Leaderboard

Yes, I agree that I just need to take things into my own hands. Ultimately, the house, even without fire doors, will have a sprinkler system on the ground floor and an alarm system throughout and brand new appliances. It will be far safer from a fire regs perspective than what was there before, so it really comes down to just bureaucracy.

The big one for me is mice can chew through them. Ask my neighbour who had 2 leaks and 3 bits of ceiling down before he caught the mouse. Of course make your house air tight and mice won't get in. And the previous static caravan, could not stand our high water pressure and a lot of the plastic push fit fittings started bursting.

TBH, this is because of crap quality control during typical builds. Our actuals are closer to 0.5, because we designed in airtightness into our build and made sure we chose subs who knew how to build to this standard. You posted elsewhere that you are still in the planning phase so what targets you design your house to and how you implement this is still very much under your control.

Hooray, it’s fixed. As I suspected the “bypass valve” built into the manifold is pants, it allowed way too much cold so the loops never got up to temp and it’s not adjustable. I have blocked the internal bypass and installed a separate blending valve and it all works. All I have to do now is play with the flows and temps. Many thanks chaps ?

Hence put it on thin to fill gaps and pin holes only. Broom in photo is the size I used for applying hithe parge coat. Mine is on Durisol blocks and you can see the blocks clearly.

For interest, what would that sell for when complete? £1M to build plus all land and all fees, and something for yourself (20%) for risk and hassle. I'm not surprised the architect is being really helpful and pragmatic. Are they anticipating a percentage of a high build cost? Test their pragmatism and tell them a build budget. Plus some incentive like they don't get paid if it goes over. It is a simple design with plenty of internal walls so can be timber frame based. That will also reduce the amount you need Surrey builders. The more that comes in the package the less you need trades and also helps speed. eg the insulation and inner walls can be included, even wired and with windows and doors fitted I have built in Surrey, and had to take Kent workers there to get a sensible price and work ethic, and Kent is hardly cheap. As my other post, get rid of fake chimney. The planners are always surprised to hear it is fake but can't justify it when smoke is bad and wasting materials is bad ....and i could list 5 more reasons. So that is £2,000 saved and just another £198,000 to find...but I think you can.

Yes. Move in. If the builder grumps, tell him the alternative is you might go bankrupt and HE might not get paid. This is the best solution for everybody including him.

Yep covered so many times Necessary evil or not We are still trying to decide whether to have a warranty or not We had a Protec warranty on our previous build Taken out four years ago We new we would sell after three years So there wasn’t a decision to make The Warranty inspector barely looked at the build But that was ok because we had accepted that the warranty companies are unlikely to ever pay out But serve a purpose for lenders Ive just received a quote of £1500 from CMLC 285m Plus a large double story workshop They have a extended list of lenders that accept there product Only HSBC missing As I say They are a necessary evil Even for those who think they are moving to a forever home You don’t know what’s around the corner In this case it may be worth going for the cheapest

Not quite rolling hills or open fields but a 120ft garden, which is going to be a huge change from where we are currently (Zone 3 London) with a postage stamp sized garden that backs on to 3 others! It is much quieter though, and we have greenbelt land at the front (which hopefully means no development overlooking ours). The other bits - all within 5 to 10m walking distance.

Render for a reason! I can't imagine that the stonework underneath is in good nick. I'd patch it up for now, and put it on my list of things to do when time and money are not a limiting factor... or maybe hack it all off and re-render with some wire mesh in it.

DMA https://www.dmacanyon.co.uk/wp/ used them for tank cleaning and disinfection, chemical dosing, large tank installation, L8 risk assessment for 10 years good service and I’m in fife they are near Glasgow

You get it in sheets and in standard pipe sleeves. https://www.insulationsuperstore.co.uk/user/u/pimp/uploads/attachments/4/armaflex-installation-guide.pdf

I used GRC Aquatech in Aberdeenshire

I used the highland pump centre for supply of my filters. They double checked my design using the sampling results. They work all over scotland I think. Otherwise if you want design, supply and install, highwater seem to do most of the work around us.

