mattp22

Hi Everyone, any recommendations for a piling foundation contractor for a site near Oban? Thanks

Thanks for clarifying, much appreciated

Hi, about 20 metres

Hi, just jumping on the band wagon here. I also have exactly same scenario with meter box at edge of my plot but with 100amp fuse in cut-out, no meter (yet) Did anyone have any luck working out size/guage of cable to run from cut-out into house? I'm glad this is an accepted method rather than having to move the whole fuse into new house when it's finished. Thanks

lol, i hadnt realised- i am speaking with SipsEco just now. Sorry for typo. Seems EcoSips are based 20 minutes away from them- confusing! Must be a story there... I've got Kore at about 60% of Isoquick cost but excluding installation. I will be remote managing so thought supply & fit might be less of a headache.

I'll check out Ecology again but i couldnt find any standard % rates on their site, presumably because they don't deal with standard builds, but any more than 0.75% points more on mortgage would push the numbers in masonry's favour for me. Bonkers in 2020, but that's mortgage lenders for you. For what its worth i've been advised renderboard over the SIPs would satisfy many high street lenders and therefore get you the lower interest rates. SIPECO is the way I am going too, with Isoquick slab (i think). Isoquick were £6-8k depending upon insulation level but that's for SIP/timber only build. I hadnt realised adding masonry would bump the cost up so much so i might revisit Kore and ask my ground works crew to install to lower costs (although they have not done an insulated slab before, so that should be fun!) Good to know that ECOSIPS are getting their BBA cert so soon- they just told me it was in progress. That's cool you're pulling the trigger in 2 weeks, when are you hoping to start founds and SIPs? Are ECOSIPS doing SIP install too?

SIP is 169mm, 0.2 w/M2. I understand with blockwork and cavity this will drop to around 0.16 w/M2. We were going to increase panel thickness/ insulation anyway which added £2k to SIP cost, but no need now that we're adding blockwork- so the £2k can be taken off blockwork cost i guess. good point about protection in a storm, it's not like we're 10 metres from the Atlantic, oh.. no.. wait minute...

thanks, and it is something we looked at, but not quite the style we're after. PP is for larch cladding too.

not sure i've got an option unfortunately if comments from lenders are to believed. i've not costed for the blockwork accurately yet but have estimated £6k inc. labour for 160 sq mtrs (based on several online calculators). In terms of mortgage savings- around 2% rate from highstreet lender should be possible given location, non-trad construction and loan to value. Specialist lender who would accept SIP + cladding with no masonry would be 3% if lucky but closer to 4% in reality, and construction type would deter re-sale if i ever had to move. Over 5 years that would cost me an extra £8k @ 3% or £16k @ 4% in repayments so makes sense to go for blockwork now even if it is hugely frustrating and unnecessary. Broker i've used for several mortgages and she has really done a lot of leg work on this construction method for me.

very nice- that's what we wanted but Planners not up for it. Where did you get it from if you don't mind me asking? I'll check out Dupont- thanks

thanks for link, that sounds ideal

i think with rendered block outer skin you should be fine with highstreet lender and thus lower % rate. My mortgage broker has spoken to about 20 lenders and it seems with masonry element then about half are happy with SIP construction. Timber cladding on masonry reduces pool further though but that's the look we want (and Planners!) Last time i spoke to Protek they wanted £5k for my warranty but that was without masonry element, timber only construction. Hopefully they'll reduce it a bit now. Was your SIP kit BBA approved if you don't mind me asking? I am probably using a company in Fife for kit but they are not BBA approved (yet) and i'm a bit wary of consequences.

Thanks for your comments. Construction will be 160mm SIP kit, membrane, 50mm cavity, 100mm lightweight block, something black, 18mm batons then 22mm horizontal larch . That link to Proctor Group is great- i've been looking for weeks and hadn't found anything but that product sounds good. Paint flaking was a concern for me too. Ideally larch will be nailed on to batons so yes would be impratical to remove every 5-10 years to paint the blockwork. I had considered corrugated black steel on to blockwork then batons then larch, but i think the mortgage lender will get spooked with use of larch + steel sheet. I could use the Proctor membrane on top of corrugated panel to conceal it i suppose and lender will be none the wiser. Proctor membrane straight on to masonry sounds like the way to go, using black batons to secure membrane down, but Proctor data sheet says 5000 hours UV tested which is only 208 days direct sun. Obviously UV resistance not applicable at night time, and the gaps between larch only 18mm so gap for UV to penetrate is small and position of sun will make angle of 'attack' tight, but still doesnt sound like the Proctor product will be much better than 5-10 years expectancy like paint option. I'll email them to ask rather than blethering here! black bricks are nice- but too expensive unfortunately to then be covered by larch

Hi, I'm building a house in Scotland using SIP construction for insulation quality, airtightness and speed of build. Plan is to clad in larch externally like image below. But speaking to several mortgage companies who will take on the long term mortgage (after self-build mortgage finishes in 9 months) it seems most are very wary of SIP construction with only timber cladding. A couple of highstreet lenders have said it's a 'possibility' (halifax and santanter) but most want masonry external skin. If i go to non-highstreet lender who are more understanding of purely timber SIP build the interest rate seems to be more like 4% rather than 2% so it makes a major difference to mortgage payments. I've therefore decided (just to satisfy mortgage lender) to add a middle skin of lightweight concrete block between SIP frame and larch cladding. My question is do you think the concrete block can be left painted black behind the larch, or will i need a more substantial finish on the concrete block because the larch installation has such large gaps (15/20mm spacing). I don't want to have issues with moisture travelling through the masonry and condensing on the SIP or at soleplate. Very frustrating to have to add the totally unnecessary masonry but over 5 years i calculate mortgage saving will be around £10k and i think block cost will be around £5k. Thanks.

not personally, but neighbouring plot has very good pressure and is higher up than me. i need to go and check actual flow rate- 6 hour round trip though consensus seems to be that boiler stove will over-complicate the plan so UVC looks like best route (unless flow rate is disastrously low!)