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SuperJohnG

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  1. SuperJohnG
    It's kind of taken me 4 moths to get here, we broke ground start of January took a while to get the road and  the rest of the ground built up with the stone (700 Tonnes circa!). But we have finally done the UFH, tied the mesh and then poured the concrete. 
     
    UFH:
     
    Fitting the UFH was pretty straightforward to be honest. I had 1.1km of pipe to lay, and just planned it out as per the Wunda drg, I adapted a little as I went along to avoid awkward bits but it went fine. The UFH stapler was a godsend, made it Uber easy and was just great putting it into the insulation. The decoiler also a godsend, god knows how you would do it without one of those. Both well worth the purchase. 
     
    I laid pipes out in concentric layout, it gives the most even heat distribution as a return is next to a feed pipe. It was fine doing it, i started with outer at 400mm centres and then turned back to leave me with 200mm spacing. Once back at the UFH manifold point I cut the pipe to confirm it wasn't burst and got a big whoosh of air (Wunda pipes come pressurised).  The only mistake i made (or remember making was the lengths. I thought i had 11 100m loops, but turns out I had 10 loops at less than 100m, then 1 loop at 101m - which they supplied a 120m length for. Of course didn't realise that till the end and it was the last pipe to be laid...purely coincidentally. I took a slightly shorter route, but either that pipe was longer than 100m (I had at least 10m spare) or the length they worked out was wrong (unlikely) fortunately it worked out fine! I also used the clip track to secure them, which works well and sticks good to the insulation, doesn't do well at loops close to it but staples there sort it. I never fitted the manifold, I just used a clip track mounted high on a wee frame I built where the manifold will go. I didn't pressure test either....or pressurise for the pour, I wasn't concerned about holes as I was the only one there and I put 1000+ castles down to support the mesh to the heavy ground workers wouldn't' squash it on top. My pipes were laid on the insulation at the bottom of the concrete well away from the mesh and any chance of people drilling through them. I'm confident not pressuring will be fine during the concrete pour - those pipes are very resilient.
     
    Mesh:
     
    By Jesus - straightforward again, but f$ck me....the bloody wire tying loops. My back was dead..and i don't have any back issues, I was like Quasimodo bent over for days tying mesh together. I had a single layer on the main slab, with two layers in ring beam and three at sliders. I used maybe 1000 ties. The mesh castles worked well to support it and the hystools too to give the spacing. I defo didn't think about heights where your lap the mesh sheets as you end up 20-40 mm higher due to where triple sheets lap each other. So I have lots of spare hystools at 100mm. 
     
    I had approx. 360m2 of mesh to put in, cutting it was done with stihl saw (quik cut) - made life easy. I also purchased a dewalt cordless grinder originally to do this but you would go through wheels like a maniac. So that was used for small cuts and came in handy trimming bits. The stihl saw (which i own anyway) made it easy. I did buy a set of 36" bolt cutters as someone said to use that - shit idea, mega hard and I'd have been there all day using them. They done two cuts, went back in the box and were returned to Toolstation. 
     
    Rebates:
     
    I planned two flush thresholds for my sliders - I shuttered these using the 50mm packing that came with the Insulated foundation, worked ok - But i had to weight them down during the pour. Also - I worked the concrete below the long one, but forgot the short one and it left a space which I will fix this week prior to kit going up. I also done a shuttered section at my downstairs bathroom so I can fit a floor mounted shower tray. That worked fine - just need to dig it out.  
     
    Concrete:
     
    We had C25/C28 Specified but just put in C35 as it was what the guys normally use. We had a lovely day for it, 14 degrees and sunny, went pretty well. We had a bit of a delay with the last part load - which was at garage, but turned out fine. We also done the pads too and just overfilled them with extra that was left, my pad heights externally to the footprint are for posts to support my canopy and ended up different heights but I just gave the kit supplier all the heights and then are cutting to suit. They are all well below the ground anyway. I wanted to power float, but I didn't manage to get it arranged and my guys didn't seem keen. I was going to do it myself, but ran the risk of doing it for the first time on my own slab and didn't want to majorly mess up what they had done as it would have been in the evening by myself.  36cube in total went in. 
     
