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@K78 Looking at your pictures I can understand your concern about possible breakout with ICF and how you could install bracing to counter that. I like your idea of using the lego blocks and hope that you are able to complete your build using them. It's nice to see different construction techniques being used rather than the same old methods. Good luck with the project.

After a summer spent cruising the canals we arrived back on site with a little trepidation and a lot of enthusiasm. When we left the build we had just got the scaffold down and had a lockable water tight shell,. Well almost water tight, we still have two leaks. One where our roof lights join and another on a roof seam that abuts the wall on the house gable. Fortunately neither were bad enough to have caused any damage over what has been a pretty dry summer. The internals of our ICF build required no supporting walls making it a nice big unencumbered space to start installing the MVHR, electrics and plumbing. We had decided to get the MVHR installed first as the pipes are the largest and least flexible. The system design for our MVHR had been provided by Blaugberg making it a fairly straight forward install. Of course the design hadn’t taken into account joist spacing or any other details of the construction. Taking the joists into account etc we ended up mounting the two manifolds next to the MVHR unit raised for the floor to allow access. Getting the MVHR into position involved getting a bulky 80KG box to the roof area of the house, a task made pretty simple with the aid of an electric winch. With the manifolds raised off the floor and two of us feeding the pipes through the aero joist webbing we managed to get all the pipes in with minimal loss of skin. The manifolds have large removable panels that allow access to install flow constrictors. Our intent is to get the MVHR setup as soon as we can to help keep heat in the house and to get the humidity down from the 65-70 percent it’s currently at. One other job we wanted to get done early was an initial air tightness test. Although we are not building for passive certification we want to make sure we are as close to the 0.6 passive house level. We needed to get the roof VCL installed, in our case this is just a plastic membrane. Getting the membrane in place where we have vaulted ceilings was time consuming as it involved step ladder, a ladder and staging to get to the top of 5M high. With the membrane in place we called in a local firm to do the air test. With the fan drawing air into the house detecting leaks was straight forward as the air was much cooler outside than in. We had a few leaks virtually all at the junctions of the VCL with the roof purlins. The guy doing the test recommended trowelling mastic over the spray foam which had been used to seal the junction of the purlins and the ICF. Having identified the areas we needed to fix we got on with the air test proper. As the test proceeded restrictor rings were fitted to the fan until the required air pressure was stable. The initial figures are excellent down at 1.08 ARCH which given we have a bare structure and know leaks around the purlins mean we should be able to meet the 0.6 ARCH. Interesting form me was the degree to which the fan got restricted, you can see from the photo that just a 15mm ring was left exposed. For a normal build this would be the case for a small single bedroom flat. With the MVHR tubes in place we set to installing the water pipes. It’s surprising just how much having to make decisions about tap positions can exercise your patience. We had opted to use a water softener and after a bit of searching around decided to use a Monarch Solo, a non electric water softener that gives ample flow rates for our house size. Compared to re-plumbing a house starting out from scratch made it a simple and quick. Again having two people to feed the pipes makes the job a lot simpler and saves shaving the pipes through the ceiling webbing. We will pressure test all the water circuits prior to do any plasterboarding. Along side the water pipe installation we also installed the electrical ring mains. With ICF it’s important that the wires don’t come into contact with the polystyrene as it leaches the plasticiser from the cable insulation making it brittle over time. Lighting rings will follow. We have a fairly good idea of where we want lights but it’s difficult to be sure so we plan to put in a lot of redundancy so we can change lighting as required once living in the space. We have also installed stud walls for the two bedrooms and bathrooms. The seemingly huge space soon shrinks! Having said that the rooms are generous. In the entrance hall one wall has a curved corner, a little more fiddly to construct but well worth the effort making the hall/stair area look really good.

Insulation onto the floor, friction fitted. Lay a plastic DPM (sheet membrane) over the insulation. First caber board groove side up against the wall and into a corner with a couple of spacers to give you expansion gap (8-10mm) Measure next board to fit to the gap and check for fit. Glue the tongue (foaming D4 is best) and fit the board tightly (use a board off cut and a mallet to keep the joints tight) and then leave the glue to dry and go for a cuppa. Take your off cut and use it to start the new row so you get staggered joints. Repeat as above... once first row is dried the rest can be done from that one.

^^^^^^ totally agree with @PeterStarck sounds like In This situation it (could) work. Again really looking forward to seeing a hubber pioneering new build methods. Triple check everything before putting your order in !

Ok so crack on with your build - stick some photos up when it’s done and let us know when the BCO signs it all off as I’ve tried giving you the benefit of 30 years of experience but apparently you know better so carry on.

Hi Patrick, us boaters know this as Bison board (phenolic ply) and it's used for exposed decks on narrow boats. Last for years in the open. A much better product than OSB both in durability and strength. Get as much of it as you can!

