BotusBuild

Inherit 🙂 Steal 🙂 Squat 🙂

Wykamol Sureproof waterproofing membrane, followed by Wykamol CM20 geotextile membrane for us

Got the Reliance valves yesterday, and found something not in the description - the indicator can be flipped over for hot outlets 😀. Obviously not on the same manifold. Picture for reference only 😉

The build up before backfilling is Nudura, sticky bitumous layer, what I refer to as an egg tray with geotextile layer, then the pre-used shuttering to protect the geotextile as we backfill. That last bit will no doubt rot away eventually 😉

FYI - a surveyor inspected our 1980's built house cavity and told us we couldn't have the glue/bead solution as it would react badly with the waterproof layer on the internal timber frame. Just another reason to build the new house 😀

You should be able to see there is some old shuttering board between the waterproofing and the Nudura. In that picture the wall closest to you (where the compactor is buried in the mud 🙂) is purely supporting the roof above it and so has no extra waterproofing.

Has the new gas main been laid? What size of pipe has been left to connect to? The pipe that comes to the meter is generally no more than 1" in diameter. Provide a 1.5 - 2" hole. Caveat: I am not GasSafe registered.

Apart from the “picture from the mound” timelapse blog entry, there’s not been much of an update since mid September 2022. So, get your preferred hot drink (maybe a SteamyTea), and settle back for the next instalment. Where were we? SWMBO was still in recovery from her foot infection - you remember? The one that might have killed her? The second floor ICF had been installed, and the concrete poured. I’m still going to spare you any pictures of the foot, but here is a concrete pump truck instead. So, next on the list - a roof please. But before that, the final steel beams had to be installed [FX - thumbs twiddling in the foreground and whistling can be heard as we wait for the steelworker once again], but it wasn’t too long a wait, and by mid October 2022 we had the beams installed. In late October and early November I set to work with the ground worker to do some backfilling, and of course on the days I chose to have the digger onsite, Cornwall delivered some of its traditional autumnal weather so any attempt to properly compact anything was nigh on futile. In the meantime, more joists, endless sheets of T&G OSB, vapour barrier, 160mm deep sheets of PIR insulation, and some of the biggest screws are readied for ordering. The joists arrived in and in early December I had my supervisor and client (SWMBO) back on site 🙂, and she has graduated to being a mountain goat. She now refers to the site as her "happy place", even though we have a strong suspicion that the infection was started by a visit to a local beach. By mid April, with help from some now local family members, we’d installed the roof joists, and in mid May we were ready to start boardin’, vapour barrierin’, and insulatin’. The GRP was installed in mid July 2022 (by others). I’d also been readying the Great West Wall (GWW) to have the triple glazed sliding doors and windows installed (by others), and this took place in mid August, just in time for my significant birthday. There were some fitting errors, but I have to take my hat off to the installation company, they have been back to rectify their work, and have supported me with making the suppliers change some of the sliding door fittings as they were just not correct despite their protestations. In October, we had the mains electric and meter moved from their temporary location to inside the house. Over the ensuing autumn and winter months, we’ve been installing some of the final internal partition walls, running water pipes, installing more insulation around the GWW windows, and recently started on the ventilation ducting following some core drilling being undertaken (Tip: always ask for a hole to be drilled that is about 10mm bigger than you need - expanding foam is your friend. I donate my scar tissue to you all 😂) In December, I got made redundant. No worries, this may actually be a blessing in disguise. Next up on the list: Finish ventilation system Finish insulating the GWW Finish backfilling Electrics Floors Walls ASHP and HWC Kitchen Bathrooms The remaining plumbing Outer wall coverings But, in the meantime, we have the small matter of our daughter’s wedding. DOES SHE NOT KNOW WE’RE TRYING TO BUILD A HOUSE!? (Time to end: 2 years 🙂 )

We do all of course want a picture of the fitted skylight 🙂

Following on from the HEP20 manifold thread I was wondering whether this is allowed. As my planned location of the cold and hot manifolds lies between where the mains feed into the house is, and where the HWC will be, I was wondering whether the cold taps manifold could just be a loop as shown in the diagram?

