New Member New build

jimbozaxis

note this build is not privy to Irish building regulations please note this before taking on the content discussed

Been looking into this fourm for a while now and have found it very informative on alot of issues.

I recently started work on a new self build. We are involved in groundworks and plant hire and started work last december with the demolition of an existing house on the site. When our machines were at home for the hoildays. The foundations were poured in march and plasters started on monday past. As i have said i found this fourm very usefull along the way to settle some niggling doubts in my head. The house is a 3 bed room bungalow with the option of developing two more bed rooms and a bathroom up stairs if needed later down the line.

Heres a few pictures of progress so far.

jimbozaxis

jimbozaxis

yoloc

Nice! Im hoping to downsize to something like this in the coming years but will be putting in bigger windows and maybe a triple door on the left hand side of the house.

What is the height of them trusses. If your putting a bathroom up stairs in future, you prob wont get away with a gravity feed tank for the bathroom because doesnt look like you have the room for it above the ceiling. I know theres coffin type tanks but dont think one would fit there either.

What type of heating system you using in this house.

yoloc

Also, how much did you spend to get it to this stage and did you do any work yourself.

WUFF

Nice Job.
Just a couple of questions:
When you placed the DPM, I see you did not use a continious layer over the whole floor and brought through to the outside leaf. you seem to have placed a seperate DPM in each room, just wondering why it was done like that.?
Also what type and size floor insulation did you use?

jimbozaxis

Thanks for your replays guys.

I never paid alot of attention to my upstairs as i dont really have any intensions of devolping it. But the option is there if needs be. on the spec sheet it says the room width is 5.100 and height is 2.100

My heating is just an oil burner but i have two soild burning stoves and the one in the sunroom where we will spend most time has a back burner for heating house and water. I built my inside skin with a light weight thermol block and have a 150mil pumped with eco bead cavity.

The DPM was rolled out over the whole subfloor but i always tend to run a knife over the inside walls. this stops any airpockets forming in the corners. And my insualtion is 100mil between finished and subfloor.

We work in plant hire so i was able to demolish the old house make new road in. Dig and concrete my foundations and fill the footains myself. Will Also do the sewers and storms my self and kerbing etc etc. And so far it has cost us at a rough count and not counting planning just over £40,000

jimbozaxis

jimbozaxis wrote: »

Thanks for your replays guys.

I never paid alot of attention to my upstairs as i dont really have any intensions of devolping it. But the option is there if needs be. on the spec sheet it says the room width is 5.100 and height is 2.100

My heating is just an oil burner but i have two soild burning stoves and the one in the sunroom where we will spend most time has a back burner for heating house and water. I built my inside skin with a light weight thermol block and have a 150mil pumped with eco bead cavity.

The DPM was rolled out over the whole subfloor but i always tend to run a knife over the inside walls. this stops any airpockets forming in the corners. And my insualtion is 100mil between finished and subfloor.

We work in plant hire so i was able to demolish the old house make new road in. Dig and concrete my foundations and fill the footains myself. Will Also do the sewers and storms my self and kerbing etc etc. And so far it has cost us at a rough count and not counting planning just over £40,000

sorry wuff. Just realising you possibly meant what insulation I used in the upstairs floor. I used 200mil of the rolls. In my upstairs then in my sunroom where there is no upstairs I doubled it up.

yoloc

jimbozaxis wrote: »

Thanks for your replays guys.

I never paid alot of attention to my upstairs as i dont really have any intensions of devolping it. But the option is there if needs be. on the spec sheet it says the room width is 5.100 and height is 2.100

My heating is just an oil burner but i have two soild burning stoves and the one in the sunroom where we will spend most time has a back burner for heating house and water. I built my inside skin with a light weight thermol block and have a 150mil pumped with eco bead cavity.

The DPM was rolled out over the whole subfloor but i always tend to run a knife over the inside walls. this stops any airpockets forming in the corners. And my insualtion is 100mil between finished and subfloor.

