Roz

About 60mm in the barn section. Originally our SE had specified 52mm kingspan insulated plasterboard fixed to galvanised steel battens. I guess this would give it a bit of an air gap. But I was worried about the joints. But then I was reading about the 'warm batten' method specifically in relation to insulating solid stone walls. We could do 20mm insulation, 20mm battens with insulation between, plasterboard. Realistically this would be 25mm insulation, 25mm battens with insulation between as I can't seem to find 20mm boards of insulation. We were planning to tape all of the joints of the insulation. But could fit VCL. Does it go behind the plasterboard? That would be fine.

Is the VCL not included on foil faced insulation?

We can't really afford to lose the space by putting in a void behind the insulation... It sounds like you were originally going to do something similar to us @Cpd but with an extra layer of insulation on top. Unless you mean you were going to have a void too, as I see you mentioned it was a 'vented void'

Yes has to be internal insulation ? glad you’re having a good weekend

I'm not completely sure about this is the website I originally was reading about it on seems to be down. I'm not sure if the PUR is just held in place once the battens are up. No air gap though!

For our granite walled barn conversion, I had read about the 'warm batten' method of insulating. Whereby you have 500mm granite wall, Celotex or similar, foamed and taped at joints, creating one large sheet across walls. Timber battens over the insulation. More insulation and services between the battens. Plasterboard. Skim The idea being that it's more airtight than e.g. using insulated plasterboard and you have less cold bridging. (I recognise the breathability issue with using celotex or similar in our barn conversion, but we do not have the space for a natural insulation, so it's not going to happen unfortunately.) Does anyone have any thoughts on this method vs insulated plasterboard?

Yes it does need a smart meter, which seems to be a good idea anyway (?) I've heard that about their comms before. I haven't received any 'love and peace' that I've noticed though. However, I do think they're quite open about their tariffs. I asked for evidence of the agile rate from the last 12 months in my part of the country and they send me a huge spreadsheet really quickly with all the information I needed to figure out what my local averages would have been. So I was quite pleased with that. Plus I like how flexible it is so you can switch back to regular tariff if you want to. I'm not sure how many other energy providers offer this.

Through octopus energy you can sign up to their Agile rate, which is a little like E7 and E10 but varies more. If you don't like it you can just switch to a regular rate. It doesn't require a different meter apparently so you're not stuck with either one. We're going to do this and just see how it goes.

The guy doing our SAP calcs pointed me in the direction of Superfoil. Space is at a premium, this actually doesn't save us any space due to the batten voids, compared to just using kingspan, but it looks a bit easier to lay, and I think it might be cheaper per metre but I need to work that out. I previously thought you couldn't use it on its own and it had to go with another form of insulation, but that doesn't seem to be the case according to the superfoil website. I also like that it's breathable and apparently means there won't be condensation in our old 500mm thick walled granite barn. However, I have read on here before that many of you think it's 'snake oil'. Is that still the case or has anything changed? Why is it that this opinion is held? Does anyone disagree?

I like this programme . You seem to get free architectural services... but the designs come in too expensive for most of the budgets. This might have gotten better in series 2 maybe

My 'best price' has come from one of the guys using the estimating service. This guy didn't break down the costs as I had asked so would be the one I would need to persuade to break them down ( I already asked him to do it, and he said he would, but then he just sent me a half break down). My 'best feeling' is coming from the one that didn't use an estimator and went to his merchants and asked for prices. He's always replied to my messages straight away and happy to answer questions as I need them. However, he costs more. However... I would feel more confident that he wouldn't hike is prices. The first one thinks the job will take 6 weeks, the second thinks 12 weeks. If I go with the latter I think I'm going to want to ask him to do it labour only, as he's not VAT registered. He's broken his costs down for me as I originally asked, so I know how much it should be in theory. But i don't want to piss him off...

They're all quotes "we are pleased to submit the following quotation" etc. So the price should stand regardless of weather, suggested timing etc? If I wasn't to change anything.

