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

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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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splashthecash

BryanF wrote: »

congratulations
may i ask
are you sure the north point is right on your drawings?
have you done a provisional BER?

Yes, the north point is correct - we were limited to the orientation of the house due to the size of the site. I realise that our living room isn't in the ideal location but other than that we are really happy with the house.

No provisional BER rating has been done yet. Might get someone to do this now that you mention it.

BryanF

splashthecash wrote: »

Hey all,

I'm in the early stage of a self build - looking forward to it, I'm sure it'll keep me occupied for the next couple of years...

I've created a blog with a couple of entries so far so I'll try my best to keep it going and update as often as I can.

http://lilly4life1981.blogspot.com/

G'luck!

congratulations
may i ask
are you sure the north point is right on your drawings?
have you done a provisional BER?

muffler

farmerka wrote: »

Hi all Im on the half way to finish country side home

Keep us updated particularly in relation to pricing and any problems encountered etc. Thanks.

farmerka

Hi all Im on the half way to finish country side home

Tifosi

sas wrote: »

At least on the outside....

External insulation is completed and the scaffolding (less the porch) is down.

SAS

Just coming late to this but SAS the house looks great, the EWI looks well finished. Well done

manufan16

The The last time I posted in this thread was week 5 of the build, I can't beleive its week 11 already. The time is flying!

Anyhow , since then, the ICF first pour was done, then concrete slabs and concrete stairs were craned in ( 2 trucks 2 drivers, in and out in a few hours!)
The slabs were placed front to back so that they did not interupt the ICF on the gable ends of my dormer. After that the gable ends of the ICF were built then poured.
The Internal block walls are almost finished upstairs and downstairs.

I changed the spec from a cold cut roof to a warm cut roof and Im currently pricing timber and insulation materials for this stage.
The chippie suggested the initial wall plate proposed seemed inadequate for a dormer roof my size (concrete block on first floor slab with timber on top) after discussing with architect we changed to concrete and rebar shuttered in place with rebar in concrete and also through first floor slab)

I have scaffolding ordered that should be complete by the weekend meaning the chippie can start on the roof frame next week.

next up is roof , cills and sunroom, then the windows can be measured(still to decide supplier but have it narrowed down)

I am having some difficulty with the sunroom and what is the best way the steel should be done to avoid cold bridging etc. I have seen the keystone option but they have a fully filled cavity above where my sunroom has no block above the windows. If anybody has any advice here I would appreciate it ?

Do-more

I lodged my planning application this morning!

The system is a little different here in Sweden, there is an area development plan which covers the village in which I will build, a box outlined on my site plan shows where the council permits a house to be built and another shows where secondary buildings can be built.

The development plan also outlines various other criteria such as the maximum height to the eaves (3m measured from ground level to the top of the joist at the front wall) and the pitch of the roof (between 40 and 50 degrees).

Once you stick within these restrictions the planning department can grant planning without any further consultation and no one (such as neighbours) can object, it's only if you go outside the guidelines that the process is opened up to further consultation.

According to the law here a decision must be granted within 6 weeks but most decisions are made within 2 - 4 weeks.

But unfortunately there are lots of things which are not stipulated in writing in the development plan which are open to interpretation by individual planners such as the overall height and proportions of the building and the size of the dormer windows. I've spoken to two different planners already and have got widely different answers on the subject of the size permitted for the large dormer window we will have at the back of the house. So we will have wait and see whose desk the application will land on.

If it is going to be rejected they will give us the nod and we can withdraw our application without incurring any fees, make changes and submit a new application or we can stick to our guns and go to further consultation with the public and county councillors having a say, although of course I'm hoping that neither will be necessary.

Even if we get planning within two weeks I fear it is too late in the year to pour the foundations (I'm told it's not good to pour concrete if the temperature is below +5 degrees C) and we will probably now wait until March or April to break ground.

sas

BarneyMc wrote: »

House looking great SAS! Just wondering if your south facing glazing needs summer shading and if so what are you going to use? Maybe shading is just required for east/west windows for passive houses?

Thank you.

I have no shading requirement right now. I'm not sure why to be honest because the preliminary PHPP suggested I'd a 35% overheating issue.