We work in plant hire so i was able to demolish the old house make new road in. Dig and concrete my foundations and fill the footains myself. Will Also do the sewers and storms my self and kerbing etc etc. And so far it has cost us at a rough count and not counting planning just over £40,000

2.1 m is to low for a ceiling. The regs are 2.4 but in saying that, i know of houses that have sold with a dormer heiggt of 2.35m . Still think 2.1 is ob the low side. Why didnt you just raise the roof that little bit. Did ypur engineer know ypu had intentions of converting the attic in the future.

40K aint bad for thay structure. How much you planning on finishing it

WUFF

Thanks for reply
Nice tidy job
Best of luck with it.

hexosan

Perhaps one of the mods might move this thread to the live selfbuilds.

Good work by the way house looks nice.

fclauson

I noted no insulation in the floor - what are you proposing as the floor make up - and are you using UFH

jimbozaxis

Naw no underfloor heating. There will be 4inches of Quinn therm sheets inbetween the subfloor and finish floor!! finish floor will just be ordanary floor screed.

fclauson

jimbozaxis wrote: »

Naw no underfloor heating. There will be 4inches of Quinn therm sheets inbetween the subfloor and finish floor!! finish floor will just be ordanary floor screed.

Check with your certified - I do not think that will meet Part L regs 2011

jimbozaxis

Thanks will check. But my plans state 4inches of concrete in subfloor 4inches insuation and 4inches for finished floor. Hope this is still ok because i have set my door thresholds to this and my front and back door are being fitted on monday. lol Building control and arcitect both been making regular visits for my mortgage and never mentioned it. Plus i have a shed full of 4inch insuation i bought before the 15% rise went on. lol My sister just moved into her house last month and this is the way hers was on her plans and no one said anything about it. But i will check.

sydthebeat

jimbozaxis wrote: »

Naw no underfloor heating. There will be 4inches of Quinn therm sheets inbetween the subfloor and finish floor!! finish floor will just be ordanary floor screed.

Where are your rad pipes going?

Are you putting a 4" floor screed? If not how are you going to lay insulated pipes?

jimbozaxis

Radiator pipes with lagging wrapped around them will go onto the subfloor then the 4 inch insulation sheets is placed around them, then theres 4inches of screed over the top of this.

sydthebeat

jimbozaxis wrote: »

Radiator pipes with lagging wrapped around them will go onto the subfloor then the 4 inch insulation sheets is placed around them, then theres 4inches of screed over the top of this.

No. Completely wrong! !!!

jimbozaxis

What why should i do it then??

fclauson

jimbozaxis wrote: »

Thanks will check. But my plans state 4inches of concrete in subfloor 4inches insuation and 4inches for finished floor. Hope this is still ok because i have set my door thresholds to this and my front and back door are being fitted on monday. lol Building control and arcitect both been making regular visits for my mortgage and never mentioned it. Plus i have a shed full of 4inch insuation i bought before the 15% rise went on. lol My sister just moved into her house last month and this is the way hers was on her plans and no one said anything about it. But i will check.

Ok - get your arch to do a U-value calc against Part L 2011

and BOC have been visiting site - amazing -

fclauson

jimbozaxis wrote: »

What why should i do it then??

On the top of the insulation - the good lord does not need his ground heated for him - but you do need your house heated !!

jimbozaxis

I Had a u-value calculation done before planes were even passed by building control. And SAPS or something was done.
It was originaly passed for the use of alphatherm blocks by acheson and glover in my inside cavity skin. But when i was about to start work i rung up to price alphatherm blocks only to be told acheson and glover dont make them anymore.
So my arcitect then had to redo his home work to get another thermol block of the same or beter u-Value. So i then got the quinn thermol blocks.

jimbozaxis

If i put my insuation down then set my pipes going to the raditors on top of the insuation then where my Floor screed goes over the pipes i will only be getting a skin of screed over the top of the pipe??
For me to get my even level of floor screed over the floor would it not be beter for pipes to be sitting at the same level as my insuation??

fclauson

jimbozaxis wrote: »

If i put my insuation down then set my pipes going to the raditors on top of the insuation then where my Floor screed goes over the pipes i will only be getting a skin of screed over the top of the pipe??
For me to get my even level of floor screed over the floor would it not be beter for pipes to be sitting at the same level as my insuation??

what was done in my build was (and I had 200mm in the floor of insulation) a channel was cut in the top 100mm board and the heating pipes for h/w where run in that - hence the screed was the same thickness across the floor - but the pipes had 100mm under them as well as their own insulation

As you mentioned SAPs then I assume are building to UK regs - so my comment may not be relevant

Poor Uncle Tom

Where is the Radon barrier?

jimbozaxis

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Where is the Radon barrier?

