The house that boards built!

Quazzie

Just a quick update: Floor is set upstairs and blocks were lifted on to the upstairs floor on Monday. Blocks officially started after dinner on Monday so hopefully by the end of the week the upstairs will start to take shape and the big floor will be bound by external walls so progress will be`nice.

I've gotten a comprehensive list for the roofing materials from the roofer and I'm currently sourcing the best price for materials. I'll post them up here when I have a list to compare. I'm trying to keep it local but I'm not averse to go North or UK if there is a significant saving to be made.

Electrical specs continue to confuse me but I think I'm turning the corner to understanding it.

All go go at the moment but I'm loving it.

JuniorB

We're at a very similar stage Quazzie. I've a contractor doing all the leg work though! Getting huge variation on our electrical quotes too. I'll PM them to you when we have decided on one and hopefully have some sort of breakdown on the costs. Best of luck with the rest of the build.

TheMammy

Hi Quazzie

we are looking into geo-thermal aswell...could you PM me the details too!! thanks:)
great thread by the way!

Quazzie

TheMammy wrote: »

Hi Quazzie

we are looking into geo-thermal aswell...could you PM me the details too!! thanks:)
great thread by the way!

Thanks for showing interest in the thread, and best of luck with your build.

Due to a large number of PMs that I'm receiving and also due to a lot of people asking for the information on thread I have decided to answer your query here instead of PM. Due to constraints on the forum about naming specific companies I can't name them here but can via e-mail. If you (or anyone that wants to know) send me a PM with your e-mail address I will forward you on a full copy of the quotation I received which contains all the information you need. Due to not being able to send a pdf via PM, unfortunately e-mail is the only way I can do it. Alternatively you can contact me at Srahhouse@gmail.com

Now for a quick update.

Wall plate will be reached before the end of the week and the roof is ordered and due to commence on Monday week. If the weather stays as good as it is currently my roofer estimates he'll have it done in 3-4 weeks max so its really pushing on.

I'll try get pictures up when the blockwork is finished (probably the weekend) so that you can get a real picture of the scale and layout of the job. Its a great feeling being able to look out the first floor windows though.

I've lined up two local window providers to come and measure for a quotation early next week so I'll put up a full window schedule with prices as I receive them.

Quazzie

You know you've been taken too long on your build when you go to get the second draw down on your mortgage and they ask for photographic evidence that you're actually building a house because its been so long.
They also asked for up to date payslips and bank statements. I'm guessing they are just checking that everything is still on schedule financially if not timewise.

Now for the good news.

Scaffolding arrived yesterday and was erected yesterday afternoon and today. The timber for the roof also arrived. I work in a steel manufacturing plant so the steelwork specified for the roof was supplied by where I work and also arrived today. Roof starts tomorrow so I'm hoping with the gorgeous weather we are getting that it'll fly up.

I know I've said this before but I will try get images up. A combination of losing my old camera, and having to access boards through a proxy means its been a pita going on Boards atm.

Quazzie

Ok, finally some pictures. I'll make up a list and hopefully one of the mods can edit some previous posts to include some pictures so they'll be spread out rather than a big bunch at the end.

This is where I'm at now
Blockwork finally finished




And finally the roof gets started.


Joists between the two steel girders.


Spaces left out for the Velux windows.


Having the roof even this far advanced is a major stepping stone. It feels like every day now is a leap forward rather than the old slow trudging along.

And for a little inspiration here is the view I'll see from my window every morning.

Hopefully without the scaffolding in the way:D

Quazzie

Just another quick update:
Got prices back for the windows, and they seem to be coming in on what I originally budgetted. €10,500 for black/black uPVC. Whats included is:
12no. French style windows (6no. 1000 wide & 6no. 1200 wide)
1no. Front Dorr (incl. two decorative glass panels for each side & rose window)
2no. Full height (2700mm) Corner windows.
1no. French style doors with glazed panel above to make up to 2700mm
1no. Rear door with glass top and bottom.

The company doing it is local to me, and I know the owner and he was very helpful and very accomodating of all my needs. uValue is 1.4 which is a bit higher than what I hoped for (closer to 1.1) but at this stage of my build I'm really looking at figures and trying to make compromises to meet hopefully somewhere in the middle finances and the spec I want to achieve.

Roof window prices also came back. They are keylite windows, and the quote is:

The breakdown of roof windows is now as follows.


1no Roof Window 780mm X 980mm @ € 163.80e

Tile Flashing to suit @ € 39.90e


5no Roof Windows 1340mm X 980 @ € 259.70e

Tile Flashing to suit @ € 53.20e

Cost is € 1768.20

Plus VAT @ € 21% € 371.32

TOTAL € 2139.52

I'm happy enough with that and again, I've had to make a small change from a quad window set up to a pair of doubles, which amazingly saved me over €900. Astonishing consider both let in the same light.