I did my own thermal detailing and the builder was happy to follow it. Normally it would be a part of the job of the architect+team. The structural engineer's main concern will be to ensure the building doesn't fall down. If you want to get a professional to undertake it I would seek out a passivhaus architectural technician. Have you considered the option of external insulation, ICF or timber frame. These methods make it easier to cope with any thermal bridges etc but you will need brick slips or similar for the facade/ If you choose to stick with masonry cavity walls a couple of things might make it easier to deal with the steel bridging. 1. Proprietary insulating connections for balconies +columns etc. 2. Using precast concrete beams in place of steel ( cheaper and less than 10% as conductive) 3. Using Marmox thermoblock, perisol or similar as a thermal break above the beams and outer walls. Beware most of those 90 pages will be standard issue not specific to your house. As for the construction drawings I can't be much help as we have a different process re BC etc in Ireland. Good luck!

No. I found 120mm high fascias to be problematic. 150mm is smaller than average. You need to consider the following: The pitch and tile overhang dictates the top lip of the gutter and this will be lower than the fascia top. You need to factor in the extra height of the roof battens on top of the rafters. Some tiles/slates look better with a bit of upwards kick in the first eave course so the fascia top will be higher than that calculated for the batten allowance to support the kick.. Gutter systems have brackets have different heights and you want to make sure the bottom of a bracket does not droop below the fascia. The gutter will need a gradient so having calculated the minimum fascia height for the 4 points above, add the gradient. Finally if ground drainage requires a downpipe at a specific position then double check the wall plate is bang on level. In my case the wall plate was off 5mm the wrong way against the planned gutter gradient which caused some head scratching given my already slim 120mm fascia. A 372mm overhang is unusual but if you want that you will have to abandon the idea of resting the soffit on top of the last course of facing bricks and fit hangers that drop off the rafter tails to provide fixing points for the soffit. This assumes the masonry is complete.

I think its a more complex design than it appears.. The large open plan living/kitchen area means large spans for the first floor (9.5m). Not helped by the large patio door/window in the gable end and balcony above. The room-in-the roof design means the roof can't use simple trusses. Nor can you easily use a structural ridge beam because there is nothing for the western end to bear on (windows in gable wall). The flat roof dormer and roof light (snug and stairs) also complicate. At the front there might be an issue with the amount of water flowing onto the roof of the porch from three roof pitches. As my SE said.. You can do anything with a bit of steel so I think its all solvable but this is the sort of thing that can add to the cost.

Pressure already/ More money as a plumber or bricky, as I was always telling teenagers at careers days. Roe Timber from Margate. perhaps yours is too small but worth asking. You can just send a full disclosure enquiry to them....own project, here are the drawings, architect not retained, is it of interest?

1: A monoblock ASHP puts the noise making bit outside. For some strange reason this bothers some people but I would rather have it outside than in. 2: GLUE and SCREW the F out of your floor boards and they won't squeak or creak. 3: Pipes need to be free to expand and contract. What you describe is usually where pipes are in a slot under the floor and are tight, so they can't just expand quietly, the expand a bit, winding up like a spring then go "click" as there is enough force to nudge them along a bit.

We went with level gutters, I know ots not ideal but a bit of sitting water doesn't seem to do any harm and as the runs were over 8m having a fall would have looked rubbish

You need to get a gutter bracket and roof tiles and work out if the bracket will fit on the facia, I have seen them in the past hanging off the bottom of the facia, this looks poo.

Really depends on length of run to get the correct fall for gutters or you end up with an obvious taper line. Not as apparent with a deep facia. if you are wanting overhang you can extent the rafter or hang gutters on drop hangers

I mixed mine to a double cream thickness, then got a few cheap natural bristle brooms, rubbed it well into surface, so it had no pin holes. Once dried, had a look over and where pin holes had occurred during drying gave a second coat. When attaching battons I used a hybrid seal in the holes for the batten screws. We used tapered edge plasterboard and taped the joints. (Dry lined).

Talk to MBC, and some others - if you keep getting the same feedback then you'll need to tweak your design but to be honest it does not look that radical, we have a 6m wide 3m deep cantilevered box sticking out of the front of our house and MBC did not blink.