    The only issue I was left with was that the boys forgot the poker. They did the vibro screed and all areas were filled, but missing the poker meant that we missed the concrete under a slider rebate. The long one (4.6m) was fine as it floated up a little so I hurriedly spent some time moving it up and down working the concrete below it, then I added stones on top to level it off. I shoudl have done this with the short (3m) one but didn't think as it didn't float up. It's no major drama, getting some concrete this week and will fill it. It'll be a cold joint but it's at a slider with no wall attached. I added ducts for the island below the mesh to we can get power there. 
     
    The day after the pour I cut a control joint and then I tried to cover it with plastic (DPM actually) but I was ill prepared and didn't have enough, so just stuck with watering it with a hose each day when I could. I did get a couple of small shrinkage cracks in the main slab where it dried too quickly  (they had appeared the next morning) due to it being so sunny the day of the pour. But they are small and nothing to worry about. all in all happy. 
     
    There is lots of other stuff I'm sure I forget but it always seems to elude me when I write a blog post. I also find it hard to find the time writing them - but that's self building for you! 
     
    Pictures tell better stories! Lots included. 
     
    I'm learning to not sweat the wee details, it's ok if things go a little pear shaped. It'll work out in the end.   
     
    For now Foundations are finished and it feels good to be done here, we will backfill later and finish drains but that's in a few months. I just have DPM to fold up and attach this weekend (How do you fold up internal corners?!) prior to kit being delivered and erection starting next week. I've had two weekends off since the pour and it has been weird not being there every night and weekend. 
     
     
     
    Things I learned:
     
    1) Check all pipes lengths and lay them out first of all!
    2) Buy the stapler
    3) Buy the decoiler
    4) Plan all your cuts out for mesh
    5) Don't bother with bolt cutters
     











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  2. SuperJohnG
    Well we are on the way now and no going back. 
     
    The groundworks guy started last week, he is putting in the road and hardstanding and will do the insulated foundation under my guidance and I will assist. It's a good relationship and he comes when its not raining and is well experienced in groundworks. He is actually building his own home just now too (we are similar ages).  The night before he came on site...I was hurriedly arranging site insurance (horrific cost of over £2k - but it is for 24 months) that was sorted, then in the dark I went up and attached the cursory health and safety signs at the entrance. I also put a sign facing out into the surrounding fields (see pic below) as we have people who walk by and I haven't heras fenced the site hence if someone crosses the fence they should be aware there might be big holes in the ground. 
     
    The digger came the next morning and we have nearly finished the access going in to the house, around 400 Tonne of 3" crusher run has got us up to the house location. Which is pretty damn close to what I calculated,  we were put off my rain somewhat this week which suited us both as I was stowed with my normal job, I did have holidays booked but couldnt get off as I had too much on. However come Monday..I will be off for a week....
     
    I 've been busy at night over thinking, over engineering and done far too much detailed planning around drainage and ducts. But I'm nearly ready.  The Kore Insulated foundation system came in December....I can tell you how glad I was that i brought it in before Brexit. I'm hearing stories that it is completely problematic now. I was missing some EPS for a thermal break between man slab and integral garage but steven from Kore sorted it and should be here next week just in time.   
     
    I'm spending my night tonight comparing prices of drainage which I'll bring on site on Tuesday. The groundworkers will be back Monday and we expect a big week full speed ahead, we will scrape the foundation out (the footprint top soil is removed) get it level, then fill with Type 1. Then surveyor here on Wednesday to set out profile boards with, I done all the ACAD drawings for him to place it all and do the ducts and drains  and insulated foundation corners etc, He's also been really helpful and proactive. 
     
    The final UFH design is done, I'll order the pipe on Wednesday too and they can get it next day, so that's fine.
     
    Next week is a big week and I'm excited...I've planned some bits to death, but in reality we will just see how it goes. Some pictures attached because that's what a blog is all about Jude was thoroughly enjoying the water and mud!....wish us luck! 







