Design for mull of Galloway. Thoughts?

[DannyT]

4 hours ago, Iceverge said:

 

Ah ok. That could work. In any case it would be vastly superior to insulated plasterboard dot and dab. 

 

 

I’ve spent most of the last 25 years doing the mass build development way so will be some learning involved with different methods for let’s say passive haus standards, although it won’t be a passive haus. 
I have already been working on minimising the cold bridge with the steels for 4.8m sliding doors.

[ETC]

22 hours ago, DannyT said:

I want the roof at a 45 degree angle for solar panel generation in winter ( Makes a big difference on our 30 degree house at moment ) whilst keeping the ridge height down.

Do you think it looks off?

 

Inspiration from long house type homes like this

 

Just go with a pitched roof and a flat roof with a parapet - it will look nicer.

[trialuser]

Ha - I've seen those footings before when I was searching google earth for something in nearby Drummore. If it's anything like this area, the Machars, just across Luce bay, it will be very wet. I don't know if that influences the full fill insulation decision. I'm building a timber frame extension with metal and timber cladding so not the same as yours. The stone walls of the original cottage here can get a bit damp sometimes though. As for trades, they seem to work in D&G time, they may show up when they say but almost certainly wont. My experience of getting a real man in for some plastering wasn't great. He was slow, not much cheaper than Oxfordshire, and not very good. I think there is little competition so there is no shortage of work and no real incentive to stay on top of their game.

Tip, assuming you're not a local - for a long time I thought people thought my name was Ken. It turns out that Ken at the end of a sentence means something like 'you know'.

Stranraer is a sh1t hole, (and that's coming from someone who lived near Didcot!) although it now has a screwfix and a Domino's so things are looking up.

But my wife likes it here and land is cheap so you can buy some space around you.

And the people are very nice. 🙂

[Iceverge]

6 hours ago, DannyT said:

although it won’t be a passive haus. 

Why not?  it's a nice square design and has a realistic chance of getting excellent airtighess and thermal bridging from your posts. 

 

It's always more tricky with smaller floor areas but you may be closer than you think. 

 

3 hours ago, ETC said:

Just go with a pitched roof and a flat roof with a parapet - it will look nicer.

 

The parapet will be useful as a safety feature when you're mending the leaks it causes too. Pitched roof every time for me I'm afraid @ETC. 

 

I would consider corrugated metal. There was a very nice house near me in this style. 

 

 

 

[DannyT]

8 hours ago, trialuser said:

Ha - I've seen those footings before when I was searching google earth for something in nearby Drummore. If it's anything like this area, the Machars, just across Luce bay, it will be very wet. I don't know if that influences the full fill insulation decision. I'm building a timber frame extension with metal and timber cladding so not the same as yours. The stone walls of the original cottage here can get a bit damp sometimes though. As for trades, they seem to work in D&G time, they may show up when they say but almost certainly wont. My experience of getting a real man in for some plastering wasn't great. He was slow, not much cheaper than Oxfordshire, and not very good. I think there is little competition so there is no shortage of work and no real incentive to stay on top of their game.

Tip, assuming you're not a local - for a long time I thought people thought my name was Ken. It turns out that Ken at the end of a sentence means something like 'you know'.

Stranraer is a sh1t hole, (and that's coming from someone who lived near Didcot!) although it now has a screwfix and a Domino's so things are looking up.

But my wife likes it here and land is cheap so you can buy some space around you.

And the people are very nice. 🙂

That’s the place. 
We have about 6 Neighbours around us and to be fair they are all nice. Although understandable that they want to know what we are building.

With regards to full fill. Architect doesn’t want it, building control has said I’d have to prove what I use is up to it but with render and ecotherm 32 by knauf having a BBA certificate for severe locations, I’ll be pushing for it.

rigid partial fill boards are a big no for me.

 

stranraer is a 15 mile drive away. A lot of countryside between me and there.

I have been, it’s not the nicest to be honest but it has a Morrisons and builders merchants. No other reason to go there. To be honest none of the towns do anything for me that we visited and I’m currently 15mins from Birmingham so it’s no brained.

When I seen the Morrisons and jewsons delivery van drive past drummore I knew I’d be ok. Lol

dumfries and Galloway is beautiful, away from most people and at the same time not 12hours from “home” so it’s a nice compromise.

 

[DannyT]

11 hours ago, Iceverge said:

Why not?  it's a nice square design and has a realistic chance of getting excellent airtighess and thermal bridging from your posts. 

 

It's always more tricky with smaller floor areas but you may be closer than you think. 

 

 

The parapet will be useful as a safety feature when you're mending the leaks it causes too. Pitched roof every time for me I'm afraid @ETC. 

 

I would consider corrugated metal. There was a very nice house near me in this style. 

 

 

 

I love the red corrugated roofs and have had samples sent. My concerns are we are less than a mile from the coast in either direction 

and it would loose the appeal with loads of black solar panels on it. Unless I could install the west panels in the garden.

