Declan52

A lit candle and walk round each room and go by every socket, light fitting, corner, window revel etc.

We are multi talented here so can swing either stick. My wife would kill me if I do any more homers, my wrist and both elbows are done.

Yeah that is sparkles the miniature yorkie.

Went with the decking type wall. Don't think the white wall look would last with my kids jumping over it and the frost. Its been in over 6 months and bar a few of the mitre corners opening up with the timber swelling and contracting it has been no need for any maintenance. I done it during the hot summer so the wood was always going to move about so come this summer if I think it needs it I might redo a corner if I could be arsed!!! I have it divided up so some sections are flowers and others are herbs and have another bit where there are lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, chili's and garlic are planted.

Said he wanted it cheap. Plasterboard cheaper than Osb. I never mentioned the look. Wouldn't be my choice but it's not my ceiling.

And more expensive than plasterboard.

Could you please give some information on how you have went about the build. Did you get your plans done by an architect with the brief to design you a super insulated house which you then gave to your chosen builder to build. I'm trying to figure out was the house not designed at the start to match your brief or has the builder not followed the plans and you have ended up with a super insulated house on paper but not in the real world. As for the airtightness test where you present and if so did the company give you any indication of some remedies to improve your score. The insulation built in is what it is so the only real aspect you can change is that score which will have a massive impact on your heating bill. It might be worth while to get them back and go round the house and mark and fix where possible any leaks. Some things like mastic in the electrical conduits, tighten window and door seals are easily done by yourself. Things like downlights lose a lot of heat if not done correctly. It will cost you a few hundred quid but in the long run should save you money if the leaks can be sorted.

4.5 ain't a good score for a timber frame. Did you see it being built and take pictures of the walls so we can even what's there.

Plasterboard is used for its fire rating so well be the cheapest option. Filling the joints aint that hard and if you make a balls of it you can put wallpaper up to hide your sins.

Insulation then the batten would mean you don't have to use long plasterboard screws. Still need long screws for the fixing of the batten though but you would use less of the longer ones plus shorter plasterboard screws so cheaper. You can have it insulated and batten then the spark can come in and do his thing. What kind of lights are you going for as these might need some timber to fix to depending on your choice.

Yep. I bought the alu tape from Amazon and tried to use it. Think it was about half as thick as cling film and impossible to peel back. Got rolls from screwfix which where much better. As above marking the joists with a black marker is the important bit. Nails or screws is the option. They aren't there to hold it in place for ever that will be the job of the 50 odd screws you put in the plasterboard. Just make sure they don't stick out proud or you will bust the plasterboard.

I used 100mm nails to hold mine up. About 6 per sheet till I got the plasterboard up and then used 125mm plasterboard screws. But I done mine room by room so the insulation was only held on by the nails for about 3hrs till I got the plasterboard up.

If it Heats up quick it will cool down quick.

Make sure you soak the blocks before you start. Thermalite blocks are very dry and will suck the moisture out of your plaster and make it dry out to quick and it will crack really bad.

What does your as built SAP give for your heating demand??? As above When you say super insulated what exactly do you mean??? You need to give a bit more detail on how your house is constructed.

I think if I had bought one of them houses I would now be a resident of maghaberry prison. It doesn't really take much of an effort to seal a house up or put insulation in and put it in right.

For any path to last and keep its shape you will need at least 250mm of well compacted stone, type 1 is good, and some sort of edging to stop it bursting out. If you don't get the base right then the top will sink and your path will be full of dips. If you are going for a slab or paving bricks then you will need sharp sand as you bedding layer.

So the moral of the story is wet plaster on block work. Can't hide anything like happens with dot and dab where you rely on the plasterer doing it right and if he hasn't then you don't know as it's hidden. Any one relying on a few tubes of caulk around their skirting to keep the draughts out really have been badly informed.

Just build it 215mm single skin instead. No point in putting in a cavity unless your in a high rainfall area. Why build in block then put plasterboard on the inside. Make the cavity as wide as you can, 200mm + so all the insulation is in the one place. Then wet plaster the block work and that's it all sealed up with no battens or extra long fixings to go through your plasterboard.

No matter what you have on the outside, stone or stone slips or render 50mm insulation just isn't enough. If you have it built to suit 450mm then you have 200mm of a cavity to play with. If it was me I would fill all 200mm with insulation and use stone slips. Means you don't have to worry about a steel rsj, a standard concrete prestressed head will do. I have a 3.6m opening that was originally for bi folds before we looked into them and found out how many issues they can have, please say you have done your research on them, and I have used 4.2m heads for mine. You will end up with it looking exactly how you want, clad in what ever choice of stone but it will be much much nicer to sit in during days like these. You don't need a stone mason to put slips on either, a tiler or a brickie should be able to do it. You can ask the rep of the slip company to give you details of a few guys he knows that do this type of work.

This topic has been covered many many times here already. Do your research and see what suits your targets. Listen to all the different pros and cons and then make your choice. You're the one paying the bills and going to live in it so it's up to you. You can have an energy efficient house made using all the different methods mentioned above.

You could use anything simple like a railway sleeper to a dwarf kerb. There are other fancy/expensive ideas like a dry stone walling which doesn't require concrete founds, a well wacked bed of stone is all they need.

The magpies will love that.

Yep but through thick and thin you have kept going. You have made mistakes and got screwed over countless times but still you kept your chin up out of the muck and gutters. That's the secret, accept shit will happen and keep on going, celebrate each milestone and don't beat yourself up when it goes tits up. And don't be afraid to come on here and bare your soul, ask for help and try to figure out solutions. Go and read through as many of the blogs as you can and see it ain't an easy job being a project manager but with plenty of time and luck along the way it's definitely doable.

Yep plenty of people own got caught out there as well.