The best

[stubiff]

Wondered if people would like to share what they think is the best thing in their build (could be anything, design, service, object, visible/not).

If you were doing it again what is the first thing you'd include.

If you were doing it again what is the first thing you would include that you didn't or had to retro-fit.

What is a waste of space.

 

TIA.

[nod]

We are doing it all again 

UFH  again 

ASHP not included on the first 

Lack of gas supply on the next two has forced our hand 

German Kitchen again 

Instant hot water tap again 

I thought we had maxed out with insulation Add even more this time 

 

Things I thing are a waste of money 

Bifolds Look great Hardly ever use them Sliders or French doors more practical 

Woodturner Looks great lit Novelty soon wore off 

Radiators in the bedrooms and bathrooms 

We’ve never needed to use them 

Solar panels Look horrible 

Take forever to pay for themselves 

Electric gates 

If we hadnt of intended selling we wouldn’t have installed the gates 

I joists Posi a little bit more expensive But much easier to get all the services in 

 

I’m sure there are things I’ve missed ?

 

[puntloos]

Bifolds are interesting - I think the amount of times that people would do the full wiiiiiiiide open thing that real estate agents love to show off are perhaps 4 times per year. 

But, I'm not sure I agree with the statement that sliders are more practical. All sliders I've encountered are *slow* so they will halt a smooth flow when you're walking at speed.

Instead a bifold does have a normal door at the end which is efficient, in & out.

 

IMO bifold is best of both worlds but I would expect the "standard door mode" to be used 99% of the time.

[stubiff]

We use the bi-folds a lot (open wide). The problem is they let a lot of heat in! Can't win.

[Trw144]

16 minutes ago, nod said:

Instant hot water tap again

Plus 1 for this

[ProDave]

Good points:

 

Building a room in roof 1 1/2 storey house with the roof detailed as a warm roof hung from a ridge beam.  Allows the entire internal space to be part of the sealed internal space and is very much easier to get a good detail than attic trusses and a cold roof design.

 

ASHP and UFH working well.

 

Lots of insulation and good air tightness detail, good triple glazed windows well fitted.

 

Room Sealed wood burning stove does not (contrary to popular belief) destroy the air tightness and leak heat out of the building, and (contrary to popular belief) does not overheat the house as long as you leave internal doors open to allow the heat into the whole house.

 

To aid heat circulation from stove an efficient layout allowing main rooms to open up to central stairwell each with double doors.  Lots of open space when you want it, or 2 closed off separate rooms when you want that instead.

 

No heating upstairs, it does not need it (just UFH in the bathrooms so you don't have to walk on cold tiles)

 

All bathrooms done as wet rooms.  Vastly superior to shower trays.

 

Unvented hot water cylinder heated by ASHP.

 

Posi Joists.  I would say essential if fitting mvhr.

 

mvhr.  If you are doing the well insulated air tight "proper" build then you must fit mvhr.  easy DIY job, not overly expensive and contributes to your low heating bill.

 

NO unwanted penetrations in the building (no conventional letterbox or cat flap)

 

Bad points:

 

Not many, the only one is the wood fibre EWI with render, we have some unresolved issues with the render so until that is resolved I cannot honestly recommend it.

 

 

[Bitpipe]

Do it again

 

Basement :  50% extra living space without the planners blinking...

External motorised blinds : reduce solar gain, look cool and no curtains required.

Electric gates : we quite like them, give us a lot of privacy and some kerb appeal.

Passive standard house, MVHR, low temp UFH on GF only etc.. : Year round comfort and low running costs

TF turnkey construction : great for the novice, quick to build

4m 3G sliders: Can move them with a fingertip and have nice views through them

PV: Ok, we got on the FIT just in time so payback is quicker but on the flip side needed MCS install. Dark panels, in roof trays on slate roof so not that obvious.

Velux Integra roof windows: powered off mains and remote controlled

Fingerprint scanner for front door: 5 years in, never given us an issue. Kids don't need keys so never locked out

Flush exit from front / rear to paving / patio :  Worth the head scratching to make it work

Resin flooring : very robust, looks great and no grubby grout lines. Even more of a revelation after recently getting a dog

GRP for flat roofs: had some issue with topcoat peeling but they are 100% waterproof.

Hot water return loop: never have to wait for hot water at tap. It's wired into the same PIRs and light switches 

Quooker tap : although it's a scale magnet in our area. Love not having a kettle.

5a lamp circuit: wall switchable lamps are a nice and simple scheme lighting effect

 

Didn't do it, would do it next time

 

Split aircon provision / active cooling: winter heat is not the issue, summer cooling is and will only become more so.

