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EDITOR'S LETTER / WELCOME

Welcome... In the year 2000, many held out hope that it would be the year in which governments would start tackling climate change. It seemed 20 years would be enough time to wean ourselves off fossil fuels. It didn’t quite happen that way but there are glimmers of hope. For one, hardly anyone shrugs their shoulders anymore at the enormity of what we’re up against, saying nothing can be done on an individual basis. Striving for zero waste has become more mainstream CANTILEVERED STAIRCASE – in the home (p. 15) and in the garden (p. 118). Achieving the floating effect. Still, from a self-builder’s point of view the ‘eco’ challenge is almost impossible to meet as WINDOWS & DOORS the very activity of building has environmental Budgeting for one of ramifications. For one, most building materials use up the costliest elements of your self-build. a considerable amount of energy and water to make. And even though there is a push towards more efficient and less resource intensive building processes (p. 76) ‘eco’ building continues, to this day, to be mostly about the end product: reducing energy bills and increasing the quality of the air we breathe indoors. So it’s likely that in the next 20 years, conservation AWARD WINNER and lifecycle analyses will become a more important NI bagged another RIBA Grand Designs part of the self-build mix. Watch this space.

NZEB COMPETITION

Win €3K for your house extension design.

award.

Astrid Madsen - Editor astrid.madsen@selfbuild.ie Follow the Selfbuild community:

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Selfbuild Dream it . Do it . Live it

88 20

56 94 32

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W H AT ’ S I N S I D E / C O N T E N T S

PROJECTS

114 GRANDEST

House Lessans in Co Down won Grand Designs House of the Year 2019; we catch up with homeowners Sylvia and Michael to learn the secret to their success.

Learn from the Irish self-builders who have been through the process of building and home improving

20 FOR THE LOVE OF THE VISTA

Dawn and Declan Lambe of Co Donegal built their home to capture their jawdropping sea and country views.

32 THE GAME IS AFOOT

Co Antrim’s Jason and Joanna Blake built a home tailored to family living, centred around the games room.

44 ACTION STATIONS

Wedding invitations, check. Planning application, check. Leonie and Jonathan Kennedy tackled their major renovation project in Co Mayo as they were getting married.

56 LEGACY

A Co Derry traditional cottage renovation project that goes well beyond preserving history.

88 VERNACULAR REIMAGINED For John and Elaine Lawler of Co Kildare building their family home from scratch was about moving back to their roots.

94 A (3D) MODEL BUILD The key to unlocking the right design for Donal and Maria Healy’s Co Derry new build was to use 3D design, but above all to take their cues from the surrounding rural landscape.

118 TOWARDS A ZERO WASTE GARDEN

110 ADVICE 68 SELFBUILD LIVE

A recap of the event in Millstreet this past November along with a review of what you can expect from Selfbuild Live Belfast this February; get your free tickets on live.selfbuild.ie

72 HOW MUCH WILL YOUR WINDOWS AND DOORS COST?

Find out what the cost components are when shopping for what’s likely to be your most significant outlay of your build.

76 MODERN METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION

From eco-building materials to nanoparticles, the future is exciting for house building.

80 THINKING OUTSIDE THE BLOCKS

Why you should consider a modern method of construction for your self-build.

106 BATHROOM DESIGN Tips and advice on how to furnish the most visited rooms in the house, on a budget.

110 TOP TIPS FOR RENOVATING A COTTAGE Lessons from a DIY, low budget Co Clare renovation project.

The garden can be a surprisingly wasteful place, between plastic container pots, store-bought compost and chemical sprays. Find out how to shake the bad habits.

121 INFORMATION OVERLOAD

Wading through the decades is the trusty House Builder’s Bible, now in its 13th edition.

122 THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM

The case for hiring your garden designer at the same time as your architectural designer.

124 GARDEN PASSION

Lessons from a garden project in Co Down with poor soil conditions.

128 ASK THE EXPERT

Advice for a self-build in NI and some of the questions we received through Instagram in the past couple of months.

130 SCRAPBOOK

Artificial lighting in the kitchen.

BASICS Basic information about building or improving your home in any of the 32 counties

82 CANTILEVERED STAIRCASES

The aesthetics of a floating staircase is hard to beat, but it tends to be costly.

84 BALUSTRADES

SELFBUILD: THE ALL-IRELAND

All articles equally cover the 32 counties; when we refer to the Republic of Ireland the abbreviation is ROI. For Northern Ireland it’s NI.

How to prevent falls, in style.

100 PLASTER OR DRYLINE

Pros and cons of each method of finishing your internal walls.

102 CARPETS Types, installation methods and maintenance. SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 07

CONTRIBUTORS / TEAM

Contributors

EXTENSIONS RENOVATIONS NEW HOMES INTERIORS GARDENS

Selfbuild SELFBUILD.IE

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CO DERRY TRAD COTTAGE RENOVATION

ALL FUN AND GAMES IN CO ANTRIM LOUGHSIDE NEW BUILD IN CO DONEGAL CO MAYO DOUBLE PITCH EXTENSION WINNING GRAND DESIGNS HOME

Heather Campbell

Andrew Dunne

Vivienne Hanna

Mark is the author of the House Builder’s Heather is a freelance writer and editor Andrew is a multi-award-winning designer Vivienne project managed her own Bible, now in its 13th edition. A serial who writes about property, construction, based in Clogherhead Co Louth, who family build and has been repurposing self-builder he advisers others about to travel and living overseas – when covers both NI and ROI, furniture for over 30 years. She is a busy take on a house building project; he is she’s not mixing cement for her home with 20 years’ experience under his belt. mum who also offers self-build advice, also a freelance writer. renovation project in Co Kilkenny. acdesigns.ie / info@acdesigns.ie specialising in cost effective interior twitter @slopingsite heathercampbell@crafted-copy.com solutions. facebook.com/viviennehannabrocante

ISSN 2515-5369

Mark Brinkley

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Cover Photo Paul Lindsay Editor Astrid Madsen astrid.madsen@selfbuild.ie Design Myles McCann myles.mccann@selfbuild.ie Shannon Quinn shannon.quinn@selfbuild.ie Marketing Calum Lennon calum.lennon@selfbuild.ie

Rhona Irvine

Keith Kelliher

Chris McComb

Leslie O’Donnell

Rhona is a Chartered Surveyor living in North Down. Mum to two lively boys, she finds spending time outdoors and in the garden a great way to unwind and relax.

Keith is a quantity surveyor with over 20 years’ experience and is the founder of Kelliher & Associates Quantity Surveyors. quantitysurveyor.ie

Chris is JP Corry’s Build Aviator manager. The Build Aviator service supports self-builders through each stage of the build process to help you scope, cost and deliver your project. jpcorry.com/build-aviator

Les is an engineer and architectural designer who runs Landmark Designs, a CIAT registered practice in Co Tyrone. landmarkdesigns.org.uk / NI tel. 8224 1831

Subscriptions Becca.Wilgar becca.wilgar@selfbuild.ie Business Development Manager Niamh Whelan niamh.whelan@selfbuild.ie Advertising Sales David Corry david.corry@selfbuild.ie Nicola Delacour-Dunne nicola.delacour@selfbuild.ie Lisa Killen lisa.killen@selfbuild.ie Maria Varela maria.varela@selfbuild.ie Accounts Karen Kelly karen.kelly@selfbuild.ie

Ray O’Foghlu

Fiann Ó Nualláin

Debbie Orme

John Scanlon

A Corkman living in Co Clare with his fiancée Katie, Ray recently renovated an extended a derelict cottage for €40,000. He works for An Taisce in forestry and coastal programmes; he studied fine art and holds a masters in environmental science. twitter @rayofoghlu

Award winning garden designer, author and broadcaster, Fiann has a background in fine art, ethnobotany and complementary medicine. theholisticgardener.com / twitter @HolisticG

Debbie is a freelance writer and editor, who writes about business, healthcare, property, maternity and the over 50s. She also ghost writes autobiographies. debbie.orme@talk21.com / NI mobile 077 393 56915

John Scanlon BSc (Hons) MCIAT MCABE is the director of JS Design - Architectural Solutions specialising in residential architecture, both new build and renovation. jsdesign.ie / mobile 087 2037 237

Andrew Stanway Andrew is a project manager with over 30 years’ experience. He is also a writer and the author of Managing Your Build published by Stobart Davies.

Come meet more experts at our Selfbuild Live event in BELFAST in February - turn to page 86 for more details and FREE tickets NI calling ROI prefix with 00353 and drop the first 0 ROI calling NI prefix with 048

Published by SelfBuild Ireland Ltd. 119 Cahard Rd, Saintfield, Co Down BT24 7LA. Tel: (NI 028 / ROI 048) 9751 0570 / Fax: (NI 028 / ROI 048) 9751 0576 info@selfbuild.ie / selfbuild.ie 08 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

Sales Director Mark Duffin mark.duffin@selfbuild.ie Managing Director Brian Corry brian.corry@selfbuild.ie Chairman Clive Corry clive.corry@selfbuild.ie Distribution EM News Distribution Ltd

The publishers cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions nor for the accuracy of information reproduced. Where opinions may be given, these are personal and based upon the best information to hand. At all times readers are advised to seek the appropriate professional advice. Copyright: all rights reserved.

H I G H L I G H T S / W H AT ' S N E W

Changes to building regs likely in NI THE DEPARTMENT FOR THE ECONOMY launched a Call for Evidence to inform the development of a new Energy Strategy for Northern Ireland, in December 2019, to reach the target of net zero emissions. In June 2019 the UK passed laws to end its contribution to global warming by 2050. The target will require a reduction in energyrelated emissions. The publication of this Call for Evidence is part of an ongoing public engagement process designed to inform and shape proposals which will be presented to the Minister for the Economy. The document says that approximately 85 per cent of our homes will still be standing in 2050 and that “significantly improving the energy efficiency of the more than 800,000 existing homes and buildings in NI will require investment, consumer buy-in and a comprehensive range of supporting policies.” The move is promising as Stormont was reinstated in January 2020, after a three year hiatus. The Call for Evidence will run until 20 March 2020; the document and submission template are available on economy-ni.gov. uk/energy-strategy-call-for-evidence

Renewables uptick ABOUT 3.5 PER CENT of the renewable generation volume in NI can be attributed to microgeneration and non-export generation, according to the Electricity Consumption and Renewable Generation in Northern Ireland (October 2018 to September 2019) report published by the Statistics Information, Analysis and Research unit at the NI Department for the Economy in December. The most recent 12 month period for which microgeneration data is available is for April 2018 to March 2019 and during that period an estimated 83.7 GWh of renewable electricity was produced by microgenerators. There is no data indicating how much of the electricity generated by microgenerators is consumed on site or the extent of any excess sent to the grid.

Modern Methods of Construction on page 76

“Locals only” rule a priority, says Minister ROI MINISTER FOR HOUSING Eoghan Murphy told Selfbuild the “locals only” planning rules are likely to change next year. However, a general election is now slated for February. Locals-only rules prevent people without proven ties to the community to get planning permission on some greenfield sites, a policy that has led the EU to take legal proceedings against Ireland over a decade ago. The rules are part of the 2005 Planning Guidelines on Sustainable Rural Housing, issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. A working group was set up at the start of 2019 but it wasn’t reconvened as planned in September: “While the group did not formally convene in September, discussions and deliberations of officials are ongoing,” a spokesperson for the Department of Housing told Selfbuild in October 2019. “We’re doing work with the [European] Commission and when that work is completed we will be able to update the guidelines from 2005,” Minister Murphy told Selfbuild at the NZEB Forum in Dublin on the 14th November 2019.

“We’re hoping for progress soon; I don’t think we’re going to see progress before the end of the year unfortunately. But it is a priority for us when it comes to what we’re trying to do with the National Planning Framework.” “By the end of this year we will have concluded the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies and from the beginning of next year every county has to amend their County Development Plan so that’s a key time for us to come with the revised guidelines and we’ve completed the process with the Commission. It’s very important to us.” The Department of Housing’s official position as supplied to Selfbuild by the press office, is as follows: “Taking account of the engagement with the European Commission regarding revisions to the 2005 Rural Housing Guidelines and subject to the completion of the ongoing deliberations by the working group, the Minister will be in a position to finalise and issue to planning authorities revisions to the 2005 Guidelines that take account of the relevant European Court of Justice judgment.”

SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 09

W H AT ’ S N E W / N E W S

ROI grant amounts change for PV THE SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AUTHORITY of Ireland (SEAI) has changed the terms and conditions of its photovoltaic (PV) grant amounts in a bid to encourage homeowners to install medium sized systems and get them to invest in lower cost energy upgrades first, such as insulation. If installing a 4kWp PV system the grant will be reduced from €2,800 to €2,400, and the grant for the battery decreased from €1,000 to €600. The grant for a 2kWp system, meanwhile, has increased from €1,400 to €1,800. The SEAI says an appropriately sized system will typically pay back the cost, net of grant, in around ten years. Homeowners wishing to avail of the PV grant as it stood when introduced in July 2018 had until the 19th December 2019 to apply, but would have had to have all works completed and documentation submitted by the 31st January 2020. Applications under the new system opened on 7th January

2020; the specific changes are as follows:

To be eligible for the grant the home energy performance post-works must be a Building Energy Rating of C or better as some homeowners were installing solar PV on homes with very low building energy ratings. Poorer performing homes will typically benefit more from insulation or heating upgrades and grants for these measures are also available (oftentimes solar PV is not the best first choice for a home energy upgrade, says the SEAI).

Support for 0-2kWp of solar increased to €900 per kWp installed to steer homeowners to smaller systems with higher levels of selfconsumption.

Support for 2-4kWp of solar decreased to €300 per kWp installed to discourage applicants from installing larger

capacity systems than they need; the SEAI says people are installing 2.8kWp systems on average whereas less than 2kWp is appropriate for the average Irish home.

Support for battery installation will decrease to €600 as the SEAI says the price for battery systems has dropped considerably from a starting price of over €3,000 to now around €2,000.

The scheme will transition from a rebate post works approach to a more traditional pre-works application / grant offer model. Since the scheme started, over €3.5 million in grants have been paid towards over 1,500 domestic PV systems with an installed capacity of over 5,000 kWp. In the same period, the number of registered PV installers has increased from 13 to over 100, with new companies continuing to register with the scheme.

New builds to wire homes for e-car charging point THE ROI DEPARTMENT of Housing is considering new rules that will require all new homes, including self-builds, be wired for the future installation of e-charging points. This provision is already in place for all NI new builds whereby e-charging points aren’t necessary to install but the house must be wired for easy installation. The public consultation will receive comments until the 20th

10 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

January 2020 and is available on the Department of Housing website. According to the Department press release the estimated cost to install cabling in new houses with a car park space within the property boundary is in the order of €150 per house, adding: “Home recharging is considered the primary method of recharging for the majority of electric vehicles in Ireland. Recharging at home at night is

very cost-effective and is to the benefit of the electricity system as demand is generally low at these times.” The public consultation was expected for non-residential buildings and apartment blocks; in those cases the department envisions e-charging points to be fully installed. The measures, when finalised after the public consultation, are expected to be rolled out by 2025.

In brief Grenfell explained? The New Civil Engineer sheds some light as to the possible reasons why the fire codes in the UK were relaxed two years before the Grenfell fire, in particular those in force through the London Building Acts which gave the district surveyor and brigade powers to enforce fire safety checks in large developments. During the public consultation which repealed the London Acts in favour of centralised building regulations, the now defunct contractor Carillon made a submission that stated the existing regulations were “pointless” and an “unnecessarily burdensome on businesses” warning they “favoured” public building control bodies over private building control. The Grenfell tower blaze killed 72 people after flames spread up the structure through external cladding. The article, based on documentation obtained on the back of Freedom of Information requests, is available on newcivilengineer.com

From Instagram to television The woman behind the Instagram account @CheapIrishHouses will host her own TV show in April 2020 on RTÉ One to help those struggling to get on the property ladder find the dream doer-upper. “I’m hoping it will open people’s eyes to the possibilities these neglected houses have to offer,” Maggie Molloy said on her insta account. “Maybe if we’re lucky it will make owners aware that their little cottages hidden away at the bottom of their fields are worth something to someone too.”

