K78

I was thinking of using a similar approach to what I was going to use for a cavity build. Your idea Is much better but I worry about the design costs. I’ve wasted so much money with SE’s and anything slightly unusual usually costs a fortune. I have emailed Olof at AFT to see what he thinks.

That’s part of the idea mate. Film and blog the whole thing.

The block supplier has been on a job in Essex all week. So he maybe a option for @scottishjohn after all? He will be back on Monday to take a look at the design and come back to me. He has been wanting to do a house but no one crazy enough has asked before ?. He has got some more information on the Dutch house too.

The wall was finished over a year go mate. went up 3/4 days of awful weather on a 1.8m wide incline foundation. Access is good. Don’t know what size machine he used but it was much bigger than the 2 smaller diggers used for excavation. The house blocks are half the weight of the ones used for the wall so it won’t be a issue thankfully.

Every block layer I spoke to hated the idea of large blocks. Too heavy was the general consensus.

Yes. You couldn’t mishandle a block. They are lifted by machine, with a very experienced operator by shackle and chain. The blocks we used for the wall weighed around 1.5 tonnes. The wall design was much more complicated than a house would be and it was a simple process. There is no safer way for me to build (not saying that’d the same for others). The risk of someone dropping something from scaffold height would make a regular block/TF build potentially more dangerous to passers by. The smallest block we will use is 512kg. They are designed to be dry stacked for industrial and agricultural purposes up to 8metres. There is no danger of a wall collapsing during the build and as you can see from the pic they aren’t going to fall over dry stacked on my site. If I was building with ICF blocks it would be diy with pours every 2 metres. If you look at the Durisol build thread on here, bursts are the only risk. As mentioned earlier if I was going icf, I would need the contractor to the the work and a lot of additional bracing. The aspect of my site that makes it unsuitable for icf makes it perfect for concrete Lego. As it is close to the road and elevated, it is very easy to have blocks delivered and placed exactly where I want them. For some sites (tight access etc) it would be a impractical nightmare trying to get these blocks delivered and the machines in needed to lift them. I may use the block supplier to stack them this time round. When he delivered them he stacked them perfectly in around 5 mins. The machine he used defied physics(to my simple mind). He didn’t have to shackle the lifting eye with a chain like we did. It just clamped either side of the blocks with “rubber” pads, lifted them like they were nothing and stacked them precisely

They make lintel blocks. They are cast around a reinforced steel cage. I will look into your suggestions tonight. I genuinely appreciate the advice. My thinking initially was strip foundations with a insulated concrete floor and UFH.

My thinking was joint hangers for the first floor installation like with icf. They do flat top blocks and angled Blocks for gables. Im pretty sure those blocks are 600 high and 300 wide. I will double check though. I don’t think they make 200mm Lego. I wish they did tbh. I actively avoided using the term “thermal mass” in this thread just for @Jeremy Harris ?

Yes they make down to a 300x300x300. Massive range of sizes and shapes. I have no intention of trying to cut these. I’m going to do a sketch today and they will run it through their CAD software.

This is why they make them mate. Excess returned concrete is turned into blocks. About as green as concrete gets. loads of moulds on eBay.

This is the house that was built in Holland.

They build columns in to the free standing walls for extra stability.

Yes. They have stacks on site. By far the biggest supplier in my area. See their readymix trucks everywhere. I was quoted £900 by some southern comapanies for delivery. They really are the best retaining wall option imo.

The block supplier is 5 mins from site. He supplied my wall blocks at a great price. I use Wotmix for all my concrete. I’d highly recommend them. Really good to deal with and excellent customer service. I agree delivery was a issue when dealing with companies further away.

Got a positive response today. They have built everything but a house (barns, underground bunkers, swimming pools, warehouses etc). They do sizes all they way down to 300x300x300. Lintels are blocks with reinforced steel cages inside. Currently go up to 1.8m long but could do 2.4, if there was demand. His concern with BR was insulation. He wasn’t really familiar with EWI systems. He is a concrete guy after all. They are bonded with a 2 pack resin which is suitable for industrial applications and swimming pools, so I can’t see it being a issue with a house? They let us build houses out of osb polystyrene sandwiches if we want to after all. ? Im also not the first crazy person to do this. He is sending me details of a house in Holland that was built from 300mm concrete Lego.

I think this way of building is (or was common)in Scotland. Most large developments local to me are block and brick now. We’re all TF a few years back.

I have no block laying skills what so ever mate. The great thing with concrete Lego is it keeps itself straight/plumb and doesn’t need scaffolding hire. I could just buy a couple of towers for cladding. Whenever I mentioned thinset and lightweight blocks to builders. They rolled their eyes and told me about issues with cracking, cost, availability and other issues. I really can’t bring myself the waste time and effort meeting another contractor. It’s seems all the good ones are booked for months, if not years. There is a American guy on YouTube who uses aircrete for everything. Shows you how to make it, build etc. It’s is a interesting approach.

