Kevan Marshall

Hi, I have just put in an application for getting Electric on my site, I am trying to get electricity from the pole at the edge of my plot to a location within 15mtrs as this should be classed as minor works, my house is within 15mtrs but shall be SIP’s style clad with cement board and K-Rend, I would rather not have a meter box on the house and have requested it to be just beside a boundary in its own freestanding meter box, has anyone come across a freestanding precast meter box that a grp enclosure fits in that would comply with all regulations or do I have to build a small block structure to place a GRP enclosure in? kind regards, kevan.

Hi John, Going through the same thing with my architect, my timber frame company do all calculations with their engineers do drawings for building control, make sure everything is ok for signing off, do all AT tests, etc, my architect is asking for technical specs to submit drawings for building control and I’ve told him drawings from TF manufacturer shall be ok and all he has to do is submit them with a note saying “as per according to Building regulations and Timber frame manufacturers specifications”, I am finding the worst part of self building is Architects and Solicitors…

I spent a lot of my time looking at every detail as I had the attitude that if you change anything it costs money, I have also told the boss (wife) that, also went down the KISS route (keep it simple and stupid).

Thanks John, I want to be strict on no changes, to be honest I have more confidence in my contractors than I do my Architect who is questioning everything, trying to change things and complicate everything, unfortunately I need him for getting everything signed off. kind regards, Kevan.

Yes, even on the quote they are 100% clear what they are responsible for and what I am responsible for, only thing I want to ensure is that window sizes as per drawing are within tolerance and if windows do not fit due to incorrect sizes then they shall be responsible, they assure me they have never had any issues before and windows/doors can be ordered during kit manufacture kind regards, Kevan.

They have told me AT shall be well within limits, as long as I install good quality triple glazing then it should be up into passive standard

Just had a quote for supply and erection of SIPs house, my house is 180sqm ground floor area with provision to convert loft 70sqm at later date, external walls 197mm SIP panels to give U value of 0.13 or 172mm SIP panels plus 25mm PIR internal insulation to give U value of 0.12, roof is of vaulted truss system with steels in to support and boarded out and insulated to 0.12, all supporting stud walls are supplied, posi joists are supplied for loft conversion and floor boarded out, all wall and roof locations made airtight and battened out for service void ready to plasterboard, all exterior areas made weather tight, all crane hire, delivery costs included, airtight test done after I fit windows, all paperwork done for building control, with quite a lot of structural support walls going in leaves me very few stud walls to put in after installation of screed floor, I am waiting on quotes from two other SIPs companies but does this seem a reasonable price at 100k? kind regards, Kevan.

Thank you for the replies, much appreciated and looking like they shall have to remove the slates. kind regards, kevan

Thank you Crofter, unfortunately it looks like they are going to have to remove the roof tiles and place new membrane!

Hi, I have a friend that mother has Alzheimer’s and needs to go into a home, due to her mother owning her home it needs to go onto the market to fund nursing cost, the sale of house went through but surveyors have picked up on the membrane below roof tiles as it is plastic and through time has started to disintegrate, the sale of house has fell through due to this, is there any way around this without removing the roof tiles which are in really good condition, I know membrane is for condensation but does it need to be there to comply with building regulations? Any help would be greatly appreciated, Kind regards, Kevan.

Hi, Has anyone got any recommendations for a wifi free solar powered security camera for site that would work with iPhone? kind regards, Kevan.

It is definitely uninhabitable…

Hi Alan, Went to my solicitor today and he is not charging stamp duty due to the present house being uninhabitable and it needs demolished so that’s saved me 4k! kind regards, kevan

Thank you Alan, very interesting reading!

Thank you Alan, My Solicitor shall just say pay it, HMRC have a phone number I can ring so I’ll give them a ring when I get a chance….

Hi, I am in the process of buying a plot, there is an old wooden shack on it that is uninhabitable, I have received outline planning and can knock down and build on the plot, one of the reasons I received planning was the fact that the planners agreed that the house could not be renovated or ever lived in again, would this class the plot as non residential because the shack is uninhabitable which would make it exempt from Stamp Duty, I know I have got three years to build and shall have to sell my house I am living in within this period to claim back SD but it would help with funds if I was exempt from paying it? Kind regards, Kevan

Hi Iceverge, It needs to be built in a longitudinal direction, I have tweaked things slightly to get as the maximum room sizes for the footprint of the house! kind regards, Kevan.

It is going to be a SIP’s build so some walls we can alter as they shall be non load bearing!

The workshop can be 10 x 6 mtrs or 9 x 7mtrs, about 3 metres to eaves and 22.5 degrees pitch, 3 sides and roof shall be 40mm insulated cladding and front shall be silicone renderer board with 3mtr x 3mtr sectional garage door facing road

Hi Iceverge, Unfortunately the planners would never allow the garage to be built in front of the house and so close to the road!