At Selfbuild Live Belfast

21ST-23RD FEBRUARY 2020, STAND C30

Realise the VELUX potential in your project What is the VELUX potential? It’s when that extra space transforms into an extra special space that you all love spending time in. Whether you’re planning a loft conversion, extension or even a new self build project, VELUX products can bring in more daylight and fresh air to your home. Come along in February and let us help you design your dream project.

velux.ie

N Z E B C O M P E T I T I O N / W H AT ' S N E W

Competition time! Fancy winning €3,000 to help you build your extension? Are you extending your home in ROI? And is the entire house going to require very little energy to run? Sustainable Tipp, a partnership between Tipperary County Council and Tipperary Energy Agency, invite you to enter an exciting design competition for the best major renovation project that includes an extension and the energy upgrade of the entire home to the Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) standard. The prize is €3,000, all you need to do is enter the competition to be in a chance to win! Just log on to sustainabletipp.ie and click on ‘NZEB Design Competition’. It’s free to enter and the closing date is the 31st July 2020. The winner will be announced in Autumn 2020. Completed extension and renovation projects are eligible to enter, as well as those that are at the design stage.

Small print

To enter you need to submit proof of planning permission/exemption along with your plans and drawings, details of the building fabric upgrades and renewables, as well as the full Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure (DEAP) report. The whole dwelling and the extension must be designed to meet the NZEB Part L performance requirements. The judges will assess the entire dwelling including the extension, in terms of the overall design concept including functionality and living quality, relationship with main house, approach to

innovation and overall sustainability of the home (40 per cent). Other judging parameters include performance coefficients and the extent to which the designers/ contractors have upskilled in principles of NZEB design and construction. Full details are available on sustainabletipp.ie and further information can be obtained from the Tipperary County Council Planning Section, NZEBdesign@tipperarycoco.ie, tel. 0761 06 5000

Applications open for one-stopshop energy upgrades Applications are now open for SuperHomes 2020, an ROI-wide scheme run by the Tipperary Energy Agency that assists homeowners in designing and completing their energy upgrade from A to Z. This includes processing grant applications and finding trusted contractors. A SuperHome combines the most appropriate and cost effective energy measures to deliver a healthy, efficient and low carbon home. The works are carried out in one carefully planned installation. Retrofit Advisor, David Flannery explains the approach SuperHomes are taking for the 2020 programme: “We’re currently preparing applications for SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland) funding under the Better Energy Communities (BEC) scheme. We have worked successfully with this scheme for a number of years and have sourced significant funding for our customers. 35 per cent of the cost of a Deep Retrofit will be eligible for grant support. As always places are very limited so we are advising applicants to start planning for their retrofit now.” “SuperHomes will start retrofitting homes in April 2020 and will continue until September. This will suit a lot of people who want to plan their retrofit well in advance, perhaps have time off in the summer or who can’t to disturb kids during the school year. It takes up to three months to design and tender for a retrofit, so this isn’t as far away as it sounds”. Applications are open on superhomes.ie

SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 13

When Self Build Becomes a Team Effort

Xtratherm provides a range of high performance insulation products backed by our Platinum Service which offers full technical support and advice, helping you to achieve a cost effective, passive standard new home. For further information and to register for the Xi Platinum Service visit: www.xtratherm.ie/platinum-service-for-self-builders/ Tel: 046 906 6050 (ROI) / 0371 222 1055 (NI)

The Platinum Service gives you the highest level of support from design stage to delivery of real performance on site.

N E W S / W H AT ' S N E W

Architectural heights In brief For a bit of design inspiration, the World Architecture Festival 2019 brought us two sets of awards this past December. In the best House Completed Buildings category the main event crowned Australian practice Terroir for Castle Cove House (pictured right); the judges said: “with the diversity and complexity of space, there is a visual shattering of the boundaries between inside and out.” Meanwhile the INSIDE competition, rewarding the world’s best interiors, bestowed the honours to a regenerated Japanese Colonial house in Taiwan. It transforms a traditional house into one showing the layers of history embedded in the site whilst creating a space

34k homes per year needed in ROI

adapted for modern living in an urban setting. Designed to provide an experience of joyful living, the JCA Living Lab project was designed with its residents in mind, providing considered spaces for children to run freely, but at the same time allowing for

ROI building costs The 2019 cost survey from tradesmen.ie released in November aimed to find out how much it would cost in ROI to build an average 40 sqm single storey rear extension, excluding VAT, with an apex roof, finished to a good standard and ready to furnish. An answer from Co Cavan was €800-€1,000/sqm depending on location access and spec. In Co Wexford, meanwhile, an average given by a local tradesman was €1,000 to €1,200 per sqm or €40k to €48k plus VAT. Another in the same area said he was building a 5.2mx6.7m two storey costing €79k at a good spec, but to builder’s finish (excludes the likes of flooring), and had completed another the same size, single storey, for €49k. An average cost in Co Offaly was estimated at between €30k to 36k plus VAT and in neighbouring Laois €48k depending on the amount of removal required and the extent of marrying together of old and new.

In Co Cork a tradesman said the cost would reach €60k to get an A on the Building Energy Rating scale; another said a standard builder’s finish would be in the region of €40k while a third said an approximate guide would be €1,060/sqm plus VAT. If the price is too cheap compared to other quotes, warns one of the tradesmen, chances are the correct materials (especially insulation) are not going to be used. Three cost variables to watch out for, in addition to the spec and which part of the country you’re in, include the existing house condition (connection to it and potential need to rewire the entire dwelling, for instance), ground conditions and access. Meanwhile local radio station Midlands103 reported in December that nonconstruction costs of a new house in the midlands were as much as €80,000 including hidden costs like development charges, electricity and water connections… plus VAT.

rest and reflection. Traditional craftsmanship is contrasted against modern detailing, such as the circular light feature hanging from the roof of the living room, against the backdrop of preserved materials. worldarchitecturefestival.com

The Central Bank published an economic letter in December which found that an average of around 34,000 new dwellings would be required each year out to 2030 to keep pace with the projected growth in the ROI population. Residential completions are well below both current and future estimated demand, implying a need for further expansion in the supply of new dwellings. Lending limits on mortgages, meanwhile, have not been relaxed despite calls to do so from banks.

BOOK REVIEW

Towards Zero Waste From the County Clare author and environmental consultant Féidhlim Harty comes a new tome to help you live a circular life. With climate change now firmly set on the political agenda, the book is unarguably timely. In fact it comes at a time when many of us ponder how to realistically reduce plastic from our lives, being omnipresent in packaging (which tends to be nonrecyclable) and everyday goods (not to mention toys). The author goes through the many steps that will allow you to minimise your footprint, from composting to shunning fast fashion and cleaning with more eco-friendly alternatives, all the way down to contraception. Part self-help, part DIY hacks, the book’s message is clear: recycling should be your very last resort. Towards Zero Waste: How to Live a Plastic and Junk Free, Healthier Life by Féidhlim Harty, Permanent Publications, ISBN 9781856233286, A5 paperback, 176 pages, permanentpublications.co.uk, £9.95 SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 15

W H AT ’ S N E W / I N S I D E R N E W S

2020 vision Cranking up the CoP With the new year comes a new signature product from Grant Engineering, a leading supplier of heating solutions based in Co Offaly: the Uflex system which takes the hassle out of the design, installation and commissioning of underfloor heating systems. Uflex conveniently comes with self-adhesive edging strip to prevent thermal bridging, as well as smart thermostatic controls so you can independently control each room’s temperature at the time you want it.

Tech savvy self-builders have played a significant role in the uptake of heat pumps as the preferred means of heating new build homes, in part to eliminate the need for fossil fuels. Now moving into this exciting field is established Belfast air conditioning firm Aircon, who have formed AirconHeat to bring to market a range of air to water heat pumps developed by Panasonic and Norwegian firm Polar Energi. Unlike traditional heat pumps which use plate heat exchangers, AirconHeat’s products use a double pipe coil to heat water, achieving a Coefficient of Performance of up to 8.43 as certified by IMQ Clima at an ambient temperature of 12 degC. This brings additional benefits which include reduced defrost times when outdoor temperatures drop and no requirement for additional counterlegionella measures. Most likely to be of interest to self-

builders are the range of multi-tanks. Alongside underfloor heating/radiators, the new products can provide domestic hot water up to 80degC without the use of electric heaters. For more information visit AirconHeat’s website, airconheat.com

It’s showtime It is also specifically designed for continuous operation so you can benefit from the screed’s ability to act a as a thermal store, or heat bank. Underfloor heating pipework is installed by your builder as part of the process of building the floor; it is positioned into place once the insulation and membrane have been fitted, followed by laying the liquid screed. For more information on Grant’s range of new products visit grant.eu Grant Engineering, Crinkle, Birr, Co Offaly, R42 D788, tel. 057 9126 967 Grant NI, Unit 117, 21 Botanic Avenue, Belfast, BT7 1IJ, freephone 0800 0443 264

16 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

Sliding doors are now routinely specified for self-build projects, to bring in light and add to the wow factor. But finding the right manufacturer can be daunting, so a good place to start is to visit the showrooms. A market leader in this field is Internorm, the quality Austrian window and door manufacturer whose products are on display in Eco Window Concepts’ new Dublin Showroom on Pottery Road in Dun Laoghaire. Eco Window Concepts are Internorm’s distributor in Munster and Leinster with showrooms already up and running

in Bagenalstown, Co Carlow and Mitchelstown, Co Cork. Eco Window Concepts is now also distributing the Solarlux range of bifold doors, glass canopies and winter gardens. To book an appointment to any of the showrooms just ring 059 9722936. Eco Window Concepts Ltd., Muinebheag Business Park, Royal Oak Road, Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, R21 EH66, tel. 059 9722936, fax 059 9720563, ewcl.ie

I N S I D E R N E W S / W H AT ' S N E W

Record breaker Breaking its already impressive record for speed of delivery Tobermore has, in the month of September 2019, delivered 99.8 per cent of its paving and walling materials in full and on time as agreed, maintaining an overall 99 per cent delivery rate over the past five years. The secret to Tobermore’s success is its commitment to manufacturing and customer services processes, from making and stocking the products on a single site to maintaining higher than average stock levels. Tobermore’s investment in world class machinery also ensures a high-speed manufacturing process with all orders

going through rigorous checks before delivery. The company is now over 75 years in business and, not one to rest on its laurels, also recently launched a tailormade customer service package called ServiceSure which follows a project from initial enquiry to delivery and beyond, updating customers at every stage ensuring an efficient, and consistent streamlined delivery experience.

Design it yourself

SONAS is a leading bathroom supplier known for its comprehensive range, stock availability and after-sales service, so while you’re there, come have a look at their showroom too.

There’s more to bathroom design than meets the eye, as anyone who has tried to put pen to paper will attest to. Now here to help is SONAS Bathrooms’ new Self-Build Design Masterclass, a free monthly event hosted by award-winning interior designer Gwen Kenny who will expertly guide you through all your space, colour, layout and functionality requirements. You will learn how to tailor your bathroom design to your needs, and to the way you will be using the most frequented room in the house. The classes are run at SONAS Bathrooms’ HQ in Ballycoolin; you can register and check for dates on sonasbathrooms.com. You just need proof of planning permission to attend.

See tobermore.co.uk for the full range and more information about its service.

To view the entire range available, head over to SONAS Bathrooms, 103 NW Business Park, Ballycoolen, Dublin, D15 R883, open Monday to Friday 9am-5.30pm, Saturday 9am-1pm, late opening Thursdays to 8pm, tel. 01 817 9755.

What kitchen dreamzz are made of

Finding reliable tradespeople is one of the biggest challenges faced by self-builders. To make the task easier, online inspiration and e-commerce platforms such as Houzz offer a means to look through project portfolios and customer reviews. Houzz also bestows awards, which Dukes Kitchens have won for both Service and Design over the years. Awards first started rolling in for Dukes Kitchens four years ago when the family run business was crowned the winner of the Second Nature 2015/2016 Kitchen of the Year Award for the UK & Ireland (above). They then went on to bag Best of Houzz 2018 Service Award and Best of Houzz 2019 Design Award. According to Houzz, only 3 per cent of its 2.4 millionplus paying users win awards each year. These awards reflect the popularity of projects undertaken by Dukes Kitchens in both NI and ROI, and on how the Co Donegal based company delivers high quality interior design services with bespoke joinery in both the kitchen and the bedroom. Visit the showrooms in Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal and in Wexford Town, briandukeskitchens.com

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Visit us at

TEC Belfast 21- 23 Feb 2020 Stand K15

We offer the latest in innovative solutions and design. Our team will ensure we deliver the very best solution.

143 Northumberland Street Belfast BT13 2JF

Tel: 028 9032 2802 Doorways.co.uk

I N S I D E R N E W S / W H AT ' S N E W

Hey Google, open my window… Most of us are aware of how important it is for our health to let fresh air into the home and keep it ventilated, considering we spend 90 per cent of our time indoors. To help regulate airflow, you might have come across VELUX ACTIVE with NETATMO – a smart window system that cross-checks local weather forecasts, monitors indoor temperature, as well as humidity and carbon dioxide concentrations, to automatically operate your VELUX roof windows, shutters and blinds.

The algorithm can also be set to run on pre-defined timings, for example if you do not want your system to operate when you are asleep or on vacation. What’s new is that the app is now available through Google Assistant and Google Home, which means it can be voice controlled. So when you’re settled on the sofa, under a blanket and about to put a film on, you can just say: “Hey Google, roll down the blinds”.

Free NZEB classes for self-builders

Find out more on velux.ie

If you are about to start building a house in ROI, you know the new Nearly Zero Energy Building regulations have come into force. To bring you up to speed is a free course run by the Waterford and Wexford Training Services. The course is open to all and combines hands-on practice and theory. It will give you a basic understanding of NZEB principles, building physics and building fabric as well as an overview of renewables, space heating and domestic hot water, controlled ventilation, lighting, and smart technology. For more about the course visit wwetbtraining.ie/nzeb

Delivering NZEB on site With changes in the building regulations in ROI having come into force, known as the Nearly Zero Energy Buildings regulations, it’s as vital as ever to get the right practical, hands-on guidance on site. As a leading insulation supplier, Kingspan Insulation is one such partner who’s been helping selfbuilders throughout Ireland with its Premium service – despite the name it’s a free service for self-builders who use Kingspan Kooltherm products. The standard Premium service

is for homes that are designed to achieve an area weighted average U-Value of less than 0.15W/sqmK, the Premium Plus plan is for those achieving less than 0.13W/sqmK. Both include site visits, U-value calculations and access to a help line. Find out more on kingspaninsulation.ie and through the recently launched social media hashtag #tomorrowssolutionstoday

SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 19

PROJECT / CO DONEGAL

NEW BUILD

For the love of the vista

When Dawn and Declan Lambe of Co Donegal found a site with jaw dropping sea and country views, the self-build of a lifetime beckoned… Words: Astrid Madsen Photography: Bernard Ward

e were living in the area, in a fairly draughty house, with our two children and even though we’d always toyed with the idea of building, we never really

20 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

took it seriously,” says Dawn. “Until we came across the perfect place to build our forever home.” “It was a busy time with two children, a dog, plus I own a coffee shop in town, The Lily Rose, but it was an opportunity we

couldn’t pass up. We’ll never get as nice a site again. As a couple it’s the fourth property we’ve done together so we had a lot of ideas of what worked and didn’t; we had two previous homes in Co Galway, the other in Co Donegal.”

