Selexus

@Jenki I've followed some of your posts and on the back of your experiance I contacted Will at Polysteel. Their office is a 5 min drive from my current home, so i popped round last week and had a chat. I like the product but was a little concerned by the office/business and the lack of people. This to me would indicate a risk of lack of support ? I'll have to factor that in when making a decision on which system to go with.

Exactly my thoughts..... The current slab is 15m x 60m and I'd like to utilize it to have a good surface to build from, possibly dropping an insulated raft on top and tying the ICF structure into it ?(subject to Ground survey, and SE report) ? Also there will be enough space around the current building design to also utilize this slab as sub base for parking (gravel over stabilization grids, or similar), and patio base(tiles on pedestals), etc, etc. The ability to drop landscaping/drive/path surfaces over the top with minimal preparation will be a cost/time saver. I'll have to cost up different foundation options but the benefits of having a large stable platform for working/parking/storage onsite is very appealing and has to be factored in. Keeping it must be better than spending money removing it, then trudging around in acres of mud.....surely ?

You’re pretty much spot on here. this is the view that I want to keep to myself (no neighbours 😉) There is an existing slab from the former agricultural use, in place, that I’m attempting to keep undisturbed, for several reasons. Doing this also constrains the building shape to long and narrow. As mentioned, not the most efficient, but sometimes form needs to override function 😊. When we have planning approval I’ll post a layout and elevation plan. @Bozza I am a similar age and recognised this is pretty much my last chance to do this before I get too old. I’m taking 12 months off work to dedicate to getting a watertight habitable shell . It’s gonna be tough, but most things worth having are… One of my best mates is a builder, and my partners son is a carpenter, both want to help with the build so I’m not totally on my own. @NailBiter we can take advantage of the long roof space for PV and HW solar, as it’s south facing. Solar gain (both negative and positive aspects) will be accounted for. My other best mate is purchasing director for one of the UKs leading boiler/renewables manufacturer. He’s promised to help get some free equipment (thermal store, inverter, etc) to make the whole heating/power installation more affordable, along with free design services from their in house team. Thanks all for the advise and encouragement so far.

Hey everyone, Hope you’re all well! After 20+ years of dreaming, 3 years of searching and a couple of false starts , we’ve finally had our offer accepted on a 1.6 acre plot in North Devon. We’ve engaged a planning consultants to help, us with the change from 2, 2 storey houses on the plot to a single, 1 storey house. It’ll (hopefully) be about 6m by 56m with an attached greenhouse section and garage. Similar in style to the Ramon Esteve house in Spain. The plan is for us to do 90% of the work ourselves. ICF walls, sips roof, etc,etc. As with most people our budget is tight, and we expect to partially complete the house before moving in, then continue the internalls over the following couple of years (whilst being back at work). Looking forward to running some ideas past you, and hopefully incorporating the advise into our build to make things simpler and less expensive. Cheers