Would love feedback (new build)

[jamesforclaire]

Hello all!

After years of (me) dreaming about it, we've finally embarked on a new build (I say new build, we kept the foundations of the old bungalow and two of the original walls).

I've been scouring the interweb for an eternity in an effort to cover all bases but still daily people say things to me that I hadn't thought of.

I've planned for a water softener, oil boiler, water tank and accumulator in the garage supplying the house. External taps hard water mains. Timed irrigation system for watering the garden.

Kitchen layout planned, thinking of Siemens Ovens (one inc steam, the other inc microwave) & induction hob (if the budget permits by the time we get there!) not sure about brand for those appliances that are integrated (fridge, freezer, WM & TD (WM&TD will be in the utility room)). No eye level cupboards, theres a 4m run of worktop containing sink & hob inset with cupboards under (actually going to go for all big drawers rather than cupboards) and a full height wall with the ovens, fridge, freezer and two 300mm pull out larders....Theres also a 3m island with storage under.

Kitchen is part of the kitchen/family/dining room

Wet underfloor heating throughout (except the two lounges where it would mean digging up the existing concrete floors)

Engineered wooden flooring throughout downstairs (thinking of dark coffee stained in colour) the lounges which will be carpeted

Return staircase. Not sure whether to have glass or white spindles, full carpet or centre runner/s

Bathrooms....Not sure about fully tiled or part tiled. Grohe or Aqualisa showers. Shower trays or continuation of tiles with plug cut into them. Opinions on this welcomed

Thinking of a biometric front door handle (fed up with the kids (17&18)) knocking because they can't be bothered to find their keys

I believe we can have a comms cupboard to store 4 sky boxes so that each tv only has to have a tiny sensor rather than a box (although there will be 6 TV's so need to investigate how that would work?) Each principle room will have cat 6 cabling from said cupboard

I know lighting is important and thousands can be spent but in this instance majority simple led downlights with some wall/ceiling lights in Lounges and over island in kitchen

Gone for UPVC sash windows throughout

What else?.....Silly things, Going to ask builders to fix hooks for ease of hanging external Christmas lights, sink with hot and cold taps in garage for cleaning hands without having to come inside

I am hoping that this will be our forever house for me, the good lady wife and our two "young adults" (given that average leaving home age is 28 they could be there for a while!) and I know there will be things after we say we would have done differently but want to keep these to a minimum hence sharing here.....

Build began 3 months ago, we'll be watertight within 6 weeks.....

Coat cupboard in hall? Area for parcels to be left safely outside without being seen? Toilet/shower downstairs with step free access for elderly visitors? Tons of storage, and then some more.

Your new place sounds like it will be amazing.

We did something similar to this and the only thing I regret is not taking up the lounge concrete floor to lay the underfloor heating. It is so much more efficient and stable as a temperature, I really feel the difference when I’m in there. Unless we’re using the log burner the room feels cold and draughty just because it’s using a radiator.

Although it may be too late if work has been ongoing for three months. Sorry.

Fabric first, so lots of insulation, as airtight as possible, good eco heating systems, solar power and feed in tariff before its closed end March 2019.

Downstairs bathroom and ability to turn a room into a downstairs bedroom if needed.

Lots of cupboards.

Most people who go for dark wood floors regret it as scratches and marks show up far more.

Your house sounds fab.

These may be things you might consider?

External power sockets. Handy for lawn mower, cleaning the car, gardener, hot tub, christmas lights etc.

Log Store; great if you don't have somewhere to store dry wood.

Quooker tap in kitchen; gives instant boiling water, so great for cooking etc.

Lots of storage space which has easy access. So shoe / coat storage in the hallway. Storage cupboard for bedding and towels etc on the first floor / bathroom areas. Retractable loft ladders, also board out loft area for storage.

Zone controlled thermostats.

Integral blinds in bi-folding doors / windows are great as they are cleaning / maintenance friendly.

Air conditioning/clean air filtration system? Under floor heating? Astroturf in garden? Integral vacuum system? Wood buring stove?

Your new place sounds great. More a self-build than the traditional new build. My ex is doing this currently & its taking a long time because he's doing the vast majority himself. I do pity his wife & kids lol.

I'd reconsider oil boiler for ground source or air source heating.

Thermal solar panels for hot water.

Do you have a dog? Dog washing station in the garage.

