Ferdinand

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh !!!! Some people on this thread need some morels before they inflict any more old chestnuts on us.

Is anyone whistling Colonel Bogey?

But the one guarantee you have is that some of what I say is wrong ?.

If you *really* want to test this, you need to get a camel to wee on it. Or - more boringly - Tibbles the Cat.

I think there needs to be a buildhub cartoon behind one of those tiles, for posterity.

One thing you need to be obsessed by is Detail. Detail. Detail. Detail. Possibly to the extent that your architect gets bored, your wife threatens to divorce you, and your guinea pig has a brainstorm. And if you aren't, other people won't be either. F

My standard pair are one from the Nuaire Drimaster - one of the lower models such as the Hall Control - range for the PIV and the Vent-Axia Lo Carbon Tempra Plot the HRV, which has a basic trickle for configurable inside and a Pull Cord boost. The pair would normally cost approx £400-450 plus installation. I have been using these models since 2013, and the Tempra is not quite as silent as some would like (depends where you put it) so there may be a better alternative out there. Reading your reply, I would say you need a wider knowledge on heating systems and insulation specs (what is "good"?), as the current varied ideas sound complex. If the fabric is done properly and to a decent spec a Wood Stove should be purely aesthetic, and I would point you towards considering those electric simulated wood stoves that hang on the wall. What is this? Where will it vent to? Does he mean a long, thin trickle vent? And do not forget 1, or more likely 2, charge points for electric cars. F

Time for a caption competition? "I swear to it, Officer, the Martian was right there !"

Is there perhaps an argument for making the kitchen more open to the lounge-diner too, while you are at it, by reducing that wall to a half length wall, or perhaps a half-height wall - especially if a new kitchen is planned? Perhaps something else to store in the head for later. F

Given the 2 outside doors planned for the new, and the closeness of the kitchen, it should be possible to keep them reasonably separate and protect floors with runners etc. There may be an argument for providing an outside tap or temporary tap in the wetroom to avoid continual incomings for water to make materials etc. For the wetroom could you fit a temporary door in the side of the porch if it is not complicated, or even just bash a hole? Secondhand upvc in frame on ebay cost about £25. Or set up a water butt on the patio or drive and top that up each evening with a hose, and use that for cement water etc. There are solutions available for access through the roof later. Some people have them in place permanently.

I think the last paragraph in your comment is sensible. It is something I would be willing to chance my arm at in the right circumstances and context, but to be considered carefully first in all the circumstances.

Welcome @Tony. Dive into the forum and read some blogs - there is a lot here already. We like pictures.

Fair comment. There may be scope, but it's a shark-infested custard!

Can't you build it all from the outside accessed from the porch or new garden door, and not create the penetrations to teh existing until it is nearly finished?

I think that you need to decide whether you want a warm loft or a cold loft. If a cold loft then you may also be able to get free rockwool added to 250mm, but you would need to remove the existing such that there was under 100mm there when inspected. I would suggest putting the 100mm you remove under your suspended floors downstairs as underfloor insulation, if they are suspended floors. Messy but not difficult, as you only need to lift a floorboard every 750mm or so, then reach under with a staple gun. And a cold loft will need adequate ventilation. If a warm loft, then you will need teh rockwool out anyway, perhaps to use in the same way. Loft Legs can add up quite quickly if you cover a large area, even though quite cheap each. I hve used them successfully for part boarding out a loft or two, You also need to make sure that you have addressed air leaks from house to loft - far easier to do before insulating ?. Ferdinand

To me that seems to be a highly convoluted argument. They would be relying on a secondary effect of a very arguably fundamentally unenforcible Plannign Condition (a condition does not come into force until development starts, and iirc pruning trees is not "start of development"). But I'll stop there, as Martin Goodall has written 2 articles about this area in the last 2 months, and did so previously in 2011 especially wrt trees: https://planninglawblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/pre-commencement-conditions.html http://planninglawblog.blogspot.com/2018/09/pre-commencement-conditions.html http://planninglawblog.blogspot.com/2018/10/defective-prior-approval-applications.html Ferdinand

Indeed. Another reason for having the switch near the sink, so you can easily test it by turning the tap on from time to time, and operate the switch to see the water stop.

Excellent things imo, @Crofter. British invention, and - as marked - it is called a Surestop. They are on my list of always beneficial but easily forgotten things that get put into all rental conversions. There are versions which quality as a WRAS stoptap, but I tend to fit them in the order Stopcock -> Anti-scale device -> Surestop for protecton reasons. There is a debate as to whether they should be put in cupboards or on the wall near the sink. I like them out of cupboards so they are always there winking "use me if you go out" at tenants. We talked about these a bit on a thread last year ?. This was my full comment: F

OK. Will edit. Cheers. Edited.