We have some interesting problems with mice- usually when the contractors move the straw stack near the house and they decide to move in here instead. I woke up to one making a hell of a racket the other night. Lay there for 2mins getting cross before deciding to switch the light on and do something about it. Turned out the bold b@gger was on my pillow! I moved fairly quickly at that point. Put a mouse trap with peanut butter down next to the bed and there was a loud snap a couple of mins later. Took the mouse outside to give to the feral cats who I'm fairly sure now consider me their butler... Proud moment was getting two with the same trap...

To be blunt, you have three choices. 1) find the gap in your £1M budget and keep your shoes clean. 2) exit your comfort zone and get involved in the build 3) quit your project. We ticked all the same boxes as you - zero experience, zero DIY talent, and we also had busy jobs and small kids. In Berkshire so same neck of woods cost wise. We were also looking at unaffordable costs for our 400m2 home but managed to get it in for £1500/m2 back in 2016. Appreciate that there has been a lot of inflation since but £2k-2.5k/m2 should still be very doable. £3500 /m2 is a very premium price - no doubt you could spend that but it feels very top end. Using a single main contractor is always the most expensive route as they will price contingency and management overhead into their costs. However as a self builder, you don't need to get your hands dirty, you just need to organise trades, contracts and occasionally materials and preferably live on site (which will save you £££ on rent especially in the SE). A laptop and phone plus a tape measure will be your main tools. When you get planning, the decision on what to build your house from is still an open question. Planners only care about the external appearance. So, assuming you're successful, you now need to spend some time evaluating different build methods. Get budgetary quotes from builders assuming brick & block. Shop your planning drawings around timber frame companies to get frame costs. Talk to ICF firms for their perspective. You don't need detailed drawings to do this (indeed, having such drawings assumes you've already made that decision). Everything aside from the frame will be the same - roofing, windows, exterior cladding, internal fix & finish, landscaping etc. Timber frames lend themselves to self project managing as many of the structural issues are addressed in the one package - sometimes even foundation systems. We went that route (getting a separate contractor to demolish the existing and build a basement). From there on it was straightforward to source trades to complete each stage and get ahead of the next few steps. Once we'd made the TF decision, we got a QS to do a detailed estimate (still no drawings at this stage, in fact we never bothered with more drawings from architect post planning as the TF firm did all we needed). We used this estimate to sense check quotes and look for savings. N.B. You've not mentioned whether your plot is greenfield and needs services, access etc or if you're doing a demolition.

I've just ordered some, the Triton TT Vapour Membrane 20l tubs. Think they do 5l ones as well. I got mine from here http://sumpsandpumpsdirect.co.uk if that helps.

Yeah I'm really pleased with them! Tharindudhan168 was the name. I paid £250 all in and have about 20 images. Really useful to help visualise things with the oh etc.

If anyone cann, @pocster caan.

You and your builder have a professional relationship, not a theraputic one. I'm almost (but not quite) sure the remark was made out of kindness - but '...cannot let (you) live .... ' is inappropriate. Pay, Wave. Move on.

We have this and have been in a year,BCO sign off due next month. We had no kitchen, internal walls, plasterboard etc never mind no smoke alarms lol. No issues other than it was bloody cold last winter!

We had this in our warrant application and plans "High level windows to be clean via water fed pole system to be ratained with the property or by a professional window cleaning company (this does not remove the requirement for the water fed pole system). Water fed pole system will allow for the windows to be cleaned from a solid load bearing surface. Any openable windows are to be fully reversible in order to be cleaned from inside the property. Rooflights 1800mm above ground or floor level need not be designed to be safety cleaned."

I have had a self build insurance from the start, that's ended now we are Complete and now on normal house insurance. Oddly when we contracted a builder just to lay the foundations and build and erect the shell, they asked to see my insurance, particularly the "contractors liability" bit as we were the prime contractor. We lived on site in a static caravan for much of the build then moved into the unfinished house and building it around as as even an unfinished house was more spacious and comfortable than a caravan. There were no issues then as we did not have anyone working for us, it was just ourselves completing the internals of the house.

End contract with builder early to solve his liability issue . You then take out insurance to live on site in an incomplete dwelling . This type of insurance is more expensive I have it and I think @ProDave does also . All problems solved ! I did it this way also because I didn’t fancy bankruptcy either ?

