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As the title says, starting at 9PM tonight on Channel 4, Grand Designs is following 10 self builders at Graven Hill. Should be interesting. Sweepstake: How many will run out of money? How many will have a baby?

I've lost a lot of weight since then I'll have you know. Peer pressure from my son who now has me in his mobile as 'captain big tits'...…. ?

The human aspect made me weep and laugh and have pride in these oldy pioneers

that single lass has got some bottle. Its a lot to take on when you're on your own - I often come home at the end of an evenings graft / whole days graft and its good that the missus is here - cheers me up, who did she rely on for some emotional help? Hats off to her.

Yeah right...

4 births, 1 divorce, 3 with not enough money to finish,4 architect changes and at least 4 with bits you know have no chance of passing building regs.

PV is well worthwhile in the UK as a good complement to wind. It's the countries in southern Europe with less that we should be laughing at.

I'd use the same build method for sure (also MBC, twin stud with blown cellulose), as the combination of good airtightness and insulation, plus the unforeseen benefit of really good acoustic insulation, makes for a really comfortable home. I'd not use the same window supplier, but would still go for aluclad 3G, but would spend a bit more on one of the better makes and fit solar reflective glass to reduce the solar gain in spring and autumn. I'd also fit external blinds to all the windows that get any sun, as that's probably the other major regret I have. I'd have argued more forcefully to be allowed to have a different external finish, as although we like the larch cladding it has been a bit problematic with noises as it heats up and cools down and with fasteners breaking/pulling out. It also seems to have attracted cluster flies, which are a bit of a nuisance in spring and autumn. I'd not opt to fit the relatively expensive Genvex MVHR, even though it's pretty good, as it's not as effective in cooling mode as I'd like. I think that a cheaper and simpler duct cooler plumbed to the ASHP would do as good a job, or perhaps better, and would be a bit quieter (the Genvex does make a gentle hum when its internal heat pump is running). Like @jack, I'd get a lighting designer involved with the lighting in the living room, kitchen and dining room, as my efforts are functional but not very inspiring. I wouldn't change the heating system at all, and we're absolutely fine with no heating in the bedrooms (it's just not needed at all, even in the coldest weather), but I would add low power electric underfloor heating in the bathrooms, just to take the chill off the stone flooring. Finally, I think I'd have just bitten the bullet and spent the big wedge of cash to get mains water and drainage in. The borehole is fine, but there is a bit of maintenance involved in keeping both it and the treatment plant working, and I think that, on balance, being connected to mains services is probably a better long term solution, especially as I get older.

With the 2019 season now here, I've spent the last couple of weekends doing a bit of tarting up around the outside of the wee house. Little things that you don't think really matter, but the end result looks far more 'finished'. I was never very sure how to complete the gable ends of the house- whether to box them in or not- but eventually decided to kill two birds with one stone and use the space for a log store. I think it looks pretty good, and it's tempting to do the same on every side of the house, although those elevations do see a lot more wind and rain. My current obsession with processing my log pile is all down to a fantastic book I was given: 'Norwegian Wood- chopping, stacking, and drying wood the Scandinavian way'. Highly recommended, and an absorbing read even if you never intend to ever light a fire. The other bit of work has been to create a gravel path around the side of the house, and so properly edge the gravel area underneath the house. The only downside of all this work is that it makes the lumpy lawn look even worse than it did before

I think a few can associate with the bloke saying everything hurts at the end of the day ..!

Sorry, didn't realise you were having one. Think you're right.

Received this order earlier this evening. Friendly delivery driver and the boards are all wrapped liked new - I've had much worse quality delivered by my local merchants. 100% recommended.

Don't try to hide the fact that Grindr is saved in your bookmarks!

Don’t forget you get double points if Kevin mentions thermal mass in the first 15 minutes ..!

You just beat me to it, I wasn't sure of the spelling.

Aw, get a room you two! ?? A BH bromance. How sweet! ?‍❤️‍?

You stay out of this ok, I think ive pulled

A grand for a cutter that only does 600mm? There is no god...…….. If that doesn't turn up let me know. I'll lend you my 1200mm Rubi that @PeterW borrowed. ? Can fortify that with a Sigma 900mm scribe n snap too ( just bought one as my Rubi started to piss me off ). Deposit is a kidney or other similarly important organ. I'm not fussy, but no appendix / similar.

As @ProDave said - in-line coupler. Don’t be tempted to over tighten it though. Should be able to get one with a couple of inserts from most merchants.

Overlap it and tape it with duct tape or 100mm pvc tape. 1200g DPM will be fine. It’s only to stop the screed running under the insulation. Its an easy job to do yourself - also check Seconds & Co for PIR. Has he specified an upstand too ..?

Simple in line coupler should sort it, no problem with that being under ground.

I'll add a pumped hot return loop for the DHW with IR sensors to activate on walking into bathrooms as another recommendation.

