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Welcome. We're on a similar journey. If there's one thing I wish we did sooner, whilst the house was back to brick, it's wall insulation. Good luck with the project!

We used 150mm round posts, about a metre under ground and 2m above for the tall ones, about 900mm above and 600mm below ground for the short ones. Below ground is set in concrete. Membrane is used at back off the posts, allow water out and keep soil from washing out.

We're the same. Our whole ethos was "how do we build a house that's big enough but without looking like showy tw*ts? Think we did ok.

I’ve been insulating a dormer window. joiner opened up the inside cheeks to let me have access to trusses etc. got 1 full sheet cut up and fitted and foamed in yesterday. Not finished yet but laser thermometer showed 3 degree difference on the internal wall that was insulted and the next section that hasn’t been done yet.

I go for a daily coffee for human interaction. Living alone is great, but going days without interactions can be quite dangerous health-wise. A Macdonald's Single Cheeseburger is only £1/kWh. I stop for two on the way back from my mother's on the weekends. Small treats are quite important in life, the cheaper they are, the better IMO.

I might have said this before. Knock down and rebuild (i'll get my coat)

Was it the same company who cast the slab (& didn’t leave much dpm free for lapping) as have started the blockwork? For that little amount of work I’d tell them to take it down,tape & lap some dpm in & rebuild. There’s only about £200 worth of work there. Also,are they using wall starter kits where the blockwork meets existing? I’d expect to see it poking out the top of what’s built. Have the cut a slot in the existing wall to slide a vertical dpc into where the new cavity meets existing? Otherwise you have an external wall becoming internal with potential for penetrating damp.

A wetroom rather than bathroom. Already (because of arthritis) I can't get into or out of a bath without a crane Pain in the arse that. A bum-flushing loo: yep, can't wipe my own Botticelli either ... pain in the arse that ...😒

That is a very real possibility here, in the past we have had days long power cuts in winter storms with power lines down, and prolonged sub zero temperatures are common here in winter. I will keep my antifreeze.

What kind of appeal?, after 4 attempts at planning I appealed to the Secretary of State and they found in my favour saying the planners were not abiding by their own policies (and I have to drive to get anywhere!).

The trouble is if you sold to travellers to pi$$ the neighbours off, the council would privately love it. If like here they have an obligation to provide sites for so many pitches. The reality seems to be one of the caravan club fraternity buys the land, convinces the council it's a legitimate site for travellers then rents the places to immigrants at extortionate rates. Even sets their own leccy and bottled gas rates. Council don't give a sh!t as they've ticked box.

Maybe try the PD route and appeal - if I recall correctly, the building needed to have been used for agriculture up to 2013 or so if that works for you.

Best to go AIM where possible: Airtight, insulation and Mechanical ventilation if you can without loosing the heart of your build. Good luck. M

Hi @fletcher5555 Good luck with your project. Ask plenty, learn lots, save time/money. Marvin.

It’s a render house… if you have timber frame and render you will need block to hold the render. Render or exterior timber cladding, you will struggle to get a self build mortgage. If it is more than 40% lightweight, then I don’t think there’s any, none for render on board. I mean the warranty for the whole house, so this makes specification impossible. You can only get individual products. If you would like home insurance, then you will need a brokered product, which is not the end of the world but awkward. Most people like to just get it online. You could do the dormer cheeks in render on board though. Steel above the window. But you will need block more than 40%

Can’t help I’m afraid, faced similar issues 20 years ago on a site, I sold for a profit so no drama, I felt like Inviting the traveller/gypsey community to stay for a while… they would get planning…

If by building warranty you mean building warrant then you don't need block on the outside. If you mean structural warranty then again, you can get one with exterior timber cladding on the timber frame.

Good point.. but remember that you could be weakening the existing house wall in terms of horizontal stability if you cut it. I would check with the designer before you do this. @jimal1969 where the new wall interfaces with the existing rear wall looks like it is in a pretty sheltered spot so less risk of driving rain causing a damp problem. I would try all other options before cutting the existing brick first. I would imagine that you are going to strap the existing rear elevation wall and line with insulated plasterboard anyway so the any occasional increase in mosture is not going to pose much risk. If you are just going to plaster onto the existing brick then.. could be an issue for condensation and so on. In terms of you DPM. Are putting solid insulation on the slab with screed or some kind of floating floor? You usually need some perimeter insulation vertically so should be able to cobble up something with tapes and some extra DPM / DPC to protect everything from the masonry below DPC level. Anyway you are now into spring.. good building weather.. what more could you ask.

Looks similar to ours at work. After a few years it broke and would only change over 1 way. Got new one and it is fine.

If you have the empty bottle on the ‘wrong’ side with the changeover set to the ‘then wrong’ side, you won’t get gas coming through. So long since I did an LPG install I cannot remember how these operate / what can go wrong. Have you got a hob / fire you can check for gas coming out of? You may well have gas available and not know it.

