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We’ve had no water ingress through the walls or slab. No internal measures at all. The waterproofing we have comes with a 25yr warranty so I’m confident in it doing the job. interestingly the original waterproofing company we spoke to through the architects specified the internal solution that @pocsterhas and obviously works. Our architect was also ok with that solution. But the company that built our basement always used external membrane and so we changed to that. I do find it strange that new regulations don’t allow internal solutions though. As has been said in some situations external just may not be possible.

Thanks . Myself and my architect both agreed at that start that stopping water was difficult, managing it easier . To date ( probably 5 yrs now ) no water ingress has occurred on my diy project .

Has anybody else seen that the old BS from 2009 relating to Basement building has changed to BS8102 in 2022 ? It makes interesting reading and would appear to be quite a change. The onus now appears to be that the ingress of water should be stopped from the outside, and that the fill of any excavation should be left open untill any remedial work to prevent ingress is carried out from the outside. I would appear that the days of letting the water in, and then dealing with it once inside might be over. My own thoughts are that it might now make it more difficult to build basements from materials such as ICF, Blockwork etc. The suggestion seems to be that the trademanship of building basements has always been allowed to be poor, and that water ingress will be dealt with when it gets to the inside of the building. This seems to no longer be acceptable. I think that the cost of having a basement built by a contractor is going to soar due to the new B.S

What is the motivation for switching to an ASHP? There's no benefit for cost. An air to air (A2A) may be different. A single unit will deliver heat at a COP of 5 and an installed cost of £1500. Lifespan 7 years. Say it does 5000kWh/heat/year so £1000 bought in at 30p is £300 per year. £300*7 +£1500 is £5000 for 25000 kWh of heat delivered of 5p/kWh. This compares to an ASHP in the above case of a 7 year cost of £10k plus £2550/year for 17000kwh X 5 or 32p/kWh of delivered heat. Or about 10.5p for the oil boiler. TLDR. Oil costs you 10.5p/kWh ASHP would cost 32p/kWh A2A could cost 5p/kWh to supplement the boiler.

Even the best-insulated hot water tanks lose heat. If they are inside the heated fabric of the building that lost heat goes towards heating the house so it's not wasted at times when you actually want to heat the house. Heat lost from a tank in the eaves is just lost, although maybe not if the tank is relocated into a cupboard that forms part of your new habitable space.

As above will be specified in your SE drawings. Our foundation block needed to have a minimum compression strength of 7N/mm2 and a minimum density of 750kg/mm3 so we chose the Mannok Aircrete 7. (7.5N and 760kg/mm3 )

Obviously have them (main contractor or otherwise) to confirm in writing they will 0% rate the work prior to instructing them. It can be extremely hard to get them to retrospectively remove VAT from an invoice, and if it's for labour or professional services (anything other than materials) there's no HMRC reclaim process

The type of block should be on your drawings

If it’s on the planning Wood burner fencing Landscaping etc If your charged vat you can claim it Just make sure the site address or yours is on it

Take a read of the self build vat forum https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/forum/103-self-build-vat-community-infrastructure-levy-cil-s106-tax/

Turned a bad day into a good day, thank you Thor! That's will definitely save us some monies

Your builder is irrelevant! His materials and labour will be zero rated. Even if you got someone else in to do work outside of you main contractor they would zero rate any materials and labour. Separate to that is anything you’ve bought that is valid can have the VAT claimed back.

Thanks! I’ve tried but the country is so backwards, the architect laughed at me when I told him I wanted to put in insulation. We used high density polystyrene boards. re kitchens, they have advanced

If it’s for the build you can claim the VAT back if it’s eligible

I didn't know it was ever a principle for a new basement. . Like letting a dam or swimming pool leak but catching the water! It's obvious, but maybe not to the academics changing the codes. I think I've only done one basement, and I had no thought of including a sump, 'just in case'.

Absolutely correct! But since ours is a new build we’ve heavily insulated our house and used bricks for the internal skin. In summer we have ceiling fans, house is very well ventilated and will use supplement with the Air Conditioners. Yup electricity bills are extortionate, which is why we went for UFH in the winter opposed to the air heating.

