Declan52

Been on worse!!

I put 2 sockets for cat 6 in each room that was likely to ever need them. We have everything from smart TVs , xboxs, android boxes,desktop computer and firesticks plugged in to them. All the cables go back to a 16port gigabyte switch. The wired connection works much better than WiFi. Doing it this way means it's only your phone/tablet using the WiFi.

What is the noise??? Is it the actual unit vibrating or the sound of the fan/motor or is it coming from the ducts. Disconnect the ducting and see if it's still loud.

Would Def be the most simple option but looks wise it's a no for me. Just use a tape measure and check and re check esp if it's for a toliet as there won't be much movement once it's buried in concrete.

Do it what ever way out suits you. If it's going around the house then just make sure they are all separated Covered and marked as service guides dictate and if they are going through the founds then they are in the correct ducting. Make sure you check and re check the position the ducts are in and then check again.

You can get smooth square face concrete cills that you would use on a block build to support the door. These are 100mm wide or 225mm if you lay them flat . Your door will come with a cill of its own so when you build your step the paving slab/bricks can slide under the door cill until it reaches the concrete cill and hides it from sight.

Option 2. Make the cavity as wide as you can , 150mm -175mm. Get beads blown in. Under no circumstances get the brickies to put in cavity batts. Just don't. Make your build as simple as you can and let the guys with trowels build and let the insulation guy do his thing. As far as sealing the blocks up it's either a parge coat with plasterboard stuck to the wall or wet plaster with a scratch coat and skim finish. Parge coat is just a sloppy mix of sand cement put on with a roller or brush. It's a messy job but easily done.

There is quite a few of the older terraced type solid wall houses in my town that are getting it done at the moment. The guys seem to know what they're at as it's a busy set of traffic lights that I stop at going to work so have had a beady eye on it being a rather nosey sort of soul.

It was just me on my own. I had to start the mixer which was an old starter handle job, 10 mins of swinging from cold each morning before it decided that was enough pain for you and it fired up. Every mix, every concrete cill and head and each and every block all had to be got to where they needed to be by me including loading out the peaks. Its not that blocks are heavy it's the constant working for 2 years that slowly took its toll. I was doing my build on what were my days off work. I used lightweight concrete blocks and they where around 80p each at the time, close on 5 years now, so the more I ordered the cheaper they where. If you ordered the blocks on account then you roughly had anywhere between 40-50 days to pay the bill which worked out the best way to do it for us.

Will probably depend on how deep it needs to be. Concrete will be better though. You don't have to order a 1m3 in just mix it up in a barrow or the mixer if it's on site. It was getting enough timber to make the front edge was my problem.

You can't just say brick and block has a poor u value. If you make the cavity wide enough and use thermal blocks it can be as good as any timber frame. There are plenty of passive Houses done this way. Same goes with getting it airtight. You use tape like you would if it's a timber frame to seal the edges of doors and windows and the other junctions and wet plaster the walls. A wall that has a scratch coat and then a skim finish will be as airtight as you can get. If you just put plasterboard onto the walls without a scratch coat or a parge coat then it will leak like a tea bag.

It's a chalet bungalow that is 220sqm. I know i have a nice shiny sharp spade but I got a digger in for the founds. Yeah I worked continental shifts so got plenty of time of so basically worked every day for 2 full years with the only days off caused by rain , snow and frost and waiting in materials. I have to add that I had worked on building sites for over 15 years and gained a lot of knowledge and skills and contacts so knew what I was at.

It took me close on 9 months to build my block house by myself. I had no digger or telehandler so relied on £20 notes slipped to the driver to get the blocks where I needed them to be. It was a long back breaking 9 months that I would never ever repeat again for anyone or any amount of money. Don't underestimate the toll this has on your mind and body if you are going to go down this road. Its paying a disservice to the brickie that not everyone will do a good job. There are good ones and bad ones same way there are good joiners and plumbers and sparks and on the other hand there are guys who are so bad you wonder how they put food on the table, it's just how it is. Same with going out and buying a trowel, string line and lump hammer and a level and thinking after sticking 3 blocks together that you are a brickie. There is a lot more to it if you are thinking about building a complete house. The main reason for choosing blocks was finance. I simply had none. We used all our savings up cashed in my old endowment policy to get the house wind and water tight as I needed to sell my own house before I could get a mortgage. Each week we could buy a load of blocks and then over the next 2-3 weeks build away until they where done or I needed sand or cement and I just continued like this until one day it was built. My back, wrist and hands loved that day. I simply didn't have the amount of money that a timber frame company was looking up front to go that option. As far as sips or ICF all that was stuff I had only seen on grand designs and was way out of my comfort zone so deemed to much of a risk. Think the cheapest quote from a timber frame company was £55k to get it wind and water tight. I got it there for £32k by doing it myself. So to answer the original question what method is best , there just isn't one. Every one has its pros and cons and everyone of us starting out at the start of our builds weighed these all up and based on what each of us wanted and the availability of trades, materials ,finance and even site location and layout picked whatever one ticked the most boxes. P.s obviously blocks are better!!!

