flanagaj

I am starting to suffer sleepless nights over our proposed design, and would appreciate some wisdom. The Architects we are using have not really made much comment about the fact that we are just inside an AONB. Although the designs we have put forward are smaller than the bungalow that was granted PP, the glaring issue that I see, and I might be mistaken, relates to the fact that we are building a property that has a lot of glass at the front and will be visible from the lane. No properties look at the front, and you will only see it when you walk along the lane (no through) or drive up it. As it is an AONB, my fear is that they will simply reject it on the basis that it has windows that you can now see from the lane. When we submit the application, will we get any chance to make changes so as to try and address any issues. We did think that we could instead, put 300mm windows at the front upstairs, and turn that into the landing, and then have the bedrooms looking out over the paddock at the rear. The Architect doesn't seem too concerned about the amount of glass, but I am worried that he isn't that experienced on sensitive planning applications, and we could potentially be submitting something that will be refused by both the LPA and on appeal. Below is the finalised design, and you cannot deny that there is a lot of glass upstairs that will be visible from the lane. Although the ridge height remains the same as the bungalow, and we have shrunk the footprint by 60m2, I fear that it's the two storey with a lot of glass aspect, that is the killer. Any advice on how best to proceed would be appreciated.

https://www.bes.co.uk/shalloduct-water-service-pipe-insulation-835-x-32mm-19170/ £19 for 800mm foam! They have stipulated a 4" external pipe with the internal pipe insulated.

It was a joke. Good point regarding the 32mm, but that part is done now, and I don't want to go back to Southern Water and get it changed.

I want a shower with a 50 litre/ minute flow rate

Southern Water sent me the attached diagram. TBS Standpipe .pdf

I am trying to source the parts to install a temporary water supply on site. Pipe is 32mm MDPE, and I need to put a double check valve in, but I balked at the cost of an MDPE one, and was thinking of going MDPE to brass dcv and then back to MDPE, before having a 90 degree elbow and tap. So far, I've only found https://www.pipestock.com/double-check-valve-brass-threaded https://www.pipestock.com/mdpe-male-adaptor And wasn't sure whether a bspp male works with a bsp female and you simply don't need to use PTFE?

I am considering just buying one and then telling her post purchase. The only issue is knowing what is a good price to pay. For example, there is this one. It's been used by a self builder and has quite a lot of parts replaced, but it's a 2006 model. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256701241635?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=qzptpbWuSDS&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY It does make sense as I've got so much excavation related work to do.

"go and tell the wife" - you can lead a horse to water ...

So I spent 3 days with a 1.5 tonne excavator and a pecker breaking up the huge amount of concrete slab. Thankfully, it wasn't reinforced and all I can say is that I didn't envy the neighbours. I am just finishing off pulling up the broken slab with a 3 tonne machine and getting the concrete collected with a grab lorry. There is about 5-6 loads to collect and that is going to cost me about £700. I could have hired a concrete crusher, but I calculated that to hire a crusher, 5 tonne excavator would have exceeded this cost. I also do not have any water on site for the dust suppression, and there was a lot of large lumps, that would have not fitted into the crusher without having to broken up smaller.

"the topsoil you skim off where the drive is going you can put where the concrete came from to turn back into garden" - great tip

So I spent 3 days with an excavator and pecker, and finally broke up ~ 250m2 of 4" non reinforced (thank goodness) concrete slab. It was absolutely mind numbing, but glad it's done. I did originally consider getting a concrete crusher in to crush it, so that it could be reused for hardcore, but you are looking at £700+ for the hire of a crusher and 5 tonne excavator to load it. I did consider contacting local farmers to see whether any of them might want it. What have others done? I also have huge amounts of garden waste from hedge removal / tree felling, and once again I am not sure what the most cost effective method is for getting rid of it. I suppose it could always be burnt, but once again, there is a lot of it.

Given the water bill, it must be close.

This might sound a bit daft, but given the recent news that OfWat is apparently allowing water companies to hike bills, I started to wonder whether instead of getting a mains connection which is around 3.5k, I instead pay the monies now and get a bore hole installed. Yes, it's an expensive initial outlay, but you could say exactly the same about solar panels. The wife is notorious for high water usage and no matter how much nagging, she's not going to change. At least with a borehole, you are not at the mercy of the PLC water company.

Thanks Conor

I want to get a water connection made to the mains, and my initial plan is to simply run the laid pipe to a temporary standpipe a few meters from the mains connection. As I am going to lay a conduit as part of the ground floor slab, repurposing of the temporary feed can be done when the build is quite advanced. The question I have surrounds the use of joints underground. Repurposing the temporary supply will require the 90 degree elbow to be replaced with a straight joint. Is it ok to do this. as I currently don't see how I can avoid any joints, unless I get the water company out to remove the original pipe and connect in a new section. Will they effectively have to do two inspections?