Tosh

To register our address we had to pay £150 to Powys LA via the building control office. This enabled them to inform Royal Mail so it appeared on the Royal Mail database. However Royal Mail would only deliver as long as there was a postbox and they didn't have to come onto site i.e. put themselves at risk. Load of all baloney when you think about all the farms they deliver to around our area that have farm dogs on the loose, heavy machinery on the move constantly, etc. Ridiculous amount of money to pay for this though.

I'm sure you've covered it in the conversations with your SE but the barn we bought had a SE report saying precisely the same i.e. that it was suitable for conversion BUT we still had to bring it up to a domestic dwelling spec. I was a bit suspicious of the SE claim of twisting under wind loading at first until one windy day I put a magnetic laser level on the columns and could see all the movement going on. Quite an eye opener. It will be interesting to see what the SE comes back with.

As @kxi says just use a mixture of standard dense concrete blocks and timber studding for internal walls. For the roof: We had the option to bolt flat bar to the existing 175mm deep timber purlins or swap them for metal z purlins. We're going with the later as it actually worked out cheaper believe it or not. It will also be easier to fix the Quadcore roof panels to. We did look at SIP roof panels but the quadcore you can cut penetrations for flue, windows etc more easily as they're a structural deck. Also for the standing seam you can fix direct to the quadcore whereas with a SIP you'd have to counter batten and fix another layer of OSB all over to act as a vent. Just a few things to think about maybe. I should've mentioned previously but we bought our place with existing PP that said we had to reuse the 'olive green' agri bldg profile or material of same colour/profile like yours. As soon as we purchased though we put in a variation to the LPA to alter the cladding to a to a zinc standing seam roof and timber clad elevations. Planners passed it without issue.

Ours was broken down into non/contestable works as well. Western Power however were cheaper that the contestable element of their works. They supplied the duct and meter box. We installed it then they came along and pulled the cable through. It was a 100A supply from around 50m plus a new transformer - all in £2.5k. No streetworks though.

I'm doing a steel portal frame conversion of almost identical nature. The SE will be critical to the type of build you go with. The issue your SE will likely raise, at least the ones that we invited did, is the wind loading. We ended up having a design with a significant amount of additional bracing to overcome the twisting of the steel frame that he said the building would have to resist. We tried to argue that the floor and stairs (steel fixed to floor) would offer this restraint but the SE argued that wasn't enough. I didn't have a huge issue with the additional bracing but because we wanted a vaulted ceiling (the roof pitch is too low to make it worth while having a ceiling) it becomes an issue of aesthetics. We will work around that issue when we get to it though! Unless you've investigated already the other thing to be mindful of is that the pad foundations that the stanchions sit on is an unknown. They may need underpinning! Check the building for plumb on all the columns and that they are in line. Check the floor levels. A lot of agricultural buildings are built with a fall on the floor - ours had 80mm from e2e. Also check the depth of the concrete floor and that it can take any internal load bearing walls - ours varied between 100-125mm but SE specified 200mm. It often measured 200mm at the edge of the building but when we trialed a meter or so in the depth reduced as well as being inconsistent - jack hammer and sthil saw time and then pour new foundations!! Another pita job will be digging the external foundations between the columns as the columns get in the damn way! A digger with a knuckle boom would be ideal solution. I did consider at one stage of just taking the whole lot, frame n all, down and selling it so we could start from scratch. However I was advised against this and tbf I'd already had some successes with the LPA in changing some of the conditions of our planning so didn't push any more. I guess you wouldn't want to try this either having the battle you've had. We're using ICF because we can straddle the columns (column is 203 deep so a Nudura unassembled module of 200mm will fit nicely either side of it). It overcomes the cold bridging and any issues of detailing the blocks/timber frame to column fixing as well. You'll probably need to use debonded fixings if you go with blocks.We looked at SIPS and TF but both were around £70-80k. The ICF solution is simpler and around a third of the price - yes we have to put a floor in and a roof but still will works out £10-20k cheaper.

Wow thanks @Nickfromwales for this really useful advice. All this plumbing wizardly fries my brain! Can you explain what you mean by an air break? Also the pipe sizing - are you saying it's better to run in 50mm for all the bath/shower/basin or mix it up between 40 and 50mm.

