Dudda

I have to disagree. I don’t think you need to model up a house to cost as it can’t be accurate. Without having a site a lot of these costs are impossible to calculate. Lets take the roof as an example. The surrounding houses and context will influence this to a huge extent. Your sketchup model is a modern low pitched roof with possibly a cheap membrane. However if you're surrounded by dormers you could be forced this route and/or the planners could condition natural slate. This dictates the pitch and the finish and more importantly the cost. Now the cheap low pitch membrane is an expensive dormer with less usable floor area and expensive natural slate. The house plan possibly grows to regain this lost upstairs unusable space and a bedroom has to move downstairs but now you want a shower downstairs in the WC for this bedroom so that gets larger too. The site constraints mean the house can’t get bigger in the direction wanted so the downstairs bedroom and larger WC eat into the kitchen which reduces the huge kitchen and the amount of kitchen units. Now the expensive granite kitchen worktop is reduce in size due to smaller kitchen and as it’s longer and narrower you decide to add an additional window but the window overlooks the neighbours so you swap the office with the downstairs bedroom to allow more light into the kitchen. The bedroom is more enclosed so it changes the dynamic of the whole ground floor open plan. Now you’ve a house with no resemblance to the original all because of the dormer roof with natural slate.

As an architect I think it’s crazy trying to design a house when you don’t even have a site in mind. You’ve no idea which way the house faces, where the sun rises, where neighbours may overlook, do you overlook the neighbours, if the site is even flat, where are the views, where is the road, is the road noisy or busy, are all the surrounding houses bungalow or all dormer which could influence planners, is it a conservation area, do any planning restrictions apply, etc. If you have your ‘perfect’ house planned and then get a site you could end up putting a house on a site which is totally unsuitable and it will be only after you’ve built and move in that you realise this. If you want to think about ideas, design, layouts, materials, etc then set up a Pintrest account and start making albums of what you like and what you don’t like. Use a general cost per meter square to work out the costs for now. The site you eventually pick could have very poor access or require a huge amount of ground works so getting a cost of a ‘perfect’ house now isn’t appropriate. Sorry to be negative but this is a huge investment and you want to get it right.

Sorry, what’s a seasonal buffer?

I got this chainsaw as it was the cheapest and its one of the best buys I've ever got. http://www.ie.screwfix.com/titan-ttb355chn-40-5cm-2000w-electric-chainsaw-230v.html I'm amazed it's still going with all I've thrown at it. It's a bad photo but it's cut trees which were 18 inch in diameter into logs I then split and have drying in the shed. I bought a cheap set of files to try and sharpen the chain a few weeks ago and now when I look at the cost of a new chain I just can't be bothered to spend the time sharpening each link and will just get a new chain. It's more than paid for itself.

So did you get any sleep? Photos? Did it need vibrating or how's it going?

I've a 3.6 meter long sliding wall planned and I'm buying a track now (6.4 meters long) that I can fit into the ceiling void so it finishes flush with the ceiling. I then intend to make the sliding wall from a lightweight steel box frame and probably 6mm MDF sheets to both sides to keep weight down which will be sanded and painted. I'm also considering 6mm birch ply or some type of veneered ply to both sides but think (or know) the better half will prefer the painted option. The sliding wall itself won't be made until all the finishes are done but need the track in now to allow the ceiling to be boarded and plastered. The track I'm using is the 180kg version of https://www.pchenderson.com/product/soltaire-sliding-door-hardware/ For you if each door is 2.2 meters long you'll have 4.4 meters of door so you've a lot of sliding door and track and don't think you'll get an off the shelf product.

I’ve a cold water manifold feeding all cold supply (basins, showers, bath, etc) and plumbed an additional rainwater manifold which feeds the toilets and an outside tap. Currently this manifold is fed by the mains water the same as the cold water manifold. I couldn’t justify the expense of a tank and pump currently but did the internal plumbing which was relatively cheap and I wouldn’t be able to do easily later. It was just an additional manifold instead of a larger cold water one, a small bit of extra pipe and an additional duct to outside. I also relocated some rain water runs outside from the downpipes to allow for the future rainwater tank as it was no additional expense now but would be in the future.

Ah crap. I've purchased 7 of them and payment confirmed. Sorry

Thanks all. Going to go with the fancy screws suggested by @Onoff but fixed as suggested by @Nickfromwales Will use D4 glue. Just found some on eBay. It's not the cheapest glue or screws and going Nick's way I'll use a lot but I want it rock solid and squeak free. Thanks again for the advice.