Yes pir. 15mm gives you a bit of play incase you haven't levelled it spot on. Excuse the drawing, am half cut watching the Liverpool match!! The red is the insulation. The green is concrete. The blue the cill board.

The top pic needs another course of block on it's flat. You need to figure out what you are using for the internal cills, 18mm MDF or 25mm oak or ??? When you know what it is then you can mark on the frame where you can it to come up to. Then measure down and see what you have left. I had near 80mm so I cut a piece of 50mm insulation board and put it in so it closed the cavity. The front edge is left back 50mm and then you put a piece of level timber across the opening set at the height you need it to be for you board to sit on. Don't forget to add 15mm for whatever adhesive you plan to use, expanding foam is what I used. Then mix some concrete and fill the hole. And smooth it level. Once it's went off then you can put the cills in and stick them down. The insulation is basically to reduce the cold bridge you will have from the concrete cill.

Might be we don't have to do it here I certainly never.

Not really that much over the total cost of the house but it does take a bit of time to put up. It's an easier job with 2 people of you can get an extra pair of hands. The sparks hole cutter will cut it and leave it raggy but the pot will easily cover it.

How much would the membrane cost to do your ceiling??? You will also have the glue that is needed to stick it to the blockwork to factor in. It will be around the edges that the cracks will appear most so it's making sure it's done well here that is the most important. We had spots in our last house and the wind that came through them was unreal so you Definitely need to do something there.

Yeah used it as well as mine is a chalet bungalow so the membrane covered the entire roof section and was then glued to the floor and the blocks to create a fully sealed room. The pots where the easiest most cost effective (cheap!!) way I found I could do it.

You can buy expensive hood covers that sit on top of the plasterboard. Or I used clay plant pots from b&q. They where under a £1 each when I bought them. Think mine are about 30cm tall so plenty of room so the light never overheats. Try to get the pots without the drainage holes but if they have none then a squirt of silicone and some of your tape covers the hole. You will need a grinder to cut a notch in the rim for any cables. A good bead of sealant will hold it in place and keep it sealed with extra around where the cables come out.

Go and check Groupon that is local to you and see if there is any good deals for hotels near you that have spa facilities. Book it and go and get a few nights good sleep with some nice food and drink and if possible a nice massage/treatment. And just sit in a pool/sauna/jacuzzi for a few hrs and just relax. No point in staying at home to relax as if you look out the window the guilt of I should be doing stuff will kick in. Keep you head up high and remember how hard you both have worked to get where your at and do it with a sense of pride not dread as you have had more than your share of issues but your closer than most of the people here to the finish line than the starting blocks.

Both work well if done well but both can also be a disaster if done wrong. There is no right way really. Figure out what you want then go that way. I built mine in block as I was able to build it myself. If it's block then a wide cavity with beads blown in. Don't let the brickie put in the insulation just don't. Wet plaster the inside to seal it up so your airtightness is good. If it's timber frame make sure you go through each quote from all the different companies and see what isn't on the bill. Make sure all the u values are what you want it to be and if they give you a min airtightness target that they will get your build to is this low enough for what you want. No matter what way you go it's all in the detail. Every little bit that gets done right all adds up.

After laying that amount of tarmac on such a warm day the van home will have its Windows open the whole way. Looks really well.

Yeah will be a bit of a jigsaw puzzle but will use them up. Then a bit of motar/concrete to keep them permanently there until you get felt/OSB on the roof.

All them offcuts that you have lying around will be ideal. Don't really want to add full blocks as you want to maintain the insulation of that edge so by adding the insulation and some concrete you will be mirroring what's below.