Ferdinand

I have just read Jeremy's Densign and Access for the first time, and it is interesting to see how that evolved over time e.g. Away from SiPS. I do like the phrase "it is the view of the applicant that" rather than the more common "it is considered that", as if the opinion had emerged fully formed from the summit of Mount Olympus. I can see that the latter can be more useful sometimes. Ferdinand

LIke the look. Is that an Ikea light? I might like to get one

@oldkettle Will reply tomorrow as I am on an iPad at present. Ferdinand

Hi agaiin @oldkettle You asked me to look at this thread again. I didn't dive in first time round because I found it tricky getting my head around the diagrams (see further post I will make next) and spent the forum time elsewhere. Here are my comments: Space efficiency and staircase: I think the basic problem with the plans in the post is that space is not used efficiently - you have lost an entire reception room downstairs to be a staircase lobby, and another entire room upstairs as dead space in a 20sqm landing. Just space lost in those 2 rooms are perhaps 12% of the entire house as you propose to build it in options 1 and 2. Fix that and you get 2 extra not-ungenerous double bedrooms for free. I think the issue is that you have gone for an overly shallow staircase, and made larger compromises in order to satisfy that smaller detail. I love generous staircases, and we had a whole thread about it last year (with lots of personal experiences). Normal domestic staircases are 42 degrees, and something like 34-37 degrees is relaxed. Your rising/going could be something more like 170-180 and 260-270mm, which is relaxed, and could save you about 1.2m on the length if you start the bottom in a circulation space and a straight run. Then theree is no need for complicated wall and floor structures: As @jack put it then: I make your angle 30 degrees, which seem to me to have made it long enough that it does not fit in a normal sized room, so you have ended up with the need to knock holes in walls and put raised areas into floors, and do that strange both-sides-of-the-wall thing in Option 1, which will all make everything else more complicated and more expensive. Not an efficient way to allocate your money. If you *must* have the 30 degree staircase I think you need to design a big enough room (hall or other) such that the staircase fits without compromising your walls and space efficiency so much. That would be option 3, or possibly something with a double height longitudinal open-plan lounge (would potentially give top light which would help with the lack of side windows) with the staircase as a feature running parallel with the ridge. No of Storeys: Do you actually *need* two and a half stories once you gain the extra rooms downstairs and upstairs? If you do need extra space over that footprint it may be easier to extend back slightly more,as that may reduce your need to survey or upgrade foundations quite so much. Or plan more efficient space use. You might be surprised how little extra you need to extend backwards to gain the necessary space. I am living in a converted bungalow which is not dissimilar to your project in size etc done by the prevous people, and I have nearly 1900sqft (plus a 3m x 3.5m conservatory) from two stories, which gives me five bedrooms plus one reception (or 4+2 etc). One bedroom is huge, and only one is a single - and the rest are generous. And my roofs are partly hipped. Will PM you links. Way Ahead: 1 - I think you perhaps actually gave yourself too much freedom with that huge square empty box, and dived straight into details rather than resolving the more general questions first. Most of us aren't including me aren't architects and haven't got the background to instinctively know how to get the coordination of different underlying elements right when starting with a blank piece of paper. We tend to focus on the surface things that we see when visiting a house eg Pinterest and Houzz are full of sexy materials and gimmicks rather than kitchen work triangles, how not to compromise future maintenance of drains by not building over them, and how to live in it in a wheelchair after a bus-running-over experience. I think you need more constraints (architects will tell you that great architecture often happens in the most difficult situations and constrained spaces). Perhaps one could be to try and keep circulation space (halls and lobbies) down to 10-12% of the overall plan rather than 20%+. 2 - I would say start a list what you need, and then develop your house shape around it. That list also needs to be contsrained - a summary in one paragraph, and the whole thing in one page. I think that at that stage it may be worth spending £300-500 on an architect for some rough proposals - for which you would need to write a concise brief of your requirements (a good exercise even if just to focus your own thoughts). 3 - I think you need convincing on the staircase. I would go out and find some staircases you would be happy with, and measure them. People owning the staircases will not mind and will love the conversation with an eccentric doing their own real research. Do not forget that you can increase the perceived front-to-back dimension of a step by using a bullnose front edge. I would combine this with looking into what works in converted bungalows. Go and view 10-15 with an estate agent as 'potential alternatives to developing our own', and study them carefully. 4 - In mine they did a creative arrangement where the staircase runs up over the bath (pic below). The whole staircase and landing and downstairs bathroom fit into a space 4.5m by 2m - 9 sqm, which is about 75-80% smaller than yours and works beautifully, including enough space for a desk at the top of the stairs. Make that space say 5m or so and you can have your 34-36 degree straight staircase with no kite-steps, which lets it go sideways Pic attached. The only thing wrong is that it should be a shower - no point in having the easy-for-old-people option upstairs where they cannot get to it. 5 - Make sure whatever you build works when the children have gone. The people who built ours moved before they finished because the kids had settled down and were not visiting so much. They moved into one that was about the size that this one was before they threw £100k (or whatever) at it, and are now knocking that one about. Like yours, this was reduced to three walls and a hole in the ground, and was beautifully done for us to move into with minimal further work. 5 - DO NOT RUSH. Spend the time to be sure you are right now, even if it takes another 6 months. Ferdinand