My blinds, are made by Roma but came pre-fitted to the Gaulhofer windows which made them trivial to fix, really no additional effort other than feeding the 4 core power cable through into the house. We were able to design a recess into the frame at the top of each window, so they sit flush and the render runs over them - so when fully retracted are invisible from the outside. Great for privacy and excellent for reducing solar gain, we have rocker switches in each room (same console as the room lighting) and it's a small adjustment during the day to adjust as the sun moves. Bedroom ones are close as soon as kids are up to keep their rooms cool. Also quite robust and fairly secure, would definitely deter a casual trouble maker. Were not that expensive really - I got a quote for some internal ones on the windows we omitted to spec them for and they were pretty expensive also. Maintenance wise, they can be easily replaced - ours were actually wrong colour, we only realised in first fix when we had the power to lower them. New blinds ordered and it took 20 mins per window to replace them. Blinds also save on curtains, which are always surprisingly expensive. For the roof Velux (Integra) , we got their external blinds - they have a box that they retract into but not that noticeable on a roof. Has a funky wireless controller that can run multiple windows.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PASLODE-IM350-FRAMING-NAILER-FULL-KIT-WITH-ORIGINAL-CASE-491-GREAT-PRICE/233182607919?hash=item364ac43a2f:g:lTIAAOSwsAVcniuT i've bought from this company before and was impressed with their service

Would go for either increasing the roof truss thickness or went for a warm roof type build up. At that stage every pound was a prisoner so just didn't have the money. Would still go block build as I done it myself. If money was no option I think I would go down the icf route. Has plenty of plus points and is easier to lift than normal blocks. I think for my heating I am not sure I would go for a pellet boiler. It is working fine 4 years in but just think now by reading about various builds here I would choose an ashp. Just at the time the knowledge base in NI was very poor so I didn't want to take the risk. I would definitely not pick my high gloss porcelain tiles in my kitchen and Sunroom. Absolutely beautiful when they are cleaned up and shining but if a fly lands on them and takes a few steps you can see it a mile away.

As I understand it, you don't actually need evidence/presence of bats to be required to do emergence surveys. Even if there is no evidence of them, when doing the Phase 1 scoping, the ecologist will rate the building for "bat roosting suitability" - negligible, low, medium or high - which corresponds to the # of additional emergence surveys required - 0, 1, 2 and 3. Things like having gaps would contribute to increased suitability, as in our case.

Now that it is interesting. I'd not really thought much about solar gain, NE Scotland not been known for the sun but we have a reasonable amount of glass so I better look into it. Thanks

The only things I would do differently would be to do less work myself and to have built in external blinds on the WNW facing glazing. Having lived in the house for a full year now we are very happy with how the house has performed overall.

The really big advantage, other than enhanced security, is that external blinds or shutters are really effective at reducing solar gain, whereas internal blinds are nowhere near as good, as the inner panes of glass heat up and work like big radiators.

What's the advantage of the external blinds over internal and are they spendy?

Although I was very impressed with MBC timber frame on passive slab build I went brick and block with passive levels of insulation, locally made very good (double glazed) windows. Whatever the construction we wanted a brick skin outside. Going timber frame would have allowed me to do more ( I love woodwork and have all the tools). We are very pleased with the result but was lucky to have a very good builder. Only one thing I would change is the lack of sound insulation between floors, voices can be heard so I wish I had double boarded the ceilings or sound bars for hanging the ceilings. It’s a “heavy house” and with UFH downstairs only but towel rads and electric UFH in the bathrooms we find that sufficient (well, er indoors says it’s cool sometimes but I point to the readout on the wall and say “but it’s 21’ in here!) she is only warm if she is next to a red hot radiator or roaring woodburner ?.

I built an mbc timber frame timber clad house and think I would do it the same again. What I would definately do the same having lived in the house now for 2 years now is to build another airtight super insulated house whatever the construction method was. The value added to quality of life by living in a warm dry house with fresh air and constant temperature far outweighs any savings in energy costs.

Yes I cut a square hole in the floor to fit the waste pipe from below once the bath was in. I was constrained by the position of a joist, so it ended up as just a slot. The outline of the bath is drawn on the floor there. So I fitted the trap, a short length of waste pipe from the trap and an elbow and lowered that onto the bath surround that left the waste pipe projecting down below the floor to connect to under the floor. There was enough height that the trap fitted in the gap between the bottom of the bath and the floor.

We had the exact same situation. Plumber left the first fix 40mm waste poking up through bathroom floor, tiler neatly tiled around it (underneath tiles was latex, ufh heaiting matt, backer board and 22mm OSB deck). Plumber returned, for 2nd fix took a look a the supplied trap and laughed. We then had to cut a hole in the newly tiled floor (thankfully UFH mat was not under bath) and fit a standard trap with flex connector to bath. As it's a 'wet room' style we needed to put a 'wall' of sealant around the edge of the hole to prevent any water finding its way in and down to ceiling below. Nick also suggested getting some angle bead, mitring the corners and folding it into a square shape and sealing down the edges. Had to do this in two bathrooms. All worked out but total faff.

Photo of happiness ! ?

You used to take your clothes off when you went to bed? Bah humbug ! In Yorkshire they used to spend half an hour on the outside loo just to get warm...