The company supplying these is also local which is something I'm starting to put more importance on. I feel its important to keep the money spent in the locality if at all possible, so I've been trying to source as much as I can from local companies.

Onwards today with the roof now that the weather seems to be back on track. so hopefully my updates will be more regular.

Quazzie

Update.
Warning: may contain imperial sizes
The roof has been carrying on without any major hiccups and we've progressed on through to the felting and beyond. As it stands at the moment they have the roof felted and therefore reasonably watertight so they are working on the internal studding for the last few days while the rains beats down. Roof window went in yesterday morning as did the wall windows and doors, so yesterday I was extremely delighted to receive the key to my house.

I bought lead through the company I work with, and in total just shy of 30 Metres of 450 wide (grade 4 I think) was needed and it came it at a cost of €99+VAT for a 5M roll so €495+VAT for the lot.

One problem we have encountered with the roof that might be of benefit to some people to know was that our roof rafters are 9x2 (sorry about using imperial measurements, I realise we're out of the 60's but thats what the roofer refers to them as) and because of this we used a 9X2 as our barge board. This has lead to major heartache because most flashing comes in 9" deep sizes so to cover the timber and continue on up over to cover the battens on the gables (and the small gables for the dormers) we need 10" flashing. This is a lot more expensive than the standard 9" and thus it is costing me €400 more for the flashing than if I foresaw this and put up 7X2 timbers on the barge.

Ah well, its all part of the learning curve.

I'm amazed by the quality of the windows and the doors and the corner panels still blow me away when I see them. They really transform the standard kitchen room to give it a nice modern touch.

I was also delighted to be able to see the proportions of the upstairs rooms come alive as the first parts of studding go up. After over a year and a half since we received out FPP and th slow progress up until now it really seems to be flying at the moment and I find myself worrying that I can't or won't keep up and inevitably lead to a mistake being made.

I've also made my second hiring through Boards and our very own mfceiling has been contracted to do the metal frame suspended ceiling for the house. He gave me a great quote and has been very helpful all the way along. He is due to do the work for me on Friday 23rd so hopefully I'll be added to his growing list of happy Boards users.

Next steps are to send out final tenders for Electricians and Plasterers. I've a spec made up for the electricians and I have a couple of sparkies just looking over it and given me opinions on it before I release it.

If there is any electricians that are reading this, or even anybody that has a knowledge of AV systems I'd be very grateful on any feedback you can give via PM. I won't post the spec here because I don't want people copying & Pasting it for themselves. All specs in all aspects of constuction should be evaluated and created as one offs.

I'll hopefully have pics to follow soon.

Quazzie

Just to add some prices.

We ordered 2700 Flat concrete tiles and 82 ridge tiles with all the neccesary die for concrete bedding and all neccesary nails for the price of €2100 inclusive of VAT.

<Note to self: add more tonight>

Quazzie

Here pricing the insulation at the moment, and trying to come up with the best combination price wise. Can someone have a look at this and just see if they think I have it right.

I think its right but I wouldn't mind someone just saying that its basically right. I know some figures might be a bit off (resistance, gap, plasterboards etc) but fundamentally am I on the right lines? If there is a majot flaw can someone point it out.

One line that might confuse is the "Allowance for Rafters" which I calculated to be 20% of the m2 K/W of the insulation, placed between the rafter. I got this figure from looking at some quotations that were sent through to me and doing the maths. This figure is based on 400 ctrs.

Any input on this would be a great benefit.

Viking House

Hi Quazzie

The inner walls of your gable walls seems to be built up and will probably touch the roof felt, this will cause a cold bridge where the wall insulation and the roof insulation can't meet. The inner leaf of the external wall should be knocked back level with the inside of the roof to avoid this cold bridge.

Quazzie

There is a layer of insulation placed between the tops of the wall and the layer of felt. Although this doesn't totally prevent the cold bridge because the wall itself is still exposed to the largely uninsulated attic space, it will hopefully minimize to a reasonable level. Unfortunately I'm at too advanced a level to rectify it any further.

I couldn't terminate the inside leaf at ceiling height like you suggested as its a 215 wall and is load bearing for the steelwork supporting the roof. What I might ave/should have done was to perhaps have one row of Quinnlite or equivalent blocks that would minimize the cold bridge that bit further. #


UPDATE
The roof is being finished today with the last of the ridge tiles being placed on and the tiles around the chimney that was plasetered yesterday being fitted also. Next up is the electrics and I've got three electricians pricing this at the moment, but there are at least 4 more I know off the top of my head I could also get to price as it seems there is a real over supply of electricians crying out for work at the moment. Hopefully this will reflect on the best possible price.

