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@JSHarris I hope you don't mind me asking but I was wondering what solar panels you've used, they compliment your roof very well.

Thanks for all of your comments, it's these insights that I come here for. I hadn't actually considered the multiple connections before and now that its been highlighted, it does sound like a potential ball ache somewhere in the future!

@recoveringacademic Well yes, £50k minus the cost of slates/ tiles including fitting and also whatever outlay my integrated solar panels and associated costs run to.

Hi all, I was wondering if any of you have come across these solar tiles before? http://www.soleccosolar.com I saw them at the Homebuilding show at the NEC. They appear to be some kind of solar silicone matt stuck on to what looks to be a Marley Eternit Modern Interlocking Concrete tile. Essentially you can have as many or as few as you need to make up your solar requirement. I've spoken to them and had a ballpark quote, if I do my entire south facing roof (200m2) with them, I'll end up with 30Kw of solar for just over £50k. Its important to note that this is the cost with the system installed including Solar Inverter and all cabling etc. They don't do a supply only which is a shame. What are your thoughts? I'm still looking in to the costs of tiling the roof with slates and integrated solar panels as @JSHarris did.

Just so that I'm getting this right, I can use a large array of solar panels in place of a roof covering (EDPM etc.) I've never actually seen a solar roof take up the entire roof, normally its bordered by normal roof tiles. I'll have to look through @JSHarris blog in more depth.

@Ferdinand Mounting the solar panel on the annexe is an interesting idea, I'd not thought of it since the main building has a much larger roof area. If it's possibly it would certainly be easier to maintain and would most likely save me costs of having integrated panels in the main roof. Do you know if there is a solar panel that could double up as a roof panel so that I could forgo another roofing solution or am I making this trickier than it needs to be?

@Nickfromwales There are 6 adults and 3 kids, kids are still young so could possibly 1 more? This is the forever house so cost over the long term is important, but so is being able to get it done in the first place!

Hi, I'm not entirely sure if this post belongs here but there are several components that I think I should consider as part of one solution: Heating and Hot Water. You may be familiar with my project from the introductions forum but I'll present you with my circumstances in any case. I currently have a Combi Boiler heating our traditionally constructed 2700sq.ft bungalow and providing hot water to 2 showers (right now we use 14000 kWh Electricity and 48907 kWh Gas per annum!). We will be updating the current building with thicker loft insulation and better windows, but will still use rads to heat this portion of the house when we complete the renovation. The new part of the house will add around 6000sq.ft and will be built to much better u values using ICF walls and SIPS roof. Here's where I'm confused, I don't know what the best system will be that can provide loads of hot water (7 showers), heat UFH in the new part and also heat the rads in the old part. I'm further confused by mhrv, I've heard this is a necessity in ICF homes, but then heard the speaker at the homebuilding show at NEC state that they're pointless for homes over a certain size. I'm open to installing an ASHP but I'm not sure whether it's necessary or even beneficial when I have the option of mains gas. Lastly, I've a good size roof pointing SE without any shading to speak of so we could potentially generate a considerable amount electricity, but I would have to consider the regulations of having a system over 4kWh and the costs associated, also factoring potential battery storage over and above Sunamp if this too makes sense to use. I don't have a clue where the feed in tariff comes in to all this! There will also be a detached annexe of around 800sq.ft and we will most likely go with UFH and 1 shower, I'm not sure how this should be incorporated in to the overall scheme or whether I should treat it separate. I know its probably a good idea to speak with an energy solutions firm and will most likely speak with Stratford Energy Solutions who have been recommended to me, however, I also know that they may have commercial interests that don't take in to account all of the factors we self builders consider.

This is an interesting idea, does anyone have experience with cemboard and do you think it could work as an interior wall finish?

