Pendicle

We had the waterproof system designed by a structural waterproofing specialist who was recommended by the ICF company. There are 3 types of waterproofing A, B and C. We need to have 2 types as I understand. Waterproofing outside the basement type A with membrane which also goes under the raft, geotex protection board and drain with backfill of washed gravel ( SE has been asked to guide us on what he wants in backfill) type B waterproof Concrete does not really work for ICF as you cannot see the end result without cutting away the ICF, our only option was Type C internal drain with membrane. This meets building reg standards in Scotland. The type C will hopefully never be used but it’s a fallback if anything does wrong. I know you could a number of years ago use 2 type As but that is not the case anymore. @saveasteading we are on a slope the back of the house is basement level and we have created a return on one side with a retaining wall. So a 2 sided basement not a cassette ie 4 sided basement. The internal drain is connected to outside drainage that then goes to pond and soakaway down my sloped garden. That’s the current plan. @Thorfun yes we have considered not having UFH in basement at all but as the main open wall in basement is north facing and we live in Scotland, thought better to put in during construction rather than regret it later even if we do not have it on all the time. @Conor I would agree but I’m being told that I’m required to provide 2 elements of the Type A B and C waterproofing system by building control.

@Nickfromwales SE knows about it but has not said anything although I understand the mesh reinforcement will need to be bent but that did not come from him. He has had the proposed design for over a month and made no comment, shares office with architect who has drawn it up for warrant. We have asked about the bending of mesh and how he proposes this is to be done, still waiting. Maybe you’re right and I need to go for screed disappointed SE didn’t think to say anything before changing drawings, one step forward 2 steps back. Thank you for your comments, I really appreciate them. I will chase SE tomorrow, yet again the shared experience and wisdom on this site has trumped my well paid experts.

@Nickfromwales our insulated raft is 250mm

@NickfromwalesHead height but also I have 250mm of slab that can accommodate UFH, so screed on top seemed a wasted expense but I’m happy to be corrected. It would be easier as you can see from @Thorfun drawing

Hi @Nickfromwales econekt, they are based not far from us and will be an assisted build

This is our design WYK-SD 039 Stepoc Water and Gas Proofing with Preformed Channel.pdf

@Thorfun we are building a basement open on 2 sides, construction ICF, intended to have UFH in slab only waterproof design has advised us to do in screed, we pushed back and they have given us a design that includes water guard drainage channel which we need to precast in the slab. I think you had the same issue but you went with a screed, is that correct? I saw one of the waterproof drawings and looks like they designed the same channel into the screed. Obviously easier than in the 250mm slab although currently this is what we are looking at doing and trying to get my head around how to actually do it, any pointers! for reference

Hi @Kevan Marshall sorry I did not see your post sooner. I was in the same position bought an uninhabitable house Scotland although we are just outside Glasgow. No stamp duty although you find saving now you will definitely spend later, but the wee wins feels good. Although our solicitor told us to keep the monies that could be owed to one side incase HMRC question it later and keep photos of existing state of building and any surveys we do as evidence, I also had an email chain with planning who also deemed the house uninhabitable just incase. Know one’s come knocking yet, although I don’t have door just a big hole in the ground! Good luck to you

The first photo shows the front south facing trees behind security fence, they have TPOs which is why the fence is there to protect them. The second shows the north back garden trees, which also hides a 45 degree slope of 9m which then goes down to a flat area of 10m, it then goes down another 45 degrees for 6m and then flat for 5m. Our farmer digger operator tracked a path for us for his digger and us after the photos were taken to the bottom of our hole, he also created a secret path behind the trees which leads to the flat garden but also able to access what will be the entrance to our basement. The skill of his digging and navigate his digger in and out the hole and moving the soil was amazing to watch.

We have a similar issue when digging for basement, the house we demolished had a basement but was not deep enough and only used for garden storage. I did but didn’t really appreciate how tight our build is until it came to sloping the ground to accommodate the basement build. But we are in a slop, several slops in all directions, just to make things fun. we are heavy clay although we found some building sand had be used on the original fill in, which gave us some issues and had to dig wider to remove as this could have easily have fallen on us when working in our hole. We are still in our hole!