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  3. SuperJohnG
    Quickish update only because I seem to have run out of hours as now we are building, balancing family life and a full time demanding job. 
     
    So after the last update, where the stone wasn't really getting solid. I ended up getting it dug out, it was bothering me too much and I was completely worried about it. It was no major issue the boys dug it out in an afternoon, then put dry type 1 back in there and compacted down and built the levels up no hassles. We had a full dry week so it made a massive difference and they were able to get along much much quicker. 
     
    In between the stone drama I had the surveyor on site and we set up profile boards to set out the corners and main walls internally that I needed to reference off for ducts. I set my boards up so that the string lines lined up with the lower portion of the insulated foundation once I came to the stage of setting that out. Doing it that way worked well. 
     
    They built the stone up to level, then we cut all the ducts and drains in. The groundworkers took my layout for the drains, then done what they wanted to do in instead, which worked better. They didn't fancy using the rest bends but I insisted in some places. They did prefer to use Tee's which seemed fine. I wasn't too bothered by this point. The ducts ae all mm precision hoefully along with the drains so they all pop up and I spent A LOT of time planning the plant room.
     
    Then we screeded with 50mm sand. I used steel pipes for this and we set them up with the laser. It worked well and we had it screeded with 50mm sand in an afternoon. I used concrete sand for this which was wet but worked fine. That's a picture of me in the bucket of the digger doing the bits out in the middle. None of us could deal with leaving a hole in the middle.
     
    I got straight on to the DPM after this. My system has the DPM placed under the Kore insulated foundation. I did this all myself and had worked out all the joins on CAD befroe hand. It's easy to lay that way, albeit I hadn't anticipated the PITA it is to not walk on the sand but lay the DPM and then not walk on the DPM is impossible as i want it to stay level. I used OSB boards to move about most of the time. Cutting round drains is a pisser with the DPM, alsowhere you have 4 ducts popping up next to one another in a bunch it is also a complete pain. I did big cuts to get it over and it took forever to patch. I used top hats where possible and taped them in but there was some dodgy joints around where multiple ducts come up in a bunch - Those have been foamed to death now the insulation is down. 
     
    Things to note - the Visqueen DPM is good, their double sided tape is good. I actually kept it in a cooler with a hot water bottle to keep it malleable as it was pretty cold when I was doing it. Their single sided tape is absolutely shit, do not buy it.  Toolstation single sided DPM tape is also shit! However the Screwfix DPM tape is mega, stick like mad no matter what. really impressed with it.  here:

     
    So once DPM was done I got the insulate foundation down and got started.
     
    I took some advice from @LA3222 as albeit straightforward it's not bang on. I was expecting something more highly engineered and don't get me wrong it is of high quality but some bits are a little longer and few mm here and there and some cut slightly off the square which means a good bit of adjustment. But works fine. 
     
    I set out the corners first, then loosely laid it with my profile board lines. I then ended up taking a middle section out each line to get it to the right lengths and adjusted from there. I checked the lengths and squareness and procrastinated about it, ovethought it and all sorts, I didn't trust my tape as I could stretch it however much i wanted. I then ended up moving it all about and doing all sorts, one thing was apparent was the internal diagonals KORE/tanners can get relied on exactly due to the manufacturing tolerances mentioned above. So you just need to get them square tothe same size and as long as it is ballpark it is fine.  
     
    I set out again and used the outer lengths, then I bit the bullet and called the surveyor back. He took 250 off me....stayed for 45 mins. Only to confirm I was pretty much bang on. I was 0mm out in some corners (bare in mind i set up with tapes over 20m) and 3-7mm mostly. Two corners I was 20mm off but i knew that as a profile board got knocked. All in all gave me plenty confidence. 
     
    I then proceeded to pin the edges and then I finished filling in the three internal layers last night. Took me two full days (sat and sun) and then three nights. I used the U pins, I found them good, i started with the PU foam but found it too hard for the edges and thought it woudl take a while. So I pinned it, then filled holes with PU foam.I used PU foam in all internal joints though as that was easier. 
     
    Cutting through the EPS 300 is a PITA but planned well it's ok. I'd avoid drains in the out sections next time. 
     
