Thorfun

hi all, just to resurrect this thread briefly as our coursing blockwork is starting tomorrow. The groundworker is now proposing that we run the membrane as follows: so with the VCL membrane going outside the block and then in on the underside of the coursing brick and then up to join the timber frame walls internally (previously I had the membrane on the inside of the block running between the hollow core/block and beam and the block). anyone with a better knowledge of physics able to tell me if this new solution is an issue? I can't think of it being one but thought I'd check on here first

congratulations! we're just going through this at the moment and hoping that they'll be finished tomorrow. I completely understand how great it feels! ?

counter battens aren't required *if* you have a gap between the membrane and the insulation. it doesn't have to be 50mm with Roofshield though, just enough so that any water than runs down the membrane isn't in contact with the insulation (I think Proctor say 15mm but believe my BCO said 25mm iirc). I believe this is obviously only an issue if you're insulating between the rafters. if you're insulating at joist level then no counter-battening is required I guess https://www.proctorgroup.com/products/roofshield this page has detailing for different roof types for the product.

It's not a great deal of time if doing continuous strimming. The last time I did a lot of strimming I think the 4.0AH battery I have probably lasted 15 or 20 minutes or so (sorry I wasn't checking the watch so those figures could be out!). I then switched to the 2.5AH battery I have and that ran out when the 4.0AH battery was about 75% charged. so, in theory, if you had a couple of the 5.0AH batteries I see no reason why it wouldn't last long enough to fully charge the other one. this whole thing is caveated by the fact that I have the multi-tool and a dedicated strimmer/brush cutter might be more efficient. check out the Ego line of tools. I've been very impressed and also have their chainsaw which made pretty light work of the trees in our back garden that came down to make way for the build. https://egopowerplus.co.uk/about-ego I'm sure the Makita ones also do the job and if you're already part of the Makita power tool eco-system then you'll already have the batteries but as I'm an Erbauer user I had the freedom to choose a different manufacturer for my garden tools. hope that helps

ps. I now have an Ego battery power tool all-in-one jobby that I use for multiple tasks now. it's very good indeed but for a large job you will need multiple batteries so one can charge while you're using the other. (or just take a beer break while your battery charges)

I bought an Einhell strimmer. probably not the best but it did the job. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on something that wouldn't be used much once the growth was under control! if it's for a one off job to clear a large area could you potentially hire one for the job? not sure on hire prices though so it might be best to just purchase one.

don't know the answer but that sure looks like some nice neat plumbing on that manifold. ?

we also looked at these when looking at Internorm windows but in the end decided not to go that route for some of the reasons @ProDave has mentioned but also when doing the maths it was cheaper to get external blinds integrated into the building which we thought was a better solution.

I don’t have a site diary but I do have a time lapse footage of every day of the build so far with 1 frame every 30s. So unless someone runs on site and then leaves within 30s I think I’ll have footage of them.

Depending on the roofing membrane counter battens may allow you to fully fill the rafters with insulation. Single battens will mean you’ll need an air gap between insulation and membrane. check with building control first though as I believe some will want an air gap regardless.

Welcome. sounds like a great project. please share photos, drawings, designs etc. we love that sort of stuff. ? I'm going through this exact thing at the moment. quotes for AC are coming in at between £2k - £3.5k per room! so I've been reading a lot about Fan Coils on here and I know that @joth is going through some DIY experimentation with his at the moment and I am waiting with excited anticipation to hear about his results! I also echo the above comments about taking a step back for a short while to decide what it is exactly you want and to investigate/design the MVHR now and consider insulated slab over traditional foundations etc. yes it will add a delay to your build and as I'm about 5 months in to my build and aren't quite finished in the ground yet (we're building a basement) I know all about how frustrating delays can be but sometimes they're unavoidable and the best thing to do. my experience so far is that things come at you thick and fast and you can easily get caught up in it all and miss important details. good luck and we look forward to seeing the progress.

good luck! I look forward to following your journey if you're kind enough to share it with us here. ?

exactly how I plan to do mine!

is this really necessary? seems excessive when you can just get ufh pipe staples to hold the pipes down. maybe someone who knows what they're talking about will be along soon to correct me. ?‍♂️

it might be worth thinking about this all some more and how the SAP will fit in with the rest of the design/build of the house. for example, you might find a company to design all your M&E requirements who can also do thermal modelling or PHPP and then the SAP can be bundled in with all of that. I mention this as we just went with the architect's choice for SAP and thermal modelling and had a lot of hassle with them but we didn't know any better. A little further down the line after I started looking in to MVHR, ASHP, Solar PV design etc I came across a company called Enhabit who are doing all of those for me and they also do thermal modelling/PHPP which would've given us a much better picture of how the whole house will work together. so, maybe it's worth putting it all under one roof? I guess it all depends on what your goals for your house are.

I used https://www.landscience.co.uk and was very happy with the cost and report. based in West Sussex but they might be willing to travel to Hampshire.

I guess if you're building a simple rectangle then yes. but our architect designed something a little different and we have above ground structures that aren't above the basement so it's a little less than 1/3. more like 25% of the total area.

planning wouldn't give us a bigger property above ground as it would've been substantially bigger than the existing property. so my 'fun' rooms had to go somewhere and so a basement it was. plus I've always wanted a basement. ?

@pocster speaks words of wisdom here. even if you can't do any of the labour yourself then you could save a lot of money by project managing the build and using subbies to do the work. could save at least 20% over using a main contractor.

+1 to this. we are having a basement built (just nearing the end of that) but it will end up being about 1/3 of the total cost of the build.

I moved it all to the garage quite a few weeks ago as well so it's now in the dark. hopefully it'll be ok.

thanks for the response. I thought that might be the case. I will double check with Wunda what the maximum UV exposure time is. it's still wrapped in their paper type packaging which might help I guess.

do you need a 'special' contractor? insulated foundation systems are very simple to lay so surely any decent groundworker can figure it out. as soon as you start looking for a 'specialist' the price goes up! maybe worth looking for a general groundworker who is recommended and ask them if they're happy to do it. if they can follow a drawing then I'm sure they'll do fine.

rather than doing that might it be better to go with your gut feeling and the 'chemistry' you have with one of them and give them the opportunity to come up with a few designs. if after that concept stage you don't really like what they've done then just explain it all and cut your loses and move on to another one. that way it saves you £10k and a whole lot of hassle with other design ideas fitting into the chosen ones as discussed above. but I think you'll find that if you've done your homework then your original chosen architect won't be a million miles away after initial concept sketches and even if you are then a few quick discussions with them and they'll come up with some changes. that happened with us, his first sketches weren't what we wanted at all. but after a quick meeting we discussed the bits we liked and didn't from each of the concepts and he came up with something we loved.

we chose the architect that we thought we'd be happy to work with after meeting them all. worked out great! portfolio and costs were also a consideration but I think the 'chemistry' that @Bitpipe was talking about is of paramount importance.