I just used Acoustic Insulation, the rockwool r45 stuff in the stud walls and between floors. Standard plasterboard, upstairs also is double decked, so 18mm OSB and then 22mm chipboard on top. That was down to a screw up by me. Carpet upstairs too. Anyhow, very little noise transfer compared to any other house we have owned so well chuffed

Weight of bottles seem to suggest they are full? Which appliances have you checked to ascertain is gas is coming through, or not?

The concrete stairs in our ICF build were poured the same day they poured the concrete for the first floor. I thought we were going to need precast stairs, but when I discussed this with our ICF supplier, they said they would build the form work and cast the stairs in situ. This worked out very well. Their structural engineer did the calculations and design too. We were already using their EPS floorboard product for the first floor, so this already required a concrete pour. If you are planning on having a concrete staircase make sure the structural engineer designing the foundation is aware of this.

So less that 2 Costa Coffees then. Energy is really still quite cheap. A double quarter pounder costs £4.39 and only has 0.86 kWh in it.

Yes, I was proposing setting it a few cm lower so that if necessary you could pack above it with a bit of timber.

In all seriousness, this is the problem facing a LOT of UK home owners, they can't afford to heat the house, they can't afford the often drastic renovations to properly insulate it and they can't afford to knock down and rebuild. The only suggestion I can make is sell it NOW and buy something with a MUCH better EPC. I am convinced that at some point houses with a poor EPC rating will be worth less than one with a good EPC to reflect the high cost of heating or high cost of works needed. And I would not want to be the one owning a house with a poor EPC when that market shift happens. I think they call this staying ahead of the game?

I'd first identify the high point on those walls. Foam fill the gaps and or wedge foam packing down there. Get some big, long clamps. Clamp long boards either side and concrete level. I squared all my bathroom walls off by shuttering / casting. Same deal. Where your walls are a bit more wiggly you'll need to gun foam the gaps and clean it off afterwards.

Now we know it's 2 walls out and a flat roof from the post above, then fitting it lower might mean it's too low for the door. It needs to be thought about, and at least sketched with door height, beam height, roof height and roof construction.

Fit it lower than nessecary? You can always build the hight up or pack it up. Can't removed material from it or lower it easily.

Doing something that needs a steel beam without detailed plans or a tape measure seems a recipe for failure? At least provide some photos and a better description.

Low surface temperature radiator / cover

Got a couple of HIVE cameras in my Dad's place. One in the lounge and one in the kitchen. Can keep an eye on him via the phone.

Has this subject come up because you feel you need to appease the planners, or because you really want it yourself? I can't recall any planning permission being approved/rejected solely because of 'eco-design'. It is always more eco-friendly not to build at all. It could feasibly swing a marginal decision I suppose, but at great expense, and limiting the design options. You are also right that straw/ hemp/ lime are things that appeal, because they sound natural, and hence could appeal to non-experts such as councillors and planners (who are not technical people). Hence if you want to go with straw, the pitch is easy. If you don't want to go with straw then you sell whatever you do choose on its merits. That takes knowledge, research and presentation skill , but it is interesting, satisfying, and helps you tweak your project even more to practical and realistic carbon reduction. 'Use less stuff' is my mantra, but not much understood by the professions. Also build in that an efficiently built building that is in use and has adapted to changing lifestyles after 100 years is a success, and more sustainable than one made of trendy materials that lasts 50 years.

Stair lift is even better. Last weekend my Mother made herself a midnight snack, without waking me up. Brilliant. A good idea from a fire safety perspective, a thumb turn internally would have been best in that case. Sister has been teaching her to lock doors this week. Tieing key to door handle helps. They know where it is, can't drop it on floor, and hopefully remember to take it out of lock. We have a key safe outside. Written the number on a bit of paper and taped it to a back window. Then anyone can get in if they need to, once we tell them which window to look at.

A good idea from a fire safety perspective, a thumb turn internally would have been best in that case. Double handrails on the stairs buy people a couple of more years upstairs.

Congrats and welcome. Plenty of ways to build with straw. If you can afford it don't be put off. https://passivehouseplus.ie/magazine/new-build/deep-green-passive-house-defies-all-weather https://passivehouseplus.ie/magazine/new-build/timber-straw-passive-house-is-a-world-first https://passivehouseplus.ie/magazine/new-build/norfolk-straw-bale-cottage-aims-for-passive This phrase has been much abused by various peddlers of gimmicks unfortunately. If you can separate it into quantifiable embodied carbon in the building and carbon use in occupation you're onto a winner. Good luck!

Always thought straw bales as a wall was silly and a bit of a Grand Designs gimmick. It’s hard to get insurance and the wall is too thick. That’s really cool though I admire your ambition, also look out for wolves huffing and puffing.

