Ideas needed for new build

Hi people, am just looking to pick peoples brains. After 4 year battle with the local planners we have finally got planning permission for the conversion of a Barn into residential premises. Waiting so long we are eager to get things rolling, and will be seeing the architect in the next week or so.

However after doing our first house as a self build there were a number of things we missed and would have liked. We want this one to be perfect not just for us but for families down the line. So what I was looking for was things that people on here would really like to have see in their house. Things we are considering are: Network cables to most rooms, Underfloor heating, Reed bed sewage treatment, Heat exchangers. Now this is only a few things if people on here have ideas on these or any others ideas I would be much appreciated. Yours John

Reply to
John Borman
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In my ideal house they'd be troughs in the floor for additional pipework/cabling, along with concealed ducting in the wall for the same.

Possibly an artificial celing would also be a good idea, like they have in offices. This would allow cables/pipes to be routed with ease at a later date.

I'd also like mains sockets in the loft area so that I could place aerial boosters, network routers etc up there....(what I'd really like is to install some sort of 'media server' in the loft)

I'd also like some way of recycing 'grey' water for flushing the toilet etc. and possibly some sort of 'solar' heating system, or at least provision made for it to be added at a later date.

A double garage with an inspection pit...I could go on..

sPoNiX

Reply to
sPONiX

Technology moves on, Ten years ago (or less) nobody would have wanted this. In ten years (or less) they won't again

This isn't the most efficient method, why do you think that you should want it

Reply to
tim

Don't see the point in going to all that expence when most big technology companies are producing more and more wireless products.

Would look at having floor mains sockets instead of wall sockets especially in the living areas to avoid have sockets half way up the walls.

Reply to
Dave Jones

If it's been fours years then the building regs have moved on so much the original plans are obselete anyway. Insulation, damp-proofing, heating, glazing, ventilation and a lot more will need updating to the latest regs. You might have a shock at how much the cost has jumped due to this.

Big debate on whether these are legal or not. My authority will not allow them no matter how much you plead with them despite the huge amounts of cow-s**te the reeds in our fields deal with. Also septic tanks are discourage and they want Klaristers (sp?) installed.

Definitely. And prices have dropped significantly. BES do individual ones at a price that makes the whole house ducting not worth doing.

Other things I would look at are solar water pre-heat (still needs some heating to get to usuable temp but does save energy), heat stores and rain or grey water re-use.

Good luck.

Reply to
Mike

"John Borman" wrote in news:csbsav$9er$ snipped-for-privacy@news8.svr.pol.co.uk:

Flood protection.

Reply to
Rod Hewitt

Don't they get full of crud though?

They would in our house.

And tiny bits of kids' toys?

They would have in our house.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Ah yeah. I forgot part M. Joy. Not.

You'll need to put all your sockets in silly positions and have a silly door stop, then change it all back to sensible once the BCO has signed you off.

Reply to
Mike

Personally I'd want it because:

a) There's no radiators around the walls so more scope for arranging furniture

b) I like warm floors on a cold winters morning :-)

Cheers,

John

Reply to
John Anderton

I'm curious about this.

Somebody else on this group has mentioned trouble getting permission for a septic tank recently but I got one put in just over a year ago with no problems at all.

Is this another case of environmental agencies in different areas having different interpretations of the new regulations regarding septic tanks, I wonder ?

Cheers,

John

Reply to
John Anderton

To give the Frequently Given Answer: because radio bandwidth is inherently limited in a fixed area, while copper can carry lots more for a given volume occupied (because the field don't spread nearly so much!). Even the overblown populariser of things digital, Nicolas Negroponte, got this one right.

In practice, laying ducting or other easy-access channels is your biggest win. If not that, structured cabling with last year's "top" cable spec should give you at least 10 years', prolly much nearer 20, of usability, from DC (I will shortly be using some of mine for simple signalling) through to gigabit speeds.

Stefek

Reply to
Stefek Zaba

Yep !

Plus worries on what ramblers might end up walking in. Always thought a rambler up to his neck in s**te was an improvement myself :-)

Reply to
Mike

- Superinsulated

- Air tight

- Large solar roof supplying hot water to a thermal store battery

- CAT 5 to all rooms, although wireless technolohy is making this redundant.

- Rainwater harvesting taking water from roof.

- Reedbed

- Low flush toilets

- low energy appliances (mainly AEG)

- low flow spay head aerated taps

- Heat recovery and ventilation with a copper coil heater battery in the ductwork to heat the place. (heating needs will be low with superinsulation)

- very low temp underfloor heating run from the thermal store battery (only if barn is too big and superinsulation does not quite hack it).

- Warmcell blown-in insulation in all stud walls to deaden sound too.

- Rockwool bats in floors to deaden sound.

- DHW pre-heated, or heated, by thermal store

- Heat recovery point of use extractors in kitchen and bathroom.

- Large kitchen extraction fed into main heat recovery duct system

- quadruple glazing

- backup generator to supply essential circuits. (can a portable unit hung on garage wall and plugged in)

PVC cells are not worth it yet, neither is a heat pump.

Reply to
IMM

Do you often have ramblers in your garden, then ?

Cheers,

John

Reply to
John Anderton

Do you really want Janet Street Porter shreiking out you from the bottom of your garden though?

Reply to
James Hart

Yep maybe, but was just thinking for fixed item locations such as tv, stereo etc So would keep all the cable out of site, for general use chrome skts don't look to bad on the wall.

Just reading the wiring regs, from the on site guide: P155 (Brown)

Heights of switches and sockets

The Building Regulations require switches and sockets-outlets in dwellings to be installed so that all persons including those whose reach is limited can easily use them. A way of satisfying the requirements is to install switches and sockets in habitable rooms at a height between 450mm and 1200mm from the finished floor level. Unless the dwelling is for persons whose reach is limited the requirements would not apply to kitchens and garages but specifically only to rooms that visitors would normally use.

This refers to reg 553-01-06 which states A socket-outlet on a wall shall be mounted at a height above the floor or any working surface to minimize the risk of mechanical damage to the socket-outlet or to an associated plug and its flexible cord which might be caused during insertion, use or withdrawal of the plug.

Unless Part M has other regs which countermand this, to me this does not seem enforceable as nothing in the wiring regs specifying any height.

And having a socket between 450mm and 1200mm off the floor so you can trip on and damage the cord when its in use would be against the regs!

Dave

Reply to
Dave Jones

ducted "whole house" Aircon / heat pump Wiring concentration cupboard somewhere in the middle of the house for all telecoms / data. UPS + generator for critical services A couple of good sized rooms to allow for things like snooker tables etc. ;-) Decoupled floor and ceilings (better noise insulation between floors)

Reply to
John Rumm

The responsibility of the Environment Agency rather than the planners surely? Any consent for a new septic tank is now for a maximum of ten years. Subterranean treatment plants that produce a much lower level of pollutants are becoming the norm.

Reply to
Peter Crosland

No! The Environment Agency are responsible for all consents not the planners or building control. The same rules apply to the whole of England and Wales. There is exemption from consent where the output volume is very low. What varies is the ground conditions and this may mean that a septic tank is not allowed where there is heavy clay and no room for a large soakaway. Just my situation except that there was room and the soakaway area is huge!

Reply to
Peter Crosland

That will make an enormous difference if you can afford the height. Chunks of our former telephone exchange have a gap of about 18 inches between the upstairs floor and the ceiling below, and the lack of noise there, compared with the other bits, when our two little monsters charge around is phenomenal.

Reply to
Nick Atty

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