Grant

A picture like this is exactly the sort of info I was looking for online. When I speak with building control, I’ll ask if this is possible, as the ‘full render’ look was what I was hoping for, giving the style of the house thanks Russell

this is super helpful! Thank you for the advice ?

The house is currently rendered top to bottom - but with the lowest section in a black render. are you saying that I can’t match this, and instead need to have exposed brick below DPC? attached image hopefully clarifies what I’m working with

In any walk of life, people will have different opinions to what is best, which is great, as I’m now in a much better position than last night: a) I now know that using blocks is fine for external walls and I can avoid engineering and face bricks entirely b) I’ve been introduced to aggregated blocks - so will investigate these compared to aerated blocks All the work will need to be signed off by building control anyway, but forums really help with the (often obvious) questions that a compete novice struggles to find answers to

Thanks for the info. That’s super helpful The extension is fairly small and sits behinds the house in a tight area (comprises of of single storey walls and low level wall for bi-folds to sit on) - so I think I could probably do the Blockwork in a week/2 weeks (bricklayer would probably only take a 3 or 4 days). I’d worry about ICF and getting the concrete to the back of the house. i assume I’d lay the DPC tape on the external leaf exactly the same as if using engineering blocks? (e.g between the dense blocks and lightweight blocks)

Having watching tonnes of YouTube videos, I’m starting to feel slightly more confident about the extension I’m planning to build myself - however I’m unsure about what blocks to use. the house is fully rendered already, so the extension will be rendered also. Does this mean I can build both internal and external leafs in block, rather than having to use engineering bricks and face bricks? should I use dense block below DPC and aerated bricks above DPC? thanks for your help

Having had a building company do our last extension, we are looking forward to extending our next house - HOWEVER - with no money left in the kitty, yours truely is taking on the build himself.....what could go wrong need all the help possible, and sometimes a forum is the best place for it