ASHP: on mains gas so boiler seemed obvious way to go but like idea of using ASHP to cool as well as heat - with PV in summer 

Toughguard paint everywhere : even after 5 years, redecorating feels too soon   

Sockets where there are none - always a tricky one to anticipate 

 

Would be in two minds about doing again

 

Render exterior : looks great when done but now getting grubby - algal growth etc plus the issues we have with the install. Would have considered a partial timber / render combo.

External balconies : expensive and never used. Look nice but that's about it.

Getting joiner to install door linings etc :  would have been quicker (and therefore cheaper labour) to do fully assembled door sets.

 

 

[ProDave]

10 minutes ago, Bitpipe said:

Didn't do it, would do it next time

 

Sockets where there are none - always a tricky one to anticipate 

 

 

Sollution:

 

Create a service void for all the wiring.  Fit at least one socket on every wall.  run cable at socket height around the whole room in the service void, then you can cut a hole and fit an additional socket anywhere you find you need one.

[jack]

Would do again:

MVHR.

Hot water tap.

UFH.

UFC (cooling!) of the slab.

Boiling water tap.

Eating area on island that allows people to sit across from each other like at a table - never got the idea of a row of stools along the length of an island.

 

Would like but didn't do in the first place:

UFH in bathrooms. While the house as a whole is fairly comfortable and cheap to run, we don't get a lot of solar gain in winter, and the bathrooms can be a bit chilly underfoot.

Better use of kitchen diner space. It's a pretty big space, but we didn't think hard enough about comfortable seating in that area, o 

Bigger and better laid out utility room. 

 

Waste of space:

Bath in ensuite. It's been used once or twice a year since we moved in and takes up a lot of space that could have been used to greater effect if the bath wasn't there.

Steam oven (admittedly ours is steam only, and apparently steam combis make a lot more sense).

White corian worktop on one side of the kitchen. Hate, hate, hate. Stains like hell and shows every little mark. 

[Edited to add] I agree with @Bitpipe's comment about balconies. They were only ever a design feature, but I don't see any real likelihood of them ever being used, plus they added a lot of cost and introduced the only significant cold bridges in the entire house. 

Windows too big in some rooms, to the point where opening them is intrusive.

[joe90]

On the subject of bifolds I love ours but they do open into a large south facing conservatory from the kitchen diner and lounge, the conservatory (despite being told here would overheat and be un useable in summer) . In shoulder months when the sun is shining the bifolds are open and it heats the house, when the conservatory gets really hot we keep them shut to keep the house cool (not often). When/if it gets that hot it has two double doors and large windows to vent the space. I can’t think of anything that we got wrong, ASHP, MVHR, insulation max UFH all works well.

[Bitpipe]

36 minutes ago, jack said:

Steam oven (admittedly ours is steam only, and apparently steam combis make a lot more sense).

 

Or as we call it - the broccoli oven as that's all thats ever cooked in it.

[newhome]

Would do again:

 

Induction Hob. Always preferred gas but the induction hob has converted me. 
UFH 

Open plan kitchen / family room (with separate formal lounge that’s only used when people come). 

 

 

Would like:

 

ASHP

Single Phase electric so that I could get a smart meter and use a variable tariff. 
PV instead of solar thermal. 
Boiling water tap.

2 dishwashers. Plenty of room for this and a house this size makes it easy to justify. 
Larger utility and services rooms. I could easily spare a metre off the main kitchen / family room and not notice but this space would be very beneficial in the utility and services rooms. 
One of the showers to be electric so that if the boiler failed I had a backup. 
 

Wouldn’t do again:

 

Central vacuum. I just never use it as I have 2 cordless vacs (one upstairs, one downstairs) that I just whizz round with in less time than dragging out metres of vacuum pipe and putting it away again afterwards. 
Electric boiler (would have been much cheaper to run an oil boiler even if less green). 
Installing the MVHR unit in the loft when it would be much more convenient in the services room. 
 

 

[Gav_P]

3 hours ago, stubiff said:

We use the bi-folds a lot (open wide). The problem is they let a lot of heat in! Can't win.

Ditto

[jack]

43 minutes ago, Bitpipe said:

 

Or as we call it - the broccoli oven as that's all thats ever cooked in it.

 

We go through periods of using ours for boiled eggs. Great for that.

 

And steamed treacle pudding at Christmas.

[newhome]

10 minutes ago, jack said:

 

We go through periods of using ours for boiled eggs. Great for that.

I have an £8 egg boiler from Aldi ?

 

 

[Iceverge]

Things I'd definitely do again. 

 

Airtightness. insulation, 3g and MVHR.

Amtico glue down tiles. 

Nice villeroy and boch porcelain and German taps.

100% wool carpets.

2 dishwashers. One clean one dirty at all times. 

French drain and gravel between footpaths and house wall. 

