Iceverge

Start here. Knock 1/3 off and work to giving the builder that amount. We had 300k. Paid the builder about €200k to finish their job. We spent the rest on kitchens, tiles, flooring professional fees, painting, curtains, some second hand furniture etc. It quickly adds up. Any particular reason for ICF? Similarly any particular reason for passive house?

232m2. The cost of what?

2018/9/20 prices. Via a main builder a 250mm cavity wall with passive detailing and airtightness was €216k and the same finish for an MBC offering was about €248k from memory. Had we just built to bregs basic standards we could prob have saved another €20k. Properly detailing a masonry build isn't free. Almost nobody pays any attention to windtightness for example. The MBC package really seems to have most bases covered. Two omissions I see are really robust window install details and threshold details and clients seem to need to make them up on a case by case basis.

Plenty of mishaps here. I haven't seen any that weren't caused by incorrectly placed supports or in braked vehicles.

About 15% more expensive in 2019 for us to do MBC Vs wide cavity masonry. I think we could have self managed more of the build and halved the build schedule. Masonry was slow to get to a passive level of airtighess and had that been taken care of I could have diverted my work elsewhere like plumbing etc so it may have not been much dearer overall. It depends on how much your time is worth I guess and how much you plan to DIY.

I wouldn't bother with a pit given the prices you can pick up a serviceable lift for. No chance of gas death either.

Cool, however it might be better if you were to remove any personal info first, just in case.

EPS beads are a very normal fill for cavity walls. Normally with plenty of PVA glue however to stop this happening We have 250mm of em. If you have time on your hands you can get rid of all the dirt and contamination by floating them on a paddling pool and scooping out clean.

The quotes from the builders are more than lightly high to get you to clear off. Nobody wants the hassle of an awkward extension Vs a new build. Do you have any plans to share? Without seeing them I'm going to guess that you'll be better off starting with a clean sheet design for a knock and rebuild.

The HH detail looks pants for both durability and heat loss. I would get very liberal with some high quality fluid applied sealant externally to those blocks, take it right down below the level of the floor insulation. Remember water must do down and out. Then get some XPS or high density EPS and secure it outside the foundation blocks and sill plate. Finally get a proper insulated aluminium sill like those used for EWI and hook it under the bottom of the window bedded in some suitable sealant. Ooze it out and scrape away the excess to completely fill any gaps. Render the outside of the insulation or glue on some slates as impact and rodent protection. A gravel topped French drain to finish should keep the water and splashes at bay.

Free delivery on that one too.

I'm guessing 120mm at that price. First Google result gave me £45 inc Vat and Delivery for 200mm EPS at a U value of 0.18 if you have the space to sub it in for the PIR. It might save a bit of fill too.

Welcome @DevonBarn. Plenty of barn conversations here to take inspiration from. @IanR has a really good example of what's possible in terms of airtighess, comfort insulation etc if you search his posts. Have you put some numbers on this? I would suggest 0.15W/m2K as a beginning for U values and 1ACH for airtightness. @Marvin has it summed up with his AIM APE priority list.

A friend who's a plasterer recommended I should paint our house without too much delay due the sand and cement sponge finish we had. He seemed to think that the driving rain we get could get into the render and weaken it and a good coat of paint would waterproof it somewhat. I did after the first summer we had moved in and haven't had any issues. Is there paint on that wall or is it coloured plaster?

No sorry

You can cut a start with a snibs or similar. Just a few cm. Then if you're feeling burly literally rip the metal in half. Didn't believe it could be done until I tried it. It won't leave a nice edge however. A nibbler is the way forward. Angle grinders work but the sparks leave lots of rust spots on the metal and the edge is jagged. For the shear pleasure of work I would opt for timber as flashing nicely around corners etc with metal is very time consuming. Another option might be Onduline but it will be weaker than metal.

I'm sorry to hear about this. It's a traumatic experience and not one I'd wish on anyone. However I'm of the view that if he was going to do anything it'd have happened there and then. As they say on TV, he had the means, motive (however misplaced) and opportunity but didn't escalate beyond roaring and shouting. A relation who has been in dozens of pub bust ups says that the safest guy is the one who tells you he's going to hit you, he's had enough black eyes to back up the story. Psychologically the very natural response may be to want to bolster your defences, but this may be counterproductive to your own mental wellbeing whilst not achieving any further real protection. I would suggest taking some time for the excitement of the episode to level a little before making any decisions. I do like @ToughButterCup idea of geese however. Far braver than any dog I've ever met!

Well done, concrete is always panicked suffering in my experience! The ICF should give a very good PSI value at the wall floor junctions. Looking forward to a few more pics of the finished floor.

Sheath with OSB. Then religiously tape all the joints. Wind and airtightness on even a garage won't be lost effort. It's really quick and easy to do externally. Breather membrane over the lot. 75*75mm purlins at 800mm centres with a good overhang ( > 500mm ) on all sides. noggins between at the gable to keep the critter out. You may need some metal strapping too to prevent wind uplift. Crinkley tin on top. Cladding on the sides. Lovely. Here's my effort earlier this year. Tin was recycled hence the wonky finish.

How tight are you for floor buildup space ? The sums almost never make sense Vs using PIR at a fraction of the price and doubling up insulation elsewhere instead for less money overall.

One example of many posts about this. PIR boards in cavity block walls is idiocy.

You've asked the easiest question of the night. Blown Beads . EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

I would investigate building a replacement house adjacent to the house. It'll save loads of cash during the build and really take the time pressure off. On the subject of a void you could just fill it in. Otherwise consider it for something that was either easily removed during floods or preferably something that was not troubled by them. A car port or a few rainwater tanks maybe. On a large plot however, why compromise? Just build what you need above flood level and fill in below. Leave the burrowing to the hobbits.

The beads haven't settled in the least. They bowed up the 450mm DPC cavity closer when they were blown in. Earlier this year I climbed into the attic and did a few spot checks to see if any settling had occured. None had. Similarly when I checked with a thermal camera there were no voids. We've used about 17kWh/m2 over the last 2 years in heating bills. A bit more than PHPP predicted but I'm not sure why. I don't think it is the beads. One thing that I think is important is getting wind tightness very secure as the nature of them is porous and susceptible to wind washing. (Where heat is lost by blowing through the insulation) If you are building a cavity wall I would recommend them or full fill fiber batts.

Can you build another house beside you current one on the plot and then knock the existing one down when you are finished, at least you'll have somewhere to live in the interim. Personally I would bin any idea of a basement/cellar. It'll just be a liability when the flood does come. Poured concrete walls would be my preference for anything below ground regarding flooding too. Be cautious cutting it too fine with any proposed flood levels, we're all aware of the higher incidence of extreme weather events