Nothing has really changed with conservatories. If thermally separated they can ignored - if not they are treated as part of the dwelling so included in the heat loss, CO2 emissions, DER/TER calculations etc and the solar gain (overheating) assessment. What has changed is that this part of overheating is now in the new Appr Doc O which has both a simplified method and complex dynamic thermal modelling method

Surely @Adsibobyou will be the site 24 hour security? A sort of Grenfell fire watch team... Oh and plenty temporary battery ? smoke alarms....

Interesting as nearly everyone here said my large south facing conservatory would over heat, but it has not, in fact it contributes a lot of heat to the house in the shoulder seasons. On a sunny but cold winters day my heating rarely comes on. Yes mine is outside the heating envelope and has large doors and windows that can be opened. P.V. can be used to run air conditioning as the sun shines when it’s needed!.

pricey https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-elec/pel00939-uk/2kw-convector-heater/dp/HG01003?st=convector

Our surveyor said not to get him for the first draw down until we had the walls up to first floor level. He said there's little value in ground works and foundations, even though it's one of the most costly stages. I think we'd spend £40k digging a hole and laying a slab, but it only took another £11k to get the walls up for our first valuation. Another pint to note is that the valuation is done in the context of the final expected value. So if the final value has gone up 10% since your initial application, then you can expect to get a little bit more at each stage (until you hit the total available). As property prices rose so much in the last year, we got our final drawdown long before we finished as the final value went up by a rediculous £100k.(I think it was undervalued at the start)

There's always a smart arse, and today it's my turn! In the interests of there being no false information on the internet, I have to mention that the current won't increase as a consequence of using a long extension lead. It will be reduced. What has been assumed is that the power will remain constant. It won't, not for dumb resistive loads like these heaters. At 240V this total resistance looks like V/I or 240/16.66 = 14.4 Ohms. This resistance will remain constant, so at 220V the current would drop to 220/14.4 = 15.27A and the power would drop to 220x15.27 = 3361W Of course we would have to take into account the resistance of the cable that's causing the 20 volt drop, something like 20/15 = 1.33 Ohms and this would dissipate 300W of its own which is the real reason this would be a very bad idea! I hate myself now.

We did parge, but at the DPC we did a coat of airtight paint, as the diagnostic air test showed a leak there.

Presuming you do both yourself Airtight paint will work out very expensive I'd have thought compared to a parge coat. I did a parge coat and found it fairly easy. It's messy but easy. We then had battens with a quick squirt of airtight sealant in the holes before screwing the battens to the wall. Worked well. I think whichever method you go with (airtight paint, parge coat, AT membrane or plaster) it will depend on the quality of workmanship and attention to detail.

As a plastering contractor I use a lot of bagged Parge coat For soundproofing The problem I have is as soon as anyone mentions airtightness The plasterers don’t seal the dabbing properly If the D&D is sealed properly There should be no air getting through Using bagged sound coat A gang of two will do three to four houses in a day

Depends where you are in the country, in NE Scotland you can't easily get plasterers. So a parge coat makes sene. For a parge coat, I mixed 1 cement, 3 sand and about 1/5 lime, mix to a double cream thickness. Get a few natural bristle brooms and apply with them. Rub into surface so all pin holes are filled. Plan on a couple of days for two people, depending on house size. When attaching battens I used hybrid sealant in the holes.

Aerogel if its gotta be thin and is a small area like just reveals?

Google triton gas and waterproofing materials, it’s a liquid paint on stuff used for waterproofing, but is also gas tight so good for methane and radon barrier. The company does loads of different products. With regards sticking stuff to icf, I had the SIGA rep come out and he applied primer and tape to our walls that worked really good, but it was far to expensive for the linear metres I had to do.

That sounds plausible enough upgrade to address sagging ceiling. Don’t think it will help with sagging rafters. Best use liberal wood glue and screw fixings to existing timbers and best avoid or at least keep splicing to end 1/4 of spans (defiantly not in centre). To fix properly to existing timbers the spliced timbers would have to be butt jointed and then spliced with a 2m length of timber I would suggest.

