flanagaj

Yes?

@Gus Potter I have no issue with paying for your time and would not expect otherwise. I am currently just trying to deduce whether taking the currently planned 4" ground floor block wall that is proposed and laying the blocks flat will suffice. By doing that, I have already tripled the block bill for the wall. If said wall then needs to run up through the fist floor as well, then that is going to add quite a bit of extra cost. There is this company (Oak floating staircase treads including steelwork STAINED BLACK £3950 PLUS VAT | eBay UK) selling the kits. Which for the treads and steelwork is actually not that bad. But it's the structural aspect of the supporting wall that for me could be the deal breaker. A cast concrete wall using forms and steel, could be done diy, but it's a big job and the risk of not getting formwork correct, will be an expensive mistake. If for example, it was simply a case of laying blocks flat up to the first floor, then I know upfront what the additional costs will be.

I am thinking of paying these for a design (Contact & Services - Home Design Tutorials Ltd). I am struggling to find an SE who can do the calcs and their design service will be useful when sending out the quotes to local fabricators. TBH there is no reason for a floating stair case to cost a lot of money. It's a joke what some of these companies are charging. Take for example, the oak treads. They can be manufactured using a mitre lock bit and a router table and oak. If you have access to a router table, saw bench and a planer thicknesser, you could save a fair chunk making them yourself.

Can I ask whether your block wall was just single height or did you also have to carry it up through the second floor to provide some serious weight to the wall. I’ve just engaged with an SE and she says she cannot help with the structural calcs for a floating staircase.

That was my thinking after I was sort of steered in the direction of private building control. Private by the very name, indicates a business aimed at profit. Where as LABC is not a charity, but is operated on a different model.

I have used LABC before on a renovation and I did find them very helpful. They were always willing to provide advice and guidance. I am concerned that by going down the private route, I won't get that luxury.

I have just taken out the Protek Structural Warranty policy and opted to use private building control. They use a company called Stroma and their introduction was basically an email with absolutely no pleasantries, which went along the line of "supply these documents" Now I am thinking or binning them before the 14 day period is up and switching to LABC. At least with LABC, I know they answer emails and get back to you. Has anyone had any experience of Stroma BC?

Not without increasing the ridge height and I am reluctant to put in a change for that at this late stage.

Thanks for explaining the build up detail. as I am most likely going to go with trusses, I don't think I can use the same build up as you have. Point taken regarding the solar, but sadly, we have either a north facing roof or a south facing roof, so I think the decision is made on that one. I am sure it will grow on us using the clamps. I was hoping that we won't require a steel ridge beam. The technical architect hasn't made mention of it and I am still trying to find an SE who responds to my request for a quote.

That's not possible. I only have 2350mm of ceiling height as it is.

Fair point regarding the amount of time I actually have. Trusses will be much quicker and make it easier to install the insulation. It's the air tightness part I am struggling with. If you use wool, then that is obviously not going to perform as well as PIR which is taped along the rafters.

It's all turned into a bit of a farce. Roof has always been planned as a standing seam, but now we want to add solar. I was hoping to fit the solar panels using the GSE mounting panels, so this sit nicely into the roof, but getting the flashing detail correct, does not look easy. The cut roof was to simply save money as I was going to cut it myself. My time is free as I get a good amount of annual leave. But that said, if cutting the roof adds complexities elsewhere, then I may have to just go with trusses. Only reason I opted to insulate between the rafters was so that we could have MVHR in the loft and I could board some of the ceiling floor for storage. It's too low for anything of use.

MVHR pipes and I don't like vaulted ceilings. What is the U Value difference between mineral wool and PIR?

My mistake. 150mm celotex between the rafters and then 150mm below the rafters. eg

Can anyone advise here. Our architect has specified 150mm celotex between the rafters and then 50mm between the rafters, finished off with VPL and a plasterboard skim finish. The interesting thing is that the roof space has a maximum height of 1.2m to the underside of the ridge and it's not a vaulted ceiling. So not sure why there is plasterboard and a skim finish. Any ideas as to what I can say to this. Yes, I am getting a U value of 0.12 W/m2K, but that is not actually achievable.

