RandAbuild

The other thing I am considering is a sail awning...

Thanks for your post @lizzie , it sounds like you are having similar issues to us. We have experienced some quite high internal temperatures at night, but haven't yet put any blinds or fabrics on the windows so are at the beginning of getting things right. I've still got to sort out the MVHR but doubt this will make a lot of difference. We have large windows on the SSE elevation. The sun is heating the internal fabric of the house and good levels of airtightness the heat has nowhere to go unless of course we open windows. We are fortunate to have six 3G Velux windows, which are ideal for purging the hot air, but we have to open windows on the ground floor to do this. When we go out, security then becomes a problem, as our large IdealCombi Futura+ windows do not have a security latch when ajar. I've taken this up with them. Hence my looking at solar film - thanks Jeremy for your details. We don't have privacy issues but need to strike the right balance between reducing solar radiation and allowing good visibility. I've taken up your point about laminated glass with IdealCombi too.

Having moved in just as this hot spell started, this is a very timely thread! I'm investigating adding reflective film to the outside of our south-facing windows to reduce solar gain. The problem is the sun heats up the internal fabric, and in a well insulated, airtight house the heat has nowhere to go. Fortunately we have 6 Velux windows which are great at venting the heat, but it then has to be replaced by cooler air which means opening ground floor windows. What do you do to maintain security then? Has anyone (I know Jeremy has) any experience of solar film and which one did you use?

We've used these in our kitchen Quite a square profile but a nice reliable light. 8w I think

Don't know of any - we had a local joinery firm put ours together - about £60 each

Good work Ian

@oranjeboom we're looking at doors at the moment. The first one you've pictured looks like a Seville. Deanta do the largest lippings of any door manufacturer, allowing them to be trimmed to the opening. They're a good, solid door whether you have them in 35mm or 45mm fire door thickness. But I would say go for a standard door every time - ideally 1981 tall. You'll get by far the best choice (those Deanta Sevilles can be found online for about £112 each, incl VAT) and for any bespoke ones you'll be paying through the nose and waiting 14+ weeks for them. If only we had followed this advice! We have 2 cupboards on the first floor (airing cupboard and MVHR/plant cupboard) that cut into the sloping roof. These will require double doors 1950 and 1886 high, involving trimming them by 100mm. We are pondering whether to have specials made or get someone to make them. I just wish we had made the linings to fit a 1981 door and made life simple.

Here's the guy putting on the mist coat on our build. We learnt a couple of lessons from this: the overspray goes everywhere that isn't masked off. Our floors have an interesting white finish around the edges the finish on the ceilings is exceptional - too good if anything, as you can't touch it up. I stood in our living room after it had been done and it was like a white-out. Nothing to focus your eyed onto

We didn't pursue a SIPs-for-the-roof-only route as we only received 1 quote from a SIPs company and they were nervous about our tight access. In fact the crane we hired for the TF would have made it a doddle, and as you say you can get wide spans and airtight joints easily. Haven't found a timber frame company that does both - I'm sure there are some around.

Timber frame every time if you want an airtight, well insulated house. Goes up (and can be weathertight) quickly, dimensionally more accurate than brick and block, easier to get better than BR u values and I think you get lower noise levels (if you add sound insulation in the studwork and floors) than b&b. The outer skin can also go up anytime so you're not driven by brickies' timescales. The only thing I wish we had done was use SIPs for the roof - easier to make airtight and insulate than a traditional timber roof.

Could you: a) ask him to just install the base and delay laying the blocks until your heavy deliveries are complete? or b) get some road surface protection to spread the weight? Both are long shots but it looks like the guy is doing what the contract says. A solicitor should advise. Do you think he's trying to pressure you to get you to pick up some of the liability/cost? What happens when the 4th house is built - won't this chew up the road too? It could make this plot unsellable.

Good point - our BCO acts for the warranty provider (Self Build Zone) too and you're right about them shifting the responsibility to someone else. To my mind a slate roof should not need an insurance backed guarantee as a) our roofer can't supply one even if I asked for it and b) that's what I'm paying SBZ for!

