We’re at the bathroom design stage and being a bloke i don't have a clue!
If it were left to me I’d buy a perfectly serviceable white bathroom suite from the local builders merchants. Luckily my wife has more idea about what is really required, so yesterday we set off round the local bathroom showrooms, of which there are four, a large one which is part of the local family owned builders merchants, a middle range and two high end showrooms. Having sat in, tapped and operated the var
Week 8 was a short week on site as they finished all the prep for the slab pour on Thursday and went off to another job - or to hide from the weather. The big pour for the main slab is all set for Monday and because of the quantity of concrete and the waterproofing they booked it a week in advance. The slab gets poured in one go so its going to be a busy and exciting day!
If you look (sorry the video is not very exciting this week) you can see them tying in the last of the L-bar / st
Starting to put in the exciting stuff.
The stairs measurements were taken back in August and we then had to have a good think about what type of timber and finish we wanted.
The vaulted ceiling had a bit more structural work and being the most interesting feature in the house and we decided that this would be good place to invest in a high finish and we decided go with a solid oak stairs and balustrade with toughened glass panels.
Like many self builders we h
So, my house build has fallen through but that releases some money to go about making my current house (2 storey semi detached) more comfortable. I got a Solar PV system installed recently and am waiting on the grant to come back for that. It's a 4.2Kw system with a 6Kw battery. IT cost €8K after the grant and it has an Eddi diverter for hot water from any excess. I'm surprised they fitted 13 panels on my roof which exceeds the max 12m2 planning laws but a woman in Limerick won a court case wher
The video shows the black plastic membrane going down this week, followed by an enormous quantity of steel. What you dont see is that with all the rain the pump has been running continuously to try and keep the rainwater at bay - getting lots of water on the slab at this point is a bad thing as the membrane floats up which is a 'bad thing', its a bit better now because of the tons of steel on it!
The black membrane goes down in three layer - first the sealed flexible which is heat se
Wow - time goes fast! I guess I'll say that again....and again!
We submitted the revised planning app - free as within a year - and that was approved with no comments. The revised design removed a couple of windows which has pleased the neighbours. Engineer co has been working with the architect so we have made a lot of progress in design terms while we did the planning app so had building regs design approval ahead of revised planning approval!
In prep for the demolition
As I mentioned in my last post, as one of my very first actions I feel that I need to talk to my arboriculturalist. I think that many subsequent decisions depend on his answers.
My small plot (20m x 20m) has a chesntnut tree on its border and its roots are to be preserved. Those roots spread under about half my plot. And it is the half between my access gate and where the dwelling will be so exactly in the wrong place. Everything will travel across the roots. And the root zone is alm
My first jobs after my planning approval are to: (i) choose a timber-frame supplier; and (ii) arrange a conversation with my arboriculturalist. This post is about the (i). The next post will be about (ii).
Timber-frame suppliers:
I am in touch with the usual names known to this forum. Not sure if I should be naming names here. Six in total.
Two companies supply panellised frames with a range of insulation levels, including open panel and double stud.
Two compani
At long last, we're in our new home!
Thoughts of a rapid start to the garage conversion have been put to one side as we've got to grips with some of the more mundane tasks that need sorting first:
Draught proofing - precious little had ever been done, and I've already made a big difference in one week!
Tuning the vents on the warm air heating system - downstairs is now warmer than upstairs
Fixing the hot water - scaled-up ballcock valve meant the cold water stor
Good news! I today obtained planning permission and so I am starting my build blog.
Thanks to everyone on BuildHub for your help and support so far. I have already learnt so much from this forum, all the way from questions when I was viewing the plot and every stage since. And an especial thanks to all the Buidlhubers that I have had the pleasure to visit so far. You have all been warm and welcoming and your advice and inspiration has been invaluable. Thank you! Thank you!
