Small, efficient SIPS build in Midlothian

[catrionag]

Hi all! 

 

My partner and I are hopefully the soon-to-be owners of a long, narrow garden plot in Midlothian (Scotland). Once we've got over the eyewatering cost of the land, the plan is to build a modest (110sqm) 3 bed timber frame & SIPS house to be our forever home. It's just us (no kids or pets) so it seems like we'll have plenty of space.

 

I'm a metalworker, but was previously an architecture workshop tech, so although I'm fairly handy most of my experience is in making tiny models of houses! Looking forward to scaling it up a bit

 

The house is a kit home, designed, built and erected by the same company. Fairly straightforward rectangular footprint, completely larch clad plus a concrete tiled roof. As complete novices to the self-build game, it seemed like a straightforward way of getting the shell up to wind and watertight + roof and cladding with minimal fuss. I know it'll probably end up being more pricey this way, but for me the trade-off for less stress and also having someone who is actually invested in the airtightness + quality of the build from the get-go is worth it.

 

It'll have MVHR, PV panels on the roof and a small woodburner, plus a couple of towel rails in the bathrooms and electric rads in the upstairs bedrooms. No UFH or ASHP, which I'm sure some of you will think is madness! We like a cool house but getting the place airtight will be a priority (and we can always tack on an air-to-air ASHP if we regret our choices down the line!!). Since we're in Scotland, the number of days where we reach temperatures above 20 degrees are few and far between enough that we're less worried about overheating.

 

Still getting a few details & costs sorted out at this stage, especially related to groundworks and passive rafts - they seem to vary in price so much! If anyone has any wisdom about the general quality or service of one company over the others I would be very grateful - leaning towards ISOQUICK at the moment because of the promptness of their emails and thorough quote, as well as the availability of various thicknesses of the foam.

 

Looking forward to getting stuck in, and hopefully benefiting from your collective wisdom

 

C

[newhome]

Welcome. There are a number of us here in Scotland. I’m in the Borders and we have some other members who are a bit closer to you who may be able to advise a bit more on local trades vs national companies. 

[catrionag]

2 hours ago, newhome said:

Welcome. There are a number of us here in Scotland. I’m in the Borders and we have some other members who are a bit closer to you who may be able to advise a bit more on local trades vs national companies. 

 

Thanks! Yes, I'm hoping collective knowledge here will help me avoid the worst of the cowboys...

 

Mainly it'll be groundworks, internal fit-out, sparky and plumber as the majority of the work will be done by the kit company. 

[newhome]

@AliG has just built in Edinburgh and may have some good contacts. 

[Iceverge]

welcome.

 

any plans to share?

 

your approach to heating sounds fine,.

 

we only have a 2kw electric rad at about half on the dial all day today and our 186m2 house is plenty comfortable. i just checked , it’s  20deg in the hottest room, 18 deg in the coldest and about 7deg outside blowing a gale, 

[SuperJohnG]

Hi. Welcome to the forum. I'm just south of Glasgow. Building a SIPS house with insulated passive raft. 

 

Currently halfway through foundations....(bloody weather)..I went with Kore....infinitely cheaper (50%) and I have groundwork guys but overseeing a doing a good bit of DIY on the raft. 

 

Have you chosen kit supplier yet?  Sounds like a hebhomes or Caber house. 

Edited March 11, 2021 by SuperJohnG

[Gus Potter]

11 hours ago, catrionag said:

Hi all! 

 

My partner and I are hopefully the soon-to-be owners of a long, narrow garden plot in Midlothian (Scotland). Once we've got over the eyewatering cost of the land, the plan is to build a modest (110sqm) 3 bed timber frame & SIPS house to be our forever home. It's just us (no kids or pets) so it seems like we'll have plenty of space.

 

I'm a metalworker, but was previously an architecture workshop tech, so although I'm fairly handy most of my experience is in making tiny models of houses! Looking forward to scaling it up a bit

 

The house is a kit home, designed, built and erected by the same company. Fairly straightforward rectangular footprint, completely larch clad plus a concrete tiled roof. As complete novices to the self-build game, it seemed like a straightforward way of getting the shell up to wind and watertight + roof and cladding with minimal fuss. I know it'll probably end up being more pricey this way, but for me the trade-off for less stress and also having someone who is actually invested in the airtightness + quality of the build from the get-go is worth it.

 

It'll have MVHR, PV panels on the roof and a small woodburner, plus a couple of towel rails in the bathrooms and electric rads in the upstairs bedrooms. No UFH or ASHP, which I'm sure some of you will think is madness! We like a cool house but getting the place airtight will be a priority (and we can always tack on an air-to-air ASHP if we regret our choices down the line!!). Since we're in Scotland, the number of days where we reach temperatures above 20 degrees are few and far between enough that we're less worried about overheating.

 

Still getting a few details & costs sorted out at this stage, especially related to groundworks and passive rafts - they seem to vary in price so much! If anyone has any wisdom about the general quality or service of one company over the others I would be very grateful - leaning towards ISOQUICK at the moment because of the promptness of their emails and thorough quote, as well as the availability of various thicknesses of the foam.

 

Looking forward to getting stuck in, and hopefully benefiting from your collective wisdom

 

C

Hiya Catrionag

 

Midlothian is a big place, and yes expensive for land. Are you down the Falla end, Borthwick or closer to Pencuik/Newton Grange.

 

If your are near a mining area then be thorough in your due dilligence, especially if it looks anything like a gap site. You can start to check the mining areas here. Have a look yourself in case the solicitor makes and error.

 

https://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/coalauthority/home.html

 

Once you nail this then you have a load of choices about how you form the structure.  

