mike2016

Saw this on "Just have a think" youtube channel (was a promotion): https://atmotube.com/atmotube-pro Portable option! 10 days battery on 15 min charge so may not be suitable for long term house usage.

For Temp/humidity I use SensorPush via Bluetooth (you can buy an internet gateway for extra) in the attic, will be useful for my new build / screed drying etc. For Air Quality I bought a Foobot a few years ago left over from a science project, not available anymore as far as I know but it does CO2 (the main one you'll want) but also VoCs, Particulate Matter, temp, humidity also. Currently PM is 26.0 uG/m3, 154ppb VoCs, 557 ppm CO2 as an example with MVHR in play. Android app. There are a few smart home products that do air quality testing, not tried any but others will have more ideas I'm sure....

Wrapping the outside of that steel is key. Aerogel or this product possibly: https://www.ecologicalbuildingsystems.com/product/phonotherm-200 Covered here: Yours is not an i-beam though so may be overkill? But may give you ideas...

I wrongly assumed just telling all potential buyers that I was building next door that any Easements would be expected and granted without question. If I end up going back to selling all over again I'll flag this via the Estate Agent up front so there are no excuses or surprises next time!!! Will apply for temporary connection that I can hopefully convert to a final connection once the house is built. Cheers!

That's actually made me realize an incorrect assumption on my part. There is an option for a temporary connection, I just assumed there wasn't as per Electricity (ROI). I'll need to check if they can use the same connection point for the final full supply to the new house or not: "A temporary connection is removed when no longer required, and should not be used to supply water to permanent premises." Worth a call but would alleviate the issue if I could get this installed in advance. Many Thanks!

My solicitor put two Easements into the title deeds of the property I'm selling. I'm keeping the side garden site next door and the property sites will be split. One Easement was for the broadband and the other for the water supply/mains. The broadband is setup already when I laid the new driveway, I've a shore and it allows the broadband providers to route the cable to the appropriate house. The Water Main is another issue though. It terminates with a fire hydrant, next to that is the stop cock for the current house and then the pipe runs right on the boundary border away from the new build site. I had a chat with the Engineer about how they connect and would route the pipe, it would head out onto the road and loop back to the new house. The buyer has no issue with the broadband Easement but has rejected the Water Easement. They've asked for a map from Irish Water to get more detail. The buyers solicitor claims the bank also would have issue with this. I was very clear about the fact I was building a house next door but we've arrived where we've arrived. Are there any views here about what I can do to protect my access to water but not end up with this being a blocker again next time around 3 months down the line? This is the only holdup so we're 95% there. Irish Water would be doing the digging and reinstatement afterwards so 1-2 days of disruption and that's it. I don't believe they would consider doing this work until the house is substantially built though, they won't run a connect to an empty site while I own both sites but I've asked. Any other ideas / alternatives to an Easement that would work here? I don't want any future faults / repairs to be prohibited by the future owner of the existing house. Thanks!

Thanks all. Will discuss with new SE. Have an immediate problem with sale of old house though, easements rejected by buyer to water & broadband . We'll get there in the end but may have to re-advertize all over again. At least that gives time to submit fresh planning application!

Digging down to 2.2 meters for the strip foundation was the SE's recommendation. My mistake, the ground investigation just shows the table at the start and other findings but the SE was left to determine how to adapt to the ground conditions. The closest Hornbeam is 6 to 7 meters away. The site is cleared but the Hornbeam are on council property or the front of the existing house 8 meters away. Thanks!

I'm now considering building a Pier....!

There was one tree created by a seed from bird droppings - no idea what type it was, the others were Pyrocanthia or Firethorn. I plan to dig up those roots as much as possible over the next few weeks. The taller Upright Hornbeam are to the front of the site and will be untouched but could have large roots reaching over to the foundations, will see then! Have stood down the first SE and even though my groundsworks guy wanted to just excavate down to a meter and backfill he wouldn't be able to stand over it as the ground report clearly stated the need to dig to 2.2m. A case of experience vs insurance/prudence. But not to worry, will see what the prices turn out like and thanks for the tip about fixed price. Should be an interesting foundation! They will also detail the thresholds to minimize thermal bridging using Bosig Phonotherm or Almatherm under the door/window frame to spread the load onto the EPS upstand without compromising the thermal envelope.