Viking House

Quazzie wrote: »

I couldn't terminate the inside leaf at ceiling height like you suggested as its a 215 wall and is load bearing for the steelwork supporting the roof. What I might ave/should have done was to perhaps have one row of Quinnlite or equivalent blocks that would minimize the cold bridge that bit further.

Could you remove the blocks between the steel or is it too late? Is the steel warm or cold?

Quazzie

The steel is cold. Unfortunately I can't remove the blocks as the roof is nearing completion and the ridge board and gable ladders are utilizing the 215 internal leaf also.

johnpawl

If it would be better to utilise quinn blocks to prevent cold bridging at where gables meet felt, would it not be the same principal for the upstairs windows??

johnpawl

sorry, "principle":D

Viking House

johnpawl wrote: »

If it would be better to utilise quinn blocks to prevent cold bridging at where gables meet felt, would it not be the same principal for the upstairs windows??

Correct Johnpawl well spotted! but it could depend on the details.
Can you internally insulate the gables to help with the cold bridging?

Quazzie

UPDATE:

The roof is almost complete, with the exception of a few tiles that we were short. This is probably down to the fact that a good amount broke during construction so in the end we were ten short. There is also a small bit of flashing to placed around on the dorner windows. Half a days work max when we get the lead and the extra tiles. The supplier said he'd get a rep to bring them down for free the next time he's passing.

I'm meeting the electrician tonight, and we're going to go through placement of sockets/switches etc. and he'll start hopefully on the upstairs tomorrow. I have to admit I'm nervous about tonight, it seems its the first real decision, with the exception of the windows that I'll have to live with day in day out.

What I'm really finding to be a problem is the mortgage. Every time we go for the next draw down they've been stalling and asking for photos from the site, and then when we supply them, they wait a week and then come back looking for more specific photographs. :mad: The gap between finishing our first draw down and finally getting our second was 6 weeks. Hopefully this time it won't be as long. It doesn't help the fact that payments now seem to be so frequent and considerably bigger.

PRICES UPDATE
For full eletrical installation and supply of all wiring required = €9800 Vat incl.
This includes a few extras that might not be on a normal house.
Extras include:
Kill switch to kill power to all sockets in the Master bedroom, Sitting room and kitchen.
(the kitchen will consist of two circuits with some stuff that wn't be turned off like freezers/fridge etc)
Wiring so that its possible to plug a generator into the house and power some essential circutis in case of prolonged power outage.
Full Lan throughout the house to all TV points
Full wiring for surround system in all TV zones.
Full wiring for alarm.


Got a good variation from plasters ranging from "definitely no less that €16k to as low as €10k all in. Both are reputable local plasters but I'm still waiting on one more price from an uncle and I'm hoping he'll match or beat the lower price. These prices are pretty decent in my eyes as not only are there two large cables externally but there are also two full size gables internally.

davkav

I'm am liking the idea of the kill switch for those things that get left plugged in over night that don't need to be. Id imagine this would save you a good few bob over a year.

How many LAN ports are you running to each point? Might not interest you but I remember reading about transferring HDMI over Ethernet. So if you where ever trying to setup a central media centre in the house and want to be able to watch HD video from it without having to have a media extender or similar you may want to include the additional wiring to make it future proof.

Heres a link to what Im on about. This is from 2006 but you get the idea.

Great build by the way and fair play to you for keeping the thread up to date with your progress. It is very much appreciated.

Quazzie

davkav wrote: »

I'm am liking the idea of the kill switch for those things that get left plugged in over night that don't need to be. Id imagine this would save you a good few bob over a year.

How many LAN ports are you running to each point? Might not interest you but I remember reading about transferring HDMI over Ethernet. So if you where ever trying to setup a central media centre in the house and want to be able to watch HD video from it without having to have a media extender or similar you may want to include the additional wiring to make it future proof.

I'll be running two CAT5e cables to each TV outlet. 4 zones in all (master bedroom, Sitting Room, Kitchen, Study/Cinema Room). One will be for Audio through a Sonos system and the second will be for Video.

Also at every TV point will be a phone socket (for Sky+) and two co-axials (again for Sky+). That will be a total of 5 wires running to each point in the 4 zones.

davkav wrote: »

Heres a link to what Im on about. This is from 2006 but you get the idea.

