Jenki

Wow, we have finally started, and what a journey. The goal of the last 8 days was to try to make the the stars align. We had planned several meetings / connections deliveries all to happen the 1st week in April, and this was it, lets see what unfolds. Firstly, the plot, being located high up on the East coast in the highlands, which is basically a large un-serviced field has a few logistical issues, the main one being storage, the second distance. We had quotes for containers to be purchased and delivered in the region of 4.5K so alternatives were needed. The initial solution is the back of an Asda delivery waggon, 12ft long, 7ft wide,6ft high, with 3 lockable doors, and racking for the green trays, also a larger roller shutter section. £250 - with working fridge if required - (this may have a second life once were up and running with rare breed pigs🙈). just need to get it from Morecambe 430miles North. Secondly how to get everything to site. We bought an old removals wagon - 7.5Tonne ally box with tail lift. MOT till NOV 515,000KM - 1 careful owner Our hope was for this to get there in 1 piece, and be left on site as storage. the sum of £1200. all in with insurance (which may be cancelled) its has cost us £2K. Talking with my timber supplier, he warned me of impending price rises and possibility of shortages due to the unrest in the UKRAINE. so out of the blue I bought all the timber 450M of 6x2 C24, and 56 off 11mm OSB for the PODS. In addition to this I found a contact selling factory rejects of 120mm PIR insulation. In Scotland the pods need to achieve good U values, so 120mm on roof and in floors was required. Basically this guy buys pallets of insulation that are usually end of production run , or slightly damaged corners etc, and not full sheet sizes. I went to look, as he has had some bitumen coated and fibreglass coated boards. Generally the sheets are all 1200mm wide, min 600 long, most are around half board length, but will need to be trimmed to make them suitable for the warm roof. I did a deal to buy the equivalent of 44 Boards of 120mm some Bitumen coated, some fibreglass for the sum total of £660. This is a massive saving on 'Box Fresh' Now I had a problem, with the insulation tightly packed into the back of the truck and leaving some pockets to slide the timber in I had filled about 2/3rd of the truck, I didn't have room for all the timber or the other stuff I was taking. The revised plan was to cross our fingers and hope the truck will not only get to Scotland , but now return with a view of making another trip. Living accommodation. We found a static caravan, 2 bedroom in V good condition, delivered to site included in the price. The deal was done and he would get the van to site for our arrival on the Thursday, along with the delivery of our other investment an old Ford 550 Backhoe Loader, with buckets and pallet forks. We decided to set off Wednesday evening, with the plan to see where we got before we were too tired, then to sleep in the Wagon / Car. The picture below was us all loaded with 430Miles ahead. Me driving 'Nessie' as Mandy has called her, and Mandy Driving the Car / and trailer. I know we look like 'Travellers' but needs must, what will the new neighbours think when we turn up..... The Journey was horrendous. Setting off at 18.00 the trip was uneventful, with he exception of filling Nessie to the tune of £245 with diesel and not knowing how far these 150 litres will get us. Uneventful until we got to the A9 around Perth, then the snow started. Visibility was poor, and the local truckers seemed oblivious to it. Mandy had a big scare on a dual carriage way where she lost visibility of the edge of the road, and found herself nearly hitting the verge, a stab of the brakes and forgetting about the 16ft trailer saw said trailer try to over take her. Luckily she managed to correct this, and coming to a stop in the dark with snow on the dual carriageway, composed herself and set off again. At 03.30 on Thursday we pulled into a layby just after Inverness. Got our heads down for a couple of extremely cold hours (-4). and set off to the croft, arriving around 8.30.. During the drive we were informed the Static- our accommodation for the week was not going to make it - COVID... I managed to make a few calls and Borrowed a 3 berth Tourer from GOW Plant Hire / Groundworks in Caithness.. What a top bloke.... This is us on site day 1, digger arrived..... The Plot.. So down to it. Day 2 on site Friday. Electricity was to be connected on Wednesday 6th, we needed to dig a 30M Trench and install the cabinet / concrete base. This had to happen. Over to the digger to fire her up.... no go. Quickly the battery went flat. We moved Nessie closer, did a quick 30Mile round trip and bought some jump leads and by lunchtime and still no joy, turning over but not firing..... it was running the day before but they had to jump start as it had been sat in the yard for a few week. Ok looking at the battery it wasn't the correct one, so another 30mile round trip and the owner of a monster battery we tried again. no luck, I phoned a mate mechanic he advised trying spraying cold start into the air intake. ok another trip? , No, he told me to try deodorant as the propellant may well work, one quick spray and the old girl fired immediately. Best smelling digger in the highlands... Now to get to grip