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

soldsold

My first post on this thread...

Extending a 1000 sq ft bungalow to become a 4000 sq ft dormer at "near passive" levels. Triple glazing, 300mm insulation under, around and over, 60mm softboard on roof, airtight, MHRV, some dry stone walls, natural slate with copper ridge tiles, 13 triple glazed velux (I know, not exactly passive but they are great for light ), open plan kitchen, dining, living room, and upstairs 8m x 6m cinema room with its own isolated concrete slab floor with room-in-room construction and "green glue" sound isolation between plasterboard levels (guess which room will be my favourite?).

Some older pics and some from the last two days below...

soldsold

Limit of 5 pics on last post so here are the others...

srdb20

What type of insulation are you going for in the cavity?

soldsold

Pumped ecobead

voodoo

All,

It's been a while since I have been on - we finally started the build at the beginning of February... wow that has been a long 6-7 weeks where you don't see an awful lot of progress, but you know alot of work has gone in.

Floors poured now with UFH underneath
Geothermal pipes laid in the garden
Garage walls etc build

Had a bit of a snag yesterday - builders began the building of outer leaf and made a mess of the cavity (long story). 2 x courses had to be pulled back down. We are going with an 80mm board and Dry Lining inside walls with a 52mm board (40mm insulation).

Builders back onsite on Monday and I expect to see the house come out of the ground by end of next week. Exciting times...

Struggling now with what slates to select

srdb20

Do you know what type of u value you will have at the end of it?
Cheers

angela59

Hi Soldsold,

Lovely stonework on exterior of your extension - I love the dry stone walling! Is it Donegal quartz? If not would you mind letting me know and where you sourced it.

Many thanks

Angela59

mr_edge_to_you

looking good there soldsold! hope it continues to run smoothly.

mr_edge_to_you

Few photos! Hopefully we'll get finished in the next few weeks. Although the builders holidays over next fortnight won't help the cause.

Actually thought the pics looked better but I'll leave them up anyway.

secman

Looking well Mr Edge to you, on the home run now......... best of luck in the new abode.


Secman

soldsold

Angela59, the stone is from wesellstone - the grade is called "tipperary sandstone" - although their "wicklow sandstone" is probably nicer, it has a bit of purple/ red tint through some of it. Im putting a mix of "wicklow sandstone standard" with "2 inch" and "4 inch" tipperary sandstone inside at our dining room end wall, the mix will have a bit more colour, and will be mostly wide rectangular stone rather than square stone if that makes sense, I think it will suit the interior better. Work was by master stone masons, I saw a job they did before booking them and was as impressed by the pile of chippings on the ground as I was by their stonework, every stone is cut to shape by hand, they work slowly and take their craft seriously which is great when paying by m2. About one m2 was fairly rough work (monday?) and they pulled it down immediately and rebuilt it. Not the cheapest but definitely was jointly the best money we spent along with our roofers who have been brilliant to work with.

Mr Edge, must be good to be getting to the final stages, is it a lot of hassle to go from watertight to where you are at? Its been very stress free for us so far but Ive been told the slow and tedious bit is ahead.

mr_edge_to_you

It is slow and tedious. We went with a single contractor for the build with our own heating and windows. It was awkward at times when other contractors were dealing with builder. They didnt always see eye to eye. You also enter a stage you will spend every weekend off on the road looking at different things. The stress is you still have do deal with all the other pressures of day to day living and you need to start inspecting the site on a daily basis. We didn't bring in a consulting engineer and believe it or not that the plumber, the builder, our sign off engineer, our heating gang or ourselves never noticed that there was no feed in our bathroom for a bath.

Bobbiblu

Hi Mr_Edge,

house is looking great. Two quick questions for you if you don't mind sharing...
1. What are your stairs made from - it looks class
2. What type of tiles are on the floor in the two rooms (I'm guessing kitchen dining) you have shown...once again I really like the look of them.

Many thanks & congrats on getting so far! Hope it's plain sailing from here on in for you.

mr_edge_to_you

Hi Bobbi,

no bother.

The stairs was made a local joiner who has done a smashing job. What you see in the picture there is as of yet untouched. It is an ash stairs with walnut steps. The intention is to varish the walnut and paint the ash. We saw it a friends house and decided that we were changing all the woodwork in the house to match it. We got the builder to quote for a full oak interior so we went for the stairs option I just mentioned, engineered walnut doors and pine skirting/architrave that we will paint (off white to match the windows and stairs).