This is what our BCO has asked for: Before the completion visit we will require titled pdf copies of the following certificates (where applicable): a) Building Control Completion certificate (this is what he will be issuing) c) Air test d) As built SAP e) EPC h) Water efficiency G2 j) Electrical k) Gas, Benchmark l) HETAS (N/A for our build) m) Heating system commissioning n) Ventilation system commissioning o) BBA Certificates and 10 year registered insurance backed guarantee for the product and installation of: tanking and basement water proofing systems, slate roof, flat roof, green roofs, dormers, large secret gutters, cavity wall injection, and external wall systems, including render systems (N/A for our build except the slate roof - not sure why he needs this) p) Flow tests results will be required for the extractor fans (we have MVHR, and I've sent him my commissioning report which he's happy with). The visit will involve looking down manholes and into roofs and around the property

Here's a pic of some of our service runs in pozijoists. The main cable routes were contained in baskets secured along the length of the joist - very neat solution

No passive slab here!

@JSHarris +1 on VAT complications and their impact. Unfortunately HMRC couldn't give a stuff about sustainable construction!

@JSHarris - Golden brick isn't a 'dodge' - it's a well established way of disposing of land to enable the builder to get the benefits of zero rated VAT on the build. The Graven Hill site differs from buying a traditional self build plot because the site owner wants to retain control over what is built beyond each buyer getting their own planning consent. Leaving it to planning controls would be seen as a free-for-all. I believe the site was transferred from MoD to English Partnerships (EP) and subsequently onto the Homes and Communities Agency. The methodology used by all these agencies that sell off plots is designed to maintain control beyond the normal planning controls, such that the landowner can specify such things as building heights, materials and design standards. I'm not sure if the site has its Design Code, but look for example at Upton in Northampton where EP published a pretty complex set of requirements in a Design Code. That site didn't have any self build plots! @PeterW I can't find the spec either, but the FAQ section of the website says All of the plots will be sold with the foundations, drainage, substructure walls, ground floor slab and utility connections already in place. This is termed as a Golden Brick sale. The foundations, drainage, substructure walls, and ground floor slab will be designed and installed by Graven Hill to suit each self-builder's home design. I doubt if this extends to building bespoke passive slabs, but it may do. Ground conditions will be a factor - if the overall site is subject to heave, structural engineers may advise against them as they will always err on the side of caution. Would be interesting to find out.

@PeterW I think the inspector for the self-builder's warranty provider would need to sign off the golden brick works. The structural engineer for the foundations must also provide a collateral warranty to the main warranty provider, which would in effect transfer their PI liability. The sale contract should include provisions for this. Buying a site which includes works to golden brick must protect the buyer that these works or carried out properly and with a warranty.

When you buy the plot with Golden Brick (foundations to dpc + one course of brickwork) you are buying it in the course of construction. This means it is zero rated for VAT. Without this, you would have to pay VAT on everything. It also gives control to the site owners over what is built, as they in effect govern the footprint and hence the size and position of the house.

