Kevan Marshall

Thank you Nick, just looking for a simple solution with reasonable U-valued about 1.2,and only the middle two sections with one sliding door for pedestrian access!

I have been looking at glazing and went to look at Internorm windows, the salesman seemed a little arrogant and said they only sell windows to passive house standards, I showed him what I wanted and explained the house would be timber/sips and he said they only install into steel or concrete and windows do not hold the roof up, I told him I know that but house manufacturer have structural engineers to design the front of house so it can support windows, he then said you’ll need this style of window/sliding doors and it would cost 30k, he showed me electric doors that open with fingerprint and he could not get it to work, I am trying to get U-Values to a sensible level but 0.6 is not what I am looking for, does anyone have any experience with installing a similar type of window in Northern Ireland and who did you use, the overall width shall be about 6mtrs and height of about 5.5mtrs, has anyone used Fenbro windows from Poland as they have a distributor in the South of Ireland? Kind regards, Kevan.

Hi, Did you find any SIP’s suppliers, I am in Antrim and Clays SIps seem to be the best but in Yorkshire

How much more expensive is asphalt compared to Bitmac?

Hi, What type of metal cladding are you going to use please? Kind regards, Kevan

Looking into ideas for driveway, I like exposed concrete but is going to be too expensive, probably Tarmac or Asphalt, Asphalt looks nicer in my opinion as it’s not as open and less prone to moss growing in it, how much more expensive is it compared to tarmac, I also have an old tractor so needs to stand up to heavier traffic? kind regards kevan.

I am going to self build, hopefully I’ll clear most of the site myself, the foundations, drainage and installing utilities my mate shall do that, I shall erect my workshop myself, help erect the SIP’s kit, clad the roof with Standings seam, install the MVHR and also the underfloor heating, paint the interior, install kitchens and bathrooms, install fencing and fabricate gates, possibly cattle grid if I cannot find a good secondhand one and fabricate the estate fencing for the front of plot, hopefully this should save me a few quid…

It shall be at a latter stage, I’ll get everything finished and passed by building control and the house finished and do it at a latter stage, as it shall only be 8ft by width of shed it shall need some upright columns, I’m a welder to trade so all this isn’t an issue…

I shall probably still go down the route of the portal steel frame as at a later stage I want to install a mezzanine floor inside, I can install 40mm insulated roofing sheets on the roof and I can get 40mm side sheets that are flat so not like box profile, I may attach cement board the insulated cladding on the front of the garage and silicone render, I shall erect and clad the shed myself and I am going to try and do the whole lot for around the 10k mark

Hi Mark, I was trying to avoid block walls to keep foundations to a minimum and it’s only one wall to be rendered, I can speak to my architect so just trying to get ideas at this stage! thank you

Hi, I am going to erect a steel framed garage which shall be approximately 10 metres long and 7.2 meters wide, I am going to clad the roof, sides and rear of building with 40mm insulated cladding, for the front that faces the road I want it to have a render finish to match the house (silicone render), my question is does anyone know of a insulated board that can be attached to purlins that can be rendered over, other option may be cladding with sheet wood, putting membrane on, then battens, then attach cement boards and render? As mentioned shed shall be 7.2 metres wide, about 3 metres to the eaves and probably have 22.5 degree roof angle with a 3 metre x 3 metre roller door installed! Shed shall be similar as image. Kind regards, Kevan.

Thanks Dave, It feeds two houses and a small wooden holiday shack and the shack I am tearing down used to be connected to it, I’ll have to contact NIE to see what they say!

Northern Ireland mate!

I am fortunate to have Electricity at hand on the edge of my plot, I presume that I can install three phase (single phase to house and three phrase to workshop), I want three phase for Solar panel capacity and for some of my workshop equipment, please find attached pictures of how electricity is run, hopefully three phase is available as I see four wire on the pole at the edge of plot and hope there are no issues, the power is fed from a main line via a transformer and comes back up the smaller pole which runs to my plot, after that it drops down to possibly two phase to feed another couple of houses!

Hopefully sorted, My Builder mate has a friend that has a Fastrac tractor and 16 tonne dump trailer, he also told there is a Farmer who has got a licensed tip that can take concrete, stone, wood and soil, the guy with the tractor can also deliver quarry stone a lot cheaper as getting it delivered by truck…

Hi, I have to clear this plot once final planning comes through, I really want to try and do this as cheap as possible, trees should not be an issue as they can be used for firewood and smaller branches put through a chipper but the old timber shack and garage and their contents are going to be an issue, I want to reduce the size of waste as much as possible but cannot find anything that mulches timber with nails in I want to keep skip costs down to a minimum, I also am not sure what is and what is not allowed to go to landfill and how strict skip hire companies are with mixed waste, I am based in County Antrim in Northern Ireland, I suppose gone are the days where you could just bung a farmer a few hundred quid and have a bonfire at the corner of a field! Kind regards, Kevan.

