Vijay

The reinforcing I'm using is just a mechanical join between the concrete footings and the ICF concrete core if that makes any difference? Polarwall said it's overkill and he doesn't normally even recommend it. So what does the R in RC actually mean to the concrete spec? What is added?

Finally after much chasing, I got a reply from the SE. He said he doesn't see why I would need reinforcing fibres.

It's on a quick hitch so only take a few minutes to change the bucket and I would just leave the small bucket on there - but I do see your point of it always being on there

You were spot on Russell. Started clearing the ground removing the topsoil into a pile, the slight rain the night before and the dumper was making ruts in the ground and sliding around. Really wouldn't fancy a risk of that with a bucket of concrete on pour day!!!

Mentioned this to a mate who works with all sorts of equipment and he said to just remove a tooth off the smallest bucket and then buy a swivel hook to bolt through the tooth bolt hole. Any negatives to that?

Ended up with Self Build Zone who I got down to £1065 by letting them and Protek beat each others price

Also spoke to 1 concrete pump company today and although they weren't competitive with the concrete price, they charge £420 inc VAT for 1/2 day pumping and reckons 65m3 should go in in 1/2 a day no problem. Got to phone a few other places but definitely going with a pump

I was going to look into pre-fixing them. I didn't know it would float but I hoped it was one of those things I could do before the concrete. Do you know what's used to hold them in place?

It's for site insurance. I haven't got any cabin/caravans included but do have my own plant covered. IIRC Protek told me I could just renew after a year if I needed to. Why is it a problem to insure a long term self build? I'm hoping to be living up there this year

I've also got clayboard to install in some places where there is deeper foundations, so that's another thing to plan in on the pour day.

Just wondered if there are any other self build insurance companies I can get quotes off. So far I have Self Build Zone at £1403 and Protek at £1177.72. I'll be calling Selfbuild.uk.com and Buildstore tomorrow for their prices. Cheers Vijay

Cheers guys, So list of calls to make tomorrow: Crushed concrete prices Concrete companies for pump prices Pump companies for pump and concrete prices I'll ask about the conveyor too

I've never looked at concrete pumps, do they tend to be from the concrete suppliers or are they separate companies who just do the pumping?

I think you and others are very right Dave. I just spoke to my mate and he reckons getting the dumper round wouldn't be a problem - but I think going with the sensible and safer approach makes sense - especially in this weather cos as you said, won't take long to get a horrible surface where driving the dumper could get hairy and messy. Trench footings are 600 and 900 concrete depth (900 is over to the right of the layout). It's a fairly large house and garage.

That's a really good shout mate, never thought of the future ICF pours but makes total sense to hopefully get one company to do all my pumped pours

Yeah we planned to dig down on the front drive and get some hard standing down. IIRC the BM suggested type 1 to give a stable surface and then build up for the drive at a later date. Dumper is 2.5t but as you said, don't want to heap the concrete. I think the decision is made for me, and that's to use a pump. Last thing I need is for the pour days to go wrong...... Out of interest, I thought the footings pour should really be done in one go so there's no cold joins?

Was planning too but will be looking into what the concrete lorry can pour. The Travis Perkins guy who I'll be getting the concrete through is popping up next week so I will go through things with him. I asked a few suppliers about dropping the concrete into a dumper skip and they had no problem with it. Skip load height is 1295mm

I could have seriously got caught out here and it's my fault as I just assume very wrongly that 1m3 would be a tonne. I've only ever mixed concrete in a mixer or moved it by barrow on smaller jobs - but it's something I really should have checked and not just assumed Google tells me 1m3 is about 2.5t so that would have completely thrown the pour day out. I've got pics of the plot but nothing's been dug yet - we start this week!

That looks exactly what he meant £120 though - boooooo lol How did you find that so fast? What description did you search?

I was talking to a mate and he said that he's seen an attachment for a quick hitch mechanism that would allow you to bolt anything to it. It's basically a bucket fitting, but instead of the bucket, you have a flat plate with a hole for bolting a hook to. Does anyone know what they're called?

It was the SE who speced C30. Yes it's always been Polarwall ICF and the SE knows Polarwall as he's done previous jobs.

We were planning to do it all with the dumper as it should be 4 trips with the dumper to empty a concrete truck. Peter mentioned exactly what you suggested on my L bar thread - http://forum.buildhub.org.uk/ipb/topic/1871-l-bars-into-concrete-foundations/ so I'm gonna look into that cos I don't see why I wouldn't be able to get a lot in that way

I'm still waiting on the SE but I will check and double check before I order any concrete

Is it ok to mix different concretes though, will they bond ok?

I emailed the SE last night asking