MVHR system?

thanks all....

fabulousathome - We have big cupboard in hall for shoes and coats, plenty of storage and one of the "lounges" downstairs has an en-suite so is actually a 4th bedroom but because that is only for visitors we'll use this at first as a TV room for the kids. I did think myself about an cupboard (or something like that) for parcels especially as delivery drivers won't be able to gain access to the property, post box is on outside wall, so you saying this helps reinforce that thought (I could put a lock on and simply give couriers the number right??)

motionoftheocean - I deliberated long and hard about taking up the floor for the UFH but it was a massive job. The concrete floor is almost a foot thick, all walls are now up and so it can't be done by a digger so its a big job by hand. Then once its up, cost of building it up again..If i did it again, I may well have specified this from the start but thought it would be fine and a good way of saving money (adding character to those softer rooms with stylish rads). Your message though encourages me that we've made right call having it everywhere else

flirtygirl - we do have good insulation, well in excess of regs but no eco heating I investigated this at the start and the initial outlay was quite prohibitive (I realise over many years it would pay for itself but in many years I won't be bearing the cost of a self build and will just have to suck it up then lol..Thanks for the floor comment, it's such a large part of the project it's hard to commit. Would you still go wooden floor but lighter colour or a different material?

pokerface - forgot about external sockets, vital! Won't need a log store, putting a gas fire in. I am leaning towards the Quooker tap, which tank would you go for? just boiling, boiling and filtered cold or the combi?? No storage cupboard on first floor but bedrooms are large enough to accommodate an ottoman at the end of each bed for storing bedding and towels for said room. the loft has been boarded early (it saves on scaffolding!) Zone controlled thermostats have been specced by the UFH provider (company called Wundafloor in Chepstow, been amazing in their design and price).

Movingthisyear - I'm not an astroturf fan and if money were no object (which it is!) Air con/filtration and Integral vacuums would be awesome

Ariela - Thanks for that. My initial enquiries into group source or heat source were that these were very expensive up front costs and i wasn't convinced that the options available to me would have been able to negate the need completely for a boiler. I'm open to further exploration (if its not too late) if you believe my thoughts may not be accurate. Do you have some advice on where to do such exploration ?

Muffin - I lived overseas in a sunny clime a while ago and solar panel were the norm, i actually dismissed them (without investigating) as being efficient here with less sun, should i look further?. No dog but sink with hot and cold in garage could serve same function

Buteo - What's MVHR?

I love having our laundry upstairs on the same floor as the bedrooms.

Mechanical ventilation and heat recovery - extracts stale moisture laden air from within and replaces with fresh filtered air from outside. Good if you have high levels of air tightness as it hugely reduces condensation.

@jamesforclaire
External sockets are great and handy. You may also consider putting in a electric vehicle charging point, if your thinking of future proofing the house. This may be a planning condition, as some local authority’s require one in all new build property’s.

As for the quooker tap I would just have boiling water. It’s great when cooking for vegetables, etc... so more efficient than boiling the kettle. But we live in an area of good water quality, and filteration isn’t required. We also have a filter for drinking water built into our fridge (rarely used).

Another handy external feature is a hot water external tap. It’s great for children’s paddling pools (guess yours are too old this). But it does come in handy for cleaning windows, washing the car etc...

Maybe place a vanity unit in bathrooms and en-suite fors additional storage. Can’t have enough storage for toilet rolls, towels etc.

Ground source IMO is one of the best renewable sources, although does take longer to get your return. I’m surprised you haven’t had to include ground source, solar etc for your SAP calculation?

Other than that good luck with the build.

MVHR is mechanical ventilation heat recovery!

Agree with heartstrumpdiamond laundry on the first floor is a great idea. Washing socks and cooking don’t go together!
Depends if your a hang it on the line? Or dryer person though?
But a laundry shoot could be a great addition if you keep this on the ground floor? Saves carrying it down and loosing a sock or two on the way, especially with two late teens.

Anyone had any experience of these, bathroom brands?

www.drench.co.uk/showers/digital-showers?dir=desc&limit=all&order=price

Been moved in our self build for 4 months now and best things are upstairs laundry room (laundry chutes are tricky due to fire regs) under floor heating, hot water tap (we have an insinkerator and a quooker and the insinkerator is way better, heats to 98 degrees so perfect for tea) neff slide and hide ovens and neff induction hob (warming drawers are used much more than I thought too). We have a lamp main too so all the lamps in a room switch on with a wall switch (like you get in hotels).

DW loves (really loves) washing on the line, so its gotta be carried up and down at some point...