Interesting article I think myself that the future will all be about wireless sending of media but its still a good idea to have the basics in place from the start.

davkav wrote: »

Great build by the way and fair play to you for keeping the thread up to date with your progress. It is very much appreciated.

Thanks for the encouragement. Its needed at times when it gets stressful.

Quazzie

Plastering has begun on the house and its taking a slow but steady pace.

I shopped around for the plastering but still ended up going with my uncle who quoted me the same as the lowest bidder. I went with im as he had the benefit of knowing the building already from his work on the roof and also because he already had scaffolding set up so was ready to start straight away.

He's started and I've already started to hear echos in some rooms as they seem to be finally closing in properly. Its a great feeling to start to see something thats a finished product.

Nex on the list are internal doors, stairs and kitchen. I'll be hitting the road this Saturday morning and meeting as many stairs and kitchen manufacturers as possible to get not only the best price but also the exact product I'm looking for. Hopefully I can get both.

One big problem I wasn't expecting but seems to be reoccuring is organizing the stage payments drawdowns. Between my engineering taking up to three weeks to get the paperwork to the solicitor, to the mortgage company requesting additional information such as up to date pay slips and photos of the build etc. its been a massive PITA. Its seems that people no longer have the capabilities to complete work up front before payment and they prefer either immediate or interim payments as the work progresses. This has proved a nuiscance as the drawdowns fromt he mortgage seem to be always delayed. It seems by the time I actually get the cheque cleared into my account its nearly gone and its nearly time for the next one.

Stress levels on that front are at an all time high. :mad:

Technophobe

..wait until you look for the last one....!! (took me almost 2 months to get it off them, no issues just a load of administration issues, looking for documentation in dribs and drabs..:(

So make sure you leave the last one as a small amount, so that it doesnt hamper or delay you too much if the same occurs...;)

Good to see you makin progress too....

Quazzie

Good advice Technophobe. The last drawdown for me' will hopefully be small and only for some essential furniture and fittings. I'm hoping the house will be ready to move in without it.

Quazzie

The mortgage company returned to us with another form that they insist needs to be filled out before they release money. Another week added on to the already dragged out moeny situation. I'm facing hassle from the guys on site, and from suppliers who won't release more materials because of outstanding credit. :mad:

Both my solicitor and my engineer are under the impression that its a delay tactic by the mortgage company as they try to free up funds before releasing it. They say they're seeing a lot more of this type of thing lately. I reckon myself its just that they are working to stricter guidelines since the recession and every form needs to be completed perfectly with everything in order.

Either way its a right PITA and very frustrating having people ringing you looking for money and they thinking you're messing them around when really there is nothing I can do about it.

A suggestion of a post-dated cheque has been made to the suppliers and they seemed to be fine with that but now the dates been pushed out another week I hope they're still ok.

Quazzie

The post dated cheque to suppliers held them off for a while and gave me enough time to get more supplies and also for the cheque to come from the mortgage company and clear. Just in the nick of time doesn't even come close to describing how close some of the tradesmen were coming to walking off the site. But they got paid and work is carrying on.

Talks with my plumber have been a bit hostile of late as I made an error and some plastering has gone ahead of where he would have liked to got in. I don't think its a massive error, because instead of having pipes in the walls there will be a corner cut off for the shower unit, which was my initial plan anyway.

At the moment I'm sourcing plumbing supplies and I'm shocked beyond belief at the price of some of the things that I thought were a lot cheaper. Taps in particular have shocked me at their price. I'm also sourcing kitchens, and the stairs, which we hope will be ready for installation within the month.

I'm struggling at the moment to keep a schedule and plan ahead as it seems that saying things like "plastering next" and then leaving it for 5 weeks is a thing of the past and with the jobs getting a lot smaller the need to be on top of it is increasing.

Also a part I'm struggling with is that the realisation that the final drawdown of the mortgage will come after completion means that some suppliers/trades will have to supply and then wait for their money which in todays climate is becoming harder to find people willing to do that.

muffler

Unfortunately you're at the stage now where most things you go to buy are small, slightly expensive and you need multiples of them. Stick with it and yes, do shop around. As you would have discovered by now the prices can vary a lot from place to place.

Well done though. The finishing line is in sight

Quazzie

Just a quick update:
I purchased the plumbing supplies from a local supplier and all is delivered to site waiting for the plumber who seems to be up to his eyes at the moment fixing frozen pipes.
The list of stuff I got includes:
2 x 900 quadrant shower enclosures incl. tray + accessories,
2 x Thermostatic showers
1 x Bar Diverter Shower (for the en-sutie where its in a wetroom)
3 x Basin, pedestals, taps + accessories,
3 x Toilet cistern and pans
1 x Corner bath.
Total Price: €2700 incl Vat + Delivery.

