Things I wish I had done when building?

New build in sight · 03-03-2013 12:49AM

BryanF wrote: »

So just to be clear, you only employed an architect for planning stage? Did you employ s/he for tender stage dwgs and spec?

Yes arch was just employed for drawings and planning, we gave him opp to quote for tender for oversee build but he was too expensive.

Irish Steve · 03-03-2013 02:24AM

sheff the ref wrote: »

How far is your hot water supply from the bathroom, kitchen and utility???

Due to the way the pipes run, kitchen is about 24 Mtr run, out of tank, down to floor level, out to centre of house, then along passage, out to external wall, along to sink and up, much of it in 22mm, Utility is the other side of the house, about the same by the time it gets there, and the bathroom is about 10 Mtrs in the opposite direction, House is 23 Mtrs x 10 Mtrs dormer bungalow, and the architect insisted on putting the boiler in the middle between the family room and lounge, his "H" system, the boiler is in an external wall entry boiler house at the back, 3 flues behind it, boiler, family room and lounge, then the hot press is the other side of the chimneys, on the ground floor,

In hindsight, should have changed some of the layout round to have the kitchen, Utility and bathroom much closer to the hot press, but at the time, it looked like it worked as a layout, and I had enough trouble getting rid of the velux windows that the eejit wanted in the bathrooms going up through the unheated roof space to the roof. In the end, it was a case of "what is it about my use of the word NO that you don't understand".

Glad I did dig my heels in, the other bungalows in this area got lumbered with them, they are a nightmare for damp and mould, even with fibreglass lagging round the vertical sections, a total pain to clean the window, and also suffer with huge condensation issues, and only being 600 mm wide, are a huge hassle to get into for painting.

sheff the ref · 03-03-2013 01:03PM

Irish Steve wrote: »

In the end, it was a case of "what is it about my use of the word NO that you don't understand".

Some Architects are like artists, they pride themselves in unique work. I genuinely believe that it dampens their spirits to have their work rejected!!

I think you have to have to be well able to fight your case

thebackbar · 02-08-2014 09:49AM

hi folks,

just wondering do the people who built recently have anything they would like to add to this post ? i.e. any new technology they wish that they'd incorporated ?

02-08-2014 11:41AM

The only thing I wish I'd done was to install some extra service ducts for future unknown projects.

Villain · 02-08-2014 12:49PM

thebackbar wrote: »

hi folks,

just wondering do the people who built recently have anything they would like to add to this post ? i.e. any new technology they wish that they'd incorporated ?

I put 4 Cat6 cables to every room, you can use them for pretty much anything, coaxial is old technology and won't allow you to send HD TV around the house CAT5e will but CAT6 is better, get a few boxes and run it everywhere

Most common heating controls like nest etc have a thermostat built in so wire the heating controls back to a point in the main living space where you can control zones but also the use the stat rather than in a press in the utility

sheff the ref · 02-08-2014 08:08PM

It has been suggested to me that I drop a 1" white sink drainage pipe inside the cavity, and bring it out through the wall to each ground floor room in the bungalow from the attic. This would make it easy to run new cables in the future. I am pumping my cavities so it won't hinder the insulation but has anyone else tried this?

Poor Uncle Tom · 02-08-2014 08:18PM

sheff the ref wrote: »

It has been suggested to me that I drop a 1" white sink drainage pipe inside the cavity, and bring it out through the wall to each ground floor room in the bungalow from the attic. This would make it easy to run new cables in the future. I am pumping my cavities so it won't hinder the insulation but has anyone else tried this?

Airtightness?

sheff the ref · 02-08-2014 08:28PM

Should not be an issue with an issue with the cavities being pumped

Poor Uncle Tom · 02-08-2014 08:39PM

Having a vent pipe directly from a warm room into the cold attic space has nothing to do with the cavities being pumped.

sheff the ref · 02-08-2014 08:53PM

I presume I can stuff both ends of the pipe to minimise heat loss

4Sticks · 02-08-2014 08:58PM

Cables run from outlet points back to a distrution board (fuse board) or they are supposed to anyway. I see no advantage to this propsal.

sheff the ref · 02-08-2014 09:00PM

It facilitates the easy installation of newer type cables in 10, 15, 20 etc. years time for data, TV etc.

Skerries · 02-08-2014 09:05PM

what do you guys think about the American way of having a utility room on the first floor where your clothes are going to ultimately end any way?

4Sticks · 02-08-2014 09:15PM

sheff the ref wrote: »

It facilitates the easy installation of newer type cables in 10, 15, 20 etc. years time for data, TV etc.

if you like the idea well it is your house

sheff the ref · 02-08-2014 09:19PM

4Sticks wrote: »

if you like the idea well it is your house

I know what it is like to install new Sky boxes and have to drill holes in walls to bring in new cables. Likewise when hard wiring the house with network cable because the wireless wont go through old thick stone walls

sheff the ref · 02-08-2014 09:21PM

Skerries wrote: »

what do you guys think about the American way of having a utility room on the first floor where your clothes are going to ultimately end any way?

Great in theory but unfortunately the lifespan of washing machines are getting shorter and shorter, perhaps 5-10 years in some cases. Easier to haul clothes down the stairs than to haul washing machines up the stairs!!

gctest50 · 02-08-2014 09:21PM

Skerries wrote: »

what do you guys think about the American way of having a utility room on the first floor where your clothes are going to ultimately end any way?

be grand if you tank it a bit so when the washing machine leaks it won't wreck the place

drop the floor a bit, weld the vinyl and put in a floor drain thingy
.

