Iceverge

Economic fabric first probably wouldn't be very nice to live in. It would only include the smallest windows necessary for fire escape purposes and they would be the lowest legally acceptable spec. For comfort I would always upgrade to thermally good windows before going behind Bregs insuation.

Good quality 3g white/white uPvc. Anything more expensive is just buying an Audi instead of a Skoda in my view. More $$$ without any more performance but at least the neighbours will be envious.

Standard dense blocks 7.5N is the norm in Ireland. Thermalites really add almost no insulation compared to making the cavity just a few mm wider. They're lighter to lift but crack easier and don't take wet plaster as well. Swings and roundabouts. 100mm dense blocks 175mm cavity batt 36 100mm Thermalite (0.18) will get you to 0.18W/m²K. Blocks and insulation~£65.14/m² If you used 100mm dense block 175mm cavity batt 36 100mm dense block ~£48.12 per m² You'd be at 0.174W/m²K

Yes sorry I was speaking in a general sence. Talk to the SE on this case. From further research and it might have some favourable qualities for a raft foundation. Flows well around complex reinforcement. Less heavy work with rakes and boots ducting the pour would mean less chance of damaging the UFH pipes.

Double the price. Intolerant of any small gaps in the shuttering. Can't pour it on slopes. That's my understanding of the down sides. Everything else seems better.

They do an option for Softwood stick builds too. Something like an 8*2 won't actually carry much more heat than an I joist. Espically if you add a cross battened insulated internal service cavity. Run it through uBakus to compare. Agreed fire is a concern. Would something like cereal fiber cement be an option? An layer of Rockwool Frontrock outside the OSB sheathing would protect from a fire in the cavity.

Out of interest if we were to switch to an ASHP at stores 50deg 300l would only store about 7kWh. We'd need daytime dearer electric to top up. That would leave 7kWh heated at 13c/kWh at a COP OF 2.5 = 37c 2kWh @ 24c/kWh @ COP of 2.5 = 19c Total 56c/Day. Vs €1.17 now. 61c/day saving and an ESHP is about €2400. Payback would take over 10 years by which time I would worry the ESHP may need replacing . Just like when we built I don't think there's a case for a heat pump for DHW alone when you can avail of reasonable night rate electric.

300l direct UVC here. 2x 3kW immersion. Water stored at 70deg on TOU tarriffs. Does a family of 5 ok. Can store 14kWh before the tap water gets cool. We use 9kWh daily for 5 in the house. Need to run it an extra hour in the evening if inlaws stay. Annual cost is €420.

Nice. There's a residential and residential lite. Is the upgrade worth it for an extra €15/month?

Well done, I assume you have managing experience or previous self builds ?

I would go for an as designed and as built U value of 0.2W/m2K. Otherwise you'll be charged for 0.13 and not see the benefit. I prattle on about U values as much as anyone else here but there's other fish to fry. Noise and Fire etc. I would disregard anything with PIR between the studs in these grounds alone. Likewise triple gasketed 3g glazing is important for noise and thermal comfort. Have you priced stick build? Pump it with cellulose and you get the best of a lot of worlds.

Pour concrete around it. It'll last for a century. One caveat, I would be worried about vibrations being transferred directly from the concrete into the pipe or if the slab settled it could crack the pipe. To avoid this I would excavate and consolidate well under the pipe. Wrap the length under the concrete in some pipe installation. And maybe include some mesh bridging over the top.

Don't bother with a boiler or ASHP and get Aerobarrier instead. Find £100 for a willis heater and a 3Kw Immersion for now. Gather data for a year or two and then fit the exact ASHP that suits your house. You can also bide your time on eBay and display models this way and pick up a bargain.

Our 5g supplier has decided to pull their service. We have a fixed antenna on the wall outside with a Cat6 to the router. Would this cable do for starlink or is it a special one?

That's a mistake you make once. After dealing with a load of concrete drying in the wrong place once you learn to be robust with the drivers re waiting times and putting down their phone and backing the lorry up a few more ft to exactly where you need it.

I must admit it does look good. Mentioning of twice the material price in some places though. @Oz07 any insight here? @lizzieuk1 maybe if you had a sheet of polythene inside the EPS and really boulstered up the shuttering at the outside you could get the SE on board. From what I read it's every bit as strong as normal concrete. Self build is where we push the envelope after all!!

I did a bit of reading. It's apparently very sensitive to getting the slump exactly correct. Small variations of temp can make it difficult to work. Also because it's so runny you need to hermetically seal the EPS or you'll have leaks of watery cement paste and it'll make the concrete crumbly. Normal concrete seems a better fit.

I don't think the caution urged is anything against the SCC. More so DIYing an insulated slab without an experienced crew. I've never used it but it sounds ideal for pouring inside rising walls as a subfloor for example.

From my understanding the applied fools don't last as long. Ligter colours suffer less thermal exoasuand contraction too.

Different profiles and hard ware and quality of assembly make a big difference.

Not exactly. Its more important to ensure no direct air paths through the structure (airtightness) and avoiding interstatial condensation by stacking layers of low permeability materials. In your initial suggestions it was a recipie for trouble with VCL, layers of foil faced PIR, OSB and steel. Wait what's that noise......gold clubs being thrust into the back of a BMW x3.......... Ray bans and newly whitened teeth shining from behind the wheel......... It's the Kingspan salesman off on another holiday. He's on the midday jet2 from EastMids to Faro. He'll be on the course for a quick 9 before sunset. "Thanks again Architect for being too lazy to do any due diligence on my helpful book of detail I left on your desk" he'll say raising a glass of sparkling rose in salute.

There's no easy life with concrete and it takes skill to get it right. As much as plastering a wall in my view. Can you access good contractors for it, it's a real mess when it goes wrong as @Gone West can attest to?

I feel a 40 page bin location design statement AI written coming on. Either that or go on the planning portal and copy and paste someone else's.

U Balkus only takes a static shot of the situation at one temperature. -5 outside (you can change this). Unless you live in Baffin Island this weather is unlightly. If you raise the external temperature to something positive you'll see the condensation risk disappears. As long as you don't have to raise it too high, say much above 7 to 8 deg your wall will be drying for more of the year than wetting and it'll be fine. Remember diffusion is only a tiny part of how water makes it way into the wall. Air leaks through bad airtightness are far more significant. Pay attention to external driven rain on old buildings too. Something like a Auto Brick oil will repel water without compromising the walls ability to dry out.

What they really mean is we don't want to have a house that looks like this,(because there may be poor people inside). What a bunch of snobs they are. White uPvc looks just fine if appropriate care is taken of the proportions of the windows. It's amazingly durable if you get good stuff. I don't know what the aluminum adds really. That's ours below. White T+T Veka Softline 82. White uPvc fascia and soffit and black guttering and down pipes whilst we're at it.