Selexus

Hi All, Had a chat with the SE this week as part of the ongoing detailed design (BCO approval drawings) and he's keen, as am i, to get a ground survey done on our plot before we commit to a foundation design (currently insulated raft). Anyone have a recommendation of a good Survey company in the South West ? Thanks

Having now looked at the Thermofloor option, I'm certainly keen to know more. Was it a straight forward installation (i'm assuming you had ICF walls as well ?) ? Did either of you have any additional structural strengthening required ? possibly over large window or door opening ? I need this and am keen to understand if any flex in the roof/deck is present ? I'm sure our SE will want to specify additional steel to support our main 12m openings. How were Thermohouse to deal with ? Delivered on time? good support? Thanks

Hi Everyone, I'm on the hunt for an ICF deck system suitable for flat roof construction. I'm not able to readily find a UK supplier of this type of this type of system. Can anyone point me in the right direction ? This is the type of thing I'm looking at considering for the flat roof elements of our build. Amdeck: Insulated Concrete Floor and Roof System | Amvic (amvicsystem.com) Cheers.

We (she/her/the management/swmbo/etc) debated this some time ago. Eventually we decided not to go with MVHR. With all that glazing that will be opening and closing on a regular basis it didn't seem worth the expenditure. Water, waste and electricals is all we need to run. We're considering having the UFH manifolds in the cloakroom behind the kitchen. That's very central and would make pipe runs more manageable?

Both Block and landscaping plans have North indicators. It's just this elevations and layout drawing that had the wrong labels.

Plant room is 3mx2m. would you not consider this adequate ? As for placing, yes it's not optimal, but considering the layout compromises we would have to undergo to move it I'm pretty sure we're going to have to live with it. Can you see another position on the plan that would suffice ?

Glazing and roof, and going to be challenging from a budget perspective. Not insurmountable but we may have to compromise (more fixed glazing less openers. cut roof rather than SIPS. etc, etc) . Let see.

Ah....got it. Labels are incorrect on the diagram. Thanks for noticing, I'll change that and reissue.

Yes. probably too much from a heat loss perspective, but my ocd needs to keep the building symmetrical along its axis No, Solar will be along the south facing roof only..... (goes away to check my plans are correct).

Hi Again ! So we now have planning on this... Sailed through with no objections and very few conditions. Currently working with an Architectural Designer and SE to get the construction details correct for Building Regs submission and finance costing approval. Still looking at £1-1.2k per m2 as a cost guide. Mostly self built with some trades (e.g zinc roofing) We're leaning toward leaving the current slab totally undisturbed and dropping an insulated raft foundation on top. Tying this to the icf walls and topping off with a cut/SIP's roof. The roof is probably our main discussion point at present as we're torn between scissor trusses along the length of the building or just a plain open vault. Also much discussion about the support required for the structural openings...SE wants to do Steel (understandable), I like Amdeck or similar. Decisions.....Decisions.... Lots of aspects need to be clarified such as how to bring services and waste pipework up though the raft foundation when we're sat on a concrete slab as opposed to traditional earth/subase. I think we may have to channel out the slab just for these, as we don't seem able to maintain falls if we place it within the Raft foundation EPS. Happy days ! Crosslands Farm 040624 redacted .pdf

@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