Leaderboard

It took us 35 years to get planning permission. By the time we got permission, we'd been through the mincer a few times each and many times jointly. And that had taught us resilience: hardened us off if you like. Lost mates in the forces, been through several of the severest domestic trauma you can think of - and out of the other end. Alive. Kicking. Because we'd just bloody well got on with it . Self build - no difference. Its exactly the same. But if you can't take a joke, don't start.

We went on a self builders course run by the Potton people. One of the things he kept repeating was .............".and then book two weeks in Torremolinos ". We thought a little mini break after every major stage sounded a really good idea............. And then came Covid When all hell breaks out on site, and we are tearing our hair out, we open a bottle of wine and say - "isn't it nice here in Torremolinos?"

Yes I did and please don't think I'm anti ICF. We shortlisted two ICF systems, visited sites and did detailed cost modelling on each, TF was a late entrant for consideration. We even chose our basement SE based on their ICF experience. In 2015 I just got much more build for my money with a TF package, working with one above ground contractor and a very fast progression to first fix, which as a novice was important. Were I more experienced then perhaps I could have found a way to pull in the ICF cost and been able to manage the additional build complexity. We were wholly reliant on waterproof concrete for our basement, which is considered type B from an insurance point of view. Also had a french drain externally but that is not recognised as a waterproofing method per se. I wanted to avoid type A (external membrane) if possible and type C (internal membrane, pump & sump). Our water table is at 6m so we were not 'in the water' so got insurance based on type B alone. I found that when getting quotes from ground-workers they were exclusively cast in situ concrete - none of them had any experience with ICF. Maybe different now. With regard to airtightness, ours was contractually guaranteed and we achieved 0.56 ACH on a fairly large structure so if the attention to detail is taken and the right materials used then any structure can meet the desired standard.

There's no sugar coating it, doing a self build is hard hard work. Shat will happen and end up causing you sleepless nights, stress and plenty of grey hairs and wrinkles but when it's done and 99% finished and your sitting in your new house enjoying a gin/whiskey/wine you will forget all that's went before. Do lots and lots of research and never ever be afraid to question something that doesn't look or sound right. Just a simple reply like" you couldn't go over that again as I can't quite work that out in my head" might help you sleep a bit better as that extra bit of understanding between you and the tradesman got you on the same page. Being organised is vital. Having all your choices made way before you need to will help the job run smooth. Ask around your local area with regards finding a builder who has done some self builds to do the job or get something like a timber frame package which can eliminate a lot of the risk. And remember to breathe. Things always go wrong no matter how good you or the builder are. Deliveries don't arrive, wrong materials get sent out and nothing can find a water pipe hidden behind plasterboard quicker than an apprentice and a cordless screwdriver. Good luck.

My partner says I have started to catastrophise over this build, so it has changed me, I used to be very confident and have accomplished much in a previous life, but I may have commenced from a difficult emotional starting point, and that was the cause, so it's not a fair comparison. Looking at your list there, it could be you are inclined the same way. I won't lie, worrying about those things you have described has given me bad sleepless nights, but I have learned to distinguish between severe anxiety and just normal, understandable worry. When I read about Toughbuttercup's problems I realised mine were minor in comparison. I think you need a lot of resilience to do this, because the financial uncertainties can be frightening, so make sure your mental health is good and that your coping mechanisms are robust. If you can slum it, you will have less financial pressure to live on site in a static. You know yourself, so play to your strengths and minimise your weaknesses. The people who seem to relish this the most seem to be incurable optimists with a very strong vision plus excellent core competencies to either earn well or do the graft themselves.

100mm EPS70 at 3 sheets to the pack for £42 inc assuming you’re not too far from Birmingham. Ecclestones are a foam converter. https://ecclestons.com/xcart/sheet/eps70-polystyrene-sheet/polystyrene-eps70-sheet-12mm-to-300mm.html For 225mm go with 3 layers at 75mm as it comes 4 to a pack and you will be easily sorted.

So I would look at this differently and do the lot in EPS buy it in bulk and save a fortune on PIR prices. Sell the pir or use it in the roof. Go to an eps manufacturer dont buy it from a re seller, they will cut it to any thickness you want so you can tweak your finished floor height.

