K78

Is K rend not vastly inferior to modern products?

I attended their training course today and was impressed. All the questions in the original post are answered in detail and it is the most diy friendly of any building system I’ve seen. Definitley worth a look for those on a tight budget who want to get hands on.

It says in the instructions that it would beep when the battery is fully charged?

How long should the initial charge take on Makita lxt battery? its been charging for hours. The fan is off but the green light is still on. Thanks

Thanks for all the replies and advice. My suggested one for a 12m x 1.6m formed concrete wall foundation were doing. My thinking is that it will be useful throughout the build as most of it will be diy. Im leaning towards durisol but the companies communication isn’t very good which is concerning. Ian (recovering academic) had been really helpful.

That looks really good. I bought a Leica laser measuring “tape” around 12 years ago. It’s really good and clearly visible in bright sunlight at 50m. I’m reluctant to spend too much as I won’t use it once my build is complete. I need it for a 12m wall foundation.

I need a laser level that I can use outdoors as well as indoors. I’ve had a look on Screwfix and Argos and there are quite a few options. Green laser seems more expensive than red, but I read it is less visible outdoors? Its not something I want to invest a huge amount into, as I won’t use it often. But I don’t want to buy anything useless. As anyone got any recommendations? Thanks

Gabions are crazy expensive. Precast concrete is a much cheaper solution. Even at 4m high. Gabions and timber crib were the most expensive option by far for me. A kingpost wall is probably the best solution for that. Not all concrete slotted fences are equal.

If only it was as easy as he makes it look.

It’s really cheap and you can buy the bent pieces at various angles.

https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/self-builds-under-100k/

My house will look “industrial”. One of the benefits of being single. My ex would have gone mental ?

Ive been looking at a few YouTube vids of different ways of achieving this. Some are good but some look awful. The wall panels are silly expensive too.

I think it’s easily achievable tbh. Might regret that statement in a few months ? I appreciate prices of materials have gone up, but developers were selling new 4 bed detached houses in less desirable areas for £130k 15 years ago. And making a very healthy profit at the same time. I know many people will hate the look but I plan to leave my wiring and ducting exposed. I’ll do it myself and get it signed off. It’ll save me a lot in battons and plasterboard. I’ll be using ex display kitchens and bathrooms too. I’m importing my doors and windows from Eastern Europe. Not as cost effective as it was post brexit but still a big saving.

My blog would have started years ago and not much has happened since. I bought my plot, intending to get a mortgage and build a passive house. I was then then made redundant and unable to get another mortgage. I’ve just been doing what I can on site since. When looking at costings online. They seem either really high, or crazy low like in the post I made a few days back. From costing things myself I think it’s feasable to build a house for less than 100k. Of course as mentioned sewer connections etc can quickly bring that cost up. Block build is definitley the cheapest route. They’re cheap to buy and have laid but it’s slow. I know block layers who say they can lay between 200-300 blocks a day and charge £1 per block. It’s tempting to me as I’m not using a mortgage. I could buy blocks as I need them and pay the block layers their day rate. When you calculate what blocks cost it’s a pleasant surprise if you’re ignorant like I was. I’d never personally commission a building company to do a block build. I’ve just had a reasonable quote for a 200m MgO sip house with a insulated foundation designed and supplied by AFT. It is considerably cheaper than the quote I had from Mbc for a timberframe and foundation. You can also render or clad directly on to them inside and out which I like. I just called Durisol over building a wall and they were insistent that I send my house plans because they’re sure they can beat any quote. It’s always worth haggling. I know some people don’t like doing it, but needs must in my case. The one one approach that doesn’t make sense to me is a basic 140mm timber frame package. By the time it’s insulated, boarded and brick/block clad. I think it’s expensive. I can see why it makes sense for large scale builders but not self builders.

I hope it’s possible to build a 4 bed house for under £100k. As my budget is just under that ? I’ve spent around £120k on my plot and getting this far. I underestimated the cost of excavation and muck away massively. Im confident I can do it within budget. I’ll release some equity when I sell my current home to help finish things off and do most of the internal work myself.

This country is becoming such a sick, lame joke. I almost wish we had a UK version of Trump it’s getting so bad. What is more natural than a human burning wood?

I am aware of that.. I’ve just had another sip quote. The foundation detail put me off sips initially as did OSB skin. MgO is waterproof and can be rendered/plastered straight onto. Prices have also dropped considerably. I just like the simple foundation of the steel frame and I think it would be possibly cheaper than a traditional foundation. Sip and steel usually only go together above 3 storey height. I been quoted around £6k-£7k for a 16m x 6m steel frame erected including foundations. I appreciate sips would be expensive to use as cladding and insulation and there are cheaper options that would make more sense. I beams attached to the steel coloumns then clad seems to be the cheapest route.

I was thinking it could work well with 200mm MgO SIPs. I’ve just had a reasonable quote for the sips. I was wondering if a erected steel portal frame would be cheaper than the insulated slab quotes I’ve had? The area I’m building in is semi rural so I’m thinking I could probably get a good deal. My groundworkers are local farmers. http://www.nacsba.org.uk/images/shoestring/18_shoestring13_ed-green.pdf http://www.pentan.co.uk/project/barnhaus/

I don’t understand why steel frame isn’t more widely used on self builds? Look how simple the foundation is. I imagine a agricultural building company cound errect that frame with foundation for a similar cost to a insulated slab?

Cool. Makes garden studios look ridiculously expensive.

I just stumbled across this http://www.nacsba.org.uk/selfbuildonashoestring/12-shoestring/39-shoestring2013top16 Some of the designs are interesting. But the listed prices seem optimistic. I’ve always wondered why more people don’t use steel frame like in the winning design. It really minimises foundation costs.

Can anyone recommend a good concrete effect plaster? I like fox concrete effect plaster, but not at £96 for a ready mixed 10kg bucket.

Is this forum the main reason behind your choice. Or were you already aware of MBC?