I'm happy enough with it. There is nothing thats over the top fancy or expensive in there with the exception of the en-suite shower which I went for the better option. The price could no doubt be better, but it could be worse and it was with a local company so for me that justifies it.

Now we are waiting for the well to be drilled, ESB to connect us up, and the plumber to 2nd fix the house including heating. Then when heating is one for a bit we will install the doors, kitchen and stairs.

The doors have been sourced, and the basic list is 14no, Shaker-style walnut doorkits (2 to include glass panels + 6 to allow for 9" internal walls), and all the skirting for a price of €4500 inclusive of VAT & Delivery. Again this is sourced locally.

muffler

Thought that you had emigrated Quazzie as we haven't heard from you for a while

Good to hear that you are edging forward so to speak.

Quazzie

Its only when I go to do an update on here that I realise how slow its actually going. I'm not in any rush though and with another bad winter expected I've pushed out my deadline to allow for as much drying out time as possible before the introduction of timber doors, kitchens, skirtings, and stairs.

Quazzie

I honestly think I'm too much of a pushover for some of the guys that I've hired to get in to do work for me. The plumber, has been putting me off saying he'll be here towards the end of the week for the last four weeks. The guy who will be drilling my well is doing the same. In the mean time the engineer who is signing off my mortgage withdrawls seems to have disappeared off the face of the planet for weeks if not months at a time. It takes a week of trying multiple numbers and people to get in touch with him and then even at that it takes him up to three weeks to send off the cert. At times like this I have to questions the savings I made by hiring him in the first place. He was (very) cheap but he has held up the build at every single stage with his procrastignation in regards to complete mortgage stage applications. Thats why I've given it till Monday for both the well-driller and the plumber and if there is no sign I'm taking a stand and hiring someone else. In today's climate there are any amount of lads that will be happy of the work. Looking at this thread again has really emphasized how slow the build is going.

Now to get down to what is being done rather than what isn't. The painters are in, well the painter is. He is my brother in law so I'm lucky enough that genuinely the best man for the job is the man that will do it for me at a day rate. He has all the ceilings done and will be doing the first coat on all the walls over the next week. He has commented though that the plasterers were very sloppy with their work and this is leading to him going home in the evening with dead arms from sandpapering down the ceilings a lot more than he is used to. I guess thats another example of how hiring the cheapest (plasterers) probably wasn't the best idea. Luckily though he reckons its nothing that isn't rectifiable by himself. I'm also lucky he's a perfectionist so won't leave it until its right.

We also purchased a kitchen . We bought an ex-display kitchen that we were lucky was stylewise what we wanted, and with a minor modfication will fit nicely with our layout. We paid in total €4200 which includes the following:
Kitchen Specifications:
Ivory Raised Panel Doors
Matching blends
80cm Drawer Stack
Space for undercounter Oven
Corner Shelved base unit
2 Door sink unit
Door for Slim line Dishwasher
Matching Canopy style hood
Feature Glass Corner wall unit
6 wall units
Includes Sink, Tap and Extractor Hood
Includes 40mm Wood effect Laminate worktop

Appliance Specifications:
Neff Black Single Oven B14M42 RRP € 547
NordMende Gas Hob HGW70IX RRP € 291
Indesit Slim-line Integrated dishwasher DI450 RRP € 474
Neff Integrated Fridge Freezer K4204 RRP € 789
Total RRP € 2,101


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I'm happy with it as its pretty much exactly what I wanted, with the exception that I've to add an American style fridge to it. All things considered I'm very happy and with a good price that includes some good quality appliances I can't complain.

We cleared the site, as in we took the big pile of dirt that was at the rear of the house ever since the foundations went in and spread it around the site to make it more level. All in all including the hire of the digger (4days), a dumper (2 days), and a driver for the dumper, with diesel to run them it came in at just over €1000. My father in law who has been a massive help throughout kindly drove the digger for free for the four days. While we had it there we also dug two trenches. One for the ESB mains to the roadside, and one for the Phone line connection. These we were told it was advised to keep separate as the ESB can interfere with the phone connection if it isn't. The ESB were out on Tuesday evening and will be there again this evening so the plan is tomorrow morning I will switch on the first light in the house.
The phone line will take a good bit longer as we are told that they have to apply for planning permission so that they can place a pole/PT box on the side of the road. We were warned this could take 3-4 months but could be as quick as 2-3 weeks. There was also a fiasco with Eircom about the connection but in an attempt to not speak bad of a company I'll refrain from telling the story.