75mm is too thin for that amount of insualtion. Up it to 100mm. You should be able to get EPS boards for £20 or less. Ring round local merchants and ask for best price for the quantity you need. Some merchants don't bother much with EPS so you'll never get a good price. Trick is finding one that sells in high volume and trades regularly.

EPS will be fine and the difference in warm up will be negligible. 75mm is a thin screed at the best of times.

Make the screed 100mm and the EPS will be fine. Beware though at 450mm some BCOs may ask for a beam and block or suspended floor.

There will be lots of things that you can do nothing about Delays with materials and trades Deadlines being missed etc All will happen You will have to try not to take it personal and focus on other things

Took 5 years to get planning after nearly going bankrupt during the last recession. So bloody minded absolute determination. Unless I attempt every possible route until success I won’t stop ( bit like the terminator but better acting skills ). Reasons to self build not employ builders etc . Cost Also I want to do it Lots of ‘professional’ trades are shit . It’s a mountain to climb - so climb the (expletive deleted)er

Hi all, Hope you're well. I've just joined the forum and appreciate the excellent forums on here. I've got a situation with my house that I was hoping some of you could help me with. My house is a 1930s semi in London. In 2007 the house had some additions put on it as below: A. Dormer Loft - 36 cubic meters B. Side extension of the pre-existing side extension wall (as built in 1930). 3m out and 2.7m wide. Both of these were done with a Certificate of Lawfulness application and approved. C. Rear extension from the rear main wall of the property extending 3m out and 4m wide. This was done via a planning application and was approved. The total width of the house is 6.7m. I have the following points I need some guidance on and which I am struggling to properly understand: 1. Can I extend C to 6m - based on the Government now allowing terrace/semis to extend to 6m from the main rear wall. 2. Can I widen B to 3.3m. I appreciate my neighbours would have to be consulted, but I wanted to know if it's even worth pursuing before I start engaging architects and the LA planning dept. Many thanks in advance for all your help. help - @jack ? Gem

As long as it has BBA and is acceptable to BC and your warranty provider I would go ahead with your groundworkers suggestion.

Yes get some local weather data and it becomes easy

Ohhh thats a really good idea. love chatting on this forum. thanks for the info

I am waiting for a review from a non bearded, non self promoting, YouTuber. I did like the way the dish moves, can it be made into a bird and cat scarer.

Someone who submitted in November still hasn’t received their refund. I dare say Covid plus Easter will be their new excuse. They say that things are delayed because people are working from home. God forbid that after a full year they might be able to be properly productive like the majority of folk have managed after far less time.

Yes it requires 10 posts. The OP is halfway there ?. For info the main VAT reclaim post is here when you hit 10 posts. There are other posts in that sub forum too that you may find useful.

At £82 per month the price has to come down a LOT before I will be interested. But given the speed I wonder if there is scope for 2 or 3 neighbours sharing a connection? That would bring the price down enough.

Sorry Jack, I totally agree you with regard quality and experience. With regard below ground ICF, warranties are fairly easy to obtain for some ICFs and less so others. As a proponent of ICF in general, I think this should be stressed. Not all ICFs are the same and there's a lot of guff around, surprisingly, a lot of brand Vs brand stuff which is ultimately pointless.

This is a difficult question. Several years ago, HMRC quietly changed its practice from always giving claimants three months from the completion certificate date, to undertaking a multi-factorial assessment including factors such as date of last invoice and moving-in date. There was a presumption that if you moved in, say, three years ago, the house was "complete" enough to live in, especially if no significant further building costs (i.e., costs directly related to the building itself) were incurred in the three months before you actually lodged your claim. They were denying claims made within three months of the completion certificate on this basis. There's been a series of tribunal cases challenging this position over the last couple of years, and most have found for the claimants (although annoyingly, one or two followed the multi-factorial test). Unfortunately, tribunal cases are not precedential, and so they can't be relied upon by future appellants. In short, unless and until this matter is heard by a higher court that can issue a precedential ruling, there'll always be a risk associated with moving in and claiming more than three months later, even if that claim is made within three months of the completion certificate. The risk can perhaps be mitigated by ensuring you have some high value invoices less than three months before submitting your claim, especially if those invoices relate to building works rather than, say, fencing or driveway materials. Although the latter are claimable under the DIY VAT scheme, HMRC seems focused on completion of the building itself, rather than the project as a whole. If you have the cash, one thing you could do is buy as much of the required materials as possible and then put in your VAT claim. I believe you're also allowed to continue buying materials after completion/moving in, up until the point you lodge your claim. TL;DR: To avoid risk, you should make the claim within three months of the completion certificate and also within three months of moving in.