Villain · 02-08-2014 09:46PM

Enough cat6 and some single mode fibre should be enough to future proof for 20 years.

gooseygander · 05-08-2014 12:53AM

Outside tap at front and back of house,
If going with tarmac drive at front, and sides of house, consider tarmac right up to house, hence no need for concrete footpaths that will be expensive to install and will turn green in time needing powerwashing.
Keep living area as open plan design as possible.

kkelliher · 05-08-2014 10:15AM

gooseygander wrote: »

consider tarmac right up to house, hence no need for concrete footpaths that will be expensive to install and will turn green in time needing powerwashing..

IMO not a great design choice as the footpaths will generally direct water away from the house which you cant easily do with a porous material like asphalt.

sydthebeat · 05-08-2014 10:54AM

gooseygander wrote: »

Outside tap at front and back of house,
If going with tarmac drive at front, and sides of house, consider tarmac right up to house, hence no need for concrete footpaths that will be expensive to install and will turn green in time needing powerwashing.
Keep living area as open plan design as possible.

^^ completely agree with the above... its absolutely horrible to have tarmac to the house with no foot path. The path and plinth helps 'ground' the house.

i would go further actually and say that you should try to keep the pathway away from the house in some areas (recess etc) and introduce planted areas here to integrate the house better into the landscape.

personally i prefer pea gravel paths any way, much nicer visual, textural and audible.

mdolly123 · 05-08-2014 11:27AM

Like earlier post, black tiles are a nightmare, shows up every scratch, mark, dirt. Only have them from my doorway through the hall and all over my large kitchen, utility room and downstairs loo. constant daily hate

BarneyMc · 05-08-2014 01:38PM

sydthebeat wrote: »

i would go further actually and say that you should try to keep the pathway away from the house in some areas (recess etc) and introduce planted areas here to integrate the house better into the landscape.

personally i prefer pea gravel paths any way, much nicer visual, textural and audible.

This is what I'll be doing with the front and one side of the house. Tar all around the house is not at all traditional.

randombar · 05-08-2014 04:05PM

gloss tiles in the hall, what a dose. Can see every bit of dirt.

Actually made a list there recently.

1) Concrete floors.
2) UFH
3) Geothermal (Not sure of costs, maybe just UFH so I could install easily after)
4) Bigger windows in kitchen
5) Bigger sun room
6) Storm porch
7) Carpet with flec in it so don’t see dirt
8) Piping for hoover (Probably not now we got the dyson hand held thingy)
9) Bigger downstairs storage
10) DS toilet not in hallway
11) Plans to have exact furniture sizes in them
12) Fiberglass around shower, tanking.
13) Shelter/ Lean to at the back outside

I have Cat 6 throughout the house, fantastic. I also ran speaker wire but with sonos etc. there was probably no point.

A few from my list are if I had a spare 20K ideas so not sure how practical they are cost wise.

sheff the ref · 09-08-2014 10:39AM

In the past 10 alone years the following has happened

1.Around 2003 or 2004:
Ordinary Sky box needing one coax cable and a bit of butchering to get the cable in and run through the room. Butchering

2.Around 2006/2007
Sky Plus box upgrade in the room where the ordinary Sky box was. The old Sky box was being retained so it meant 3 cables now entered the room from outside. At the time necessities meant that both boxes were kept in the one room with the Ordinary Sky being fed to the room via coax cable and operated via a magic eye. More butchering

3.Around 2007/2008
Broadband brought into another room via wireless signal on the roof. More butchering

4.2013
Broadband supplied to other rooms in the house via cable because wireless would not protrude through walls. More butchering

5.2014
Both Sky boxes upgraded to Sky+ HD. New Sky boxes wont work with coax cables. Box in each room, so the cables had to be brought through the room into the second room from the dish. Might as well bring saorview cables as well.

I think my easy access plan makes sense??

Villain wrote: »

Enough cat6 and some single mode fibre should be enough to future proof for 20 years.

sheff the ref · 09-08-2014 10:57AM

gctest50 wrote: »

be grand if you tank it a bit so when the washing machine leaks it won't wreck the place

drop the floor a bit, weld the vinyl and put in a floor drain thingy
.

A lot to be said for putting a floor drain under the washing machine downstairs as well, at least if it leaks, the water has somewhere to go

sheff the ref · 09-08-2014 11:00AM

sydthebeat wrote: »

^^ completely agree with the above... its absolutely horrible to have tarmac to the house with no foot path. The path and plinth helps 'ground' the house.

i would go further actually and say that you should try to keep the pathway away from the house in some areas (recess etc) and introduce planted areas here to integrate the house better into the landscape.

personally i prefer pea gravel paths any way, much nicer visual, textural and audible.

Aesthetically very pleasing to have a recess like that, but in terms of maintenance with falling leaves around the site etc. it can be hard to keep 'new'. With footpaths up against the walls of the house, it is easier to keep the place tidy and powerwashed

sydthebeat · 09-08-2014 11:11AM

sheff the ref wrote: »

Aesthetically very pleasing to have a recess like that, but in terms of maintenance with falling leaves around the site etc. it can be hard to keep 'new'. With footpaths up against the walls of the house, it is easier to keep the place tidy and powerwashed

very few things that are "easy" are worthwhile.......

Boaty · 12-08-2014 02:15AM

Mains sewage..The bottom of the garden is underwater half of the year
When the water comes out of the tap it comes out of the pipe down the bottom of the garden 20 seconds later.
The septic tank is useless.

Things I wish I had done when building?

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