Ferdinand

There's a whole bundle of questions here :-). This may take a post or two. The post was prompted by my spotting of 12v fire alarm systems from the likes of TLC. Firstly, I am talking about single family rentals, or possibly "small HMOs" (ie sharing like a family or up to I think 3-4 people, though in Scotland I think 2 singles sharing is officially an HMO) rather than large or 3 storey HMOs where control panels and emergency lights and things come into [;ay. Secondly, I don't think that Ts doing work applies in my consideration - apart from removal of batteries if the alarm keeps going off or for use elsewhere. One reason for sealed units rather than expecting the T to replace a battery every year. Clearly the only formal legal requirement that can be laid on an LL is at the start of the tenancy, since after that point the LL has no absolute right of access, never mind being in loco parentis to supervise tenant behaviour. Thirdly, I think that lights becoming something of a non-issue, as with LEDs they will hardly ever be replaced and a whole series of short tenancies may go through with no bulb expiries. At home I replace more than 55 GU10s with LEDs back in about 2014, and I think only 1 or perhaps 2 have popped since then. Fourthly, as an example in the Little Brown Bungalow renovation I fitted all mains powered interlinked AICO in every room (except possibly the CO detector), and the lecky put a fused connection unit or two in the loft, one of which my maintenance guy later used to install a PIV ventilation unit. I recall the Fire Alarm bill being a bit of a shock, and a surprisingly large part pf the reewiring expenditure. I think that technically we did not require Building Regs involvement, as that was done by the Competent Person electrician who did all the alarms. My only 'noncompliance' (though not a formal requirement aiui even in a rental) *may* have been the PIV unit - would have to check the certificate. Specific replies following. Ferdinand

Not quite sure to address this, so I will just ask this question about connections such as hard wired fire alarms and PIV fans (typical load 10W) etc Now, there is no issue with us doing those on our own home, provided we do it right. Or having an electrician do the same. I am interested as a landlord. The big issues (obviously) are the linked ones of tenant safety and potential liability, with cost getting a look in once appropriate standards are met. My practice in a full rewiring would be to get the electrician to do hardwired alarms then it is certified with the rest under the 5 year inspection. In a non-wiring small refurb or existing house I currently use 5 or 10 year sealed battery alarms to avoid the ‘tenant not replacing battery’ safety issue. I need to check current regulations before I do the next one. My questions ... probably for tradesmen mainly, are: 1 - How are low power connections regulated? Is it Ok for a non Competent Person to connect up a PIV fan to say the lighting power wires? is it OK if the connection is to a Competent Person pre-installed Connection unit in the loft? The latter would save a second visit by the Electrician. 2 - What about fire alarms? 3 - What about 12v fire alarms? IIRC 12v is not regulated. 4 - Is there a significantly different fire hazard from using 12v vs 240v wiring for eg fire alarms? 5 - Does this mean that running a stepped down to12v circuit into the loft space is a good idea? 6 - Are there many pros or cons to using 12v lighting? Thanks for any replies Ferdinand

What @pdf27 said, plus this: Do your models incorporating at least a 20 year period to give a lifecycle assessment. You will need to do that for an assessment of FiT anyway. Just assume a reasonable value for inflation and sensitivity test with higher plus lower. F

Which, summarised, says expand your knowledge and do your homework up front, even if it takes longer. Because most of us are only building one house and will have to live with mistakes forever rather than have the opportunity to learn from them. Like Icarus and the practical implications of the melting point of wax vs the temperature it can reach in the sun. Which is what you are doing ?. Cool. F

I stay off plumbing, but what is the right way round for a cable tie if I want them all to line up? ?

They should have used a “firm price” contract, and stayed out of the way once the build started. Used to live just across the Heath from there in Gospel Oak (rented ?). They certainly do not have much garden left. (I seem to be having terrible trouble with my linkstyle. Must have lost the towel in Golgafrincham and caused a war somewhere.) F

Creosote? Perhaps I am off-timbre with that.

I suppose : After the incident with the sprinkler and the postman ... ”Fang the red setter never again saw postmen as potential victims, for the rest of his days.”

That beats "It is a truth universally acknowledged.." into a cocked hat. So tempting to sponsor a story competition with that as the defined opening sentence.

If dogs are straying accidentally on purpose, then perhaps leaving the gate open sometimes may help.