It varies a great deal. In warm weather, with a light foot, you might manage around 230 Wh/mile, in cold, wet weather, then 350 Wh/mile might be more typical. Since November last year I've been averaging 284 Wh/mile, over a mix of long and short trips. Short trips are the worst, in winter, as initially heating the car up takes a fair bit of energy. So, if you were paying 5p/kWh and charging at the normal domestic maximum of around 7 kW, with an average consumption of around 275 Wh/mile, then 4 hours of charge would get a bit over 100 miles of range, for a cost of around £1.40, or 1.4p/mile. I charge in winter at E7 rates, so 8.148p/kWh, so can add around 178 miles of range on an overnight E7 charge, at a cost of around £4.00, or about 2.25p/mile.

It is a basic 6 x 12.5m box. All brick and blockwork as to the drawings including cavity insulation £37000“, “1st floor joist and boarding out for the first floor £15,000”. Are 2 examples from his quote. Strip foundation labour was £15k. I didn’t think it fair to attach the quote. His prices were not inclusive of VAT either which he seemed to think was chargeable and I’d claim it back. It seems every builder I approach wants to quote for everything and they want to supply materials too. I can only assume there is a lot of more lucrative work in the Manchester area? Tbh mate I’m at my wits end at dealing with different contractors. Finding a retaining wall solution was a expensive nightmare. Many false dawns and crazy quotes. It seems this is going the same way. The cheapest labour only quote I had was £60k. Seeing the tiny £48k single storey extension my friend just had built. I’m not surprised. I think they just see a self builder as someone with money to burn and think what the house will be worth at the end? The thought of me and my mate stacking these blocks as we did with the wall is much less stressful than dealing with builder issues, weather issues, scaffolding costs and waste disposal. I appreciate it is not for everyone, icf is a better house building product (light weight, fast, cost effective) and some will think I’m mad. But it suits my situation if I get the go ahead. I’ve always loved Lego too. ?

if covered with breather paper it shouldn't matter whether waterproof or not, covering mine with mdf ?

With my 7kW charger I could pump in 28 kWh in four hours at a total cost of £1.40 (5p per kWh and ignoring losses). My Tesla model S will do 3 miles per kWh at normal speeds, so that’s 84 miles / 1.66p per mile. Btw I owned an old Leaf for about a year and 220 Wh/mile would need very steady driving, forget going faster than 55mph. The figures above for the Tesla are perfectly doable at 70mph on the motorway.

EVs are measured in kWh/100 km (usually) This can be reduced to Wh/km. Then converted to Wh/mile. As small EV (Leaf or Zoe) can does around 220 Wh/mile. So your 5p/kWh will buy you 4.5 miles or 1.1p/mile. Taking a small gasoline powered car that does 50 MPG. A gallon costs around £5.50, so 11p/mile. A larger EV will use around 300 to 400 Wh/mile.

That is irrelevant. ...!!! Building regs require you to insulate that floor / ceiling as it is a ceiling above an unheated space ... you have no choice and it should be a very good insulation layer.

I was after a very similar battery system, but it seems that the arrangement I thought I had for buying one has fallen through. Pity, as I've had the set up, cabling, shed to locate everything etc sitting waiting ready for the stuff to arrive, and the cash sitting herewaiting to pay for it, since early last year...

It's nowhere near as pretty as a tesla powerwall, but I've had a battery system installed recently. My solar PV is a 5.4kWh system, 18 panels GCE mounts. All in with installation, £8k, back in 2018. The battery system is made up of 6 x 2.4kW Pylontech batteries @ £610 each and 2 AC controllers set up in parallel, £595 each. All prices ex VAT - I can reclaim this as part of the new build. Total cost, including install and bits and pieces, £5.6k. The whole thing has a changeover switch so, in the event of a power cut, I can isolate the system and still power the essential house systems and the battery controls are set up to always hold 50% charge so that they have some juice if the power does get cut off. So, £13.6k for the whole shebang.

I will counter, counter that with inflation. Most of the losses are at the local, not on the bulk transport. As individuals we have little say in the amount of coal used in power generation. That has be set by international agreements enacted by our parliament. what has happened is that we have swapped out coal for gas and biomass to a certain extent. large commercial wind generation is now starting to take up some of the slack, as is large scale solar. Small scale solar is also contributing, but this is hard to establish the true amount as it is not metered very well.

You can move to a night saver tariff and get an even cheaper rate - I've a 6 kW battery and am doing that now with a similar sized array. Paying 9c per kW for 9 units and 18c per kW for 3 units per day currently from the grid. The battery charges overnight. Plus you can investigate the new option to use the Powerwall in a blackout - moving into possible separation of the UK from the EU grid inter-connector next year it might be more useful than you think? I think it's a great price for a powerwall imo. And anything you can do to generate rather than consume from coal power plants at peak times is welcome to0. Agree the finances don't line up but pushing PV excess back to the local grid saves tramissions losses from fossil fuel power plants. It all adds up. Hope you go for it!

A brief read here suggests you can get asset plans from one of their providers: https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/en/Business-and-Developers/Connecting-to-Our-Network/Pre-Development-Information/Asset-Plans £33 did I see?

