Visti

Varsten's timber has a premium of about 6-10% on Siberian over British. Not surprising give the generally denser property and extra logistics to get it here. Spruce is a good choice, but needs to be factory treated ideally in addition to paint which can negate it's affordability. Same with other types of softwoods such as fir and pine. Only larch or cedar from the softwoods can really get away with less TLC, making them a good balance between cost, longevity and maintenance.

siberian larch and cedar are the two most popular around us at graven hill. English larch tends to be less ideal for external cladding as it is grown faster, resulting in a weaker material due to less dense growth rings. As it is already a soft wood that isn't ideal. Fir I have less experience in. We used siberian larch and got it from Mill Works at £3/m IIRC (you'll want to speak with Steven), hence we went with broader profiles to save on m2 costs. they can also supply the wood pained to any RAL colour. an additional £3/m. if your elevations are within 6m of your boundary (or center of the road for the elevation(s) facing the street), you'll need to consider fire protection on some or all the cladding material. thankfully this can be applied in the factory too at £3.50.

In more general terms: The prices have gone up a lot at GH. Below are the prices of equivalent plots for each phase as I've been tracking them. 100k, Phase 0 (Pioneers, The Street) 230-250k, Phase 1A 300-315k, Phase 1B Given we paid £255k for 500m2 in Phase 1A, a golden brick of £62k, and actual already at £245k before getting weather tight... That leaves £20k remaining from our budget and we're not finished getting weather-tight. We'll be making no 'profit' as is typically marketed. And that I think is the point, and why GH's prices are high: People are so starved for land to build around here that they are willing to pay such high prices They don't want those who see the project solely as an investment I commend them on point #2 in particular, but it doesn't excuse foundation costs being x2-3 the norm nor the absolute inane bureaucracy they put in place. I'll stop there, GH does no good for my blood pressure!

Hey @DarrenA, glad to see another one of us on here! It's Oliver from plot 156 btw. Come by for a chin wag if you fancy! A stunning design, can't wait to see it in person. The internal layout for the bedrooms is very similar to our own, which given it is square and near the same GIA as ours (184m2) just goes to show it's a fairly solid one too. Plot 290 IIRC? Walked by it today and could see you'd completed as you've moved in a whole bunch of plants in already. Even got a nice little house number painted on a stone too. Congratulations! Big step and hopefully now you can shake off GH and enjoy the project in earnest.

If you want to blow/inject it, you could go for technitherm by isothane which is an expanding polyurethane. Great u value and quick to install but is expensive compared to blown beads As you have to get it installed by a licenced installer. There are other less expensive polyurethane foams out there, but depend on whether they are above or below DPC

Below or above DPC? We went with EPS below for waterproofness, and cellulose above.

A detail by our architect has lead us to an unfortunate situation where we need to pour our wet screed floor prior to the timber frame being erected (as some internal load bearing walls rest directly on it. As you can expect, no supplier would take responsibility for the finish of a pour that is exposed to the weather! We had hoped for good weather, but this next week is looking a lot like cats and dogs... So I'm hoping for some ideas of what I can do over the weekend to put in place some contingency... Would a plastic cover across the whole thing work immediately after a pour? a DIY canopy of some sort... Anything really. Or are we making a mountain out of a molehill? I should mention the foundation is 10x10m in size.

Some fantastic tips @Cpd, above and beyond in detailing the details! We're about a month from installing our and also struggling to find competent contractors for both the corrugation and windows together. This gives me some confidence that we can get it right, even if it has to be DIY at the end of the day.

@newhome those 10 are all complete as far as I am aware. Grand designs just decided they didn't want to wait any longer for the final homes to complete, and Graven Hill we're quite desperate for them to air for marketing purposes, meaning the tail end of some of the builds didn't make it in.

As Ian says, it can be any material listed of the appropriate thickness that'll stop the fire progressing for at least 30min. I think the issue is less with Timber Frame vs Masonry construction, but rather more to do with how you clad it: Fire resistant material or render - you're ok. Timber - got to have a ventilated cavity It's the ventilated cavity that causes the added requirements, because you can't seal it off 100%... it's got to be ventilated right? At that point you've a cavity between the external wall and your cladding that will need a barrier around the structural openings (doors and windows) as per 6.3, but can't span the whole cavity due it needing ventilation. That is why we're using those barrier strips. If you're using fibre cement rather than timber cladding you should be fine as there'll be no cavity to consider.