So TSD came back with a proposal using 2.5m Foundation Screws with a trial screw and pull-out test to prove its capacity. Based on another post on this forum that used this method I think this is the answer I was hoping for. Less weather dependant and while it drives up the cost it avoids 2.2m trenches less than 2.5 meters from the existing house and having to check the depth of those foundations (you draw a 45 degree line from the bottom of those existing foundations and if you cut into those you're in trouble). They will design a ring beam to carry the outer block leaf and design the beams within the foundations to span from screw to screw. The cost for the design is slightly more but is affordable. Will need to see what the Screw system costs and then the raft foundation itself when it's repriced. Now just need legal issues sorted out to proceed with my sale (easements rejected by buyers solicitor) and find a plumber! There's a trade show next month so will harass the vendors there! Thanks for all the discussions!

So my Civil Engineer says there's a lot of "made ground" and we should look at strip foundations to 2.2m rather than Piles. Just needs to be dry and ideal weather etc and we should get this done ok. Next up is to talk to a contractor he knows to see if they are interested. I've put a call into the planners to see exactly where I stand on my planning extension request vs where I need to be in the build process onsite and avoid trouble. I'll reapply for full planning if that doesn't look promising. Having fun this week with all this!!

I'm reluctant to go with piles due to vibration during installation. The close adjacency of other houses is my concern. I'm doubting mini piles would be much better. Any experiences? Examining the excavation as we go is an option but may or may not save the day. I was hoping to speak to the ground investigation company but no one returned my call today. In ROI you have to have substantial works done to extend, I may well fall foul depending on when I get a new foundation design and book the groundworks team again so I'm studying re-applying myself as the Architect is likely to charge 5-8K as my guess. At least that's my current plan. Don't know anything about screwpiles but they appear to tick a few boxes. Any solution for my site is likely to be overengineered anyway but I'm hoping the new structural engineer can come up with something suitable (Tanner) or we can get vibration tests done / more trial holes to determine a safe approach that doesn't rattle teeth or collapse walls! And I was worried about last week about finding a plumber in time!! Thanks all!

Hope to use them but they have a LONG lead time so went with another Engineer but he doesn't do screw piles or know anything about them so will need to see what Tanners can bring to the table in a month or so. I can definitely dig down to 2m but am hoping a more Engineered foundation avoids this and reduces risk.

I can probably get planning permission a second time as it was granted already. I'll try the building inspector again tomorrow, but his phone has been turned off the last few times I tried. It's going to take a bit longer to get a suitable design and cost more though for sure. As it's in Ireland though I've to reapply from scratch for new planning which is a pain!

Well, everyone is back from holidays today and my Structural Engineer made a comment about the Ground Investigation Report I've been digesting all day. Turns out my soil is very poor despite hundreds of houses being constructed all over the rest of the estate 25+ years ago, I'm the one with a problem now! I'd have to dig / excavate nearly 2 meters of soil to reach sufficient bearing capacity which means my plans to start groundworks next month are almost dead. If you see results like mine....RUN!! I've sent photos to the Groundworks lead as I've a house to one side 2.5 meters away which isn't too bad but the other side has a block council wall and would be 1 meter away, and 800mm where each of two buttresses are from the wall of the new house (see pics). Anyway, I'll see what they come back with but the excavation would be 10m x 10m and 2m deep, risk of groundwater seepage, flooding, subsidence and having to shore up the walls to prevent collapse/damage would be required. I can see all those Grand Design houses coming back to haunt me!! Piling / mini-piles are an option but with the close adjacency of several neighbours, are unlikely to be welcomed A Kore Raft Foundation, a standard steel/concrete raft or strip foundations all require similar depth to get the bearing capacity from what I'm told. Tip: If building get the Ground Investigation done EARLY!!! I've reached out to a company that should be able to design a solution but their turn around due to workload is measured in months. I'll see if there are any other companies but screw piles are not common in Ireland, from the searches in this forum it's more likely in the UK to be required. But this would allow me to build a raft on top. My house beside the site is up for sale, stuck on a legal issue currently and my planning runs out in August!! I'm guessing I'd be very lucky to get any foundations started before then and I've spent €15K on timber frame drawings and line loads to date. All expecting the site to sail through the soil test! At least I didn't try building after a trial pit and it subsides years later!! I've asked the Architect for the cost of applying for new planning permission and I've an application in to extend the current one but that only allows you to continue building if you are up to wall plate by the deadline, expensive foundations don't count!! I could probably reapply for planning myself at my own time and cost, just need to research a bit and hopefully am allowed use the original Architects drawings again. Either way the foundation costs are going to be more than I expected but plan B is to pull out of the house sale, sell the site or move elsewhere! I was thinking Thailand?! Anyone want to join me!!

