Hello from the North West

[SiBee]

Great forum guys.

I joined a while ago and have read with great interest just about every page on this forum  and the blogs are fantastic.

I thought I knew a lot but this place has taught me sooo much more. I am a multiskilled engineer by trade and well used to diy and building projects.

Anyway,you have probably read this story a million other times but about six months ago, myself and Bernadette  decided to explore the possibilities of building our for ever home in the next couple of years and this is how I ended up here. Football and detailing forums have now been replaced with building and associated stuff☺️.

Our four bedroom new build is a bit too big for just us and the two tortoises and the quiet cul de sac is not that quite anymore with parking access a constant battle. Having identified three potential plots where we would like to live we had the great idea of lets build what we want to live in!obviously within reason. Nothing already on the market seems to fit what we want, is really expensive and crap compared to what we have now. 

Initial idea to fund the project is from a house sale, small remaining mortgage and small savings pot with possibly downgrading two cars to release some more extra cash. We are mid forties so cant release any cash from our pension pots.

I liked the idea of steel portal as I want something solid and have worked in many such buildings (non residential). They are quick and easy to construct and local suppliers are plentyful. However, feedback on these is negative and a mortgage could prove to be difficult. Which leads me onto ICF and so far I am attracted to izodom2000. The Uk agent (econekt) is looking to put us in touch with some local builds in Sandbach (completed) and Anslow (not started), maybe someone on here? 

Its a shame that the home building and renovating show at the NEC in a couple of weeks doesn`t have more ICF exhibitors but hopefully plenty of other useful tips will be had. 

Here`s hoping we can bring this dream to life.

Thanks for reading and apologies for poor content structure,

Simon

 

 

[Gone West]

Welcome to the forum Simon. Plenty of ICF self builders on here to quiz. Good luck with the project.

[Thedreamer]

Hi @SiBee

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Quite a few on here are building with ICF so if you haven't already, it would be worth checking out blogs section.

 

 

[MikeSharp01]

Welcome to THE forum for self builders.

 

 

[Pete]

19 hours ago, SiBee said:

Great forum guys.

I joined a while ago and have read with great interest just about every page on this forum  and the blogs are fantastic.

I thought I knew a lot but this place has taught me sooo much more. I am a multiskilled engineer by trade and well used to diy and building projects.

Anyway,you have probably read this story a million other times but about six months ago, myself and Bernadette  decided to explore the possibilities of building our for ever home in the next couple of years and this is how I ended up here. Football and detailing forums have now been replaced with building and associated stuff☺️.

Our four bedroom new build is a bit too big for just us and the two tortoises and the quiet cul de sac is not that quite anymore with parking access a constant battle. Having identified three potential plots where we would like to live we had the great idea of lets build what we want to live in!obviously within reason. Nothing already on the market seems to fit what we want, is really expensive and crap compared to what we have now. 

Initial idea to fund the project is from a house sale, small remaining mortgage and small savings pot with possibly downgrading two cars to release some more extra cash. We are mid forties so cant release any cash from our pension pots.

I liked the idea of steel portal as I want something solid and have worked in many such buildings (non residential). They are quick and easy to construct and local suppliers are plentyful. However, feedback on these is negative and a mortgage could prove to be difficult. Which leads me onto ICF and so far I am attracted to izodom2000. The Uk agent (econekt) is looking to put us in touch with some local builds in Sandbach (completed) and Anslow (not started), maybe someone on here? 

Its a shame that the home building and renovating show at the NEC in a couple of weeks doesn`t have more ICF exhibitors but hopefully plenty of other useful tips will be had. 

Here`s hoping we can bring this dream to life.

Thanks for reading and apologies for poor content structure,

Simon

 

 

Welcome. There are a few self builders in the North West, not using ICF but you will need advice on other things self build so keep reading here!!

[le-cerveau]

Hi, @SiBee, I build with izodom2000,, supplied from econekt.  However my builders did all the work, so I can't really comment on how easy hard it was to use, however they did say once they got used to it it wasn't a problem. They had never build an ICF house but managed with minimal problems.

[Sue B]

Hi @SiBee

Welcome to the forum from another relative newbie.

 

We are on the south coast so not close but are planning an ICF build later this year or early next year.  We will be building ourselves (hence using ICF) and it’s going to take us a long time.

 

We started off looking at the various polystyrene versions of ICF and then came across Durisol at one of the homebuilding shows.  That led us to looking at the other woodcrete type ICFs and we are now pretty decided on Isotex.  Isotex (Insulhub) and Durisol are both at the NEC at the end of the month.  Both run free, one day courses, on building with their system so that you can compare the two products.  

 

One of my blog threads is about our decision making process over which ICF we should use.

[Ferdinand]

Welcome.