Building a house: Any advice?

feef

Apologies if this is on the wrong board (total newbie) - please redirect me if it is.

Just wondered if any of you have bought a site and built your own property and if so, would you have any advice for someone about to embark on the same.

We were looking at a site in Co Cavan, but nothing finalised yet. It's all up in the sky at the mo, but just wanted to speak to others who've "dunnit" to see if I could get a headstart.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

fEEf

Do-more

The Construction & Planning forum is the one you want!

Best of luck with the build.

D-M.

feef

Cheers Do-more;)

muffler

You are here now and there are loads of threads on various topics - have a wee look through a few of them and it may get you started.

The_Conductor

Feef- if the site you are planning on purchasing is outside a builtup area- I would suggest trying to get a bigger site (i.e. 1 acre or above) to include garden etc- as once you go over a threshold for tax purposes the purchase is treated as farming, rather than residential (providing there is not a pre-existing structure on the site, nor planning permission for same). Look into it anyway- you get a bigger garden and pay less tax, and its totally legitimate from a tax perspective

sinnerboy

get a good architect by

checking out your local authority website for applications in your area
see what architects names keep cropping up

contact them and ask for a list of happy clients - at least 3 - and speak to them

ask also for a list of builders they have worked with - and speak to them

ask to see finished projects

then select an architect that you feel you can get along with - this is very important

alinoee

Go to Planning department and check the history of the site at the registry desk. you might also try to arrange the meeting with planner for the area and see what she/he thinks of potential development options on site.

AckwelFoley

Hey hello

I purchased a sire in 2000, and built my own home from start to finish on my lonesome

Foundation, blocks, roofing, plastering, studding, doors , floors the lot!..

The only things i didnt do myself was the plumbing and electrical work.

Ive done some more work, but that my pride and joy

The advice i can give you now is - wjen you start at each stage post a query and the members can give u advice on each specific stage

Have to agree 100% with the above, I also did most of my build singlehanded - I often asked questions here & on other selfbuilding forums. Another thing to consider that there is often more than one correct answer, you just have to use your judgement as to which way to go.

Good luck

edit :look at the stickies ^

NextSteps

My advice, for what it's worth, is to slow right down, and think everything through as slowly and as comprehensively as you possibly can now, at the planning stage. Be neurotic and obsessive about the details - it'll pay off.

And also - orientation and insulation!

Build a scale model! that's what I did and it helped a lot in planning services etc.

feef

Thanks so much guys, all sound advice for starting out.
Many thanks.
fEEf:D

getfit

Deleted User wrote: »

Build a scale model! that's what I did and it helped a lot in planning services etc.

was thinking about that and then - pretty much laughed at myself for even considering it.... How messy a job is it to build a scale model. I know it would be a god send down the line for factoring in pipe ducts for Heat recovery and where plugs/light switches/rads etc, will all be placed...

From a self build perspective it will make it an awful lot easier to explain stuff to guys so there can be less crossed wires.

How much time did it take to do up the model and how did you go about doing it?

balsa wood from any hobby shop, took a couple of days, I also scaled the walls to the same thickness etc.

getfit

Fair dues man. I can get my head around scaled walls and even accounting for inulation and drawing in different ducts and doors etc. However, how detailed to get in the roof structure is annoying me.

What scale did you go? 1cm for every 1m?

2cm :1m, no detailing of the roof just relative position of the surface (tiles) to the walls.
My roof was standard fink truss.
btw a model isn't tha answer to everything, we still had some items of furniture that didn't quite fit (she liked it despite it not quite fitting :rolleyes:)

getfit

"she" - the unknown variable in most processes!

bandit197

UB wrote: »

And also - orientation and insulation!

This is the most important advice you have been given. Use the sun to heat the house during the day, get as much south facing glass as you can and insulate, insulate, insulate

nice1franko

http://www.shol.com/agita/pigs.htm

JCDUB

Passive house is the way to go for the long haul, extremely efficient and very low heating costs, along with being environmentally sound.
Although I'm not sure of the implications if you plan on building it yourself, I believe it can be more complicated than a standard build.
Then again if you have the right architect..

All renewable energies should be considered in the design process, heat recovery, geothermal, solar thermal, PV etc. etc.
Design is the time, especially considering new regulations coming into play, retro-fit in two years time is expensive and time-consuming!!