As with@Temp I do not like water in my socks. The holiday cottage did not have under floor heating and the screen did not contain water bouncing off both the floor and person showering. I can see good design will reduce the problem but now I am wondering why design in a problem that then needs further design to mitigate. Maybe it is a question of room scale, above a certain floor area I guess a bit of over spray does not affect the rest of the bathroom, add in a decent gradient, ufh, mvhr and floor tanking then the problem can be ignored.

Being honest.....it's a bit long! Unwieldy?It does stand up on it's own though:Not sure if I'll get it wired up tonight though. Call of the mild, beer o'clock etc...

I left a hole in the floor when the screed was getting laid. Then set a large shower tray so that the tiles and the tray where the same height. You obviously have a tiny step, 35mm , around the edge of the tray. Much easier than a wet room to install.

Well you can, but I thought this was about making an easy job difficult and messy,

Amazing stuff, almost totally rot proof. Phenolic ply, used for trailer decks.

Google phenolic coated plywood. Can get it with various patterns on it.

Riga Trans Birch plywood overlaid with phenol. https://www.finieris.com/en/products/plywood/plywood-with-textured-overlay/riga-trans

Only one I had issue with was the water company. We had to get a water main diverted as well as the connection. They wanted to charge a lot of VAT on the diversion part. Refused to pay until the VAT was removed. I referred them to https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buildings-and-construction-vat-notice-708

1. Could happen in a standard shower tray 2. Decent designed in falls and a screen will stop this 3. See 2. 4. That’s down to poor ventilation and extract, not just a wet room. If you design it in, there is no step down for a tray. I’ve done one recently with a big 1500x900X35 tray that is recessed into the floor panels and when tiled up to it, there is a nice 5mm transition ledge into the shower. A 1200 screen stops any over spray. 800 square trays are tiny when you try and bend to pick anything up, and 6 or 8mm glass will not stop you falling ..

And if you don’t have a warranty or a self build mortgage you have to rely on an approved VAT reclaim as one of the pieces of completion evidence required so you will need to get a crack on with the VAT reclaim pronto after completion. It’s beyond ridiculous IMO that a deadline is imposed to provide a document that the self builder has no control over as HMRC seem to take as long as they like and are processing claims well outside of their documented timescales.

Well, some unexpected excitement today... I was installing some Radbots today for our ECO3 work and realised that I was right outside Harvey's HQ, so popped in for a few minutes to look at one of the units! Size might be an issue given the space we have where it might go, but it was good to see it in the flesh. (We also hit Radbot's primary fundraising target on Seedrs, so a good day in several ways!) Rgds Damon

It would be a lot neater and easer to finish and paint if you tacked a skim stop on the PB face butted against the window frame

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buildings-and-construction-vat-notice-708 https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-on-fuel-and-power-notice-70119

+1 * Labour (as in actually working on site) should be zero rated to you. * Services (as in design services) are standard rated and not reclaimable. * Materials you buy are standard rated and reclaimable. * If someone does "Supply and fit" on one invoice then both should be zero rated to you. If it's on separate invoices the materials part should be standard rated and reclaimable, the labour part should be zero rated to you. Connection of services should definitely be zero rated to you. Request a revised invoice & your money back. Any problem and you can refer them to the relevant part of VAT Notice 708 and point out it is their legal responsibility to charge you the correct rate. I had to get a new invoice from my water company. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buildings-and-construction-vat-notice-708

Sorry, no. Professional services, BCO, architect etc. aren't zero rated.

It would still be worth going back to the service companies and asking them to refund the VAT. For the sake of a letter or two it would be a worthwhile outcome.

80k *labour only* to throw up a few thousand block? Yikes. Where did they get that from?

or just use stick on tanking as for basement- and as used in some sips roof systems,probably by the time you covered it in insulation just a building wrap would be fine

It depends what you call large Weve just finished a car showroom 423m2 They where 1200 x 800 22 mil thick To heavy for one man to lay and cut Tilers rarely have a labourer So you are paying one skilled man just to be another pair of hands I was paid £40 for labourer including Sealing and matting The builder ground bad areas of the floor and self levelled others I paid out £5M2 matting and £22 for laying including Quite.a complicated boarder Which I set out now perhaps more relevant to you Same job would be £5 matting £18 for laying My price £33 Two men cutting and laying will complete almost twice as quick as above The top job took them 13 days With two half days from me The client was happy I made a bit and so did they Im not the cheapest Also not the most expensive Hope this helps give you a guide

External door frames off the shelf are usually 45mm thick. So you would allow 45mm - frame + 3mm gap + door width + 3mm gap + 45mm frame, plus 5 -10mm either side for packing / plumbing the frame up. So taking your 30 inch ( 762mm) door as an example your opening would be 878mm which includes 10mm gap either side of the frame.

My architect is submitting the garage as a separate application for similar reasons as yours has suggested

Looks like horse box flooring ...