You could carve it out of polystyrene or even foam depending how ridged you want it and then scrim with muslin and pva to give it a smooth surface and make it fire retardant, It could then be painted. It could also be done with paper mache covering a clay mould of the shape you are looking for. There are other theatrical prop materials that you can mould into shape that are easier to use than fibre glass, wonderflex comes in sheets and you use a heat gun to mould into shape over say a clay mould, can then be sanded and painted. Have you considered creating it in fabric and stuffing to create the desired shape, you could include a wire in the centre so it holds a shape. Check out Peter Evan Studios, they do vacuum form embellishments, it might give you some ideas https://www.peterevansstudios.co.uk/scenic-embellishment/ although I didn’t find a sunbeam.

Not in Scotland unfortunately they stopped for new builds last August

Oooo I want one, my garden consists of a 10m winding slope, fortunately at the moment I’m moving hardcore and bricks down to build a gabion wall to terrace said slope but if it was ever the other way round I would not cope. I’m at an age when anything I do that is hard and physical which currently is every day, I have a little voice in my head saying is this the way I’m going to go, face down slumped over my Whinny wheelbarrow head first in hardcore. I’m thinking a slide and zip wire to get down by slope in the future and a ski lift for the way up, maybe a track with remote control electric wheelbarrow is the thing I need, for me not the hardcore.

Well done. We got some eye popping demo quotes most didn’t even come to site, like you, we found that all they were going to do is smash the house to pieces and go to land fill although they would do it very quickly it seemed the amount of skips required was an extra to most quotes. We had asbestos in various places but removed ourselves with care and an asbestos skip. It was the kind your allowed to remove yourself with precautions. We found more asbestos than was listed on report we got, so got samples tested before removing but if a digger would have smashed through house this may have not been found. We did the demo ourselves, pallet break x 2 was invaluable on everything from roof tiles to plaster off walls and floor boards. A reciprocating saw was our second most trusted friend along with ooffa and doofa our crow bars. Ooffa had got it self lost but recently sighted between the walls at the front of basement, silly sausage, how did it get there! We have been able to store lots of wood and hope to reuse including our floor boards which I plan to make into parquet at some point. Bricks are going into gabions to terrace the garden. It was harder work and longer than we imagined but lots of money saved and satisfaction and very little to land fill and only 2 skips of concrete roof tiles, (so far) although lots of weekly drop off at recycling centre and managed to make money on selling copper and such like. We are now left with an open shell of a basement and chimney but we are now waiting for our sheep farmer to finish lambing to finish the rest and do ground work. Not long now.

Thank you for all your comments and suggestions @MikeSharp01 @Beau @BadgerBodger @saveasteading @G and J @Russell griffiths @ToughButterCup @sgt_woulds @SteamyTea The gentleman who built the house we have demolished was a building surveyor and it looks like he did a lot of recycling on his build. While stripping off plaster board in the attic rooms we found large cinema posters mounted on thick card from the 60s for a cinema on Victoria rd Glasgow, the building was knocked down in the 60s. Most we had to cut to remove so we played a family quiz while removing, what film is this a poster for? I Should share and make a build hub quiz. I have attached photo. we have lots of made up ground under the house although clay at a decent level. While gardening we have found chimney pots and bricks and 2 sinks. I will tell you all about my rubble drywall pathways in another post! The rafters are in a marquee in the garden, so storing is not an issue for now and HID is of the the same mind. They are straight and over 8m long and de nailed, they are from rafters from the roof and 2x floors so lots of them. Yes we had planned to also use to build garage/shed/tree house. I have attached a photo of end grain. @saveasteading good suggestions on asking local timber yard. I recently was given a contact of a tree surgeon who also has a saw mill in his garage who might be worth a call. Essentially as our neighbours ash tree with ash die back in the storm has split at its folk and mangled our Heras fence and leaning precariously on our ash and cherry tree. Although that’s another issue as the neighbour who owns the unmanaged woods from said tree has moved away and now need to go through title register to get contact details. They have another 2 ash trees very close to our boundary and new house which also have ash dieback.