+1 on the envirograf ventilated cavity barrier strips. Having to install them around he perimeter of all SOs.

Those 10 houses will not have anything built Infront of them as they're in the northern fringe, so they've got a sweet deal. All of that space is protected for newts, an orchard or privately owned farm land to the farm just on the other side of the trees is the distance. The rest of us are paying x2.5 that in a more congested part... ?

+1 for Foamglass. Any structural solution with good at handling thermal bridging is going to be dear no matter which you pick

I think there's a solution following some more thought and Nicks help! Shutter 50mm all the way around from the tray edge and fill with up to 50mm concrete during the floor pout to accommodate the depth of the tray (30mm) so that it only sticks up by a few mm. The SVP / Waste value area is boxed off fully with no concrete poured in so that the pipework can fit. The diamond cut the slab to the tray outline after the pour and polish to allow the whole tray to drop into the recess. This way there's much more tolerance for inaccurate placement of the tray shutter prior to the pour, with accurate cutting out of the tray profile once the TF is up. FYI @Nick1c if you're considering the same.

Paul is a great guy and very into his house build, particularly the eco credentials. He way very persuasive in his use of clay as a render, even though it'd have been far easier to get a traditional plasterer in. He was the first one Laura and I met in fact, us wandering onto the street when it was strictly a private area and still being warm and welcoming despite our ignorance. I think his materials first philosophy isn't as far removed as mine or the rest of you, it is just that he values the natural sources and processes above performance which we tend to favour instead. I am not going to fault him after having seen him spend three months hand making and filling in his walls with hempcrete. That is a dedication to a cause irrespective on philosophy.

We've had engineering confirm that it is ok, particularly as it isn't the main structural component of the foundation. That is instead the underlying Beam and Block beneath the EPS and the external walls which most of the MBC frame rests on. Only a few internal walls are situated on top of this 75mm floor, and that is transferred directly into some dwarf walls which come through the EPS to ensure the weight is transferred direct to the B&B. I think you and @Oz07 are right as we'll have to box out that void and allow it to be polished over, extracting that bit afterwards. Nick is help us too, so hopefully the experience will translate across! @Onoff Awesome example of doing it yourself. I'm almost tempted to take that approach rather than a tray... will allow us to be a bit more flexible if we don't get the void situated exactly!

We're stuck on how to incorporate a shower tray into the ground floor bathroom. It'll be a 75mm deep concrete slab on top of EPS (300mm), but that is it. Powerfloated and done as a finished floor. Ideally all continuous throughout the entire ground floor. How should we go about fitting the 1400x800mm tray? Finish the floor, then cut out the concrete where the tray will go. Place in a box frame before the concrete pour to make space for it (not even considering the risk of locating it correctly) Any bright alternatives?

Karen, the MD, was at the monthly liaison group meeting this Sunday and mentioned they had about 7000+ hits on the website at it's peak after the first episode, and about 4500+ after the second. Absolutely flooded with enquiries with 1 reservation made and 1 near to reserving. A lot of the enquiries were for the £100k plots, and some even asking for free plots! I think to you your point a fair few will leave severely disappointed. Those sorts of prices they're asking for are however not far off market value here. New land with residential planning permission is unheard of in these parts, particularly this close to Oxford. Not suprised they're jacking them up so high, even if it looks crazy. Just think of all the London commuters who fancy something a bit more convenient and new than a post-war build.

@Ferdinand each self build is in charge of their own security, but there is a police patrol car that drives through every once in a while. Else the roads are all publicly accessible and we get a lot of touring eyes driving through. More so now with the GD show having been aired. Have had several break-ins on plots, so installation of CCTV has occured on a lot of sites. We are hoping that as neighbours move in that these incidents will reduce. Going to be discussing the issue today at our liaison group and raising it with Graven Hill. Train tracks and sewage plant are certainly near by, but neither is much of a concern. I rarely hear let alone notice the train, and never smelt the sewage plant. Then again the pioneers are much closer, can't speak for them.

Please do! We could always use an extra pair of hands, even just to look around! Build starts proper in June. You are right unfortunately, Graven Hill is certainly no longer for the layman. Plot prices have risen significantly and the costs are spiralling upwards due to multiple factors. Then again, was on site today and saw our neighbour get as excited as a kid as the last of his render went on. Also met some very keen and prospective buyers who will hopefully buy the plot opposite ours. For me, the value in Graven Hill isn't them or their processes. That is all marketing. No, it's all about the community we're building ourselves.

