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Live self-Builds - mod warning in post no. 1

[Deleted User]

Mod Note - 9/10/2012: This thread is for discussing the various aspects of building as they arise. Do not use this thread for "pre-building" queries. Such queries should be posted in their own threads.

How many people on boards are in the process of building their own homes at the moment, have recently completed or planning to do so in the near future.

I am about 3/4 of the way through a self-build.
It would be interesting to have a "live" list of current self-builds on the forum.

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escape

HI All

Only at the very very beginning of long long process of building a house
This whole site is excellent source of information - i have learned so much already - no doubt i will be posting alot of questions here of the next coming months and years - by the sounds of most self builds!

I just want to put a few questions out there with regard to architects/engineers
Looking at engaging architect - quote approx 4/5k just for plans etc to planning stage - in North West Ireland - not near any major urban centres - 3 miles from small town. Is this reasonable quote, i know i could get enginner to design as well - but I'm leaning towards Architect - for his expertise etc.
Anyway
thinking of getting arcitect to do plans then after planning permission granted - i have friend who is engineer who would do 4-5 site visits, check everything and do all the sign offs for mortgage etc.
I am thinking of self-building but know very little to be honest...would need so much guidance - its the above mentioned a good way to go?
any suggestions

Jollyman

Thanks guys ya its all going well so far thank god, stone is coming from a local quarry the red stuff is 2/4" down at €5 a tonne so certainly cant complain, we topped it off then with a limestone dust at €12.50 a tonne

[Deleted User]

Good start jollyman, I had a similar wet start in September

Villain

Looks good Jollyman, fair play making good progress in tough conditions. You do love that view and for good reason too.

Where are you getting the stone for filling? looks an odd colour.

Jollyman

Have updated the progress photos in my blog

http://picasaweb.google.com/jollyman24/SiteProgressArdmore/photo#5150928855389670626

fatboymsport

here is where we are at with our 2600 sqft dormer in kildare started in september roof is allmost finished getting ready for electrical,plumbing and plastering if it ever stops raining.

YellowBird

Hi Everyone,

Self build in Meath (Will be doing most of the work ourselves)
House: 3500 sf

We are planning our build at the moment and one of the things which is causing us the most trouble is deciding on the heating system.

My preference is for underfloor heating at the moment. I would love to hear from anyone who has gone this route in terms of what fuel source they went with, costs and how effective it really is in practice. I really feel the cold and i don't want to be stuck with a system which costs a fortune and basically doesn't heat the house well enough.

Any imput greatly appriciated!!!!!

eire1977

Hi all,
I'm just about to start my build (220 sq meter, story & half at the front, two story back, 45sqM garage) - will be getting quotes for the foundation very soon. So before I start getting quotes from all the timber frame companies, I'd like to ask all those who have built or is in the process of building a timber frame a few questions.

1. What company did you use and were they ok to work with? Would you recommend them
2. Cost?
3. Insulation - what kind and how much in external, internal and ceiling?
4. Garage roof - did you get it from the TF company?
5. Extras - did you get their doors, stairs, etc?

All other TF info would be much appreciated

Thanks,

snow white

Hi Everyone, Building a storey and a half at the minute and the blockwork started 3 weeks ago above the ffl, blockwork up to the tops of the windows at the minute, weather holds it up some of the days but its moving fast.
Going with Bonded bead insulation in the 110mm cavity and gonna cosyboard the internal walls.... Whats the best insulation recommended for the attic, Went for 75mm foil back high density insulation in the floor. gonna put flat panel solar panels in the roof to the front of the house as its south facing. Is two solar panels enough,
Thinking of going for a wood pellet burner system but what happens if the burner breaks down is there a back up,

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks

Jollyman

Hey Villian,

Ya two local quotes labour only young lads thought they would be cheap but i suppose the house is 4037sqft.

I have asked the fathers crew to price it for me too and for them to come up from Limerick im looking at €15,000 so id say that will be the option i am going for.

