Penkhull, Stoke the LA ended up spent 450k on getting them ready, then made 590k from the sale, with potentially 200k to come depending on a further road being built. Sales prices were higher than expected. Is it built yet ... project started in 2013. https://selfbuildportal.org.uk/case-studies/stoke-serviced-plots/ It is .. like everything ... about money and risk and matching the two. We do not have more than half the jigsaw imo. But then increasing self build to say 50k a year from 15-20k was always going to take a generation. Ferdinand

That is interesting. And is a recommendation like me waiting for Doctors to be having laser surgery and there being no specs at Conferences for Opticians before I will consider laser, type I Diabetes and my sod of a prescription. Notwithstanding. Architects are always more creative when the customer is assertive enough to give them some but not too many constraints, or buys a right bugger of a plot that is an intellectual challenge. I think the Golden Brick is effectively a way of handling the VAT exemption , whilst giving the site provider some more cash. I do not think anywhere has a standard and simple way of handling the self-build exemption on a larger pre-provided plot yet. I keep asking Councils how they would handle S106 for a large site subdivided for self-builds later, and no one has a real clue yet that I have asked - it is all btsoyp. I am not aware that anyone has ever run cost-benefit from the point of view of the customer at Gravenhill. I can see that the houseprices being London cummutable will be OK in a decade for builders now, provided all the tickboxes are ticked.

Does this work with all AICO alarm systems? Look useful - mine are hardwired interlinked. Ferdinand

Harrumph! Opportunity to learn new skills !

(Updated - spotted that they are hard wired). It is the case that fire alarms sometimes go off for spurious reasons. Usually test and no need to worry. Aico are a good recoognised brand, and it sounds as if you have the 10 year rechargeable battery wired interlinked type. I would check that your system has what is needed - especially CO by any gas appliances and a Heat (toast proof) alarm in the kitchen (use the one from there somewhere else if appropriate). Who knows, by 2027 you may want to do sprinklers instead. I can see an argument for sprinklers in a house like yours - relatively isolated and old, and by 2027 Wales may have made the general market price lower. You recently expressed wallet-pain, and a full set of kit could be (guestimating) about £500 or more, depending what level of features you go for. When I did AICO wired in my mst recent refurb (5-6 rooms plus hall), the bits were the best part of £250 or a little more. Ferdinand

Welcome to the forum, Paul. Hmmm. Interesting. I'll be as interested as you to see an anwser. The thing that springs to mind is put it on small stilts or some sort of light footprint foundation (you know - eggcrates with gravel type things) in holes you make Or piles. Do you have neighbours? What did they do? What is the rest - can you bridge it in some form from the edge? Ferdinand (Apporve of people who use tags!)

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit....

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Welcome Roger. Florianopolis sounds like an interesting place. It would be interesting if you were to post pics of a few buildings you find interesting, and projects you have done ... especially low energy houses which we are keen on, and th3 different challenges in Brazil. Perhaps once you have settled in. I very much like this F-something-opolis way of naming things. All I need now is somewhere willing to become Ferdinandopolis. I would try it with Nottingham, my local City, but that might cause an increase of exactly one in the crime rate. Ferdinand

Welcome. A photo of the existing roof light with say a few feet of surrounding roof would really help, if you have one. Cheers Ferdinand

Sorry. No - the people who own the land through which the proposed pedestrian pathways will run have not been approached.

To help you get to grips to the extent you need, here are a few links. it really is all sweat sweat sweat and detail detail detail. Our forum colleague on Gravenhill, @Visti, did a really good cost control process at the point you are at now more or less. For a 184sqm house on Gravenhill: They ended up getting it back down to £265k or so. The ss he built he made available here. https://drive.google.com/file/d/13-diCE3Iu8WrtFUKLe9ZNJs_pwR_ZEB7/view And look at: You at plot 290 seem to be somewhat close to 156. F

Thanks both. Still getting to grips with this. There is a certain amount of nice features that have a look of being designed to be taken out later - eg those nice permeable paths are quite emphasised, yet the people who own the land have not been approached. That is probably normal at Outline, but I have seen other developers salami slice backwards later.

One slightly different way to think is to apply the traditional recycling list to the building itself, building elements and finishes, then work through the cost and lifestyle implications. Prevent Reduce Reuse Recycle eg say an Internal Wall. Just not having it there saves a chunk. Or fence -> hedge can save several £k. Or a lot here save by having a house that is well enough specced that it can be one or two heating zones, so things like boilers and much of the control gubbins just vanish. BTW does that mean that ufh piping and slab insulation is already in situ or are you not that far yet? Ferdinand

We have a new outline proposal for a housing estate nearby, and I will be making some comments - supporting principle but pointing out inadequate quality features in the scheme. This is a clip from the "Illustrative Master Plan". We all know how "illustrative plans" proposed at Outline without full compliance, somehow turn into the final plan and the non compliances can get forgotten about at Detailed. 1 - Is it normal to bury large 'lecky cables under a Balancing Pond in a housing estate? (These are *big* - they may be 33kV ,and serve thousands of people)? 2 - That looks a little close to the houses, assuming the brown road is about 5m wide. The scheme is not dissimilar to another one taken through planning nearby; not sure how the cables ended up there.

Asking a further q. May have made too many assumptions. Is the culprit the gap around the exhaust, or that the exhaust is letting air in out because the shutter is open, or that the cupboard is actually a real part of the ventilation route? Could you clarify?

I'll leave the pointing comment for someone else. Those are the ones that click, aren't they? You can get different types, or inline ones where it is against a weak spring. Just need to think around how far you want to take your works eg new fan. Should be able to find something for a few £ only eg Amazon if just after the grill. I think I found one with this type of shutter, and a cowel over the end to stop in blowing about and clicking. Ferdinand

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I think mine came with a full set of nearly everything - except possibly the XL tip. Looks like T who want her pebbledash spraying may be about to have it done after nearly a decade of campaigning, as I now have a way to redo it without excessive pain. Just need to decide about cleaning / repair first (120 year old pebbledash at least), and what we do about the moulded in fake quoins. Ferdinand

But reserve your own judgement. You are the one with balls in the slot machine.

Get an extractor that is either a constant trickle of that is your strategy, or with a a backdraft shutter. Or an auto closing when no flow exhaust grill if the fan is OK. F

Google street view should do that well enough. Also look at the A6011 in Linby, Notts. The river Lean goes under a number of drives over a Good distance.

Try talking to Stanton Bonna, and also Buildbase Civils. BC have a branch 2 miles away and they have some quite big stuff that I see when I get big slabs. Once talked to SB about a section of concrete tunnel to use as a round wine cellar; whackos do phone them up.

What is the source of the draught?

Bathtime. I will be having a bath vaguely like this, though it may be square ended. The gap I have between shower screen and wall is about 830mm, and I need the bath plus a gap big enough to clean sensibly. I think that limits me to a 700 wide bath, and length can be 1700 or maybe even 1800mm. It will be a wall mounted filler, and the overflow should ideally be at the end away from the corner. I am looking at the one above from Cheeky Bathrooms, who have supplied me excellent quality previously. Unfortunately it is 750 wide. https://cheekybathrooms.co.uk/product/j-shaped-curved-rh-lh-1700-x-750mm-single-ended-bath/ Can anyone recommend one of these that is 700 wide? Thanks Ferdinand