iSelfBuild

I'm a consultant within the precast concrete market. A joint venture between Milbank and a Beligium company called Danilith looked like it was going to get traction back in 2015 but it never came to full fruition. I know Laing O'Rourke do housing but not sure if they do one-offs, a few other Irish precasters do small housing developments but I have not come across someone doing the full package yet. You could try https://www.mahousebuilders.com/ we supplied them with magnets and shuttering nearly a year ago which I believe was for wall panels. I'm not sure if they do the full package in precast. I think the main issue for one off houses is the structural calculations and the lifting design and production planning for one offs. However I would be happy to supply MA with all the lifting design calculations free of charge for a one off house for you as I'd love to see precast more widely adopted in the house building sector. I think it's better suited for mass production though.

I totally over thought this for opening the doors from the outside. I just need to fit ROTO balcony door latches. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Balcony-Patio-Latch-Handle-White/dp/B00ZVBZEUE The doors I supply don't open by a spring loaded handle, you turn them from vertical to horizontal then it's immediately free to move. So this will be ideal and is standard technology anyway just never came across this before as I usually supply outward opening bi-folds. Issue is that they want to be able to lock one of the doors from the outside and there is actually no possibility to fit the lock in the casing even if they wanted a handle on the outside. Sooooo I need to find the slimmest possible electronic door bolt or magnetic lock NOT latch which will lock the door when it's technically in the unlocked position ? Maybe something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/UHPPOTE-2000Kg-Holding-Secure-Electric/dp/B014SAC8DY/ref=asc_df_B014SAC8DY/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=294828798446&hvpos=1o13&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16827562835441102281&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046715&hvtargid=pla-348976305533&psc=1 Or https://www.amazon.co.uk/KKmoon-Password-Controller-Electric-Magnetic/dp/B01A47UQ84/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=electric+magnetic+door+lock&qid=1562340240&s=diy&sr=1-3

Aesthetics ?

Putting this out there to see if anyone knows of anything... I have 5 sets of internal opening doors and the customer does not want a handle on the outside. There will be a lockable handle on the inside only. However they want to be able to open the doors from the outside, locking isn't necessary from the outside as they are on a balcony. Does anyone know a remote controlled solution for this?

Yep not any of the manufacturers, I think I know which distributor it is. They didn't use my suppliers, they got some samples from another eastern European company and then made plans and imported from china and cheapened everything in terms of the thicknesses of timber and quality of materials. They told one of my customers they made the cabins in the UK which was nonsense. I'll keep an eye on the auctions!

The people selling these are an auction house? Do you reckon it's liquidated stock?

Thanks again to everyone for your help! Just need to make that wetroom door swing into the hallway and it will be spot on.

Have the same issue on a refurbishment project I'm doing. Need to pull down the old wattle and daub ceilings and there is loads of dirty, dusty, spider infested vermiculite beads all above. Can't wait!

No idea on how much, but I have this chap lined up: http://www.macfarlane-surveying.co.uk/contact He's done a fair few local to me and we used to deal with him when he worked for the council.

Since changing the location of the bathroom I have looked at the space on offer and feel that there is more value to be had by adding a single bedroom in place of the store room. I can still have a cupboard in there with ironing board, mop, hoover etc. LPG boiler will be relocated to cupboard in the hallway. Water pumping station could be housed underneath the cabin and to be honest is probably better there as when pressurising it's noisy! Garden furniture/cushions can be stored underneath the cabin as there will be a 6m x 8m space with about 1.3m headroom. YAY or NAY?

Thank you! BC have told me that they disagree with my classification that this is a caravan and that they want to refer it to 'Local Authority Building Standards Scotland' Partly down to it being 200mm round log rather than the usual 70mm type chalets. The main reason is that I originally proposed to build the unit in one whole piece, which I agree is taking the Michael a little - they wanted a structural engineers report to say it was capable of being lifted in one piece.

@ProDave - What do you reckon? Have I interpreted the regs correctly? I'm having nightmares about making the whole room a wet-room, partly in case of leaks but also I don't feel covering the logs with panel board is very wise as it will create an un-ventilated humid space which is just asking for rot. I'd prefer to have a shower tray and full width sliding doors. Is there any shower tray that is compliant or must it be 100% level?

