Kernow

I’m interested to know, who has everyone used to do the design/structural work on there insulated raft foundations? And would you recommend them? Reading various posts I see the often recommended person is Hilliard Tanner, but does the fact that we are no longer in the EU pose an issue with regards to certification etc? Interested to know other people’s experiences as I’m not convinced that certain people that I have attained quotes from would be up to the job. Thanks

Brilliant definitely a few options to explore.

What sort of set up is this? Do you have a separate building/shed with the toilet over the composting whole? Do you think it would be possible to pipe waste directly from a static toilet into a compost whole? ?, this could get tedious very quickly.

That’s exactly what I wanted to hear, a quick google is needed I think...

Hypothetically speaking if you had to move on site into temporary accommodation (static caravan) before the required sewage treatment plant and soakaway installations had been completed, what are the options for disposing of foul waste? Is it possible to just part bury a large tank and have this emptied sporadically? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Interesting, I did hear about a large development down towards Tehidy, might be worth a visit. I have seen a few around in the past, but none now I am wanting to go and visit.

Thanks, not passive, but hoping to be near that level of insulation and air tightness. Current thoughts are for a DIY insulated slab foundation with ICF walls. Yes, the plot is only a few miles from our current house, going into a static on site when it sells.

How did you go about choosing which ICF manufacture you used for your build? Aside from cost & U values, what did you look at to differentiate the different systems? Thanks

Hi everyone, Thought I would introduce myself. We are shortly about to be starting a new self build of our family home in North Cornwall (detailed planning is in at the minute). We will be doing 90% of the works ourselves, I’m a roofer/builder by trade so hopefully know what we’re getting into. But we have never undertaken anything on this scale before. Hopefully I’ll be able to offer a bit of advice to others, as I know I will definitely be after some myself. Below are our plans if anyone is interested. 1904 03 P3.pdf

Yes...that is one of the factors that has made us start looking elsewhere.

We met with Arco2 a few weeks ago regarding plans for our site, whilst we have no real feedback in terms of working with them, we were impressed with how they came across. Definitely know what they are talking about, and seem like nice people that would be easy to work with. We are still very much considering them for our build.

Yes Apologies, I know that’s not a lot to go on I just quickly put up what we had been playing around with so far. I will get a bit more detail together then create a separate thread. Our preference was initially to have an architect design it as I can very much see the value that they bring, and design is outside of my comfort zone/whereas I’m more than confident on the building front.

Thanks for all the responses great to hear how different people approach it. We we pretty much know what we want, but would like it done quickly and don’t want to make any glaring mistakes with the design layout. I have attempted to attach attach a layout we have been playing around, pretty chide this about downstairs but not sure about the upstairs. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Hi, What has everyone done with regards to the design and drawings for your self build projects? How many of you have done all your own design & drawings how many of you have employed an architect? What was your reason for making this decision? I’d be interested to hear your experiences? Thanks Mike

Thanks for the advice everyone, I have done a bit of asking around and research with local contractors. The typical drainage field size for properties around is between 40-50sq m, and all of the neighbouring houses are using septic tanks and soakaways without issue. Even if if we had to have a drainage field size of 150sq m we could easily fit it in so plenty of space. Thanks

Thanks all for taking the time to reply, I’m already aware that we will need separate soakaways for the treatment plant and rainwater and planning to use crates for the rain water soakaways. We need a 4 bed house due to our family size, but planing on 2 stories to minimise the footprint. Best get sketching out a few layouts to get an idea of what will fit where. The soil conditions should be fairly good (whilst we haven’t done a percolation test), I know it’s not clay and is a gently sloping site in our favour. We we haven’t explored the option of having a soakaways on neighbouring land, but this is something we can look into. Thanks

There is no detailed planning yet so we can put the house where we like, within reason. Its the potential size size of the drainage field that is the issue, the neighbouring properties will be on private drainage as there is no mains sewarge in the vicinity.

Thanks, The potential issue for me is the drainage field that’s required, the main part of the plot measures 30m x 17m with a smaller piece measuring 10m by 16m. Its going to be a 4 bed house in south west England. I have attached a plot plan so hopefully this helps. Our plot will be the area outlined. House location likely to be in the top right hand corner.

Hi, We are currently in the process of buying a building plot (after a lot of searching). The plot measures approx 750sq metres, is there enough space on this to fit a sewage treatment plant and soakaways in? On initial inspection I didn’t even consider that we wouldn’t have the space, until the solicitor sent a note to us suggesting we check that we have the space as we have no rights to drainage of neighbouring land. Am am I right in thinking treatment plants/soakaways should be 6m from a property and 3m from a boundary? Thanks all