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It took me close on 9 months to build my block house by myself. I had no digger or telehandler so relied on £20 notes slipped to the driver to get the blocks where I needed them to be. It was a long back breaking 9 months that I would never ever repeat again for anyone or any amount of money. Don't underestimate the toll this has on your mind and body if you are going to go down this road. Its paying a disservice to the brickie that not everyone will do a good job. There are good ones and bad ones same way there are good joiners and plumbers and sparks and on the other hand there are guys who are so bad you wonder how they put food on the table, it's just how it is. Same with going out and buying a trowel, string line and lump hammer and a level and thinking after sticking 3 blocks together that you are a brickie. There is a lot more to it if you are thinking about building a complete house. The main reason for choosing blocks was finance. I simply had none. We used all our savings up cashed in my old endowment policy to get the house wind and water tight as I needed to sell my own house before I could get a mortgage. Each week we could buy a load of blocks and then over the next 2-3 weeks build away until they where done or I needed sand or cement and I just continued like this until one day it was built. My back, wrist and hands loved that day. I simply didn't have the amount of money that a timber frame company was looking up front to go that option. As far as sips or ICF all that was stuff I had only seen on grand designs and was way out of my comfort zone so deemed to much of a risk. Think the cheapest quote from a timber frame company was £55k to get it wind and water tight. I got it there for £32k by doing it myself. So to answer the original question what method is best , there just isn't one. Every one has its pros and cons and everyone of us starting out at the start of our builds weighed these all up and based on what each of us wanted and the availability of trades, materials ,finance and even site location and layout picked whatever one ticked the most boxes. P.s obviously blocks are better!!!

@CC45 Thanks, these r a couple of months ago, front and side elevations, excuse the mud and the miserable Scottish weather, must get more photos now the scaffold is down.

You asked for more photos of my DIY insulated foundations so her we go. The first layer going in there ver the sand blinding layer. The fitst 100mm thick layer of EPS 300 in place. The rebar. The finished job ready for concrete on Friday.

Ive just fixed a tap outlet to some ply - up behind the plasterboard. Once the new skim is dry its going to be drilled to expose the outlet and then ptfe and screwed in. Job done.

Window manufacturer talking to me !!!

Why are 'millenniums' not getting elected to local councils and changing things? How many 'millenniums' really decide to either pay 80% or earning on rent or commute? How man 'millenniums' are there anyway? Why are 'millenniums' not self building as a collective group? And finally, why are 'millenniums' not going around every estate agent in the land on a Saturday morning and pointing out that they only have £xxx to spend on a house? And second finally, why should anyone take notice of what an architect writes in a newspaper. Really, final, final point, if you build a smaller home, the market will set the price at what is currently the lowest value. So build larger homes rather than smaller and give people decent quality of life.

I’ll use an analogy that’s a bit closer to home for me since the worst you are going to get with a rubbish meal is something you don’t like or gives you a bad stomach afterwards. In an IT delivery sense you can take more of a risk with something non essential, such as adding a utility for example, so you can let someone quite junior do the work with little experience. At the other end of the scale with an IT change that puts billions of pounds of funds under management at risk for example, risk avoidance is paramount and takes on a whole different nature, so there is no way that a change of that criticality would be allocated to the same individual. They might well be able to do it but the risk would be too great to take. Most self builders don’t have endless pots of money to risk on getting things wrong and having to pay again, so containing the risk is all important. It doesn’t mean that there are never unexpected costs or issues of course, but TF provides some risk mitigation in my view even if it means paying a bit more for someone to carry some of that risk. Plus it’s quite a decent construction method too with a proven track record! And there are far less ‘experienced’ self builders than those who do this as a one off, once in a lifetime thing. If you are building multiple houses (ie more than 1 or 2), it surely moves you into the small developer category rather than self builder? And most self builders get pleasure from choosing the construction method, materials, design. It’s what makes it worth doing, so definitely not a simple Tesco vs Sainsbury’s choice for me. Anyone who feels like that about it probably shouldn’t do it in my view.

get someone that knows how to use a spirit level unless you're a joiner of course i recently went round a timber kit manufacturer http://c-c-g.co.uk/divisions/ no connection other than professional knowledge gathering and found a well run operation building houses for councils to passive spec small developments https://www.dormontestate.com/dormont-park/ again no connection other than a visit to see a passive house prior to my build. strangely enough non of the above were there. a professional, trained and experienced workforce. good luck for your build.