CO DONEGAL / PROJECT

Local needs

“But the site was our pure inspiration, determining where the rooms should go. The living quarters are at the back over the view, the front of the house is utilitarian with bathrooms, laundry and boot room” adds Dawn. “We have a porch style entrance, with a red door because I have always wanted a red door, and the stone is a mix of Donegal sandstone and quartz.” “We found an architect in our town and went back to the drawing board many times before deciding on this design with him, but it was time really well spent.” “The site was in a local needs area so even though we only lived a mile away we had to prove links to this exact location in order to build a new house. Lucky for us my granny was born in the area and my mammy had lived there for a while too; it was pure luck.” The first statutory requirement to build a house is securing planning permission, and the local needs provision is one that’s set out in a number of County Development Plans only allowing those with a connection to the land to build their home there. “We’d gone to a pre planning meeting which is where they had flagged this issue. A local councillor wrote a letter we submitted to the planners to attest to our connection to the area,” continues Dawn. “Once that aspect

‘The site was our pure inspiration, determining where the rooms should go...’

was sorted the plans went through without any issues, taking just eight weeks to process.” “In terms of the design the planners were happy we kept the bungalow style at the front so it would look like other houses in the area. We went mad at the back in comparison, with a contemporary style opening up to the views.” “The size of the house also isn’t massive, so it doesn’t dominate the landscape, but it’s perfect at one and a half storey for a family of four. A bungalow with a contemporary twist.” “For instance my daughters share a bathroom, which is the smallest room in the house. Everything is sized and proportioned to our needs.” “Our eldest helped design their bathroom, picking tiles and essentials like the Bluetooth mirror – she is obsessed with music and singing. The shower shelf is carved out of a stud wall that was built over the blocks. I love the contrasting subway tiles in there; they are so clean and funky.” “What I love most is the panelling, the builders made it from MDF including picture rail,” adds Dawn. “I eventually want to continue this panelling into the hallway.” The children also had an input into the design of their rooms. “Grey and white is the main colour scheme of our home but I’m slowly starting to add colour with touches of pink and mustard accessories.” “Some of this inspiration comes from the children; their bedrooms are the only ones that aren’t grey or white as they chose the paint colours themselves. One is pink, the other blue. My eldest’s room is the smallest but it’s cosy and boasts a much coveted walkin wardrobe.”

Heart of the home

The heart of the home is the L-shaped open plan kitchen with dining and double living area partitioned by a two sided stove.  “The kitchen was where we spent a large chunk of the budget as it was the most  SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 21

PROJECT / CO DONEGAL

Q&A What would you change?

I’d add a balcony onto the bedroom. It was down to money, we just couldn’t afford it, but it would be nice to sit out and enjoy the view from up there. It can also get very bright at the bedroom window, and we’re considering adding curtains but I don’t want to spoil the unhindered view. Living in the house now, the main thing that bugs me is the internet connection. We did have a physical broadband connection put in but it’s not high speed. We do get a decent 3G signal when we’re sitting outside but with the triple glazing, it’s not so easy to get indoors.

What’s your favourite part of the house or design feature? The open plan living kitchen sitting room; I will never tire of those views. There are a lot of small things that make me happy when I use them. The sound of the waterfall tap in the bathroom for instance is very relaxing.

important room. It did cost a lot but this is our third and final home and we wanted to get it right,” explains Dawn. “The bonus is we got a hot water tap for free and we do use it all the time; no waiting for a cuppa, air passes through the tap to prevent scalding, so childproof.” “The solid in frame kitchen with pull out drawers and granite worktop, along with high end appliances, do make us feel like we live in luxury. We added coving where the cabinets meet the ceiling, and that really finishes the kitchen off.” “If anything, we probably have too many

kitchen presses. I think the more you have, the more room for accumulating things you don’t need. We have presses in the island also. I don’t have anything in half of them.” “The double sided stove acts as the focal point that divides the room. It means we have two sitting rooms in this house, the good side and the family side. On the family side we can relax and just chill out in our big cosy corner sofa.” “On the other side we opted to go slightly wild, we got a bright mustard sofa which looks fab up against the dark grey panelled wall. It’s more like the ‘Good side, for 

 22 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

PROJECT / CO DONEGAL

Q&A Would you do it again?

We’d build again but would never get a site as good as this one, so it’s unlikely.

What surprised you?

How long the build stage felt. It only took 13 months but the way I was living it, it really dragged on, probably because we were renting. We were unlucky too in that the rental went on fire – no one was hurt – and we ended up staying with my sister. Building can be stressful for a variety of reasons!

What single piece of advice would you give a budding selfbuilder? If you can afford it, definitely go with a main contractor. It’s going to be stressful with a builder but it’ll be better than not having one. Be 100 per cent sure about your choices and have everything lined up in advance to avoid making decisions on the hop that you might regret later.

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guests’”. “We got a pouffe made to match the sofa on the family side of the living room. It took six weeks to make but it was well worth the wait. When we first moved in it felt like the house was full of spaces to fill; little by little we have added furniture, fittings and accessories, to make it more homely.” The workhorse of the house is the boot room for shoes, coats and bags (bottom left photograph). “I’m so glad we added this into the design; on the one side we have larders that are 60cm each, with three drawers in the middle, along 1.8m. On the opposite wall there’s the washing machine and dryer stacked on top of one another, alongside a hanging rail and storage cupboards.” “The downside is that this room is never tidy, I haven’t been able to see the bench in a while but as Declan keeps reminding me, the house has to be lived in. On the plus side this means that most of the mess is hidden from view; we just close the door on it. There are still some shoes lying around the house but it would probably be worse without the boot

CO DONEGAL / PROJECT

‘...we got a bright mustard sofa which looks fab up against the dark grey panelled wall.’

room.” “For all aspects we kept everything as local as we could. The staircase was done by a local joiner; the treads and banister are oak, the rest is made of a cheaper wood and was painted.” “In terms of finishes we tiled all of the downstairs with the same tile. We had considered wood in the hall but now we’re very happy with our decision. We have a dog and he sheds a lot, and brings in mud.”

Building phase

“We sold our old house and started renting which meant we were under pressure time wise; we didn’t feel confident doing too much ourselves so we chose to leave the building stage to a builder,” says Dawn. “We tendered to a couple of contractors and our choice ultimately came down to price. We went around to see the work the two we shortlisted had done, and decided then and there. We started building in June 2017.” “The building method is blockwork, we have a concrete slab for the upper storey. We considered timber frame but liked the idea of a solid construction, being so exposed to the elements. There’s no shelter so we experience storms head on.” “The big decision was deciding what heating system to go for. Our previous house had oil central heating and a stove with back  SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 25

PROJECT / CO DONEGAL

Tips Have patience with colours... Picking colours is the worst job going; who knew there were so many shades of white and grey? We just went with brilliant white in the kitchen; the units are silver wood and the island is gun barrel grey. The bedroom is a type of hessian and the hall colour we got from a project featured in Selfbuild magazine; the homeowner kindly passed on the code to me. In the bathroom I was going to go with navy above the panelling but chose grey instead and the panelling in the kitchen is colour matched to the kitchen island.   … and lighting! Finding the right light fittings took a bit of shopping around; we were living in the house when I found most of them. The chandelier in the hall turned out to be a wee bit smaller than I imagined hanging in our mammoth hall. I was initially disappointed when I put it up but now I think it fits perfectly. We hit the jackpot with the large chandelier in our master bedroom and the main bathroom side lights. Shop around for everything, fixtures, fittings and everything in between. Keep an eye out for discount codes and do not be afraid to ask for a reduced price especially when buying big expensive items or if you are buying more than one thing of a certain company.

26 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

boiler. I was inclined to go down this route but my husband won that argument and we installed an air to water heat pump with underfloor heating upstairs and down.” “I’m very happy with it; we’re in now one and a half years and our last bi-monthly bill was less than €200, everything in the house runs on electricity. In winter bills are around €400 over two months, which is great considering it runs the whole house with electric and heating.” “We have a multifuel stove but to date, it’s only been lit twice because it gives off too much heat. We have candles burning in it most of the time; it’s now officially the most expensive accessory we purchased!” “During the buildin phase I was out

every day on site, checking on things. It was important I was there to make decisions when they needed to be made, so as not to hold up progress. But the builder did all the work, we weren’t hands-on at all. We did however hire our own electrician and plumber.” “We don’t have a central mechanical ventilation system, we just have vents in the wall (holes in the wall) and mechanical inlet fans in the bathroom. Of course there are also the windows we can open.” “There were some changes during the build. We made a couple rooms bigger by taking bits off other rooms, and took out a corner window in the living area as we felt it was overkill.” “Then one day my sister Tara came to 

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PROJECT / CO DONEGAL

visit the building site; she had a look around and suggested we add a picture window in the bedroom with a view over the lough.” “I didn’t think it was necessary at the time and I pretty much dismissed it. Sadly she suddenly passed away; she never got to see the finished house. The builders kindly cut the wall out, to add the window that she had suggested. It’s now known as Tara’s window and I love it, looking out over the Swilly.” “Overall the build came in under budget, which was a result of shopping about and scaling back on decoration where things cost more money than we’d anticipated.” “I love where we live and where our site is located, but by god are we open to the elements with the wind and the rain battering off the windows. Perhaps with the landscaping we will be able to buffer some of that, although we won’t be doing anything to lose our views.” “I can’t help but look at our one acre field thinking how are we meant to turn this into a garden; the sheer thought of the task ahead is breaking me out in a sweat. I’m afraid it’s going to cost a small fortune and take forever.” “On the positive front, we do have the kerbing done at back and side of house, the front will get done in a couple of years. Next on the agenda are curbing and a lawn, hopefully. One step at a time.” 28 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

‘Overall the build came in under budget, which was a result of shopping about and scaling back on decoration...’

CO DONEGAL / PROJECT

Tips Shop local where possible. The kitchen was built by a local joiner and we asked him back to add a built-in wardrobe to our bedroom. All we did is show him some inspiration images and he designed and built these into the eaves of the attic. This was a great way of using up the empty space that otherwise would have been boarded up and wasted. I also had a local lady knit my beautiful pink blanket for the hallway, it just shows you what you can find when you shop local. I think it adds the perfect touch of colour to my hall. Greenery and plants. I have filled the house with plants and foliage as I just love fresh flowers but even the faux ones you get these days are great. I find them so good for filling spaces and making a room that little bit more homely.

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PROJECT / CO DONEGAL

More photographs available at selfbuild.ie

Project information

Find out more about Dawn and Declan’s new build project in Co Donegal... BUILDING SPECIFICATION

SUPPLIERS

House size: 230 sqm Floors: solid floor with 120mm phenolic foam insulation, U-value 0.14 W/sqmK Roofs: Pitched roof insulated on ceiling with 300mm fibreglass, 38mm insulated plasterboard, U-value 0.12 W/sqmK; pitched roof insulated on rafter with 100mm PIR and 62.5mm insulated plasterboard, U-value 0.14W/sqmK. Walls: 300mm cavity walls filled with EPS beads, internally lined with 62.5mm insulated plasterboard, U-value 0.13W/sqmK. Windows: triple glazed, argon filled, low-e, overall U-value 1.3W/sqmK BER: A3 Airtightness: 3.128 m3.h.sqm at 50 Pa

Architect Northwest Modern Designs, Buncrana, Co Donegal, tel. 074 932 0860

Stove Henley Druid supplied by Devlin Fireplaces Bridgend, Co Donegal, tel. 074 936 8486

Builder T&D Doherty, Buncrana, Co Donegal, mobile 087 758 8813

Tiles Boyce Paints, boycepaints.com Bathrooms Watershed Bathrooms, macblair.com

Window supplier Lynch’s windows, Buncrana, Co Donegal, tel. 07493834, lynchwindows.ie

Hallway mirror Flair Interiors Limavady, Co Derry, tel. 7776 2768

Kitchen and wardrobes Dukes Kitchens, Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, briandukeskitchens.com

Furniture Restex beds and furniture, restexbeds.com Hegartys home interiors, hegartys.ie Flanagans furniture, flanagans.ie

Hot water tap Quooker, quooker.ie Stairs Barry Harrigan Joinery, Burnfoot, Co Donegal, mobile 086 353 8704, harriganjoinery.com

Living Room

GROUND FLOOR

Photography Bernard Ward, derryphotos.com NI calling ROI prefix with 00353 and drop the first 0 ROI calling NI prefix with 048

Kitchen table EZ Living Belfast, ezliving-interiors.ie

Dining Family Area

Office

FIRST FLOOR

Bedroom

Kitchen

Wrd

15 14 13 12

Utility

Bathroom

8 6 5 3

9 8

Wrd

Ensuite

7 6 5 4

Bedroom

Shower Room Bedroom

Bedroom 15 14 13 12 11

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Hotpress Wardrobe

2018 Best of Houzz Service The Second Nature 2015/2016 Kitchen of the Year award 2019 Houzz Design award

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PROJECT / CO ANTRIM

NEW BUILD

The game is afoot For Jason and Joanna Blake building a home was all about tailoring it to their familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lifestyle, and high on the wish list was the games room. Words: Astrid Madsen Photography: Paul Lindsay

32 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

CO ANTRIM / PROJECT

e never thought we could afford to build a house,” recounts Jason. “But eight years ago, land prices fell, and we found an ideal site in a rural location. The 360 degree views were stunning and we were only 20 minutes from Belfast.” “We started off with a small list of what we wanted, mostly practical things like a large utility with lots of storage, an open plan kitchen living and dining room, five bedrooms and a games room,” adds Jason. “Our architectural designer Mark was an amazing help. Our budget was limited, and we took his lead on how to maximise it. He understood our desire for a practical family centred home while adding his architectural stamp to create something a little bit different.” “We went through the plans in great detail with Mark: thinking of every aspect of the design and how it would work with us living there.”

‘One headache for Mark the architectural designer was trying to fit five bedrooms, two bathrooms and stairs onto the upper floor.’

Design and planning

“One headache for Mark was trying to fit five bedrooms, two bathrooms and stairs onto the upper floor. He created many different layouts, but we loved his design with the curved staircase. It allowed us to have the five bedrooms we needed and access to the games room from upstairs.” “The games room creates a versatile communal space with a large pool table, table tennis, and lots of storage for toys. A seating area provides a fun place to host sleepovers and movie nights.” “However, the planning department threw a spanner in the works when they suggested making the garage detached along with a few other relatively minor changes. It looked too large from a certain angle, according to them.” “As the games room was right above the attached garage; its future was uncertain. After several meetings with the planners, Mark came back with a list of changes. Many were minor such as putting an arch over the front door instead of a rectangle and we were happy to make these.” “But we really didn’t want the games room to be detached from the rest of the house as that would limit its use and make it more difficult to heat. Instead, Mark modified the design so that the roof above the games room would be a zinc curved  SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 33

PROJECT / CO ANTRIM

Q&A What’s your favourite feature/ favourite part of the house?

The curved roof on the games room, because it makes the house look a little different and because we did it ourselves. We originally considered uPVC to cover it but realised it might need replacing after a decade or so and we felt that even though zinc was more expensive, it would last longer.

What surprised you? Definitely the mess. We spent most weekends just tidying up after the tradesmen. It took many, many hours to get the house clean enough for it to be habitable and it was many months before the dust died down and stopped setting off the smoke alarms!

What would you do differently?

We would have removed the protective film off the windows sooner. It was left on too long and was a nightmare to get off. Lots of hours were spent scrubbing the adhesive away. We might also have tackled the landscaping sooner, but we are delighted with what we have achieved outside. We took cuttings and slips from the gardens of our friends and relations to produce a family friendly space that is low maintenance.

34 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

roof, to soften the visual impact.” “The connection between the house’s traditional roof and the garage would be a flat roof connection, and this redesign was approved.” Then came the energy calculations. “The triple glazed windows were designed by Mark to be large on the south facing elevations, maximising solar gains, reducing

heat loss and flooding our living spaces with light. Combined with the high levels of insulation and airtightness, the house doesn’t require a lot of heating.” “Coming from an old seventies bungalow which was expensive to heat, dark and a little damp, we relished the chance to build something well insulated, bright and condensation free,” continues Jason. “Mark was such a help; he deployed a range of cheap to run systems into our home to make it energy efficient and most importantly a healthy home. For this reason we opted for heat recovery ventilation (mechanised ventilation system that recycles the heat generated in the house to pre-heat cold, incoming fresh air) and it is absolutely wonderful to have a mould free home.” “With the help of a grant, we fitted photovoltaic (PV) panels on our south 

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PROJECT / CO ANTRIM

facing roof. This allows us to generate our own electrical energy and by connecting the PV panels to the hot water tank, we are able to heat all the hot water our family needs for 10 months of the year.” “We chose underfloor heating throughout the house, powered by an oil boiler because we knew our demand for heating would be low and self-regulating as each room has its own thermostatic control. It takes less than one tank of oil to heat the house for a year.” “We decided to include a wood burning stove into our kitchen living area which provides a focal point to the room and a blast of warmth in the winter.”

