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Hello Build Hub! First Blog entry in our new home. So things have stalled quite a bit over the last few months. Block layers have left site as they don't want to do the peaks without roof supports. Trusses have been measured up wrong which has caused some amount of delays. Also having issues sourcing scaffolding but finally have that issue resolved. Just need to get the scaffolding to site. There have also been some issues with our window cills. Got measured up for windows and window rep informed me that the cills weren't level one side of the cill being closer to the DPC and the other being further into the cavity. This would lead to some potential issues for water ingress and air tightness so needs to be rectified before anything else gets done. There is also an issue with the height of the inner blockwork at the cills. The inner blocks are currently sitting around 5-10mm higher than the cill level so these need to be cut down a bit. Hopefully there is nothing too major required to sort this out. I also have some threads up about a potential problem with our hotpress (its only 850mm wide) and also possible solution to our 3m sunroom opening (Pivot door) This is how the house currently looks. There has also been a rather large wall built to retain my parents garden and line our driveway. This gives my parents a much bigger garden as this was previously a rather large bank. Oh and my father built a temporary staircase, just means we wont have to be up and down ladders. Also should save the proper stairs, as we wont need them in as soon. The House Front Door View Kitchen Dining Room/Part of Sunroom Dining Room View Temp Stairs Driveway wall & Garage

Posted by DeeJunFan, 08 January 2016 · 505 views Hello All,Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year.Was trying to get a blog entry done before Christmas but no luck so here goes.Block work is now complete, slab wrap put up and slabs laid.Here are a few pics showing the house and some of the key views.House itself Entrance ViewLiving Room ViewDining Room ViewSun-RoomSlabs In ProgressSlabs Complete I have only seen the pictures as yet. Stuck in Belfast earning the money to pay for the slabs!Hopefully get a good look tomorrow.Grouting to be done tomorrow and garage completed early next week then onto the 1st floor block work.Will hopefully have the roof on by Paddys Day.Damian Comments Comments declan52 08 Jan 2016 02:53 PM You are making good progress dee. Can you jump from the slabbed floor on to the trampoline. Could be an easy £250 for you. Like This DeeJunFan 08 Jan 2016 03:01 PM Thankfully no, There is about 20 meters between them. thats my parents trampoline, they grandkids love it!

Posted by DeeJunFan, 16 November 2015 · 426 views Hi Guys,After the disaster that was last weekend during the week we eventually got caught up on the jobs with the foundations.Got the Radon barrier down, A393 Mesh installed, point to not was the amount of overlap needed. Meant a quick re-order for another few sheets.BC were happy with a smaller mesh and a 4inch slab but decided to stick with the larger mesh and go with a 6inch slab. Got the timber delivered and me and my father started on the shuttering for the pour. (Finished article below)A lot of blocks and Pegs needed to be carried around to make sure the shuttering was supported. Concrete arrived first thing Thursday morning and now we have a floor.The question for this week is around the strength of the lightweight blocks. As we are going with a slabbed 1st floor the Architect specced 10N block work (which is almost impossible to get around here). The local building Merchant only do the Quinn lite blocks in 5N which i wasn't all that happy with so there has been some back and forth and Quinn say both are ok but most people go with the 7N.Just waiting on Architect to confirm he is happy enough.Hopefully there will be walls soon!D Comments oz07 16 Nov 2015 04:09 PM Your slab is sitting on your dwarf walls then? Like This DeeJunFan 17 Nov 2015 08:17 AM Yes we filled the footings right up to level with the walls and then shuttered in the slab oz07 17 Nov 2015 06:30 PM Do you not have cold bridges where your walls meet the slab or is the shuttering inside these? Difficult to see from photo. Or are you going to insulate & screed onto of this for ffl? Like This DeeJunFan 17 Nov 2015 10:26 PM The outer skin will sit on the walls and the internal walls will sit in the slab. Will be using quinn lite blocks at the Base of all internal walls to reduce the thermal bridging. Will put 200mm of PIR on the slab then 100mm of screed to reach ffl