So in summary, we are plodding along at a very slow rate, but when the next payment comes down I'll be on everyone backs as that will be when our mortgage payments combined with our rent will be higher than our eventual mortgage levels.

I'm finally setting a date for moving in, and it will be no later than 1st August. Now that I've typed that I have to get my finger out and make it true.

soldsold

Looks like you are nearly there Quazzie!

From another thread you were posting on a while back - did you decide which way to go with Apple TV/ Sonos/ xbmc/ popcorn hour for your whole house audio/ video?

Quazzie

At the moment I'm leaning towards XMBC purely because it is so customizable and so much cheaper than the alternatives. I love the UI of the Sonos system, which with the iPhone controls is way ahead of anything in its class but for the complete system I'm looking for, at the moment its prohibitively expensive. My major thing was to set the house up that at any stage in the future I can change system relatively easy. With my current system I can do that with ease so I can add to the system as finances become available.

My budget allowance for Sundries which I was hoping would cover the purchase of this has been eaten up by things that are proving to be a lot more expensive than I thought.

Just a word, since I'm here, on a possible purchase that I'm hoping to make. Due to the design and layout of my house, the central hallway is a large area that will be the first impression every guest gets of the house. Due to the large, high ceiling (to the ridge) We need an impresssive and large pendant light to fill it. After looking around we have found one that we love. It is however the most expensive by far that we've seen at €900. At the moment I'm weighing up all options but it looks like we will making that purchase. My thinking is that I could get something less impressive for maybe €300-400 but with the saving I could make how could I get the same wow factor that it would give us.

dos30

Great thread Quazzie, I just spent the last few hours reading it from start to finish.
It'd be great to see some photos of how the house looks now that you're nearly finished.

TomTom

This thread is superb, opened my mind to a lot of things I have overlooked so far. I am only at the design stage of my house (also in offaly), I only have the percolation complete. I am lucky in the fact that my bother is a carpenter and experienced in many house builds, much like your dad in respect of info. I think people like this are invaluable in any project.
I go to home design shows and see what I think is a great idea and not only can he tell why it is/isn't he also has real word examples of builds he was on as proof. I am also lucky that I am married to a QS and she has another friend that will help, my best mate is a spark who wired my current house and I have been through a big renovation in the past few years. All that said your thread has shown me that I ain't seen nothing yet and a new build is a different kettle of fish.

Have you any more photos of the house?

edanto

Well done so far Quazzie, I just found this thread today and it's been a great read. I'm thinking of some improvements/extension next year and wanted to learn a little in this forum.
Thanks for being so patient and detailed with the updates, and I hope the mortgage company have stopped being so damn slow.

Best of luck with the last few months!

Quazzie

I accidentally unfollowed this thread so I wasn't getting e-mail updates. So I've missed the following replies. Sorry for the delay in responding.

dos30 wrote: »

Great thread Quazzie, I just spent the last few hours reading it from start to finish.
It'd be great to see some photos of how the house looks now that you're nearly finished.

I took some photographs recently so I'll get them up and posted this evening.

TomTom wrote: »

This thread is superb, opened my mind to a lot of things I have overlooked so far. I am only at the design stage of my house (also in offaly), I only have the percolation complete. I am lucky in the fact that my bother is a carpenter and experienced in many house builds, much like your dad in respect of info. I think people like this are invaluable in any project.
I go to home design shows and see what I think is a great idea and not only can he tell why it is/isn't he also has real word examples of builds he was on as proof. I am also lucky that I am married to a QS and she has another friend that will help, my best mate is a spark who wired my current house and I have been through a big renovation in the past few years. All that said your thread has shown me that I ain't seen nothing yet and a new build is a different kettle of fish.

Have you any more photos of the house?

Again I'll try get photos up ASAP. In terms of building a new house. If you take on the job of doing the hiring and firing, and managing the finances yourself, then I will tell you it is possible, but it is also massively stressful. Especially when it comes to money. Figures mean nothing. You start to think of everything in terms of percentage of the overall build, and sums of money don't go out in tens and twenty's its in terms of fifties and hundreds, if not thousands. Its incredibly stressful trying to get it straight in your own head about whats up next, who needs to be paid straight away, who can be held off for a week, and where can give you the longest credit. Getting money if you have been approved for the mortgage is not a problem, but its handling the when that is the biggest problem. Hire a good, friendly solicitor. That would be my best advice because if your mortgage supplier is anything like mine you'll be onto your solicitor every second day asking has the next cheque arrived.

edanto wrote: »

Well done so far Quazzie, I just found this thread today and it's been a great read. I'm thinking of some improvements/extension next year and wanted to learn a little in this forum.
Thanks for being so patient and detailed with the updates, and I hope the mortgage company have stopped being so damn slow.

