Selfbuildsarah

This is way harder than we imagined. We are (at the moment) working on the assumption that the external work will be carried out by individual trades, rendering, timber cladding, brick plinth and roof. Looking for a builder/contractor for internal work. Good ones seem to be thin on the ground in Huntingdonshire/Cambridgeshire and those we’ve approached either don’t respond to calls/emails or say no, too busy, can’t do it until August/Sept or not interested. We are currently preparing the site for MBC to start at the end of April and here we are unable to look forward ………

Thank you Alan

All 16 pages? 😳

Can anyone recommend somewhere for personalised site signage please? Our plot is at the bottom of a partly completed development and so we want to position appropriate signage along the route rather than just rely on what three words. Thanks!

I’ve finally got around to looking at the heat loss figures and roughly calculated that the suggested size of heat pump by our installers is too large. They have told us 12kw but my calculations said 7kw. I will do a room by room calculation to double-check but I wondered if some kind soul has the time to check for me if I send my SAP report. I simply can’t get on with the online checkers. Would be so grateful.

We thought we had settled on Weberpral monocouche render but have the opportunity to change it last minute. We would like one suitable for timber frame, so presumably a silicone. Not a glaring white (we had chosen chalk white) and something that looks good for a long time. I have seen some that are spoiled by algae quite quickly. I would prefer as smooth a finish as possible - not thick and lumpy like the old snow cem! Any advice re compatible renderboard which works well with TF. Thanks all

Thanks for your thoughts SimonD. They also have very good reviews. I will contact RHH as you suggest. Thanks very much! Appreciated.

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Anyone know a good installer in Cambridgeshire? I actually felt comfortable with them and felt they would install correctly but their calculations for heat pump size were coming from some computer calculation module thingy. Didn’t ask for any input from us. Open plan, no zoning. “We calculate on the number of bedrooms” 🙁 I can’t believe how difficult it is to find someone suitable. Having the same trouble finding a contractor 🙁 They also didn’t think the cylinder etc would fit under the stairs. First time anyone’s said that. Whose idea was it to build a house???

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Anyone know a good installer in Cambridgeshire?

Seeing them this morning. I just wanted to prep. We can’t find any installers in our area (see previous post). We have full SAP report (all 16 pages) which means nothing to me. Heat loss comes up a handful of times relating to different things, all different figures. I see other people quoting a single number … 4, 5 heat loss or such like so was expecting something similar to be on the report. This is worse than windows 😂

We have received a predicted energy assessment and a BREL compliance report today. Will I find the numbers I need in there to help size a heat pump? I can’t see anything re heat loss amongst the headings. We are meeting with an installer tomorrow. Over heating stuff is to follow.

Looks fabulous. Kitchen and doors look particularly fab! Well done to Mrs P on the doors 😊 Hope you absolutely love living there.

The ones illustrated at the beginning of this thread are the ones on our order.

As shown at the beginning of this thread in the line drawings. Outward opening patio & French doors.

Thanks for this. We have just ordered. We are hoping we’ve got everything right with the window sill choices. I will check using your advice! I just have an issue with not seeing the door sills. Norrsken seem thorough re end caps,widths etc for windows depending on finishes. We have render with some walls. Cladding on others. I feel comfortable with that. I just would love to see a photo of a slide under sill on a door. I think it may look ugly or flimsy 😏

That’s good of you Craig, thank you, but it’s just gone into the order pipeline. I thought I could relax but I’m still twittering about the sills.

I’m worried how they might look. I just want a photo of a door to put my mind at rest. I have trouble visualising from line drawings. I’ve found all the window stuff quite stressful. So worried that we might have made mistakes that can’t be corrected 😬 I must have been through the order schedule about 50 times!

I’ve been searching but no luck. Their website is crammed with information but it’s really hard to find stuff. I’ve wasted so much time on it.

Thanks Nick.

Patio and French doors.

Does anyone have Norrsken French doors or patio doors with a slide under sill? Would you be kind enough to post a photo please? Can’t find one anywhere. Thanks!

Having approached a local company a month ago re a heat pump installation and being happy that they asked all the right questions we sent our plans to them to quote. I phoned to chase them up as we still hadn’t heard anything. I received this reply by text “we have never done an air source heat pump in a new build with drawings like this. So it’s not something we can offer to quote on” 🤔

Thanks Nick, I will check that before I reply to Norrsken.

Morning all, having read a fair bit about taping windows for air tightness I am still not sure if there are circumstances where you wouldn’t use it. We are having Norrsken windows in our timber frame build but they don’t include it as standard. Everything I’ve read says don’t rely on just foam and silicone. I have to tell them yes or no today. It is a considerable amount of money to add to the build (I even thought I’d do it myself!) but we have 17 windows and 5 doors! 😅

Thank you Stratman!