Is anyone actually building at the moment?

[flanagaj]

We have been in our static caravan now for nearly two months and haven't even started our self-build.  The weather has just been so rotten.  It's been either very cold, or throwing it down with rain.   Are people literally just carrying on in the rain and pumping out filled trenches .... to enable things to progress?

[Big Jimbo]

Hoping to start in about 2 month. should be better weather i hope.

[flanagaj]

4 minutes ago, Big Jimbo said:

Hoping to start in about 2 month. should be better weather i hope.

So I am not alone in waiting.  The sound of the heavy rain on the metal roof of a static caravan is akin to being waterboarded and remaining positive is hard work.

 

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, flanagaj said:

We have been in our static caravan now for nearly two months and haven't even started our self-build.  The weather has just been so rotten.  It's been either very cold, or throwing it down with rain.   Are people literally just carrying on in the rain and pumping out filled trenches .... to enable things to progress?

Depends if it’s practical to do so, and if you’re in dire need to push on.

 

If neither, then wait it out I guess, but I’d go scatty sitting on my thumbs.

 

1 hour ago, flanagaj said:

So I am not alone in waiting.  The sound of the heavy rain on the metal roof of a static caravan is akin to being waterboarded and remaining positive is hard work.

 

Find something to do recreationally, to break the day up maybe.

 

Have you started planning M&E etc? That’s usually a good thing to do well in advance of the actual construction phase. Been working with a client since summer getting all the T’s crossed and I’s dotted, and MBC are now due to start founds end of Feb.

 

Start looking at materials and suppliers, price up MVHR and plumbing, start your electrical layouts and browse light fitting types and where switches will go etc.

 

Design the kitchen / utility and bathrooms etc, go look at showrooms for inspiration and take pics / make notes.

 

I try to do as much of this with clients as possible, well ahead of the busy and brain consuming founds and frame erection. 

[Big Jimbo]

@Nickfromwales Thats exactly what i am doing

[flanagaj]

25 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

Depends if it’s practical to do so, and if you’re in dire need to push on.

 

If neither, then wait it out I guess, but I’d go scatty sitting on my thumbs.

 

Find something to do recreationally, to break the day up maybe.

 

Have you started planning M&E etc? They’d usually a good thing to do well in advance of the actual construction phase. Been working with a client since summer getting all the T’s crossed and I’d dotted, and MBC are now due to start founds end of Feb.

 

Start looking at materials and suppliers, price up MVHR and plumbing, start your electrical layouts and browse light fitting types and where switches will go etc.

 

Design the kitchen / utility and bathrooms etc, go look at showrooms for inspiration and take pics / make notes.

 

I try to do as much of this with clients as possible, well ahead of the busy and brain consuming founds and frame erection. 

Some good points there Nick.  Haven't really planned any of the stuff you mention, but now is a good time.

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, Big Jimbo said:

@Nickfromwales Thats exactly what i am doing

Yup. The steel beams that MBC are supplying are currently getting penetrations in them and plating back up so we have a hole for 110mm soil pipe and 4x MVHR ducts, plus some small letterboxes for plumbing and electrical to go through. No extra cost to the client as we planned these well in advance amd the 1st fixes for M&E will just fly in now; I’ve mapped al the pathways and that meant a glulam had to be binned, but just a coupe of clicks in a mouse and it was sorted. Nothing really to drill through as built now, so happy days. 

[Alan Ambrose]

Yeah, we even did some groundworks in all the mud on Monday. I am calling off any day that has more than a few mm of rain though.

[Russell griffiths]

@flanagaj are you doing the groundwork yourself or do you have a contractor. 

[flanagaj]

23 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

@flanagaj are you doing the groundwork yourself or do you have a contractor. 

I am most likely going to use a man and an excavator.  Just so things can get moving and trenches are not left open for too long.

I am now wondering whether to go with a beam and block floor over a ground bearing slab.  Given I am binning having a power floated floor and am going with conventional screed and then either tiles or wood, it might be quicker and might be better suited to DIY installation of the radon membrane.  

[Russell griffiths]

If you are still weighing up what floor system to use, then it’s a good job it’s raining as you are not ready yet. 
 

you need all of this completely ironed out first. 
Just as a few examples, before you start you need the numbers of all the local muck away Lorries in your phone, not one bloke you spoke to but 3-4 of them, if the stuff is piling up and the lad you spoke to can’t do today then you just phone the next. 
the same with a concrete pump, have two lined up, talk to both talk about access and anything else. 
go to the local concrete company and open up an account. 
Dumper hire, if a dumper breaks down do you know a company who will drop one off the next morning. 
 

all this stuff can turn a simple job into a disaster 

get very good at disaster management, have a plan for every eventuality. 

[-rick-]

17 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

If you are still weighing up what floor system to use, then it’s a good job it’s raining as you are not ready yet. 

 

Yeh, it seems way too late to be considering changes like that. The amount of extra cost and time that making that sort of change adds (especially if there are other similar changes) will really add up and get your project way off track. That sort of change will likely require new drawings, other calculation changes. Does the extra weight mean bigger foundations, etc?

 

2 hours ago, flanagaj said:

I am now wondering whether to go with a beam and block floor over a ground bearing slab. 

...

it might be quicker and might be better suited to DIY installation of the radon membrane.  

 

Aside from the impact of making changes at this stage, DIY installation of B&B is an awful lot more (heavy) work than whatever radon membrane work you are thinking of. I'd assume you'd get a concrete crew in to pour the slab. If not then maybe it balances out but I very much doubt it would once you factor in the cost of changing drawings/delay/etc and installing the beams is not a one man job.

Edited 5 hours ago by -rick-

[Adrian Walker]

4 hours ago, flanagaj said:

I am now wondering whether to go with a beam and block floor over a ground bearing slab.  Given I am binning having a power floated floor and am going with conventional screed and then either tiles or wood, it might be quicker and might be better suited to DIY installation of the radon membrane.  

An insulated concrete slab is better if you need a radon membrane, as beam & block can create voids where the gas will accumulate. Radon gas is a silent killer.