The house you shown here looks simple but stunning.

[Iceverge]

Depending on the engineering of the wide cavity you could consider moving to Dritherm 37 at 225mm instead of 32 at 200m for the same U value. 

 

It'd be about £18/m² Vs £30/m². Might save a couple of grand, although I'm told the 37 batts are harder to fit than the 32 ones. 

 

Another option would be EPS beads.

 

On a rendered wall with a wide cavity I think you could completely submerge the house and nothing would cross the cavity. 

 

 

 

[DannyT]

5 hours ago, Iceverge said:

Depending on the engineering of the wide cavity you could consider moving to Dritherm 37 at 225mm instead of 32 at 200m for the same U value. 

 

It'd be about £18/m² Vs £30/m². Might save a couple of grand, although I'm told the 37 batts are harder to fit than the 32 ones. 

 

Another option would be EPS beads.

 

On a rendered wall with a wide cavity I think you could completely submerge the house and nothing would cross the cavity. 

 

 

 

Thanks for pointing that out. I had completely overlooked dritherm 37 to compare costs and performance. If I insulate the garage too as planned the 37 is about 3k and the 32 a shade under 6k so a massive saving. Compared both at 200mm.

Ill have to consider if the slight gain in performance is worth it.

 

32

37

 

[Iceverge]

Any specific reason for the Celecon? 

 

It does almost nothing for the U value,  costs more and cracks easier. 

 

Lighter to lift though. 

 

[DannyT]

6 hours ago, Iceverge said:

Any specific reason for the Celecon? 

 

It does almost nothing for the U value,  costs more and cracks easier. 

 

Lighter to lift though. 

 

That was just the go to block I entered as it’s what I use all the time.

If the plot were closer to work I’d use celcon or toplite as I’d get them for a cheeky £20 loading fee per pack 😉 but it’s a bit of a game to get them from Staffordshire to Scotland. I thought about storing them and sending everything up on a wagon but it’s a ball ache.

I will probably end up using 3.5n concrete so I can get some solid fixing and cheaper.

cant get over the price of thermalite these days.

 

[saveasteading]

7 minutes ago, DannyT said:

but it’s a bit of a game to get them from Staffordshire to Scotland. 

1. Are you joking? See if there are any  builders' merchants in Scotland.

 

2. I use thermalite because I am a weak amateur. Brickies should use concrete.

 

3. To fit in, stop comparing small English counties to a nation, the Scottish mainland being 270 miles or so.

Staffordshire to Galloway perhaps, with England to Scotland being a bit vague between one step and 600 miles.

 

Ken?

 

And now more helpfully i hope.

On 03/10/2024 at 11:08, DannyT said:

less than a mile from the coast in either direction 

Cladding can rot in 10 years near the sea The quality manufacturers can advise. You need plastisol coating really and that comes with different guarantees too. But it costs more of course.

[DannyT]

Plenty of builders merchants close by but none could beat the price of the forkie on site 😉 

Ill be getting the bulk from merchants in Scotland. 
Have a lot of the brick sundries, carpentry metal work and drainage fittings etc from collecting over the last 18 months.

Hopefully this build will be the last of my bricks and blocks for a lifetime. Body knows it when you’ve had a day on the concretes.

I’ll stop comparing😂 Scottish boarders aren’t actually that far and is a nice drive up the M6. It’s the other 2hrs 30mins heading west from carlisle behind the HGVs and tractors. 

 

That would be my real concern with the red cladded roof. Treating cut ends and damage inevitably rusting.

The plastisol coating has a grain effect finish and not sure how that would look. I would have to go see a roof in person.
A slate roof should hopefully never need touching again in my lifetime though so It’s a trade off I suppose. Looks vs practically and knowing where to draw the line.

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, DannyT said:

plastisol coating has a grain effect finish

That is to kill any dimpling effect on the coating. you don't see it from 1m away.

Some continental manufacturers don't have (or need) the grain.  You also, in theory need to coat the cut ends but, with good galvanising and proper cutting it isn't a big thing.

[jaymd_123]

On 02/10/2024 at 10:28, Kelvin said:

It’s pretty much like ours (which is a Heb Home)

I'd love to know more about your experience with Heb Home. We've seen a few designs we like. How were they to deal with? How did they compare price wise VS other kit companies?

[jaymd_123]

On 01/10/2024 at 11:36, DannyT said:

The aim of this house is to build a highly insulated, mvhr, triple glazed, heat pumped home with solar. 

Very nice design. What do you think you'll produce with the solar? What setup are you using?

[Kelvin]

20 minutes ago, jaymd_123 said:

I'd love to know more about your experience with Heb Home. We've seen a few designs we like. How were they to deal with? How did they compare price wise VS other kit companies?

Difficult and relatively expensive. Would be happy to talk with you about our experience. I’ve documented it on here too. 

[jaymd_123]

2 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

Difficult and relatively expensive. Would be happy to talk with you about our experience. I’ve documented it on here too. 