Joint effort

“My brother-in-law, a building contractor, and I project managed the build. With his

‘The kitchen was designed and built to be functional and beautiful. The walnut veneer adds warmth and the engineered stone creates an elegant worktop that is low maintenance.’ help we priced jobs and hired tradesmen directly to reduce cost. Mark was available to answer any technical queries throughout.” The building phase took about a year with the family moving in February 2018. “Labour came in at a reasonable price, as people were looking for work and gave keen prices. And by being on site daily we were able to sort small problems when they arose and ensure tradesmen turned up when they said they would!” “To keep costs down we brought on board high quality local tradesmen who were highly recommended by family and friends and this is how we found our independent kitchen cabinet joiner, Adam, who designed and built our kitchen,” says Joanna.  36 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

CO ANTRIM / PROJECT

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Q&A Would you do it again?

Yes, we would happily do it again as it was deeply satisfying to have been heavily involved in creating a home for our family.

What advice would you give to a budding self-builder? Firstly, like us, make sure you choose the right architectural designer. One you can trust and who tries to understand the needs of his clients. Also, have a think about your family’s lifestyle. Create a list of priorities and take your time at the design stage. Get the design right before you start to build.

‘Coming from an old seventies bungalow which was expensive to heat, dark and a little damp, we relished the chance to build something well insulated, bright and condensation free.’ “The kitchen was made to be functional and beautiful. The walnut veneer adds warmth and the engineered stone creates an elegant worktop that is low maintenance.” “A lot of thought went into its design,” adds Joanna. “We looked at many different options and visited lots of kitchen showrooms. We love food and spend a lot of time baking and cooking.” “For instance we have corner cupboards with 270 degree hinges which means no space is wasted, we can access every nook and cranny. Adam also created a bespoke spice rack inside a cupboard and lowered  38 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

ONE OF THE MAIN CONSIDERATIONS WHEN DESIGNING A HOME WILL BE HOW TO HEAT IT.

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PROJECT / CO ANTRIM

Tips Spend time on designing the house. Changing something in the design is likely to have a knock-on effect; it’s much cheaper to deal with this at the design stage than on site. Remember that you can build to your budget. We stuck to our budget by pricing around and agreeing to prices in advance with the tradesmen. Money is better spent on the structure as the furnishing can be completed at a later stage. Doing a lot of the unskilled labour yourself will also save you money. Think of ventilation. Your health depends on fresh air. As we seal up our homes to keep warm, we need to make sure they have enough fresh air and this usually means installing a mechanical ventilation system.

the height of the units so that washing dishes, and food prep would be comfortable for my small frame.” “It was also for this reason that I didn’t want wall cabinets so instead we have a walk-in larder behind the stairs, off the kitchen to provide additional food storage which uses up an otherwise wasted space.” “We splurged out on a kitchen hose spray tap and a recirculating extractor fan over the induction hob which helps to zone the kitchen area off from the open plan living space,” she adds. “We also had Adam design our utility room with floor to ceiling storage cupboards. Laundry sitting around just creates an untidy vibe so by having lots of storage, each person has a separate laundry basket which can then be hidden from view.” “Adam also created a large cupboard for school bags and another for coats and hats. Planning storage solutions from the start has made tidying the house a much easier task.” “For the staircase we originally thought of a floating design but that was too costly, so we got a local joiner, who also came highly recommended, to create a semicircular staircase. He made the curve on site, out of timber, a cost-effective method that yielded an excellent finish.” Much like the house itself with its perfectly framed views. “Even though we have been living here for five years the sunrises and sunsets continue to amaze me,” says Jason. “Each time of the year provides a different breath taking view.”

40 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

CO ANTRIM / PROJECT

SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 41

PROJECT / CO ANTRIM

More photographs available at selfbuild.ie

Project information

Find out more about Jason and Joanna’s new build project in Co Antrim... BUILDING SPECIFICATION

SUPPLIERS

House size: 320 sqm

Design Mark Montgomery of Architectural Design Services, Ballymena, Co Antrim ArchitecturalDesignServicesNI.com, tel. 2586 1177

Plot size: 2,000 sqm

Construction: 200mm cavity walls fully filled with EPS graphite beads, blockwork 100mm each side, internal finish cement render; PIR boards at reveals to external doors, windows and sills. Floors liquid screed on 200mm phenolic foam insulation, 25mm perimeter phenolic insulation, on 100mm concrete sub floor on 150mm blinded consolidated hardcore. Concrete suspended floors with 100mm phenolic board insulation in garage ceiling. Windows spec: Triple glazed, low-e, minimum 22mm argon filled gap, with trickle vents EPC (SAP rating): B (89)

Kitchen and utility Adam Loughridge, AJL Custom Kitchens, Ballymoney, Co Antrim, mobile 07809 118109 Liquid screed RTU, rtu.co.uk

Staircase William Crawford, WG Crawford Joinery, Co Antrim, crawfordjoinery.co.uk Insulation Kingspan Insulation, kingspaninsulation.ie Photography Christopher Hill Photographic, scenicireland.com

ROI calling NI prefix with 048, mobile prefix with 0044 and drop the first 0

Airtightness result: 1.79 m3/(h.sqm) @50Pa

Floor plans below © and courtesy of Mark Montgomery of Architectural Design Services

Build cost: £210,000

Games Room

Garage

FIRST FLOOR Bedroom

GROUND FLOOR Utility

Bedroom

Ensuite

Bathroom Living Room

Bathroom

Bedroom Kitchen

Bedroom Dining Bedroom

Living

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With the Sonos Multi-Room Music System you can add music to every part of your life and every room in your house. Wirelessly, effortlessly, flawlessly. With the touch of a finger, you can play the same song in every room or different songs in different rooms. And Sonos gives you instant access to a world of music including iTunes, Napster, Sportify, Wolfgang’s Vault, Aupeo and many more.

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GMS Intelligent Systems specialise in the management and integration of intelligent home solutions, via a structured cabling system (at building stage), to future-proof your home.in Enabling incorporationand of Digital Lighting,ofAudio Multi-Room and Visual Equipment, GMS Intelligent Systems specialise the management integration intelligent home solutions, via a Telephone Data Networking, Security Systems and Gate Automation. We also offer a complete wiring package, from the initial structured cabling system (at building stage), to future-proof your home. Enabling incorporation of Digital Lighting, electrical installation (17th Edition IEE Wiring Regulation) through to and including the conventional/intelligent package solution.

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P R O J E C T / C O M AY O

RENOVATION & EXTENSION

Action stations How Leonie and Jonathan Kennedy survived their major renovation project, all the while living in their house and preparing for their wedding. Words: Astrid Madsen Photography: Denise Kavanagh

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C O M AY O / P R O J E C T

hen we were house hunting, our priority was for it to be conveniently located, near my hometown but also not too far from work,” says Leonie. “It took a while to find the right house, but we eventually did in 2016.” “I work nights, doing shift work, and I need to be able to sleep during the day,” adds Jonathan. “So we were looking for a country house in a quiet area. Leonie was

responsible for finding house; she has a good eye. She did the viewings with her mum and for this house she said I should come have a look so I knew it was a find.” “I liked the house because of its orientation, with the living and kitchen areas south facing, and it had a mature garden,” says Leonie. “It had been architecturally designed in 1999 and the rooms are well proportioned, with vaulted ceilings. It was just different from other houses we’d visited.”

“Even though the inside was dated, there was plenty of potential and we bought it with a view of doing it up,” says Jonathan. Leonie adds: “For inspiration we turned to a massive amount of magazines, and because we lived in a nice house in Co Wexford, we copied a lot of the design ideas for the kitchen we had there, such as the butler’s pantry and drawers at the island. From visiting people’s houses we took ideas with us too; my sister built her own home 10 years ago and she was a great resource.”

Living in the house

“We knew we would have to live in it for a while to make sure we were clear about what we wanted,” continues Leonie. “And after two months we decided to approach a local architect.” “My sister had seen Mark’s website, it had a comprehensive list of all aspects of 

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P R O J E C T / C O M AY O

Tips Source everything as early as you can to avoid rash decisions. Buying wall or floor finishes in a day to keep the builders going probably won’t result in the ideal finish. The finishes will cost a lot. Even though we weren’t far off the mark with the budget there were some items that cost more than we’d intended to spend, mostly when it came down to the finishes. For instance we were a good bit out on the tiling; it’s important to remember that the price is per sqm so if you’re picking tiles a few euro dearer per sqm that will add up to a lot if you have a considerable amount of ground or wall to cover. Be prepared to do some work yourself to save. We did all of the painting ourselves because we ran out of money at the end. The exposed steelwork was a nightmare to paint even though it just involved a roller paint and a brush. We had to use fire retardant paint and working above your head isn’t ideal. But we’re so glad we didn’t get it boxed in. We painted all the rooms in the house; panelling would have been a good option too. Keep an eye on the tiling job. The grout on the tiles didn’t get washed off immediately and left a bit of a residue which we can’t remove now that it’s dry.

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building a one-off house and he’s based up the road from us. We hired him for the design and to inspect the build. He also signed off on the stage payments for the bank, but we did the project management ourselves.” “Mark redesigned the downstairs and there are only two rooms we didn’t touch: a bedroom and a sitting room, which meant we could live in the house while renovating.” “We wanted an extra bedroom, walk in wardrobe, ensuite. Also a big kitchen extension, and a porch to act as a buffer 

P R O J E C T / C O M AY O

because the hallway is so narrow.” “There was an ensuite and small bathroom next to each other, which didn’t make sense because both were too small to be practical, so we merged them together. We worked on the drawings with Mark until we found a design we were happy with.” “Living in the house we realised the showers weren’t strong enough so we wanted to add a pump for the entire house, we got 3bar pressure,” adds Jonathan. “We also upgraded the electricity when the kitchen was done with new wiring, we changed all the windows, they were teak and leaking, double glazed and never looked after, draughty with some mould problems too.” “We put in double glazing in the south facing kitchen for example but the bedrooms and north facing rooms are all triple glazed. The sliding timber aluclad doors are double glazed because we were afraid the triple glazed version would be too heavy to slide.” “We got a grant for the insulation work; we pumped EPS beads in the cavity walls and the attic was reinsulated as well as all of the pipework to reduce heat losses. The central heating system was oil with radiators and the boiler was ok; we moved it closer to the radiators to reduce the pipe runs, again to reduce heat loss.” “Because there is so much glazing we get residual heat, which is a treat in winter. And the wood burning stove is so comfy, we love using it, complemented by the two radiators. 48 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

C O M AY O / P R O J E C T

There used to be a stove with back boiler which we replaced with a regular stove to ensure it would heat the large space in the kitchen.” “We considered a mechanical ventilation system but never heard back from the companies we contacted for a quotation and, as time was of the essence, we simply chose to have vents in the windows,” says Leonie.

Building phase

“Because of the size of the extension we had to get planning permission which stipulated we had to get a new septic tank installed,” says Leonie. “Apart from that there were no issues.” The build started in November 2017 and finished mid-July 2018. “For the building phase we got a contractor in; neither of us know anybody in the trades. Mark put the tender to local builders, three of them didn’t quote. The difficulty was mostly in getting prices back with a good level of detail; this was in the summer of 2017. Four tenders came in and one was a single figure, with no breakdown.” “The builder we chose was the only one who came to see the project, the others priced it off the plans. We forewarned him we’d be living on site and he was amenable. We stayed in the bedroom, and when the kitchen was taken out we put in a countertop in the utility.” “It was handy living here for any  SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 49

P R O J E C T / C O M AY O

Q&A What’s your favourite feature? As both of us enjoy cooking, the kitchen would have to be our favourite space. But the double apex roof in the dining area is really special too. It’s airy, relaxing and lends itself to mingling too.

What surprised you?

How difficult it would be to get quotations, especially for our windows. One company got back to us months later with a price as the actual windows were going in. Generally speaking we were limited in choice for companies on the west coast, and because the windows are so expensive we toyed with the idea of ordering them from Europe, but decided against it because we thought it would take too long. We did come across some issues fitting the windows, and now even though most of them are fine some of the windows we retrofitted presented some problems.

What would you do differently?

Only one of the sliding doors open and if we could wave a magic wand we’d probably get a double sliding door. Two sliders opening up would be nice so people can move about more freely in the summer. Outside we may add more hard landscaping and a larger patio area.

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C O M AY O / P R O J E C T

questions the builder might have, to look at things, no decisions were made over the phone and we think that did move the project along and ensured we got what we wanted out of it,” adds Jonathan. “For instance the opening for one of the windows was the wrong size; thanks to our daily checks we spotted it early and it wasn’t an issue to resize. We spent a lot of time on site, we were here when the builders were here.” “Building and renovating is a dynamic process,” says Leonie. “One day when we came home to walk through the front door we realised the side of the house was gone. That was a surprise, as there had been no phone call to let us know they’d knocked a wall down, albeit a good one.” “There’s also a stressful aspect to living on site as there’s constant noise and the house was freezing when we opened it up,” says Leonie. “We only had a board and plastic protecting us from elements for a few weeks.” “But overall they were really tidy builders, they made sure that it would be clean for the weekend. Initially we expected there to be some dust and we felt it was not so bad because we kept our bedroom door closed.” “But towards end, when they had to cut the flooring (tiles and laminate) that kicked up some serious amount of dust. Yet, the only time we really had to move out was when we were doing up the bathroom. We went to my parents’ house who live 10 minutes away. It was tough going at the time – we were about a month without a

bathroom.” “We had originally planned to have the ensuite finished before moving onto the main bathroom renovation so we wouldn’t need to move out but due to the weather it was brought forward so we had no bathroom and only a portaloo for six weeks.”

Expecting the unexpected

“With a renovation, you’re always expecting the unexpected and we did come across a structural issue in the kitchen,” says Leonie. “The barge on the kitchen roof was disintegrating and had to be replaced, it’s always worrying to come across something like that.” “Then there was an issue with the bay window we replaced. We hadn’t been told we’d have to add metal posts to support it and this unexpectedly added to the cost.” “But the main thing that we changed during the build were the finishes,” she adds. “The builder had given us a set price for the builder’s finish, and priced the rest (kitchen, bathrooms, wall and floor finishes, fixtures and fittings) with a PC sum.” “Because his estimate for finishes was for the bog standard, we tripled the amount on paper. It isn’t an investment property, it’s our home for life and we wanted to get the finish we’d be happy with.” “We spent a lot of time choosing the floors,” continues Leonie. “We love the look  SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 51

P R O J E C T / C O M AY O

Q&A Would you do it again?

We’d do it again but because our problem was getting people to come back to us with a price, we would take more time researching suppliers and tradesmen. We sourced everything with the builder which helped a lot with lead times. We don’t plan on moving out but do plan an attic conversion so we’re not finished just yet! The process is easier the second time around, but it’s a steep learning curve.

What advice would you give to a budding self-builder?

Communication is the key to a successful build. Learn early how to be comfortable with your builder, make sure you are on the same wavelength. You probably won’t be in your comfort zone and won’t want to come across like you’re telling them what to do, but at the end of the day you are the client and you need to get things done. Remember you’ll be the one living here so you have to be happy with it all.

