New house build

[Palmball]

I love the roofline - I do wonder of you're set on the interlocking concretes?

The roof is such a feature that I feel it would benefit from plain tiles - have a look at something like Marley Eternit Plain Clay tiles.

To be fair, having never done this before I didn't even consider the type of roof tiles and I'm well past the stage of being able to influence this (OK, I get it... should've posted here months ago ).

To be honest though, anything which would push the budget further than I already have is OFF!

And you had no issues or hassle from the planning department?

Well, I did cheat slightly. I bought the 'plot' with panning permission approved so I guess I entered the process at a later stage. I managed to get through all my changes with just an amendment by ensuring I adhered to all the conditions set to on the original plan (which to be fair was limited mainly to roof height).

It helps that my builder appears to be friendly with the local panning officer too

Thanks for posting. Lets see the gleaming E63 outside or inside its lair when you are done.

Now this place has gone to the dogs Firstly, people want to know about the house instead of the E63.....then they want to see the E63 in the drive but not the GT!!! :wall bash:

LOL

1320 sq ft downstairs, a bit less upstairs...should be roomy.

I guess so, but it oddly doesn't feel it currently. That said, my last house was 1800 sq/ft across 3 floors and that wasn't a small house so I guess I'll be happy with the size when it's finished.

Looks great, how's your stress levels?

OK, considering I actually feel homeless.

That's a very handsome looking house, in a good location

Thanks, although I'm nervous until I actually see it finished. Hard to visualise everything on paper, especially with no experience of this!

Location is, for us, awesome. We love the village where we live and this is on the road we always wanted to live on....and on the right side of the road so it overlooks fields

Couldn't see the fire/chimney on the floor plans?
Don't be mean with power points, put in twice as many as you think you need.
A cat 5e network would cost £300 to £500 in materials plus about a days labour to install.

The fireplace is the section that comes out into the middle of the sitting/dining room on the plan. No chimney - it'll flu out the back of the house. Apart from the roof, this is probably the most complicated part of the house because it's a bit out of the norm for the builder.

These network cables, everyone seems to be mentioning this (and not only on here). But why? If I have a good wireless network, why do I need all these data points? You guys must have more stuff to plug in than me!

 

[zipdip]

Looks good,my only advise,which seeing you are well along the way to completion so maybe not needed, would be never employ builders on day work,always get them to quote for each part of the build,like foundation up to damp course,and the like,make a agreement on what is going to be done and when and how much and you sign it and so does the builder then there will be very little leaning on shovels.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Lots of talk about having lots of power sockets, but have you thought yet about which? We have these throughout, for power and light switches:

LightwaveRF

Thought about your heating controls and smoke alarms? We have Nest for both, and they're excellent

https://store.nest.com/uk/product/smoke-co-alarm/

 

[dan-mb]

I do new builds & refurbs as a designer in the leisure, retail, residential & hospitality sectors as a day job. I Deal with planners frequently so i would say check on the planning application what tiles have been granted planning permission as some planners can be a bit of a nightmare with the small details, same with any other alterations you are making to the designs.
With the slate tiles to your chimney breast (or similar) it shouldn't be a problem especially as your internal walls seem to be all block work and not stud (even then shouldn't be too much of a problem) modern tiles are available in various thicknesses (to reduce weight) if weight is an issue.
Good luck with the rest of your project keep us posted!

 

[Piff]

Cat 5e/6/7 allows a "faster" connection
So for your smart TV & sky box it will stream the on demand services better. That's just the lounge TV, what about the bedroom ones too (if you have children)
PlayStation's/Xbox, etc the same.
We have a central cupboard where all the network cables are routed to a patch panel with a "switch" connected to the router. Also plugged in is my main PC, printer, has drive.
Also in the cupboard we have the cables from aerials & sky dish. The TV signal is then distributed to each room. The sky box is also in the cupboard, distributing to each Rome with coax and HDMI cables.
I'm only a beginner at this, I'm sure there are others here who will have other info on LAN

 

[geraldrobins]

Great Andrew - thanks for posting and keep 'em coming .

I love the roofline - I do wonder of you're set on the interlocking concretes?

The roof is such a feature that I feel it would benefit from plain tiles - have a look at something like Marley Eternit Plain Clay tiles.

Interlocking concretes are a more basic (read cheaper) tile and won't let you exploit that fabulous roof.

All IMO of course and not good for the budget.

https://www.marleyeternit.co.uk/Roofing/Clay-Tiles/Acme-Double-Camber-Clay-Plain-Tile.aspx

And maybe not the planning department. Plain tiles with bonnet hips do look good though but much more expensive.

 

[geraldrobins]

Regarding wet rooms, personally I avoid them at first floor with timber floors. But maybe you are going with concrete and screed.

 

[Palmball]

Lots of talk about having lots of power sockets, but have you thought yet about which? We have these throughout, for power and light switches:

LightwaveRF

Thought about your heating controls and smoke alarms? We have Nest for both, and they're excellent

https://store.nest.com/uk/product/smoke-co-alarm/

I have looked at those Lightwave RF - they're decent then?

With the slate tiles to your chimney breast (or similar) it shouldn't be a problem especially as your internal walls seem to be all block work and not stud (even then shouldn't be too much of a problem) modern tiles are available in various thicknesses (to reduce weight) if weight is an issue.
Good luck with the rest of your project keep us posted!

I appear to have complicated things because theres a 1.5m section of wall that sits above the fire, but it can't rest on the fire. Because I'm adding significant weight to it (about the lightest slate cladding I can find is 40kg sq/m) this section wall needs to be supported from above. The builder seems to know how he's going to approach this.