Apparently millienials don’t need living rooms! the minimum size of 38 square metres on newbuild flats is "paternalistic" and stops poorer young people from getting on the housing ladder. "Units half that size, built at an earlier time, are rare and thus at the moment overpriced, hotly desired commodities, for rent or for sale. "Lifting this prohibition would allow a whole new (lower) income group, which is now excluded, to enter the market. This move would both boost overall unit numbers and affordability," https://apple.news/ACy6LOSk8QRSxabwN9ZrskA

We went with Nordan, got quotes from them and Ally at Rationel. Rationel was cheaper, so asked nordan to match, they did and also applied a 5% discount. so went back to Rationel and asked if they could do any better, they rounded off the figure. nordan then agreed to a further discount and also waived the charge for dual colours (different inside from out). we had 45m2 of aluclad glazing, two wooden colour coded doors ( I wanted “grooves” ?) and set of French doors was 13kish both really good to deal with but personally can’t fault Nordan, was Calum Sinclair I dealt with there, mainly by email: [email address deleted for privacy reasons - could anyone who wants it please ask @Triple07 for it by private message? Thanks, Jack]

I like point 3 - Robotic mower ? Nice design. I would move the house.

Both just fix to a 1/2” male iron on a piece of copper. Last one I did I put a ballofix on the end of the copper on a swept bend and clipped the bend to the joist above. I reinforced the ceiling with 3 squares of plasterboard stuck on with no nails or similar and then drilled the hole from below. Bit of silicone around the rim of the hole and pushed the piece through from the top and a baby wipe later it was all done. Looking at that one, it’s a smaller hole and then the back nut holding it on so probably just needs the PB pad making up about 3 sheets thick.

Same as in spec - ie layout - and it does make life a lot easier when you’re laying blocks in a trench getting a nosebleed head down if the top surface of the concrete doesn’t look like the back of a crocodile with rickets.... I insisted on ours being laid out properly - standard block work with trenchfill - and we were 20mm out in depth over the 10m before pour, 6mm out after pour, and 2mm out (or the tolerance on my laser) at DPC. Cutting blocks to get corners level, or sitting them on slabs of muck to get them high isn’t adjusting tolerances, it’s correcting crap workmanship.

I’d add that to the list for Little Willy as he’s good at tracing wires ... but I reckon it’s all in a cupboard in the hallway ..!

I would definitely want the house further from the boundary. Down to 1M and I think you hit fire proof nonsense for the windows.

I only managed to get 3.5% discount from ally @ adw but I only had 22m2 really nice guy though

I presume you are buying from ADW? We easilly got 5% off the quote. Show them the other qoute and see what they come up with.

I came across this problem, but when I googled i didn't like the sound of the cost, so I dug a trench where I wanted the gas pipe to run then rang up National Grid/transco and said I was doing some gardening and have come across a pipe, I think it might be now leaking. They sent and engineer out to assess the job, he saw what the game was, but called engineers to fix the leak. 2 hours later and £20 each and I had a gas pipe where I wanted it!

Looks like then you've a UP320. I by contrast have the older UP200 that limits the flush plate choice to the Kappa range. Had to explain to SWMBO why she couldn't have a Samba flush plate she wanted as it was for the UP320. Thus she had to settle for what was available...not for the first time!

I’ve one drain simalar to yours running parrelel to our build We has to start high to get the required fall So about two metres has hardly any cover on it BC said its ok just put a strong mix over it when I bed the flags

This might make it clearer: Geberit_Flush_Brochure.pdf

No, threaded - i did nt see what they did but assume they must have used a tap

All the soil pipe people do something like this: https://www.marleyplumbinganddrainage.com/media/5423/pipe-laying.pdf

The 111.383.00.5 should be on one end of the cardboard box the frame came in. Other than that do the measurements tie up with this? https://catalog.geberit.com/public/product.aspx?cat=GB_GB-en_1&a=111.383.00.5 Then the accessories: https://catalog.geberit.com/File_Container/Overview_Tables/en-GB/DAS_157930.pdf If it is a Sigma then choose your flush plate: https://catalog.geberit.com/public/chapter.aspx?cat=GB_GB-en_1&ch=CH3_100500

PYC from North Wales.