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of hardwood floors but they mark after a while and because we have parties we were concerned that heels would eventually make an impact.” “So we chose laminate, as there’s no upkeep and not much difference in appearance. We also learned from a friend of ours whose fantastic hardwood floor warped and she is now thinking of replacing it with laminate.” “As for the bathrooms, they were going to be more traditional than what we ended up with because we chose to go with a luxury hotel style for a spa feel.” “The kitchen then took up a lot of our time, central as it is to the design. My sister

had also advised to design the kitchen properly – we spent many manhours on it and and we now have everything where we need it. It just works.” “We have our induction hob on the island so when we’re cooking we don’t have our back turned on everyone,” adds Jonathan. “This however meant we had to put the extractor in the countertop, as we didn’t want anything coming down from the ceiling. We had to pay extra to get it ducted to the outside because we had to drill out the floor which we’d budgeted for.” “At the end of the build we kept a portion of money aside until the builder came back to complete the snag list, and it wasn’t too bad, there were a few things they tidied up like caulking around the sockets, it was all minor,” he adds. The result speaks for itself.

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P R O J E C T / C O M AY O

Project information

More photographs available at selfbuild.ie

Find out more about Leonie and Jonathans’s new build project in Co Mayo... SIZES & BUILDING SPECIFICATION

SUPPLIERS

House size before: 103 sqm House size after: 154 sqm Plot size: 1.3 acres Extension spec Floor finish on 75mm screed on 150mm PIR insulation on concrete subfloor; U-value 0.132 W/sqmK. Walls 350mm concrete block cavity work; rendered externally and plastered internally with 140mm full fill PIR insulation, U-value 0.142 W/sqmK. Pitched roof 150mm rafter depth fully filled with rock wool plus 62mm overall thickness insulated plasterboard (roof battened & counter battened); U-value 0.145 W/sqmK. Flat roof warm roof construction comprising 100mm PIR Insulation on 150mm rafter depth fully filled with rock wool, skimmed plasterboard, U-value 0.110 W/sqmK. News windows and doors Triple glazed uPVC in custom grey (RAL 7015); sliding door units timber aluclad triple glazed. Overall U-value on both 0.7 W/sqmK.

BEFORE Sitting Kitchen Dining Ensuite

Bedroom

AFTER

Bedroom

Porch

Sitting Hall

Kitchen

Living

Utility Bedroom Ensuite

Bedroom

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W/R

Master Bedroom

Structural engineer Paul Cuddy, mobile 086 122 7039, pcaengineers.ie Contractor P Fallon & Sons Ltd, Swinford, Co Mayo, brendanfallon1@gmail.com, mobile 086 252 1272 Insulation grant Better Energy Homes, seai.ie Kitchen and window seat Conroy Kitchens, Foxford, Co Mayo, mobile 087 6116100   Bathroom ware Hursts Heating & Plumbing, Castlebar, Co Mayo, tel. 094 9023453, hurst.ie   Kitchen countertop Silestone sourced from Stone Surfaces, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, tel. 043 6671365, stonesurfaces.ie   Tiles Inspire Tiles and Stone, Claremorris, Co Mayo, tel. 094 9372724, inspiretilesandstone.ie   Insulation (existing house) Brusna Insulation, tel. 096 37651, Corballa, Co Sligo, brusnaenergysolutions.com   Insulation (extension) Cavity walls: Xtratherm CavityTherm; Floor: Kingspan Insulation; Pitched roof: Knauf Frametherm; Flat roof: QuinnTherm and Knauf Frametherm Artwork Trisha Slowey Artist,  trishasloweyartist.com   Wastewater system Tricel, tricel.ie

Dining Bathroom

Architect Mark Stephens Architects, tel. 094 92 52514, MarkStephensArchitects.com

Photography Denise K. Images, denisekimages.com NI calling ROI prefix with 00353 and drop the first 0

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PROJECT / CO DERRY

RENOVATION

Legacy For Mary McGeough renovating this early 1800s cottage was not just about preserving history, it was about paying tribute to her aunt and cherishing childhood memories. Words: Astrid Madsen Photography: Paul Lindsay

56 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

CO DERRY / PROJECT

s a vernacular cottage listed on the Heritage at Risk Northern Ireland register, with a listing grade of B+, this project was bound to be special. “The house was bequeathed to me by my aunt, who was 93 when she passed away,” recounts Mary. “It is also where my father was reared with his brother and two sisters; my mum and dad even lived here for a short while after they were married.” “I have such lovely memories staying here, regularly visiting. I would come most Sundays and when I was old enough, I’d cycle down to visit. When I stayed over my aunt would always give me the upstairs bedroom. Unless her sister was visiting, in that case I’d use the small bunk bed on the landing. I loved spending time in the house.” “Because my aunt lived here all of her life it became known locally as Katie McKenna’s cottage, so in memory of my late aunt I have named the property Katie’s Cottage.” The room Mary’s parents had lived in was at the end of the house, but it was only accessible from an external back door. “It was clear to me that this room had been part of the house at some stage, a door had been walled in and the paint colour was different. I’m not sure when this was done, maybe to coincide with the time my parents lived there, to give them more privacy.” “My aunt used that room as an outhouse, it’s where she would keep the lawnmower, bike, and where her geraniums and dahlias would overwinter. She had plenty of space in the house and never needed that room for anything else, so it was left.” “Bringing this room back into the cottage

was always going to be an important part of the renovation,” adds Mary. “It was clear to me the space above should be made functional too. There was always plenty of room up there but it was never turned into liveable space because there never had been a need for it.”

Decisions, decisions

When Mary inherited the house, the thought of selling it didn’t enter her mind, despite other financial obligations and living in another town. “My aunt would never have wanted it to be sold, she loved and was so 

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PROJECT / CO DERRY

Changes to the windows The sash windows at the front were lovingly restored. The windows at the back had metal frames and even though we could have kept them we had the option to replace them with wooden sash to match those at the front; I felt the metal was a bit cold so we replaced them. The windows at the back of the house now match those at the front for the first time. There are two sets of windows upstairs, two in each gable. Before we started the renovation one of the gables had a set of windows and the other had one window, which had been covered over. We opened it up and sought approval for a second window to be put in to match the other gable. One of the windows on each gable is bigger than the other to allow for an escape route in case of a fire. You could jump out of the escape window without hurting yourself as you are surprisingly near to the ground, more so than you would expect. This is because the ceilings are relatively low downstairs, yet upstairs there is a lot of headroom. The only downside is condensation on the windows, as they are all single glazed.

58 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

proud of it,” she says. “The age of the house and the fact that it is a traditional vernacular cottage gives it meaning to the local community too, it is part of the area’s heritage and is beloved by many. That adds another dimension to the project.” Bringing the house back to life for future generations is an important achievement. “The work we did will take it through the next 100 plus years,” says Mary. When this piece of history was passed on to her, Mary first considered renting it out. “Unfortunately the house didn’t meet minimum Housing Executive requirements. My aunt had converted a room that was at the side of the house into a bathroom but it

was so cold you had to put the gas heater on for an hour before you could go in to have a bath. The external wall was made of a single row of bricks.” “Knowing it was unrentable we knew we had to upgrade it but at that stage we weren’t in a position to do it. We were living 23 miles away, paying our own mortgage and we’d just taken on a heavy financial commitment for our business. It all conspired against us.” “As time progressed, the cottage fell into a state of disrepair. It broke my heart to see it deteriorate but we couldn’t do anything about it. I knew my aunt would never have wanted it to be left that way or see it run down. Still, we started to look at what our options were and thought we would get plans drawn up and see if we could even get planning permission for a restoration and renovation.” “The first thing we did is speak with listed buildings in the Department of Communities NI. They advised us to go with an architect with experience in conservation,” says Mary. “We had to get planning permission but also consent from them because the house is listed on the Buildings Database.” “We got an architect on board who had worked on projects similar to ours. He not only helped us achieve the layout we wanted, Patrick considerably enhanced the redesign. It was Patrick’s idea to add a mezzanine area upstairs. It brings in natural light and makes it so open and bright.” 

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PROJECT / CO DERRY

Q&A What surprised you?

Our current insurer won’t allow us to light the wood burning stove or any of the three open fireplaces. The reason we can’t light the stove or fireplaces is that the top of the chimneys is only half a meter above the ridge of the thatch. The insurers we’ve spoken to insist on the chimney being at least 1m high, despite the fact that the chimneys were all relined and are in perfect condition. I can’t imagine making the chimney stacks any taller, they would look ridiculous.

What would you change?

If I had kept the door from the hallway in its original position, I think I might have had room for a three seater sofa in the living room. I only put in a two seater because we’re a bit limited for space with the stairs and four doorways.

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“The plans were put through and approved in 2013; these included entirely rewiring and replumbing the house. Even though the planners did not require that the builder we hire be on a register, we wanted someone who worked on ‘Listed Buildings’, so tendered the project out to contractors who had experience working on these types of projects.” “We got the prices back and chose our contractor, hoping to proceed but we had to put the project on hold, which was devastating. Then, in 2016, everything lined up very quickly, it was like it was meant to be. There was excitement and relief at the work finally starting. It was so important. Our architect Patrick acted as project manager throughout the build which meant that he and his team organised everything for us.”

Practical changes

“Our contractor Peter had worked on other old buildings and was an incredibly valuable resource throughout the project,” says Mary. “Between him and Patrick the construction phase was made easy for me; they were both so passionate about the project I think it made a difference. Their commitment shone through.” “Peter and Patrick were both keen to get going with the work, as they love the building and were excited to be bringing it back to life.”

CO DERRY / PROJECT

Q&A What single piece of advice would you give those thinking of renovating a cottage?

An architect with the experience and knowledge to enhance your ideas and bring them further is important to find. Especially for a listed building, I believe an architect and contractor with experience in conservation are essential.

What are your favourite design features?

The restoration included making good on the external façade. Years of lime whitewashed plaster were removed and replaced with a new lime whitewash render. “I was taken aback to see the stone structure of the house for the first time, it was beautiful,” comments Mary. A new insulated concrete floor was put in downstairs but the external walls did not require insulation. The stone walls and the thatched roof, Mary says, work well to help regulate temperatures. “In winter the house stays warm and in the summer, on those rare days when it’s hot outside, the house is nice and cool.” The roof was entirely rethatched with wheat straw and the ceilings underneath plasterboarded. “Being able to get a thatcher to do the job was the biggest hurdle; there aren’t that many left,” explains Mary. “We had quite a wait – the roof was ready in October and it wasn’t until a few days after Christmas that the thatcher got started. It was hard work for Kieran in the cold weather but he’d worked at the cottage before, thatching and making repairs on it with his brother for my aunt.” 

The mezzanine area, Patrick’s brainchild, with banister overlooking the corridor. Originally we were just going to add storage upstairs and this solution is so open and bright it’s one of my favourite parts. I also love the bulky chimney breast in the new bedroom upstairs. It’s funny because when I first noticed it, I hated it, I thought it was a monstrosity. I was devastated, I thought it would ruin the room as that was where I wanted to put the headboard for the bed. The contractor told me not to worry, it wasn’t finished off yet as it had to be plastered and painted. I have to say now I think it’s a lovely feature, the room has a lovely atmosphere, nice warm, comforting. It’s just a nice place to be.

Would you do it again?

In a heartbeat. I didn’t realise how big a burden a house can be when it represents so much emotionally, so getting it done was significant on many different levels. For the heritage aspect and for the family memories.

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PROJECT / CO DERRY

In terms of the listed buildings grant, Mary received a contribution towards “eligible works” for the restoration, including the thatch and sash window repairs. “We had a quantity surveyor cost everything for us and listed buildings who advised on the level of funding being provided for each of the eligible items,” adds Mary. “There were discussions around removing the old bathroom, but I didn’t want to; instead we reused that space to put the new oil boiler and to store the internal bins. There is a new external door that can only be opened from the inside; it used to be the window which we converted. It allows ease of access to the wheelie bins.” “Another room that had been added to the house over the years, as the need arose, was the now utility room, which we also kept, and this along with the old bathroom are the only two rooms without a thatched roof. We also kept all three existing external doors.”

Living and sleeping

“A major design change was moving the staircase which wasn’t compliant with current building regulations,” says Mary. “It was a steep and narrow climb and they used to be accessed from within the living room, which wasn’t a great place.” “The architect discussed and got approval

from the Listed Building department to reconfigure the space. Although few cottages had an upstairs, when they did the staircase tended to be behind the fireplace, so that’s where we put it.” “The start of the stairs now is where my aunt’s bedroom door used to be, and through her bedroom you would access the second bedroom. We added a doorway in the wall on the opposite side of the fireplace and created  62 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

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PROJECT / CO DERRY

Tips Communication is vital. Your architect and contractor will bring a lot of experience to the table; discuss the options with them. Because they had such control over the build, it took the pressure off me. I think that for a conservation project, having your architect project manage is the best way to go. I wouldn’t have had the experience to attempt to, nor the time. He organised the site meetings and helped to keep everything on schedule alongside the experienced contractor. If there were any changes to the schedule or to the build, I was notified. Ask for a timeline. I found it incredibly useful to have a calendar that showed me when I had to have things by. When I had to pick out the kitchen, the fireplaces, tiles, wood floor. I was working full time, and then some, so knowing this kept me on track and meant that I wouldn’t delay progress.

64 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

a corridor which provides independent access to both bedrooms and the wet room.” “We reconfigured the kitchen and took out a dividing wall between it and the “good sitting room”, which made a really big difference, it added so much space, enough to make a kitchen diner out of it.” “The living room is the hub of the house, there are so many routes in and out of it,” says Mary. “Everything feeds off it downstairs: the kitchen diner, utility, bedrooms, hall and staircase.” Much of the ethos of this project was to retain as much of the original character of the cottage as possible. The upstairs bedroom retained its low doorway with step down, for example. “I purposefully decided not to straighten the walls,” adds Mary. “They’re all crooked, the bumps were left in place to keep as much of the character as we could. We also repurposed original beams, reusing them above the mezzanine area, above the staircase and as a mantlepiece too.” “The large thick terracotta tiles that were in the end room of the cottage were taken up and put back as a hearth for the fireplaces in the two downstairs bedrooms.” “In my early childhood there used to be what I would call ‘red cardinal tiles’ in the hallway and living room; as they required maintenance, with regular buffing, my aunt had them covered with vinyl. When we took the covering off, the tiles weren’t in a state

to reuse so I sourced new terracotta quarry tiles. These tiles have been used throughout the ground floor with the exception of the bedrooms where we used engineered wood for warmth, in a finish called smoked oak.” As for the furniture, Mary brought sentimental items back to her house and sourced antiques through a dealer to furnish the cottage, including all of the fireplace surrounds. “Only the bedroom furniture is new; I chose a cottagey style to match in with the rest of the house. The kitchen and the dining table and chairs happened to match perfectly,

CO DERRY / PROJECT

everything just fell into place,” she says. “Visitors to the house told me I had good taste, I had never been accused of having good taste before, but the interior design was fun to organise and it looks the way I wanted it, so I will take the compliment.”

Setting sights

“My aunt loved gardening so it was a joy to bring it all back to life,” says Mary. “Peter cleared the vegetation in September 2016 and had the restoration finished in March 2017. At this stage we tackled landscaping; a local firm restored the iron gates.” “Even though we got listed building approval to renovate the outhouses, we didn’t get a grant for that portion of the work,” explains Mary. “While they are part of the overall listing, which also includes the walls, pillars and gates, the outbuildings in themselves are not considered listed buildings.” “We put a new coat of limewash on all of them, new doors and did repair work as required and replaced the roof on the smallest outbuilding. In my view there was no point renovating the cottage and have the surroundings look tired.” The boundary walls, gates and pillars were also part of the landscaping work; the driving force was to add symmetry. “I remember the old stone wall at the front of the cottage from my childhood, which had been replaced by a wooden fence, it was nice to bring it back into being,” says Mary. “This gave us the opportunity to realign the front

gate with the house door; before this the path was at an angle to the door which I’d never realised until Patrick took the measurements.” “The front door has a small window and it is lovely looking straight down the path to the gate, with flower borders on each side of the path, it does make a big difference. We also realigned the lawn to reach the end of the outhouse.” Mary plans to rent out the property until her husband is retired. “I would move here in a heartbeat, but it’s just not feasible for us at

present,” she adds. “But after having spent all that money it’s nice to have people enjoy the house brought back from Katie’s day to the present. We have hosted MacMillan coffee mornings and participated in one of the 2019 EU Heritage Open Days; I enjoyed sharing the story with visitors who were absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to see inside the cottage.” “Many of the people who have come have said that driving past they always had a picture in their my mind of what the house would look like, and that inside and it is nothing like what they expected. They are blown away by the amount of space there is. Everyone is surprised at how big the house is inside; they expect a room per window but there is so much more to it than that.” “Many didn’t know that it had an upstairs or that there was even space for one, they can’t believe the spaciousness, the size of the bedrooms and ensuite in particular. It is also surprising just how much headroom there is up there.” “But this project wouldn’t have been possible without the tremendous amount of help I got from my friends; I have a disability and they drove from far and wide to help with cleaning, making curtains and hanging them, ironing, making beds, tea making for our open days and so much more. They did an awful lot to make the cottage look the way it does today and I am so very grateful to them all.” “The plan at present is to do short term rentals, this will mean we can enjoy the house and have the maintenance costs covered.” For now, it’s the best of both worlds.