Posted by DeeJunFan, 09 November 2015 · 437 views Weekend turned out to be a complete mess. Just about managed to get a delivery off loaded but no work done on my site. Went and gave my brother a hand fitting his HRMV unit. got a lot of the vents placed and the unit suspended from the rafters. Nearly lost a finger unloading the mesh.Have started getting the footings filled in, was hoping to get the quarry dust in over the weekend but its starting in earnest today.Hopefully have all filled and barrier laid in the next day or two then its concrete time. Comments jamiehamy 09 Nov 2015 12:00 PM I feel your pain - total washout here too. Thankfully we've got what we planned doing for the year complete, so any delays to the roof and timber frame are not the end of the world. We're working on getting some temporary roofing on to give us shelter up in the house. Like This DeeJunFan 09 Nov 2015 12:19 PM I though i had about 5 weeks before the block layers were going to be back to me but they are finishing up another job early so the pressure is on to get the site ready for them to do something next week.. Might be the garage but who knows at this stage. They could be getting a week off. declan52 09 Nov 2015 12:46 PM Make sure you cover both ends of the sewer etc pipes over. On the outside bury them in sand so its much easier digging out when the the time comes to do that part. Make sure you have worked out your finished floor height so you get enough insulation in under the screed. Like This DeeJunFan 09 Nov 2015 12:53 PM Cheers Declan Yeah had a chat with the block layers about eh FFL we are going with 150mm sub-floor then 200mm PIR then 100mm screed so its roughly another block on its end to the FFL Must remember to cover the pipes. Thanks ProDave 09 Nov 2015 04:36 PM It was a wild wet windy spell here yesterday and over night. In just 124 hours our water table has come up a lot and our plot has become very wet again. It's a damn good job we got the treatment plant in the ground last weekend, I have a sense of "just in time" with that operation. Now the battle is to keep a partly built house protected from the worst of the wind and rain, and try and find time to get the tiles on the roof, in between having to work, short daylight hours, and catching weather windows. Like This Ryan1985 09 Nov 2015 07:34 PM winter is definately here in Co.Armagh, driven rain and gales. No blocklaying again this week by looks of things Like This DeeJunFan 09 Nov 2015 08:01 PM Aye it's a tough aul station alright. Doesn't seem like there will be much done for a few weeks.

Posted by DeeJunFan, 04 November 2015 · 420 views Hi Guys,A slow enough last 2 weeks, our block laying contractor is currently working on a major job and has been doing our footing walls over the weekends. Digger man has been on holidays so it all worked out ok.Our site had to be grading a fair bit towards the front of the house which left the footings around 1m deep at the front and only around 300mm at the rear. I was a bit concerned that we wouldn't be allowed to do a poured slab but eventually got the BCO out and he was more than happy, said we could go with a 4 inch slab but i prefer to go with at least 6 inches as some of the rooms are quite large, The kitchen/dining at the rear is 4.5x9.5m This is how the site looks at the minute, next job is on to the drainage, fill, radon barrier and pour the slab. Have 2 weeks to get all ready before the block layers are back on site.Fun times ahead Comments crozier84 04 Nov 2015 01:44 PM Looking good! Presuming you are putting a MVHR system in the house then there is no need for a Radon Barrier? You like this Unlike declan52 04 Nov 2015 07:46 PM Get all them cement bags burned before they blow everywhere. Where Dee's site is its all granite so has to have a radon barrier to stop the gas leaking up into the house. You are all getting some spell of weather to get you out of the ground. You like this Unlike Ryan1985 05 Nov 2015 03:19 PM Tidy looking job!!! All the best with it!! Rain today has dashed my hopes of getting brickies away from another job

Posted by DeeJunFan, 05 October 2015 · 444 views Just a quick Kick off blog post.The Day is finally here. After many years of waiting and planning. Digger arrived on site Saturday night and is going to break ground today.This is how the site looked yesterday afternoon so there will be lots happening this week. First job is to move the fence, the site now extends to the gate in the top of the picture.More updates to come! Comments declan52 05 Oct 2015 10:17 AM happy days dee, now the fun begins. good luck. Like This NSS 05 Oct 2015 11:48 AM Lovely plot. I look forward to seeing it progress. Like This DeeJunFan 05 Oct 2015 02:59 PM Cheers guys, hopefully there has been good progress today. Fingers crossed jamiehamy 06 Oct 2015 09:09 PM Cracking looking site! No better feeling than seeing a digger onsite and then coming back at the end of the day to see progress!