I've been chewing on this since yesterday, and I don't think I am convinced that you are getting as much for your floorspace and budget as I would expect. Whilst I agree with the previous comments that it is an attractive and pleasant house, I think that it is not yet a great or very flexible house. I think the outside is probably a more attractive design than the inside to me. But how to feed back without sounding hostile, and still be provocative but contructive? Rather than list details yet, let me start by asking you to think about "use cases". ISTM that for 300sqm and the best part of a million ukp including plot, you could reasonably expect everything you could ever want, and then some more. How will this house be practical if eg 1 - A parent has to come and live with you? 2 - One or both of you need to work from home? 3 - You have another child, and it turns out to be twins? For a large house like that, I think that all of those should be easily accommodated, and I am not sure they can be on the current design. Switching to rooms and spaces, as I see it you have 3 very generous beds with baths including a master suite, one more generous bed, family bath, a nice big kitchen-diner-sitting, and 2 more reception rooms set up as a playroom and a lounge. The "wow" features are the 'bridge' on entry and some interesting profiles / details on the roof and rear facade. For an extra 100 sqm and 200k on the build budget over a 350-400k 200sqm house, I think that more could be expected. The impression I get is that the extra space and cash budget has gone in part to the bridge and void (and even more space beyond the 303sqm has gone into the insets in the rear facade), but that most has gone to adding space to the same selection of rooms that I would find in a 20-25% smaller self-build house, rather than doing things a little differently to relfect the larger dwelling. I have all of the above or equivalents in my 2100 sqft house, and it feels generous so I am not sure that all that space needs to go towards making the rooms huge rather than merely very generous indeed. What would I change on the current design to go in the direction I suggest? 4 - As mentioned, the stairs do not seem resolved. That stub corridor to a bedroom door and window seems incongruous. Move the door, make the stairs full width with half landing, and put an even larger stair window and window seat on it to give another wow, which will also dramatise the route in for visitors. Put an interesting feature tree or bush at the back fence where it will be seen as people walk in. Make the stairs 35 degrees of slope or even less. 5 - Am I right that Bed 3 is entirely north-facing, and never actually gets any sunlight? I could have misread the plans. 6 - In a 35-40 sqm master suite, istm that it should be possible to find room for a relaxing-bath in addition to a conventional shower. I would also look at turning that Master Bed window into doors onto a balcony in the recess - inward or outward opening should fit. If neighbours overlook, then it could be angled south. 7 - I would make provision to easily divide up the Jack-and-Jill into 2 should it be needed. 8 - I would look to adjust the downstairs to give an easily adaptable grannex. 9 - I would try and create an extra room upstairs as Bed 5, for flexibility and a hobby room or office. 10 - I might try and create a study / reception 3 downstairs for similar reasons. And that is without getting into things like gyms and cinema rooms. 11 - I wonder if storage space is too slight, and you will end up with a large traditional shed. Personally I would want a double garage, or at least make some use of the gable void above the existing. I think that one feature of great designs for normal houses is how they organise space for ancillaries (eg garden store, workshop etc) into the original concept. 12 - I do not understand the passageway between the garage and house. Why is that space not inside the garage? How to approach it - I would perhaps suggest giving your architect some extra constraints if you want to pursue these lines, and see what emerges. Best regards. You did ask for alternative views ! Ferdinand

So what colour are you going to render it ? Coming soon to the Marketplace: One Bottle of Liquid Weather (nearly new)

Thanks all.

I have no idea for the cost per sqm of these, but alternatives might be SiPs (talk to people who supply garden offices as self-assembly kits) or Block with external insulation, which would reduce your internal-finishes costs. There may be relevant thoughts on this thread: Can you buy your cat rooms as offsite-constructed cubicles for a competitive cost, delivered whole on a lorry? Have a look at companies that make student bedrooms or modular bathrooms for hotels or hostels. I assume that you have consulted with other catteries as to how they did it? Anything on cat forums? I am interested that catteries do not require a room with water supply etc separate from the kitchen, or an isolation facility. The difference between contractors and self-management is a risk-cost sliding scale. You have to decide where you fit on that. For some ideas (a lot of work for you) check out the blogs of @Crofter & @Triassic (the cabin part) Ferdinand

Welcome to the Planning System ???.

Once the tree has gone, your No-Dig Planning Condition is likely to be unenforcible, and you may be able to ask for the Condition to be removed on the basis that it is "no longer necessary", and in fact would fail 5 of the 6 required tests: But your blowback could be instant TPOs on all the other trees, which would then be confirmed or not depending on their evaluation of public amenity and tree quality. And perhaps attempts at enforcement. How to play it? I think I would think through, and create if I could , a "landscape strategy" (ie a draft or prepared plan of your proposed garden and attached words, in a report format), which I would then if necessary use to show that it was reasonable to remove the tree. That may assuage any visiting Tree Officers who appear out of holes in the ground with itchy trigger fingers, indeed they may like it. I would apply that to the other trees too, and I would consider doing the works before I talked to the Council to make sure that I wasn't going to get any TPOs that were showstoppers. I would also make sure that my new garden was more nature-beneficial than before eg genuinely appropriate planting (eg undergrowth, bushes and trees with food, and some taller dense stuff for nests, hedgehog holes in fences, and swift boxes etc). Our birds are currently gorging on the Pyracantha berries. A further advantage is that were you to attach the Plan to your PP in an appropriate manner if possible, it may bring some of your landscape works within the scope of reclaiming VAT. (Make VERY sure that they are not protected before you do works; to prune or remove a TPO tree is an offence, and unauthorised works done during a building project are exactly the circs where they would seek to enforce.) This is a strategy to be considered carefully in the light of the local circumstances and the trees concerned. A half grown sycamore that cannot be viewed from a public road is a different situation to a fully grown Turkey Oak that is loved locally, for example. F