with an old backhoe, I've experience with up to 5 tonne 360 machines but never a back hoe, so this took a while to understand how to dig a straight trench next to a fence.. I managed to excavate the connection pit and around 15M of wandering trench by the end of the day. Day 3 Saturday It was cold and no amount of deodorant was working on the digger. The mighty battery was losing power... Time to try Nessie to give a boost, we got the Truck stuck in the mud... FFS. we needed the digger to move the truck, and the truck to help start the digger... This was a testing day, and I know from experience in building game you have days that just fight back, and this day was fighting hard. Mandy set off in search of some supplies and some cold start. By lunch she was back, I had made the shuttering for the cabinet base just needed the digger to get the concrete over to the hole. Cold start didn't work and we both felt deflated... Numerous attempts with planks, stone etc to free the truck were not working. As a last resort as the sun was now out and shining we gave the cold start another go and the digger jumped into life.. Obviously not a morning person... We moved the truck to relative safety of some drier ground with the aid of the digger and concreted in the cabinet. Another 10 M of trench, and we made a start exposing the water main. I noticed the digger was beginning to be sluggish and leaving hydraulic oil pools, when I check the level it was nearly empty. So Parked up the digger, next to the truck, batteries next to each other - just in case. We retired to the un heated caravan, and I went to the Generator to start it, we had a 2KW heater that helped take the chill off, A couple of pulls and the cord snapped😂. the day was going to round 12 like it or not. So tools out and repair underway. Day 4 Sunday. No Hydraulic oil till Monday so left the digger alone, and marked out the position of the pods, and the septic tank, I wanted to do some digging here to confirm the suspicion that the rock level was high, and some breaking out will be required. We hand dug a trial hole for the water main, as we found electricity cables running towards where the trench was going. We hit rock 300mm below ground, so were happy to dig this with the machine on Monday, We also started unloading the insulation and timber from the truck. We sandwiched timber and insulation with visqueen and ratchet straps to create a heavy mass that hopefully wont blow away whist were not there. Day 5 Monday. With Hydraulic oil on board and the shelter of the truck the digger fired first thing, and we were off. Mandy continued un loading insulation. We dug a small trench for the water (we new the main was laid in a blasted trench to a depth of 800mm) we had to breakout our trench with a 110V Breaker to obtain the 600mm depth and hand dig to expose the water main, I left Mandy to this while I dug the septic tank hole, I got to a depth of around 800mm before I hit the rock. This will need pecking out now. We installed a homemade standpipe, and blue pipe, then asked for a track inspection via the online portal. We were given date of 11/12/13April, but we put a note on to say we were on site until the 8th. They responded and the Meeting was set for Wednesday 6th - result. Day 6 Tuesday - the night was very windy and wet. A cold and wet start, We finished off the electrical trench, laid the ducting / draw cord and all was set for connection the next day. Made a start on the pods foundation dig. Day 7 Wednesday - electrical trench was full of water, and the ducting was floating. the heavy rain drains towards the sea, and thus straight into this trench, I was concerned that the Install may be called off. SSE turned up around 10.00 and were not bothered in the slightest. They connected a new length of 95mm Wavecon to the pole and jointed the existing 2 houses and our new supply - 2 core 35mm straight concentric to this 95mm cable. Resin pour joint box, and fitted the 100A cut out in the cabinet. They were done in 2 hours. left me to throw the cable in when the resin had gone off. Scottish water inspected the trench, and this has been signed off and will be added to the works list, hopefully a few weeks. I filled in the cable trench, We managed to rough dig out the pod foundations and found the rock is close to the surface. so the slab foundation will be pretty much mass fill concrete around the perimeter, with some MOT to reduce the thickness to 4" for the slab. This will then have a Radon barrier on top and a floating floor insulation on that, Due to the poor living conditions and more rain and wind we made the decision to leave Thursday morning. Day 8 Thursday, We packed up the caravan and Nessie then dragged the caravan out of the mud with the digger. The trailer was also dragged clear with the digger, but Nessie was so at home she didn't want to leave. I was pushing here through the mud, but she was sinking. Fortunately tour Farmer neighbour saw our plight and came along with his massive tractor and dragged her clear. We left site battered, bruised but happy in the knowledge that no matter what was thrown at us, we had achieved what was required and more to boot. Thanks for reading... its all possible, Mandy made a few videos if you want to see them https://www.facebook.com/The-Windy-Roost-101816829105927, you can follow the progress there as well...