    If i get time I will put more effort at the insulated foundation installation details, but knackered tonight after the last 5 days at it and doing my normal work. 
     
    I've been writing down things that I would change and I'll list them in each blog post to provide a hint for a step!
     
    Lots of pics attached as normal. 
     
     
    Lessons learned:
     
    1) It is is wet - buy the type 3 stone
    2) Listen to your groundworks guys if you trust them - they wanted me to add big stone down the bottom to help it drain...I didn't want to. We should have.
    3) Dont buy the visqueen DPM tape, waste of money.
    4) Don't be cheap and by the pro nozzle for the foam gun, It's only 20 quid. I didn't that was a schoolboy error. 
    5) Don't buy the bahco £19 wavy 'insulation saw'  it's crap and near impossible to use with the KORE stuff Ditch it and just a normal saw. It's messy but much much quicker. 
     
    thanks for reading.



































  4. SuperJohnG
    Well, a few weeks have passed since my last past.
     
    We finished up the road and last post we had scrapped back the house footprint. I feel like we haven't come that far since then, but in reality we probably have actually now that I look at the pictures. 
     
    Once we had scrapped back the top and subsoil we got the levels down to where I thought we should be. The house was meant to have FFL of 138.5m (referenced to sea level of course!) but I increased the height by 0.75m. It was just too low in the ground for the plot and the driveway would have ended up higher and now seems to be in the right place. 
     
    So first full week at it, I was basically running around organising things as you do. I gave Jewson about zero notice of all the stuff I wanted. They gave me good list prices, 90% off with my self build credit account. I tested these on the internet and a few others merchants and they were decent. They delivered the mesh and underground drainage pipes, mesh castles, visqueen etc all in quick time which was good. I also took delivery of my container - which was much required and has been a god send to store everything. 
     
    On the first day when I was out, the groundworkers were scrapping back to ground bearing soil, but found a soft patch at one end - instinctively they dug another 500mm deeper to get hard ground. Then called me to say we had an issue. They felt it was quite soft, I turned up  - had a look it seemed softish but not overly. However I have no experience - fortunately I called the SE and he came straught by to have a look ...wasn't an issue and he told us to continue. Phew.
     
    I'd ordered type 1 for the sub base. I did price both type 1 and type 3, but there was quite a difference of 3-4 per tonne. I needed 120 Tonne (turns out actually 250 in the end). I checked with Tanners who had stated Type 3, but they said if it was a struggle type 1 would be fine. Plus I checked with a local guy who does passive foundations and he said they just use that so all ok. 
     
     We continued the scrape down, then we laid a geotextile and covered with the type 1. What was immediately apparent was how wet it was, that extra dug down section filled with water quickly to form a lovely swimming pool. From here we tried to stone up a little more, but stopped due to rain. Then the guys decided we needed to get that land drain in to dry it up. 
     
    I have used twinwall perforated pipe to do the land drain (under the guidance of my groundworkers) then added Tees wherever downpipes are going to be. This saves costs as then you're not digging another pipe above it later on. You can just roll the tees up and drop the downpipes into it. I discharge directly into a burn too so makes sense. I helped with the drains and we used the laser the set the fall ( @LA3222 ) I know why you like it so much, great tool and makes it dead easy. I did nearly make a schoolboy error and lift the full pipe up in the pea gravel...before the groundworker stopped me
     
    Once we had the drains in this has helped no end with getting the water out, and allowed us to continue a little more. 
     
    In between this the power connection was brought on site, I had 6 poles put in from 3 fields away. I managed to also get them to hide the transformer pole in my woods which was ideal as I had planned it in the corner if the plotand that would have been visible always so a good win. The trench was also repositioned around the outskirts of the plot so that if I ever build another house ( my retirement bungalow) in the front garden I don't need to move it again. 6 poles put up in a day, then a week later cable pulled and terminated. The connection currently resides under the ground about 15m from the plant room, once I'm ready. I'll dig the duct to there and then I can call them back and pull it into the house at my leisure. 