Best of luck with the last few months!

No such look. We have finally been issued our second last drawdown, and its nearly gone already. Well not really but in my head I already have it spent across the various jobs that still need doing. Its starting to get very tight at the moment, but I'm still on budget to get the house finished and moved in for€65/sqFT, which isn't too bad,considering I'm hoping to have it at a pretty reasonable spec.

Quick Update:
The kitchen is being fitted today. . I'm really looking forward to seeing that is essentially a massive piece of furniture installed and I hope it makes it look more than just a building site and more like a house.


Again folks, apologies for the delay. in replying, I'll endeavorer to reply more promptly in future.

Pics to follow.

Quazzie

Some pictures.

This the view from the South East on the front of the house.


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The next shows the Front of the house and the North side. Notice there are no windows on the North side as there is no solar gain to be had.


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This shows the rear of the house and the South side which contains most of the glazing.


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This is what you see when you walk in the front door and look up.



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This is another view of the same thing.



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Quazzie

Here is the kitchen and the door into the utility room.


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This is the view looking across the bridge down towards the master bedoom.


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This is the room which will eventually be the cinema room/bedroom #4



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Sorry for both the delay in eventually posting these. Also apologies for the poor quality.

muffler

Its looking great.

sydthebeat

coming on great quazzie!!!
well done!

have you had an airtightness test done yet?

Quazzie

sydthebeat wrote: »

coming on great quazzie!!!
well done!

have you had an airtightness test done yet?

Not yet. There is a slight issue with the bottoms of the corner windows so at the moment there is a 5mm-25mm gap at the bottom whilst we decide what way we are going to do the cills below it. Not the ideal way to go about doing things, but not a major deal. When I get that sorted I'll probably go for an airtight test then, although if I'm being honest I don't hold hope for great results. Not getting a proper installer in and having an airtightness consultant help me at all the major detailling points is probably one of my largest regrets on this build.

creedp

Quazzie wrote: »

Not yet. There is a slight issue with the bottoms of the corner windows so at the moment there is a 5mm-25mm gap at the bottom whilst we decide what way we are going to do the cills below it. Not the ideal way to go about doing things, but not a major deal. When I get that sorted I'll probably go for an airtight test then, although if I'm being honest I don't hold hope for great results. Not getting a proper installer in and having an airtightness consultant help me at all the major detailling points is probably one of my largest regrets on this build.

Well done Quazzie .. your're making great progress. I've tracked your build from the beginning and even though I broke ground first you have easily overtaken me at this point. Says it all really as I went with a contractor in order to speed up the process!!

Im interested in your comment re gap underneath window as I have a similar issue with the top of a bay window where the gap varies from about 5mm to 20mm. Basically the steel frame was out and rather than measuring the individual sections of the window to fit snugly with the frame the whole window was measured to fit into the lowest section of the frame thus the 20mm gap in 2 sections.

I would be interested in the options you are considering. My window installers are advising this 20mm gap is fine and just bung it with silicone while builder is concerned that such a gap filled only with silicone could leak in future.

Quazzie

Mine is slightly different in that is at the bottom of the window, and is on the ground. This gives me the opportunity to hide it a lot easier on the inside when the tiles go up against the window. Because of this I will be propping the window and then clearing underneath the window so as to give me the best opportunity to get it right in terms of insulation placement and structural support.

In terms of a solution for you, the only advice I can offer is that expanding foam insulation or a sealant will not sufficiently bridge a 20mm gap. The different thermal properties and therefore differing rates of expansion would mean that over time the seal would break leaving an air gap or worse still a water gap. I'd listen to what options your builder would recommend and if still unsure, I'd ask your Architect/Arch Tech/Engineer for a detail that they would recommend. Getting it right now is going to be a lot easier than trying to fix it at a later stage.

creedp

Thanks Quazzie. Will pass this onto engineer and talkp again to builder and installer.

mrshappy

Just spent the last few hours reading this thread - very interesting, well done. Will you come in on budget do you think?

larry1

Quazzie wrote: »

I'm happy with it as its pretty much exactly what I wanted, with the exception that I've to add an American style fridge to it.

We are looking at a similar type kitchen and want to include an American style fridge too but are wondering how it can be intergrated to fit the kitchen and style. Where are you putting yours (could you upload a pic when you have it done please? ) Many thanks

Quazzie

UPDATE:

The kitchen is fitted, but since the rest of the house still pretty much looks like a building site then it still doesn't resemble a kitchen. Most of the recent work has been outdoor, making the most of the recent dry patches we've been having.
This includes:
Drilling of the well - I'm lucky enough to know a local guy who drills wells and he gave me a pretty decent price of €1000 even for the drilling of the well. Although he didn't have to go down too far I'm still happy with this price as he was helpful throughout the process, talking me through a few things and he got a very good supply of water.

