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Hi there everyone. This forum has been so useful to us already and we have only been members for a short while. Thought it would be worth posting now that we are nearing the commencement of our project. We have bought a 1960's bungalow in Cornwall that requires total renovation (it literally has not been touched since it was built). Following discussions with our structural engineer and after sitting down and doing the sums, we have decided the best option is to start again and build from scratch. This will be our first new build and we are both excited and slightly nervous at the prospect! Looking forward to discussing various aspects of the project on here as we progress. Best wishes, Jenny

Hello fellow self-builders! Having lived in the South East (nr Reading) for over 30 years in various cookie-cutter boxes of varying quality, after a 2 year hunt we have found a building plot on which we are going to build what we intend to be our "forever house". We are currently in the purchase of the land stage, so fingers are still crossed as we wait for all the legal and financial stuff to conclude, hopefully next month. The plot comes with OPP for an eco-designed house (architects were ARCO2 in Bodmin) which we intend to make minor tweaks to as we apply for DPP and Building Regs approval to proceed. Our intention is to perform as much of the labouring ourselves, both being practical minded, in order to be able to spend more on the materials. Personally, when younger, I helped my parents build a major extension to one property and renovate two others, I have renovated and rebuilt two classic cars, and undertaken re-wiring and re-plumbing in our current property - I'm reasonably confident in doing the work. On the Quality/Time/Cost triad, Time is the one that will be most variable :-) I'll probably be using these forums to seek input on the steps and order of tasks for project planning purposes (if anyone has a good starting template I would be very interested!), to discuss various material choices (e.g. raft v strip foundation, ICF v timber frame etc.), and delve into the variety of construction experience that exists here, so on the basis that there are no stupid questions ..... :-) Cheers Stuart

Looking for a good structural engineer for our build on the Devon/Cornwall border. We were strongly recommended to go with Michael Foulkes down in Looe. Sadly he is to oversubscribed to contemplate taking on our project. Any other recommendations?

Hi guys, Just joined this group. Just finished building a Passivhaus in Penzance, Cornwall. My friend and I built 2 houses together, one for each family on a challenging plot chasing the passivhaus dream... We've been in the house since end July and just seeing how it copes with our first winter! So it's a timber. Frame design, sitting on a concrete raft (on 30cm insulation!) planned using the PHPP software to conform to PH standards. So it's super insulated, airtight (0.3ac/hr) no cold bridges, triple and quadruple (skylights) glazed with Brink MVHR system (ubbink plastic duct and plenum). My friend developed the wall buildup himself to achieve the PH standards without us having to buy premade PH timber frame sections, saved us a lot of money... Biggest struggle so far, trying to get the. Brink post heater to operate... It's wired up correctly but won't operate, even at high fan speeds...? Which is really why I joined this forum, to hopefully glean some info as our supplier hasn't solved it (or Brink at this stage!) Cheers.. Murray