Conor

Unfortunately they won't accept the "connection card" until the final meter position is installed and connection certified. Will be classed as a builders connection until then.

We've a basement in our build, and will be building using ICF - the store/cellar room is shown built from ICF and unheated, so outside the thermal envelope. I can also remove the EPS after concrete is set so the room will be at ground temperature all year round 8c or so. Perfect for beer

Yeah, I've got conflicting info on that. Architect and spark both say that you can use the kiosk as a permanent location but NIE say no as it has to be built in to a structure, like house or garage. I'm going to call them back about it. It's easy for me to remove one of the existing 6ft fence panels and replace it with a cavity brick wall with the meter boxes for both gas and electric and build the boxes to the required spec (600mm from ground level, etc). Architect wont allow it in the ICF wall as it's a cold bridge and would drive him mad

Builders I've spoken to have said 6-8 weeks from founds to wallplate, so about 3 months to roof being on from breaking ground, then another 3 for full completion.

Cheers. I think we'll be at least 3-5 years from buying an EV, there's no point worrying about it now really. The only other high demand appliance we will have will be an induction hob... so 100A should be more than enough.

You first have to establish who owns the pipe (his private supply, yours or the water companies?) and if there is an appropriate way-leave in place if it's owned by a third party. You may be in breach of a way-leave, but that should have been picked up already as part of the planning searches. (in reality you could very easily lay the new pipe, connect in to the existing pipe, then cut and cap off the old section without interrupting the supply at all and nobody would be the wiser - but I cannot condone that!)

We're demolishing an existing bungalow and replacing with our new build house (if you saw it, you'd know why!) There's an existing 35mm cable to the bungalow that comes overhead from an under-eaves service on our neighbour's house. I'd originally wanted a new connection coming from an NIE owned pole from across the road... but this is coming in at £3500. So I've a quote of £1500 to remove the existing over head service, and lay a new underground service to a temp kiosk at the site boundary. Happy days. Either way, we need the existing supply disconnected and removed before we can start demolition. Just checking, what kind of capacity/ loading would this kind of connection provide? I'd like to have option of installing a car charging port in the future. I've emailed NIE but no response yet.

Gas usually come up on top in terms of cost over heat pumps. Obviously you have the carbon emissions aspect that requires deeper consideration. But can't get around fact that mains gas is (currently) 3-4x cheaper than electric, and gas boilers are much cheaper than heat pumps and have proven reliability and predictable service costs. I think it will swing the other way in a few years time, but in my case I'm going for gas as it's a much lower capital outlay and there's little difference in running costs. Possibility to change to heat pump in the future will be there tho.

I'm building with ICF... To go from BC standard to "passive" will cost about £10k extra in insulation and upgraded windows. It means my heating system can be a lot smaller and simpler, saving me in the region of £5k. The remaining £5k extra will pay back in heating cost savings (£500pa) in 10 years. But tbh the comfort value of having a house at a constant 20c most of the year is worth way more than that. (I could be really brave and forgoe central heating entirely and use storage heaters, saving even more)

First thing that came in to my head when I read your situation was "off-grid". The numbers you're talking would buy a hell of a lot of PV, storage and maybe backup generator/ wind/hydro.

Try flushing a bag of ice (preferably partly crushed, sans bag of course) down the pan... Worked for me. Similar principal to ice pigging... Forcing a slurry of fine ice down a pipe to remove deposits. Much more effective than liquid water.

Saw that. Assumed it was of lower spec but honestly not looked in to it. The 3ah battery doesn't bother me actually as the 5ah look a bit big on the impact driver anyway. Ive 30x 4m deck boards to screw down tomorrow and my old JCB drill is just a pain to use... May pop round and get it!

Noticed that, it's not clear what the differences are between some of their products! Screwfix do have 10% off a lot of the combo packs at that's just one I selected at random really. I did see the "new version" pack a solid £40 more.... but spec looks the same. I'll research it thoroughly.

Being in Northern Ireland, we've less choice from DIY retailers... local builders merchants sell at full RRP.. Screwfix is a godsend tbh. And most online shops charge a fortune to ship to NI for anything bigger than a thick envelope. I've just priced the Makita impact driver and combo drill pack, £300 in screfix and £275 at FFX. £12 postage brings it up to £289. If I was in a hurry I'd be happy to pay the extra 5% to be able to pick it up in 10mins I think I'll keep an eye out for better deals in this case. Agree re B&Q... unfortunately I've one less than 5mins drive so I end up there way too much!

Think I'm sold on the Makita... good range of 18V tools and seem high spec for the money. I'll start with the combi drill and impact driver set from screfix. Good value. I guess brushless is a must if in the budget?

