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Since the last blog entry we've been working away at co-coordinating the paperwork for the building warrant . But progress is slowly being made. Last week we heard we've been lucky enough to get a 50% grant towards our grid connection costs, which is a big help. Anyone else who's thinking of applying, feel free to get in touch if you want to know more about it. I think you need to sit within SSE's (North Scotland) area. As part of our build we're removing quite a few conifers, the condition being that we replant with a load of native trees. One of the constraints on this is that the conifers sit quite close to a HV line, in particular within what the DNO call the red zone (where if the tree went the wrong way it would hit the line). For a while it was a bit difficult trying to figure out how we'd get these down, but in the end we were lucky enough to take advantage of a line shutdown by the DNO a couple of weeks ago. So now most of the conifers are down (only a few remaining), we just need to get them extracted. In other tree related news, we also arranged to mill a few of the hardwoods that were felled a year or so ago. Pretty pleased with the results, these will now air-dry and then probably need putting in a kiln just before we use them. Action shot of SWMBO taking it out on a tree: The aftermath: Logs ready to mill: And some of the results:

Hello all, I'm just about to start a self build in Alyth in Perthshire. I will project manage the build and do as much of the unskilled work that i can. I have no previous construction experience but have been managing my brothers build project that started 4 months ago. Looking forward to a busy year and will have lots of questions along the way. Cheers, Don

We are going to the training day at Swindon for Durisol this week, we have just booked the equivalent day’s training for the Isotex system in February. Both courses are free and available without purchase of the product. Happy to report back on pluses and minuses that we find once we have been on both.

Try https://www.bpcventilation.com Lots on here have bought from them. It's not a difficult thing to install yourself so can be a money saver. Don't look at it as a heat saver device, look at it as more a unit that will provide nice clean fresh air and will remove the bad smells. The fact it can also recover some heat is just a bonus.

Remember the retired feminist roofer? The one with the shoulders like an American footballer? If you dont, here's an introduction. Well Mel and his mate John turned up unannounced this afternoon, just as the sun filled the house with a golden glow. Our chickens eyed the newcomers for food. All of them lined up on the scaffold like 5 old hags doing their knitting and waiting for the severed heads to fall from the guillotine . None forthcoming. Crops packed as full as is Dolly Parton's , they could wait. Mel, the roofer is fastidious - perfect car - perfect haircut - perfect work jacket - but brothel creeper shoes which he proceeds to take off, place on a piece of carpet, and change into his work boots. Chickens eye one another and the shoes. John, Mel's mate, the retired medical photographer (Welsh, thus inevitably known as Evans the Snap) always smiling, always cautious, always combing his hair, always observant, notices first one, then the rest of hens hop off the scaffold and tip-toe nonchalantly towards Mel's shoes. Potential there, it seemed. Tha's meking a reet fookoop o' that staircase mert, said Mel. He was right. I hadn't a clue of how to actually build a staircase - beyond what a few hours looking at YT had taught me. Burt, tha's got them stringers raght: it's 't cummins' and goin's tha's got wrong. Wodja mean comings and goings? I asked. John busied himself choosing a Play List appropriate to the occasion - and then turning up the volume on my new Bluetooth speakers. For some reason he chose Gerry Rafferty: - '... cos if you get it wrong, you'll get it right next time... ' Miserable old git. Dont you mean tread and riser? I said falling straight into Mel's trap. Aye, laak ah said, cummin's and goin's, lad Between them, unbidden, John and Mel set to and built the staircase bottom to top. Between them, in their time they must have built a fair few staircases. And these -mine- are temporary. My God I learned a lot. Ah see Tea Lady's still ere said Mel to John at one stage. Gave them some of Debbie's cake too. So, I do take notice of what you say when I have an urge to do something stupid Walking out to the car -full of thanks and bonhomie - I noticed Mel had forgotten to change his shoes. So I ran back into the house and grabbed them. There, neatly placed inside the heel were two ForgetMeNots, one in each shoe. And not a chicken in sight. "I'll just pop these in the boot eh? " I said. "Cheers" and off they roared.

I think doing anything on site is risky until the CIL paperwork is sorted. I would crack on and get the forms and conditions sorted. Meanwhile inspect the hedge regularly. Does it need pruning? Perhaps there are weeds in it that need treating. Be careful not to accidentally kill the hedge or the birds won't have anywhere to nest.