That is quite poor work on their part indeed. We're having power floated concrete as our finished floor in the house and I hope it is much better than this!

The street are the first 10 plots at Graven Hill, hence why we call them the Pioneer plots. Or more formally, Phase 0. Phase 1A is being undertaken now, with #35-45 in the north east all nearing completion or done, as are most of the houses from #71-95 and #118-135 (wood crescent) in the south east #148 to 177 in the south centre are currently starting, as you can see below from out plot foundations at #156. Neighbour behind (two plots in between, see plinths) with the crescent to the right, and affordable housing done and going up to the left. Yup, far more. These plots were quite discounted I believe to help kick-start the Graven Hill programme so they could start marketing and pointing to active projects. Ours was £255k for just shy of 500m2, which was £20 more than we'd been told when we'd originally approached Graven Hill, and £75k more than estimated back in 2015. Equivalent plots in phase 1B (to the west) have been on sale for a bit now and are about £315-320k, such as #276 for example. They're increasing the number of floor levels from 2 to 3 to increase GIA to bump the price up for the same land. Starting to get a bit too greedy now methinks as the uptake and start of new plots has slowed down quite a bit. Suspect they're having cash flow issues due to everything being much prolonged with them as bureaucratic middle men/women. Have a browse at their plots here: https://www.gravenhill.co.uk/map/ yes, I recall that too. They dropped it in favour of the code for sustainable homes which the government was pushing between 2010-15. Had to have 5 our of 6 stars through some points based system. That died when the government dropped it. They settled on plot passports instead, which have a chapter on the performance and sustainability requirements. See the full thing here: https://www.gravenhill.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/1982-p-p-c-plot-0156-33.pdf No, defiantly not. I was very surprised that Graven Hill allowed some of that to be aired at all. Guess they don't get any editorial say? It has taken us two years between reserving and starting to dig foundations jumping through all the hoops. Not just with Planning, Engineering and Structural control, but also via Graven Hill themselves. Planning was the only easy bit, everything else has an additional layer of bureaucracy one really doesn't need in a stressful self build... We have to file forms for every little bit and pay fees for stuff one would just be able to do normally. We legally own the land, but are treated as if we don't have a right to. Also had to bear significant risk due to Graven Hill, having to spend £50k up front and signed up to a further £100k+ worth of materials and contractors before we even got to sign for the contract on the plot. Stupidly risky. Next self build would be traditional for certain. As for the health and safety, was very taken aback at the living on site. That's a strict no-no for us. Not even a caravan or mobile home. Graven Hill to their credit are very responsible here, enforcing all the CDM rules to the letter, with a full time H&S officer on site every day. It is nice knowing that everyone is taking that seriously and not acting like idiots! Shame. You're invited to come down and join ourselves and our neighbours to hopefully change your mind about us young-uns. Most of us are far from the stereotypical millennial that the tabloids love to hate.

Welcome to the forum! And congrats on buying the land in Faringdon! Love that village with the folly tower. Has a great with cafe too that serves the best croquetten this side of the channel. As Ferdinand linked, we're doing a self build up in north Oxon near Bicester. It's costly here, no doubt about it. We're looking at £1875/m2 in terms of build cost including the foundation. I rose several times since that post mainly due to Brexit related price increases and a very protracted preliminary stage, blowing our 10% contingency twice. That's £345k across 184m2 (detached, 5 bed, two stories), a whole £200m2 cheaper than originally indicated by the quantity surveyor. That is probably the most realistic cost for a self managed build with some DIY in our area. It is entirely possible to go lower with more time and DIY, but for this part of the country it will just be naturally expensive for anything not done yourself. I highly recommend a materials first approach: spend money on the fabric of the house and not the kitchen and fittings. Those can easily east up a budget and don't really add much IMO. You can always upgrade them later!

12/m2 with corrugated metal (steel) with mica coating and anti-condendation undercoat from Cladco. Similar to @Crofter.

We have, just not getting a clear answer. We've asked for the exact paragraph this time around. Mainly hoping to see others wall details with similar setups to see if this is overkill! We're 4 and 5 meters from our neighbors on either side, so not that close.