Nice. Out of interest, which company supplied the frame?

We have been living for a year om a static caravan that gives us 2 bedroom accommodation. It would not be possible to construct a 2 bedroom house or flat of that size because of building regulations on door and corridor widths, accessible bathrooms, and circulation space requirements. Even so living in such a small space has only been possible and tolerable because we also have the space of the unfinished house to use. Currently we are using the for the laundry, my office space, and storage. In many ways I find it somewhat insulting that someone thinks a particular section of society should make do with such a tiny space. Yes you can exist in a small space, but you can't "do" much, and to suggest an entire generation can live like that, suggests those people never want to do any practical things or have a hobby or anything that requires a little bit of space

We have an I-beam closed panel timber frame with 30mm cellulose for the walls and roof, so a bit of a hybrid between TF & SIPS. It feels really solid & very quiet. Erected on site in 4 days including all the internal stud walls, ceilings, intermediate floor and battens for plasterboard. Airtight OSB for VCL & included airtight tape over all seams. We have a vaulted first floor sitting room with no beams.

? still desperately London-centric. That’s the entire bleedin’ problem.

But only a vanishing small proportion of "self-builders" actually build the superstructure, even if they're involved in a lot of the work that follows. Even for those that do, the level of practice (and patience) that would be required to learn to lay bricks and blocks accurately and fast enough to make this option feasible is beyond the vast majority of self-builders without existing construction experience. I'm sure such people exist, although I'm not aware of anyone on this forum, as least, who's done this for brick/block. I suspect it's a lot more time and cost effective to go the ICF route if you want to build the superstructure yourself. It's also much easier and faster to build than brick/block as a beginner, plus you often have manufacturer training and support. My experience, like many others on this forum, was getting a company to erect a frame (timber prefab in my case). We coordinated follow-on trades ourselves.

I went round and round on this topic for ages when fitting out. In the end I decided the best way to cover all bases was to star wire all lighting circuits and switches back to a central point (three in my case) and then it gave me the option to fit whatever combinations of switches/lights/control gear I wanted. If the system is no longer supported or I wanted to revert to a 'dumb' system you could pull the gear out and rewire it in the central panel without having to trash the house. In the end I went for a Zwave system - its been working for a few years now, no complaints.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/25/millennials-dont-need-living-rooms-says-leading-architect-says/

A big piece of the debate is about labour -- you can get a brick/block wall built for a reasonable day-rate and no supervisors to pay. At the end of that day you can see what's been built, can fire or retain the brickie, pull it down and start again tomorrow if you want. So there's a level of control there. Everyone more or less understands what a masonry wall does and what it should look like. It's also the ultimate modular system when you think about it -- 440x215x100 units that can be lifted by one person and glued in place. Having said that, I'm no fan. Having every measurement in multiples of 225mm procludes any form of standardisation/repeatability or off-site manufacture, and for me that's a big deal.

The 23m3 of concrete has been ordered, so let’s hope we have a dry day tomorrow.

Unless you know the brickies in their tatty transit why would any self builder take a chance on them for what is likely to be their forever home? Now I’m not saying that all brickies in tatty transits do poor quality work but track record and some of the risk being owned by the TF company will be important to many of us.

Mine too, and it is the only experience I have but it went up to the watertight stage with almost frightening speed and we had no issues with fit. It was like building an Airfix kit!