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PROJECT / CO DERRY

More photographs available at selfbuild.ie

Project information Find out more about Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s renovation project in Co Derry... SIZE & BUILDING SPECIFICATION House size: 194 sqm Roof: Remove existing thatch where necessary and renew with 400mm min traditional long straw thatch as per spec on new sod layer on new 50x38mm treated s/w battens at 225mm ctrs on new breathable aluminum foil reflective fire insulator as per spec on existing timber rafters with isolated renewal or splicing where indicated on floor plan drgs on existing timber purlins / ridge beam.

SUPPLIERS

Floor: Excavate all existing solid ground bearing floors to reduced level by hand taking care not to undermine existing wall footings. Any original tiles to be set aside for possible reuse. Provide new breathable Limecrete ground bearing floor construction throughout. Walls: Carefully hack of all existing external wall render by hand, stabilise any loose pointing or stones and provide new natural hydraulic lime render (NHL 3.5) finish as per spec with lime wash finish.

Architect Patrick Bradley Architects, Maghera, Co Derry, tel. 7940 1814, pb-architects.com Contractor Peter McErlain Limited Building Contractors, Toomebridge, Co Antrim, mobile 07710 016002 Quantity Surveyor Ad Group, Magherafelt, Co Derry, tel. 796 34734, adgroup.co Thatcher Kieran Agnew Photography Paul Lindsay at Christopher Hill Photogrpahic, scenicireland.com NI calling ROI prefix with 0044 and drop the first 0

GROUND FLOOR

Utility

Ensuite

Bedroom

Dining

Boiler Room

Bedroom Living Kitchen

FIRST FLOOR

Bedroom

Ensuite

66 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

Bathroom

Bedroom

•

NEWRY BANGOR LISBURN PORTADOWN COLERAINE LARNE BELFAST ENNISKILLEN BALLYMENA

•

SELFBUILD LIVE / CORK 2019 REVIEW

Live from Cork… What was it like visiting Selfbuild Live Cork this past November? Busy!

elfbuild Live Cork is the go-to event in Munster if you are building or home improving. In fact the Selfbuild Live Cork gets bigger every year and has, in 2019, hit a record high for attendance. According to the post-show survey, 49 per cent of the visitors were building a new home, 27 per cent were renovating, 14 per cent extending, and the others were converting, interior decorating or were in the trade. Most of the visitors were at the planning permission stage (32 per cent), 27 per cent were thinking about a project and 23 per cent had already started. In terms of their budget, of those surveyed 28 per cent had between €150,000 and €250,000 to spend, 21 per cent had in excess of €250,000 while 20 per cent had under €25,000. Most of the respondents were 25 to 34 years old (31 per cent) while a quarter were in the 35 to 44 age group.

The Selfbuild Zone Theatre focused on finance, self-build mortgages and new technologies.

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‘...Selfbuild Live Cork hit a record high for attendance in 2019...’

The Daikin Theatre featured talks from the roof down to your foundations and thermal bridging. With Daikin as the sponsor, air to water heat pumps also featured prominently.

CORK 2019 REVIEW / SELFBUILD LIVE

SPOTLIGHT ON...

Meet the Self-Builders

The Meet the Self-Builders clinic provided a perfect opportunity to speak with people with no previous building experience who’d gone through the process of home building and home renovating in Ireland.

wo couples manned the Meet the Selfbuilders clinic in Cork this year, Seanua House’s Dan and Jessica Tynan whose home we featured in the Autumn 2019 edition, and who can be found on Instagram @seanuahouse, as well as Sarah O’Grady and Brendan Cullinane who built their home in Co Waterford, also avid instagrammers under the handle @sarahs_ivy_hill. Sarah and Brendan’s house is set on a 72 acre estate which the family own. The new build project started in June 2018 and finished April 2019, designed to suit its natural surroundings and to complement Pembrokestown House, their closest neighbour. The initial idea was to build a Georgian style farmhouse but the result far exceeded their expectations. This is what Sarah and Brendan’s experience was like at Selfbuild Live Cork, manning the clinic, in their own words: “We found the most common question about our build related to how we managed direct labour, hiring all of the tradesmen ourselves, and the relatively short completion time (10 months). It’s true that our build was relatively short, but we did have the benefit of the dry weather during the summer of 2018, and this may not be a realistic time frame for most traditional builds.” “There are many pros and cons to project managing the entire process, and we shared our personal experience. For us whilst direct labour suited our day to day living, the financial pros need to be balanced against individual circumstances.” “We had the benefit of Brendan being able to be on site every evening



and as much as needed at weekends, as well as family living two miles away, who were also available to help with any toing and froing.” “If we’d had children or both of us were commuting (I do currently), direct labour may not have been feasible and a contracted build would likely have reduced stress in such circumstances (although certainly increased cost significantly).” “Perhaps the most important things to have if you go direct labour are excellent organisational and financial management skills. These two aspects are continuously managed during the build process and you need to keep on top of them.” 

The next Selfbuild Live event will be in Belfast in February, with the majority of companies there available to work on both sides of the border. Visit live.selfbuild.ie for free tickets. SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 69

SELFBUILD LIVE / CORK 2019 REVIEW

PRODUCT PROFILES

The exhibitors

Another reason to visit Selfbuild Live is to tap into the vast knowledge and advice available from the companies that turn your dreams into reality.

he massive amount of knowledge and advice available from manufacturers and suppliers at Selfbuild Live is what it’s all about. You can get quotations, advice about installation, maintenance and a full view of what’s available on the market. As self-builders are at the forefront of investing in innovative products and methods, the event is an ideal way to see what’s new in the sector. Here are some examples of the products and services showcased in Cork, where over 100 companies attended Selfbuild Live this past November.

HOME HEAT Flogas www.flogas.ie / www.flogasni.com 041 983 1041 (ROI) / 028 9073 2611 (NI) info@flogas.ie / info@flogasni.com

70 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

Switch to Flogas home heating and get 1,200 litres of LPG free! Whether you’re building your own home or simply want to switch from oil to gas, Flogas home heating is quick and easy to install. No matter where you are, Flogas is your one source for efficient heat, hot water and tumble drying as well as instant and controllable gas cooking. You can even combine modern heating technology with an economical range of condensing Gas Boilers. And all systems come with remote monitoring so you can rest assured that you’ll never run out of gas. LPG is a cleaner, lower carbon energy source than oil, and can be installed anywhere. It also cannot be stolen; it’s a safe, clean burning and non-toxic form of energy. So join Rory Best and thousands of others who have made the smart move to Flogas. Discover what Flogas can do for you today. Wherever you are. Terms & Conditions apply. See www.flogas.ie/t&c

HOME HEATING SOLUTIONS Pipelife Eco www.pipelife.ie 021 4884 700 (ROI) ireland@pipelife.com

Heating bills can weigh heavily on the family budget which is why choosing the right system and more importantly, the right supplier, is a decision that will have an impact for decades to come. Heat pumps are now fast becoming the norm as the means by which heat and hot water is produced, and for many underfloor heating is the go-to method of emitting heat as it’s energy efficient and frees up wall space. A leader in this field is Pipelife Ireland Ltd., a reputable Irish manufacturer of underfloor heating pipes that provides a comprehensive before and after sales support service. The pipes are guaranteed for 50 years against manufacturing defects. Pipelife is in fact a leading supplier of all types of plastic pipe systems and the largest supplier of custom-designed eco heating solutions, producing top-quality pipes, made in Ireland. Drawing on 50 years’ manufacturing experience from its production plant in Cork, Pipelife has been at the forefront of developing innovative products, including Qual-PEX Eco Pipe and Pipelife Eco Underfloor Heating, engineered with energy conservation and wastewater renewal in mind.

INTERNAL DOORS Frameless www.frameless.ie 021 4364 383 (ROI) info@frameless.ie

Offering you a limitless choice of door finishes and sizes, along with easy installation, is Frameless, the bespoke door system made in Cork. The company supplies robust light, aluminium prehung frames ready to fit – and it couldn’t be easier, there is no carpenter required, saving you money. This system is quick and easy to assemble and hang, with all parts included. Step by step instructions are provided and YouTube video tutorials are available to guide you. The Soss hinges also allow for easy adjustment where necessary. These doors are as easy to install as they are beautiful. Frameless can match any door to your vision with an endless range of finishes, matching any interior wall surface from paint, wallpaper, leather, textiles, printed glass and mirrors, to large tiles and stone cladding options. Whether sliding or hinged, the mechanism is hidden from view, it disappears, so all you see is the beautifully finished door, and a a flush seamless finish which can extend from floor to ceiling.

BUDGET / WINDOWS AND DOORS

How much will your windows and doors cost? Words: Keith Kelliher

n the days when our grandparents were building their homes, they kept things simple and bar a few exceptions these methods continue to cost less to this day. Many would have had a single main entrance door, with a similar rear or side door and installed windows of a fairly standard size, manufactured in a locally sourced material. However today, architectural designs are specifying an ever-increasing amount of glazing. This, combined with advances in technology have resulted in windows and doors taking up a significant proportion of a self-build’s overall budget.

Christopher Hill Photographic, scenicireland.com

Budgeting for the external wall structure of your build will mostly refer to your windows and doors, but screens and other elements are included in this category too.

Choice of framing material

The specification of the actual frame makeup will impact on cost, from composite to timber to now frameless (all glass exterior) designs. Much of the cost impact will come from what basic material you choose for the frame. There are four main options:

Unplasticised polyvinyl chloride, more commonly known as uPVC, is a widely used plastic readily available across the country. It is usually found to be more cost effective than alternative materials, although high-end uPVC products do exist which are more durable and recyclable. Average cost in the region of €250-300/£250 per sqm.

Timber window and door products vary greatly across timber types and styles. At the high end of the scale, sliding sash windows can cost into the thousands per window depending on the size of the unit and hardwood units can also extend to over €1,000 or £900 per sqm. More widely available are softwood, finger 72 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

jointed units in a standard casement opening which generally run at about €600-700/ £650 per sqm. It should always be kept in mind that the cost of ongoing future maintenance on timber windows should also be factored into the overall selection and costing process.

Similar to timber, aluclad units are a mixture of an aluminium exterior with the warmth and natural look of a timber finish internally. Once only available in the higher end of the market, aluclad is now a widely available and competitive option. Costing in the region of €500/£450 to €700/£650 per sqm, (prices seem to have increased in recent times), they are generally maintenance

WINDOWS AND DOORS / BUDGET

GLAZING

How much more does triple glazing cost?

free and offer the best of both worlds in term of a timber finish without the need for future maintenance. Units that have an aluminium exterior and a uPVC interior are less expensive than those with a timber interior.

Aluminium is a lightweight metal that is highly malleable and offers great strength to a window system. The material of choice for large scale window systems including shopfronts and curtain walling, aluminium offers the ability to achieve architecturally clean lines and large unobstructed glazed sections. Aluminium will generally run at a cost in excess of €750/£700 per sqm and is less widely available.

The frame orientation must also be taken into account, i.e. inward opening or outward opening. Outward opening units are most common in Ireland, whereas inward opening is more common in Europe and, with tilt and turn, is seen as a good option for being able to naturally ventilate from the top (without opening the entire window) and for cleaning. Also consider the selection of ironmongery, i.e. handles, childproof mechanisms, etc. Taken together these elements may all impact on the end cost of the units – unless you go for the standard options offered by the manufacturer.

Size and design

Material selection can on occasion be purely dependant on the design size. Traditionally all windows and doors came at a standard maximum height of 2250mm which meant a number of rows of blockwork remaining between the top of the unit and the underside of a ceiling in a standard 2400mm floor to ceiling property. In recent years, partly driven by the upsurge in the use of architects on domestic properties, the height of these glazed units is very regularly the full floor-to-ceiling height of 2400mm or even 2700mm+. Many manufacturers are not in a position to produce units of this height due to their manufacturing processes or due to the weight of the glass. It is therefore not unusual to see units combined to achieve the same effect, with for example 

Double glazed glass units are still the most commonly specified at present but triple glazing is catching up quickly. The cost difference between the two varies greatly across manufacturers; at most triple glazing could add up to 30 per cent to the glazing costs. It is also currently common to have triple glazed units specified on certain elevations (most notably north facing) and double glazing on others (most notably south facing) and these decisions form part of the energy rating calculation for the property.

SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 73

Internorm

Christopher Hill Photographic, scenicireland.com

BUDGET / WINDOWS AND DOORS

Add-ons such as integrated blinds will add to the cost.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;...make sure you factor in these high costs at the early design stage: the budget must match your design intentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Internorm

a window panel installed directly above a door. But as this can result in visibly thick frame makeups, many architects and designers choose aluminium type solutions which can achieve single unobstructed glazed panels as they are best able to withstand the weight of large glass panels. In addition to height, the width of the units can similarly provide difficulty to many materials like uPVC and timber. Sliding door systems and large glazed screen panels

Sliding doors are fast becoming a de-facto design feature for many self-builds.

74 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

for example are limited in width with materials like uPVC and timber, whereas aluminium again provides greater options for wider spans. Window design and operation has not changed much over the years. The style and manner in which windows operate is still very much in line with the traditional sash, sliding sash and casement designs with the only exception possibly of the tilt and turn option. Doors by comparison have developed greatly. From the traditional single door system, to a door and screen, to a double door system (french doors), to a sliding door system, to bi folding and concertina arrangements, the selection here will greatly impact on the end cost, from less than a thousand for a single uPVC door to large five figure sums for bi fold, concertina and large aluminium sliding screens. Therefore make sure you factor in these high costs at the early design stage: the budget must match your design intent. In previous issues in this series we have outlined the dangers of budgeting for your domestic build with reference to average costs per sqm or sqft, and this is especially the case for windows and doors considering the number of units required for a new home and the vast range of specifications available.

B U I L D I N G M E T H O D S / I N N O VAT I O N

Modern Methods of Construction MMC is a catch-all term to describe everything from innovative building solutions to cutting edge materials. Here’s a bird’s eye view. Words: Les O Donnell

uilding is a continuous process of innovation and development so all construction methods were at one time regarded as MMC, such as firstgeneration timber frame. In this specialised world of acronyms, developers are perhaps best known for their adoption of MMC, in the form of modular construction. When structural components are built off site they tend to be of quality and delivered at speed, and, the more a uniform product is replicated on site, the lower the overall cost. But self-builders have also been at the forefront of adopting new technologies, even though most projects continue to use traditional methods that require a high proportion of on-site labour.

‘...self-builders have been at the forefront of adopting new technologies, even though most projects continue to use traditional methods...’