Materials i have estimated in around €27,000 including all floors arcitrave skirting and doors white Oak! A standard trutone have not made a decision yet, but i certainly wont be going over €1.30/slate.

The weather and land has thrown some tough conditions at us but the work is flying along floors being poured thursday!

Villain

Jollyman that seems excessive, are they local quotes? Are you going for a cut roof or Trusses? Did they give any estimates for the cost of materials, what slate/tile are you going for?

I've been following your blog looks like you have been in bad luck with rocks and water on site, hopefully you'll have nothing but good luck from here on out. I'm in no rush so I have held off digging the foundations as I have a swimming pool on site at present, I'm hoping dig, put steel in and pour over 3 days on the 21st to 23rd of Feb weather permitting.

I'm working on getting a blog up at the moment.

Jollyman

odonoso wrote: »

Hi All

Just got two quotes for the labour for my roof There was 6500 in the difference in the two quotes. Alot of money

Pity its not the same for me two quotes back €500 between them! €24,500 and €25,000! Labour only

odonoso

Hi All

Just got two quotes for the labour for my roof There was 6500 in the difference in the two quotes. Alot of money

sydthebeat

bauderline wrote: »

Added engineers drawings for the basement specification to the blog, gives detail on foundations and steel list.

http://watergate-house.blogspot.com

Would it be worth uprating the insulation to 2 x 50mm ?

baud.

bauderline, i assume you will be insulating inside the basement walls?
you will have a significant cold bridge where the floor slabs (?) touch both the reinforced basement wall and the outer blockwork. An idea here would be to ensure 50mm insulation along the face of the slabs.

mudz

hi all, am new to this so not too sure if am posting in the right place. We are starting a self build in March, block walls with outsulation, 1 1/2 storey. We plan to heat with a Kacheloven tile stove and then oil rads for backup. I am confused about ventilation issues and am wondering if you can ventilate sufficiently without having a mechanical system. I have read about passive stack ventilation. I am finding it very confusing, we are planning to use breathable insulation on our walls and roof. Any advice appreciated thanks.

muffler

roots982 wrote: »

i am about to start my self build, also in roscommon, does anyone know why roscommon has such high council fees compared to most countys in the rest of the country

Have a look here and here

roots982

i am about to start my self build, also in roscommon, does anyone know why roscommon has such high council fees compared to most countys in the rest of the country

bauderline

Added engineers drawings for the basement specification to the blog, gives detail on foundations and steel list.

http://watergate-house.blogspot.com

Would it be worth uprating the insulation to 2 x 50mm ?

baud.

BoylerMan

It cost about 900 Euro for the materials as I recall which is for about a 100m2 area of ceiling. Its not cheap but the finished job is excellent. Again, it takes time to do it correct. A good laser level is essential as each clip must be checked when screwing the clips to the channel.

thekooman

i got a price for metal framework for a suspended ceiling.
i ended up putting in a floating timber ceiling (runner on each wall and then ran 4X2's across without it touching the hollowcore at 16inch centres).
it worked out to be two thirds of the cost of the metal suspended ceiling.
i have seen metal suspended ceilings and they can be very "wavey" looking as the metal is easily twisted or pushed up.

this may not be suitable for large spans but any chippie can check their load and span tables for max spans with certain sizes of timber.

Slates

BoylerMan wrote: »

Odonoso,

Gypsum do a system for suspended plasterboard ceilings called Gypframe. Chadwicks sell it as do others. I recently put it in our house which has concrete hallow core slabs upstairs. It is a lot of work. Firstly a channel has to be fixed along the perimeter walls a the height you want the ceilings (using as laser level). Then you mark the centers for the cross supports and drill for the support brackets. Initially we tried using a nail gun but this proved more time consuming and wasteful. That is most of the work. Putting up the cross support channels and leveling then is the easy part. It does do a good job though and the finished ceiling is very level. I'd imagine it would be impossible to get as good a finish with timber battons.

I have attached some details on it..

What are the costs like using this system ?

