Internal Steps - How to build...

[Mulberry View]

20 minutes ago, ETC said:

No DPC?

 

Where are you expecting a DPC?

[Mulberry View]

2 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

More my point of their mixed up and confusing statements of what is and isn't industry standard and recognised terminology....

 

But I do like the way you came running into the room ready to defend lol. Easy tiger, there's a good few ones out there too .

 

We always give indicative FFL and state how that was decided, and the client can then chop & change with a much greater understanding of the impact when they DO then go on to change their mind; as you rightly say, a LOT changes along the way in a self-build, as most are of course reasonably clueless at the outset, but they become pretty clued up towards the end and then the fun starts  A good architect will be the one who prepares the client vs catches them when they fall. I've seen waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many of the latter, and the fees they charge to 'put it right' at the 11th hour. 

 

That was sadly where we lost out. Our Architect was the most expensive who quoted BY FAR. She was great out of the starting blocks, but she made the journey hell. Fundamentally, she did not respect the fact that we are novice self-builders and did not advise us at all really. Her description of the difference between what we now know to be a Building Regs design package and a fully detailed Technical Design was weak and did not emphasise just how much would be left behind if we went for the former. We believed it would be things like the MVHR and the Staircase that would need further work, but in reality, almost NOTHING was properly detailed and is having to be re-thought on-the-fly. We've just paid £2500 for another Architect to detail our Windows and Door properly, on top of the original Architect taking almost £20k from us for the original design. But there we go digressing again!

[Nickfromwales]

5 minutes ago, Mulberry View said:

Where are you expecting a DPC?

It's actually pickling my brain tbh. Methinks the EPS would need to come off the concrete core of the ICF and then a liquid DPC applied.

 

Did Nudura give you any detailing for this at all?

[Mulberry View]

4 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

It's actually pickling my brain tbh. Methinks the EPS would need to come off the concrete core of the ICF and then a liquid DPC applied.

 

Did Nudura give you any detailing for this at all?

 

It's Waterproof Concrete in there.

[Nickfromwales]

3 minutes ago, Mulberry View said:

 

That was sadly where we lost out. Our Architect was the most expensive who quoted BY FAR. She was great out of the starting blocks, but she made the journey hell. Fundamentally, she did not respect the fact that we are novice self-builders and did not advise us at all really. Her description of the difference between what we now know to be a Building Regs design package and a fully detailed Technical Design was weak and did not emphasise just how much would be left behind if we went for the former. We believed it would be things like the MVHR and the Staircase that would need further work, but in reality, almost NOTHING was properly detailed and is having to be re-thought on-the-fly. We've just paid £2500 for another Architect to detail our Windows and Door properly, on top of the original Architect taking almost £20k from us for the original design. But there we go digressing again!

Exactly the type of architects I frequently meet, and despise with a vengeance; some I have had the client dismiss because of just how 'up there' they think they are. Then I introduce them to the ones I use and they say "ooooh, that's absolutely fantastic" lol.

 

It's so easy to get it right, and there are so many people I cut my teeth around that I used to look up to, that I now don't give a second glance, it's mad. And I'm a nobody in the industry, just a loudmouth on a forum who'd otherwise just be lost in the noise. I just wish I got paid their salaries, particularly when I have to feed and burp them, change their nappies, and teach them the chuffing basics.......

[ETC]

12 minutes ago, Mulberry View said:

 

Where are you expecting a DPC?

Joining the DPM in the upper floor level with the DPM in the lower floor level.

[Nickfromwales]

1 minute ago, Mulberry View said:

 

It's Waterproof Concrete in there.

I was considering that, as we did that for a job in Ipswich for the kicker course, and it made detailing the DPC/M there just a breeze, plus Nudura were happy to include it in their design approvals as a recognised method of sorting these detailed sections out.

 

2 minutes ago, ETC said:

Joining the DPM in the upper floor level with the DPM in the lower floor level.

Essentially redundant if the concrete rising in between isn't 'damp' yes?

 

I am quickly reminded why I love EPS ICF so much.

[ETC]

23 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

More my point of their mixed up and confusing statements of what is and isn't industry standard and recognised terminology....

 

But I do like the way you came running into the room ready to defend lol. Easy tiger, there's a good few ones out there too .

 

We always give indicative FFL and state how that was decided, and the client can then chop & change with a much greater understanding of the impact when they DO then go on to change their mind; as you rightly say, a LOT changes along the way in a self-build, as most are of course reasonably clueless at the outset, but they become pretty clued up towards the end and then the fun starts  A good architect will be the one who prepares the client vs catches them when they fall. I've seen waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many of the latter, and the fees they charge to 'put it right' at the 11th hour. 

Your medal is in the post.

[ETC]

10 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

I was considering that, as we did that for a job in Ipswich for the kicker course, and it made detailing the DPC/M there just a breeze, plus Nudura were happy to include it in their design approvals as a recognised method of sorting these detailed sections out.

 

Essentially redundant if the concrete rising in between isn't 'damp' yes?

 

I am quickly reminded why I love EPS ICF so much.

The other medal won’t be far behind it. 🏆

[Mulberry View]

@Nickfromwales @ETC So does this mean the DPC/M between the upper and lower floors isn't an issue? Or it'd be easy to do because I finished the ICF level with the Beam & Block?

 

I had assumed I'd need to shutter the edge of the top step to bring the screed to the edge, but actually this feels a bit weird and why I'm begging for help?!

[Nickfromwales]

Apologies for the break in comms, just got back from B&Q.

 

My trophy shelf was rammed, so had to go get a second one.

 

Excellence comes at a price folks, "beware".  

[Nickfromwales]

I’m off to bed folks. 
 

“Springers final thoughts” are….

 

Don’t suffer mediocrity, especially after paying for something far better (on a promise). 
 

👋 🛌 

 

[Mulberry View]

12 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

I’m off to bed folks. 
 

“Springers final thoughts” are….

 

Don’t suffer mediocrity, especially after paying for something far better (on a promise). 
 

👋 🛌 

 

 

Once the Zinc roofing fiasco is over, I'll set about taking the Architect on as I do think she has underperformed. For now I want to get the damn thing built. SWMBO has stated her absolute position on not spending another Christmas in the caravan!