ClifftopBuild96

Thanks for the info Mike. I hadn't thought about the potential for the arte to contain asbestos, so that's a good shout for sure. I've been wearing a mask for the majority of the time & have been leaving the windows open as its very dusty! I'll look into purchasing some tests. Yep that makes sense regarding insulation, at the moment the property has an EPC rating of F... So it needs looking into for sure!

Skirting boards seem damp and have lost their strength but the floorboards are still in solid condition and don't show any obvious defects ( to my unprofessional eye).

I've recently purchased a property which hasn't been lived in for 2 years. There is a lot of damp on a couple of walls so I called a building surveyor to inspect, he got a builder round and they both suspect that I have dry rot in a number of rooms around the house 🫤 this was in the plaster. I would be very grateful on some advice. I have removed all the plaster on a couple of the affected walls and it's now back to brick ( See photos ). What would you recommend for remedial action? The builder suggested back to brick, injecting / spraying permaguard treatment all over the affected walls then using black jack over the full surface of the wall and then dry lining afterwards with plasterboard and roofing timber. They suggested concreting all the floors but I assume this will be costly and I'm not sure if it's worthy as the damp seems very localised. If I replaced floor boards and joists within one meter and treated all connecting wood with permaguard, do you suspect this to be sufficient? Over the next few days I will rip up all the carpet and inspect the flooring to see if its been affected in the main room. It has been advised to remove all the flooring and joists and fill with concrete, however the condition of the flooring underneath hadnt been seen. I've read online about anything 1 meter from the last sighting of dry rot, so I'm edging towards just replacing nearby floorboards which could have been affected. I believe the cause is due to water ingress through cracks in the render & poor guttering. Thanks for any advice.

@Bozza Hi Bozza, Thanks for that, it's certainly food for thought. You're right that it's probably a false economy, I am on a 50/50 rotation but could potentially get agency work if required. I think I'll have to revisit the topic nearer the time depending on the situation. My thoughts are that a future partner / kids etc may not be happy with me being away from home for more than my alloted rota. But who knows what will happen over the next few years!

@Pocster I plan to use the next 2 years to save & then start the build utilising a self build mortgage if needed. I work for 10 weeks away and then get 10 weeks off, so will be able to work on my project full time when I'm at home. Thanks for the vote of confidence and advice! I would love to get the bulk of the project finished within 2 years of starting..

Thanks @joe90 , I plan to live / keep the property for the foreseeable future so I'm thinking being energy efficient & future proof is the way forward too!

@saveasteading Thanks. I'm eager to learn as much possible on this project and hopefully work on some more in the future, depending on how well this one goes... As you say good quality contractors are expensive here in kent and I have a lot of spare time with a reasonably restrictive budget. The current property is located next to my neighbour, so I wish to move the whole property more central to the plot which would not overlap. The current property also has a basement which I may have to fill in.. I have thought about potentially adding a basement (whilst im digging new foundations anyway) to the new planning application but am wary about the added costs which may entail. I have one neighbour, and the site is flat, dry & indeed on top of a cliff - But far enough back & reinforced below to be affected by erosion issues.

@Russell griffiths Thanks for the list that's very helpful. If i can pull off all of those I'm sure I'll gain a lot of experience and save a lot of money! I plan to take my time with all jobs and am a bit of a perfectionist... A close friend is an electrician so I'm sure he will be able to assist and sign off the work once completed to the required standard.

@Canski Thanks Canski, definitely something to think about once I start the build to keep the costs as low as possible.

@Square Feet Thanks for all the info Squarefeet. Those books look great, and just the type of thing I need with some good visual representations! I've recently taken an interest in Grand designs and have been watching them for inspiration - A lot tend to end up spending more than they first envisaged so unfortunately that could be the case for me too 😄

@ProDave Hi Dave - Thanks for the advice. The reason why I am initially leaning towards ICF is due to being able to lay it myself (with lots of prep) which in turn would cut back on labour costs. My initial plan is to get costings for both block & ICF constructions and then I can move forward from there.

First of all , thanks to everyone who posts on this forum. I've been trawling through historic posts and have learnt a lot already & I know it will be an invaluable source of info for me over the next few years. Background - - I'm 27 - Recently purchased an old bungalow with planning permission for a chalet dormer bungalow with Double garage. Location - Kent. The plan is to demolish the existing chalet bungalow and construct a new one in a better location on the plot itself. I have 0 construction experience and wish to do as much of the work as possible myself / with some help from my dad ( Who has completed various DIY kitchens / bathrooms etc in the past ). I am an engineer by trade so have some experience using my hands (Mostly irrelevant) ... Now I understand this may sound naive & I feel pretty nervous about the project, but over the next 2 years I plan to rigorously research each element of how to construct a house from scratch. After researching I'll start the project. Fortunately time is on my side - - I will live with family over the course of the build so don't have a fixed rigid time frame - Job entails working abroad for 6 Months of the year & I will have 6 months of the year free to work full time on the project with no distractions. I also plan to take a few intense courses prior to starting ie Groundworks, ICF construction, plastering / rendering etc. Anyway, enough of the rambling.... Do you have any shrewd advice for me prior to starting? Do any of you utilise a GANT chart / Excel for your projects? Have you found any useful templates of a self build online which details the step by step process? Stupid question I'm sure, however - I understand when calculating floor space (m2) usually it's the ground floor and then x 2 if you have an upper floor? How does this work for 1.5 storey Chalet bungalow? I'm planning on using estimators.com which will allow me to compare pricing between blockwork & ICF. Is there any tasks that you would not attempt to do yourself & why? The photo attached is the type of look I'm aiming to achieve.