They are selective because they are personal examples and most of us on here as self builders will only have our own example to base our experience on. I believe that both clearly have their merits and I wouldn’t rule out either method if I was doing it all again, and I might consider other methods too. Originally we were going down the SIPS route but back in 2008 when we first started to engage providers SIPS was relatively new territory and as inexperienced self builders the TF option just felt like a more mature model with lots of case studies under their belt. Plus when it came to quotes the SIPS option was quite a bit more expensive even when we upgraded to a sort of hybrid SIPS method provided by the TF company. The OP asked about noise and heat efficiency rather than costs but I still have a very hard job visualising how I could have built this house for a lot less if we had chosen brick and block. So in summary, TF was right for us at the time, and derisked the build to a degree which was important to us. It got the main structure up and watertight very quickly that was also key as my husband was doing some of the build on his own so it was slower than a whole workforce being on site for a relatively short period. Plus it came in on budget too. TF also seems very traditional in Scotland

Me!

Not in the British Isles, maybe in the US. Timber frame of the sort being discussed here, frames made with small section timber is only about 100 years old.Traditional UK timber framing of massive structural timbers with infilled panels is a completely different system and, in my view completely unsuitable for a house intended to meet modern requirements, despite it's aesthetic attractions. And here's the problem. I've no doubt that very good houses can be built with either system and probably at similar cost; which you choose depends very much on how you want to go about the build and how much involvement you have. For instance, if I were to build with my own hands I would most likely use timber frame (constructed on site) as I have no brick laying skills.If using someone else to build the choice is more open, and to some extent dependent on the external finish you want. If you re happy with render or cladding (I think they both have issues - render seems very prone to mould growth and timber cladding suffers that and discolouration unless it's painted which leads to life long maintenance), then TF is the obvious choice. If you want a brick or stone finish then it seems more rational to me to build the whole thing with masonry. There's no simple answer.

The big difference for me was I found an AT that would do just the work I wanted (buildings regs and construction drawings) and no more, for a fair fee based on the actual amount of work he was doing. All I got from "architects" was an offer of standard package of work, with the cost being based on their (over inflated) estimate of the build costs, and they would not negotiate. I am not saying architects are "bad" just that their business model and the way they price their work, did not suit what I wanted.

My views on Architects are well documented on here and on the old eBuild site. It never takes long for an architect to point out that they 'trained' for 7 years and the term 'Architect' is protected. And they just love the use (mis)use of language. There are a couple of architects on here that may like to comment.

@Jude1234, what is the Geberit part number for your Duofix frame? This link maybe, under Pro Area, lists for the different flush plates for SIgma, Omega, Kappa cisterns etc: https://www.geberit.co.uk/products/bathroom/geberit-flush-plates/

If I were doing another build, ICF would be at the top of my list of construction techniques to research.

Especially for when you find half of the cat inside and the other half outside. ACME Kitty-snipper 2000 Mk1 ....."every home should have one" lol.

Stupid question Barney but if you don’t have a cat why the cat flap ?

Go back and get the Phase I report sorted out, if they found nothing then nothing else needs to be done, end of! The report should say that and only that. Putting that it would be beneficial to carry out more work is only benifficial to them, more work, more income.