Gimmicky and unnecessary, wether chains or wire ropes to anchor down, Dig a hole, wrap the chain or rope around a piece of tube/bar/scaff pole or even a brick or stone (be careful it wont slip off) bury it and compact the grount. this method has been used for centuries for ground anchoring

Thank you Jack I have just put a post in the VAT section. If you could do your magic then that would be fantastic!

I'll touch on the soft skills. Most of us are not daft, yes we have our daft moments from time to time, posting on BH is probably one of mine. A while ago there was a sales theory called the FUD factor. You can read about this on the web (for some on BH.. to take you back..Motorolla / Six Sigma etc..) but it goes; fear, uncertainty and doubt. You puntloos may be at the uncertainty stage? I would start to talk to builders, they will be keen as you now have your permissions. They will take your job as a live job that is worth them putting a bit of effort into getting. Don't forget that this is a people business, builders are people too. Some are great, the best will guide you, deliver what you want, look after you..you can become long term friends! Trust your gut feeling. Open up and start talking to builders, tell them what your are worried about..discuss the technical aspects with them. The builders you want will answer a lot of these questions. You will need to put a bit of work into finding them as they will be very busy. These builders are not cheep but you get what you pay for.with. A good team can work together to get the job done.. you.. the builder and designer! Have a look at this people side of things and it can take a lot of worry out a job.

ICF basements and ICF below ground walls need two of the three zones protected. Ideally using different systems and one must be maintainable, pretty much as Bitpipe says. In a lot of cases, waterproof concrete is a waste of money. So external French drain and internal drainage system (maintainable). A waterbar for good measure but the same can be achieved in concrete slab by creating a step. Remember, not all ICFs are the same or have the same structure so their performance below ground differs. Woodcrete along with a number of EPS ICFs: lattice work, polarwall: massive continuous slab. I would also double check to see which ICFs are BBA approved for basements. It's a moving playing field at the moment. Reading some of the comments regarding "not being able to see it once poured" and I can hear the collective concrete world groan. It's really not difficult to do right. I would also be interested to find a timber frame that matches the airtightness of mass poured concrete at the same stage without being wholly reliant on tapes and membranes. Think of a closed box with a window hole in it. Which is going to be easier to guarantee airtightness? A concrete, mass poured box or a timber frame box? You can achieve the same with both but one is easier and involves less processes than the other. Yet to find a TF in 2021 cheaper than an ICF. And I don't expect to. One ICF brand has put its prices up 10%, timber has jumped 40%. Whatever anyone says, and this goes back to my comments on cost management elsewhere, be pathological about comparing like with like and make sure you, as the self builder understand the processes involved in getting, say, a TF and ICF to the same build stage. No one makes it easy. It helps if you've done one of each, next to each other.

Did mine 25 years ago. One area sunk, but rest is still good. The great thing about block paving is, if it does sink a bit, pull up the blocks, but of sand and re lat them Job done. I actually put the base down, then didnt lay the drive for 2 years, Nature is the best compactor of type 1 and sand.

Build Vs buy: for us it was all about location. We could get a house the quality we wanted, OR in the location we wanted, but odds of finding both together vanishing close to zero (and the cost would be incredible). Plus we felt build (deep renovation) allows really meeting our specific needs like no purchase would Finally Pulling the trigger: mostly because after 2 years we were tired of talking about it and wanted to move on with our lives. At that point We'd realized a full rebuild would be about the same price but even better quality/choice, but couldn't face another 2 years to reset and replan so pushed us to go on. Still very happy we did, although with retrospect of course the COVID delay meant it went slower than we wanted after all that. Things that can go wrong. For me the underestimation was the energy it requires. Nervous energy. After 14 month build, keeping tabs on contractors and trades (or lack of) almost everyday, my nerves are shot. The financial side was kept in pretty good shape throughout really, but constant feeling of predicting what might go wrong next and putting stuff right when it does is unbelievably tiring. No idea how I could have insured or hedged against this, except quit the day job. (without a doubt the only way I could do a build again is if it was my sole full time focus)

It's all in the base. To ensure it's not going to sink you need a lot of very well compacted hardcore under the drive. You could also use a sand cement screed for under the bricks.For a drive your edges need concreted in to stop it spreading out.

