[Slig]

[quote=Technophobe;58598345]

Originally Posted by Quazzie2002

Not as of yet and to be honest I have pulled my hair out over this one. I know its been done before but how I aint got a clue. Any suggestions are largely welcome.

Quazzie,

I have a mate who did this on his house so will see if I can find out anything for ya...

Not to put a negative spin on it but I know he had them built into the blockwork somehow and then discovered that there was a leak in there somewhere he wasn't a happy man.....
Anyways, he has it all sorted now so I will see what he says....

Thats my major fear with them to be honest. Also means that there is a cold radiating pipe working its way through your cavity cutting down the value of the insulation that is probably already reduced to fit the pipe in there in the first place

[Quazzie]

I just wanted to add a little note on the downstairs layout. When designing the room layout on the ground floor I had a kind of ulterior motive in mind. On the North side of the house I have three rooms, Sitting room, Study, and Bathroom. This part of the house is designed in such a way that if you installed a door at the bottom of the stairs across the hall, and made a doorway from the study into the sitting room you could have a small but self contained granny flat. I would have to break through under the window in the study for a door but that wouldn't be too hard.

Personally I think it is very important in today's age to think to the future, and the possible adaption of a house into this set up was always something I had in the back of my mind. I think sustainable living can be achieved at the planning stage, and this is my way of doing that. I hope that this is one way that I can play for the future.

[No6]

Hi Quazzie your secret downpipes tweeked my interest so i looked a bit closer at your plans. I would firstly suggest removing the wall vents that you have shown on the front elevation, they're dog ugly and very energy innefficient and they will not help your result if you do a pressure test , put in hit & miss trickle vernt in the windows to comply with the regs or no natural vents if using MHRV system.

In relation to your downpipes if you have overhanging barges (they're shown in line with the wall but there's more normally an overhang of 200mm) put the two pipes at each end and run it externally down the gable. The other three are going to be problematic there's ways to do it but they aren't very nice. I wouldn't be to happy with a downpipe in my cavity but if you do conceal them make sure you put a rodding eye in at the bottom so you can unblock it!!!

[Poor Uncle Tom]

The very best of luck to you Quazzi, nice block of a house. Have you a nice view from the corner of the dining room to warrent the corner window? If so, would you consider handing the first floor plan and extending the glazed corner to the top for the master bed.

You will probably be hairless by the end, but not homeless..

[smashey]

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt...p?t=2055462458

[Quazzie]

Originally Posted by No6

I would firstly suggest removing the wall vents that you have shown on the front elevation, they're dog ugly and very energy innefficient and they will not help your result if you do a pressure test , put in hit & miss trickle vernt in the windows to comply with the regs or no natural vents if using MHRV system.

Thanks for the advice No.6. I personally don't like Air vents on facades of buildings but I think this is the easiest way to meet regs. I only really have them in there to satisfy the planners but will certainly be looking at all alternatives available. I have kind of ruled out MHRV in my head simple because of the initial pricing involved, but that is solely based on some prices I received about 6 months ago. Maybe checking them now might prove to be more reasonable. Should I be pricing and deciding on MHRV now at the very start where I can pre-empt some changes to suit or should I wait till closer to installation and make the changes then? Any views?

Originally Posted by No6

In relation to your downpipes if you have overhanging barges (they're shown in line with the wall but there's more normally an overhang of 200mm) put the two pipes at each end and run it externally down the gable. The other three are going to be problematic there's ways to do it but they aren't very nice. I wouldn't be to happy with a downpipe in my cavity but if you do conceal them make sure you put a rodding eye in at the bottom so you can unblock it!!!

I hadn't planned to have an overhang at the barges simply because I think it is more in fitting with the design of the house. I will be paying some major attention to the internal downpipes as I know that this is one place where the phrase "its all about the detailing" is extremely potent. The detailing and accuracy required is actually another plus point to the wall construction mentioned by Slig above. I had planned to put in rodding eyes in a similar position to the air vents for wooden floors i.e just under the floor level. This should make it easily accessible without affecting the front facade.

Originally Posted by Poor Uncle Tom

The very best of luck to you Quazzi, nice block of a house. Have you a nice view from the corner of the dining room to warrent the corner window? If so, would you consider handing the first floor plan and extending the glazed corner to the top for the master bed.

You will probably be hairless by the end, but not homeless..