I suppose I could just use connector joining nut and then add screwed rod after. ill look into this.👍

Thanks for the info. more research to be done. Bolts are 200mm With a hook at the end, they will be buried hook end first, around 120mm into the wet foundation and left to cure. If these pull out I've got big problems with the slab. All you are left with is a threaded section sticking out of the slab. You lower the sole plate over the 'stud' then use washers and nuts to bolt down. As I m stick building on site, I will uses the studs to mark the sole plate and drill before I make the panels.

I Personally don't see this as a last resort. My intention is to use J bolts cast into the insulated slab, the stick made panels will have the hold down holes drilled, then when lifting the panel into place, three beads of quality low expanding foam construction foam (ILLBRUCK FM310) applied to the slab, then the panel lowered down into place, lined up with chalk lines. The adhesive will expand and fill any deviations in the surface and also stick the frame to the slab. Any movement will be accommodated by the foam. I will be using radon barrier, so this will be lapped up the external Wood fibre insulation. I think the problems of using a membrane is you introduce 2 joins. Also the gap will be Plus and Minus X mm, so the membrane/ joint strip will have to take care of deviations both ways.

I read on Viking House (Irish Passive Houses) that they use expanding foam. But that was onto an Insulated slab. I'm thinking this will be my approach

Don't think this will help. I've got about 10 upto 3m support height. I'll be traveling up to Lybster on Thursday 31st. I could lend them you meet me somewhere?

Yep, and don't forgot that you also have to dilute the paint to get good flow rates, but this is down to the area to be covered. spraying gives a better finish than a roller, especially for the mist / base coat IMHO. If you've got one room then not sure its worth it, the whole house is different, you only have to mask the windows / floor if the trim work is not in place, then blast the lot.

Spraying the Block walls can get a more even finish. Screwfix do a fairly cheap Airless sprayer that is also great for mist coating all the walls.

This is the plan, WC block will supply each pod, and act as a plant room. The above doesn't go above 16mm2 SWA. No suitable cables eg. 80M 15KW = 16mm2 15.5KW - no suitable cable....

Slight Hijack - My design was to put a enclosure on site, around 75 M run, the plan from DNO was terminate at the pole and run mains cable (95mm Wavecon) to around 30M from the cabinet then joint to service cable 35mm Split con then run this to the cabinet. Then me run my cable to the house and pods as required. (house run would be around 25M), Pods 55M (only require about 8KW) EUG864_001_20210708_DESIGNDOCUM9022022_REV_Site_Plan_LAND 105M SE OF SUIL NA MARA_A3.pdf Reading this thread, I'm now thinking putting the cabinet near to the pole at the front of the new track, then running two cables from this to the pods (30M) house 85M The connection is planned for Apr 6 Any thought's on this. Can anyone point me to a cable calculator for either SWA or split concentric?