Loved the sound of MVHR so went and had a quick google...found this www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/11652326/How-to-green-your-home-without-wasting-money.html some good info on there (author doesn't rate an MVHR)

I'm going to investigate an electric vehicle charging point, hadn't given this a thought. Great idea (especially as I believe within 3-5 years i'll own one of these)..External HW tap. Forgot all about this. We remodelled another house many years ago and having spent a couple of summers in and out with kettles and or hoses to the hot tap this was something we installed and was wonderful. May not be so appropriate now the kids are older but more "future proofing" for when they have some lol. one of the reasons we chose to "extend' the property rather than squash it and start again was because it meant we avoided the new build requirements albeit at the expense of any possible reclamation of VAT (there was also a little sentiment involved, the older couple we brought it off had set their wedding rings in the foundations when it was built 40 years ago and I promised we wouldn't dig them up)...

Think i like the lamp switch idea

I no particular order...

Showers - make sure there is a hand held bit that you can lower and also undock from the main bit to swoosh around the shower to clean it, also useful for showering kids (grandkids! Or guests. Or future inhabitants)

Baths - ditto make sure there is a separate shower head that you can use on dc and to help clean the bath.

Plugs - put in more than you think you need. Also have some sockets with several usb points as lots of things need charging. And where you might have tv then remember you will need zillions - think tv, dvd, sky type box (you might want to have your sky box there rather than in a comma cupboard), google chromecast/now tv/Apple TV/etc gadget, PS4, Xbox, Nintendo switch, lamp, Christmas tree, Christmas decoration/decorative thingamijig, Hoover, Alexa etc- and that’s just off the top of my head. Plus they are bringing new stuff out all the time...

Tv point in every room including all bedrooms

Investigate a freesat or freeview system to run alongside sky in case you don’t want to pay a fortune for multi room sky. They used to do a magic eye system where you could control one box from different rooms - so if I was in the kitchen while dh was working or if we were all eating in the kitchen, I could put sky on and watch and control the sky box in the lounge which was otherwise not being watched. They have stopped putting the socket for this on boxes so you have to pay lots for multiroom. And if granny is staying in the guest room, she can watch freesat and not screw up your sky box (memories of my mother babysitting and managing to wipe stuff I really wanted to see...)

Plugs on each wall of each room

At least 2 tv points in main rooms that you will watch tv in if not more

Conservatory - top opening window to let the heat out

Outside taps and plugs - front and back (and maybe a side too, depending on layout) of house so it’s easy to water, mow, put out Xmas lights, inflatable Santa’s or whatever.

Cupboards - my bedrooms have built in cupboards done well. There’s effectively 2 walls a cupboards depth apart (wide enough for a hanging rail to run along) between each pair of bedrooms. This is then split in two with a wall half way along - each bedroom gets access to a cupboard half the length of the wall. Depending on space if you make it a bit deeper they would each get a walk in cupboard. Can have doors that open outwards or that slide. Provides loads of unobtrusive storage and helps to insulate rooms from each other for noise purposes. Hope that makes sense, let me know if you want a diagram.

Under stairs storage - work out how to make best use of it and remember to install lights and plugs (especially useful for recharging hoovers etc)

Have the thermostat in a sensible place and do not let the builders get away with putting it somewhere inconvenient as my sis and bil did, in a back bedroom, because they screwed up when installing it.

Sensible loft access - you don’t want to be negotiating heavy boxes through a small hatch on a rickety ladder next to the big drop down the stairs.

A small en suite for as many bedrooms as you can manage for ease of getting out in the morning with dc at home! They can be tiny and odd shaped but will be appreciated.

Loos - as much sound insulation around as possible - again sis species this but discovered too late it hadn’t been done properly and now you can hear when people go to the loo if you’re in the next room/ downstairs and it’s not very nice! Ditto sound insulation under and over your bedroom as a minimum.

Sure there’s mor, will post when I think of them,,,

Depending how far along you are on the build... you could get an in built vacuum system. Well worth contacting an eco company for advice. There is a system to connect your lights, entertainment systems, speakers and heating to a 'smart' app on your phone. Air to water is one of the most efficient ways of insulating and providing heat, water, insulation. They can be expensive to fit but well worth it in the long term for savings.

MVHR works well in well-insulated eco builds with a high degree of airtightness (which is what we have). Our heating bills are pretty low, and we have zero condensation even when drying washing indoors.

Tankless hot water heater?

Erm, what does the house actually look like? As in architecturally, brick, render, pitched roof, flat roof, slate, tile? Huff haus,
Art Deco, just a bungalow?

its designed as a low eaves chalet bungalow, how do I post a pic?