evelar

Thank you! Will have a read....

Do you have a sips house though JSHarris? We're currently in an icf house and is really cool in the summer due to the concrete so am hoping this will help somewhat.

yes oak internally and some external but it's not an 'oak frame' as the structural integrity is from the icf rather than the oak. Our gable ends are structural oak though - see below in the picture. We'll also have an oak porch on the side.

Sorry - I disappeared for a while! Yes window frame has to sit on the concrete rather than the polystyrene obviously so up to you where the frame sits within that concrete span. Our architect advised having the windows sit inside and have a big reveal on the outside but we disagreed and sat them towards the outside to maximise internal space.

What J_s said. Cold to touch and we get condensation on one corner post as the corner bifold needed a steel post for support and that caused a bit of a cold bridge. We used duration windows who were really responsive with quoting etc and really good value (especially if you get a trade account set up which we did as we had a company). We installed them ourselves but they also do install. They are still South though (sorry).

following as we're just delving into the windows minefield. We have aluminium right now but have 2 sets of corner bifolds- they are chilly to touch and the u value is about 1.8 so not great and we have some condensation issues because our house is airtight (these are very minor though). Alu clad timber gives a better u value and insulation - I was advised not to use alu clad upvc for bifolds as it's not as durable so think I will probably try for alu clad timber this time around. Am so confused with windows - u values and then g values and solar gain, do we want the heat / don't we want the heat on our south facing glazing, heat reflective coating or not? triple glazed - is it worth the extra? So.many.questions.

And I've just realised we have lived here for 4 years and i still haven't fixed the window sill down.

Depends if the window is sitting on the outside or the inside of the icf. Our current icf house - we have the window frame sort of straddling the concrete and external polystyrene rather than the internal- you can just see the small reveal of white render on the outside in the photo. We opted for this way as our internal space is limited - downside is the windows get grubby quickly but it seems easier to have a wider internal cil than trying to match the gap to a stone cil with I don't know maybe more stone??? Our new house we also have a brick facade on the outside of the icf so the gap will be almost castle proportions thick and we have not worked that bit out yet..... ?

Hi all, We bought a plot last year and have been merrily plodding along with our self build. Not doing it the most efficient way and have made many mistakes, ignoring lots of rules (not serious or build related ones though) and generally making it up as we go along. First rule broken was not to use an architect. Second rule broken to use the lay of the land - nope, completely changed the landscape (sloping plot) but this resulted in a great front facade and a south facing front garden so even though that earth removal went waaaaaaaaaaay over budget (around £20k just on earth removal) it was worth it.... (hopefully)...... Then we wanted an oak frame house but didn't want an oak frame so we've gone (again) more expensive and used icf structure and stuck some oak throughout the house. So we're changing our minds every 3 seconds - moved a window to suit internally and forgot about the outside so it now doesn't match up with the gable so moved it back again and other such silliness (hmmm possibly should have used an architect???) Now we're almost to roof, done everything ourselves with 1 extra labourer and its going well. We're starting on the complicated stuff that we don't know about which is heating requirements, windows, airtightness and all that jazz. Hadn't planned for any renewables because I can't work out whether they'll be worth it or not but we designed the house so all the glazing is south facing living areas and the smaller windows north facing are out the back for bedrooms, plus the icf will be super insulating but keen to reduce the heating load as much as we can so next step windows I think! Here's a pic...