Sorry if you get nightmares now ?

Seen some horror stories of this on YouTube! Can't for the life of me find the link for the guys channel, he shows you how to do everything properly and jobs where it's gone wrong and he's sorting it out.

I think I qualify for impossible build more than them. Because the local building control are being bloody impossible to deal with ?

Well after watching the impossible build I'm glad I'm assembling on site! With regards to the disabled accessible bathroom I believe this complies - https://www2.gov.scot/resource/buildingstandards/2013Domestic/chunks/ch04s13.html Hopefully I have interpreted the rules correctly as a side entrance toilet would allow: Where allowing side transfer, a small wall-hung wash hand basin may project up to 300mm into the activity space in front of the WC. This also allows a glass screen so the whole bathroom doesn't get soaked when showering ?

Starting to watch this now

Is it not a 153cm accesible circle in Scotland? If so I don't think it's possible?

Is this enough space for a disabled compliant wet room? I will also need to batten and panel board the room. I'm a little confused by the guidance online for disabled space (Scotland) has anyone got a floor plan for something like this? Thanks

Second bedroom will be zip link beds. Sofa will be a sofa bed. Sleeps 4 officially. But 6 unofficially considering the sofa bed.

Yes - This is a 200mm round log cabin, it is not a wendy house. If customers want slimmer square logs then the price flies down, however I'm very happy to discourage the market who are looking for the wendy house type cabins. FYI see my budgetary figures for my project (let's pretend I'm charging a client for design & build, my costs are less because I'm not charging myself) they are very rough. All in costs come to £200,000.00 furnished and set up for renting. £55,000.00 – Land £10,000.00 - Legals, electric connection, foul drainage design and installation, site scraping £4,000.00 – Brick Piers, Landscaping & Driveway £90,000.00 – Log Cabin Design, Supply & Build £1,200.00 – Armoured Cable Upgrade £1,500.00 – LPG Boiler + Fitting £1,000.00 – Water Pumping Solution £2,000.00 – Internal Electrics £2,000.00 – Plumbing + Radiators £2,800.00 – Bedroom Furniture £1,000.00 – Bathroom £1,000.00 – En-suite £1,000.00 – Log Burner £1,000.00 – Curtains + Decorations £5,000.00 – Kitchen + Appliances £1,000.00 – TV + Entertainment £1,600.00 – Dining Table + Sofa £1,000.00 – Cupboards and coffee tables etc £1,000.00 – Bedding & Towels & Accessories £3,000.00 – Decking Construction £2,000.00 – Wood Fired Hot Tub It's also interesting that 1 mile away a holiday park is selling a 75mm glulam chalet version (3 beds in the same floor space), unfurnished, less land, same sole residency restriction, on a holiday park but nestled at the top away from the caravans and in a nice woodland setting - no where near as nice and private as my plot. These sell for £300,000.00. They have sold about 7 of them I think. Some people rent them out for £680 - £1,250.00 a week depending on the time of the year. P.S. Kitchen and furniture might look cheap for solid oak free standing but I import directly from Vietnam through a wholesaler contact.

No not necessarily, this model is a very luxurious secluded retreat and I'll be charging a premium for this. Hence why its quite spacious and I have a master bedroom and en-suite and will have all those extra features like sauna, bbq hut and wood fired hot tub. Price wise for this model - the finished shell supplied and built with windows and doors, and roof covering would be £90kish. Easy to get a 2 bed 200mm round log down to £70k mark but since it's my show lodge and because of the market I'm targeting I have designed it like this. A 3 bed could be done for £90k mark and still be comfortable space. If your looking for low build costs and targeting the mass market, It would be best in 75mm glulam logs to EN1647. 1 bed is fine (sofa beds don't count on a lot of online rental sites), 2 bedrooms is plenty - from all my research 3 beds get virtually no more rent and you end up with two families staying and twice the wear and tear.

Aye, I was just joking - I'm pretty precious about covering up my logs though. I will be using panel boarding in splash zones. A wet room is a good idea though. Definitely going to have the most powerful extractor fans and ventilation in the bathrooms I can buy.

All that water splashing around on my beautiful logs ?