The tiles are really good. The manager of the shop we bought them in was out on site today to make sure that our excellent foreign tiler knew where the different tiles were going. Those tiles there in the kitchen dining area are 2ft sq (approx) porcelin tile. They are slightly unusual in the sense that they matt (rough) tiles with a high gloss finish - if that makes sense. The best of both worlds in our opinion. We have those large cream tiles in our hall, utility, kitchen, dining and sun room - one end of the house to the other.

irishshadowfax

Hi All,

In the process of getting planning for 2700 sq-ft 1.5 story house. This is what I'm thinking of going with so far:

- Insulated raft foundation
- UFH upstairs and downstairs
- Really like the ICF systems but think they might be too expensive
- Concrete stairs and second floor
- HRV system
- Solar panels with buffer tank
- Modern Wood Burning Stove (set in the fireplace, taped off the water)
- Gas condensing boiler and bulb tank
- Triple glazed windows

Aim is to insulate/airtight the house as much as possible and not focus on how to heat it. We would only be in the house evening and wknds so not sure about the UFH yet, I heard this can be costly to run for an hour or two a day, so might just go with radiators. I have a max budget of about 250k, any comments welcome...

IS

sydthebeat

would you consider building a passive house??

if you are content to use insulated foundations, HRV, triple glazed windows and focus on air tightness, you will be coming very close to passive levels.

you could have the option of forgoing the conventional heating system costs by focusing on improving elemental u values and getting your build air tight.

irishshadowfax

sydthebeat wrote: »

would you consider building a passive house??

if you are content to use insulated foundations, HRV, triple glazed windows and focus on air tightness, you will be coming very close to passive levels.

you could have the option of forgoing the conventional heating system costs by focusing on improving elemental u values and getting your build air tight.

Thanks for the reply Syd, good point- My aim is to be as close to passive levels as possible and only use the conventional gas/solid fuel heating as a backup. The thing that turns me off about a passive house is the principal/restriction of simplicity; I don't want to lose the architectural features and quirks I have suggested to my architect, the idea of split levels and an open lobby. I will still try and be airtight and eliminate cold-bridging however. There doesn't seem to be much information on passive housing in Ireland...?

mr_edge_to_you

Well, things are flying now. Kitchen arriving this morning and will be fitted on Tuesday. We have a painter in doing the skirting and architrave and he's motoring along. Tiler has to finish main bathroom and two ensuites. Plumber then has to do his bits and then were away! The sofa will be here in Tuesday. The only thing we bought up North during our build. Proud of us-we've done our bit for the economy.

passivetony

irishshadowfax wrote: »

Thanks for the reply Syd, good point- My aim is to be as close to passive levels as possible and only use the conventional gas/solid fuel heating as a backup. The thing that turns me off about a passive house is the principal/restriction of simplicity; I don't want to lose the architectural features and quirks I have suggested to my architect, the idea of split levels and an open lobby. I will still try and be airtight and eliminate cold-bridging however. There doesn't seem to be much information on passive housing in Ireland...?

Hi irishshadowfax
You could always get a passive architect. The key to passive is the ingredients, if you leave out one all the others suffer. Good luck with your project.

Poor Uncle Tom

passivetony wrote: »

Hi irishshadowfax
You could always get a passive architect. The key to passive is the ingredients, if you leave out one all the others suffer. Good luck with your project.

I presume you mean an Architect specialising in Passive House Design. There are also some very very capable Architectural Technicians specialising on Passive House Design and many more becomming aware of and getting into the pracitcalities and economics of Passive House Design.

sydthebeat

passivetony wrote: »

Hi irishshadowfax
You could always get a passive architect. The key to passive is the ingredients, if you leave out one all the others suffer. Good luck with your project.

In many cases the passivhaus PHPP calculations are subcontracted out to specialist professionals, be the arch techs, mech engineers etc.

As PHPP favours simplified regular forms and few junctions, it doesnt suit many of the more flamboyant architectural designs. Neither does it suit the Plan-a-home 'helicopter drop' type designs prevalent in this country.

A good communication between designer and PHPP assessor is paramount.

Obviously cases where the designer is also phpp capable is a bonus. Not may are however.

irishshadowfax

The architect I'm using came highly recommended and we are paying for the relationship he has with the local planner, he is based locally also.

I am meeting him next Monday to discuss the initial sketches actually. Then I will stress my aims for the build; airtightness and insulation, and incorporate them right from the design stage.

I am giving him my list above with two changes. Firstly, instead of ICF (expensive) going with 220-300 wide cavity with full fill bead. And secondly, having more small triple glazed windows rather than overly large ones, the exception being the back of the house, that is a south facing sun-trap.

Is there anything else you could think of that would be crucial at this stage to include? Again, thanks for the replies and all the help

IS

passivetony

irishshadowfax wrote: »

The architect I'm using came highly recommended and we are paying for the relationship he has with the local planner, he is based locally also.