More likely that you will use a lower wattage mat. 100w/m is for tile warming, 200w/m is for heating. You could put both in as @JSHarris says - I think the kits I got from WarmStar on eBay are about £20/m

Was going to do the deck lights...didn't: Didn't realise the front plate needed a bigger hole! Out with the tile file: A horseshoe of silicone; All baby wiped off. Stuck the riser thingy up too: And put the flush plate on as well. YES I know it's off centre. Realised it would be pretty early on during tiling.

Should be doable if you’re careful, we’re nearly finished (just some outside work to do) a268m2 build which should come in about 270k

Agree with @PeterW and @JSHarris, it's the relative humidity that makes the most difference to drying, not the temperature. I've got some washing drying in the kitchen at the moment with a dehumidifier running. RH when I first got the washing out, with some on the radiator, shot up to about 70% and the first batch took quite a while to be dry enough to put in other parts of the house to finish off. Now the dehum has got it back down to about 55% even a towel not on the radiator is drying quickly. Room temperature's only about 16°C.

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We've found that the floor, towels, shower screen etc all dry very quickly with no UFH. MVHR is very effective at drying things in the house, so much so that I fitted one of those Victorian style hoist-up clothes dryers in our utility room, so that when hoisted up it's just under the MVHR extract terminal. Anything put on there dries very quickly, faster than putting it on an outside line very often.

Yep seems to - MVHR or ventilation are the real key to drying anywhere quickly.

Ours is around £10k for a 3 bed dormer bungalow & garage a significant issue was an access road 8' wide in places. We used a local farmer for most of it, he also dug/ filled in trenches we needed for services whilst the digger was there.

Just noticed on posi joist spec that the space between the flanges on their slimmest joist (202mm) is 108mm, therefore not big enough for a 110mm soil pipe?!? Easi joist on the other hand, slimmest joist 195mm and 125mm between flanges. I have been through several design amendments with the posi joist dealer but seems that was all in vain.

Cover all the hedge with a fine mesh so the birds can't access it for nesting. Hedge cutting time now - can you get a local farmer to give it a good trim first?

If time wasn't a factor you could probably apply for a certificate of lawfulness to confirm the proposed work doesn't constitute commencement. Wind farms occasionally do something similar if they aren't going to be built for a few years. They build an access and apply for a cert to confirm work has commenced rather than hasn't commenced. Then they don't need to worry about the 5 year limit on their PP.

Just call it 'site preparation' and I don't think they can touch you - you have not started you are just getting ready to start.

We had exactly the same dilemma when we started our build With the bird season aproaching we needed to feel 25 ten mtr trees and some hedging Planners and the cil chap we’re fine Telling is that cutting trees down didn’t constitute a start Heavey machinery breaking ground was the example I asked if removing the slates off a building we needed to demolish would be a breech The reply I recieved Was no as long as the outer walls are left standing there won’t be a problem

We paid £18,500 for 2 storey 480m2. We had cheaper quotes but they were too rough and we were town centre.

DHC-E 8/10  Detailed in this thread

Clear the hedge and put in a single wire fence. That isn’t commencing as it’s not part of the plans.

Decorators Caulk rather than silicone

Sussex. Hmmm. I'd allow maybe 12k-15k ballpark plus 10-20% contingency, and adjust the numbers as more detail is revealed, and extra costs come to light. The nice thing is that you get to know the outturn on this element early in the build, so you can recycle the contingency.

That is tidy that is! How big is it, or have I missed something on the plans?

The matting I fitted in our old house used a programmable thermostat that used a sensor that was embedded in the floor under the tiles, so it sensed the floor temperature, rather than the room temperature.

@JSHarris, makes sense. I assume that it would also provide a modicum of infra-red warm feeling too. Electric matting is there to compensate for flooring with high thermal conductivity (which thus can feel cold to the touch of a bare foot) and probably mainly in the summer when space heating is off. This could imply that such electric matting in a bathroom could be limited to only areas with foot traffic, which is perhaps lower coverage than would be installed if the matting was for space heating.

Hi @scottishjohn if you are interested in talking on the phone to share some thoughts on build systems I am happy to share what I have learnt so far. Send me a message if you are interested in chatting things through.

We had wide ranging estimates from 8K to (really!) 37K for a 4 bed house and large garage. Site is not easy as sloped and house effectively on 4 floors with limited side access. I guess the higher quotes didn't really want the work. Found more competitive quotes from smaller local contractors. We have sight of insurance policy scope/validity from preferred contractor which I think is quite important given the risks.

