Hyside

@pocster Sorry for late response. Thanks for the info. @ragg987 and @Mr Punter Ive spoken to a couple of ICF companies now and waiting for some prices. Looks like it could be the way forwards for me. Thanks

@Thorfun Really can't disagree with any of the points you've made there. They were recommended - but seemed to have limited experience with basements. If I went to another one with experience with ICF/basements do you think they would be able to use the calcs from my SE and just design the basement or would they have to start from scratch again? @pocster Thanks for the reply - I had thought about that to cover myself. Could you give me an idea on cost for that and who you used please. Ta Thanks for all the replies - Very much appreciated. Owe you all a beer.?

Thanks @Thorfun The SI gave lots of recommendations for the basement construction but my SE just wrote "basement to be designed by specialist basement contractor" on his drawings - Starting to think he wasn't the best man for the job, although his calcs for above ground seem ok. Having looked on here I'm very much considering an ICF basement, so I suppose I'd need someone with ICF experience to design that.

Yep - Had a very good SI done, according to people who've seen it. Actually I've had two done, but didn't realise I needed to get the soil tested the first time, and they only did one trial hole.(You get what you pay for), but the second one was very thorough. Thanks - I'll have a look at Toughbuttercup's posts. See if I can get some pointers. (How do you do that thing so it's linked to their name in the post?) Thanks Peter.

Hi Tom, Your build looks brilliant, and the information you've shared is really helpful. We're on the East London/Essex border. Have planning agreed to knock down our existing detached property and rebuild a new house with a basement. I started off wanting ICF but convinced myself to go traditional as I've worked on the tools before, although a very long time ago. After getting some pointers from the chaps on a different thread and seeing your posts and success, I'm swinging back to ICF. I've seen a few post regarding bracing, did you use any? Also did you use a vibrating poker ? when you poured the concrete? Thanks

Thanks again Bitpipe for your reply. Thats good to hear. Maybe I've focused too much on the horror stories. Considering what you've mentioned - I've had a rethink on the ICF approach as I have the time to be very hands on. I've been looking around the forum this morning and found "Tom's Barn" posts regarding his ICF build and it looks very impressive. If I changed the build method to ICF would that have any inpact on the planning permission?

That does sound brave. The whole basement thing does make me a bit nervous. According to the SI they did three trial holes down to between 8 and 15 metres and didn't hit water and the holes didn't collapse. However they left a well on-site and found that there is "perched" water - Which I believe to be surface water that's drained through and is sitting in pockets of clay.... I fink.

Thanks for the info Gus - just crept out with digital measure to double check the distance to the neighbours. Its over 3m actually about 4.3m, but I have to pile over there for the foundations. So if my neighbours foundations are 450mm then I'll have to serve a PWA. I'm going to ask them if I can dig a trial pit to check. Thanks - The Architect has been brilliant, he's made loads of changes without it being a problem and worked really well with us. I hadn't really considered a blog, but I'll give it a go. Next question: Is that set up on here or done independently?

Thanks for the replies and brilliant information! All really appreciated In answer to your questions. We seem to get on quite well with the neighbours both sides but we'll see how long that lasts when we start crushing concrete on-site. Although one of the most exciting things for me is having a basement, I'm finding the whole process a bit daunting. Especially with the different methods of construction to consider. I think I went with Precast because it was sold to me as the most watertight and least likely to have problems later. Seem lots of people have issues with leaky basements. Could really do with reducing the basement budget though if there's another way. Going for traditional brick and block construction, only because I've worked with it in the past and understand it a bit better. Really considered ICF otherwise, but was told as it was non standard construction it might be difficult to get a mortgage. Happy to be corrected if that's incorrect. How would I find out the depth of the neighbours foundations, is it just digging a hole and having a look? Might be a bit tricky as its all paved. Its around 1930s built Thanks again.

Thanks Bitpipe Me neither ?, and so far it been a bit of a rollercoaster. Thanks Thanks Bitpipe - Seems like I'll need to get a PWA then, looking at the diagram we're closer than 6m on one side.

Thanks for the reply and info Jilly, much appreciated. I thought I need to get a party wall agreement because the basement and piling for foundations were going to be lower than my neighbours, but perhaps not then. I'll have a chat with the architect to see where we are regarding the BC drawings.

Morning, Based on the East London/Essex border. We had planning agreed 2 years ago to knock down our existing detached property and rebuild a new house with a basement. With all the inevitable delays and second guessing everything, plus the ongoing pandemic fiasco, I can see, if I'm not careful the next year flying by and missing getting it started in the 3 year planning window. So I'm going to take a deep breath and make a start asap. Although the actual construction side seem to be nearly there - We have the Architect plans and SE calculations, a sort of acceptable pre-cast basement quote and watertight superstructure quote. (Although I've forgotten most of it, I was on the tools myself many moons ago, so I'm going to dust off the Black and Decker workmate and try and do as much as I can internally). Some advice on what order everything happens before the works starts. Regarding Party wall agreements, insurance, warranties/NHBC, building control etc. Would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.