I am meeting him next Monday to discuss the initial sketches actually. Then I will stress my aims for the build; airtightness and insulation, and incorporate them right from the design stage.

I am giving him my list above with two changes. Firstly, instead of ICF (expensive) going with 220-300 wide cavity with full fill bead. And secondly, having more small triple glazed windows rather than overly large ones, the exception being the back of the house, that is a south facing sun-trap.

Is there anything else you could think of that would be crucial at this stage to include? Again, thanks for the replies and all the help

IS

<SNIP>


Mod edit: passivrtony if your only intention is to pimp a particular method of building then you wont last long here. If you wish to contribute positively (and neutrally) to the forum then please feel free to do so otherwise we dont wish to see your input.

morning delight

irishshadowfax wrote: »

The architect I'm using came highly recommended and we are paying for the relationship he has with the local planner, he is based locally also.

I am meeting him next Monday to discuss the initial sketches actually. Then I will stress my aims for the build; airtightness and insulation, and incorporate them right from the design stage.

I am giving him my list above with two changes. Firstly, instead of ICF (expensive) going with 220-300 wide cavity with full fill bead. And secondly, having more small triple glazed windows rather than overly large ones, the exception being the back of the house, that is a south facing sun-trap.

Is there anything else you could think of that would be crucial at this stage to include? Again, thanks for the replies and all the help

IS

Hi IS

I'm thinking along the same lines as yourself but am a bit further down the road. I looked at all the build types and for me it is now a toss up between a wide full fill cavity or SIPS. That decision for you however is further down the road, even for after planning.

Main design issues regarding passive your architect (and yourself) will be well aware of: maximize glazing on southern aspect, minimize glazing on northern aspect; keep the surface area to volume to the minimum (a square being the optimium!); long axis of house facing south (I may be wrong on this but imagine it makes sense); and avoid dormer and bay windows.

All other issues like airtightness, build type, insulation levels come later, especially if you feel planning might be an issue. Get stuck into these details when you get your planning. I know it took me a long time to get my head around all the different build types and decide which best suited me.

So there's my tupence worth!

tfer

Hi all, my architect is putting the finishing touches to the plans, its a 2 storey
box shaped, south facing. I'm putting solar panels on roof, timber frame construction ( 140mm external walls ) expanding spray foam insulation ( i think ) either oil condensing or wood pellet, love the idea of the pellet system but the reviews haven't been the best, still, plenty of time to decide. My main question is the foundation, the site is very level and dry and was thinking why not do a raft foundation, I'm guessing it would be a cheaper option. What are the pro's n con's of raft verses strip ?

mr_edge_to_you

Well the carpenters are finished. Tiler is still slow but doing a great job. Kitchen and quartz worktop and island are looking jazzy, as is the wooden floor in the sitting room. Plumbers have started 2nd fixing and electrician has to hang a chandelier. That's about it then! My days on the live self build thread are numbered! I'll be off over to the weddings forum.

mendel

Good for you mr edge, I'm sure you are delighted it is nearly all done. wish i was at that stage.

muffler

mr_edge_to_you wrote: »

Well the carpenters are finished. Tiler is still slow but doing a great job. Kitchen and quartz worktop and island are looking jazzy, as is the wooden floor in the sitting room. Plumbers have started 2nd fixing and electrician has to hang a chandelier.

You're at the finishing post and its been great reading all your posts. Very informative and indeed helpful to others.

mr_edge_to_you wrote: »

That's about it then! My days on the live self build thread are numbered! I'll be off over to the weddings forum.

There's always a down side

BoozyBabe

muffler wrote: »

There's always a down side

Ha ha! I like it!

My update. Can't remember what stage we were at the last time I updated. Anyhow, All our electrics are done & we're now connected up to ESB & have power, woohoo!

1st fix plumbing has been done.

Attic insulation all done
Insulated plasterboard done, all plastering done,
laying floor insulation at the mo, hoping to get plumber back shortly to start laying the underfloor piping

Trying to decide on concrete or sand/cement for floor at mo, & then we're onto the easy stuff. Phew!
(Bet I won't be saying that in a few months! :rolleyes: )

smashey

BoozyBabe wrote: »

Ha ha! I like it!

My update. Can't remember what stage we were at the last time I updated. Anyhow, All our electrics are done & we're now connected up to ESB & have power, woohoo!

1st fix plumbing has been done.

Attic insulation all done
Insulated plasterboard done, all plastering done,
laying floor insulation at the mo, hoping to get plumber back shortly to start laying the underfloor piping

Trying to decide on concrete or sand/cement for floor at mo, & then we're onto the easy stuff. Phew!
(Bet I won't be saying that in a few months! :rolleyes: )

I remember your first posts on this and it's good to get an update and see how well you're getting on with it.