When we went to the more detailed one (done by the same person) it dropped to 0%.

Now, I'm happy to spend less money but it's a little confusing.

We put a door off our bedroom (south, upstairs on the stepout) which is to open onto a balcony which we thought would be required as part of the shading solution for downstairs. We'll still be doing that. It will be a free standing structure (to avoid cold bridging in the EWI). No plans for it as yet but it's likely to be a stainless steel and glass type thing.

BarneyMc

sas wrote: »

Thanks, I appreciate the support. You are correct on the North South thing.

House looking great SAS! Just wondering if your south facing glazing needs summer shading and if so what are you going to use? Maybe shading is just required for east/west windows for passive houses?

sas

just do it wrote: »

SAS

Out of interest, what spec for the "shed" I see in one of the photos?

That's the one that got away. The footings for that were built years ago when I first got planning and hence any knowledged gained as I went along was lost on that.

It's 100mm traditional cavity with the cavity being empty right now.
The windows are a lower spec variant of the house ones to tie it in.

The garage is a 1.5 storey. The intention is to have upstairs and about 1/3 of downstairs for a gym. This therefore needs to be insulated.
The roof can take 225mm of insulation along with 30mm softboard outside the rafters. The reason being I do intend insulating that with cellulose.
The middle floor can also take 225mm of insulation.
That leaves the 0.5 vertical masonry upstairs to be dealt with. I'm considering building a TF structure inside this on the middle floor and insulating it that way (in time, money etc).

The slate for the roof is identical to the house, as are the fascia, soffit, gutters etc. The reason being that planning dictated it and also that we did wanted to have them similar. In hind sight I'd have built a smaller garage. That roof took approx 50% of the quantity of slate of the main house which is an awful hit to the budget when you go for natural slate.

SAS

sas

just do it wrote: »

Nice house there sas. I guess 313 is N facing and 315 is S facing;). Simple and stylish design making traditional form look fab.

Thanks, I appreciate the support. You are correct on the North South thing.

just do it

SAS

Out of interest, what spec for the "shed" I see in one of the photos?

just do it

sas wrote: »

At least on the outside....

External insulation is completed and the scaffolding (less the porch) is down. We are both very pleased with the result.

Started installing the HRV today. There really is very little to it once you get the hang of it. We're following a plan from our supplier. They will commission it later.

Couple of other miscellaneous things. First off a big thank you to our own mfceiling for the rail system. Great guy and a great job. You've managed to impress my foreman and that's not easy.

Also, it's come up a couple of times as to how you correctly fix the window airtightness fleece type tapes in a masonry house. We adopted the "bonding" approach. Basically the tape is held away from the reveal, bonding is applied, the tape is then pushed onto it and then more bonding is applied over the top to create a sandwich. The bonding has been scratched to create a key for the scratch coat too. The plasterers did themselves proud on this one, all the windows are as neat as the one in the pic.

Thanks for listening...

SAS

Nice house there sas. I guess 313 is N facing and 315 is S facing;). Simple and stylish design making traditional form look fab.

muffler

Well done sas. Looks good.

beyondpassive

Very Slick, like an iPad, I like the red front door it looks almost like a predominant blower door installation :-)

sas

At least on the outside....

External insulation is completed and the scaffolding (less the porch) is down. We are both very pleased with the result.

Started installing the HRV today. There really is very little to it once you get the hang of it. We're following a plan from our supplier. They will commission it later.

Couple of other miscellaneous things. First off a big thank you to our own mfceiling for the rail system. Great guy and a great job. You've managed to impress my foreman and that's not easy.

Also, it's come up a couple of times as to how you correctly fix the window airtightness fleece type tapes in a masonry house. We adopted the "bonding" approach. Basically the tape is held away from the reveal, bonding is applied, the tape is then pushed onto it and then more bonding is applied over the top to create a sandwich. The bonding has been scratched to create a key for the scratch coat too. The plasterers did themselves proud on this one, all the windows are as neat as the one in the pic.

Thanks for listening...