BoylerMan

Odonoso,

Gypsum do a system for suspended plasterboard ceilings called Gypframe. Chadwicks sell it as do others. I recently put it in our house which has concrete hallow core slabs upstairs. It is a lot of work. Firstly a channel has to be fixed along the perimeter walls a the height you want the ceilings (using as laser level). Then you mark the centers for the cross supports and drill for the support brackets. Initially we tried using a nail gun but this proved more time consuming and wasteful. That is most of the work. Putting up the cross support channels and leveling then is the easy part. It does do a good job though and the finished ceiling is very level. I'd imagine it would be impossible to get as good a finish with timber battons.

I have attached some details on it..

Jollyman

odonoso wrote: »

Thanks sunnysoutheast for the infomation

Does anybody else know anyting about the metal framework that can be used for suspending plaster board;)

This is one version of the metal framing to provide a suspended ceiling its the most common used as far as i know.

http://www.lafargeplasterboard.co.uk/products/systems/floors/con_suspended.htm

odonoso

Thanks sunnysoutheast for the infomation

Does anybody else know anyting about the metal framework that can be used for suspending plaster board;)

sunnysoutheast

Slates - we'd have needed to batten down to 6"/150mm to give sufficient headroom. There may be others with a lower requirement.

kilinick - builders always estimate six months! Loft conversion? Six months. Extension? Six months. 4500ft2 house? Six months.......

Remember a builder will put in a profit on PC sums.

SSE

kilinick

Thanks for the price advice Getfit.

Just got our second builders quote in which is about 20k dearer than the first....
He has a pc sum for electrical of 9.5k as opposed to 6.5k of previous builder.

getfit

kilinick - As it's rare for me to contribute to this forum (usually getting advice) I try to help with a price on solar. I received a quote for a system with a 400ltr tank and 6m2 of panels - which is a fairly good sized system. The delivery and instilation came to €5,800 (incl VAT) for an on roof system (pretty much on top of the roof tiles/slates) and €6,000 (incl VAT) for an integrated roof system (roof tiles laid around it - fully integrated into the roof)

The quote stated that the SEI Grant of €1,500 could be deducted from both quotes.

There were optional extras (which did seem like extras - not half necessary things) like 3rd coil in the tank for a solid fuel connection for €170 (the tank had a the solar coil and a main central heating coils as standard).

All in it can be done for €4,300 min. But it seems like €4,500 would be a good ball park.

Slates

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

Hi odonoso

Welcome to boards.

We have a concrete first floor with a wooden battened ceiling and p'board. It's battened down about 3 3/4 inches - note that this ISN'T enough for standard GU10 spot fittings if you want those.

How much room is needed for these spotlights ?

kilinick

Hoping for planning Mid Feb. 2700sq ft dormer. Cavity built. Getting quotes from local builders. Definitley going solar but no price for it yet. Not sure about wood pellets or heat pump and underfloor. Mixed reports on them. Got a pcsum of 6500euro for electrical work and 4000 for a staircase. Wondering if this is realistic. Going with a builder to do the lot as the houses he does seem very good and we are 60 miles away so project managing would be difficult.... Looking forward to getting started. Builder estimates about 6months...

sunnysoutheast

Hi odonoso

Welcome to boards.

We have a concrete first floor with a wooden battened ceiling and p'board. It's battened down about 3 3/4 inches - note that this ISN'T enough for standard GU10 spot fittings if you want those.

There are other alternatives - I think there's a metal framework which you can use and you run your services in the void above. Don't have any details, sorry.

We have a concrete poured in-situ stairs. Quite an undertaking, signed-off by engineer etc. In time this will have oak treads on it.

blackiebest - HRV is an alternative to passive ventilation (trickle vents/wall vents). Warm, moist air is extracted from bathrooms, laundries and passed through a heat exchanger which transfers a %age of the heat to the incoming, fresh air which is piped to the living areas. Things to check - boost function for after showers etc., insulated ducting, summer option (no heat exchange). We have this too and it's great - moisture control, fresh air with little heat loss. These systems work better the more airtight your house.

SSE