.An Acro is designed to take the load transmitted vertically through it. The safe working load of an Acro is vastly reduced when correctly using a strongboy, they are not designed to be angular props. This is dangerous as it gives a false sense that its safer.. Also just a point, and its not intended to be picky. The site is untidy, trip hazards everywhere. Demolition creates mess, but when you are moving and installing steels a clean site is a safer site. There is no need for rubble to be laying around. When I've installed beams like this you stop, clean up, remove trip hazards and then once clean, take a view of the next steps and move forward with the plan. If you make mess you tidy it up. When I see sites like this I get concerned about the people working there and the quality of the product.😞 Good Luck, you've been given some great advice so far.👍

The info they supply on breaking bed rock is to create an open face by either drilling holes at an angle(#2) then the open face is the top surface, once this is out you then have open faces to work with , the other option is to chain core drill, a slot essentially a trench thus creating an open face. The later option seems the most sensible, but core drilling 1.7M Wide trench by 1.2M deep (in multiple depths) seems like arduous work. I will only know for sure what I'm dealing with at the end of the month, but was thinking of trying this on a trial basis to see how I get on.

my take on this would be to draw the activity spaces on the plan layout, just use a nominal size for the tray, although you won't physically have one, you will have a tray former that is the showering area. Building warrant wants to ensue that there is room to move around.

Just dragging this back up as time is getting closer. @Dave Jones Mentioned Chemical Charges. Has anyone used https://www.dynacem.pl/uk/non-explosive-demolition-agent-dynacem-feedback.html. non explosive Expanding grout? To Recap- I need to remove around 8m3, 3.8M long * 1.8M wide * 1.2M Deep. Sorry don't know how I missed this . To clarify the rock I'm dealing with is granite, part of the Caithness granite slabs, namely lower flagstone group fishbed? so its thick bedrock. so its all a problem (or at least the 1.2M deep I need to remove. With regards to flows there is some variations in land levels, so main house to treatment plant and then to soakaway to watercourse should work with little / no additional breaking out. The pods some 60M away may end up being pumped to the Treatment tank.

Cheapest option is a rectangle. You can use camber trusses that will give you a vaulted ceiling. If you build long and thin, you could have a vaulted ceiling at 1 end, and room in roof trusses for the remainder to get bedrooms. As soon as you move away from a rectangle / sq then the foundation and roof becomes more complex if you want vaulted ceilings.

1 1/2 storey would be a significant change in design. My comments FWIW, for the design you picked: Rooms in roof good It will need some big steels to carry the vaulted ceiling which will have an impact on the foundation design. Roof valleys cost more. Thumbs up for the Velux windows. Layout works The hall / Entrance is massive. (Bigger than Bed2 & 3 Combined).

My View on this and any design was simple, my budget is tight, so functionality wins. If you set out with this in mind then be prepared for a lot of compromise. Its great to draw complex foundations with different roof line, roof heights, and you can get a stunning effect, but each little change from a rectangular box costs more money. More in materials more in labour or both, then each of these decisions effect the cost going forward. The easiest building to build is a rectangle, with gables and 1 roof line (Well a rectangular box and a pent roof) any deviation from this will cost money. My Design uses the rectangular box, but over a single level, (this is with an eye on the future) I think I could have saved a little by going room in roof with the bedrooms upstairs. Smaller foot print etc. If your budget is healthy and mortgages are in your future then treat yourself to a porch, different roof planes, different roof heights, dormers etc. If not resist the architects desire to break new ground, (and your bank balance). One thing to note that the timber frame costs of these designs will vary little, but the cost of building it can be vastly different. I would have thought as a quick example, a dormer would cost 10 times the cost of a velux window, but the kit cost would vary a few hundred quid. Building your own house should be a great experience, but reality has to be upfront. I'm sure all the compromises, and "discussions" we had at design stage, will make the build process less stressful, when the money is disappearing faster than Abramovich's. I know. 3 1/2" nails, disappear in 1 blow.😲