@Ferdinand Thanks for your detailed reply. All of your points are well made and great advice, but we have already considered them. On the planning angle, our site is restricted to only ever being allowed to have one dwelling, ancillary buildings are fine, but can not be sold off etc. I have met with LPA and was advised they had no real concerns with my proposal and encouraged me to submit the plans for full approval. The existing foundations have already been granted full planning for 1.5 storeys. Regarding the legalities and complexities of living together, who owns what etc, It's quite difficult to go in to the details, but essentially, we all pay in equally and are happy to help each other in times of need. There are no formal contracts to us living together and no one owns more or less than any other, if for any reason one party or other decides they no longer wish to exist in this environment, then we will make suitable arrangements, but this is something we are all committed to and have discussed at length. It's difficult for many people to understand and there are drawbacks to living together, but also many plusses. As to why we want to build, it comes down to space, we would all like our own space from time to time, but also appreciate shared spaces where we can unwind and also entertain. This building will give us the best of both worlds.

@Alexphd1It certainly looks as thought you've learnt a few tricks and shortcuts! I'm especially fond of buying expensive equipment that ends up saving me money, though I'd need to do a fair amount of painting (just read properly, your insulating!) to recoup my money on a Graco machine. Over and above the cost of the equipment, how does the cost of insulation compare to more traditional rock wool for example?

@epsilonGreedy I've shown the designs to the planners at a drop in centre and they didn't have any objections. I don't have any neighbours closer than 200m so there shouldn't be too many valid objections, although some people will complain about anything so fingers crossed there are no hiccups there.

Alphonsox - Heating and Hot water from gas would certainly be helpful with the budget, and I do seem to be hearing more scare stories than success stories to be honest. Regards to Tesla, tell me about it, I got my name down for a Model 3 on the first day and it doesn't look like I'll be getting it until 2019 at the earliest, they've not even released the cheaper model I want! My thinking is that if I end up paying something remotely close to the Tesla roof for a nice flush slate roof, I'll be kicking myself when it does finally come out. NickfromWales - Thanks, I think it looks quite striking too, bringing some modern design to what is quite a traditional/ boring bungalow. When you look at the 3d renderings, south is from the left hand side so the balcony on the new part would be facing south. Regarding the mezzanine steps, they're totally out of whack in the sketch, I added them FYI but rushed it! lol They will be set further in and won't be set quite so high. Alexphd1 - I need to clarify the situation with zero rating, when we first built the property, it had been unoccupied for more than 10 years which meant it was zero rated. I kept all of the receipts but as the build wasn't complete, I didn't apply for the VAT back thinking I'd shortly be completing the other buildings. Well, that turned in to 7 years later, we've obviously been living in the property, however, its not technically complete as we didn't get the building completion certificate since we weren't yet finished. I'm not sure where we stand at the moment but zero rating would be a massive bonus, though I'm doubtful we'll get it. The budget is definitely my biggest concern, and although I'm not under any real pressure to complete it quickly, with the rate at which materials seem to go up, its only going to get more costly as time goes by.

