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

Poor Uncle Tom

Good Luck with the build Mr Edge To You.

mr_edge_to_you

Builder arrived on site today!

Going to be a fun few months no doubt!

muffler

mr_edge_to_you wrote: »

Going to be a fun few months no doubt!

Who is he - Brendan Grace?

smashey

muffler wrote: »

Who is he - Brendan Grace?

No.

He said it was going to be fun.

muffler

Comedians on boards now too

Currahee01

Things moving along nicely, timber frame due on Friday*
Underfloor heating installed, cement render stripped from existing cottage, it's almost a shame to cover it back up but the new lime render is true to the original! Most of the existing roof has been reinstalled with the addition of some velux rooflights.


*in builder's time this means Monday!!!

sydthebeat

looking good currahee...

hope you will retain those existing lintels in the cottage...

Podgemcd

Morning Guys

i thought I'd give an update on our housebuild to date:

We had the roof fitted 3 weeks ago and everything is drying out nicely....... finally. Windows were also fitted 2.5 weeks ago. got a free upgrade to A Rated Glass from Vista Therm too, apparently it costs the same to manufacture but because its "A Rated", the window companies tend to sell it with a higher price tag!

We decided to fit an "Intello Membrane" onto the ceiling joists before we fit the slabs, to prevent air movement. We've sealed up all floors, ceiling and walls to prevent drafts in future also. We went for a "Profil" tape on the windows as it is guaranteed for at least 60 years of draft proof service! Didn't hear about that one untl our engineer mentioned that most silicone/mastics out there are no good once the sunlight and air hardens them. We also used a special "mastic" for sealing up membranes. All German products as they have been at this for years......... we're just catching on to energy conservation here now!

We had a plasterer come in to put a light coat of sand and cement on the inner leaf of all outer walls to seal up the block work. This coat was also put in the window reveals so as the sealing tapes could be applied.................................. ****** A Word of Warning**** We had a contractor hired to do the entire job but they were too busy to do the extra plastering at the time so he advised that i get someone else to save time. I sourced what I thought was a good guy.................... boy how wrong was I. He charged 1200 euro to plaster the inner walls of a a 2600 sq ft house in 2 days. It looked good but once the builders came back and tried fitting the Cosy Boars with mushroom fixings, they found that the wall was not straight and was basically wrecked by these 3 cowboys. I did a check......... which I should have done beforehand and found that they had an address in Trim and Mullingar. Not going to bother ringing him because he will just make a bigger mess of my house if he comes back. He never send the invoice either but I paid him..... duh! But hey, the VAT man will be getting a call today to make sure all his books are up to date!!



Anyway........... don't make the same mistake I did, but it aint easy to pick someone "good" all the time. We're just lucky that the contractor in charge of the site is extremely handy and has assisted all through the build by bringing us to shops and past projects to see different finishes he can provide etc.


Good luck to all with your builds.
Podge

mr_edge_to_you

The end of week two. I reckon that it really moves quickly at this stage. The foundations are done and the main blockwork is starting on Monday. Our builder seems to have military planning skills in the sense that there is no waiting around. As soon as one job is complete the materials for the next is there waiting. That's what we're paying for I suppose. The site is being kept very tidy too which is good to see.

muffler

mr_edge_to_you wrote: »

The end of week two. I reckon that it really moves quickly at this stage. The foundations are done and the main blockwork is starting on Monday. Our builder seems to have military planning skills in the sense that there is no waiting around. As soon as one job is complete the materials for the next is there waiting. That's what we're paying for I suppose. The site is being kept very tidy too which is good to see.

Good man. Im sure you're pleased to see a bit of movement as they say.

clevermike

Edit: Banned for advertising.

syd

mr_edge_to_you

Coming to the end of week 3. Blockwork to 1st floor is almost done. Builder is expecting to have concrete slabs for 1st floor in place by end of next week before the head off on holiday. Just finalising our window supplies now. Down to 3! And it's still tough.