@CADjockey Thanks for posting so early in your design process - early enough when we can make suggestions in time for a fundamental rethink should you need it, but late enough that we have enough to react to specifically so avoid shooting at too much random. This has been probably one of the best threads I have seen on BH, which is probably linked to me not having posted yet :-). Other people have posted specifics, some of which I agree with. My first impression on the plans was that it was very compartmentalised, and how much space was swallowed by spaces where you will not actually live, an circulation. To me it has a feel of a house for a senior manager or independent professional from the 1930s or 1950s. For example a University Vice Chancellor or Area Manager who needs to be able to impress and entertain for the job, or an accountant, doctor, solicitor, school headmaster, or minister of religion who would need to have some business or 'public' functions at home while also housing a family. The layout is startlingly similar to a vicarage from that period - family rooms plus an office and a visitors' lounge or parish room. In 2018 I can see that that would be suitable for a similar setup such as a home-based artist, counsellor, designer, or homeworker, or for a family in a communty where 'public' and 'private' are still expected to be substantially separate (eg in some conservative religious communities). I feel that in one sense you have bypassed the ideas developed in the 1960s to 1990s, and gone for the earlier period's style - eg in the kitchen - dining room, and shutting the playroom away. But also now, the Vicarage or the home-practising Doctor would have the potential public functions more separate in an annexe with a separate entrance, a loo, a waiting room, an office, and a seal-offable link to protect the family space. That is not to say you need to do that, but what you may want to consider as potential future uses for you house (if you care). Two metrics that may be useful are % of area which is mainly used for circulation space, which imo for a house this size should be 12-15% (have not tried to calculate this); and % of area which is used for rooms where you spend time (ie exclude storage, circulation, ancillary and service spaces) - for your design I make it that you spend all your time in less than half of the house. IMO that should be more like 65-70%. That suggests to me that you could get the same amount of effective living space for less house (and money), or more house for the same. I also wonder slightly whether you are doing all that is possible with the plot. What would I do? Downstairs, I would reconsider the layout. I think that lots have commented on that. I might consider putting the study/studio or gym into the garage block rather than the basement, specifically designed to also be a potential Grannexe or pleasant work space. If I was being really long-termist I might make it such that the plot could be divided later, and the garage block be a potential retirement bungalow that could be split permanently. Upstairs, I would think about making it 4 doubles pus a studio-study-craft room with North Light, set next to the family bathroom. ie Potential 5 ensuite doubles; I think you have space for that. The 5th family bedroom adds value - beyond that not so much. I agree on Jack and Jill bathrooms; there is nearly always space for a pair of ensuites. It is such a significant plot that I wonder whether you could do something dramatic such as having (or space for) 3 or even 4 garages. If you have a vague feeling of not-yet-happy-enough, then you need to let it steep, and get some more input. There are lots of good comments here, but I would also recommend visiting lots of similar-scale houses to get a feel for different possibilitiies. One way is to stay in various houses owned by the Landmark Trust, or view houses for sale, or read the BH blogs and ask to visit. Many of us do that sometimes. I think it would be useful for us to see the one page spec of requirements about 'how you want to live' (not 'we want these rooms') you gave your designed/architect. That should have generated a dialogue between you and their experience, to help refine your thoughts. Post it here, or if you did not have one, then write one now resourced by comments here, and perhaps post *that* here. But it all comes back to what you want, and what you want to leave potential for. Best of luck. Ferdinand

Come on, Jack. Get real. I think the answer to that is that Mrs Jack quite properly envisioned herself waking up gradually and slowly on a Sunday morning, while you put your clothes, trolled downstairs, bought a paper, and made the coffee - and brought it back up to be presented on a silver tray with an exquisitely prepared breakfast of Eggs Benedict and Melba Toast, while she relaxed on a on a steamer chair on the balcony. Perhaps with the traditional Bloody Mary. Ferdinand

Welcome.

Apropos of not very much, that is very nearly the ground pressure exerted by a medium sized elephant. http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/askaphysicist/physics-answer.cfm?uid=20090910093223

@MikeSharp01 Have you an idea how much you will use on the garden and car etc? Rainwater for that will reduce your input volume.

He does seem to be very "Murray Walker". Exact contemporaries to within 2 years, except one is dead.

Does anyone have any good Yogi Berra quotes?

>t.i.h.s.g.o = d There is another term. Or d = 0.9 * P(F) where P(F) is the probablility of a post by someone who's forum name starts with F. F

Never sure about Oxford Uni. Seems to produce a lot of very highly intelligent intellectually-penetrative fools, based on people I know who went there, politics and the meeja. 10 of our 13 Prime Ministers since the war went there for a University. The others were Edinburgh, none and none (Brown, Callaghan and Major). Perhaps not a good sample ? . The international HE rankings would disagree with me. F

Would not a kitchen squeegee or sponge mop do the walls and behind-the-bath? Another one of those where 'middle way' does not work (like 6" gaps between houses or extensions) - close the gap off completely or make it easily accessible?

I think it is because Scandy houses tend to be designed to have bathrooms with wetfloors and have a drainage grill in the floor, without paying much attention to eg floor profile to direct the water. To me it makes sense to have a freestanding bath draining into the grill. A good buggeration-free way to alternate bath/shower should you need without needing to dig up the floor. Over here the practise is perhaps more to make bathrooms into bathing bedrooms, bathing-lounges or bathing-snugs. But you have to admit it makes the problem just go away completely . My other suggestion would be to make a feature of it, as one does with chrome hot and cold water pipes in a shower rather than destroying a tiled wall to hide them. In this case it could be something metal, or something off-the-wall like a reclaimed or newly made barrel or stainless steel item to provide a bath-tidy and hide the gubbins. F

There is another delightfully simple option which occurs in Scandinavia but would not impress Hyacinth B - have a grill in the floor and do not necessarily connect it at all. Here are a few variations on the theme, including a couple of horrors with drainage pipes. I love the simplicity and would have one in my own house, but it might not work for other people.

Not the sharpest knife in the draw to boast about that to a customer :-).

Supplementary question. Are there any of these schemes that are useful for finding tradesmen. Clearly they help with basic checks, such as CRB or trained in trade certifications, but are there any more general schemes that are useful from both sides. Is TrustMark any use, for example, as the ‘only government approved scheme for trusts traders’, whatever that means. I have two angles on this.One is that I want to know as a customer; the other is that I am working on some marketing with my handyman to broaden his customer base since I do not have enough for a full time requirement. Hope I am allowed to say that much. Cheers F

Interesting little development. My local County Council - Notts - seem to have outsourced their entire scheme to CheckaTrade. http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/business-community/trading-standards/approved-trader-scheme That may not help. The first year of CheckaTrade membership costs getting on for £1000 for the trader. The only stat I have is that within 15 miles approx of me, searches on the CheckaTrade website are about 100 per week under categories related to Home Improvement, Handyman etc. Ferdinand