As defined by a recent report by the UK government (see illustration p. 78), MMC premanufactured structural systems can either be 3D or 2D, the latter referring to whole wall panels complete with windows, insulation and external cladding. 3D systems are volumetric or modular. Ready-made pods, which could be anything from a shower room to a storey of a house, are set in position on site. A marginal development is the 3D concrete printing of entire houses, a proven but developing method of construction. Entire house systems include CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) and HBE (more lightweight than CLT and made of glulam timber components) which are two legotype or “assemble on site” methods, similar to the more established method of wall and roof SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) which are essentially interlocking preinsulated OSB boards. ICF (Insulating Concrete Formwork) 76 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

Micah Jones Architects, micahtjones.com

Types

I N N O VAT I O N / B U I L D I N G M E T H O D S

Building Council (NHBC) also include lightweight steel modular frames, timber frame systems, green oak frame systems and lightweight building blocks including those made of clay or concrete block systems that form part of proprietary single leaf systems. But in the self-build sector,  Premanufactured structural components like clay blocks are a type of MMC

Clayblock, clayblock.ie

is another wall, and sometimes roof, building method whereby interlocking hollow EPS blocks are filled with concrete and reinforced with steel. In fact materials commonly used in MMC systems are not necessarily new. For instance, systems and materials currently accepted by the UK’s National House

STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS

Benefits • Energy efficiency. Where the house components are built off site and assembled on site, as in the case of SIPs, CLT or HBE, the panels are put together so that there is little risk of thermal bridging. In the case of ICF the pouring of concrete fills all the gaps, ensuring the integrity of the thermal envelope. • Quality control. It is easier to reduce risk and achieve higher levels of health and safety performance in a controlled off-site environment. Quality control in general is much easier to supervise and implement in a factory setting which reduces the chance of hidden errors being missed during routine site inspections.

Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs)

ICF (Insulating Concrete Formwork) blocks awaiting concrete pour

• Speed. Because you are building the house off site, other work can be completed earlier and more efficiently. Weather doesn’t hold up progress (concrete work often has to stop in bad weather) and the speed of installation means the house is watertight much sooner than with other methods. • Space. Modular construction also deals with space restrictions negating the need to store bulky structural building materials, for example. • Savings in labour. Mechanisation or automation and simplification of off-site production methods also has the potential to reduce the number of skilled people needed on site. • Sustainability. Off-site construction means less waste and arguably a lower carbon footprint.

House built with Cross Laminated Timber (CLT)

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B U I L D I N G M E T H O D S / I N N O VAT I O N

Introducing the MMC Framework, UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, gov.uk, March 2019

Is MMC the future for selfbuilders?

It is now widely recognised that no single aspect of MMC technology will provide all the answers and what works on one site might not work so well on another. With the continued evolution of products and components, it certainly appears that â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;traditionalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; forms of construction which usually means blockwork will continue to play an important role in house building, and site workmanship will remain vital in maintaining safe standards of construction.

Prefabricated preinsulated sills are lightweight and prevent thermal bridging.

78 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

Preinsulated, precast concrete flooring system.

Spantherm by Creagh Concrete, creaghconcrete.co.uk

kitchens, bathrooms, utility rooms, etc. are less popular. Innovative materials also fall within the MMC categorisation. These include graphene (strong and thermally efficient additive), aerogel (insulant), bioplastic, translucent wood, hydro-ceramic, lightgenerating cement, power-generating glass and thermoplastic carbon-fibre composites, all of which should become more widely adopted as they are needed. Less applicable to self-builds are MMC systems that help with site productivity and health and safety such as the use of exoskeletons.

Passive Sills, passivesills.com

premanufactured components are most common. These are made off site but do not form part of a systemised design. Structural applications popular on self-builds include engineered joists and precast concrete floors, prefabricated composite lintel systems and thermally efficient foundations. The use of sustainable structural products have also been widely adopted by self-builders in the form of engineered wood made into panels and beams. Non-structural premanufactured components, e.g. wall or roof cassettes and non-load-bearing volumetric pods such as

I N N O VAT I O N / B U I L D I N G M E T H O D S

Futuretek , futuretek.ie

STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS

Graphene is thermally efficient and strong; here added to EPS beads in the form of graphite, it increases thermal performance.

A lot still depends on where you want to buy or build your new home. A city location for a multi-home development would benefit most from off-site MMC whilst a rural site for a single home would probably be best served by a hybrid solution. As to what we might want from our homes in the future, who knows? It is fair to say that building trends come and go, some reappear and some rarely change – but cost, quality and availability are likely to remain the most important deciding factors. We have seen some one-off projects with a high proportion of 2D structural system elements undertaken by early adopters, but the general feeling in a conservative industry is that most selfbuilders would prefer to see how off-site manufactured homes stand the test of time. So it is likely that if MMC can deliver on its promises, future self-build projects will be more likely to adopt off-site manufactured systems. But most selfbuilders on single home sites generally want bespoke designs for unique houses which meet their family requirements and this is where MMC is unlikely to perform as well in terms of cost. The conclusion is that the immediate future for self-building is very likely to be that of traditional buildings incorporating more MMC elements where they are required, reducing site labour and wet trades where feasible and incorporating more sustainable methods and materials.

Watchpoints Mass production. An NHBC survey revealed that 42 per cent of developers wanted ‘design standardisation’ from MMC. This would be beneficial in developing building components, but for complete houses, it is unlikely that mass-produced “little boxes” will satisfy many house buyers so one challenge is to avoid adopting levels of standardisation that stultify inspirational or unique design. Cost. It is in the higher volume, build-to-rent and affordable rented sectors that off-site manufacturing is likely to have the biggest impact. Also in Ireland, estates are often built with more than one house design, which is unlikely to underpin the investment required to make MMC cheaper than traditional construction methods for self-builders. That said many MMC structural systems are now comparable in price to traditional methods of construction when building a low energy house. Mortgageability and insurance. With any form of construction, the main consideration of banks and building societies will tend to be around longevity and safety of the components and the overall system. MMC projects would be acceptable to lenders and insurers where components and methodology have been robustly tested, so there is a need for satisfactory evidence of this. Site assembly. Regardless of what can be achieved in the factory environment, quality control and knowledge of how the system works will still be needed on site. Training and new skills will be required for both on-and off-site phases. Repairability. After the builders have gone and the warranties have expired, if a component needs to be replaced or adapted, there may be difficulties in obtaining a similar product that does the same job and does not adversely affect the integrity or safety of the building. It will be very important to be able to obtain accurate information about how the building has been constructed. Availability and sustainability. The fact that many of the materials used in MMC are imported may be seen as detrimental to sustainability, whilst the UK withdrawal from the EU might also affect availability of certain products and materials.

SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 79

OPINION / OFF-SITE CONSTRUCTION

Thinking outside the blocks Words: John Scanlon

Every day we read about the rising housing market and the upward tick in house prices across the country. So if the demand is there, why is it taking so long to build a house? Nobody wants to remember the recession, but once the housing market went into a downward spiral around 2008, unemployed tradespeople emigrated or took up another profession, and most of them have not returned. This left the construction industry with a shortage of skilled employees, which is now inflating budgets and lead times. In fact, the dearth of tradespeople has driven up the cost of skilled workers by up to 25 percent since the start of 2019, and it’s not unusual for teams of tradespeople to suddenly leave building sites to work for more money just down the road. As a result, the cost of building a family home rose by 7.5 percent in 2018, with estimates of a similar or higher increase in 2019. The long-term solution to the skills shortages is to take on more apprentices to replace the lost workers, but young people are not flocking to the industry. The Construction Industry Federation has pointed out that we need to be taking on 3,000 new apprentices every year to maintain the pace of building, but only about 1,000 people per year are entering training schemes. Without this new blood, the industry will struggle to meet the rising demand for houses. Skilled workers will be at a premium, and projects will fail to come in on time and on budget. So, if we don’t have enough people to do the work, how can we keep up with the demand for new houses? One answer is to change the way we build so that it becomes less labour intensive. Given the lack of tradespeople and the need for sign off and certification on projects, a logical solution to the problem is off-site manufacture, which cuts down on the site-based activities that define a traditional building project. If we accept that, after land prices, time and labour are the biggest cost factors in housebuilding, automation is an attractive 80 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

Image via the educational charity Ministry of Building Innovation and Education, mobie.org.uk

How a trades crisis is slowing home construction and how off-site construction methods could help speed things up.

solution. Included among the building methods referred to as Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), timber frame is an example of off-site manufacture that could help. Once the building’s foundations are installed, the main, timber frame structure can be erected in a matter of days. The building season is also extended because it can continue right into winter. Albeit over a decade old, a report from the UK National Audit Office concluded that using MMC instead of traditional building methods could yield four times more homes with comparable building performance. With MMC, there is a reduced labour requirement for electricians, plumbers, heating and ventilation engineers, but these professionals will still be required to sign off on the systems installed to check for safety, operational efficiency and quality. And new jobs, off site, will be created out of this new industry. Eliminating human error on site and making sure humans check for manufacturing errors sounds like the best of both worlds.

TRADITIONS

Old habits die hard Traditions are important. They underpin our culture, and they help to make us who we are. But some traditions have outlived their usefulness. One of them is depending on blockwork in home construction, which is very slow, very weather dependent and very labour intensive. Perhaps the reason the humble concrete block has kept such a standing is that it is still relatively cheaper than other methods, and block layers are easier to find than timber frame suppliers. But the time and labour savings should be convincing enough, so why are we so slow to adopt modern methods? Northern Europeans have embraced well built, timber homes, but the Irish are still somewhat wary of any house that doesn’t emerge from a load of blocks. There is a belief that timber frame and other modern methods of construction are not a match for Irish weather but there’s a reason why Professor Alex de Rijke, director at London-based architectural firm dRMM has described cross-laminated timber (CLT) as ‘the new concrete’ being strong and versatile. And it can be installed quickly, even when it’s lashing rain.

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B A S I C S / C A N T I L E V E R E D S TA I R C A S E S

BASICS

Cantilevered staircases There is no doubt that a cantilevered staircase is one way of making a major visual impact. Words: Debbie Orme

o the casual observer a cantilevered staircase appears to be floating because it overhangs without any external bracings or supports. What holds it up is a counterweight hidden in the wall, out of sight. Available in straight, quarter turn, half turn, helical and curved formats, it is usually the state of the walls and the position of the staircase that will dictate the type 82 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

of underlying or hidden supporting structure used. A cantilevered helical stair can support the treads from a central column. Generally speaking, it is more common for cantilevered staircases to be fitted in new builds and substantial renovations rather than in small refurbishment projects. Given the level of structural support required, installation in an existing building can be disruptive and will be more costly than in the case of a new build wall that was purpose built.

COST The cost depends on the design, materials and size. Each of these elements can significantly hike the price but a ballpark figure for complete bespoke design, manufacture and installation would appear to be around the 15,000 mark (pounds or euros).

In an existing house a structural engineer must be involved in the process given that the supporting wall is effectively an integral part of the staircase and that the calculations required in order to ensure the success of the work would have to be very carefully assessed.

Types

Each step of the staircase comprises a tread, two brackets, bolts and a telescoping support stud, which is installed in a concrete

C A N T I L E V E R E D S TA I R C A S E S / B A S I C S

or steel beam, with the brackets protruding outward. A wall is then constructed around the brackets and the finished treads are then bolted into place. Depending on the design and the wall, a reinforced metal sheet may also be required. A cantilever is therefore a beam that is anchored at only one end, with the supporting structure carefully hidden within each tread and directly behind the face of the wall. How the staircase is installed will depend on logistics and on the supplier’s preferred modus operandi. In cases where there is a steelreinforced concrete wall, then it is common practice for prefabricated anchoring pockets to be installed within the framework of the wall before concrete is poured. Once the concrete has cured, the formwork is then removed and the treads are fixed in place. If a cantilevered staircase is to be connected to a stud wall, steel strings with foot plates and anchoring pockets are fitted within the floor and wall to support the treads before the wall is plastered.

Alternatively, vertical steel supports for the inner stair string can span directly between the floors. In such cases, the weight of the treads may be shared by the support on one side of the frame within the wall and by a structural handrail or balustrade on the other.

Materials

The range of materials used in cantilevered staircases is wide and varied, although the most frequently used and the most popular tend to be stone, glass, timber, metal and composite materials such as engineered stone and concrete. Glass stairs are particularly popular in houses where there is limited natural light, since the glass treads allow sunlight to filter down the different levels, thereby illuminating interiors. The glass treads are made of toughened and laminated glass and are often 32mm thick but calculations will have to be made to determine this. The choice of material not only determines the method in which the staircase is supported – concrete and heavier timber will require more

support than, say, glass – but will also impact the price of the job.

REGS Cantilevered staircases must meet the staircase requirements set out in the building regulations (TGD K in ROI and Technical Booklet H in NI), e.g. the treads must be a certain distance apart, headroom accounted for, etc. Consult with your building control officer in NI and your qualified architectural designer in ROI.

Handrails

Chances are you will need handrails so consider how that will impact on the floating aesthetic. That said in NI there is no need for handrails beside the bottom two steps. In both NI and ROI handrails are necessary on at least one side if the staircase is less than one metre wide and on both sides if it’s any wider. Additional to this rule, (in NI) where a private staircase is part of the circulation route within the entrance storey of a dwelling or gives access to the circulation route within the principal storey of a dwelling, it should have a continuous handrail on each side. There are handrail height restrictions too, 900mm to 1000mm in NI for both stairs and landings. In ROI the top surface of the handrail should be between 900 mm and 1000 mm measured vertically above the pitch line, and between 900 mm and 1100 mm above the landing. Additional information Stairs Ireland, stairsireland.ie Euroscroll Engineering, euroscroll.com

As the load position moves towards the free end of the tread, the force at the inner fixed end increases.

The difference between tensile and compressive forces within the beam causes internal stress.

Inner end fixed

Top in tension Bottom in compression

Les O Donnell, landmarkdesigns.org.uk

Outer end free

SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 83

B A S I C S / S TA I R B A L U S T R A D E S

BASICS

Balustrades Staircases need a barrier to prevent you from falling from a height, here’s how to make it look not just functional but also pretty. Words: Andrew Stanway

alusters are sticks or shafts, made of timber, stone, metal or plastic, that support a handrail on a stair, or the coping on a parapet. They started life in the balconies and palaces of Venice and Verona in the fifteenth century when each one originally looked like one bulbous vase-shape over another. As they developed over the centuries they were eventually turned on a lathe, which made the form very particular. It’s now 84 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

possible to date furniture and certain types of architecture from the style of these turned balusters. Once turned on a lathe, a wooden baluster could be split down the middle and the two halves applied to a flat surface - a feature popular in the Arts and Crafts movement. Nowadays, readily available timber spindles come in all sorts of cross-sections including square, stop chamfered, stopovolo, Georgian and various contemporary ones. But whatever they look like, balusters grouped together form a ‘balustrade’ that, in turn, creates

Rules of thumb In both NI and ROI you need fall protection from both sides if your staircase is more than a meter wide; spacing between the balusters should be no more than 100mm wide.

a safety barrier so people don’t fall from heights, such as stairs or landings, into voids below. Most self-builders today buy their stairs custom-made by a craftsman; from the catalogue of a company that makes many different styles of stairs, available off the shelf; or from a DIY shed where the choice is reduced but the price small.

Materials

Whilst timber is still the most commonly used material for stair balustrades, modern technology

S TA I R B A L U S T R A D E S / B A S I C S

allows balustrades to be made of almost anything you can think of. A popular option is to build a low level wall, plastered for a modern effect. It’s relatively straightforward to do, low cost and looks very sleek. With so many self-builders opting for contemporary designs, glass balustrading has also become popular both inside and out (see section below).

But don’t expect each piece of this type of man-made stone to look exactly like the next. There’ll always be a slight variation, which actually makes it look pleasantly realistic. When using cast stone indoors it’s wise to coat it with a clear sealant.

