Bobby's new build thread

[doctor Bob]

Retaining wall foundation in.
Patio hardcore up to correct level,
Steps into garden cut in

 

[n0legs]

Love the rest bends.
Getting on well with that

 

[doctor Bob]

The old house has a little bit of damp, look carefully in the corner and you may just see it, need to look closely..........

 

[Tom K]

Hope you left an air gap around the cardboard wardrobe. Technically speaking I think most of what's visible is mould so a little job for wifey and some bleach perhaps?

 

[Bm101]

Strip the wallpaper carefully and sell it on Etsy as 'Handcrafted Artisanal Individualist Wall Patterning Created in a Dualist Dynamic Tandem with Natures Majesty ' in 6x9" tiny oak off-cut frames at £600 a pop. You'll have enough to pay for the new roof and get someone to do the windows for you. 8) Probably not enough for a Gardener though...
Looks like a fantastic new build. Look forward to more.
Chris

 

[doctor Bob]

Concrete block foundation wall and block and beam floor going in.........

 

[blackrodd]

Good pics, Nice and neat blockwork and setting out there, also noticed the lintol over the brown pipe and the bricks courses.
Looks like you have also got a good builder in! Interesting stuff, keep the pics coming please!
Regards Rodders

 

[doctor Bob]

Thanks Rodders, the builder is more of a project manager, doesn't get his hands dirty, been very fair on any extras and the house is on a fixed price.
We have about one phone call every other day, keeping it simple, I don't interfere I just like to be told whats happening and when.
I leave for work before they arrive and home after they have left due short sunlight days, the guys so far have been great and helped me rip the garden about a bit with their diggers.
Should have a shell by xmas.

 

[doctor Bob]

Block and beam floor started today, pics tomorrow.
I need to organise getting a 40ft container delivered for storage, I can then transfer old cart shed stuff into it and get it pulled down ready for new one.
I am starting to feel a little bit stressed by it all now but not sure whether that's because of the build or just because of running a business, having a fifteen year old son who is the forms head of light entertainment , having a wife who has decided this would be the perfect year to do a masters degree at a university 100 miles away, 2 dogs which like to mud wrestle every evening and morning, I've also taken on a major (voluntary) role within an organisation I'm a member of, and then there is the realisation that I really can't afford this house........... anyway it will all be OK in the end. :lol:

 

[Steve Maskery]

Bob, it's bound to be stressful (but I admit that is a particularly interesting cocktail), but it will be worth it in the end.
I'm actually having some difficulty coming to terms with my workshop being, for all intents and purposes, "finished".
Chin up.

Why not take a short break and bake me a cake?

 

[doctor Bob]

Block and beam floor is all down now, these are yesterdays pics, I get home in the dark so all pics are a day behind.
Rainwater harvester arrived today.

 

[Mcluma]

How many litres is your rainwater harvester?

 

[doctor Bob]

I should know but can't remember, it's about 12ft x 8ft x 4ft.

 

[doctor Bob]

Day 22

Never knew the beams come pre stressed with a bow in them, the weight of the walls and scree and flooring straightens them, if you jump up and down in the centers you see them bending. Footprint is about 105 sq meters.

 

[andersonec]

I have not read all the posts so not sure if I've missed it but with all that land out the back why are you not installing a Ground Source Heat Pump? The benefits are immense
.
Andy

 

[doctor Bob]

I have not read all the posts so not sure if I've missed it but with all that land out the back why are you not installing a Ground Source Heat Pump? The benefits are immense
.
Andy

I was going to, however the government look like they will pull the RHI, they are due to announce it in the autumn statement. I'm not spending £25000 plus to find I can't get payments. I spoke to one heat pump guy and he reckons his business will just stop when it's cut.

 

[andersonec]

I have not read all the posts so not sure if I've missed it but with all that land out the back why are you not installing a Ground Source Heat Pump? The benefits are immense
.
Andy

I was going to, however the government look like they will pull the RHI, they are due to announce it in the autumn statement. I'm not spending £25000 plus to find I can't get payments. I spoke to one heat pump guy and he reckons his business will just stop when it's cut.

Bob, I don't think for one minute it's going to cost you 25 grand :shock: half that I should think, If you have access to a digger and lay the pipes yourself the next cost is the workings and then count up the cost of a modern boiler (you would use underfloor heating which does away with radiators which in turn free up all your walls) and then add on the cost of radiators etc. it begins to make sense. The RHI is going to be reduced not abolished but if you take into account the reduced cost of your heating bills, oil or gas, and how much they are going to rise in the not too distant future these figures do not look so bad, ten or so years down the line things may be very different when it comes to fuel bills.
Andy

 

[doctor Bob]

I have not read all the posts so not sure if I've missed it but with all that land out the back why are you not installing a Ground Source Heat Pump? The benefits are immense
.
Andy

I was going to, however the government look like they will pull the RHI, they are due to announce it in the autumn statement. I'm not spending £25000 plus to find I can't get payments. I spoke to one heat pump guy and he reckons his business will just stop when it's cut.

Bob, I don't think for one minute it's going to cost you 25 grand :shock: half that I should think, If you have access to a digger and lay the pipes yourself the next cost is the workings and then count up the cost of a modern boiler (you would use underfloor heating which does away with radiators which in turn free up all your walls) and then add on the cost of radiators etc. it begins to make sense. The RHI is going to be reduced not abolished but if you take into account the reduced cost of your heating bills, oil or gas, and how much they are going to rise in the not too distant future these figures do not look so bad, ten or so years down the line things may be very different when it comes to fuel bills.
Andy

£25k is probably over the top, the system was going to cost 15k plus installation. The rumour is RHI on ground source is to be abolished not reduced. I will be better off leaving it and changing to biomass in the future if necessary.
The estimate on fuel saving was £450 per year, thats 40 years payback without an rhi, just not worth it. Then there was servicing costs on top. Without gov't subsidy none of these eco systems are worth it, the austerity program is killing them all, look at solar.
The house is having underfloor heating throughout.

 

[adidat]

What are your thoughts on biomass boilers only thing that puts me off is having to clear out the ash, but seems a good way of turning my waste into heat?

Adidat

 

[No skills]

Is bio mass the same as the wood pellet boilers? Read a fair bit on poor reliability of pellet burners, trouble with the feed systems mostly, people even taking them out because of the servicing costs and repairs.