No radon barrier required in our area. You guys building regulations must be a hell of a lot strickter than ours. I've worked at loads of new builds and only saw a radon barrier once and it was miles away from our local building controls area.

Poor Uncle Tom

jimbozaxis wrote: »

The DPM was rolled out over the whole subfloor but i always tend to run a knife over the inside walls.

jimbozaxis wrote: »

No radon barrier required in our area.

So effectively, you have no damp proof membrane either, it doesn't matter what building control area you are in this doesn't comply.

jimbozaxis

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

So effectively, you have no damp proof membrane either, it doesn't matter what building control area you are in this doesn't comply.

not sure what you mean by no damp proof. As the dpm was rolled out over the compacted hardfill and before the sub floor was poured. Then when they brickies started the rolled out there dpc over each wall before starting to build.

Poor Uncle Tom

jimbozaxis wrote: »

not sure what you mean by no damp proof. As the dpm was rolled out over the compacted hardfill and before the sub floor was poured. Then when they brickies started the rolled out there dpc over each wall before starting to build.

If you put an inflatable dinghy in the water, then pull a knife stem to stern, will it still act as a boat?

jimbozaxis

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

If you put an inflatable dinghy in the water, then pull a knife stem to stern, will it still act as a boat?

I would very much doubt it. Lol

yoloc

Op, you will be sorry you started this thread because you will have some trying to pick holes in everything you do. You are correct about your rad pipes being lagged in tge screed floor. As for no damp tgey say, if you have dcp under your blocks and dpc sheeting under your insulation in the floor, your house will be seale from rising damp. Good luck and keep us posted with everything you do

yoloc

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

So effectively, you have no damp proof membrane either, it doesn't matter what building control area you are in this doesn't comply.

You can use heavy gage damp proof sheeting instead of radon barrier. You can install the radon barrier under the whole foundation.

Edit, thats in a raft foundation thou i see ypu didnt do this.

sydthebeat

yoloc wrote: »

You are correct about your rad pipes being lagged in tge screed floor.

thats not what the poster said, please review.

yoloc wrote: »

As for no damp tgey say, if you have dcp under your blocks and dpc sheeting under your insulation in the floor, your house will be seale from rising damp.

no it wont, its not called rising damp for nothing.

if the DPM is cut at rising walls, the damp will enter through the sides of the blocks of the rising walls. DPCs at floor level only stop moisture moving vertically to the next block above.

yoloc

sydthebeat wrote: »

thats not what the poster said, please review.




no it wont, its not called rising damp for nothing.

if the DPM is cut at rising walls, the damp will enter through the sides of the blocks of the rising walls. DPCs at floor level only stop moisture moving vertically to the next block above.

What are you talking about! Ive worked in 100s jobs where the dpc is set below the first block on the foundations just below the finished screed level, dpc heavy gague sheeting under the insulation and not 1 case of damp. Fs if i was my computer i could link you a picture of it from the homebond manual. You are wrong in what your saying there will be rising damp if built like i mention. Even my own house was built like this and not one spot of damp in 10 years!

yoloc

Op, why is it you knocked the old house down instead of renovating it. That structure looks ok to me. Me personaly, i would have probably renovating instead.

fclauson

yoloc wrote: »

What are you talking about! Ive worked in 100s jobs where the dpc is set below the first block on the foundations just below the finished screed level, dpc heavy gague sheeting under the insulation and not 1 case of damp. Fs if i was my computer i could link you a picture of it from the homebond manual. You are wrong in what your saying there will be rising damp if built like i mention. Even my own house was built like this and not one spot of damp in 10 years!