Due to a change in our personal circumstances our build has been a bit chaotic. We have renovated several period properties over the years, but, this in no way prepared us for a complete new build. However, we were delighted & excited that an opportunity arose. We were intending to be true self builders & take on a lot of the work ourselves. We had to go down the route of a very sustainable build to outweigh the planning restriction that we were in an unsustainable location. We worked with an architect who was experienced in this area & chose a build method that would allow us to take on a lot of the work ourselves. Henry retired, closed his business & sold the stock, I was going to give up work for a year or so & it was going to be a big lifetime adventure. Unfortunately, just as we finished the ground works & foundations Henry became ill & we had to halt our build until we knew the outcome. It became clear that we would not be able to proceed as planned, but we were past the point of no return. We decided that the most expedient way to proceed would be to have the structure of the house built in a factory & erected on site. Speed was also important as Henry's prognosis was life shortening and he very much wanted to see the house go up. We contacted several timber frame companies. We decided to go with PYC construction from Wales. Sam & Ben visited us almost straight away as coincidently they were also doing a build not far from us in Leicestershire. They spent a lot of time assessing how they could adapt the system to our already existing foundations, trench fill with beam & block. We will still have the originally proposed 20mm of celotex with a 6cm flo screed. This has worked well & luckily our foundations were accurate to within the 5mm tolerance necessary all round & just needed some adaptations. We have a closed panel, I joist timber frame with 300mm of cellulose insulation & metal webjoist with caberbeck intermediate floor. It took 4 days to erect the main structure & several more visits for the internal stud walls & additional battening for service channels. The lads from PYC worked so hard with long days on site. As they were a long way from home they stayed in the local pub during the construction. They were always on site by 7.30am & worked until at least 6pm everyday. I have only good things to say about them. PYC also installed the velux windows & the vertical battens on the roof & the timber overhangs to front & rear ready to be slated. It is all perfect? No it is not. The soleplate was installed in the wrong place & had to be altered as it would have caused a problem with our stonework. This happened while I was at work & I noticed the next day. PYC corrected it . However, had I not noticed it could have been a disaster. The window openings were not correct for the glazing we had specified & had to be adapted. Some of the panels are out as has been pointed out to us by the chap doing our cedar cladding where he has had to pack out some of the battens. It is 20mm out of level over a 9m run on the front elevation as noticed by our stonemasons. This is the panels, not the foundations. Some of the panels do not meet exactly at the apex & daylight was showing. This has been rectified, made watertight & airtight & an additional false ceiling of OSB has been installed with an additional 300mm of cellulose as a belt & braces job. Again PYC corrected this but, again I noticed this & worked with PYC to find a solution. The left hand side roof panel on the dormer is not sitting properly along its whole length on the wall panel. This will have to be sorted out with battening before we can plasterboard. There are some other small.gaps where the closed panels do not meet, I have stuffed these with rockwool & made the airtight with tape. These were at the angled junctions where the dormer walls meet the slope of the main roof & the first floor. Difficult to get exact. Before boarding out I am going to install some additional internal structural bracing straps where the panels meet so I am absolutely sure there will not be any movement. I am probably just being over cautious but it is a simple & inexpensive job to do at this stage to be absolutely sure. I cannot praise Sam the architectural technician at PYC highly enough. He was always responsive to any issues and PYC addressed any problems quickly & free of charge. On the whole we are happy with PYC & would recommend them with the caveat that, as with any contractor, checking as the construction goes along is vital.

It's when the car park attendant says "You shouldn't have turned off the 249 mate...Sheppey's straight on!".

Welcome. I've never heard of this company, but the aeration treatment system is a common one, and some of the stuff in their video is a bit misleading, as there are many other plants that fit the air pump in a chamber inside the unit (our BioPure does, for example), and few that run compressed air lines across the ground as they illustrate, or that have the pump in an indoor wall mounted enclosure, like the one they show (I've never seen one like that). They've given timed/pulsed aeration a new name, but again other plants do the same, in order to reduce pump power, and pretty much any pumped system can have a timer added to turn the air on and off in a cycle, in order to reduce power consumption. Most units with continuous run pumps over-aerate, to be on the safe side and met their maximum person rating, so the aeration can be safely reduced and still give good treatment. I'd suggest having a look around at some of the other units around, and comparing the price and performance, some mentioned ihere, perhaps: There are also some other posts here on treatment plants, comparing their relative merits, prices, etc, and a search will probably bring up some additional info. I'd also add that having the air pump in a chamber in the tank is a bit of a nuisance, I've moved ours out of that chamber and into a stone chamber alongside the drive, as you need to get at the pump, to replace/clean the air filter at least annually and replace the diaphragms every couple of years, and lifting the lid on the treatment plant and leaning in to the equipment chamber is neither easy nor pleasant. There's also a very slight hum when the air pump is on, even with the pump in a chamber in the tank, we found. Not enough to be a nuisance, but just about audible on a quiet night, when standing near the unit. Putting the air pump inside a stone chamber has reduced the noise, as it's lost the slight resonance from being in a fibreglass box inside the hollow space at the top of the unit's main chamber. You also really need an alarm, for pump failure, which means adding something that can be seen and heard when there's a problem, and that's better placed away from the unit, where it's easier to see and hear. Our unit was supplied with a battery-backed alarm that sits inside the equipment chamber, and flashes a red light on top of the unit, and make a gentle beep, if air pressure is lost (which is usually either a pump diaphragm failure or a power loss to the pump).

Probably better with the lights on properly......