I'd be inclined to do as @Mr Punter says just build up from the existing floor if you can, that's what we're doing. Things we encountered are: are you having any internal load bearing walls? If so then check suitability of the floor with SE to carry those walls and you may need to dig strip foundations. We done a couple of test cuts in our floor which revealed that it varied between 5-8 inches. SE spec was 8 inches so we dug the strips out. Even though at the time it seemed pointless to take concrete out only to put it back in I'm glad we did as in some places it was only 4 inches thick! are the external walls on the concrete slab or do they have their own foundations? We had to cut the perimeter of the slab to install trenchfill. be careful with ceiling heights! It's surprising how quickly the vertical space disappears once you start adding floor insulation/screed etc. check plumb and level of the walls and floor. We thought our floor was level - it was only once we took some levels of our floor that we realised it had a fall of 80mm end to end! So we have to compensate for that in our floor build-up. I would try and avoid digging down if you can. Removing the floor can get quite awkward (which equals expensive) sometimes if access is tight and there's obstacles to negotiate inside the building.

Thanks @Temp. Any views on running them down through the concrete core of the ICF. Must say makes me nervous wrt access if anything went wrong but maybe that risk is so low that I'm worrying over nothing. In all the houses we've lived in over the years I can't recall a single issue where we've had to access a stack but then I'm no plumber and maybe it's more common than I realise.

Evening all! After some advice wrt the pipe layout that our draughtsman has proposed. The drawings show pipework going to 2 x external stacks. I'm not particularly keen on these being external as I think they'll spoil the clean building lines. Can anybody suggest a better layout? For instance do we need the SVP that connects to the first IC as I read that the vent on the treatment plant may suffice (appreciate I may have got that wrong though). We're using ICF and the thought has crossed my mind about running the stacks down between the EPS forms. Would/has anyone else done that? Thanks.

We rented a static on a caravan park for six months as we'd sold our old house before completing on our new plot. The original plan was to then put a 'van on site but the experience living in this van prior to our completion was not good. We'd come from a house where the two kids had their own rooms and plenty of space to one of turning sideways every time we passed each other. And then of course you have to put a sign up 'don't come knocking when the caravan's a rocking' ? So we decided to rent a place, albeit small but is luxury compared to the van, and a price worth paying for the kids well-being and our sanity!

If you intend tracking around site a lot you may get bored very quickly with a tracked machine and may wish you went with an old jcb. Also bits can get expensive for say Kubota (which is what I have). Beauty of a JCB is the front loader to move stuff around. Sometimes wished I went for that instead. If maneuverability in tight spaces is not an issue you envisage I'd go for the old faithful.

ah right of course, so just put them all in line, downstream of each other?

Just getting to the point where we will be having our connection to Welsh Water.......... @ProDave I like the idea of splitting the supply across site as we have a holiday let, workshops all going in different directions to the supply that will feed the house and it would save supply going to house and then back again along virtually the same route. How did you actually break out from the single supply from meter to your 3 x boxes i.e what connectors etc? Tks

We intend to use the Kingspan benchmark insulated panels. We were drawn to it as the standing seam can be applied directly to it rather than having to cover the roof with an additional layer of OSB to create a ventilation gap under the substrate.

Actually starting to build something after waiting for what seems an eternity for a green light for all the paperwork.

@rich080487 are you certain it's asbestos? A lot of these fibre based roof sheets are difficult to assess even by the experts hence why they 'assume' asbestos. If you're approaching companies to remove it then may be worth asking if they undertake testing or if they now anyone. A quick google search may turn up trumps as well. For the sake of approx. £15 you would know for certain. That's what we intend to do and I know an architect down the road did just that. He was converting his agri shed and that had fibre roof sheets but wasn't sure if they were asbestos - got it tested and had a certificate to say it was ok so he sold it to a local farmer. Would've cost him £300/ton to dispose of if it had proved positive asbestos! I do appreciate though that the scale is different and your area looks pretty small so may not be worth the research however if you start getting silly quotes then something to fall back on maybe.

There's nothing wrong with a preference though @Tony99. If he/she is pushing b&b simply ask why in preference to other methods. Good luck.

@Tony99 I would've thought the architect should be drawing up plans in line with your brief i.e. if you want the house to have certain performance characteristics then he should choose a construction method which satisfies that along with any other factors e.g long spans, curves, etc which in themselves often drive a particular construction method.

Our best quotes for standing seam were for Falzinc which came in around £71/sqm as well as VMZinc which was £79/sqm. Some quotes were similar to yours though at around £100-120/sqm. Beware that ridges, drips, flashing etc etc will be priced by the linear meter and will range from £22-70/lm (drip flashing cheapest/ridge flashing dearest). We looked at Tata, Euroclad et al but we were put off by the fact that should the plastisol coating get scratched or you cut the sheets e.g. for penetrations, then the steel will rust unless sealed properly. We found most manufacturers difficult to talk to regards design details though most were amenable to supply samples.