The video for Week 6 doesn't have Thursday and Friday as the camera played up (I blame Halloween) but good progress. this week. You can see them laying in the service ducts and drainage pipes and then laying a thin 'blinding layer' of concrete = our first pour. They then went on to put shuttering up around the edge ready to fit the waterproof membrane and then the steel on top. By Saturday (see photo) the rain had filled it up quite a bit and the black shuttering you can see round the edge keep
As we are building on a croft with an area of woodlands, the stove was a consideration at the initial design stage and we wanted it to be at the very heart of the house. As well as being the focal point of the living room, it was also considered from a practical point of view as to how the heat would be distributed throughout the house, as often I have heard that a stove can overheat well insulated rooms, resulting in a waste of money and just really something to look at.
The work l
I'm posting this as a single blog entry for a number of reasons. One as it's the biggest bit of work we've done without professional help. Two as sheet roofing seems to be a topic of interest on BH and three because this stuff was hard going, with minimal information available on fitting guidance, so hopefully this might help others.
We are using eternit profile 6 sheet roofing. It is fibre cement board and we initially chose it due to some perceived benefits over wriggly tin (princi
I have recently (had) installed on our downstairs doors a set of doorstops that would prevent doors needing to be reopened from behind the swing, and hold them open when they do not need to be closed. Even oak suffers eventually from too many "Open that Door" impacts.
This was needed to help make the house more accessible or an older person, who sometimes used a wheelchair.
So the requirement was:
Something to hold an open door, open.
That would catc
Been asking a few questions regarding this topic on the forum.
It s nearly done and I can't see any hickups now, written permission should come in any day(or week) but has been a long way
http://tintabernacle.blogspot.com/2019/10/building-over-sewer.html
The last of the big muck away at the start of the week and then laying the base stone layer means that we are pretty clean on site and the mud is hardly an issue. The surveyor came and marked out accurately and the Architect produced the detailed layout for the services - electric, telecom, water and soil stacks and you can see these being laid in towards the end of the week. They will come up through the slab and so need to be pretty accurate. Pretty soon we will be ready for the steel and shut
Digging is progressing well despite the rain - they had to pump out a bit as we had that swimming pool we wanted! They had no muck away on Monday so only 4 days and the bulk of the big dig is complete and you can start to see the scale of the project. They have done the rough dig and are now levelling out the bottom and starting to place a layer of stone that will then be concreted over to form the slab. The hole is actually bigger than the basement by about 1m all round so they have room to wor
Time for another update.
Most of our work this month has been focused upon finalising the kitchen design, stair, stove etc.
Tangible work on the house has consisted of the taping and filling and fitting the last bit of ducting.
Not terribly exciting, but it's all progress. Here are some photos.
Next up I need to resolve an ongoing treatment tank problem which will be covered in a separate entry. We hope
After getting some good advise on the forum
(DON T DO IT!!! LEAVE IT TO THE PROS!!!)
I decide to ignore that and buy some 2nd hand equipment on ebay.
How hard can it be
http://tintabernacle.blogspot.com/2019/10/setting-out.html?m=1
It wasn't. Just time consuming. At the end it always is a question of wether it is cheaper doing it yourself or if it actually would have saved £££ getting a pro in.
My case for doing it myself (as much as poss
It's been a really tough few months. Problems at work (I got the timetable finished ready for September and now they want another one ready for straight after October half term), my best friend diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer and then the delay in planning approval leading to us appealing to the planning inspectorate to try for a non-determination decision. We have both been down in the dumps and on the verge of giving up. Two weeks off work (sick leave for stress, it was so close to a re
Back in the Spring I posted a planned design for a refurbishment of my main family bathroom.
This is now 96% complete, and this is the After video.
AFTER
Well lots is happening on site:- we started with demolition and asbestos removal which was a super easy and quick, services were a nightmare (especially the electricity supply), and finally we have drainage signed off and planning conditions and building regs submitted etc. Finally ready to go!!!!!
So three weeks ago our groundworkers started on site, and It is an ongoing epic against a backdrop of rain and a sea of wet clay and the proportions are epic! The foundations for the two
