Ferdinand

For estimating heating and energy bills, you would probably be better off with the @JSHarris heat estimation spreadsheet (which does not currently seem to be where it is normally linked from here http://www.mayfly.eu/). EPCs are not a reliable way of estimating energy costs, especially for non-typical houses. However you can get a trial set of one version of the software that will let you build a complete model. Same page for link. Ferdinand

Mine (on my accessible ablutions blog piece) has screed but no ufh under the shower, installed by the self-builder who did the house and the waster is sunk in a little but also proud. It goes through to the garage over the slab, so should I ever need level access I will build up the rest of the floor, as I did not want to start digging holes. I think another way is to leave a lower area in your slab or screed. I am sure @Nickfromwales will be along in a jiffy. Ferdinand

I don't know - there may be an answer. It could be that that is a simplistic example , or it could be that there is an intention that in the interim there be a cross-subsidy as housing prices adjust as they see their model etc. Ferdinand

This would require someone to have chosen to make a list, and no one had the time ?.

A further gable going backwards would give a *lot* of space or a very dramatic room - if that is what you need. Personally I would incline towards either a single storey roof over the garage, or the full gable, as a more balanced looking design. The single storey would match the conservatory / sunlounge better. Ferdinand

Incidentally I tweeted pretty much the whole team to ask about what happens when the market value of the property is less than the rebuild cost, which gives a negative value to the piece of land on their example calculation. (Land Rent being the the theoretical rent you pay instead of Council Tax for the site your building stands on. The theory being that there is some sort of cedible process which separates the land value from the building value.) From page 42: This is the query: @georgemonbiot, @L__Macfarlane, @guyshrubsole, @beth_stratford, what happens to land rent when the Rebuild Cost is more than the value of the House? No replies so far. eg in the North and Midlands there are significant numbers of properties where this is the case. Ferdinand "

Without applying it to Monbiot himself, deliberate misleading implies a certain degree of competence to have a clue in the first place - which is often patently not the case. As @AnonymousBosch comments, the choice between ignorant vs manipulative vs stupid is a tricky judgement to make.

@le-cerveau This is a post with a useful summary from Slough Council copied from another thread: Useful summary from Slough Council: Ferdinand

This is for @newhome. How do I claim the VAT back on eligible components of this bathroom I buy directly? I tried to get Screwfix, for example, to rebate me on the Shower Seat but it did not work. The individual does have a chronic condition, and should therefore qualify. The VAT link is here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/reliefs-from-vat-for-disabled-and-older-people-notice-7017#evidence-show-customer-eligible But how do I make it work? Ferdinand

I have ordered some of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017O89SG2/ and a Mira Premium Shower seat: https://www.screwfix.com/p/mira-wall-mounted-premium-shower-seat-grey-chrome/8104g The shower seat feel extravagant but the user will be sitting on it, so it will be the thing that most affects comfort. Ferdinand

Run the Covered Yard or Way past your architect; he will not know what one is, just like everybody else and the law. Would love to hear his perspective. When I did one I just tried to make sure it wasn’t anything that was regulated, and I have not been challenged so have not had to test my arguments. Reading a previous thread of mine, I came across the Planning Officer Serenade. Does yours love you, @Lesgrandepotato?

Not quite clear what you are planning here, but it sounds like a Covered Yard to me. Class 7a exemption from Building Regs. If it s actually a Car port open on 2 sides that would be exempt under 7b. If it is not a covered yard put 2 doors in and make it a Covered Way. AIUI a covered yard or covered way can be fully enclosed. Presumably if you make it 8m x 3.74m you also avoid PP. I would think about your glamming pod later, but make the structure strong enough and flat enough. What do you plan to do in it? If you can get a car in they are likely to argue it is a car port, which should not have too many implications. Unless it is enclosed on 3 sides ? in which case you suddenly need BR. F

Unfortunately it is a panel door, and the panel is far thinner. In theory I could screw something right across, but I would prefer to avoid more screw-holes. The best idae I have is one of those concertina racks, but I suspect I have thrown about 3 of those away in enforced tidy-outs over the years.