Have 600 x 2400mm T&G OSB sheets which are 18mm thick and want to fix them to the floor joists which are at 400mm centers. What glue brand or suggestions/recommendations of glue to make sure its rock solid and what's the best way to fix: Glue only Glue and screw at edge of each sheet Glue and screw everywhere. Last house had very squeaky floors which I never want to have again. Thanks in advance

The DPM is more a sheet of polythene to stop the screed or moisture from the screed making it's way down between the joints in the insulation when it's getting poured or having it dry out too fast particularly if it's getting polished. I think the rule for walls, roofs, etc is to have the better insulation on the outside to prevent interstitial condensation. In a floor that won't matter so whichever is easiest. If you've underfloor heating I'd have the PIR on top as that's better and also if you use the plastic staples to hold the underfloor heating pipes down they'll get a better grip in the foil faced PIR than you would with EPS.

The 8mm on a roll is flexible insulation to allow the slab to expand and contact. It's not really for thermal preformance. I put in 40mm insulation and then the flexible roll. That matches my service cavity so you don't see it as I've a polished slab and didn't want it seen. Put in whatever fits for you.

Find any difference between the Protect BarriAir and Intello? Looking online the BarriAir is a good bit cheaper?

Just to note you said it was going to be one large slab. Will it be reinforced with steel mesh? If so they creating a saw cut in the concrete won't work unless you cut through the steel mesh or ensure the steel mesh stops short either side of this movement joint and then a 20-30mm deep cut is fine the day after the pour. This happened recently on high profile council offices where they effectively reinforced the crack joint with steel mesh and the floor cracked everywhere except where they wanted it to crack. It was a polished concrete floor as well so couldn't hide it with bamboo like you. As you plan on having a floating bamboo floor you could just ignore all this and accept cracks in the slab as you won't see them but I think it's a good idea to put in this movement joint should you ever want to change to tiles or have something bonded to the floor as Ian said.

Have to agree with Ian and the requirement for a movement joint on this one. It’s not because of the wall but because you’ve two slabs which are completely different in age (old and new) and way their supported. Can’t see how rodents would get in to be honest but no harm filling it with whatever you choose.

Insulation prices from all major companies are currently going up over a four week period. March 20, 2017 – Ecotherm Insulation UK Limited – 12% to 16% March 20, 2017 – Kingspan Insulations Limited Therma Range – 12% to 16% March 30, 2017 – Recticel Insulation Products – 8% to 9.6% April 17, 2017 – Celotex Limited – 12.5% to 14.5%

Oh I didn't know that or at least it wasn't last time I was looking at it. That's good they've fixed that.

Some people can get Irish channels the same way we've all the BBC and other UK channels so listing what we have in Ireland: Room to Improve Dermot Bannon - Registered Architect Eco Eye Duncan Stewart - Registered Architect Home of the Year Hugh Wallace - Interior Designer and Registered Architect Deirdre Whelan - Interior Designer Declan O'Donnell - Registered Architect During the housing boom in Ireland everyone was calling themselves an architect even if they didn't have any qualifications so now the word 'Architect' is protected, unlike in the UK, and you can't use the word architect unless you're a member of the RIAI (Royal Institute of Architects) which is the Irish equivalent of the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects). As a result the TV presenters kinda have to be real registered Architects.

Looking at the latest plans. Upstairs all you have is bedrooms. It's all private and no need for any visitors to go near upstairs so I'd look at positioning the stairs over where you've the downstairs WC. This will reduce the very long upstairs corridor which is poor use of space. And 5 bathrooms in a 4 bed house? Does every bed need an ensuite?

I agree a metal one will always look better but when will you be 'looking closely at standing seam roofs' when in this example its 5 meters off the ground and you'll have to be standing back another 10-15 meters from the house to see them due to the low pitch? The house is also very elevated on a steep slope so on the road you’ll be even further away and it doesn’t look like the roof is overlooked by anyone. Looking at the above elevations the closest to the ground is the north elevation which is also the rear. If you’ve the money go for the metal but if not the membrane is a very good compromise where you can't see it up close.

The cost is determined by the quality of the membrane you use. The stick on PVC profiles come in 3 meter lengths are very cheap. You just have to take the time and make sure there stuck on straight.

You can get a single ply membrane flat roof and a PVC profile which is stuck onto the roof to make it look like a metal standing seam roof which works out a huge amount cheaper. It's incredibly hard to tell the difference when it's on a single story roof and on a taller building like yours you'll never know. We installed it on a school in the west of Ireland facing the wild atlantic and it's holding up very well so wouldn't worry about durability. eg of a product 'Sika Decor Profile SE' and example pictures I found on Google.

Venetian plaster usually contains marble dust to give it the color and strength so you're not far wrong. Loads of it is used in that house which recently won home of the year. Was looking to use it in my house too or possibly the cheaper micro cement.

How did you get the coloured blue and red rings on the 90 degree bends or what system are you using? Looks very good.

As it's localised and wetter I think it's extra moisture or rain running along the DPC and falling onto the slab at these areas. The additional extra moisture and efflorescence in that area of the slab compared to the rest would explain it and also explain why it doesn't run under the DPC. The key to stopping it would be to ensure that any moisture or rain that builds up on the DPC and flows along it like a gutter drains out and not into or on the slab.