I'm no expert wrt planning, only with what worked for us but if you're adamant about changing it I'd suggest the formal change of condition. Have a look on your CC website and they should have a process for that.

Does it say anything about 'like for like' in which case you would have to provide examples. On our conversion project the condition was to keep the existing metal cladding or replace on a like for like basis. However it was always our intention to change the cladding and yes it was a risk that they would refuse any alternative but we put in a formal application to change this condition and thankfully they accepted it without any issues whatsoever. We had to pay £190 application fee and my son drew up a 3D sketch up to show them what the new cladding looked like. I think it helped going down the formal route as many councils are strapped for cash so welcome easy money like this and you get what you want without a big fight on your hands.

Thanks all - plenty for me to think about. @PeterW I do like the sound of that. Though we would be losing 200mm of floor space around the perimeter - just got to get my head around giving that up Very good point about the noise - hadn't thought of that. @Alexphd1 good advice I think I'll take another look at nudura and amvic which I've not heard of before. @Russell griffiths I'd be very up to visiting your site and having a look at the blocks you're using. I'm just on the Powys border, north of Hereford so only about hour and a half away. It's really interesting concept to encase the steels in concrete completely. I suppose I'm so used to seeing concrete dado walls between the walls in farm buildings that have cracked due to movement that I'm very (maybe overly) sensitive to that detail. PM me when would be a convenient time to come over. Much appreciate all this help

Not looked at EPS icf in detail to be fair. Dismissed it as I thought it would require a company doing thus more expensive than Durisol. Do you think it's worth enquiring about for this situation and if so any recommendations? We're not too bothered about speed of build, more value for money and quality.

Thanks for the replies. I got a quote for timber frame - it came in at around 75k. Yes it gave me the roof floor etc however they would not commit on how to detail around the steel frame until an order was placed. I could just see myself being hit with 'extras' or a load of assumptions in their price. Durisol comes in around 19k, say 4k for concrete, SIP estimate for the roof is 8K, say 5k for 1st floor joists, 4k for studding out.....Some of these aren't quoted but been priced for budget purposes by various suppliers. Yes there's all the other bits, vapour barriers, sealing, etc etc but still looks a country mile cheaper than TF. We do also have the added complexity of having to put more steel into the frame which I think would hamper a timber frame more so than a block build. It isn't a straightforward job for sure whichever way we go hence anyone who comes to look either runs back down the valley (we're on top of the hills ) or takes a huge breath and moves the decimal point to the right! @recoveringacademic I think you're spot on with asking oneself about why we've chosen this method. It's what's prompted me to write on this forum to hear others views. I've read your woes and believe me I've questioned myself on why Durisol however the cost/benefit over timber frame is simply too good to ignore, even with the agro with propping, etc. I do have a huge load of timber from the demolition of other buildings (the site was a former sawmills) which can be used for shuttering, props, dummy frames etc so that will help keep that side of costs down. I'll drop you a pm if you don't mind as keen to learn from your experience. BTW the cladding is being removed so walls will need to be propped in bays between the columns.

Hi all, I'm looking for a some advice wrt our construction method. We're converting a steel portal frame building and have to keep the frame (cladding is to be removed and replaced with cedar up to 1st FL and zinc standing seam from 1st FL elevations and up over the roof). We intend to build the floor up from the existing concrete floor which is in excellent condition - this will still give us plenty of headroom as well. We've set our sights on the Durisol block. I went on the course and liked the system especially the fact that it removed a lot of wet skilled trade and thus made it more self build friendly in the sense that I'm doing a huge proportion of it myself. However I do have some questions before we commit to it. If we chose the 365 block what would people recommend goes below DPC? Is it sensible to put these expensive, insulated blocks where their performance might not be exploited. Would it be more cost effective to use standard blocks up to DPC - I suppose the dimensions would be an issue though? That is getting blocks to marry-up to the 365 dimension? Have a look at the sketch up and pass on your thoughts please. We've been told by our SE to install vertical rebar on both gable ends. When this rebar goes through the DPC what do you seal the hole back with? Blackjack? We'd be installing the blocks between the steel stanchions. The detail is to use slip ties between the block ends and the steel to allow for thermal movement. Any ideas/comments on this? Any particular brand of ties and suitable infill around the stanchion? Overall do my learned colleagues think Durisol is necessarily the right system for this particular situation? I'm just interested to hear other peoples thoughts - I often think whether it would actually be more cost effective to build standard block and add external insulation though means getting mates in to do blockwork. Thanks in advance. Shaun