It was a Glidevale part and there is a flexible edge to it pushed down to meet the tile contours. It's only installed recently but there is a very slight gap as it's not adhesive. It's impossible to get an outside photo right now as the sun is directly behind it....

I had a surveyor note a few small gaps where the MVHR vent meet the roof. Is there anything I should do here to seal this better, stop bugs etc? Thanks!

My Timberframe supplier is very adamant not to measure off plans. It does mean longer scaffolding rental costs and dry in period unfortunately but then all the risk is on the window supplier, they do the measurements and we can confirm onsite and if they get it wrong its on them but way slower I know. One supplier has a 4 week leadtime but I'm not sure their "high end" windows are good enough / fitted well enough and their after sales is terrible but that's who the timberframe provider recommended so it normally works out for them. I trust the timberframe guy, he's good, just cautious but I'm chasing very strict performance criteria and have a narrow range of acceptable window suppliers I'd prefer to use....

I'll be measuring off the erected timber frame and they can build in whatever tolerances they want. This was a supply and fit service but they just didn't want to own ANY risk it seems....

ok, my bad, let's call it 4" ?!! But overall my sh*t won't congeal to a halt with a fall of 350mm over 20 m?

My Finished Floor Height is 55.16 and my invert level is 54.15 so I have a meter fall to play with. The Foundation buildup is 550mm to the hardcore where the pipes will be laid so a 150mm sewer pipe would have an invert level 300mm above the drain it will ultimately connect to. The longest run would be 5m + 10m + 5m (Front of house, side of house, to foul drain) so 20m. With a 1:60 fall that should work ok shouldn't it? I can decrease the foundation depth to get more drop but wanted to sanity check if this looks ok here before I commit to the foundation design in a couple of weeks time. Thank you!

I had an almighty row with my proposed window supplier yesterday and I wanted to fact check their statements to me a bit. We're in a standoff over this issue and I'm having to pivot and find a new supplier as a result. I won't mention who it is but from the general experience of the forum members - who specifies the window installation & fixing details based on weight / wind loads etc? Is it an Architect or the Window Supplier or other? The Window Sales Rep insists its always the Architect, they've never supplied any windows without the Architect supplying the installation detailing / fixing details. I tried arguing what happens in a retrofit with no Architect, they pivoted to well a deep retrofit would always have an Architect..... I asked my Architect and they said no, they never do this. The window installers look after that. They will inspect the work and point out if something looks "off" like a single window strap per side instead of 2 or 3 etc but that's all. So, unless a Structural Engineer provides this information but my builder says this is standard detailing and no they don't do this either. I'm at a loss - the price was great, performance good enough and we were working through some insulation detailing which is a bit unusual perhaps to them (thermal buck in the window openings) but I provided detailed drawing sections and photographs of what I was after, easy to coordinate and I would be happy with the window suppliers recommendations for fixing locations but they refused to work with me on this point blank. Anyway, what happens out in the real world, do you just provide the rough opening measurements with a 10mm wiggle room and the installers work out the fixings onsite as they are meant to or does everyone have fixing details provided by their Architects? Thanks!

Wow, greatly appreciated! Thank you!

the orange is very close to yellow, apologies. The Architect originally showed just the WC drains. Just wondering how the shower/ wash basin drains fit into this scheme?