Welcome. Especially so to someone from my clan's own county. As @SteamyTea hints, 'eco' is a tricky adjective. But do not be put off from your determination by the dismissive comments about planners above. Being seen to make an effort in ecological terms is no bad thing: even if there's a range of opinion about what that actually means. It forms part of the mood in which planners make decisions. Our architect knew that our planners were very keen on ecologically sensitive design. And while the arguments presented above are technically correct, the micropolitics of an application matters. While discussing our application in a In a public forum, one local councillor openly said that; "The reason this application will be accepted is because of its eco-credentials" I ignored the comment at the time. There's no way of weighing the accuracy of the remark. Except that it was made. As to digging a test pit..... Get the test pit specification. Hire a digger. Enjoy making your own. Great fun. Good luck Ian

Welcome What do you actually mean by that, there is no real definition. Cast concrete, steel reinforcement with aluminium window frames can be Eco, as long as you clad it in timber and put a PV module on the roof. And make sure the drive is water permeable, don't want the Rangerover wheels getting wet.

Can be very different to here. The challenge with the British climate is dampness. All year, never drying out dampness, never hot nor cold enough to kill the bugs off, so that rots and moulds can thrive. That would be my worry re straw. And do any farmers use straw buildings to protect even their tractors? I don't say don't, and I realise I seem very negative, but I would want evidence of a long-term success in UK climate. Watch out for the Ayrshire cows eating your house. As ProDave says, the planners don't care: it is not in their remit. As I say, there are other ways to do sustainable construction, without gimmicks. Cement is bad, yes I know, but use lime in ground improvement and masonry. Use reclaimed materials. Most of all, use a good designer, yourself included, who does not give you cautious designs using more material than is necessary. Basically use less stuff, by efficient design. Timber building with timber cladding and timber fibre insulation? Fleece insulation if you can afford it. On lime improved ground, with locally reclaimed aggregates, and lime instead of concrete where you can? All drainage to soakaway. ASHP and solar. And keep us informed please.

I would AAV 2 internally and one external to keep BCO happy. Usually pick the one least visible for external. These are decent ones - better than the Floplast ones https://www.screwfix.com/p/mcalpine-vp100e-push-fit-air-admittance-valve/236HP

50 years? Anyone going through the blood, sweat and tears of building a house surely wants it to last for generations, not decades!

Plug sockets half way up the wall. plan where you would mount handrails in advance. wheel chair width doors. its literally endless. where my nan lived the window openers were on wall mounted gearboxes so you didn't have to reach the windows to open them.

I'll happily have it in my 'back garden' (or at least a hill I can see from my back garden) Not many people living in Purbeck. Tyneham Village village is deserted. The ridgeway hill continues on to the West between Weymouth and Dorchester. Miles of lovely deserted hilltop.

Not sure if I should be tendering a lady's garden at my age.

Yes she was. 93 this coming Wednesday. May Aunt, who was blind, fell between the bed and the wall. In trying to get herself up, she pulled on the bedside table, toppling it over and wedging that between herself and the wall as well. My parents were due to visit the next day, but as they were passing, they decided to call in. Probably bought her a few more years life. My boss has an old Father and for some reason had a feeling that at 10 PM, should just pop around. His Father had collapsed on the kitchen floor. Not a problem, son has a key. Except, his Father had left keys in the door locks, so that was useless. Could not find anything to safely break a window with, so called the emergency services. They forced a window and got in. So doors that can ALWAYS be opened from outside is worth considering.

I guess it's Mother's Day. Was your Mother a young girl in WWII by any chance? I have to do something about my Mother's bedroom - her bed is close to a radiator, a non-obvious danger but the worry is that falling in the gap and not being able to get up could be catastrophic. She was school age in WWII and is quite hardy. I do notice however that she doesn't have much time for 'make do and mend' I think that generation had enough of that in the post-war years.

Just 'learning on the job' with my Mother. It is really difficult to know what to do, a walk in shower, with a level floor (wet room) is necessary, them may sure it is large enough for a seat, controls are reachable from that seat. Lavatories need to be higher, and if doorways can be wider, or at least a 'straight line' into and out of them, that helps. Remote control light switches, but make sure you can override them manually and you have plenty of pre-programed controllers. An oven with a drop down door, an induction hob (as it is not very hot) after use, taps that are easy to use, without looking like industrial ones. And a very good chair. One thing I have found is that old ladies can be quite determined and are happy to get on with it, it an amazing manner. Considering my Mother was sent home from hospital 'to dies within a week to 10 days' after a couple of strokes and a hip replacement, 5 months on, she is trotting about and starting to look after herself again. Just this morning, as I took her a mug of tea, she said that she had to get up during the night to wee. I said that is a victory, not a hindrance. She agreed.

Stairs, lips, anything you need to stretch to reach (windows, cupboards etc), anything too low (w/c), anything you need to step over/into (baths)

Our Rationel doors have "level threshold" entrances that actually means a step of no more than 15mm. But Rarionel did not do a level threshold sliding door. the step is mot much bigger and not a trip hazard but would not meet building regs as a primary entrance.