Hi Angus, Like Joe90 said, Some, like me, have/had a week time job, and we have built/retrofitted in our non-work time. Personally, my self build has taken 3.5 years (and counting). Like Mike, some jobs I have paid others to do (Windows, Steel framing, fiberglass on roof, pouring concrete). However, I've always wanted to build my own house, am good at DIY, and have a level of OCD that can annoy some people (just ask the contractors that have come onsite), but I think that is another reason some of us do stuff ourselves - the inherent need to have something done right. HTH

Welcome - do let us know if you learn anything, or just remain confused 🙂

If you've got any bits of PIR and some thin bits of cushion type foam lying around: - two pieces PIR either side of the fitting - carve/gouge/fettle out some of the PIR to get each piece to fit snug as possible - a thin layer of cushion foam around the fitting, then tie-wrap the two pieces of PIR around that. Think of the PIR as two pieces of bread, the cushion foam as the butter, and the fitting as the cheese in between

Just an FYI - took this screenshot from the Reliance Valves website: So it seems like they are compatible as per @Jenki's pictures

Nope, saving pounds. Cheapest Hep20 4 port 3/4" I can find is currently £54.88 vs £35.59. I call that a good difference and one worth investigating.

@Nickfromwales, would these be a suitable alternative to the manifolds used in your installation? https://www.screwfix.com/p/reliance-valves-4-port-potable-water-manifold-15mm-x-3-4-/248TY?tc=QT6&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA8sauBhB3EiwAruTRJo5BJO5VKVRswgkQADFqoJxyFr2U9b6brJWLiAnkUGBAo8eJxS5YiBoCdckQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds and here https://www.reliancevalves.com/gb/en/products/flow-control/plumbing-strainers-flow-regulators-manifolds/potable-water-manifolds

I was wondering what to make of the 3 cores that I'll end up with 🙂

adding to my confusion what's a little handle drill? never heard of one of those

I have three holes, two of 180mm diameter, and one of approx 100mm diameter (to be confirmed), to be drilled through our 8 inch (203mm) thick concrete walls (and the EPS either side of course). I have an SDS drill and could drill multiple holes and then hammer chisel the holes, but my arms, from shoulders to hands, are really starting to feel the strain of building the house. With these holes all need to be drilled at heights above floor level of about 2m, just the weight of the SDS drill fills me now with dread, although I so have a mobile scaffold that I could sit down on So, I am looking at core drills. Confused.com comes to mind ... Dry vs Wet? As this is inside, I am most likely to go for dry Hand held vs some form of "rig" (similar to this)? Any ideas for how to secure a "rig" at 2m above the ground? Diamond vs Tungsten? Any guidance and pointers where best to hire the right kit please. Pretty please.

Whoops Back to the drawing board for me

Agreed, although at 8mm thickness there won't be much deformation unless you go mad with the torque wrench Simon, they wouldn't need to be welded in place, so not too difficult to do if you can get inside the box section (just a bit fiddly perhaps)

I just had delivery of MVHR from BPC. Had a lot of back and forward on the design layout, which I was expecting to be more detailed than it was. In the end I came up with the layout that best suited the as-built joists and walls. Even so, I have had to make an adjustment this weekend to the layout. I am installing myself. It is not difficult, just sometimes fiddly - I am trying to fit distribution boxes between web joists with 400mm centres!! I also have to core drill two 180mm holes through a 203mm concrete Nudura wall. So, take your time to make sure that the design will work in your property, carefully peruse the parts list from BPC before accepting their version of events, then crack on

Instead of Hollo Bolts, what about some M12 stainless steel threaded rod right through the box section, with a nut on either end?

If you really mean there will be a 25mm (45-20) or 45mm airgap underneath, I think you are asking for trouble. A heavy object falling on that and I think it might crack. If you are seeking to see a "gap" at the edges, I would create a wooden form that is easy to remove after pouring a cement base on which this lovely piece of stone will sit.

Keep the joist layout as shown, and add in noggins between along a centre line that runs from one end to the other. Each board will then be supported at each end and in the centre. You may want to install a piece of wood on top of each side beam to attach the boards to, and so the top of the noggins would also need to be at the same height. "steel columns" or "steel beams"? Does this drawing make sense? The red is the steel beam cross section, the brown rectangles are a wooden "filler" on the left, and the wooden balustrade on the right, the blue lines are coach bolts that hold the wood to the steel - you may need a single (stainless/galvanised) steel plate on the outer side of the balustrade act a "clamp" and stop the heads of the coach bolts disappearing off into the balustrade wood as you tighten up the nuts on the inside of the steel beam. My personal preference would be edging to hide the steel beam, unless you don't mind the industrial look. I hope the above helps