Build up will be: steel deck panels, 12-14mm rebar, mesh, UFH loops (wet rooms only - passive house), C30 concrete, powerfloated. My thinking: 1. Panels are light and easy to handle and cut - we'll have a mezzanine and sunken bath- easier to cut to suit than precast 2. No crane required - safer working, panels can be manhandled then walked on. 3. No secondary screed - time, cost and labour saving. 4. Dovetail fittings and service voids will make fitting of service trays, ducting and suspended ceiling easier. 5. Easily meets and exceeds BC fire and noise requirements 6. DIY - I'm planning on doing as much as possible. 7. My walls will also be poured concrete (ICF and shuttered), will allow the whole lot to be tied in and form a very strong and thermally coherent monolithic structure. Also, with volumes of concrete I'll be ordering along pumps, floating etc, I'm hoping to get a good deal from local concrete firm. Some disadvantages: 1. No actual idea of cost yet! 2. Finished floor will require protecting during rest of build process 3. Floating of concrete to a surface suitable for finishing... may require power floating? 4. UFH will be slow to react... but pipes will be 35mm below surface and not required that often. I'm an engineer that works for a large consulting engineer firm... we're always trying to innovate and do things differently, to a higher standard and in a safer way. That's what our clients expect, and I'm carrying that philosophy through to my build.

Thanks guys. Seems 50/50 between the two options, with no major red flags. I'll price things up closer to the time once I know exactly what I need. I wont have 240v power tools on the site until fully waterproof... and want to avoid having to mess around with 110v power supplies and tools so battery powered for all but the heavy duty stuff - I've already got an SDS drill, chainsaw, chop saw etc.

Has anybody used timber bracing only for the likes of quadlock/logix/nudura? I'm considering using timber batons on the inside of the walls to form a service void and to fit plasterboard to, rather than directly to the ICF surface. If these strips are added before the pouring stages, would that be sufficient for vertical bracing? I understand I'd still need to deal with lateral movement at the base and top. And for the outside, I'm adding 100mm EPS sheets to ge tto passive levels - glued and screwed in to place. Would they also provide enough support/rigidity?

Suppose if I spend money on good tools that does take away another excuse for messing something up tho... So, would an 18v Makita impact driver take the same type of battery as an 18v SDS drill or circular saw? I have no problem trying out clone batteries and chargers either.

We've not started building yet but we will likely be doing a lot ourselves, and investing in a suite of cordless power tools to help. I'm sure Dewalt/Makita etc are better than the likes of Ryobi/JCB etc, but they are out of my budget. Is the Ryobi "one" selling point worth it? The tools look OK, nothing special, but the one set of batteries across a dozen tools would be a huge saving. E.g. I'm about to buy a cordless strimmer for our current house... Ryobi is £50 without batteries/charger.

What about decking system? I'm considering this as it'll tie in well with my ICF walls and internal supporting poured walls. Concrete volume is less than precast slabs, and no screed is required. I've played about with the calculator and a 160mm slab will cross my spans with the right reinforcement. Minimal propping required and deck serves as temp working platform. Allowing a 200mm void for the suspended ceiling, means a 360mm total floor build up. You can add mineral wool after services fitted for extra sound dampening. https://www.tatasteelconstruction.com/en_GB/Products/structural-buildings-and-bridges/Composite-floor-deck/Comflor®-60 One more thing, you use dovetail nuts in the channels for your service and ceiling hangers.

Yeah, since posting I did a quick google and got similar information. I'd maybe see about having a few small citrus trees instead, they seem to be possible indoors. I think I will have a mini herb wall in the kitchen or sure tho - we will be putting up a partial walled in area for a pantry at one end of the kitchen - a few herb trays will soften it up nicely.

Following with interest... We will have a 6m long, 2.7m tall concrete wall in our house. Will be south facing in a large open plan living area with lots of sun. I'm trying to minimise wet trades and traditional finishes in this build so plan to have this as a shuttered concrete wall or block on flat. Neither of us are a fan of raw concrete finish so wall would be clad with something, like stick on stone, brick or timber. I'd love to have it a "tropical" living wall instead. No idea what species I'd plant but I'd love to have a large evergreen tropical fruit type plant (orange?), with "pockets" of smaller varieties below the trained canopy. Anybody know if this is possible in our climate?

Thats roughly what I was thinking. Bring the concrete floor over to the wet area, shutter it off and then build a frame to take the bath and shower area. Build the frame for the bath then screed rest of the area around it with a fall for the shower. Very helpful.

That's brilliant, cheers!