Dons-Final-Draft.pdfDons-Final-Draft.pdf

I fitted electric UFH in the bathroom of our old house, just to take the chill off the tiles. IIRC it was only something like 350 W, but more than enough to warm the floor up enough to be comfortable. The only heating we have in our bathrooms in the new house is electric towel rails, run from a time switch so they only come on for an hour or two morning and evening. They work fine, but there are times when I wish I'd fitted electric UFH mat in them as well, as it is pretty cheap to install, if done before laying floor tiles, and doesn't cost a lot to run if on a programmable thermostat.

Yep have done that, and electric elements in towel rails too in bathrooms. As you say, means they are independent of the main heating.

Apparently I don't listen! SWMBO HAS found the colour she likes: However...it doesn't match the blind. Now found that B&Q do Valspar bathroom paint that they'll colour match. The blind will be the next argument. She wants it on the outside of the reveal. Pointless imo and won't help with the cold spot of the cheap 2G window. I want it inside the reveal by the window. I've just been informed (allegedly I was told previously) that it's a patterned blind we're having: I SH!T ye not!

OK...whoever said it'd look better with grout might have had a point. From a distance that is... Just the bath to do now, tiling wise.

Def leopard album!!

Firstly, your invert of 1.6m seems rather deep. Are the drains on you side already laid? If not, see if they can be shallower, as I would normally expect them to start at about 0.6m, so the additional metre on yours suggests a very long run (60m?) Avoid the pump station as it is lots of additional cost and a nightmare when it fails as you will win the prize of a tank of raw sewage. Excavate the drain run at a fall of 1:60, picking up the in-laws drain on the way (this may be via a bottom outlet inspection chamber). If the main Anglian sewer is over 300mm dia you may be able to connect via a saddle connection on the top of the pipe.

The before picture before the stress of a self build had took its toll.

You are looking rather fit in that picture Jeremy.

It did turn into a DIY demolition, as much by accident as design... We removed the roof tiles and slid them down scaffold planks that were laid on ladders, it worked very well, and they remain stored on site because we couldn't give them away. I"m sure we'll be able to use them to make some paths through the mud that is now EVERYWHERE on the site. The roof timbers were removed and are stored on site. I'll use them for various things, such as a frame for a shed etc. Then I started getting overtaken by events... A friend of mine owns a skip firm and, despite my protestations to the contrary, he was convinced that he would be able to get a 20 yard ro-ro skip up the VERY narrow lane to the site. He gave me a call a few weeks ago and told me one of his drivers would be round in a few minutes to have a look. Well, "have a look" actually meant squeezing his lorry up the lane, I had to climb up the back of the cab to lift a telegraph pole stay over the top of the ro-ro mechanism. He had inches to spare on each side but somehow he got to the end of the plot and completed a 98 point turn so he could drop the skip, the problem was that we had nowhere prepared for the skip to go so it just went straight on to the grass and after another 98 point turn he headed back out of the lane (with me lifting the telegraph pole stay again) so, after him "having a look" I had a chuffing great skip in my garden - I was somewhat bewildered but grateful. I then asked another friend who has a mini digger if he could come and lift some of the paths around the edge of the bungalow. He arrived and promptly started pushing the bungalow over, completely ignoring the footpaths! At this stage I realised that it was probably too late to worry too much about the Method Statement for the demolition which I still haven't submitted. We started loading the bungalow into the 20 yard skip and made a call to get the skip replaced. It was another nerve wracking creep up and down the lane for the skip lorry and, of course, since the first drop the weather had taken a turn for the worse and now there was much slipping and sliding of the lorry. The only solution I could see was to throw bits of bungalow under the skip lorry, which did the trick. We only had 20 minutes between the skip lorry departing full and returning to dump another empty skip during which time we threw loads more bungalow onto the grass to provide some hard standing for the skip and the lorry to manoeuvre. Yes, onto the grass, I should have called a halt. Stripped the top soil, then thrown the bungalow onto the garden and then got the skips back but I didn't, not until later, but by then the damage was done. Anyway the bungalow is now gone and the plot looks like Passchendaele.

I think I'll drop Vent Axia a line to see what they say about the mould growth (and the front cover fixings). I'm not overly concerned by its presence but it would be interesting to hear what they have to say and if there is anything I can do about it. Quite a useful step by step here (I really should have taken pictures myself):

Right I want to be known as Russell from now on as I asked this question not long ago and nobody replied. Can i fit an electric mat heating above the wet pipe system?

That @scottishjohn , is a decision only you can make. I have nothing useful to say about any ICF other than Durisol.

Just sounds so wrong...