Podgemcd

Be careful allowing the builder to lay slabs on walls that aren't even completed for a week. The walls will still be relatively "soft" and laying slabs that soon may not be a good idea. if it was me, i'd wait until they return from holidays. I'm not saying what you should do......... just some friendly advice. its costly enough building a house without having things go wrong!

mr_edge_to_you

Podgemcd wrote: »

Be careful allowing the builder to lay slabs on walls that aren't even completed for a week. The walls will still be relatively "soft" and laying slabs that soon may not be a good idea. if it was me, i'd wait until they return from holidays. I'm not saying what you should do......... just some friendly advice. its costly enough building a house without having things go wrong!

cheers podge. My fiancee's father is keeping an eye on things, he's a recently retired builder. It seems he doesn't miss a thing and the fact that the site is next door to his house he is over and back all day. I'll run it by him. We also have a fairly fussy engineer for our stage sign offs, the builder wants him on site for the slabs as far as I know. If there's anything dodgy he'll call a halt fairly lively.

Podgemcd

Sounds like you have it under control anyway Mr Edge! Our situation is very similar to yours. hope all goes well with it.

We are getting ceilings skimmed at the moment....... starting to feel like a house now!

plunkettrebel

Hi we put down the raft foundation about 6 weeks ago, we are currently looking at wither the lime- concrete block or the standard cavity blocks. Our plumber is recommending the lime blocks, anyone have any views on them?

ms.hort

Hi,
We are plannin to build in kildare. Can I ask who was your contractor?
Cheers,
Ms hort

Jollyman

Well 19 months down the line we finally have a stairs, beats climbing the ladder up to bed i guess!!!! Kerbing to the driveway to be completed tomorrow, lawn being set the week after. Have stopped using mortgage money, saving a few weeks at a time and passing it on to get the place finished.

www.selfbuildardmore.blogspot.com

Mazotasan

Just started building 4 weeks ago in Kildare. Our foundations in and well bored. We are starting the footings next week so its all go...if only the Summer would arrive!!! Some great info on here so will be hanging around for the thrills and spills. We get a brief spec up shortly for interrogation and constructive criticism...best of look everyone with your builds and hopefully we can share some knowledge

Technophobe

Finally started Roofing yesterday, so hopefully things will kick on a bit now...really want to see it closed in as soon as possible.....

smashey

Technophobe wrote: »

Finally started Roofing yesterday, so hopefully things will kick on a bit now...really want to see it closed in as soon as possible.....

Sounds like good timing to me. Get it roofed and sealed before Winter.

Technophobe

That's the aim Smashey alright:)

Herself is v happy to finally see something other than blocks being delivered to the site:D (and alot of blocks at that:eek:

soldsold

Just got planning approved for our extension on Monday.

Yipee!!!

250m2 extension onto a 100m2 bungalow. Was a tricky one to get the planners to approve and would have been a major compromise to our plans if they said no as we were limited in options as there was a pesky house already on site.

Now we just have to build the damn thing...

muffler

soldsold wrote: »

Yipee!!!

250m2 extension onto a 100m2 bungalow.

Yipee indeed.

Sure its not a supermarket you're building

soldsold

Thanks for the comment. Every little helps:p

Podgemcd

Hi Guys, Hope you can help me here.
We're currently at the stage where we will be fitting timber floors on the first floor of the house. The first floor is precast concrete, (Solid, not hollow core). The builder has proposed fixing a 3/4" sterling board to the slab and then nailing down a Pre-Finished French pine floor on top.

Do you think this is a good idea, (eg. finish, soundproofing, quality etc)

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Currahee01

Alot of work done in the last few weeks...










First Fix & Trocal next week, wins ordered

Podgemcd

Anyone know a reasonable supplier for Pre Finished Pine doors, skirting, frames, etc? Also..... What price should I be looking at for these??

mr_edge_to_you

I hope the builders enjoyed their holidays. They are back on site tomorrow. Steel and concrete slabs were ordered two weeks ago so they should be ready to go this week!

scoobymac

It's been a while since I posted.
Well the timber frame was up in 2.5 days, the windows are in, blocks are up, the roof is 95% slated, waiting for chimneys to be plastered.
First fix sparks, plumbing complete and heat recovery installed.
Stone mason has started, waiting for roof to be complete before installing upstairs floor ( screed ) with underfloor.

can start insulating the walls then