jimmyharris80

Hi all, Many thanks for the words of advice, points taken on gables, blinds & insulation and factoring this into our design now. This is when I start to feel a little out of my comfort zone I must admit! We have very much been led by our architect to date, the design process up to gaining planning went well, since then the BRs elements have been handed off to a more junior architectural technician where interactions, explanations and guidance through the process has been pretty minimal. As a result this is where we’ve landed, that maybe as much our fault as it is our architects as we could have been more specific in what we’re trying to achieve. What we seem to have ended up with is a hybrid blockwork/timber frame design that based on the feedback here isn’t optimal in terms of insulation or airtightness, we certainly need to make some remedies and amendments to the design and BR drawings. However, my wider concern is what type of build system is best suited to our design, I have read up on the various construction methods timber frame, ICF, traditional B&B and the pros and cons of each, but am struggling with what best fits our project. ICF could work well due to the semi-basement ground floor, traditional block also but need to ensure better insulation factored in, timber frame is what we've always assumed would be the way we'd go (rightly or wrongly). It’s all a bit of a minefield! We always planned to enlist a main contractor to deliver the build, my wife and I neither have the knowledge or the time to manage the build ourselves (2 kids, dog and busy jobs!). When we visited BuildIt Live a month or so ago we did discuss with the construction & PM consultant the option of chunking up the build into 1. demo/groundworks/blockwork 2. timber frame 3. Main contractor through to completion. This keeps interfaces to a minimum and would probably be the limit of what we could manage. The alternative could be an MBC type offering, groundworks + timber frame with a main contractor taking over from there, I would need to check with MBC if the retaining wall/semi-basement we have could be accommodated within their foundation system. A lot to read up on for sure, and we may look at enlisting some independent professional advice as to the best build approach for our circumstances as this decision impacts on the design changes we need to make. We'll be going with a main contractor, we just don't have the time or knowledge to manage ourselves. Total square meterage is approx 215m2 across the three levels. We're in rural Hertfordshire, soil is clay and pretty heavy, we've had a soil report done and it will fail an infiltration test.

Thanks guys, I think this ties in with my other thread on construction method, as depending on whether we go timber frame or blockwork this will determine the make-up of the wall/insulation requirements and thickness. I have to admit this isn't an area I've given a huge amount of attention and we've gone with the architects view on it up until now, maybe time to pick up the phone! We are planning to have UFH throughout, we're off-grid for gas so an ASHP/UFH makes sense in terms of a solution here. In terms of the gable ends, just the SW elevation has the extended canopy as the plot is a little sunken (not obvious from the 3Ds), there are mature trees to the south and west boundaries of the plot that provide shading for a large part of the spring/summer/autumn months (for this reason we've had to discount solar PV for now as we just don't think the payback is there - although current oil/elec prices do alter the calculation somewhat!) Below is what has been specced at the moment in the BR drawings in terms of wall/roof insulation, any views on how much we'd want to beef these up by to get to 0.15u? Apreciate I'm putting a lot of info out there and asking a lot, the more I look a the detail the more I feel a little out of my depth, but I'm here for the education and it's much appreciated 👍

Hi joe90 and Bitpipe, we did originally embark on a renovation project of our bungalow and pulled together some designs, but estimated costs were escalating to a point where a knockdown and rebuild made more sense from both a cst and outcome perspective, so here we are! We have instructed our architect to meet the regulations in terms of energy efficiency at this point, we're not looking at passivhaus standards by any stretch but our assumption was that if we wanted to beef up the insulation at a later point we could do that during discussions with any contractors when agreeing the spec, if I'm wrong in this assumption please do shout! I guess a thing we need to bear in mind is the impact on the rooms in the roof in terms of wall thickness, probably fairly negligaible in the grand schedme of things but things are a little tight up there in the bathrooms so every 5cm counts, but then heat loss/increased heating costs trump that for sure given recent events and price escalation. I've started another thread here on our build approach, this details our elevations, sections and floorplans.