Not according
http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/BuildingStandards/FileDownLoad,1642,en.pdf

and IS 57:1987

and pages 12 onwards of
http://www.constructionstudies.ie/topics/building-regulations/part-c-site-preparation-.pdf

jimbozaxis

yoloc wrote: »

Op, why is it you knocked the old house down instead of renovating it. That structure looks ok to me. Me personaly, i would have probably renovating instead.

The old house was years old yoloc. Most of walls were just stone with no cavity. The house was renovated about 15 years ago and a small extension put to rear. But it would ave took a lot of money to make it right. Plus the inside was a **** layout. Lol

sydthebeat

yoloc wrote: »

What are you talking about! Ive worked in 100s jobs where the dpc is set below the first block on the foundations just below the finished screed level, dpc heavy gague sheeting under the insulation and not 1 case of damp. Fs if i was my computer i could link you a picture of it from the homebond manual. You are wrong in what your saying there will be rising damp if built like i mention. Even my own house was built like this and not one spot of damp in 10 years!

I wouldn't allow you anywhere near a new build.
You have a disgraceful attitude towards regulation and seem to live by a "out of sight, out of mind" attitude.

jimbozaxis

sydthebeat wrote: »

I wouldn't allow you anywhere near a new build.
You have a disgraceful attitude towards regulation and seem to live by a "out of sight, out of mind" attitude.

thanks for your input lads everything is much apriciated but i would like to just remind you all that my house is not in the south of Ireland so it is being built to totaly different regulations than what you lads are use to.

fclauson

The page 30 of http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_AD_C_2010.pdf

would apply

UK and Irish regs are not that different in this regard

fclauson

By the way do you have to do an air test - and if so what result did you get - not certain on the UK regs for this

Would be interested - another benefit of the continuous DPC is that it acts as an airtight barrier going downwards

jimbozaxis

fclauson wrote: »

By the way do you have to do an air test - and if so what result did you get - not certain on the UK regs for this

Would be interested - another benefit of the continuous DPC is that it acts as an airtight barrier going downwards

No one has ever mentioned an air test to to me. Does this not normally take place after finish floor is complete?? I'm a bit of this stage. Lol

have arcitect cuming to site next week so will enquire off him.

fclauson

suggest you check http://www.dfpni.gov.uk/tb_f2_v15-2.pdf and http://www.dfpni.gov.uk/tb_f1_mp_v6.pdf

have not read in detail but I think you are obliged to do one

rockabaloo

Yup, an air test is needed in NI. Won't get a completion certificate until it's done.

jimbozaxis

rockabaloo wrote: »

Yup, an air test is needed in NI. Won't get a completion certificate until it's done.

thanks for that. Will have to look into it. Last thing I need is to be hanging for my last stage payment and this holding it up. Lol although im sure the mortgage company will find something to delay it.

Just out of interest what else do they require apart from the odvious of kitchen,steps,disabled ramps etc etc??

fclauson

jimbozaxis wrote: »

thanks for that. Will have to look into it. Last thing I need is to be hanging for my last stage payment and this holding it up. Lol although im sure the mortgage company will find something to delay it.

Just out of interest what else do they require apart from the odvious of kitchen,steps,disabled ramps etc etc??

Jumbosaxis as you have the pleasure of living in NI where building control means what it sayes on the tin I am sure they will both guide and ensure you meet regs in addition your arch will be on the line to ensure this too - down here it's Asha-that-ll-do
- hence the level of comment and feed back you have received about not meeting what are called "standards"

jimbozaxis

fclauson wrote: »

Jumbosaxis as you have the pleasure of living in NI where building control means what it sayes on the tin I am sure they will both guide and ensure you meet regs in addition your arch will be on the line to ensure this too - down here it's Asha-that-ll-do
- hence the level of comment and feed back you have received about not meeting what are called "standards"

I didn't think feed back back was to bad. Lol sure you can't expect everyone to say good job everything is just perfect there.

UrbanFret

jimbozaxis wrote: »

What why should i do it then??