Posted by DeeJunFan, 11 February 2015 · 865 views Since my first entry not much has happened apart from a lot of thinking.Legal work is still on-going RE the additional portion of land. Hopefully complete in the next week or so.So far the decisions areStrip foundations. Thermal block above the sub floor to deal with thermal bridge.200mm of PIR with UFH pipes on topthinking 65-75mm of Sand & cement screed with fibers.Thinking 165mm cavity as that seems to be the maximum for catnic type lintels. May still go for 175mm if i can assure myself that the concrete lintels will be ok and available. Will return the blocks at opes to leave 100mm cavity to be closed by PIR. Cavity will be filled with bonded beads. Wire wall ties I thinkLooking at Hollow-core slabs as well as wide-slab flooring for the 1st floor. Haven't got prices for the wide-slab but it seems to be the most straightforward for making openings for services etc. Slab will be wrapped with airtight membrane.Windows are an issue at the moment as i can't seem to get a quote from anyone. Seems if there is no house they don't really care about giving a quote for estimates etc. Will be going for 3G with the best thermal properties for my budget.Still deciding on the best way to close the cavity at the roof - may follow the example set by Michael.I'll be going for attic trusses and am still in the process of decided how best to insulate and air tighten the area. Joist line vs Rafter line. If its rafter line then will it be warm deck/cold deck. Still lots to think about in this area. Shell is going through this at the moment so will watch with interest.Not using any roof lights so nothing to plan in that area. Will be going for Natural Slate, many options and I'm sure I'll decide closer to the time.The Heating system is the current head scratcher and I'm still totally unsure of what to do. The original plan was to go ASHP, Thermal Store/UVC?? with perhaps PV at some future stage.Given the number of barriers to going ASHP i'm still not sure what to do. Perhaps go the "No Heating" Option in SAP and fit a large immersion running on E7, use the money saved on ASHP to buy PV system.Have a great quote for MHRV so happy there. Will be going Flexible radial ducting from Supply/Extract ManifoldsAny Opinions comments welcome!ThanksDamian Comments ProDave 11 Feb 2015 05:14 PM What "barriers" are you facing with an ASHP? Some parts of the UK (e.g Scotland) you need planning permission for an ASHP so worth including that in your planning application, even if you end up not fitting it. Like This DeeJunFan 11 Feb 2015 07:15 PM Planning is part of it. You didn't need permission when I first applied so now I would need to resubmit a change of dwelling. Basically the same plans with a box showing the location of the ashp. This submission would cost £890. Then there is the position of paying an extra £2300 for transformer upgrade because of having an ashp. Lastly is the rip off that is MCS installs and supply. Paying almost double for the same unit as 50 miles down the road. The whole thing just leaves a very bad taste in my mouth ProDave 11 Feb 2015 07:38 PM Can't help with the planning. The transformer up grade is dealt with as discussed by keeping quiet. And don't bother with MCS, just buy it and install it with no subsidies. What about ground source? That's still permitted development here, though there is a lot of extra ground work involved. Like This kev106 11 Feb 2015 07:50 PM I had a prank call claiming to be Baskil Windows, I had asked for a quote 4 weeks ago. Will wait and see if the salesman materialises ;-) Like This kev106 11 Feb 2015 08:01 PM Regards the ASHP,have u seen this? http://www.belfast-a...urce-heat-pumps Alphonsox likes this Like This recoveringacademic 11 Feb 2015 08:13 PM ProDave, on 11 February 2015 - 07:38 PM, said: And don't bother with MCS, just buy it and install it with no subsidies. Dave, because the overcharging exceeds the subsidies.....? Like This DeeJunFan 11 Feb 2015 08:27 PM Thanks Kev I spoke to the planners last Feb at the self build show so didn't catch the changes. Baskil called me abiut 2 days after requesting a quote asking about location etc. Still waiting on the quote. That was 10 mo the ago. In most cases the grants and subsidies are front loaded into the cost of install and certification to make the installers huge profits. Also there is a servicing contract requirement to qualify for RHI. DeeJunFan 11 Feb 2015 08:27 PM Thanks Kev I spoke to the planners last Feb at the self build show so didn't catch the changes. Baskil called me abiut 2 days after requesting a quote asking about location etc. Still waiting on the quote. That was 10 mo the ago. In most cases the grants and subsidies are front loaded into the cost of install and certification to make the installers huge profits. Also there is a servicing contract requirement to qualify for RHI. declan52 11 Feb 2015 08:31 PM Kev if you need a number for a rep from Baskil I can give you one. Think shell got him up to price hers. They don't price of plans to busy or can't be arsed but if the house is built they will come out. Like This declan52 11 Feb 2015 08:35 PM Dee did you price up the difference in 200mm of pir and its equivalent in eps ,400mm. A 100 mm sheet is near enough £23-25 so your atleast looking at £46-50 which on a floor would soon add up. You would also save yourself 200mm of stone. Like This DeeJunFan 11 Feb 2015 08:52 PM I priced for 300 mm of EPS from kingspan. It was more expensive than the 200mm of PIR. Was shocked to be honest. Not sure if there are cheaper places. declan52 11 Feb 2015 09:14 PM That is a bit shocking. Kingspan bought springvale who made EPs in Belfast so are probably fazing out that range so you only buy pir. Like This DeeJunFan 11 Feb 2015 09:32 PM I think that's the plan. Price it out of existence Alphonsox 12 Feb 2015 05:42 PM Kev - Thanks for link, that makes ASHP less complicated for me if I decide to go that way. Like This shell820810 12 Feb 2015 06:12 PM I wouldnt be watching my roof with too much interest- its like the blind leading the blind here at the minute lol Like This shell820810 12 Feb 2015 06:16 PM Declans Baskill rep was very good, gave me a quote off plan within 2 days. I had heard nothing from the previous rep. Pricewise they are pretty much in line with what we are getting from other places, so given their previous reputation I am hesitant. Like This DeeJunFan 12 Feb 2015 06:16 PM I haven't even started yet so i'm sure you will be all sorted by the time i get a sniff of my roof. Might see you around the show in Sunday! shell820810 12 Feb 2015 06:27 PM Follow the sound of the screeching baby and that'll be me! You like this Unlike kev106 12 Feb 2015 07:54 PM Got a call from Baskil rep today, Chris. Emailed on plans to price.