Hi, I have to clear this plot once final planning comes through, I really want to try and do this as cheap as possible, trees should not be an issue as they can be used for firewood and smaller branches put through a chipper but the old timber shack and garage and their contents are going to be an issue, I want to reduce the size of waste as much as possible but cannot find anything that mulches timber with nails in I want to keep skip costs down to a minimum, I also am not sure what is and what is not allowed to go to landfill and how strict skip hire companies are with mixed waste, I am based in County Antrim in Northern Ireland, I suppose gone are the days where you could just bung a farmer a few hundred quid and have a bonfire at the corner of a field! Kind regards, Kevan.

Hi I am near Larne in Northern Ireland kind regards, Kevan.

Thanks John, I think the house that my mate built had some really poorly installed ASHP, how big is your solar and battery system?

Thanks John, I’ll need windows that open in bedrooms and bathrooms for building regs, I shall also have three lift and slide patio doors so every room shall have windows that open where necessary but yes better with the option of being able to open so not to overheat in summer!

Hi Conor, Do you have Solar panels and out of the 2k have you worked out how much it costs you to charge your car? Kind regards, Kevan

Hi John, Was considering using radiators and was advised by warmflow to install rads in bathrooms and a larger radiators in living/kitchen/dining area without thermostat to act as a buffer and place some sort of manifold so water is diverting back to boiler and condensing so it is not running at low heat all the time as oil boilers do not like temperature output being turned right down, I may install underfloor heating at 300mm centres to future proof the bungalow and for aesthetics having no radiators, I shall be installing the cheapest solar panel and battery system to keep my electricity bills down but also I have heard in NI if you install one form of renewable you can install a gas or oil boiler, I shall try and get U-values as low as possible with building a SIPs structure, being as airtight as possible and minimising glazing that opens as my MVHR should help with that, I need to speak to concrete suppliers to ask about insulated concrete and speak to Mannok about PIR insulation to see what’s going to be the cheapest option, I have been in contact with ASHP installers but they cannot give me an estimate of running cost or installation cost but do try and give me the hard sell, my friend who built a conventional house for a customer about three years ago had ASHP and it has broke down already and is costing about 2k - 2.5k a year to heat a 3000 square foot house which was insulated with EPC A rating, to be honest the heating side of things is the most difficult to get sorted and also to get impartial advice, hopefully with advice on here from people such as yourself then I can make a decision of which route I am going down, this may sound very irresponsible but I am looking for the most straightforward solution instead of what my carbon footprint is, I would rather spend money on getting U values down rather than spend tens of thousands on expensive ASHP, also the issue in Northern Ireland is that there are absolutely no grants available for renewable heat sources… Kind regards, Kevan.

Hi, I am at the stage of planning a self build in Northern Ireland, the bungalow shall be a SIP’s build from Clays, foundations shall be strip foundations and brought up to floor level from sub base with cement screed/selflevelling grout with either PIR insulation or insulated concrete in between, I am hoping to get the house insulated to a very high standard and as near to passive for as cheap as possible, my issue is I stay in Northern Ireland and there are absolutely no grants available for renewables, I would rather spend money on triple glazing and more insulation rather than throw money at expensive heating systems that are overkill for a highlyinsulated house, I shall still need some form of heating mainly for hot water and for when it is cold in winter, I have read that even installing underfloor heating is overkill unless used in conjunction with ASHP as they are generating lower water temperatures, I can install biofuel LPG and conventional radiators but have to be careful not to overheat the property and may only need a few radiators in bathrooms and a couple of large radiators to act as a buffer to help the boiler, has anyone installed a gas or oil boiler in a highly insulated house and how do you find it, I shall also be installing Solar panels and battery system and MVHR, any advice would be greatly appreciated! Kind regards, Kevan Marshall.

Hi Jack, Thank you, I shall place the post in a different section!

Hi, I am at the stage of planning a self build in Northern Ireland, the bungalow shall be a SIP’s build from Clays, foundations shall be strip foundations and brought up to floor level from sub base with cement screed/self levelling grout with either PIR insulation or insulated concrete in between, I am hoping to get the house insulated to a very high standard and as near to passive for as cheap as possible, my issue is I stay in Northern Ireland and there are absolutely no grants available for renewables, I would rather spend money on triple glazing and more insulation rather than throw money at expensive heating systems that are overkill for a highly insulated house, I shall still need some form of heating mainly for hot water and for when it is cold in winter, I have read that even installing underfloor heating is overkill unless used in conjunction with ASHP as they are generating lower water temperatures, I can install biofuel LPG and conventional radiators but have to be careful not to overheat the property and may only need a few radiators in bathrooms and a couple of large radiators to act as a buffer to help the boiler, has anyone installed a gas or oil boiler in a highly insulated house and how do you find it, I shall also be installing Solar panels and battery system and MVHR, any advice would be greatly appreciated! Kind regards, Kevan Marshall.