I did this. Used 18mm OSB. Worked fine. Airtight paint + airtight sealant to connect to walls that had been parged. Tape might have been easier. We followed the Golcar window positioning. It's much easier to build. Membrane to bottom of trusses. 88mm service cavity for MVHR and wiring on 2nd ceiling, then plasterbaord. It's tricky to detail around the back of conduits from the wall chases into the service void. Here's what I came up with. It made it easy for the membane to be cut back and not interfere with the chase. I used airtight paint. Dilute coat first and then proper layer x2. Yes, you can see the chases above. again a dilute course first. I found lots of leaks here when blower testing. Used airtight silicone to seal. Airtight silicone and paint again. Where cables ran through the ceiling membrane I drilled individual holes in a 300x300mm square of ply and siliconed each wire one by one. I found those grommets expensive. You can make a pretty good seal with airtight tape too. We had a disaster with our "tony tray around the precast concrete slabs. I ended up sealing every room individually . Not ideal. I would use the denby dale detail and timber floors if doing it again. Yes. Hard to find. I bought a passivhaus approved one and it leaked. I would be tempted to use a window with an insulated panel instead of glazing. Don't forget that blockwork is very leaky . I was careful to make sure any walls abutting external walls were sealed within 1m of the external wall Including the tops of the internal walls on the first floor. Building a DIY blowerfan made all the difference in finding leaks. Tested 0.31ACH50 in the end. Do you have a robust detail for the threshold? Re insulation, we have 200mm EPS in the floor. 250mm EPS Beads in the wall and 400mm cellulose in the wall. If we could do it again 300mm EPS floor. 300mm cavity wall. Would have added less than €2k which starts to look like small money considering it will work forever unlike a boiler or heat pump. Maybe mineral wool batts instead of EPS beads. The jury is out. Good luck!

As usual @Russell griffiths beats me to it. I'll need to get up earlier to put one over on him. Just waiting for the right ? moment....... And as usual, he's right. Let me explain. You know how if you ask a random historian to explain (say) why Brissol is so linked to the slave trade, you might well get the response ' Not my specialism' or 'Not my period'. Same with SEs. They need the work, they've got expensive professional insurance, they have some experience - go for it sunshine!. Need to pay the mortgage. Your SE might well have some cursory experience with piles - just enough to do some sensible - over cautious / slightly well-informed / it'll do / work to pay for her partner's new toutou / brogues. In brief, get (a)nother opinion(s). Here's why. Just like you, we had the ground profile done. Just like you dismayed. Just like you inexperienced. Just like you worridtohellabouththecost. Standing on our newly cleared, levelled off site stands a man who's just stepped out of a spanker of a Merc. Trophy Dolly Bird in the passenger seat. Lipstick applicator out, mirror adjusted to suit. Blousy smile. (But nice blouse - suitably immodest and straining at the seams) "Yer maaaate, that'll be £22 grand fer piles: ye'll not get away wi' less " Really? Have you seen our soil profile? "Wa? Ya paid fer a soil profile. 'Ow mooch?" About 2 and a half.... "Mert, ah wood a dun it fer tewundred" Thats interesting. Thank you so much for your time and interest. I really appreciate the way you get straight to the point. Rictus smile. 'Nother glance at trophy bird. Tea and medals. Cue posts to BH. And a slow realisation that with effort and careful research, we can get a sensible, well thought through idea about how to do the job both well and at a reasonable price. A raft can be built in a very wide range of situations. Do the background reading. Hillard has written a paper about it somewhere. I'll try and dig it out. In brief: lots of reading, lots of help on BH lead to Hillard Tanner, and Town and Country Vibro. Have a look at my (now mostly disused blog on BH) And a piling cost of £6500ish. Hillard Tanner's enagement with our problem and his depth knowledge saved more than double his fee. (£2 grandish) Nobody can tell when Refusal (the depth at which there is sufficient resistance in the pile to take the point load plus a safety factor added to the dead load - in our 2.5 times the dead load) will occur. Thats why I was very impressed with TC Vibro. In addition to the soil profile, we (together) dug a deep pit to feel (grab some soil and mash it into lumps) the quality of the soil at a series of depths. (I had a digger in those days ... sob.... ) Refusal occured almost exactly where TC Vibro said it would. Between 3 and 4 meters. Ultimately it's all about risk reduction: reducing the risk to your bank balance. All of the above -loads of hard preparation work- saved roughly £17k. Do the legwork, network, accept no experts answer as definitive - yes even Hillard's. And do come back and test your ideas on BH.