Is this something you can disarm by moving it 1m or 2m so proving it to be portable, as some do with advertising signs and fields shelters on sleds for horses? On the slamming door, what about a knocked in post, a nail/screw, and a bungie cord? Ferdinand

Not knowing what tasks you are being charged for it is a little difficult to comment in detail. However could you leave the cable wrapped up inside the boxes, or perhaps behind blanking plates, as a way to circumvent this issue? I do not think the actual connecting is that difficult (speaking from an IT/Telcomms background),and I have done my own when needed. Alternatively it is something that your local computer shop man (or a student on a break) could perhaps do in a couple of hours now or afterwards. Ferdinand

Speculating, that looks to be an interesting smallish cost saving idea. Are these the kind of thing that can be less expensive from eg Poland? Ferdinand

Welcome. Thoughtful input is always useful from people specialists.

Here is the MK Council guidance on the subject in case you have not found it. https://www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/assets/attach/5039/design_and_access_statements1.pdf

Yay. Somebody with Properly Presented Plurals!

I don't believe that a Design and Access - now usually called a Planning Statement - is compulsory in law, though Councils may customarily expect one. It is where you: a - Explain your vision, what you are trying to do, and any other things to give the Planning Officer a nice warm feeling. b - Explain how your proposal complies with all the local and national polices in force this month, and is justified in Planning Terms. c - Disarm in advance all the reasons which might lead the Planning Department to say no. There may be something on the Planning Aid website:http://www.rtpi.org.uk/planning-aid/ If your proposal is contentious, then it is probably the most important document of all, and in those circumstances where a Planning Consultant (if you had one) would spend most of their time. To find some, I suggest reading the relevant posts of all the build blogs on here, and finding where they all link to their Planning Applications - then go there to find the relevant documents to see what they said. There are quite good blog-only search options in the search box. There may be some further ones on EBuild that have not come across. If you are concerned it may be worth looking at something like The Self-Build Bible by Mark Brinkley to see if there is anything in there. There should be. Ferdinand

Do you have a link?

Pyramid made using icf. Your Egyptian tomb if this is your literal forever house.

The Specific Heat Capacity of plasterboard is around 0.95 kJ/kg.°C. 79 sheets of 12.5mm plasterboard has a mass of around 23kg * 79 = 1817 kg. So for a 1°C rise 0.95kJ * 1817 kg = 1726 kJ of energy. Divide by 3600 to convert to kWh = 0.48 kWh per °C. Which is not a lot unless I have something wrong :-). Or it is still driving moisture off. I feel better now. Ferdinand

@pocster Still a little difficult to comment because I am surmising what it is from Google Streetview and the published database of all HMOs in the area (bl***y moronic Council publishing a target list for criminals and squatters), however it appears to be a normal medium sized terrace converted into a HMO with loft rooms to give perhaps 5 letting rooms on 3 floors. For that IMO £500 may be about right for a full inspection plus some remedial and including an Electrical Certificate since in any sensible world (and Bristol is in the sensible world) that should be at least 1-1.5 days time for labour for a single 'lecky assuming no major material costs, which would be adequate for an inspection of such a property and some minimal repair. It is not a big house. So I would kick your electrician into touch, and get another sensible one to do the CU and reinspect as part of the job - showing them the original report to prove that the inspection work needed may be minimal. You need to use your skill and judgeent to source one, but there are landlord directories around or perhaps try the RLA/NLA or recommendations. But first talk to the HMO Jonnies at the Council to check their requirements on the points raised and what they think. You may not get very far because using HHSRS is a 2-3 day course, which then lets them understand the system for every issue in the world and everything from trip hazards to asbestos to damp, and interpret the hundreds of pages of supporting documentation. Then they plug it into a huge spreadsheet built on not that much evidence and decide your fate like a Georgian Magistrate with his finger in the air. I am still waiting for someone to challenge it based on lack-of-specialist-expertise of the enforcer, but holding Councils to account is a game for stinking rich mugs. Best of luck. Ferdinand

Nothing, except they are a long established social club. Could you explain?