1) I've managed to get 3 quotes in for getting our project to watertight. 2 have used an 'estimating programme' and one has gone to various suppliers and got costs for things. Any thoughts on difference between two? 2) Secondly, how does it work if a job takes longer than they've estimated? The estimating service suggests a certain number of days for certain things, what if it takes longer? Do I pay more? The guy who hasn't used the estimating service seems more of the mindset that he'll just do it for the quoted amount even if it takes longer. 3) What happens if its not that they have estimated incorrectly but something else gets in the way like it rains? 4) Lastly, should I feel comfortable to ask them to break the quote down as much as I want them to? I asked them to put in a spreadsheet so I can easily compare, but 2 of them didn't as they used the estimating service. I don't mind about one as I'm not interested in it, but the other is a good price it seems but I feel uneasy not having the breakdown I was looking for, which was into separate jobs and in materials and labour. He's broken it into sections, so foundations, slab, wall erect, above ground floors, roof erect, etc. Mine's a bit more detailed, probably double the sections, and in material and labour.

If it helps, our electricity quote is similar (£3.5k) despite them not doing any excavations, just laying cable in a pre excavated trench.

@iSelfBuild Can you share the supplier? We're after a modern cut string and I think stair box was the cheapest we have found so far.

This is what I was wondering - how would they know when it became a dwelling. We put in for a name change for our barn with the council which was accepted, but it's still got it's 'land' name on the land registry - plus there are two entries for it. I tried to see whether there was any information that says it's a dwelling or land but couldn't get any more info. I think they just suggested it as a possibility, but I can't seem to find out whether it's the case or not We're planning to get a Professional consultant's Certificate instead of warranty but yes, hopefully that will be sufficient for most lenders.

We're financing our build through 'gifts' from family that we intend to pay back by remortgaging once the place is mortgageable. One broker we spoke to originally mentioned that usually a bank would want you to have owned the property for 6 months before remortgaging. We have already owned the land this long, but the mortgage broker then mentioned that they might want the property to have been 'registered' as a dwelling for 6 months. Anyone come up against this? Or not, with remortgaging.

wow, how long did it take you to dig that by hand?

ah " The only conditions are that you agree not to move or interfere with the system for a duration of 7 years from the date of install."

that's interesting newhome. We might sell within 7 years (who knows) and will definitely remortgage once the place is in the right condition. I figured that either this £25 would transfer for a few years (this wouldn't put me off as a buyer) or we would continue to pay it for the remainder of the 7 years (this wouldn't really botherme either, as it saves us from paying up front). What were the problems that solar panels brought on similar schemes? Just these or more complicated? I figured if they went bust then we'd own the unit as it would be at our house and cant see them wanting to remove it, but I can ask them what would happen in those cases.

our place is pretty small so I'd be surprised if it was too small but will check. Yes so I need to know if there's a warranty that applied, good point.

I think we would never get RHI anyway as wouldnt be able to afford an accredited installation and unit. So that's not too much of an issue for us.

seems the same as this web page: http://www.gfsd.co.uk/copy-of-free-heating-ashp and this: http://www.ecothermosolutions.co.uk/heat-pumps.html

Does this seem a legitimate way of getting an ASHP? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FREE-LG-Air-Source-Heat-Pump-Supplied-Installed-Pay-Just-25-Per-Month/254052998032?_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D55149%26meid%3D9d7364fc30d94196a1c922fc8c3a4612%26pid%3D101006%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26%26itm%3D254052998032&_trksid=p2045573.c101006.m3226 It says £25 per month for 7 years... which is £2100 apparently including fitting and 'maitenance' Having no upfront cost would be pretty tempting for us, but seems like a low overall price?

I was wondering how difficult it would be to DIY... especially as the first installation quote we had was £3000, but that did include soakaway. I think I'd get confused about what level the plant had to be in order to receive and output the waste. How much does that amount of concrete cost for just having to put it at the base? I quick googled the Conder 6 and it came up at £1565 ex vat for the unit. We don't have our own digger though!