KillyfadNewBuild

Hi all and a very merry Christmas - I hope you are all enjoying some time off. I was hoping to gain some advice/feedback on ground floor insulation over our ground sub floor. We are hoping to go with a polished concrete floor which our architect noted the minimum depth would be 75mm, leaving 150mm of insulation to work with (total 225mm to work with)... Our contractor advises 100mm for the concrete to be polished above the UFH (I am waiting until the concrete company and the floor polishing company opens to chat to them directly also in the new year). This would only leave us with 125mm of board insulation which from reading the forum and any reading I have done I am seeing a 150mm as the recommended depth of insulation - I am keen to get this right and to limit heat loss through the ground. The aim was to achieve a u-value of 0.13 or better (figure from architect); our initial plan was to have liquid poured insulation but that has changed as we don't have the depths available to achieve the u-value with this method along with the polished concrete floors we would like. I was hoping someone could advise on the insulation/concrete combination or steer me in the right direction as I would be very grateful. Many thanks, Joe

Thought I would leave an update on the progress which might help others with time scales and progress with time of year i.e. cold, wet winters and building a new house. We have our sub floors in place and some block being laid, plus our septic tank is in the ground. Exciting times... every time I/we visit the site to see even the smallest bit of progress it's great. Our contractor keeps me on my toes as he runs a tight ship which I respect.

Mortgage application has been approved as of this morning... now onto the legal process. Absolutely over the moon and that's an understatement! Ecology is on another level when it comes to mortgages!! A big thanks to the forum and it's members as you helped me get ready with everything I needed to make the application submission.

Application submitted mid last week to Ecology and the valuer is out today to value the site. I must say, Ecology move quickly which is great. Keeping fingers and toes crossed all goes well.

Me and MT will definitely take you up on that offer Conor, thank you! I am hoping to get the application submitted to Ecology today all being well (Exciting and nervous times haha) - just waiting on the finalised quotation from my contractor/builder. No idea how in-depth Ecology need it but I'll try and get as much detail on the costings as possible and submit it and see what comes back.

Do you have an electric car yourself? My partner has a Nissan Leaf which is a great wee run about car. 2016 model if a recall so only gets her around 100/120 miles but does all that she needs it for and she loves it and finds it so cheap to run. Yes, it's Daly's. Ryan has been excellent as I have been torturing him for a few years now with questions and asking him for amended quotations. Did you go with them yourself? If I recall, I think Ryan reviewed our house plans and was happy with a single MVHR system but I could be wrong as it was a while ago. I must check to be sure of that. Our Architect is Newline Architect's in Castledawson. Your Architech's I see (after Google search) are in Ahoghill, just outside Ballymena? That's not too far away from our site which is in Creggan just outside Randalstown. I might just take you up on the visit offer and I'll extend the offer on our site.

Thank you! Not long back from staying in Co Down; had an AirBnB stay down beside Ardglass. Spent all my childhood summers down that way - lovely part of the world.

The GSHP is something I have always wanted to have in my house as it's been an idea going back maybe 10 years. Though through the planned installer, I have visited 5 of their customer's houses who has them in operation, seen a few of their electricity bills and have received great feedback, not just on the heat pump but on our planned provider/installer. The importance of the provider is so important plus my builder, who I know personally has spoken very highly of the work of their installer. What's the real shame is the lack of RHI for Northern Ireland as there is no incentive to go down the heat pump route and as you say the ASHP is the cheaper option and without the RHI incentive would takes years of cover the difference. It might be silly on my part as I am going with heart over brain on this one with the GSHP. That's an interesting point regarding 2 MVHR systems in the house, I must discuss this with the provider. Conor, I appreciate the feedback and offer to help, thank you very much. I also see you have went with Ecology Building Society and you along with others on the forum speak very highly of them. I actually plan on going with them myself - just waiting on my final costings from my builder to be sent across to submit the application.

Hi All, I hope you're keeping well! I just wanted to introduce myself 'Joe' to the forum as I have been a long time reader and now hopefully getting closer to starting my own build. The forum is such a great resource for information and the knowledge of the users is simply amazing - I really do appreciate everything I have read here as it has helped me so far on my journey. I am hoping to learn as I go and all being well, I'll be able to help others as I pass through each stage of the build and gain my own knowledge and experiences. The house is a two story house with a connection to single story building for the kitchen, dinning and living area which in total is approx 330m2 sitting on 0.8 of an acre. It will have a ground source heat pump, with underfloor heating on the ground and first floor, mechanical ventilation heat recovery system and a PV solar array with battery. Windows triple glazed throughout. The current SAP report SAP rating: 92 A Environmental: 93 A If I have missed anything I will update the above. All the best, Joe

Thanks for confirming this Wagas, I am long time reader of the forum and was wondering this same question as Adsibob.