If you have a blog, chuck me your link. Would love to get your take on it (as I assume you're close to me also being in Perthshire). Will hold off with my million questions until we have found land.

Edited October 8 by jaymd_123

[DannyT]

1 hour ago, jaymd_123 said:

Very nice design. What do you think you'll produce with the solar? What setup are you using?

Well I currently have 18 x 425w panels facing west and get approx 4400kw a year.

so with more than double the amount of panels spread across east, south and west elevations, I’d hope to see 10000kw. 
The system I have at moment is Voltacon 11kw off grid inverter, 20kw of pylontech us5000c battery storage and Tigo optimisers on the 18 panels.

It were a self install apart from the electric back up from the mains and the connection to the consumer unit. Hour and half for electrician.

Wouldnt go back. Been brilliant and I charge up batteries in winter on octopus go tariff if needed. 
On the new build I’d go with double the storage and 2 x inverters to cope with 22kw loads and as a back up if one went went down.

 

[DannyT]

58 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

Difficult and relatively expensive. Would be happy to talk with you about our experience. I’ve documented it on here too. 

I got the feeling they would be a on the pricey side. I only looked at them for design purposes. 
To be honest, I can’t believe the costs involved of timber framed kits.

People have asked me why I’m going block and block traditional, but that’s were my savings and my ability to be able to build it comes from. It’s my trade so no labour costs for 75% of the build. Without that it would just be a dream.

 

[jaymd_123]

2 minutes ago, DannyT said:

It’s my trade so no labour costs for 75% of the build. Without that it would just be a dream.

This is my worry. Although I work in construction, my job has very little to do with hands-on building and residential isn't something I've come close to. I am at best, a semi-experienced DIYer. Will be relying on trades for a lot of the build. 

[jaymd_123]

11 minutes ago, DannyT said:

Well I currently have 18 x 425w panels facing west and get approx 4400kw a year.

so with more than double the amount of panels spread across east, south and west elevations, I’d hope to see 10000kw. 
The system I have at moment is Voltacon 11kw off grid inverter, 20kw of pylontech us5000c battery storage and Tigo optimisers on the 18 panels.

It were a self install apart from the electric back up from the mains and the connection to the consumer unit. Hour and half for electrician.

Wouldnt go back. Been brilliant and I charge up batteries in winter on octopus go tariff if needed. 
On the new build I’d go with double the storage and 2 x inverters to cope with 22kw loads and as a back up if one went went down.

 

This is a really great setup.

Any advice on some reading so I can get up to speed? Would love to understand this area of the build better, as being more self-sufficient is certainly on my radar.

[DannyT]

4 minutes ago, jaymd_123 said:

This is a really great setup.

Any advice on some reading so I can get up to speed? Would love to understand this area of the build better, as being more self-sufficient is certainly on my radar.

Have a sort of documented install and years worth of data on the reef tank forum.
 

https://www.ultimatereef.net/threads/my-solar-experience.921115/

 

7 minutes ago, jaymd_123 said:

This is my worry. Although I work in construction, my job has very little to do with hands-on building and residential isn't something I've come close to. I am at best, a semi-experienced DIYer. Will be relying on trades for a lot of the build. 

It can still be done if you’re willing to be hands on and keep away from complex designs and expensive materials. 
I’ll be the first to say mine is a basic design but nice on the eye and suits the area.

But with basic design and single floor living comes affordability.

 

[jaymd_123]

3 minutes ago, DannyT said:

But with basic design and single floor living comes affordability.

Do you think a single-floor build is cheaper to construct than 1.5/1.75? Obviously, there is the additional land cost, but in terms of construction?

[jaymd_123]

6 minutes ago, DannyT said:

Have a sort of documented install and years worth of data on the reef tank forum.

I will take a read. Thank you.

 

6 minutes ago, DannyT said:

f you’re willing to be hands on and keep away from complex designs and expensive materials. 

Any thoughts on what are generally cheaper materials? 

[DannyT]

17 minutes ago, jaymd_123 said:

Any thoughts on what are generally cheaper materials? 

Brick, block, render, tiled roof. Traditional materials. Materials tradesmen use everyday keep the costs down.

 

Cladding requires the exterior material, membranes, baton's and counter batons, fire stops and lots of stainless screws.

Glass is expensive, avoid overkill on windows. You can still get a nice design without 20+ windows.

zinc roofs, etc

Number one rule to keep costs down is don’t build a house that is too big! Wasted space, bedrooms at 40sqm of space you don’t need. 4 bedrooms and only 2 of you and the dog live there. 
Im only building a 2 bed because that’s all I need. A 3 bed would involve a whole upper level. Stairs, floor joists, another ceiling, more heating, electrics, insulation, en-suite, doors, The list goes on.

All for what? A extra bedroom that I’ll never use. 
90% of people on here who have built, will have built too big and probably regret it in some way or another.

You dont need fancy switches and wireless this and that either. A light switch should be just that, a switch. Not using your phone to turn on the light.

Edited October 8 by DannyT