We also used the Hanson Jetfloor slab with Perinsul to prevent cold bridging. The foundations and slab were set out by the local Director of a building firm who had previously used our timber frame. We employed him as a technical project manager until we were out of the ground and his advice at this stage was invaluable. The structural concrete screed was 70mm thick and was laid using a very wet mix so it found its own level. This worked out very well and was fine for laying engineered wood floors and porcelain tiles; we only had a small amount of cracking. UFH pipes were laid direct over a dpc on top of the final layer of insulation (the radon barrier was below the insulation). This was installed by our plumber without any problems. We went to 11 timber frame firms for prices, including 2 SIP suppliers. We were pleased to get back 9 quotations, varying from around 40k to 105k. MBC were towards the top of this range However, although these were based on drawings and a brief specification, firms quoted on the basis of their ‘standard’ product – some were fully pre-insulated (which was our preference, to ensure better fit of the PIR) while others supplied the insulation which we would have had to arrange on site. Some included (double glazed – we wanted triple) Velux windows, and others included UPVC windows (which we did not want). Analysing these apples & pears was difficult but we managed to narrow it down to 2 firms with broadly the same spec. Eventually we went with Turner Timber Frame, now Turner Timber http://turnertimber.co.uk/ who are based in Hull . Their highest level spec was nothing fancy but better than building regs: 140mm Timber Frame with 10mm OSB sheathing Protect TF200 Thermo Insulating Breather Membrane 120mm Celotex between studs 25mm service cavity 15mm Plasterboard & skim (we subsequently added 32mm insulated plasterboard to ceilings) Easyjoists by Wolf Systems Eggar Protect 22mm first floor boards, glued to Easyjoists We supplied them with CAD drawings of the architect’s planning drawings. They arranged a team of erectors who were familiar with their system – so TTF would be singularly responsible for erecting the frame and we wouldn’t have to pay VAT. We arranged the crane hire. Would we recommend them? Without question, yes. The frame was pretty over-engineered, especially the roof. It fitted together very well and was up in about 9 days. They supplied us with far more timber (25x50 battens, 222x47 timbers for an extended gable end over a balcony, to be erected after the brickwork) than we needed. This was very useful throughout the build! Their communication prior to delivery was always very good. They understood what self builders needed (unlike some other firms we spoke to), answered questions quickly and were always available on the phone. Answers to technical queries gave us confidence they had all the right experience and expertise. The only issue we had was they delayed the planned delivery by 3 weeks because their fitting teams were committed elsewhere. This was very frustrating at the time but on balance wasn't too bad; at least they kept us informed. We were however let down by the erecting firm. They knew their stuff and began well, but became more sloppy as things went on (first floor studwork out of plumb, metal fixings not fully nailed, some poor spacing of rafters). We ended up with a very solid build, but only after I had spent 2 or 3 days with a hammer and twisty nails finishing it off. Our carpenter also had to adjust some of the first floor studwork around the bathroom and one bedroom. We were also very lucky with the weather. The crane hire day for the roof was a glorious sunny day in September 2016, and our biggest heart-in-the-mouth moment came when a large section of the roof on one wing (weighing in at 850kg and 11m long) was swinging about 15m in the air against a clear blue sky. Fortunately it landed perfectly before being fixed into place.

Ian - I don't know if this helps and I'm no expert, but our garage roof was finished yesterday. Charming though your old piggery is, you don't want to go over the top so the planning authority end up listing it! What are you intending to use it for? If it's for storage, then I'd go for the simplest solution. For example, use cement filleted verges (see cropped pic) and a wet ridge - they'll both see you out. You need to trim off those pointy rafter ends so you can get some guttering on there. I might be tempted to leave the OSB if it's reasonable quality, Sorry can't advise on gauging but there's loads of advice online. I expect you'll need a fairly small slate - ours were 500x250.

Try Idealcombi https://idealcombi.com/ They should meet your spec

It's taken us about 18 months, mainly because many of our better trades were very busy! The structure is a 140mm Timber Frame with Protect TF200 Thermo Breather Membrane and 120mm Celotex. We're pleased with the way the staircase with the big window behind has worked out. I can see the planners might want to hold you to the building line, but moving the house back might give more space for a garage and still leave you with a big garden.

Our floor is a min 70mm structural (no mesh) concrete screed laid quite wet, so it finds it's own level, and with UFH pipework. This is over 100mm EPS on top of a Hanson Jetfloor (beam & insulated block). The screed is perfect for laying tiles or engineered wood and has a lower mass than 100mm concrete would, so the UFH is more responsive. I'm not keen on polished concrete for all the reasons above. Keep it simple and minimise risk. With less than 40mm cover above the pipework, there's a danger some of it springs up above the finished level of the concrete, which you definitely don't want if you're powerfloating!