 

If down say Falla way, borders end then then you could go for a " site built kit" by a local joiner, make the walls a little thicker, a few mm and save on the uplift on a small "SIPS type kit". Control the quality of work to get air tight..?

 

Much will depend on how much hands on you want you have.

 

You'll find pretty much everything you need to know and get lots of help from folk that really know their stuff here on BH.

 

All the best.

 

[Ian]

17 hours ago, catrionag said:

long, narrow garden plot in Midlothian (Scotland).

 

The house is completely larch clad 

Is the SIPS kit company going to be responsible for the Building Regs application? If so, make sure they are okay with the larch cladding and Part B 4 (fire and unprotected areas) of the regs, in particular the proximity to property boundaries. They’ll need to see the proposed location of the building on the site.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Ian

[AliG]

Welcome, I may have some contacts, always happy to help

[catrionag]

10 hours ago, Iceverge said:

welcome.

 

any plans to share?

 

your approach to heating sounds fine,.

 

we only have a 2kw electric rad at about half on the dial all day today and our 186m2 house is plenty comfortable. i just checked , it’s  20deg in the hottest room, 18 deg in the coldest and about 7deg outside blowing a gale, 

 

Hi! Sure thing - here are the elevations & floorplan. 

 

Good to know about the heating - the main thing we want is simplicity, so getting rid of the need for central heating really appeals to me.

Cropped Elevation.pdf Cropped Floorplan.pdf

[catrionag]

8 hours ago, SuperJohnG said:

Hi. Welcome to the forum. I'm just south of Glasgow. Building a SIPS house with insulated passive raft. 

 

Currently halfway through foundations....(bloody weather)..I went with Kore....infinitely cheaper (50%) and I have groundwork guys but overseeing a doing a good bit of DIY on the raft. 

 

Have you chosen kit supplier yet?  Sounds like a hebhomes or Caber house. 

 

Hiya John! Bad luck with the weather this year - it's been horrendous here too. Hopefully with the advent of spring things'll start going more smoothly?

 

Kore look great, but with Brexit complicating things now I'm less keen on the potential issues with import charges/delays etc.

 

Looked at both HebHomes and Caber but neither were really what we were after. Ended up going with a smaller company - Model D. Their designs are long and narrow and seemed to fit much more nicely on the plot.

[catrionag]

8 hours ago, Gus Potter said:

Are you down the Falla end, Borthwick or closer to Pencuik/Newton Grange.

 

If your are near a mining area then be thorough in your due dilligence, especially if it looks anything like a gap site. You can start to check the mining areas here. Have a look yourself in case the solicitor makes and error.

 

https://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/coalauthority/home.html

 

Once you nail this then you have a load of choices about how you form the structure.  

 

If down say Falla way, borders end then then you could go for a " site built kit" by a local joiner, make the walls a little thicker, a few mm and save on the uplift on a small "SIPS type kit". Control the quality of work to get air tight..?

 

Much will depend on how much hands on you want you have.

 

Hey Gus - thanks so much for that link! It doesn't look like it'll be an issue for the plot we have our eye on since it's a tight infill plot in an already built up area, but I'll make sure we're doubly certain of that since it is near historical mining operations.

 

We're up nearer Penicuik, nice and close to Edinburgh for commuting (hence the price...). We did look at getting a joiner to do the work but getting the kit sorted by the company just works better for us since we both work full-time - having them deal with the majority of the superstructure means that we won't have to be as hands-on at that stage.

[catrionag]

2 hours ago, Ian said:

Is the SIPS kit company going to be responsible for the Building Regs application? If so, make sure they are okay with the larch cladding and Part B 4 (fire and unprotected areas) of the regs, in particular the proximity to property boundaries. They’ll need to see the proposed location of the building on the site.

 

Hi Ian,

Yes, they are, and they have flagged this as a potential problem. Planning is being drawn up as we speak and the eaves wall closest to the boundary will be 2.7 metres away - the plan is to apply a non-combustible coating to the cladding on the eaves walls, and if they're still not happy then we'll have to just accept that part of the house will be clad in cement board and render instead. Not exactly what we would want but not the end of the world.

[catrionag]

1 hour ago, AliG said:

Welcome, I may have some contacts, always happy to help

Hi Ali,

I would be incredibly grateful for any contacts you might have at pretty much every stage, but especially for groundworks. Sinclair Plant Hire and Abacus Groundworks have both given me quotes that fit nicely with our budget, but I'd be willing to cough up extra for a company that are going to do the job well.

[AliG]

Sorry cannot help on groundworks, was all organised by my builder. I do have a good place for a soil survey if you haven't already had that done.

[catrionag]

2 minutes ago, AliG said:

Sorry cannot help on groundworks, was all organised by my builder. I do have a good place for a soil survey if you haven't already had that done.

That would be fantastic, thank you - soil survey is something that I'm currently gathering quotes for and the variation in price is a bit boggling. Feel free to PM me.

[Iceverge]

8 hours ago, catrionag said:

 

Hi! Sure thing - here are the elevations & floorplan. 

 

Good to know about the heating - the main thing we want is simplicity, so getting rid of the need for central heating really appeals to me.

Cropped Elevation.pdf 199.43 kB · 5 downloads Cropped Floorplan.pdf 222.37 kB · 4 downloads

Lovely plans.

 

I think if we were to start at zero we might go for something like this. 

 

 

[catrionag]

@Iceverge  thanks! Yeah, they're really nicely thought out - very impressed with the architect, we barely needed to make any changes to the standard designs, just positioning of a few windows etc