Hi all, I’ve posted over on the ‘Introduce Yourself’ thread so apologies for any repetition here, I think this here is the best forum for this particular post. A bit of background in terms of our journey so far…my wife and I are embarking on a self build project in Hertfordshire for our family of four. We are complete novices to the selfbuild game, have done a fair bit of reading to educate ourselves but it’s a steep learning curve, we have mostly been led by our architect to date. Really glad to have stumbled upon this great resource, just wish I’d found it sooner! We currently have a bungalow on site with an adjoining garage, the property has had a number of hotch potch extensions over the years. We’ll be knocking this down in 2 stages to make way for our new build. We plan to stay on site during the build in the main bungalow, demolishing the garage and back bedroom flat roof section to make way for the new dwelling. Then moving across and demolishing the bungalow to make way for the garage, here is the site plan where you can see (just!) the outline of the existing dwelling and where the new one will be sighted: We have been through the design process with our architect over the past 12 months and have planning approval for a design that we love (you can see some 3Ds on my intro posts here) , it’s now about putting this into practice, which is where we are now feeling the struggle a little with some differing opinions on our construction method. When we first embarked on the project the plan was to go with a timber frame construction, mainly due to the flexibility it offered, eco credentials and speed of construction on site once we're out of the ground. As the design has developed, due to the sloping nature of the site and existing drive entrance and property level we now have a ground floor / semi-basement that will also form a retaining wall. The proposal at the moment is for this ground floor to be built in blockwork and rendered, with timber frame at 1st and 2nd floor levels, our building regs design docs have been produced with that as the assumption to date. We have made initial contact with a couple of main contractors who have questioned timber frame as a build approach and have suggested blockwork up to the roof level maybe a better and more cost efficient way forward, so a continuation of blockwork from the ground floor level up to the roof. The other thing that has been mentioned is that timber cladding on timber frame (which would be the case on the 1st/2nd floor) could be problematic in terms of future mortgage or insurance policies. This has made us question a little whether we are still heading in the right direction in terms of build method. We are now at the stage where we need to instruct a structural engineer to design the foundations, retaining walls and drainage for building regs, our construction method will have a bearing on this in terms of loading so we want ensure we go with the right build approach for our circumstances. Below are our elevations and sectional drawing to give you an idea of what we’re looking to achieve, I welcome any feedback. The advice we’ve been given to date is to design, design, design to ensure that any uncertainty and future changes are kept to an absolute minimum, so we are taking our time at this stage to ensure we are setup for success. Any input or reassurance you guys could offer at this stage would be hugely appreciated! Elevations: Sectional drawing: Floorplans: Ground Floor: 1st Floor: 2nd Floor:

Hi all, I can’t believe I’ve only just stumbled upon this fabulous resource! A bit of background in terms of our journey so far… my wife and I are embarking on a self build project in Hertfordshire for our family of four. We currently reside in our hotch potch bungalow on site, it’s had various extensions bolted on over the years and an adjoining garage, there is a fair bit of land that we are looking to make the most of. We’ve lived here for 5 years now and the building is crumbling at the seams so we’ll be waving goodbye to it and knocking it down, eventually! We have planning permission for our new dwelling and are at building regs stage now, there is still a fair amount of cost uncertainty given recent price escalations and we’ve not quite yet got to a reliable figure in terms of the build costs, we have a budget of around £500k + contingency for the build. We feel like we’re at a bit of a junction in terms of our build approach, we’ve always assumed timer frame but since the design has been refined and some feedback we’ve had from the main contractors we’ve approached we are now having a few doubts, I’m hoping you guys maybe able to allay our concerns and offer some valuable guidance. I will post up a separate thread in the appropriate section with a bit more detail of where we stand currently but in the meantime here’s a few 3Ds of our dream self build home we are looking to make reality! Thanks