Degrees of Accessibility. We do not need wheelchair access - which would have required rather heavier digging into the slab, including the ufh, than we would do now. And the waste pipes are badly positioned for doing that. If push came to shove we could raise the floor 100mm in the shower / whb / loo are, and have ample space for a 1:12 ramp on the way in, or a 1:18 ramp if we reverse the door. There are also other alternatives; personally I like Ski Jumps. Thanks for the read.

Interesting little document from the "Land Value Tax" people. (Attached) It would have interesting effects on self-build, but I have no idea what they would be. land-for-the-many.pdf

Welcome

I was saying look away from London not towards it, in general - but not so far out that they do not understand the extra hoopla.

I think i'll be trying the stick down ones initially, as I guess they will require some careful abrasive cleaning done later. Ferdinand

This project has now been going for a week, and should be finished with just under another day of work. Tiling and grouting has been done, and it is now just to fit the shower, the loo, and install shower screen and those grab handles etc that we have obtained so far. Then it will a case of experimenting and putting the final touches in as the shower is used. Here are a few slightly rushed photos taken at this stage. Two runs of pipe installed for the future just in case, which go through to where most of the plumbing related gubbins live beyond the other end of the bathroom. Shower tray protected from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Access hatch for future maintenance Give it a shout - get on and grout. It's Friday. Nice corner detail Stay out and let it set If anyone has any bright ideas, I need to have a set of hooks about a foot below these. Is there any product that hangs hooks off the other hooks? We should have wrapped up by Monday afternoon, and I'll aim to do one more piece, with details and costs.

I am just trying to canvas reasons different people have for a preference. I tend to prefer walk-in showers, as I perceive wetrooms to be more vulnerable to damage / wear and tear. Though I think of showers as being weaker wrt non-slip, and also level changes, What did you decide, and why? Ferdinand

Yes, but for intermediate calcs when doing approximations I tend to work in 5s and 10s then adjust by multiples of 10% at the end. And here I am just after something better than a guesstimate. That is growing up with Countdown. So 6 would be 5 plus 10% twice. But thanks. 5.678 is a nice one to remember. No idea how other people do this. I have a mate who counts indetermine numbers of ‘things’ by mentally arranging them into dominoes. And this is also why I will personally put out a contract on any politician who sets VAT to a Prime Number. Do people who grew up with LSD work in 12s and 6s? Which does actually fit with dice and dominoes. F

So based on 9/5 F = 1 C, 10.74 square feet = 1 square metre, and 1W = 3.5 BTU/hr, my fiddle factor for converting a USA R value into a European R Value is about 5.5 as a ratio with no dimensions. Which means that his R20 wall has an R Value of around 3.6, or a U-Value of around 0.28. If I call 5.5 to be 5 to within an engineering approximation, that is 4 and 0.25 for those numbers. And that is near enough for me to think with on the fly, so I am happy. Cheers Ferdinand

If I wear a stove pipe hat like Mr Brunel, will it teleport be far enough back in time to do an appropriate Mindwarp? Let’s do the mind warp again...

Was working on this. There is no way his wall with 55mm of foam has a u value of 0.05, which is half of the u value of one of our walls with 150mm of celotex, and about twice as good as required by passive. And he was talking about R30, nevermind R20. When I renovate a solid 9” brick wall I roughly need 75mm of PIR to get under 0.25 for the u-value. So .. is there a rule of thumb for getting to grips with these USA units? Cheers Ferdinand

Need help here. Can someone convert an R20 wall into European for me? It seems to be a US terminology that is rarely explained. I have never made the calculations quite work as straight R values. 2.25 inches of foam insulation does not seem like a lot, and he suggested that that removed the need for anything else. Thanks Ferdinand