Made mine now too. It's what we do on bh, saving the nation millions, £100 at a time.

Sounds OK for a detached newbuild, but can't see it working on a tight urban site or a retrofit where there is no access to the outside. And, having seen a neighbour battle with builders for years before eventually having to pay another to fix the problem (it was to make additional space for his growing family - the kids had left home by the time it was fixed) I'd add internal drainage as a precaution anyway.

I don't know about soaring prices as we had ours built from reinforced waterproof concrete with external waterproof membrane so water stopped externally. so exactly the same as it would be done under the new regulations. seems like these new regulations are to stop cowboys like @pocster doing it DIY style? 😉

If possible I would close the account and have the refund paid into my bank account.

@saveasteading OMG yes yes yes. That way concrete can be thicker and can go with that which will save money and painting in epoxy paint will be cheaper than tiles. Made my day 😃😃😃😃

There are pros and cons to a buffer, with a little more info we can help you identify them. 14kW is a relatively large heat pump for a new build, has this been purchased already? How much energy do your energy loss calcs suggest is required to keep the temp stable in the house on a cold day? What heat emitters are planned and what flow temp is the system designed for? What size of UVC have you opted for and what occupancy level is the system designed for. Do you have space for a large buffer, say, up to 200l? Re. Solar Thermal, it is likely better to go with Solar PV with a diverter to an immersion, unless you are restricted on roof space.

I've 15mm PB pipe run in 25mm electrical conduit for protection. I often get my lad to 3D print spheres, cones etc to go on the end of cables. Makes it easier to push through corrugated duct. A cut down silicone tube nozzle, slipped over the cable is something else I use.

Or concrete then epoxy paint, that is done in most commercial garages.

My parents had issues in their previous flat in Scotland with sound traveling between the floors. The builder just said that they met the specification. Again though It seemed like they didn't have to actually test individual homes. I think I posted a link before to the British Gypsum Whitebook which gives the specifications for all kinds of partitions. https://www.gyproc.ie/sites/default/files/Gyproc White Book Feb 2021.pdf Timber joist ceiling inför starts on p427. This is also useful - see p8. https://www.rockwool.com/syssiteassets/rw-uk/downloads/regulations/technical-guidebook-domestic-section-5---noise---scotland.pdf I suspect that you have timber i-joist floors. This is what our old cala house had.To achieve 43dB reduction you need 12.5mm acoustic plasterboard plus 100mm of rock wool. Alternatively you could double board the ceiling. Thus I would check that your ceiling is to this spec. When I Googled this I saw a thing fromEgger suggesting that you could achieve 44dB with their flooring, no insulation and 15mm acoustic plasterboard to save money. It may be that you have something like this. The problem with no insulation will be, in particular, that you will hear water in any pipes in the floors and walls. The other way that sound travels is even when the specification is correct, builders just drill and knock holes all over the place to get pipes and cables through. You may find that by taping or foaming up any holes like this you will considerably reduce noise transmission. This is usually the main way that noise travels.

No problem. Buildhub is an invaluable resource for the self-builder and indeed anyone doing anything to their house. It is pretty likely most questions you have will already have been asked and answered so use the search function. A top tip is to use google to search the forum as it can return better results. There are a few books that are useful and worth getting: Self-Build Simplified by Barry Sutcliffe - walks you through all main things to think about The House Builders Bible by Mark Brinkley - This is a more general book covering a wide array of items including renovations and extensions.

Wellcome to the forum. Despite being a tradesman for 40 plus years I’ve still learnt loads from here. It’s such a great group full of knowledge. The search button is invaluable.

Hi @JennyF and welcome to this forum. We too are in the Scottish Borders having been through the "process" ourselves some 4 - 5 years ago. There are also many other self builders in the area, some frequent this forum others don't. Their loss as this is certainly the place to share ones experiences as well as gain vital advice and guidance on a range of subjects. Treat the comments like a general chat with friends in a pub - some comments will be more valueable than others and there will be a healthy mix of honesty and humour, so hold on tight, enjoy and ask away!

Oops

I'm sure SWMBO will appreciate it.