Kelvin

We get in excess 200Mbits download from Starlink. I’ve rarely seen it go below 150 and it’s been very reliable. We don’t have any fixed phone line to the house. I have a spare duct in case Openreach ever reach us but that’s unlikely.

If Greenraft claim that then it’s been in the last two years as they said they hadn’t done any up here when I spoke with them. Primarily because they struggled to find groundworkers. I’ll dig the U value out from my notes. The psi values were calculated as part of the energy performance pack but that was based on concrete blocks rather than insulated blocks and I never bothered having them updated. I used 300mm wide insulated trench blocks. What surprised me was how hard it was to source these in Scotland. I tried every manufacturer and they all said the same thing that there’s no demand for them. My wall build up is unusually wide for a timber kit. In the end I convinced a local Mannok dealer to bring me them from Ireland as part of their weekly delivery.

John is right and I had the same issue as you. I spoke with Greenraft (Phil Grove) They were keen do one in Scotland and said they’d work closely with whichever groundwork company I was using. Unfortunately we were too far along the process to make such a big change. We did build a trench foundation using insulated blocks with an insulated upstand so not a bad outcome.

This explains the difference between extension assets and reinforcement just in case it’s not clear. https://roadnighttaylor.co.uk/connectology/network-reinforcement-and-network-extension/#:~:text=Extension assets are new assets that are used to connect,where the metering is located

Regardless the new legislation states you don’t pay for the reinforcement just the extension assets. It’s a new connection to a new property (demand). Here’s a link to the full decision. My first quote £26.5k which I contested and this reduced £5k as they admitted they’d made an error. The final bill was £450. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2022-05/Access SCR - Final Decision.pdf

Welcome to self-building. Frustrating innit.

The whole house trench was laid out on the ground and yes the base level was marked on a post which was still in the ground last time I checked. They marked a few levels around the plot as a check.

We went with 900x600 to reduce this

Our site is on a significant slope. They dug it out (cut and fill) to get level ground. Survey guy used the CAD foundation drawings to set it out and marked it on the ground. This was also loaded into the digger. Digger driver dug out the trenches back to original ground.

Large format tiles are often slightly bowed.

I agree. I was disappointed with the lack of ambition by the architect and their affiliated contractor to build the best house they could. It’s not as if it takes much more effort really. Everything was about just getting it under the building regs with me having to insist on them doing it the way I wanted. We’ve only achieved what we have because I either pushed them or did it myself. They just saw me as being difficult. I spoke to one of the owners of Heb Homes about this and how with a bit more thought and care their default houses could be much better performing. He said the typical client just doesn’t care enough and I was the exception across the many houses they’ve built. He said they have had clients who have told them to make the airtightness worse (and their as designed target is only 3 ACH) as they didn’t want any kind of mechanical ventilation because ‘houses need to breathe’

The most important point. I knew nothing about building houses or any of this when we bought the land. We progressed quickly so it’s been a steep learning curve and we rushed into some decisions. We’ve built a good house. It’s well insulated, thermal bridging minimised and the airtightness is good. Like most self-builds on here it’s likely in the top 1%-2% of built houses in the country for performance. Had we taken a year to think about it more and learn we would have taken a slightly different route.

I’d be surprised if it was £100. It was that price 8 years ago.

The quotes are generally relatively detailed insofar that you can price up the individual components and compare to the quote. The Ecodan ASHP and pre-plumbed cylinder is a common install option for example. It’s been awhile since I looked but that was around £5500 last time I looked. Add £500-£700 for everything else. In a new build that’s been well planned so an easy install it’ll be two days for the plumber and a day for the electrician so that’s likely £1000 in labour (company rate not day pay rate for the workers)

We have a recirculating hob and a MVHR duct above hob (well just behind) The kitchen extract terminal is set to 52m3/h (roughly the same as you quote above) The hob venting unit has a min max air flow of 154m3/h to 500m3/h with a max boost of 622m3/h.

What oil did you use? I used Osmo wood protector as the base coat which they recommend for wet areas and then 2 coats of Osmo clear. Not used it in anger yet but have spilled water on it and it’s fine so far.

We have a butcher’s block oak worktop in the utility room. Got it from diy on-line kitchens. I have a feeling though they won’t sell you one without a kitchen. Howdens quoted me £6.5k for the utility room with a laminated worktop. I got the same result from diy online kitchens with the oak worktop for £2.6k. It wasn’t fantastically well packaged but arrived undamaged. B&Q sell oak worktops. The sample I looked at seemed ok. Not too dear either. But this was a while ago.

I wouldn’t overthink the headroom if it’s literally mm. You really won’t notice it.

Nonsense or not my difficulty finding an installer put me off if there were any problems with it in the future. My wife wouldn’t have a clue where to start with any of this and she’s likely to outlive me. 😂

I didn’t want the compressor in the house nor did I really have the space. Trying to find a reliable company to install the equipment was harder than I expected which put me off. ASHPs are increasingly more common so, in theory, should be easier to maintain. The spare borehole is close to our primary water borehole and I didn’t want any risk to that. I’ve had ASHPs in previous houses so familiar with them. Overall I couldn’t see any significant benefit in using it.

LPD Melbourne door. I got ours from Express Doors who were the cheapest at the time I was looking. Deanta do a similar door called the Malmo.

Velux do windows that aren’t that much more than the sun tunnels if you’d prefer a window.

You can get bamboo look porcelain tiles so just fit those and level as you go.

£100/m minimum I’d expect. What makes you believe an ASHP can’t offer consistent bills and passive cooling. They can do both. Spend the saved money on making your house as airtight as possible and is well insulated. That’s the best way to reduce bills. A correctly installed ASHP is pretty quiet in reality. Ours is more quiet than our neighbour’s wheezing oil boiler flue. Also how often and for how long do we have such low temperatures. I had a spare free 137m borehole and still fitted an ASHP.

We made a last minute change and added a rooflight for the hallway. I considered a light tunnel instead but we decided that making a feature of the rooflight would add some interest to otherwise flat ceilings. It has a created wonderfully light airy hallway. I love the being able to see the sky when you walk in. There’s a glazed door to be fitted giving you a view to the hills beyond.