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Just about to start eco build


selfbuildrookie

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Hi everyone, my husband and I bought a fairly standard Bradstone 1960s 2 bed house in the Cotswolds in Nov 2017, with a view to extending & renovating to make a family home for us and our three kids (now 7, 5 and 2). Took us a while to work out exactly what to do, but we now have planning permission to demolish and build a replacement. It took me a while to be happy with this idea, but now I can't wait to get started. The new house will make so much better use of the plot, giving us amazing views over a valley and a great south facing garden (currently filled with parking and a garage that blocks the view). We've been working with a brilliant architect and also a Passivhaus consultant. The house won't be a certified Passivhaus, but it made sense to us to work with someone who could help design a house that would be warm and not cost much to run, and could also advise on over heating risks (I know so many people living in new builds who just can't cool the bloody house down if they have a sunny day!). We do have a fair bit of ground floor glazing but also a verandah that runs along two sides of the house to provide shading, and it will be well insulated, with an MVHR unit. 

 

Out to tender at the moment, demolition should be taking place in the next few weeks, then we can start building. Looking forward to asking a few questions here - have been lurking and reading for a while!

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1 hour ago, Dreadnaught said:

Welcome!

 

I wonder, are you in a Cotswold conservation area? Will it be a traditional design or modern?

Thanks! We're outside of our village's CA, but we are in an AONB. We're using traditional materials and construction (mix of Cotswold stone & colour through render, slate roof), but the house is definitely modern - although not a spaceship! I can have a bit of a bugbear with houses that try to look like something they're not (so for example the existing house was built in 1965 but designed to look more like a 1920s one), so very happy to have something that will look like it's been built in the here and now.

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26 minutes ago, AnonymousBosch said:

might get lucky(ier) this time

May get a mug of tea more like.

And not from Sam, or her Dad Joe.

 

I always find it strange that 'celebrities' live alongside 'normal' people.  Quite a few have places down here and just seem to blend into the background.

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11 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

I worked at her house for a whole day before realising who it was

lets just say she was a SMOOTH OPERATOR. 

 

I had a similar encounter flying back from the US sometime in the mid-1990s.  I got bumped from business to first and ended up chatting to this really nice lady for an hour or so.  No idea who she was, until I ended up standing behind her in the check-in queue at Heathrow for the Glasgow shuttle the following morning.  She was holding her boarding card up and I saw that the name was "Ms Ruby Wax". 

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16 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

I worked at her house for a whole day before realising who it was

lets just say she was a SMOOTH OPERATOR. 

 

A mate of mine went to dinner with her and several other people (I have utterly no idea how he ended up in this group). At the end, she paid the bill.

 

Not much of a story, I know, but at least it's on topic. 

 

Actually, just noticed the topic is an eco build, so maybe not. :ph34r:

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15 minutes ago, jack said:

but at least it's on topic

 

15 minutes ago, jack said:

so maybe not

Thought it was going to end up the the Derek and Clive sketch about the worse job they ever had.

Edited by SteamyTea
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2 hours ago, jack said:

 

A mate of mine went to dinner with her and several other people (I have utterly no idea how he ended up in this group). At the end, she paid the bill.

 

Not much of a story, I know, but at least it's on topic. 

 

Actually, just noticed the topic is an eco build, so maybe not. :ph34r:

 

Didn't they go out a few times more but it was never as good as the first time?

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