Hi all.

I am in the early stages of building a new house & recently came across this site, which looks to be a great resource for an inexperienced self-builder.

We have a plot [old dormer bungalow] overlooking a west facing beach in the far west of Cornwall and are in the process of going through planning for the house, which will have a N/S orientation with the views [and therefore the majority of the glazing} to the North. It is towards the end of a narrow [approx 8’ wide] lane. In common with most self-builders my aspirations may well exceed my budget so I have no doubt that we will not be walking into our dream home having had minimal stress and hands-on involvement in the process and that hard choices will need to be made along the way.

The plan is to end up with a reverse level 3 bed house built as close to Passivhaus standards as possible of around 190m2. We are building in a windy, wet, humid and salty environment [also with strong sun when it shines!], which the shell must be up to withstanding.

An ideal result would be to end up with a passive slab with a powerfloated finish on which would sit an airtight 300 mm triple glazed cantilevered timber frame filled with either wood fibre or warmcell insulation with fermacell internal walls and a pitched slate roof  which has PV on the S aspect. The rainscreen will be a mix of render and cedar cladding. Heating would be via UFH in the slab & a woodburner upstairs [not my idea, but ‘non-negotiable’!].

I will be project manager, my experience is limited to a major refurb of our old house, but I will be able to devote at least 3 ½ days per week to it.

There will be 101[+] questions to follow, but I’ll try and put them in the relevant sections.

 

Nick

 

4 minutes ago, Nick1c said:

I am in the early stages of building a new house & recently came across this site, which looks to be a great resource for an inexperienced self-builder.

 

Welcome to the therapy group, in six months time you'll be far from inexperienced!

 

You're amongst friend, in that, a number of us have demolished old bungalows and are building to near Passive House standards.

8 minutes ago, Nick1c said:

Heating would be via UFH in the slab & a woodburner upstairs [not my idea, but ‘non-negotiable’!].

I'm doing exactly the same, I started with two non-negotiable woodburning stoved, I've managed to get that down to one and a Bio-ethanol feature fire! It's work in progress  !!

Hi Nick, welcome to the forum. Yours sounds like an interesting project. We have built to PH standards and are just coming to the end of the bungalow dismantling.We have survived and are coming out of the other side a lot more knowledgeable and a lot poorer.

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like a great project and it’s great having a bunch of self builders to bounce ideas and questions off. Self building can be a lonely place, especially when you are inexperienced, but this place provides a great support community. 

 

Welcome, a very interesting build. We like photos 

Only 101+ questions? I wouldn't limit yourself too early!

 

+1 to the photos, too. Especially views that we can drool over.  And welcome, of course.

Yet another welcome from someone near Bude (but in Devon) who is near the end of our build and a whole lot wiser about passive house even after being a builder myself for years. Remember there is no such thing as a silly question, silly, is not asking. There is a wealth of very good knowledge here and people are very generous with that knowledge. We too have a woodburner (would not be without it) but some on here are against them so be prepared to defend your choice.

The view

That’s awful..... 

 

I’ll take it off your hands for £25 as it’s not worth much more ........ 

Next you will be telling us that Demelza Poldark swims naked off that early each morning.

I'd give at least £30 for it if Mr Poldark were a neighbour.

 

Seriously, though, what a stunning view. The far west of Cornwall has a very special light quality.

23 minutes ago, vivienz said:

I'd give at least £30 for it if Mr Poldark were a neighbour.

 

Seriously, though, what a stunning view. The far west of Cornwall has a very special light quality.

 

I’ll raise you £50 for Mr Poldark ?, but I agree, it’s a stunning view. 

 

 

Wow (not jealous at all!! ).

Finally got planning so can now move forward. 

Hopefully the old house will be down, services sorted (we need to move power lines & a BT cable) & slab in by end of Feb. We don't plan to start putting anything up until mid/late March due to lack of light & the potential for (very) strong winds. 

I assume the organisational genius of BT will be the rate determining step, fortunately we can get the house down with the line in place. 

Is it the case that 'demolition' isn't VAT reclaimable, but 'demolition and groundworks for foundations' is?

Any tips on cock-ups to look out for will be gratefully received. 

Just “accidentally” hit the BT cable with a JCB... then ring the the openreach emergency line .... 

38 minutes ago, Nick1c said:

Is it the case that 'demolition' isn't VAT reclaimable, but 'demolition and groundworks for foundations' is?

Any tips on cock-ups to look out for will be gratefully received. 

 

Demolition isn’t ‘reclaimable’ as only materials qualify for the VAT reclaim scheme but now that you have planning permission you should be able to get demolition invoices zero rated (assuming your PP mentions demolition). Note however that machine / equipment hire is not able to be zero rated unless it comes with an operator. If however your VAT registered demolition company supplies the equipment they should zero rate the whole invoice. 

 

Groundworks, and any labour throughout the build are treated in the same way. If your VAT registered builder supplies materials they should zero rate those on a supply and fit basis. If you are ordering materials yourself ensure that invoices are in your own name (ie don’t let builders ring up and order things in their own name unless they are supplying you on a supply and fit basis). 

 

Now that you’re about to start it’s worth having a read of the pinned VAT thread. Lots of things to consider to ensure that you maximise the opportunity to benefit from zero rating during the build and that your reclaim is all in order. It’s best to fully understand the rules from the get go than to have to sort things out later. 

 

 

 

Thank you @newhome.

Edited November 22, 20187 yr by Nick1c