RedRhino

Dear forum members, Our house is complete and we have been resident for three months. I thought to post some pictures and I offer to answer any questions people might have. I don't put ourselves on a pedestal as being any better than other projects, only to say that we have done it. Our primary decisions: We chose a RIBA architect given the importance of the initial concept The layout is somewhat novel, having an H footprint with a single storey 'extension' to reduce the mass of the main house for planning purposes and to help project the rear of the house beyond the shade of the ridge line We chose timber frame (we have built with timber frame, brick and block and ICF in the past) because of speed of construction, and thermal performance We selected MBC from a shortlist of three TF suppliers, and chose MBC's insulated slab We are very pleased to have chosen a large solar array (9KW) and Tesla battery. We have used no grid electricity since commissioning. We have a Valliant ASHP with UFH but haven't had need to heat the house yet We have MVHR which works very well with our air tightness of 0.89 We have no fireplace or chimney We project managed ourselves, and were onsite every day and I did a lot of carpentry / general work alongside the proper trades Project timing: groundwork prep Dec 24, slab Jan 25, frame erection February, windows March, resident 4th July, finished end of August.

My apologies if this subject has been covered elsewhere - you are welcome to direct me to previous posts. We have an MBC timber frame house sitting on the Kore insulated slab. The section drawing of how the house sits on the foundation is not entirely representative. Our slab is slightly oversize and so there is a step out of between 0 and 60mm on different walls. The foils from the timber frame and the red radon barrier needs to be tidied and we have to anticipate that moisture could get behind our final finish (brick slips on 50mm battens) and so needs carrying away. The anecdotal recommendation is to unpin the silver breathable membrane from the foot of the timber frame, insert a DPC and let that go over the lip and down on to the EPS. The red radon barrier is super stiff so won't sit nicely particularly where there are folds. I plan to cut that back. We don't have radon in our area. We learn that the foils can be cut back to end 25mm down the face of the EPS. We can then secure with render board or similar. My questions: is that what other people have done? how would you secure the render board? mechanical fasteners or glue or ?? Thank you in advance

As people correctly say: "Where are the pictures?"

Folks, We are on our self-build journey, we selected timber frame then short listed 4 suppliers and in the end chose MBC. They erect our medium complexity house in 8 working days - very impressive. I think MBC's strength is their experience which shows in the detail / thought in the design office and the efficiency of their erection teams. Our site is constrained so working out the order to deliver materials, how things are stacked, the order that things are lifted by the crane is complex. The team didn't seem to make any mistakes and just kept working, rain or shine. [To confirm I'm just a paying customer and have no other association with MBC]

Have other people run the numbers on PV vs roof tiles? For new build you can put the solar panels directly onto the roof so removing the cost of the roof tiles that would otherwise be there. We have a quote for pitched roof tiles with membrane / battens / counter battens of £150 / m^2. A Jinko solar panel 1.086m x 1.726m = 1.87m^2 so its fitted cost with undertray etc is surely going to be a chunk cheaper. I don't think we will have additional costs from the inverter. And of course extra PV is useful if only to extend your season into the darker months. Anyone else come to the same conclusion? Anything I'm missing?

Thanks @MikeSharp01, it looks like this product: https://www.21degrees.com/compacfoam/ May I ask, did you use this just under the cills or all around the perimeter?

Drawing annotated : )

Dear Community, We are struggling with the last piece of our Rationel window & door order and would appreciate help. We are going from pillar to post with MBC, Rationel and our architect unable to specify a small but critical detail. For balance I would say we are very happy with great service from all three agencies on all aspects but we are stuck on this one. The MBC timber frame is going to be battened and counter battened to affix brick slips creating an offset that will extend down to 150mm above ground. We plan to sheath the EPS insulation from 150mm down to below ground using aluminium sheet. Thank you to the Self Build forum for helping us learn of that solution. But what about beneath the door cills? They are cantilevered out from the door frame and need structural support. We have received the detailed drawing attached but no one as yet can say quite what should be below the cill or how it is fixed. Thank you in advance.

I digress, but on a previous project we needed a BT landline connecting from a pole to the new house. The BT bloke said he couldn't do the job because the scaffold was in the way of his ladder. I said the scaffold was much safer than a ladder, but no, he wouldn't use it.

We are required to supply scaffolding for our self build, both for the timber frame erector and for the subsequent trades. We know to use a reputable scaffold company and ensure that the Scafftag is in place to show that the scaffold is correctly assembled. But what about subsequent scaffold inspections? We have contractors keen to offer this service but the cost of weekly inspections could be as much as the scaffolding itself. We have received various comments but it seems weekly inspections are overkill (if that isn't a bad turn of phrase). Yes, if the scaffold received damage from a vehicle, or someone unqualified tried to modify it then the scaffold needs to checked. But even as a 'Domestic Client' we could do a weekly record of the condition of the scaffold recorded to video and I think that would be sufficient. What say others?

Thank you that link was v useful. My slips are 65mm so the article is directly relevant

I guess it makes sense to nudge the dimensions on a timber frame house so that there is an exact integer number of brick slips around windows / doors / corners etc. Can someone explain a bit more please. Is there an existing thread? Matching dimensions to whole bricks - is that a dark art or standard practise? Is it only realistic for heights or widths as well? Are brick slips that standard in manufacture? Are all bricks the same size? I can imagine a worst case scenario where we take a whole lot more time and effort but through tolerance stack up, instead of some fitting and some not, all the bricks are just out and need trimming. thanks

Timber frame costs are front of my mind as we are about to select our supplier. Here is my thought: Once the house is built no one can tell the specification of the build - what the U value of the walls is or how much insulation is in the floor. When you eventually sell the house the people buying it will probably know little and care less about U values, air tightness, cold bridging etc. Compared to other factors like location, view, parking; construction standards are down the list. If you broadly agree with the points above then my conclusion is that if you choose higher construction standards / cost then you are doing it for yourself and no one else. Saving money on construction costs buys an awful lot of energy when you can get 5% return on any cash saved / not spent. So for me I'm torn between 'buying the best' (e.g. MBC) and saving money and pocketing the difference.

Thank you. I don’t think I can edit or delete the original post. If admin can do that for me please. Next subject is selecting timber frame. I’ll be more circumspect!

Guys, it’s just my opinion as I see it. I can anonymise the architect names if it’s a problem. Only trying to be helpful. Admin, please let me know if I am breaking protocol. thanks andrew