AD1

It's going over a Block and Beam floor before screed.

Hi, I've managed to get my hands on around 10-15 sheets of 150mm EPS, Stylite EPS70. I was planning on using PIR for my ground floor insulation and roof so not sure how to use it up. Could I insulate floors in some rooms with EPS in the cooler rooms, ie Utility and the the rest in PIR? is there any problems with doing this? I understand the heat loss will be more through the EPS. Or, in-between floors as a sound insulation? Any suggestions welcomed .. AD

I was initially going to do a block and beam first floor but decided to change for a number of reasons but mainly expense. The extra cost of suspended ceilings, PIR insulation, underfloor heating, screed and the B&B itself wasn't worth the extra cost for us. We liked the idea of UFH upstairs, particularly in the bathrooms but in a well insulated house the chances of actually using it is unlikely, unless you like your bedrooms at 22 degrees. We opted for electric UFH in bathrooms as a comfort. I wanted that solid feel of the B&B and so as a compromise I chose to use larger 300mm eco-joists and spaced them at 400mm centres. Using 22mm T&G flooring glued and screwed, the floor is rock solid. Use resilient bars and acoustic insulation to prevent sound transmission. Also, metal webbed joists are ideal for running services through. The beams can cause a thermal bridge so another reason we went for joists. We did a 'Tony Tray' around the joist ends within the blockwork. I house was piled foundation and required an additional 4 piles to support a B&B FF, another thing to consider. AD

The cost of piling quoted was £25,000. (Ended up at £34k with the overspend). That is 34 x 220mm steel case driven piles, construction of ground beam using Pecafill shuttering, concrete and steel reinforcement. Calculations and designed by the contractor and covered by their insurance. All zero rated. Comparing that to 2m deep strip foundations, we would be paying for: - Design and Calcs - Setting out - Machine and driver hire - Muck away - Concrete - Reinforcement Sorry I don't have exact figures for the above but at the time my builder did a rough calculation on cost and suggested it would worth going with the piling contractor as a package. At this point I assumed refusal would be at 3m. The piling is a risk as there is no definitive way to know when the piles are deep enough, so when looking at piling contractors be sure to know what depth is quoted for and the additional cost to go deeper. I've heard some horror stories of piles going down 30m! What I did learn is that piles are not driven until they stop. They are driven to a pre-determined level of resistance. Unless they hit rock they can keep going until that resistance is reached. AD

Be aware that if you go for piling these can go much deeper than the survey refusal depth. My ground investigation stated refusal at 2.6m, piling contractor quoted to 3m, most went between 7m and 9m! They charge per linear meter over quoted depth at a cost of £65 per meter for us, we overspent on the piling by £9k! Bitter pill to swallow but knowing how much concrete and steel went in the ground safe to say it isn't going anywhere!! We did have the option of 2m deep strip foundation but the cost of getting rid of the spoil meant we just went with piling. Ours is also 'made ground' but annoyingly, the plot next door 3m from our garage doesn't require piling and they're using a slab foundation. AD

Exactly as above, its the only escape route from the upper floors hence the fire doors. We definitely want the double doors into the lounge and so looking like I'll have to dig deep and buy the fire rated pocket door system. Any recommendations on brands? Eclisse is the one I have been looking at at nearly £1k excluding any doors! AD

The architect has specified FD30 due to the hallway being a vaulted ceiling over 3 floors. They're standard 762 doors. We want to arrange the lounge with two sofas facing each other but concerned the doors will be too close.

I'm looking at a double pocket door system for my lounge but due to the doorway joining the hallway with vaulted ceiling these need to be FD30. The fire rated pocket door system I've found are a bit pricey and seem to be exactly the same with intumescent strips. Has anyone found a cheaper/alternate solution to getting pocket doors passed building regs? AD

We went with Weru. They're the leading brand in Germany and have a showroom in Blackpool. Worth a look if you want quality..

Those numbers are crazy! I had some high prices come back when I was at the same stage as yourself and quickly found out that getting prices this early ends up with suppliers covering there backside with material prices being so volatile. I would suggest sending your plans of to estimators online and see what they come back with. Its probably the best £200 you'll spend at this stage. Give as much detail as you can. Then you can do your own costings, contact suppliers and get your own prices. Its really the only way to cost things accurately without lining QS and Merchants pockets.. AD

Anyone? ..

Hi Ryan, Nice to see more self builders in the Northeast! First off you need to establish your budget. When you know this you can work backwards, decide on generally what size house you wish to build and to what specification. Knowing this you can then subtract this from your budget and this gives a ball park figure on what budget you have for land. Then get searching!! Finding the right plot will be the hardest part and I would suggest looking for a plot that already has at least outline permission. Gaining planning permission from scratch can be a very long and expensive process, although not impossible. Ideally, land that already has services provided/nearby is favourable. You will be looking at anything from £1500 to £2500 per square meter for a turnkey project - this is the most expensive way of selfbuilding and completely depends on what you want builders to do and to what specification. Do you need a builder to decorate? Jobs like these can be easy ways to save money. I would suggest you speak to some of your local builders merchants. They will have contacts for builders and architects. Your architect should be able deal with planning side of things. Speak to a mortgage advisor if your requiring a mortgage and this will give you a good baseline on what you can afford. Hope this helps, AD

When it comes the water supplies I intend to install a manifold system, with pipe runs to each outlet to reduce the amount fittings in the floor/ceiling space. I am using an MCS installer for our ASHP, UFH, UVC and upstairs Rads installation. They are wanting to install the rads on a traditional branch system with elbows/tee's within the floor/ceiling void. Has anyone managed to install their heating system without using fittings in floor voids? and/or what options do I have? AD

I'll make sure I'm on site at this point .. Although, what should I be looking out for? Surely it's a very simple process, brick upto wall plate, lay the VCL on top, joists on, blocks in between and 1 course above joists, lap membrane over the top and continue with blockwork? I'll then later seal both ends to the internal blockwork. How can they mess that up? Thanks for the recommendation on Intello, before I seen that post I was looking at Tyvek Housewrap, what's the opinion on using this? AD

My build has started and bricklayers are on site, finally! For info it's a standard brick/block build and joists are 300mm posi @ 400 centres. I've been discussing with the builder the Tony Tray idea but need a few things clearing up; - Does the membrane only need to be fitted on the walls that the joists penetrate? I've attached an image of the joist layout. - Which brand VCL membrane is best and does this need to be bonded to the wall plate before joists are installed? Thanks, AD