Installation of both Geothermal and water supply - This is where things got a small bit complicated and also where my budget for unforeseen extras is quickly being eaten up. First. Water treatment. we got the water treated and admittedly I am fairly lucky that results showed up acceptable levels of manganese and just above acceptable levels of Iron. Even though the levels were low the treatment installation is going to cost €700 (again a discounted price as my Dad knows the supplier). I thought this was massive money and was weary of accepting it but further research showed that its actually pretty decent. I've heard of one guy being told that the water treatment for his site would cost in excess of €5000, so in relative terms my €700 bill is small. Small but still something I hadn't allowed anything for. Iron apparently is the most expensive to treat and the overall bill is usually dependent of the level of iron found in the sample. Thankfully mine wasn't much.

Another thing I hadn't allowed for is that because I want a pressurized system in the house, but only want to sink one well I have to run both the Geothermal and the Drinking water off one pump down the well. Due to this the problem occurs that how could I get pressure, whilst the Geothermal is running? The answer is build a small pump house to contain both the water treatment system, and a 450L tank for water storage to supply drinking water during the operation times of the Geothermal. This pump house also stores the pressurizing pump for the house and also all pressurizing/equalizing valves that are required. I'll hold my hand up and admit I'm not 100% sure of how it works but my plumber does so I'm happy to trust him.

The geothermal pump was also supplied, and fitted. Its ended up costing us €4500 for the pump because I took an ex-display model. Its the very same as what I would have received except it has some writing on the cover pointing to inlets/outlets etc. I can accept that for a €500 discount .

The septic tank has arrived and was fitted and I've just received word that my Engineer has just inspected and signed off on the raised bed percolation area, which means we can cover it up. Its funny that I'm getting excited about burying nearly €4000 worth of purchases underground, but it also means that when the plumber and electrician connect up the pumphouse, that I can finally flush a toilet in my house, which feels like a monumental step.

It also means that I'll be able to get the heating on which leaves the possibilities open for a lot more things to start, like 2nd fix carpentry, tiling etc all of which isn't recommended to be done before heating is on and running.
_________

Also Eircom have been out and have installed a line, which is capable of broadband. This will be my first time to ever have broadband which I understand for someone living in a town seems ridiculous but for me that lives in the country, its massive We did have some issues though, basically with them demanding polls either side of the road at the front of our house, which looked terrible aesthetically when installed, and then when they came to connect us they agreed it looked terrible, and took down the polls, and drilled under the road instead. Why they couldn't do that first time is beyond me

This is the stressful part of the build - Finances
We've discovered that we are running very tight for money. So tight in fact that we are possibly going to run short. I didn't think that would be a problem as I was under the assumption that it would just be a matter of ringing up our mortgage provider, giving them the additional amount and once approval was granted they'd send it on down to us. I've since discovered that this is far from how it works. Instead any top up would be like a new mortgage. Separate application, separate repayments. This would also require us to redo everything we did with the solicitor at the start and incur all the fees that were applicable back then. This is 100% my fault though as I done two things wrong.
1. I just wasn't knowledgable about certain aspects of the build, and this lead to me either undervalue certain things, not allow for certain things like €560 for filling of the percolation area for example. All these amounts whilst not massive in the grand scheme of things do add up over the course of the build.
2. I didn't allow enough contingency in my budgetting at the start when calculating the mortgage amount, and therefore didn't get a large enough mortgage. Looking at it now its better to hand some back at the end, instead of being looking for it like I am.

At the end of the day its not the end of the world as the amount we are short is small enough so a short term personal loan will cover it, but I would advise anyone reading this to always allow a good 5%-10% more than you think. The last thing you want is to run out of money at 90% completion.

Overall my stress levels are at 90 but satisfaction levels at getting close to the end are starting to rise.

muffler

Good to hear you are getting near party time.

Good advice re trying to secure a bit of additional finance at the outset. Doesn't have to be used if not required.

Keep up the good work

Steve

Did someone say party?

Congrats and respect for getting this far Quazzie, been lurking on this from the start. :cool:

Sorry if im not allowed mention parties Muff, haven't read the rules here in a while..

muffler

Steve wrote: »

Sorry if im not allowed mention parties Muff, haven't read the rules here in a while..

Its acceptable providing "you're invited" is included in the same sentence <snip>