G and J

A wet vacuum? If you can see the beastie laying at the bottom of the cistern giggling at you then you may be able to suck it up and save yourself the tenpence…..

My (me being G, the more mature, considered and sensible posts are by J) ‘do everything myself’ OCD thing would have loved to have stick built from delivered timber, but there’s two of us to consider, and I’d prefer to finish in less than forever. So I’m hoping that very experienced joiners with me adding in the bits needed for airtightness will result in a good build. If I’d managed to find a company to quote on a supply and erect we probably would have gone that way. Fingers crossed.

Insisted deposit being paid on cc. Relatively short timescales between final payment and delivery so 🤞. So far co. Have been great to deal with, did a lot of pre- work with us even before order.

Seriously, what are your concerns.......always happy to learn.....company are doing the first 3, as a panelised system, and it's a pretty straightforward rectangular build.

Tight site so need sensible u value for thinnish walls. Plus we want to get to watertight pdq. But as a general principle I can easily imagine you are correct. Ok coffee gone. Really must commune with my shovel again….

Very similar in approach, with a slight nuance of our build being a project of two halves. 1: To properly watertight - meaning main roof/solar/rainwear/render/cladding/etc done so scaffold can go forever. This is pre house sale so budget squeaks. 2: The rest. Post house sale so budget squeaks rather less. I hope. In software programme management there was a saying. The first 90% of the work takes 90% of the budget. The remaining 10% of the work takes the other 90% of the budget. I do hope that’s not what we end up doing.

I started down that path months ago and got some way, partly to make me a bit more of an informed buyer. But now my attention span is one of many constrained budget lines. Plus I have to constantly fight my ‘I must do everything’ obsession.

Couldn’t find one to quote as we have overhead wires which prevent crane use. Besides, I’ve an impact driver. What could possibly go wrong?

I spot a change of plan looming on the horizon. It all depends how quickly we sell our house. If we go under offer quickly (a nice problem to have) then I won’t have time to faff around and I therefore expect we'll use a design and commission package. If the house lingers on the market for ages then there is scope for me to follow your lead and save lots.

Steady on. There are squirrels on site and they aren’t my favourite (and at my advancing years and my tinnitus i have of course pin sharp hearing. Honest. )

We’re buying a kit and putting it together ourselves (meaning joiners who, unlike me, have done it before). In my mind I’m now thinking that I’ll be present (maybe even trying to help but actually hindering?) when the internal walls go up, partly to ensure the tony trays are put in but also to pop a strip of VCL in place vertically against the inside of the external panels to give a continuous airtight layer. Need to think that one through.

Did they charge an awful lot extra to do the MVHR commissioning and certification?

So you’ve just described exactly what I was asking about. I should have reread the whole thread before posting. However another question. Our upstairs is timber clad. By attaching the internal walls to the timber frame am I creating much of an acoustic conductor? I assume some of our internal walls are bracing the long sides off our upstairs which would be a 11m x 6m open plan room otherwise. Would I need such bracing?

Fab idea. I’d been wondering about the order of assembly upstairs. We’re planning on putting a VCL onto the bottom cord of our trusses then a layer of OSB then plasterboard. Given that ours is a panelised TF kit methinks rather than getting them to make the panels short I can simply fit the upstairs internal walls last. Unless there’s a complication I’ve not thought of…

A slight sidestep topic wise but I’ve quotes for a designed and commissioned MVHR system and could clearly save money by doing as others have in here, but… Our BCO has stated they require the MVHR to be commissioned by a suitable professional. Is there a sensible way round that?

That makes having a pool sound almost ecological!

Full marks for @saveasteading then.

Is a pressure balancing thingy needed somewhere to reduce cold pressure to match the hot pressure? Presumably it’s only the showers that such a thingy needs to serve…

Hang on. Has someone worked out how much more in resource terms these so called eco but actually short lived led bulbs (that’s what John Lewis calls them so I’m sticking to that) cost vs dead simple and resource friendly filament bulbs cost? I know filaments use more lecky but is it enough to justify all the plastic and precious metals that get thrown away?

Will do.

Our upstairs ceilings are 12.5mm plasterboard straight onto the bottom cord of the trusses at 600mm centres. The joints are supported by noggins, and maybe that’s less necessary if on 400mm centres. But these have been up 34 years and counting.

Thank you. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.

PS - we would of course have the same insulation and screed/constructional slab above both halves…

In about a month (fingers crossed) I’ll be standing on a cleared site looking at the ground we will be building on. At that point we will know so very much more, and will have the evidence on which to base decisions about the form of foundations and floor building up. Until then I’m trying to predict most likely scenarios and appropriate responses to those scenarios. I’ve posted separately about shallow drains and minimum falls and levels. That thread has concluded that I may be able to have a bnb floor where my drains run. But… The drains are all in the front half of the house. The ground slopes down towards the back of the house. BnB was the preferred option as it sidestepped the need for loads of sub floor build up. So… Is it ok to have solid floor for the shallow half of the house and BnB for the other, deeper half? The required foundations lend themselves to that, just a single (but aesthetically important) doorway crossing that boundary.

Take lots of pics with it installed. Then remove it and store it til the autumn. Then sell it using the pics, that way you’ll get a good price. In the meantime instal a small one that you will actually be able to use and that won’t conflict with your MVHR, i.e. one with direct air. Or accept that form trumps function and install a tv in the fire showing a vid of a fire.