This is going to be my approach. Stick built on site. The expense, unless you can do it yourself will be getting panel drawings with the details you need to build on site. I have drawn my own, and then passed these to a Structural engineer for confirmation and the certificate of design (Scotland). youtube "larry haun" and its surprising how simple a process he makes it. The quality of the product is down to Square accurate cuts and accuracy when assembling. I don't want to re-look at costs yet as prices are constantly rising, but my build from a timber frame company was around 50K supply only(insulation membranes and plasterboards. plus external membranes and fly battened roof.) I got my stick built costs at the time to around 27K, but with thicker walls and better u values all round. That saving will be my time spent cutting and assembling. no other way would work for me. The goal is no mortgage.

https://justthejobsupplies.co.uk/products/radon-barrier-yellow?variant=40474272825501 This is the thicker membrane. With regards to an expert, cs2 is a non vented solution, so membrane only. So you would only need to prove you've used the correct membrane, (not what you want to hear). building control would / should check they are satisfied with the install.

For my build in Scotland, the Radon report comes back as 3, IIRC. So need radon minimal Radon protection. I.e Radon barrier and top hats and tape for pipe penetrations. Extra cost over std visqueen for my 98m2 is about £200. Edit: just read that cs2 is non vented protection. If you've used STD visqueen and not a Radon gas membrane then it's not going to pass. The thickness of concrete will have no effect. It's an obvious question but why use it on the perimeter but not over the main area?. In my view the thought of long term exposure to Radon gas and resultant poisoning isn't worth the £200 budget worry. At least you've not poured the X cubic meters of concrete yet If you were having a screed afterwards you might be able to use a radon barrier here, but not sure how this would be detailed to the outside of the building .n

Personal experience says foundation blocks to max 2 course "below" DPM. Externally you don't want to see them. and DPM level should be 150mm above ground level. Its common (old practice) to build the external internal skin to DPM using concrete commons / thermalite coursing bricks, and then knock out these out at thresholds. but that has issues. Internally sounds crazy / wrong Depends a lot on construction type - Timber floor / beam and block / slab on grade etc etc - need some more info but doesn't sound correct...

The next cheaper option with inverter I've had a quote of £1550 delivered ( Dream HP from eBay). So basically £450 extra or about a third. What would the payback be on that (in efficiency between the rotary and inverter compressor). If I was to go for the two. 1 would only be heating the 300l tank for DHW. The other a 150l tank for DHW and a buffer tank for UFH with excess PV topping up the DHW. Gut feel it's worth a punt? Plus I can claim the VAT back on it. Is there any big red flags to anyone?

You are correct, 1 for both pods 1 for the house. Pods are around 20M2. The above was referring to ESHP idea, I thought these were smaller units and not enough capacity (DHW) for the two combined hence needing 2? My idea is the plant room with 300L UVC and this ASHP, with backup Immersions. Another topic will be how to divert heat to these immersions from excess solar PV 60M away......?

Is this on the inside of the exterior wall or outside. If outside that will be part of the structural calculations for the build. (racking forces etc.) In Scotland, for areas in Bathrooms you need to install 18mm to cater for hand rails etc. For kitchen wall units, usually 5x2 noggins added to the studs at about 2050 high would be enough - check the kitchen tall cupboard heights to be sure.

but I'd need two, one for each pod so that's £3K - I've got a 300L (£200) UVC with Immersion as backup. My rough calcs. as I'm not sure how to calculate re-heat cost etc. but 300L raise temp of 40deg is around 15KW/H so @ 0.25p /KWH that's about £3.75 so lets call that a £5 a day with re heat. with a COP of 2.0 it would be £2.5 saving so 1000/2.5 = 400 days? I'm sure I've got that wrong with some big assumptions but a year or 2 its worth it.. Same company. - I do think it might not be an invertor even though it says it in the headline - the spec says Rotary-