    We got a little bit of rolling done on the first layer of Type 1, but it's been mega cold and snowy for a few weeks which has stopped us. One thing that has been a pain was the test holes left big soft spots. We had to dig these out completely and fill with stone. The groundworks boys said he always have this issue and would be better if the SE put them off to the side. A good bit of info for others. 
     
    So since that point it got basically rock solid cold. little happened for about 10 days just due to weather. Then last Thursday after postponing him 5 times, got the surveyor on site. I had marked up various times using the TOPO stations and tapes, but wanted very accurate positions on site for the walls and so I can get the ducts and drainage bang on. I spent days on the plant room design and layout which is now hopefully pretty good.
    The surveyor and I put all the profile boards up outside the footprint which went well, I was 400mm off the actual CAD position I had given for the house. Which considering I was using tapes from topo points  which were 80m away wasn't bad. I had already cut drains in so we just moved house position quickly by offsetting using total station. The profiles are in and all good. 
     
    So this week we managed to stone up more, the boys done a bit of rolling on Tuesday - in fact I even did the rolling while they moved stone around. The stone is compacting but not as hard as I would and as quickly. They had to put a thicker layer on that the 150mm due it being so wet it would just bubble up. But the stone is soaked, and taking a while to drain off through the type 1 as my stone seemed to have loads and loads of fines. Now If i go back to the start of this post....maybe I should have bought that Type 3, but we are where we are!  We rolled it down, then got another layer on and continued to roll it. 
     
    It was still quite spongy at the end of the other day in a few places but we haven't finished rolling this layer just due to it being wet. The boys definitely put on thicker layers than stated and we rolled the lower layer less than the required 16 passes. I was having a bit of a hairy canary when I cam home and started to doubt what had been done, I was checking the roller weight and spec religiously against the KORE manual, and then getting worried that it would leave the lower layers too soft. It's hard here as, how hard is hard enough as I don't have any experience of laying a sub base and reading on here it should be rock solid.  So I was back and forth the next day to site, jumping up and down, seeing how hard it was. I made a plan the night before as it was concerning me, that if needed I would just strip it back down a layer and re roll that bit and not to worry myself too much (the boys keep telling me to put my worry beads away) that we can fix it. Now that we have had two sunny dry days with no ice, it has drained off well and feels better actually and I talked it through with the groundworker that i was worried and didn;t think we had enough passes, and he help reassure me somewhat (and I trust him) that albeit the textbook says 16 passes and 100mm layer that, it simply isn't possible here to do it in the 100mm layer as the roller would bring the water through at that point and we need a thicker lower layer. Now that we are up a but and it's drying it should compact better. It's now pissing it down for the rest of the week and we can't do anything. However he has left me the roller over the weekend, so I can roll it to my hearts content which will make me very happy. Hopefully we get a couple of days dry at weekend and I can et that done, then they will be back Tuesday to hopefully get the last layer or two on and bring it all up to the correct level and then we can mark the ducts and drains and get them dug in to the stone. 
     
    I was quite surprised at how not flat my flat looking plot was. Standing looking at it is quite deceiving, at one end of my 20m length footprint, I needed around 150mm stone, at the other end I will end up with 4-500mm stone which is quite remarkable. To the eye it's very deceiving. Having the laser there is great and helps make it all very easy. 
     
    Lots of challenges, on site with weather and generally getting organised. Also the stone compaction and not having done it before definitely caused worry which unsettled me, simply I think because there's nobody else really to take the responsibility as ultimately it's for me to say what's ok and what's not. Having a major responsibility is not a daunting thing for me, I work at a high level in a business and directly responsible for managing and being the technical expert for very large value and complex equipment. However there's something about being in unfamiliar territory here and doing it for the first time with nobody to else to take the responsibility which is both exhilirating but also slighlty terrifying. It's like when you take your first foreign trip without your folks, or when your new born baby won't stop crying. It's a challenge and when you get through it, it's good. You just need to feel your way through and make as best decisions you can and rely on the people around you. 
     