SAS

Bobbiblu

Well, after a very long time in the making, we finally broke ground yesterday evening. We're building a 2800sqft,low energy,south facing one and a half storey stick build and I'm really, really thrilled to finally break ground. Watching the first truck arrive with stone today was a seminal moment for me and we'll be pouring the footings tomorrow...so it's moving along nicely. Hope to have many positive (and not too many negative) posts on here in the months to come

Technophobe

BigGeorge wrote: »

Just got power connected to house, other services to follow shortly we hope. Turned the MHRV last week on & it made a big difference to the air quality in the house. Painting progressing well & flooring to go down shortly

Have been keeping a blog since the start: passivebuild.blogspot.com

Might be an idea to either turn the HRV off or keep it turned down low when you are still working on things that create dust such as sanding etc....extract vents may thank you for it...??

Nedserk

Cheers Bryan, i'll give that a read through. Met a couple of Timber frame companies so a start made at least.

BigGeorge

Just got power connected to house, other services to follow shortly we hope. Turned the MHRV last week on & it made a big difference to the air quality in the house. Painting progressing well & flooring to go down shortly

Have been keeping a blog since the start: passivebuild.blogspot.com

pocuana

sas wrote: »

So I had to visit the house this morning, I haven't been in all weekend.

The house is still shaded by scaffolding and the windows are covered with plastic to protect them during plastering.

The attic is now fully insulated and airtight, best part of the entire project so far. Simply outstanding guy.

The external wall insulation is being rendered.

Basically 95% of my insulation is now in.

When I opened the front door and stepped into the hall (which is on the north side of the building), a wave of heat passed over me.

I appreciate that it isn't the coldest of weather but it would appear that the passive thing might actually be working. I was grinning like an idiot the whole drive into work.

Hi SAS,
Where are you building as I am looking for good airtightness guy at the moment. Please PM details if you dont mind.
Thanks.

BryanF

Nedserk wrote: »

Just got planning last week so need to decide whether timber frame/ concrete build, what cavity if so, what U Value to aim for? Self build or not, oh the headaches begin.

have a read of this for where you should be going for building fabric http://www.passivehouseacademy.com/downloads/New-Build-Passive-House-Guidlines.pdf

Nedserk

Just got planning last week so need to decide whether timber frame/ concrete build, what cavity if so, what U Value to aim for? Self build or not, oh the headaches begin.

manufan16

Week 5 and foundations are complete to sub floor level, ICF walls and top course of internal rising walls of quinnlite blocks are also now in place to FFL.
I also got my steel and padstones ordered for openings, bay windows and sun room.

ICF first pour expected early next week along with the concrete floor & stairs supplier expected out for measuring - I had to send them new plans as when I stood in the hall I felt it was too small for a central staircase so we changed it to a return staircase.

Hopefully the self build show tomorrow will be good with loads of supplier offering great discounts :-)

1chippy

built a lot for other people now finally broke ground on my own this week. completly different buzz now its for my own. no time frame set out as will be doing between jobs and weekends so looking forward to the torture.

manufan16

I finally got started, the front boundary work is almost complete to meet the council site line requirements, the foundations have been poured and 50% of the rising walls built.
ICF contractor will be up next.

splashthecash

ok - i must be a few years behind everyone then...we are only working through our plans at the moment so I'm just trying to learn the lingo and get up to speed on all these new features we can use

sas

splashthecash wrote: »

Sounds great sas - can I ask is your place timber or concrete? What insulation did you use and what insulation space did you use (i hear that 80mm is the standard but you should go for the max which is 130-140mm)

My house is an externally insulated masonry house.

You appear to be describing a traditional build.

splashthecash

Sounds great sas - can I ask is your place timber or concrete? What insulation did you use and what insulation space did you use (i hear that 80mm is the standard but you should go for the max which is 130-140mm)

sas

So I had to visit the house this morning, I haven't been in all weekend.

The house is still shaded by scaffolding and the windows are covered with plastic to protect them during plastering.

The attic is now fully insulated and airtight, best part of the entire project so far. Simply outstanding guy.

The external wall insulation is being rendered.

Basically 95% of my insulation is now in.

When I opened the front door and stepped into the hall (which is on the north side of the building), a wave of heat passed over me.

I appreciate that it isn't the coldest of weather but it would appear that the passive thing might actually be working. I was grinning like an idiot the whole drive into work.