This post is summary of the Principal Designer thread. The purpose of this summary is to assist members and guests decide for themselves how CDM2015 impacts their build project. The summary is offered as is and should not be interpreted as authoritative advice. As is normal in asynchronous online discussion, the thread sometimes changes its focus a little. Where those changes occur, the content has not been summarised. Discussion of this issue is particularly relevant to us because we are a self-build forum, whose members are assumed not to be professional builders, or -in relation to building- have any technical understanding or capability beyond simple DIY . To be clear, the following assumptions are made; · A client is a Domestic Client. The distinction is central to all that follows · The Domestic Client can choose to apply for VAT relief in due course, whereas a Client cannot · The Domestic Client is not engaged, or about to be engaged, in a business related to the build (because they will then be a Client, not a Domestic Client) The thread started with a question about the role of Principal Designer. The examination of that question inevitably lead to discussion about how the role related to other key aspects of the legislation. There was some reference to the history of Health and Safety legislation, but it was pointed out that over time, the general emphasis had not changed. If you qualify for Domestic Client status, then a contractor working for you carries the main responsibility for Health and Safety. It was in the detailed examination of the term ‘responsibility’ that a good deal of discussion arose. Several members agreed that the legislation was poorly drafted for our sector of the market. And in the context of a self-build forum, where many of us will be doing things for the build on our own (DIY) as well as employing contractors, it is easy to see a rich source of confusion. For example, self-builders might be tempted to become involved in the build in a way which implies technical competence and so enhanced H+S responsibility. A strong warning was given to self-builders to avoid becoming involved in technical aspects of the build to the extent that they might be considered ‘ a responsible person’. And that includes the self-builder being trained in a relevant build subject to the extent that he or she might be assumed by the courts to have more responsibility than a Domestic Client would be expected to have. Perhaps the simplest articulation of how CDM responsibilities can be operationalised was in this post (@jamiehamy) ‘… We have only used contractors for the steel frame, lifting in floor beams, ground works/drainage and electrics - and each time I've made it clear that the contractor is responsible for operating safely and I do not dictate how they complete the activities. I don't supervise on site and most certainly do not manage their work or how they work - they have a deliverable and it is their responsibility to complete that. Where required, I offer safety equipment, ask what they need me to provide to work safely and healthily, I find out if they are dependent on me for anything and let them get on with it. Maybe I should do more in writing but I choose reputable contractors and all work is fully invoiced…’ In terms of prosecution for H+S breaches, providing the Domestic Client has fulfilled their duties (not covered in detail in this summary) prosecution is highly unlikely. Domestic Clients should make sure the site is safe and secure, tidy and clear of obvious hazards. There was some discussion based on the meaning of a series of CDM-specific terms; Project Manager, PD, PC, Client, Domestic Client, Business or Business Activity, Contractor, design, designer as well as others. Please refer to the full discussion for a more detailed discussion. But it was convincingly argued (with supporting evidence, and some unevidenced dissention) that a Domestic Client cannot be either a Principal Contractor or Principal Designer. Additionally, there was some discussion of official legal documents related to CDM2015. In summary: be sure to understand the meaning of the term Domestic Client, and to maintain that status throughout the build. Any competent person with whom you have a contract to complete work on your site should be capable of working safely. Offer support to fulfill H+S requirements, but never offer advice or direct work or manage the process. If, after reading this summary you feel you need to, take care to seek advice from more than one reliable, authoritative source. Paying for advice does not guarantee its accuracy or authority. Source url forum.buildhub.org.uk/ipb/topic/2376-principal-designer-role/ Bibliography. HSE (2015), Managing health and safety in construction. Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, HSE Books downloaded 04/05/2017 http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l153.pdf See especially Appendix 6. HSE (2015), How CDM 2015 applies to Domestic Clients Appendix 6, Figure 1, in Managing health and safety in construction. Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. Download the flow chart (from our server) here HandSforDomesticClients.pdf HSE Construction Discussion Forum (accessed 04/05/2017)