    I can say I am absolutely thoroughly enjoying myself. I have loved being out my home office (daughters nursery!) and being out and about on site. I cannot wait till  get further ahead, the kit comes, which is planned for April now, and I can work up there every night in the spring and summer.
     
    The kit has been delayed somewhat due to messing around with L shaped combination skylight windows for a week, I can firmly say trying to get them figured out has been a PITA. Also, I had added the angled reveals at the top and bottom (which I may scrap tonight!) but that's another post for another day....
     
    Lots of pictures as that's what blogs are about.  
     
        
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Test holes
    sense having them dug below. 
     















  5. SuperJohnG
    I've finally got around to starting this blog. I'm hoping that it'll be easily updated and I'll provide lots of good pictures and info...we'll see how that goes. 
     
    I'm at the point now where we have just taken our first big delivery, which is our insulated foundation system from Kore, this morning. So albeit, this process of building a house has been ongoing for some time, it has just become real that we are at the beginning of the build phase, which is very exciting.  
     
    Some light background info - I've always wanted to build a house for the last 5-10 years, but it was a distant dream and wasn't quite sure how feasible it would be.  I grew up in a rural house, my parents bought in 1983, modernised and updated over the years. It was a great childhood and spent many hours in the fields and in our garden, even just cutting the grass was fun (1 acre and a ride on mower). We sold that when I was 21 and ever since I've wanted to return to that life. I have two young kids of my own now and hence the want to return to the countryside to give them what  I had was strong. 
     
    I was always keen on building, swmbo, wasn't as such. So we searched and searched, but mostly the houses we could find that suited our needs were out of league (price!) and even if they were to be  in our league there were things we would change or in the end it would be expensive to run. And hence that search helped my other half make the realisation that self build was our only option. 
     
    My dad died in 2017 after a long illness with Dementia, a relief for him and for everyone else involved. We were very close and I took care of him day in and out, until he was in care.  He was an engineer and had owned his own business since I was a child, albeit he lived a pretty simple life and was happy being at home in the garden he made and house he had renovated. Riding around on the ride on mower enjoying a quiet life...and now I guess that's exactly where I want to be.  His passing left us with a little inheritance which has allowed this dream of self building to become a reality, I'm very thankful for this. I know it is something he would have been very excited to be part of and watch us do. 
     
    So after messing around since 2017 and not being able to negotiate a plot or find one that was suitable (there's a lengthy thread on this!) I'd finally identified 4 acres in July 2019. It took a bit of time ( I had to confirm services and remove an Agricultural tie) but completed purchase in Jan 2020. I'll not cover the planning process in detail, but the plot had legacy planning permission which was 24 years old, but at that time the development had commenced and hence it was a straightforward change and submission of our designs. Building warrant was granted a week ago, with very little hassle really. 
     
    I joined Buildhub in September 2019 or thereabouts. It's been a wealth of information that has helped me shape the design of the house and provided no end of guidance which I am very thankful for. It has allowed me to validate my opinions and approaches and learn from others to ensure i am following the right path. 
     
    I started out prior to buildhub wanting a SIPS house, in fact googling that may have made me find my way here. Quickly I decided I wanted an insulated foundation too, I went around in circles a little bit with both of these decisions and reading others opinions on here. I even thought at one point they would both be too expensive for me , however I sit here writing this first post having taken delivery of my insulated foundation today and my SIPS kit is on order and due sometime in February.
     
    I don't actually need the insulated foundation till mid-late January but made a decision to get it in the country before Brexit issues occur and tariffs are possibly applied in January (rumoured at 6%). I'm very glad I made that decision as today our new strain of COVID has caused everyone to close the doors to us here in the UK, another couple of days and god knows when I would have gotten it. 
     
    There is lots of other decisions and stuff has gone on in the background with planning and mortgages and budgets to get here, but that is mostly done and hence I feel this is the end of the beginning and now we can enter the start of the middle.... I'm very pleased and excited for the road ahead. 
     
    I like pictures in blogs....here's a few of the Insulated foundation delivery today. Stored at a friends farm for the time being. It's being stored outside, has a few tractor tyres on it now to stop it blowing away and the main pallets are all strapped down. That's me standing on top.......



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