Hi all! First time posting, but I've been devouring the contents of the site for a few months whilst getting funding sorted for the next phase in my building. (A great source of information and debate!) Warning, it's a long post! A bit of background.. I bought a plot with an existing bungalow in 2011, the previous builder had run out of cash mid-build so that the site was in a real state to the untrained eye. At this stage, I pretty much struggled to change a lightbulb, so it was a fairly huge undertaking to build the 5 bed home that I had in mind. One of the first things I did whilst we were waiting for completion was to grab a shovel and start digging up some of the garden. About 3 hours later, back aching and hands raw, I'd only scratched the surface of what is almost 0.8 of an acre! That was when my builder came past and recommended I hire a rotavator, that was the first of about a million lessons I learnt on the build! Present So I've managed to build a nice 5-bed bungalow that we've been happily residing in for the last few years and still have foundations in place from the first builder for a fairly huge garage block (11m x 9m) and also another detached annexe (9m x 6m). The intention was to finish the outbuildings/ do the driveway when funds allowed, however, one thing has lead to another and the plans have grown so that the detached garage attaches to the main building, creating a more useable space with another floor above it with additional bedrooms. The reason for this is that my family has increased since we moved in (my brother is now married, my parents live with us, and I've had 3 children!) so we'd like to create zones for each family. The Plan I've been messing around with plans whilst sorting out funding and have come up with something that I think looks good and has all the space we'd need. The main limiting factor in our case is funds, the plot is more than large enough and our area has a fairly high ceiling for house prices. With this in mind, any advice on keeping the building costs as low as possible will be much appreciated. Another reason for sharing my plans with you guys is that with your vast knowledge of whats to come, I'm hoping you might pick up on some aspects which I may have overlooked. I'm not an expert by any means, though I've gained enough skills since the initial build with further projects that I feel comfortable managing the build myself and getting my hands dirty where I can to save money. Things I'm considering/ decided and would welcome your experiences on... Heating and Hot Water This is a pretty big consideration to be honest, my current thoughts are to install a ground source heat pump with boreholes, this will provide the UFH throughout the new build. The current part of the house I'd like to keep intact as much as possible so I've not intention of ripping the floors up and installing UFH, so the existing rads will have to do, but ideally I'd get rid of the combi boiler which is struggling to meet our demands at the moment and isn't in great nick. I'm not sure whether a system exists that will give us a whole home solution, with hot enough water and low running costs. As I have gas, I'd be reluctant to install an electric hot water tank, I'd imagine a gas fired would be significantly cheaper to run, though I've never seen this paired with a Ground Source Heat Pump. Tesla Solar Roof Ever since I saw this, I've wanted it! With the limited information there is out there, the cost of installing this is going to be somewhat similar to a slate roof but with the added benefit of providing enough solar energy for our needs, including electric cars (we already have 2 Nissan Leafs!) Obviously, the main drawback is that I'm going to have to wait for it, I've already put a deposit down which doesn't mean anything for timescales but I'm willing to wait a while longer as I think this will both add value to my home, provide the energy we need and also look outstanding too. However, that's not to say that I'll wait forever, and with my budgetary restrictions, this is definitely a luxury so I'd appreciate some alternatives or suggestion you guys may have. ICF I intend to build the extension in ICF, I'm currently favouring Nudura simply because my architect has recently completed a project using this system and there's a fairly local supplier. The reason I'm favouring ICF is that I think I could handle putting the shell together (with a little help) and I believe this will not only save costs, but time too as well as taking away a trade we normally sub out. Additionally, the added benefit of a tighter shell with better u values than block and render is a welcome bonus, especially with the amount of glazing I'd like. Cladding For some reason, I'd always assumed the cheapest way to clad a building was to render it, so I've not really explored many other options. Based on some calculations, it seems that many cladding options such as wood are going to cost a similar amount so it's something I'd like to know more about, how have you guys decided what to use and why (design/ budget/ maintenance etc.?) Structural Spans At the moment my architect (he's not a full architect) hasn't began work on putting my design together, but before he does, I'd like to know if there are any major structural issues that make my design unfeasible. I will obviously use a structural engineer too, but before it gets to that stage, I'd like to know the impact of my design and whether I should try to create an internal structural wall that can reduce the span (9m). Are there any other options? Costs I'm going to be adding somewhere along the lines of 600m2 including the annexe, ground floor, first floor and mezzanine levels. Going through some of the build cost calculators gives me some rather worrying figures but they don't necessarily account for the fact that most ground works are in place, including services which i took the liberty of adding water/ gas and network cabling to the other buildings already. Since our existing home serves our purposes for now, there is no rush to get everything done from the get go, so I envisage completing areas and rooms as and when time and funds allow, so my main budget needs to get the shell built including the roof and windows, electrics and plumbing (both 1st fix only). Ideally I'd like it to be clad and looking finished from the outside baring any landscaping and driveway which will be the icing on the cake eventually. I think I'm going to have a pot of around £200k-£300k to get to that stage, so I'd be interested to know if you think I'm crazy or not! With all of this in mind, I'd love for some cost saving measures you think would be relevant to the build, I know the basics such as shopping around, thinking outside of the box with suppliers (direct from factory etc) Thanks for taking the time to read, I'm looking forward to hearing what you guys make of my project!