The Reverend

I'm not advocating hemp as the best building material, I chose it because it has a lower carbon footprint and that is important to my family. Like all build systems it has advantages and disadvantages, I here to to learn from other peoples experiences and share some of my own.🖖

What you need is a study and it just happens that I have one from Buildings research Establishment😉 the walls at Haverhill were 200mm and today I think the norm is 350mm.HempHousesatHaverhillfinal.pdfHempHousesatHaverhillfinal.pdf

My neighbours has built a large extension and must have a pallet of cut blocks that will just be used as hard core. Don't forget the savings on air-tightness and no cavity wall insulation. Plus you get a saving on thermal mass and no mold or condensation to deal with, it all adds up.

Working in Housing Development for the local Council I see a lot of older housing sites being cleared for new homes and the waste is horrible. The plastics and foam are sent to land fill or incinerated and I don't want to leave that mess for our children to deal with in the future. Since the start of the incinerator in Cardiff a new brown.orange layer hangs over the city and especially visible in the late evening. Even on the new new builds the amount of waste is huge with skips full of cut bricks and blocks all of which represent waste energy and mineral resources. With Hemp if you spill some you just put it the next mix so no waste.😊

Hi, we wanted a standing seam roof and priced in a zinc roof but Covid and the timber/energy hikes have put that out of reach so ended up with coated steel. Definitely want solar but the budget is so tight that as things get more expensive other things get dropped. Some of the windows are now fixed glazing and Oak floors will be replaced with stone tiles. We are having to be very pragmatic with choices.

To answer your questions directly, bamboo can be very destructive but running bamboo a lot quicker than clumping bamboo. Yes you can move it and it may sulk for a while but it will come back, best to move it in the winter. How bad is bamboo, have a look.

Hi Deejay, I have excavated a slightly larger tree for a friend and they leave a massive hole that will need to be back filled and compacted so I would not recommend this. If it were me I would be looking at getting in a reputable tree surgeon and grinding out only what you need to get a lintel or ground beam over it. The stump will eventually rot and it is likely that some minor settlement will occur so a lintel will allow for that, the second option is to stump grind all the way though but I estimate from the diameter of the stump that it could be 5-6 feet down.

I have worked for our local Council as a tree inspector and Japanese Knotweed adviser and treatment coordinator in the Housing Department also dealing with boundary issues but now nearing retirement. Claire and I started looking for land 4 years ago and picked up a corner plot in a quiet village near the Preseli hills, thankfully not in Pembrokeshire national Park. We have a budget of £250k for the build and 3 years along the road with planning permission taking 18 months but it's a difficult site to develop due to seasonal springs, high water table, split level and made-up ground. Wish us luck because we will need it. Going for a Hemp build with MVHR 4Kw air sourced heat pump, and underfloor heating. Solar and battery was planned but as other costs increase some of the 'would like' things are being crossed off the list. The log burner was crossed off yesterday after reading this forum. I hope I can contribute to the forum and share what knowledge I have as well as learn from your experiences.