Posted by DeeJunFan, 28 July 2014 · 894 views Hello there, I have decided to try and put together a blog for my pending build. The others on here have helped me a great deal so hopefully mine can be of assistance to someone in the future, but most selfishly of all I hope this can help me get my thoughts and plans settled.The site on which I am building is (was) a relatively small site to the rear of my family home in Mayobridge, Northern Ireland. The process began around 10 years ago when I first applied for planning permission, which was refused. The refusal was mainly due to the lets say less then competent working of the planning consultant and his very dodgy business practices of using planning applications to get commissions from a very expensive solicitor turned planning appeals specialist.Anyway I revisited my planning application in 2009 using a local architect who worked hard to get permission which was finally granted in October 2011.Recently my small site has become a much bigger site due to the purchase of around ¼ of an acre of land next to my site.So the build itselfWe have always wanted to build a 2 Storey house but given the lack of similar dwellings in the area (almost exclusively bungalows) I didn’t think I would get a 2 storey house passed but funnily enough the planners didn’t even comment on the design simply if the house should be allowed to be built or not.The design we have gone with a very simple quite traditional looking 2 storey house.DecisionsThe main decisions so far have been Timber Frame/SIP/Externally Insulated Block/Cavity Block.Given the local trade availability and more importantly the price the first decision has been made and we will build a cavity wall block house with Concrete floors.I think that will do for the first installment.Some pictures of the site and design below. Elevations Site Layout Site and New Land Report Entry declan52 28 Jul 2014 03:28 PM So when do you reckon the digger will be on site, next week!! Like This DeeJunFan 29 Jul 2014 06:33 AM I wish, The plan at the minute is to get started on the ground works in say March next year and hopefully get the foundations and that started late March early April when the frost will have passed. My Parents are doing a bit of a build at the minute so its great to see all the prices they are getting for things. You think you have a realistic budget but sometimes you wonder. declan52 29 Jul 2014 07:47 PM I have noticed all the prices of materials slowly creeping up and up. All the merchants will be trying to claw back their losses over last few years. Like This DeeJunFan 30 Jul 2014 08:45 AM its a killer really. to make matters worse i'm working in Dublin, so i'm getting paid in Euros. I have to try and factor in the exchange rate as well. with the exchange rate as it is things like blocks are boarder line but i would save on VAT. God only knows what way things will be in the new year. There is a steady rise in the amount of work going on so labour and materials will be going up for the next while.