# House building



## leseduts (Jun 3, 2008)

We are in the process of buying a plot of land (UK). Does anyone out there have any knowledge of ground source heat pumps/Bio mass boilers and the sutchlike. There is no gas in the village so I am trying to sort out a viable alternative heating and hot water system.

This is going to be mainly a self build, the last one we built was finished a few years ago and we are now a lot older but still reasonably fit.

It is also out of our area, so the labourers, and general tradesmen that we have always used will not be available, so if anyone that lives anywhere near Louth can put us in contact with good tradesmen it would be appreciated.


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## GMLS (Dec 2, 2010)

I have some knowledge but before embarking on a self build, I'd thoroughly recommend investing in a subscription to Build It or one of the similar publications. They often run articles comparing different strategies. There are also loads of forum dedicated to this subject.


Ground source heat pumps linked to UFH usually a good option, possibly with a gas bottle or electric top up facility.


Ultimate choice is also down to other things like your budget, view on pay back times, form of construction, etc.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Liz built her own house and had UFH (still gets build it) but didn't bother with the ground or air source as it was too expensive so had gas, UFH is brilliant though.

unless you have the land or want to drill very deep holes I think air source might be a better way to go, but it's down to choice and the plot you have.

Enjoy the build though, are you going to be on't telly   , if so smack that arse Kevin Mccloud for me, I hate it when he tells people that their pride and joy looks like a airport lounge etc.


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## leseduts (Jun 3, 2008)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> Liz built her own house and had UFH (still gets build it) but didn't bother with the ground or air source as it was too expensive so had gas, UFH is brilliant though.
> 
> unless you have the land or want to drill very deep holes I think air source might be a better way to go, but it's down to choice and the plot you have.
> 
> Enjoy the build though, are you going to be on't telly   , if so smack that arse Kevin Mccloud for me, I hate it when he tells people that their pride and joy looks like a airport lounge etc.


Thanks for the advice.

Not a cat in hells chance of getting us on the telly.

We have built 6 houses in the last 30 years, which is probably why my knees and shoulders make funny noises. I used to be able to carry 10 pan tiles up 3 stories on a ladder. I can manage 3 now. Himself can still manage with no problem, but he may have a problem remembering why he has carried them in the first place!!

We have an acre plot, but I will investigate Air Source. We always build very well insulated houses and do not often use central heating. We find that the wood burner keeps the house warm most of the time, but creates a lot of dust. Technology has overtaken us, I have just noticed on the planning permission that we have to install Rainwater Harvesting. That seems to be water butts that we have always used, but on a much greater scale, and buried in the ground. It is all a learning curve.


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

" Rainwater Harvesting. That seems to be water butts that we have always used, but on a much greater scale, and buried in the ground. It is all a learning curve."


Better still. a 2000gallon tank (or two ) in the garden with all rain water piped to them
Install a 3rd pipe water system in the house, the third pipe for flushing loos etc drawn from the garden tanks


Saves money for rainwater disposal by your water company and is therefore cheaper, also no cost for incoming water to flush the loos


Another gain is water for the garden 0
Those above I did when I built my last house that I now still live in


tony


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

We both love the House building shows, not so much some of the presenters, Luxton is good, McCloud is okay most of the time, but the George Clarke bloke is terrible, re-hashing old stuff, why oh why, do they have so little decent footage? and that one where the pretentious twot paints the whole house white to prove a point, might not be so bad if someone taught the arse how to use a spray gun.

House building is a great subject as most of us have one, but there isn't much in the way of anyone actually doing it, just snippets of the big stuff, they should take us to places we don't normally get to see, like where some building products are made, show us the proper way to do jobs, but not a DIY show per se, it's a huge subject but no-one really does it well.

I bet Alan (Earnboy) could show them how to go on.


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

It really is an eye opener to read what some of you have done, or are capable of doing, is there no end to the wealth of knowledge on here.

It reminds me of the Taxi trade, 80% of drivers started off learning a trade before going for the freedom route.00

cabby


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