I'm not sure Sika warranty ICF pours as the final pour quality can't be seen, but maybe they do - should not be hard to find out. They provide the waterbar (goes between pours) the mastic that holds the water bar in place and the admix for the concrete, plus they come and supervise the works. NHBC and the like will ask for 2 waterproofing methods from the three available a) external membrane, b) WP concrete, 3) internal membrane, sump & pump. Your contractor may also issue you with an insurance backed warranty but ultimately there will be something from the likes of Sika or Kryten backing it all up. If it's an insurance backed warranty then you have some chance but they are notoriously hard to claim on. ICF just gives you walls, you need a flooring system (pozi joists or hollowcore flooring) and a roof system. Steels to span open stretches of glazing etc. Then add internal stud walls, airtightness detail around windows & doors etc. With the TF package from MBC I got all of that in one shot which made life a lot easier - not to say you can't do it just as well the other way but you will need to pull in different trades. Groundworkers dig holes and fill them back in, required in all circumstances It was about a 30% difference in cost - but keep in mind the frame itself is only around 20% of the overall build cost.

In my previous house the entire place was decorated in F&B. Its not only the chalkiness its the depth of pigment and how the colours change in the light you are paying for. The copies cannot match it in any way, at one point I tried the copies in Johnstone and Dulux no-one who knows would mistake it for true F&B. Decorators universally hate it because it needs more care and coats to get an even finish. In my new house I am going for Dulux Trade Ulramatt tinted to my preferred shade....not a F&B copy colour. Having had F&B in all its glory I said never again. It is a nightmare to keep looking perfect and I am a perfectionist so every little mark drove me nuts and cost me fortunes in redecoration. We are a 2 adult household no kids so didnt have any real wear and tear but still every little mark shows. If you want F&B in a wipeable finish go for the modern emulsion not the flat estate emulsion. It was not for me its the hint of shine in the modern I dislike I want the flattest flat matt. One F&B product I would and will use in preference to main stream paints is their eggshell for wood. Its brilliant. Nice alternative to F&B if you want to pay the premium for designer paint that is a bit more robust is Little Green. I love Craig and Rose paint but its even more difficult than F&B to keep perfect. Join the million discussion boards on Mumsnet about F&B and the pros and cons and the best copy colours. Hours of fun!

Hi There, I just wanted to share my experiences with one of the biggest stressors for me on the self build, leaking windows - I had 3 of them and it drove me mad. I'm here to share the experience and ask opinions on potential fixes...First of all I didn't want moustaches on my windows like this: I can moan about the detail but in fairness......At least it's watertight Here are my leaking windows, the Stone window/Doors have a different detail which is working perfect(thank God, don't fancy ripping off stonework) You can see I jumped to the conclusion that something was wrong with the window because the only leaking windows were the windows with a fixed glass panel below an opening window..there is a more complex drainage system in these windows (Aluclad-PVC) ... Anyway after so many tests, it turns out it was the sill after all and you can see there is no DPC on the sills either below(It was cut short to allow the sills be stuck in place). you can see the window on the right was ripped out last Month in an effort to address these leaks. (DPC sill in at the moment) This is the install effort unfortunately I trusted the window installers who said once the DPC was past the concrete core, Everything was good (sweet Jesus) and I didn't know any better Sill was CT1 to the window support....That actually was fine and watertight as I later found out. Here is the final install: I extended the window side drip edge because the window company did not manufacture the sills the way I had asked...I guess they were going for the mustache look? Also they didn't know anything about drip edges under the main sill either? So I bent little strips of zinc and powder coated them and stuck them to the Sill. Here's a really bad front profile of the sill, the edge of the sill is actually bent around in a C shape up until my little zinc add on above. The leak is coming in on the seam where the render comes down onto the narrow little bit of aluminum. It was maybe 6mm-8mm wide. All of the other windows seem to be unaffected here's some of the water leaking in under the concrete cold joint the floor makes before the second Floor walls. and here's some lovely salt lines on the head of the opening below the leaky windows (about 1.5 years of leaking) I never respected that ICF was like a sponge for water, I should have sealed up the foam before the sill was put in That product mentioned by @Russell griffiths Illbruck 295 is absolutely great stuff, super sticky and seem quite durable too.