I can find many examples of dry stacked buildings likes this. Surely with a adequate strip foundation, thin set adhesive and EWI they would be fine for a house? I will get a answer from the supplier on Monday when he’s back from a extended Xmas break.

Fine looking house with character. I honestly think slips would ruin it. Money would be much better spent on a car or nice holiday imo. If I was buying that house. I’d be worried the cladding was hiding something if it was present. I agree repointing is a much, much better option.

The only reason icf would be considerably more expensive for myself, is that I would need a lot of extra bracing to make it safe. The only viable option would be to employ isotex or Durisol to build the house and I haven’t got the budget for it. If I had, I would instruct Jamie (Isotex) tomorrow to save myself the stress. If the lego walls are stacked in 2 days my labour cost including the machine would be £360. The same farmer with digger would do my strip foundations. There are many insulation cladding systems using wood or fibre cement over eps. They are not that expensive, easy to diy and I have 2 joiners assisting me with everything once the walls are up. The photo that i posted in a earlier reply clearly shows the danger specific to my site. It would be a public danger. Sometimes posts on forums can be read/interpreted differently from how they are intended. If I had a regular plot I’d buy isotex and enjoy building my own house. I am not for one minute saying concrete Lego is the future, and that everyone should go and buy it for a second. I’m just trying to explain why it suits my situation. No doubt it’s dangerous too. I nearly lost a finger stacking that wall. I really appreciate everyone’s opinions and advice as I’ve previously said. It’s all taken on board and considered.

My first reaction was exactly the same. I phoned and asked if this for materials too? I was expecting £15k labour max by my own estimate and hoped to reduce that by 20%. His reaction was “fair enough” and we left it at that. I had many similar experiences with builders when looking at retaining wall options. Did not get a quote under £40k iirc. One guy quoted £80k for soil nailing. Only other builders to show any interests have been young, newly qualified individuals from mybuilder looking for work generally. I’m nowhere near capable of managing or directing them so would need to employ a project manager. I think it’s because of all the new developments in the area. Work isn’t in short supply. I’ve had soil strength tests and my SE said that the proximity of the wall isn’t a issue for standard strip foundations. The wall is complete overkill for its purpose. The bank had held without moving for 4 years. The only thing that has been a bonus in this whole process so far is my ground is good. Glacial sedimentary river bed rock. This is the wall design. It is a incline gravity retaining wall commonly used for eroding river banks. It has been back filled over the bottom 2 courses with 6 loads of clean broken brick. If Iran launch nukes on us I think that wall will be the last thing standing ? It is crazy to think that this wall cost less than the Geotechnical design quote for a king post wall. I actually had a £42k quote for a timber crib wall, and wasted £1000’s on over engineered SE designs.

It is a basic 6 x 12.5m box. All brick and blockwork as to the drawings including cavity insulation £37000“, “1st floor joist and boarding out for the first floor £15,000”. Are 2 examples from his quote. Strip foundation labour was £15k. I didn’t think it fair to attach the quote. His prices were not inclusive of VAT either which he seemed to think was chargeable and I’d claim it back. It seems every builder I approach wants to quote for everything and they want to supply materials too. I can only assume there is a lot of more lucrative work in the Manchester area? Tbh mate I’m at my wits end at dealing with different contractors. Finding a retaining wall solution was a expensive nightmare. Many false dawns and crazy quotes. It seems this is going the same way. The cheapest labour only quote I had was £60k. Seeing the tiny £48k single storey extension my friend just had built. I’m not surprised. I think they just see a self builder as someone with money to burn and think what the house will be worth at the end? The thought of me and my mate stacking these blocks as we did with the wall is much less stressful than dealing with builder issues, weather issues, scaffolding costs and waste disposal. I appreciate it is not for everyone, icf is a better house building product (light weight, fast, cost effective) and some will think I’m mad. But it suits my situation if I get the go ahead. I’ve always loved Lego too. ?

Thanks mate. In theory this should be the most simple. If the first course are spot on everything stays straight due to their Lego interlocking design. Having built a wall on a 10 degree incline with much bigger blocks, I’m really confident in our ability to quickly stack a house. Everything will be checked 10 times and signed off. Thanks for the encouragement.

I have a look for the quote. His quote for internal joinery for first floor and the roof structure alone was over £40k. Like I mentioned, I’ve had basic timber frame quotes for half of that supplied and erected. Strip found and block labour made up the rest. No one is interested in taking the job on a block rate for less than £2 a block, and they are kids from mybuilder site, so I’d need a experienced builder overseeing everything. When I factor in weather delays, scaffolding costs and time it is not feasible for me. I have a tight cash budget and no mortgage. Using the blocks for the retaining wall saved my site and sanity.

It was a labour quote for external walls, first floor joinery and roof structure. Many say cavity walls with insulation is still the cheapest way to build. Maybe it is if you can lay blocks and do it yourself. Not a chance if you’re paying builders judging by my quotes.