Farmers' conversation: (*) http://www.fwi.co.uk/community/topic/gypsum-from-re-cycled-plasterboard/ I think it is to do with the types of plasterboard you use, how you pulverise it, and putting it in the top layer as a conditionner rather than down a deep hole. (*) Loving:

Is there any device that would shred plasterboard before it was used for soil neutralisation? I wondered about a timber shredder, but given what it does to Stanley knives I think the shredder would be the thing that was shredded. Cut into strips perhaps and then break like sticks? F

Excellent blowtorch, staple hammer, metal roller. Postsaver do a "Trade Postsaver Application Kit" which gives you these for £59.99 + VAT: Calloni Large Gas Torch Kit - 600mm Stem & 50mm Head. Regulator. 5m butane hose. Chunky Staple Hammer 2500 staples Textured metal roller. At the Postsaver Shop prices these items add up to about £75+VAT individually. Elsewhere the Gas Torch alone is about £55 + VAT, so you are getting the rest nearly free. A good option if you want the torch for roofing etc.

Does anyone have any experience of the capabilities of the Wagner airless sprayguns available from the likes of Toolstation and Screwfix? Screwfix have 4, including both models with a reservoir and direct from the tin. WAGNER POWER PAINTER 60 - 625W, 7.5l reservoir, Max 0.8l/min, £240. WAGNER POWER PAINTER 60 - 750W, No reservoir, 200bar, 10m hose, Max 0,95l/min, £440. WAGNER CONTROL PRO 250M AIRLESS PAINT SPRAYING UNIT 550W, No reservoir, 110 bar, 9m hose, Max 1.25l/min, £480. WAGNER POWER PAINTER 90 AIRLESS PAINT SPRAYER 800W, No reservoir, 15m hose, 200 bar, 1.25l/min, £800. On wheels. I have a small bungalow to do (or have done) next week, then subject to a planning application an 18mx30m industrial unit to a height of 4.5m later in the year. The only one with reviews (which are excellent) is the smallest model, which is also the only one sold by Toolstation, also with excellent (almost messianic in some cases) reviews. I am surprised and impressed at how low these prices start. I reckon that the sweet spot may be the £440 or £480 models, to avoid the reservoir. But is there a big difference between 110 bar and 200 bar pressure in use? Presumably the latter has a bigger nozzle to dispense more paint. Ferdinand

Thanks for clarifying - I have gone out to a couple of technical fora I am on to see if anyone can help. No one could help. F

@Crofter So you want the other half of the function - to *exclude* Collect in Person results in your area? Will have a dig, but I am not hopeful if it is not there. The most promising option appears to be pull Ebay results as an XML / RSS feed and then filter *that*. The last time I played with something like that I used a graphical application called Yahoo Pipes that went defunct in 2015. Alternatives do exist, but it won't be simple if no one already has one. It also requires the relevant information to be included in the Ebay Feeds, or we are into parsing web pages. If it hasn't been done already for a problem as common as this one... Ferdinand

I think that is Halifax being over-conservative (ie a little detached from how it actually happens) and others are probably more flexible.

@Crofter The illustrated version : Choose advanced search. (Click) Scroll down, down, deep, deep down on the Advanced Options page to the "Delivery Options" section, and tick "collection in person". Then back to the top and click the Search button. And hopefully - bingo. Best combined with use of the Location and Sort by Nearest options, as you know. When you get your results page, there is a "Save this Search" option at the top. I guess you have to be logged in for that to appear. (Aside: they appear to have some paid for option that lets a delivered result appear at the top of this search results page. Bah). Then get a cocktail and wait for it to start sending you emails of the results if you set that option in the "save this search" page. "Click and collect" on the LHS filter bar on the search results turns out to be a delivery option via branches of Argos, so is not pertinent. HTH. Ferdinand

...which I see is available for about £85 for 4x5l delivered including VAT.