I need to submit a variation of condition for the following items. 1) fenestration style change 2) driveway entrance width reduction 3) single garage parapet height increase 4) front door / garage door change from oak to aluminium I also want to discharge the schedule of materials condition. My concern here though, is that the 'schedule of materials' condition relates to the original planning grant and as a result I cannot start showing the windows that we are planning on using, or the front door and garage door as they won't match the style shown on the original drawings. My concern, is that if I need to wait until they have (hopefully) approved the variation of condition before submitting the schedule of materials condition, I could be waiting 4 months. Any pointers?

Yep. Try and discharge directly with LPA and avoid the joke admin fee.

We have finally decided to go with the Velfac V200E window system. Good U values and also came in quite a bit cheaper than Norrsken and Rationale. I am looking at the installation detail for an exterior clad property with timber reveals and I am not convinced about it. The foam compression strip, I think is probably fine, but silicone against exterior timber does not sound like the best option. We are going with thermowood, so I am not sure whether that by it's nature will not absorb water and expand like regular timber will.

You guys keep giving me sleepless nights over CIL as I keep thinking I have missed something, or someone is trying to pull a fast one to catch me out. I raised the payment of CIL and received the response below. "Although the developments approved under both planning permissions 23/00259/FUL and the more recent 24/02890/FUL (each for a single dwelling) are technically CIL liable, single dwellings benefit from a £nil CIL charge at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)). Therefore, in accordance with Regulation 67(1A)(b) of the CIL Regulations, a Commencement Notice is not required, and no further action (including the submission of any forms) is necessary in relation to these approvals and CIL, either before construction begins or after completion and occupation. You may wish to discuss with your planning consultant the reason why a self-build exemption was indicated when completing CIL Form 1. I can confirm, however, that no relief is required where no CIL is payable."

Ok, thanks. Good question regarding the insulation. The technical architect has spec'd the PIR between the rafters. I didn't question that.

So our pre-commencement conditions have finally been discharged by planning. We still have a few above slab conditions to get discharged, but these are not an immediate priority. Our drawings have not been submitted to BC yet (in progress), but I was wondering whether I could now notify BC that we are commencing development. I would like to clear the site ready to pull the footings and also get the TP and drainage field installed. These are items, that do not form part of the structural warranty, but I am still unsure whether I receive a "go ahead document from planning", or whether I just make BC aware?

I am currently trying to weigh up whether to buy trusses or to cut the roof myself. It's a very straightforward dual pitch roof with 4.2m rafter length, 7m span and a low 1.2m ridge height from plate. Although cutting the roof will be easy, I do wonder what the actual cost difference is likely to be between the materials for cutting it myself and buying in trusses. I like trusses for the simple reason, that fitting PIR insulation between the rafters is nice and simple as the ceiling joist is joined to the rafter with a plate so no need to notch out like you do when fitting PIR into a cut roof rafter.

I assumed (could be wrong) that if the temperature feed to the fan coils was at a much lower temperature than the dew point temperature, then you will get a much higher degree of active cooling than if you ran the feed temperature above the dew point, like you need to for UFH cooling?

But why does adding a mixer make it complicated? My understanding is that it's simply a case of taking the returned warm water from the fan coil circuit to raise the temperature of the water used to feed the UFH. That aside, I think just getting them to fit the ASHP and then I can do the associated cooling parts is probably the best solution here.

I just had a conversation with an ASHP installer and he told me that they would not install a system that was used for cooling via UFH / fan coils as it would result in condensation. I tried to explain that you can actually run two different loops at different temperatures, so your UFH was above dew point and the feed for the fan coils was below dew point and you just insulate the pipework and have condensate drains. That is correct isn't it?