Gone West

Yes I did the circuit design for the house, had it checked by an electrician, and then ran all the cables to the appropriate points. Same with plumbing. Most places it was plasterboard some it was Hardiebacker board. Most wall boxes are plastic but in the kitchen and utility they are metal fitted to noggins.

That was the way we worked because we did most of the work ourselves. I did all the first fix electrical and plumbing work. It was then boarded out, on both floors, with stud wall insulation put in and I cut out for all the wall boxes. I then had it all skimmed which, because the first floor was put in when the timber frame went in, meant we could do the remaining jobs in any order I wanted without causing damage.

We have a water table that varies from road level down to 2.3m below. We had an Isoquick insulated raft foundation installed in 2010 which was the first in the UK. It consisted of 200mm compacted type1 sub base with 50mm granite fines on top. The insulation was 300mm Peripor EPS with 200mm thick upstand and 200mm concrete raft. We had soil tests carried out and it is essential that a structural engineer who has a good knowledge of that type of foundation is employed.

The VOA removed our bungalow from the list after we had the electricity supply disconnected. At that time we had already disconnected the water supply and removed the bathroom and kitchen. We sent evidence in the form of photographs and certificates. Just to add that we already had planning approval.

We visited Richard Hawkes PH when it was being built and filmed for Grand Designs. He said they didn't get paid for the filming but he did get a lot of freebies from phase change wall panels to PVT on the roof. It seemed as though he was using his house as a test bed for different technologies.

We set up a self builder account at Jewsons and the manager gave us a list of all their building materials with the discount we would receive for each. It depends very much on the builders merchants in your area and the branch managers. There is a large variation between areas.

If considering I-beam construction did you look at Touchwood Homes?

Yes I agree that triple glazed windows have a far greater effect at reducing sound than the type of insulation. We have good airtightness as well, which I think is another reason our house is so quiet.

@Dreadnaught 1. You would have to decide how important decrement delay would be at your site. 2. Not sure about that, we have foam insulation and good sound proofing. 3. I doubt that as the studs are covered with insulating board. 4. I think the recycled newspaper goes through several processes before becoming insulation so I don't know about carbon embodiment. I can't think of anything else but I'm sure someone will.

@Onoff yes the first one was the one I saw. I like the idea of using a reciprocating saw. Plenty to think about.

Thanks Clive but the grid size is a bit small for what I want. I'll try P & W Nash as you suggested. I saw a wheeled one on Youtube which has given me an idea.

No I don't have. I will be doing this job over quite a long period of time and I would like to be able to use the same riddle later on for screening our garden soil.

I want to grade my crushed rubble manually through a 50mm sieve. I was thinking along the lines of a 600mm by 600mm riddle with a 50mm welded steel mesh base hanging on a frame which allows it to swing. I haven't been able to find anything like it or even find steel mesh offcuts, at a sensible price, so I could have a go at making one. Any ideas?

They were the company that we used for our Icynene installation. They're based in Thanet.

I may be completely wrong but isn't that U factor of 0.11W/m2K better than the standard 300mm twin stud wall with cellulose insulation which I thought was 0.12Wm2K. So why not use it?

The last one I hired, three or four months ago, had a cab radio and keyless coded push button start. Things have moved on since I last hired one, posh indeed.

I already had a water meter installed for the bungalow before I started my new build so all I did was to extend the existing supply to the new house. Southern Water were not involved. The BCO was not really interested in the mains supply to the house and all I did was tell him what I had fitted and he was quite happy.

Hi Jason, welcome to Buildhub. Friends of ours converted their bungalow into a house which ended up being very large. They were lucky they didn't need to alter the foundations and they had the whole building sheeted so the conversion was unaffected by the weather, Good luck with the project.

Do all the landscaping and driveway and generally take it a bit easier than last year.

We have built a house using a PH raft foundation with timber I-beam walls and roof. Am I correct in thinking you are stick building on site with the I-beams or are you having the frame made off site then erected.

Always viewed from the front so just swap the flexis over.

Here's hoping, well I'm only three years younger than his parents.

Can we have one please?

Sorry I should have said. We used BuildZone for the site insurance and we use Aviva for the buildings insurance.

Ours is timber frame with all timber cladding except for a brick slip plinth and we didn't have any problems getting site insurance or buildings insurance.