The site is in the country and it has really nice views to the front, overlooking Croghan hill in Offaly and the just over fields to the rear. I have them placed there simply because I want as much natural southern light as possible. I didn't continue them upstairs as my personal opinion is that breaking them at first floor level i.e creating two separate windows would have spoiled it, and having a continuous window broke only by a divider would've been very awkward and hard to detail considering I am not 100% decided on my first floor construction method as I hope to have UFH upstairs.

Originally Posted by smashey

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt...p?t=2055462458

I'm almost blushing at that. I can't believe the response this is getting. I certainly never thought I'd be mentioned in feedback in a positive sense. I am only too happy to be doing this and was nearly not going to suggest it to Muffler as I thought it seems a bit greedy on my behalf. Thanks again for all the positive feedback and suggestions from everybody.

[muffler]

Just a quick observation in relation to vents. I wouldnt see the need for them in the front hall and would recommend putting an extractor fan in the utility room.

[Cabaal]

Quazzie2002, we'll all know how to get around your house without any problems

I'd also recommend a fan in the utility room.

[Quazzie]

Originally Posted by Cabaal

Quazzie2002, we'll all know how to get around your house without any problems

Yea but I won't be posting details of my super hi-tech security system.
Spoiler: My dog Max

Originally Posted by Cabaal

I'd also recommend a fan in the utility room.

Yea I think I'll go with that as was mentioned by Muffler above. If I go with MHRV it negates all (most of at least) of this. So I'll have to weigh up the pros and cons.

[muffler]

Just a couple of small points in relation the plans.

What is your source of lighting for the landing? Not really important as it will be picked up on (if applicable) at plumbing stage but you may be a wee bit tight for headroom where the shower is shown in the en suite.

[Quazzie]

Originally Posted by muffler

What is your source of lighting for the landing?

I will have cfc lights recessed into the underneath of the bridge(is this the technically correct term) and I will some sort of decorative chandelier upstairs. I might also venture into a bit of wall mounted uplighting because the ceiling there goes nearly to the ridge so I wanted the effect that when ya walk in the front door your eyes immediately go up.

Originally Posted by muffler

Not really important as it will be picked up on (if applicable) at plumbing stage but you may be a wee bit tight for headroom where the shower is shown in the en suite.

I placed the showers in the room just as a display kind of. I didn'tt ake much heed to placement. My wife was actually the one that pointed that part out to me as soon as she looked at the plans. In my case it was I couldn't see the forest for the trees. Was too busy wondering about outlets and air circulation I never ever noticed it.

[beertons]

Great idea for dong this man, best of luck. It's going to be a great read for some of us!

[Overheal]

This will be interesting I've lived in a few fixer uppers and done a fair share of My Dad's slave labor DIY - I'll check in later.

What about donations? I'm sure DeV wouldnt mind hosting an account similar to the SSF.

[Quazzie]

After reading Sligs proposed cavity wall set up I have been in deep thought for much of the weekend and I consulted with my Dad who is blocklayer for this project. I've come up with the attached suggestion as an external Cavity wall solution.

215 Concrete Block Inner leaf.
125 Cavity wall insulation.
25mm Cavity.
100mm External Leaf.
Plaster applied as appropriate.

Since the Internal leaf is the main structural element I have opted for a slate cavity closer. The reason I am opting for a standard 100mm block on its flat instead of the 150 aerated block as suggested by Slig is that my Dad who is looking after the purchasing of the blocks, due to his connections in the trade, assures me he can make significant savings by choosing 4 inch standard over the aerated equivalent. I'm also considering the first floor construction when coming to this conclusion, because walls of this structural ability might be required If I decide to go for a concrete floor to accomodate the UFH and screed. This set up might also help with the hiding fo the hidden downpipes as the external leaf isn't structural and therefore could be cut into to accomodate the downpipe. This would have to be detailed out but is something to consider.

I'd be very interested to hear everyone's view on this set up.

[sydthebeat]

as far as i know your supposed to retain at least 40mm of a cavity....

best practise would be to do so anyway...

you need to allow the drip in the wall tie do what its supposed to...
also the smaller the cavity the more likelyhood of build up of mortar snots etc.

if you wanted to use the materials youve suggested you would be WAY better off using a 215 block on flat, and externally insulate with 125 pu board, or increase this to 200.