We left a 100mm gap between bottom of the render system and what was then expected to be ground level. I dressed this with an additional strip of 20mm thick x 200mm deep EPS over the EPS cladding the basement wall, digging out a bit to get the depth. We then ran our paving flush with the top of the render (to allow no step entry to house on all sides) but set 100mm back to from a 100x200mm channel round the house. Next job is to line the EPS with Ubiflex flashing and backfill the channel with decorative white stone chips to act as a french drain, leaving a 100mm gap between the render and air gap and the top of the stone. When rendering the garage with the same system, I managed to get the Ubiflex onto the base of the garage wall first so it runs under the bottom batten - thought of it too late for the house. However if the render is getting fixed then I may hold off and apply it then. Will send a pic later.

Render onto wood fibre board. Longest run 11 metres. No expansion joints. No cracking of render. Baumit.com lime render system with Silicon top finish coat.

We have a TF but with a stone exterior, not a render. But, we still needed movement joints. We managed to position ours behind the downpipes and / or in the corners which helped disguise them somewhat.

One snag with that circuit is that the quiescent current of the 7812 and associated circuitry is high enough (~8 to 10mA) to discharge the pack when it's stored for any length of time, so you really need a way to disconnect the circuit from the battery pack. The existing monitoring circuit inside the pack only has a very small quiescent current (of the order of a few µA), yet that's enough to cause problems when packs are stored for any length of time without being charged first.

Every 9 mtr the joint must run through the cement board also

They are the prevent cracking to the finish on timber frame houses due to seasonal movement in the frame. Probably makes sense on “huge swaths of render”, unless you go for one of the flexible renders. https://www.ribaproductselector.com/Docs/0/13810/external/COL649855.pdf

Hi @Conor Blocks showed up last Tues, have been making good progress since then, I've been surprised how much I can get done when I have a couple of free hours between shifts. But there is a lot lost time to catch up on! I appreciated the courtesy call from Logix management a couple of days after delivery to check everything was in order. Likewise with the site visit. I had muttered that management would not be welcome on site after the antics of the last 17 weeks but in truth I appreciated some expert eyes and tips. Some photos of the progress so far If you are considering using the thicker blocks than the standard I would look into the costings of using standard blocks and then adding additional EPS to the outside face, much like EWI. I think this could be quicker, as it is a awkward cutting blocks that are 431mm deep.

Okay, so this is a free standing bath, presumably one that fits into a surround (otherwise if the waste was on show it would be a nice looking one) If it is like mine you are supposed to fit the bath into it's surround with this flexi waste. Then stand the complete bath up on blocks, connect this flexi waste, and remove the blocks and lower the bath into position. I thought the whole arrangement was total and utter carp. Instead my bath was mounted on the floor and I connected it from below using a conventional rigid waste and rigid pipe before the ceiling in the room below was fitted. IF I ever need to remove the bath again, I will cut a small trap in the ceiling below (utility room) to uncouple the rigid waste and trap. To mitigate the chance of ever needing to remove the bath from it's surround, I used a pop up waste with top entry cleaning, so no mechanics of say the type of waste where you rotate the waste fitting to pop it up for example to go wrong. And I used a floor standing bath filler, so no tap or flexi hoses within the bath surround to ever go wrong or need replacing.

What about; One of these Then a piece of chrome pipe into a chrome compression bend?

@Ferdinand thanks for your thoughtful contribution, it means a lot and I am greatful to all the people who spend the time to help others on this forum. Rather than clog up this thread I am going to take your advise on board and start a blog....... it will provide motivation as I will feel compelled to prove I am making progress! I really like your ideas and I think They will be a good starting point on the blog. I guess it will also be interesting to see how things change over time, I’m starting at a really bad stage so hopefully it will only get better ! As previously stated things have just slowly gotten out of hand and I have not been at the helm...... i now have at least one hand back on the wheel so Let’s get on with it. Ok will look into a blog....... thanks

I am really impressed with this house. One of my Buildhub favourites. I also like @Tennentslager's build in a similar vein. Very well done.

Thats a manual cutter though - for a snap and score it’s not that bad. . Rubi 200 is a wet bench - yes will set you back £2-300 depending on model but they are a real bonus when you’re basically wet cutting 22mm limestone ..! https://www.tileexperience.co.uk/rubi-du-200-l-230v-50hz-electric-tile-cutter-25973

I am planning owl boxes around us, we have at least one barn owl that is resident near us and I want to encourage them. We already have bat boxes built into my workshop and many bird boxes dotted around, we enjoy having breakfast watching lots of different bird types on our feeders. Next year I am looking forward to sowing the meadow (currently a soggy bog) with wild meadow grasses and flowers ?.

Can you plant native hedging around the plot? Once it gets established, it can support lots more wildlife than a few nest boxes. Mature ivy is fabulous, too. A rich late season nectar source, provides berries through the winter and nesting/shelter provision all year round as it's evergreen. It's also beautiful grown up posts and pillars to give an architectural impact to a garden.