Splayed window reveals. 

uPVC windows. 

Plain laminate kitchen worktops. 

 

Things I wouldn't bother with. 

 

Ensuite. 3 baths in 3 beds are wasted. 

Floating LVT floor. It's not near as nice as the glue down one.

Slate shower tray. Expensive and makes the shower dark.

Precast concrete first floor.

 

 

Things I'd do differently.

 

Timber frame rather than block built. 

Dedicated office space or alcove. 

Insist on warm LEDs for fixed lights rather than the cool ones the electrician installed. 

Make all plumbing accessable. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dreadnaught]

33 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

Make all plumbing accessable. 

 

What does that mean please?

[joe90]

34 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

Make all plumbing accessable. 

Surface run pipes???

[Iceverge]

26 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Surface run pipes???

 

Sorry I should have been more explicit. 

 

No pipes buried under concrete. Service hatches for the back of shower mixers. Pipes run under cabinets or in accessible service cavities. 

 

Have some kind of removable ceiling tiles to access the underside of the upstairs shower waste. 

 

I almost managed it. But the plumber was a moron and managed to install extra fittings where they weren’t needed hidden inside stud walls. Also there’s a small amount of water appearing from under the bath and I’ll need to remove some skirting board to take off the shower panel. Grrrrrrrrr

 

[joe90]

22 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

No pipes buried under concrete.

UFH?

 

22 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

Service hatches for the back of shower mixers.

I have mixer bars so nothing buried that needs changing

 

23 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

Have some kind of removable ceiling tiles to access the underside of the upstairs shower waste.

Shower wastes should be cleanable and serviceable from above!

 

25 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

Also there’s a small amount of water appearing from under the bath and I’ll need to remove some skirting board to take off the shower panel.

I have a free standing bath so all pipework accessible .  I went plastic pipework from manifolds so no joints within runs.?

 

 

[Iceverge]

1 hour ago, joe90 said:

UFH?

 

I have mixer bars so nothing buried that needs changing

 

Shower wastes should be cleanable and serviceable from above!

 

I have a free standing bath so all pipework accessible .  I went plastic pipework from manifolds so no joints within runs.?

 

 

We have no heating at the moment. Maybe forever.

 

The mixer bars have these buried behind them in the stud wall. 

The wastes are cleanable but they can leak. I think that’s what’s leaking in our bath ?

 

Plastic pipes are the business. On the farm there’s a mix of copper, brass and plastic. The copper lasts about 10 years on average, The brass maybe 30 and the plastic pipes never ever leak apart from at the joints. 

 

My ideal system would be an electroweld all plastic one. I don’t know if it even exists.

[Russdl]

14 hours ago, ProDave said:

Create a service void for all the wiring.  Fit at least one socket on every wall.  run cable at socket height around the whole room in the service void, then you can cut a hole and fit an additional socket anywhere you find you need one.

What a great idea. Now we’re almost finished we’re spotting places where a socket would have been handy but can’t now be easily retrofitted. How I wish we had incorporated that simple solution. Ho-hum. 
 

Would do again:

 

Timber frame

Passive standard 

External blinds

Sunamp

Willis heaters for UFH

Fixed staircase to open loft storage area (it may morph into a music room/gym after sign off). 

Wouldn’t do again:

 

Use travelling trades (unless they came VERY VERY highly recommended from several sources). 

Use RAL 7016, not dark enough for our tastes. 

 

That’s a bit of a short ‘wouldn’t do again’. It’s early days, I’m sure I’ll be able to add to it later. 

 

[ProDave]

3 minutes ago, Russdl said:

What a great idea. Now we’re almost finished we’re spotting places where a socket would have been handy but can’t now be easily retrofitted. How I wish we had incorporated that simple solution. Ho-hum. 
 

 

A lot of people don't realise you can run cables horizontally in a wall (I had a stand up finger wagging argument with a builder who tried to insist I could not do that)  As long as there is one socket in the wall, it creates a safe zone both horizontally and vertically from that socket where you may run cables.

[joe90]

17 minutes ago, ProDave said:

A lot of people don't realise you can run cables horizontally in a wall

I did not know that till my sparky told me during our build.

[Big Jimbo]

19 minutes ago, ProDave said:

A lot of people don't realise you can run cables horizontally in a wall (I had a stand up finger wagging argument with a builder who tried to insist I could not do that)  As long as there is one socket in the wall, it creates a safe zone both horizontally and vertically from that socket where you may run cables.

12 hours ago, joe90 said:

 

I always like horizontal cable runs about 450mm from the floor. leave a good bit of slack in the cable (providing you have 50mm of cover, ie; behind battons) If you then want an extra socket, say inbetween Two existing sockets, cut a hole in the plasterboard, and the cable is there waiting for you.