Curtis

Another picture is below. The structure would start from this side, I might step the structure as theere is not much height difference at this side at the start so it starts low and then at it's highest point towards the middle / end it would be about 1.5m in height.

There is no retaining wall at all at the moment, it's just exposed clay/earth, another picture from the other side from the first photo is below. There is no boundry dispute, my neighbour is happy for me to claim the no mans ground of 1.4m between our two coundry fences so the total area i have to work with is 3.5m from the side of my garage to their fence although i would still leave a gap to avoid causing any issues with their fence posts etc.

Hi folks, looking for some ideas / advice for a retaining wall between my garage and next door neighbours garden. As per attached picture there is a narrow-ish strip between my garage and the neighbours garden which is in a state and needs cleaned up. Spoke to neighbour and they are happy for me to take the wall close up to their fence which you can see in the attached photo. The wife fancies a gabion wall but i'm not too sure on them, they can look a bit rough after a few years. I live in Moray Scotland so something in-keeping with the area would be good although if i see something smart I may change my mind! Wall measurements: > 27 metres length > 3.5 metres total width, neighbours fence to my garage > 1.4m of that is from their fence to my fence > 2.1 m from my fence to my garage > 1.5m height, above ground > My property sits lower than neighbours garden, 2.5m difference > Heavy clay land so needs adequate drainage Any suggestions / advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Hi folks, I am looking for some help regarding the air vents in my bathrooms which are letting cold air in, what solutions is there to make this less draughty? The fans vent out via the roof, have crappy looking white flexi pipe going from bathroom ceiling to the roof via the loft. Thanks Outside - roof exit Inside - fan on bathroom ceiling

Are you happy with the systems? Anything you would change? What make and models did you use? I appreciate that all houses are designed differently but this would be very helpful as a starting point for my research into what solutions i should use. Thanks for all the info much appreciated

That's 3 people on this thread saying ASHP is a good option so i will definately take a look at this. I grew up with a coal fire on every day and so i know i will use my woodstove a lot so i wanted to try and utilise the heat to generater hot water as well but only if the set-up of this isn't too complex / expensive. @ProDave you are literally only an hour or two away from me and so the weather won't be all that dfferent, what systems do you have in place for heating and hot water?

Do you mean two different systems? Stove to a thermal store tank for the underfloor heating and then diverted PV to an immersion heater tank for hot water? One of my pals has one and they do not like it, they've said their electricity usuage has shot up because the unit goes into frost protection mode to stop the unit freezing because we can get harsh winters up here (NE Scotland) . Not sure if his set-up / installation is not good or if this is a true representation of ASHP's.

Yea i have a few acres with some trees although not a massive supply but my plot is next to a large forrest so i'll be "acquiring" wood at every opportunity!

Hi folks, I'm at the point in my house design that i need to figure out heating and hot water options. The plan is to insulate the house well and use triple glazed windows and the Mrs wants underfloor heating so i need to work out what else i can tie into this system to help keep electricity costs down. I plan to have a solar array and a battery bank (not sure size yet), i'm not keen on air source heat pumps so i thought i would try and tie in my wood burning stove to help generate hot water which is sent to my hot water boiler which can service my normal hot water and also my underfloor heating. If the fire is not on then the boiler will be heated by electricity where some of this will come from my solar via my batteries (if the sun has made an appearance that day). Is this system even possible or is this a completely sxxt plan? Any recommendations for systems / models of boiler, underfloor heating and stoves would be appreciated. Cheers

Ah okay i get what you mean, sounds good

So do your floor joists actually sit on top of the beam and block base or do they sit slightly above that and the beam and block is to keep the beasties out?

It's all about the view, the house is elevated and orientated to overlook a cracking forrest and hill view. We realise parts of the current marked garden area will be in the shade but because we have a few acres we can make the garden as big as we want within reason and so when actually building we'll make the garden whatever size / shape it needs to be so we have a sitting area in direct sunlight. Also the area in front of the house where the gable end is we will probably grass as well and that area will definetely have direct sunlight

Will have a play about with those ideas, cheers

Good looking build, is that beam and block base? We have been speaking about me taking a year off work as well and just doing whatever i can to help with the build and the Mrs will continue to work and keep money coming in. I'm actually looking forward to it but the Mrs isn't although i dare say when and if we start i'll be calling for my cushy desk job back in a matter of weeks when my back and knees are fxxxed. The orientation is still much the same but the house has changed with the T at the other side with side windows so we can get afternoon/evening south west sun. We have also added in a few roof skylights to increase light coming in. Bedroom 2 and the office are being swapped so the office is next to the master bedroom. Shout out to @ETC as we have changed the master bedroom layout to match your sketch designs. I would be keen to do this but my Mrs would not be, she didn't want me to send last email i sent questioning time scales but i'd had enough after a month and still no reply to sellers solicitor, will see how things go this week

We seriously thought about going to another solicitor but decided they will probably all give give the same service just now and solicitors surely never like taking on clients who have left another solicitor as they will presume you are trouble. Yea we could maybe take back the glass a bit but i wanna keep the majority, we live in scotland we need glass so we know what outside looks like when its shite weather for months!!