To give you an idea of the fireplace, it's something like this, but on a smaller scale (it was this picture that inspired me ha ha!):

There will be a 1m x 0.5m section of wall coming into the room from the back wall of the house.

In front of this will be a white limestone hearth, approx 1.5m x 0.7m (so it sits slightly wider than the wall behind it (where it shows grey in the picture). A three aspect see-through fire thats slightly narrower and shorter than the wall/hearth (1.2m x 0.4m) sit's on top of this. This should create a small ledge of hearth all around the fire.

The wall behind the fire continues above the fire, but this section needs to be supported as it can't actually rest on the fire itself. When it's all finished, the wall behind and above the fire should look like one uninterrupted section.

Well, this is my vision, if nothing else! Hopefully the fireplace company and my builder who are working together on this can bring this to reality!

Cat 5e/6/7 allows a "faster" connection
So for your smart TV & sky box it will stream the on demand services better. That's just the lounge TV, what about the bedroom ones too (if you have children)
PlayStation's/Xbox, etc the same.
We have a central cupboard where all the network cables are routed to a patch panel with a "switch" connected to the router. Also plugged in is my main PC, printer, has drive.
Also in the cupboard we have the cables from aerials & sky dish. The TV signal is then distributed to each room. The sky box is also in the cupboard, distributing to each Rome with coax and HDMI cables.
I'm only a beginner at this, I'm sure there are others here who will have other info on LAN

Thank you, makes sense. My intention was to have some, although I may not go too mad.

Why do I need to take all the cats into a patch panel, then into a switch? Why can't I just route all the cables to a cupboard and straight into a switch?

And I'm guessing that everything connected to the switch will be connected to the internet, as long as one of the items connected to the switch is my router? (forgive the silly questions, I'm not a network expert!)

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

The lightwaverf kit has been really good, functions well and it looks great too. The lead time on new items is ridiculous but the stuff that's already out works really well. Time flies but I probably started installing it 3 or 4 years ago, working my way around the house as we decorated, and it's been spot on

The wireless switches are handy, and mean you can place switches anywhere you want them. There may be less benefit in a new house built to your specification, but I'm sure they will come in useful for things you only realise once you're living in the house or for simple things like having outside lighting switches at each of the rear doors (and it looks like you have a few).

 

[dokalj]

Subscribed!!!

 

[am3r]

We work in high end development and built my own house back in 2013 and would say the following:

I actually have a Crestron home automation system controlling lighting, security, heating, televisions, projector, audio etc and whilst there is no need to go that far some aspects of it can be carried over:

Cat6 cables everywhere, even in hidden places such as cupboards to put things like wifi extenders, modern insulation is often foiled back celotex or similar and this ruins wifi signal throughout the property, as an example over a 2000sq ft ground floor I have 3 repeaters.

Behind kitchen appliances like ovens and fridges, miele already have connected appliances out.

Run multiple sets behind the TV and use a HDMI over cat 6 matrix to allow you to control and keep your AV equipment in a central location and keep the rooms free of clutter, along with this I use Kef wall and ceiling speakers in all the rooms.

The problem with disturbing over HDMI is that it can cause signal drop outs over longer runs and also you have to run something back for control where as over cat6 it can all be done through the same wire.

Have plenty of light circuits, as said lighting can really bring a room to life.

Centralised heat recovery systems are good at keeping rooms fresh and the air dry which stops condensation build up on windows.

Hansgrohe for taps and shower mixers etc, I've tried various and found their quality to be much more consistent over the years.

Miele/Gaggenau appliances are wonderful, Liebherr make the Miele fridges so can save a few quid buy purchasing them.

 

[dokalj]

Cheers am3r for the useful suggestions.

 

[Palmball]

Yes, very helpful thank you am3r

Good point on connectivity behind appliances (I had planned to do this with the fridge freezer anyway) - I am getting all Miele appliances (which is why I've blown the kitchen budget ) but I'm not sure the ones I'm buying have connectivity, other than speaking with each other (i.e. hob to cooker hood) which doesn't require connection to a network.

 

[Red C220]

Lots more pics as it progresses please.

My parents did this in the late 80's they built a Potton Granchester.

 

[Palmball]

Went to see it today but I couldn't get close to get any decent pictures as it was all cordoned off....but I could see the 1st floor is now in place bathing the downstairs in darkness. Because most of the upstairs sits in the roof it really is nearly ready for it now - it arrives on Wednesday

 

[Coolbiker]

looking good.

You must be getting excited about moving in my mid-summer.

 

[crockers]

I use a Heat Genius system for heating control. I find it brilliant.

 

[BFT]

Great thread love these.

I'm wondering if I can copy and paste those plans myself onto a piece of land I own!!

 

[Piff]

Thank you, makes sense. My intention was to have some, although I may not go too mad.

Why do I need to take all the cats into a patch panel, then into a switch? Why can't I just route all the cables to a cupboard and straight into a switch?

And I'm guessing that everything connected to the switch will be connected to the internet, as long as one of the items connected to the switch is my router? (forgive the silly questions, I'm not a network expert!)

Either patch panel or RJ45 plug on the end of each cable.
Yes, one of the connections to the switch is from the router.

 

[Piff]

MHRV as mentioned above is good - we have a system from CVC direct which is good - no condensation at all.
Latest system I'm installing at the moment is their HB+ radial system which should minimise cross-talk between rooms.
Has to be designed in though for duct routes to work.