But balusters can be made of iron, steel, plastics, wire, stone and many other materials. When restoring old buildings, it’s possible to create a mould of an existing baluster then replicate it in a chosen material. Vinyl or aluminium balusters can be cast in any shape and coloured in infinite tints and hues. Outdoor balustrading is usually made from stone or steel, though plastic is cheaper and durable, and needs no maintenance but repairs may be tricky. Certain companies specialise in cast stone, e.g. cast limestone with a surface texture just like that of Portland stone. It is usually used outdoors and is much less expensive than quarried or natural stone. This type of stone stays looking good year after year with minimal maintenance, provided it isn’t exposed to extreme conditions. Quarried or natural stone balusters can easily delaminate over time and take a long time to look pleasantly ‘old’. Cast stone looks ‘natural’ more quickly.

and replacing them with sheets of toughened and laminated glass which, in turn, carry the handrail. You can do away with the handrail entirely and simply use glass alone. Such a structure is still called a balustrade. The sheets are held in place by a variety of different clips and fixings. Remember to ensure that the spaces around the glazing comply with the 100mm gap rule. It is usual to have far smaller gaps than this. Contemporary versions of this type of glazed balustrade have no timber staircase elements, using stainless or powder-coated steel for all the other parts of the stairs, apart from the treads. An extension of this idea is to enlarge a glass ‘balustrade’ to form an entire glazed screen that can run from stair tread to ceiling, or floor to ceiling, forming an entire seethrough wall. Although glazed balustrading looks impressive it’s also a bit of a problem in a busy family household because children’s dirty hands mark it so easily. As with any architectural glass feature, the glass must be kept

Glass balustrading

Traditional timber staircases can be made to look modern by doing away with the timber spindles

The bottom line If you want your stairs to be a major feature that will impress the minute someone enters your hallway, then this will usually include very particular types of balustrading. Your architect or designer will guide you on what’ll look good in the context of your new home. Your bank manager will guide you on the rest! It’s possible to spend tens of thousands on a really stunning staircase.

spotlessly clean or it quickly looks unpleasant. Outdoor glass balustrading can be highly effective where you have a view you want to enjoy, perhaps from a balcony, terrace or other outdoor leisure area. Glass keeps winds away yet preserves the view. This can extend the months of the year you can use the area and can also mean that a small room that cannot have a proper balcony can enjoy some outside ‘space’ and a view by using a fixed glass panel at an inward-opening French window, to create a Juliette balcony.

SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 85

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PROJECT / CO KILDARE

NEW BUILD

Vernacular reimagined For John and Elaine Lawler building themselves a new home was all about moving back to their roots and making sure the house would be finished when they moved in Photography: Gareth Byrne

How did the project come about?

John: We built on a spot which I’ve known my whole life, as it sits on the family farm. I have been able to look at it and appreciate where the best views are and most importantly the course of the sun through the day and how it changes in angle from season to season. Our architect made the most of the southern aspect and framed the views where we wanted them. We were in a very fortunate position to have a site and be able to put our money into the design, build and finishes rather than in the site purchase. It is on my parents’ land; the avenue leading to the house is

88 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

merely a wayleave and not part of the development. Some banks would balk at the idea of lending in this situation but in this case land ownership was not an issue. The architectural style of the house owes a lot to that of my parents’ home. Theirs is a mud walled cottage with a limewashed pebbledash finish dating to the early 1800s. It was originally thatched but sometime in the early 1900s had galvanised metal sheeting placed over the roof. It is a vernacular, simply built, long cottage with an uncomplicated, high central roof ridge. There are no soffits or oversized fascias or bargeboards. It’s just a neat finish. Working from this design concept we also

looked at vernacular farm buildings which often had two building linked and facing a central courtyard. Our plan modernised this setup by bringing the two shapes together into a compact form to increase energy efficiency and add a contemporary twist. The tapered hall connects the two buildings which make up the house; the northeast facing side mainly consists of bedrooms while the southwest facing form includes the main living areas. The corridor that connects the two has a window at the end, and your eye is drawn to these countryside views as soon as you enter the house. A reference we used in the design

CO KILDARE / PROJECT

process was the Cork Rural Design Guide published by Cork County Council. A very good design-led book which very simply sets out some design basics for building in the countryside and keeping the build sympathetic to the landscape. For the interior of the house we picked up some ideas from magazines and online mood boards. Nearer to the build, we consulted Selfbuild magazine for what kind of issues might crop up during construction, and for industry contacts which can be invaluable when sourcing materials and services.

What was the planning process like?

In 2009, Kildare County Council granted planning permission for a two storey 2,350sqft design. In May 2013, not having built the house, and realising that it may be too costly and potentially one that would, if built, overshadow my own parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cottage (the site lies adjacent to the family home), I decided to look for another architect who might breathe new life into the project. At the RIAI Simon Open Door event in May 2013, I met with Patrick who discussed the existing plan and agreed that there were a few ways we could improve the original design. With the help of planning consultants, we sought and secured an Extension of Duration to the near expired ď&#x192;&#x2DC; SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 89

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planning approval. With the extension granted for the original two-storey design in January 2014, me and my girlfriend (now my wife, Elaine) set about designing a new home with our new architect. The design looks simple but a lot of thought went into it. The final plan was granted permission by the local authority as a Change of House Type in February 2015. We now had timber cladding, a white render, a slated roof and an external metal pergola. By September 2016, we were breaking ground and we moved into the house in June 2017. Nothing happens quickly!

Who project managed the build?

We hired an experienced local engineer who was invaluable in early pre-build consultation with the builder. He and Patrick kept a close eye on progress as the build took shape, and the builder gave advice to push for the best possible and most aesthetically pleasing finish which, more importantly, would still remain on budget.

90 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

CO KILDARE / PROJECT

the construction sector, that I or we could have both managed the build. Sourcing a competent builder who has the trust of both your architect and engineer is a key ingredient to a smooth building programme. Having an architect who can insist on his or her ideas is what you want though because ultimately, it’s their design that must win through.

What other tips would you give budding self-builders?

At the design stage our architect acted as the Project Supervisor Design Stage (PSDS) for the build; hiring a PSDS is a requirement under health and safety regulations, as is hiring a PSCS which is required for the construction stage. Our builder acted as PSCS. The vernacular style of build meant the structure was simple in design and it was built to traditional methods, i.e. blockwork. The only works which required a specialist team was the flat roof system. Our builder installed everything else, from the grey aluminium flashing to the large square rooflight over the dining area. Elaine and I sourced all the interior finishes and either picked them up ourselves or the builder did on our behalf. We spent numerous Saturday mornings and afternoons in search of lighting, tiles and sanitaryware. Both Elaine’s and my family took great interest in the build; they were a huge moral support. We found it really helpful to have everything lined up and ready to go; for example we wanted to make sure we wouldn’t be left with flexes hanging from the ceiling. Nowadays a lot of the electrical fittings come with the lampshade so we chose those very early on so as not to hold up the electrician. There is no way, even though I work in

Expect the build process, not only the planning process, to take time. Even if you’re not project managing, it consumes your energy merely planning room finishes and sourcing the materials. It is truly a tiring but eventually very rewarding process. As part of the contract, we paid for the builder to hire a painter to finish every room. I fully believe if we hadn’t, we would still be walking into unpainted rooms now, a full two and a half years after moving in. As it is, every room is finished. Some have turned into storage rooms; one has turned into a nursery for our new arrival Jack who was born September 2019. Even though it was exhausting, and still is with the baby, it was worth it. Not just psychologically but in terms of the house value being higher than what it cost to build. We are still exempt from property tax as it’s a new build but are likely to be in one of the mid-range brackets unfortunately.

How energy efficient is the house?

The thickness of insulation in the walls, floors and ceilings means the house is a t-shirt-in-the-winter type house – a phrase we’ve heard numerous times being touted by Dermot Bannon in the latest series of Room to Improve. We have an air to water heat pump with mechanical ventilation and underfloor heating throughout. What I find most surprising is that we don’t have to close doors anymore; the heat is constant throughout the house as set by the thermostats and there’s no need to even think about it. It is an amazing way to live. On a frosty morning, it’s not until you leave the house that you discover you’re going to need a pot of water to defrost the windscreen. That’s probably the only down point! The cost of running the house is minimal given we don’t ever have to call on an oil delivery or purchase coal or foot turf or carry bales of briquettes. The house runs on electricity alone and runs super efficiently. I would recommend the heating and ventilation system to anyone. I feel that as more people build new homes or renovate older ones, the news is filtering through that this is an unbelievable way to live. Insulation is key. We have triple glazed windows with fixed windows where we knew we were never 

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going to need a hinged opening. We found that the fixed large windows made more sense as the frame is thinner, neater and they’re less expensive. They are also more thermally efficient. The mechanical ventilation keeps the indoor air fresh year round. We only open the windows in the summer, and in the winter we keep them closed unless we need a burst of ventilation, e.g. due to a mishap in the kitchen. We chose high quality sliding doors for the back of the house and given the amount of windows we have, it’s paid off from an energy efficiency point of view as the

92 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

windows keep the cold out as much as they keep the heat in and vice versa in summer.

How much do you spend on your bills every year?

About €900 a year all in; everything in the house runs on electricity including the cooker. We think it might increase this year because of the new baby: the steriliser, more loads of laundry, etc. but it shouldn’t add too much.

Does it get too hot in the summer?

We were in the house for nearly a year

before we installed the south west facing steel and cedar pergola structure; it had been in the design all along to tackle overheating and we quickly realised why. The cedar planks on top prevent the glare of the high sun from pouring through the large sliding glass doors. I can honestly say its presence reduces the temperature in the open plan by at least 5degC on the hottest days. Some people see it as an addition to the house that’s purely aesthetic but it has a very practical application too.

What are your favourite features?

The kitchen, which works like a dream. We spent hours with a kitchen designer who carefully and mindfully put together what we wanted on a drawing. We played it relatively safe with a contrasting dark grey and lighter grey finish to the kitchen presses. We also love the straight lines and simplicity of the stove design we chose. We have two, one in the living area of the kitchen and the other in the sitting room. They are designed for low energy homes so the oxygen for burning the fuel is supplied from an external air inlet plumbed into the back of the stove, instead of taking air from the room. The stacked Staffordshire blue brick that forms the stove surround is the same brick used to build the two external chimneys.

CO KILDARE / PROJECT

The grey blue colour matches the greys which are used repeatedly in the build. The chimney was built from a combination of engineering bricks and cast concrete capping. We were flirting with the idea of putting in polished concrete flooring but in the end decided to go down the route of tiling and laminate. We don’t regret it one bit. The floors are a perfect finish for us and are extremely hard wearing.

of landscaping. We did however plant some trees while we were at the planning permission stage, as I have always been keen on gardening, but a design would have been helpful to follow. We wanted the house to bed into the landscape as quickly as possible so we wouldn’t have a pathway extending about the house. Rather we just have about a 200mm wide track of loose pebble about the base of the external walls around much of the house. Where we do have perimeter paving, we have flagstones. They have a nice simple finish and are set into place without cement.

How about the garden?

The initial planning permission that was granted in 2009 made no reference to the need to plant hedges or anything to that effect so we didn’t give the garden an awful lot of thought. Looking back, it would have been helpful to come up with a plan earlier on; the garden would benefit from some element

What would you change?

We might make our walk-in wardrobe and ensuite larger by taking some square footage from one of the single bedrooms.

SIZES & SPECIFICATION House size: 193 sqm Plot size: acre SOUTH EAST1 ELEVATION Structure: Concrete block cavity wall, full fill with 150mm PIR board; floor insulated with 150mm PIR; flat roof warm roof construction.

Windows: double glazed and triple glazed combination, grey powder coated thermally broken aluminium, U-value average 1.2 W/sqmK BER: A3 Airtightness: 1.83 m3/h/sqm at 50Pa

Bedroom

Builder James and Maria Cox, Cox Construction, Newbridge, Co Kildare, tel. 045 434283, mobile 086 821 6617 Heat pump Nibe F2040 8kW, nibe.eu Windows Senator Windows, ROI tel. 053 9155300, senatorwindows.ie Roof light Velux, velux.ie Tiles and sanitaryware City Bathrooms & Tiles, Dublin 22, tel. 01 459 5250, citytilesandbathrooms. ie; hall tiling from Tile Merchant in Dublin 24, tilemerchant.ie; SwissKrono laminates from Noyeks Newmans, Dublin 24, noyeks.ie Electrical fittings Hallway recessed lighting and outdoor pillar lighting: Lightvault in Dublin 12, lightvault.ie; light fittings and shades from National Lighting, Dublin 12, nationallighting.ie; Hicken Lighting, Dublin 8, hickenlighting.com; Ikea, ikea. ie; Arnotts, Dublin 1, arnotts.ie; B&Q for lighting fixings and shades, diy.com; wall switches from National Electrical Wholesalers, Naas, Co Kildare, new.ie

Stove Stovax bought from Newbridge Heating Centre, Naas, Co Kildare, tel. 045 449 236, newbridgeheating.ie

Cladding Sioo treated Western red cedar cladding supplied by MTS, Kilcoole, Co Wicklow, tel. 01 281 2106, woodcomponents.ie

Living Room Dining

Engineer Adrian Tierney MIEI, Naas, Co Kildare

Flat roof finish Flat roof proprietary uPVC finish: Sika, sika.com

Hall

Living

Architect Patrick Lynch MRIAI of House7 Architects, Dublin 4, tel. 01 668 1110, house7architects.ie

Kitchen Design, supply and fit from Timbercraft, Newbridge, Co Kildare, timbercraft.ie; Neptune table sourced from the 1933 Furniture Company in Navan, Co Meath, the1933furniturecompany.ie; Chairs from Michael Murphy Home Furnishing in Newbridge, Co Kildare, michaelmurphy.ie

Bathroom

Ensuite

SIZES SUPPLIERS

Kitchen

Hot Press

Flagstones Kilsaran ‘Shelbourne’, kilsaran.ie Photography Gareth Byrne Photography, tel. 01 4062345, garethbyrne.com NI calling ROI prefix with 00353 and drop the first 0

Utility

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NEW BUILD

A (3D) model build When Limerick born architectural designer Donal Healy set about designing his own home surrounded by trees on the edge of the Sperrin Mountains in Co Derry, a sensitive vernacular rural design was the only solution. How did this project come about?

When my wife Maria and I had been living in Celbridge we both had a challenging commute into Dublin for work. And when our first child was born, we planned to move to Co Derry, near Mariaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home place. We had been searching for a site with outline planning permission, as this would

94 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

enable us to design a bespoke house for our needs. While visiting relatives, we drove up a small country road and came across a half acre site, nestled between a forest of semi mature beech trees and old farm buildings. The area was particularly special to Maria, as her grandfatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original homeplace was nearby.

Was planning permission hard to get?

We bought the land with outline planning approval on the half acre site and applied for reserved matters, meeting all the planning conditions to get full planning approval. However, as we bought additional land we wanted to place the house in line with

CO DERRY / PROJECT

the existing farm buildings next door, so reapplied to get the curtilage extended. This took an additional six months, but it was really worth it, as we were able to take full advantage of the site. Another aspect was that the planners had originally restricted the ridge height to 5.5m but after some long discussions permitted that we could raise the roof ridge to 6m, despite the farm building next to us being in excess of 7m.

‘...our love for the traditional rural vernacular style inspired the design.’

How did the design process evolve?

We had planned to build a house for the long term, and we both wanted comfortable family rooms including an open plan kitchen, dining and living space. We budgeted to build a house in the region of 3,000sqft and not wanting the house to look big as it would be inappropriate on a small country road, our love for the traditional rural vernacular style inspired the design. The main design therefore originated from our family’s requirements and to ensure the house integrated into the surrounding landscape. This led to the use of natural products including, natural slate and Liscannor stone. Maria was used to seeing architectural drawings for projects that I worked upon, but when it came to our own home Maria wanted to be really involved so I prepared

GROUND FLOOR Dress Room Ensuite

Bedroom

Garage WC WC Lounge Kitchen

Living Room

Dining

Utility

a 3D model of the house and garage. This allowed Maria to review the animation and internal walkthroughs and completely understand the design. A 3D model enables feedback and constructive dialogue on proportion, position, scale and mass of different elements of the design. It also facilitated discussion with builders in relation to where we would put the electrical sockets, the size of the windows and their position to maintain privacy from the courtyard. As part of the design process I had an environmental analysis undertaken, as the large south facing glazing panels might create too much solar gain and render the house uncomfortable to live in. The calculations confirmed my concern and even though we had specified triple glazing the engineer suggested we add rooflights in the kitchen for cross ventilation and I’m glad we did. Another aspect was the fact that we both love gardening and wanted a view of  SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 95

PROJECT / CO DERRY

the garden from most of the rooms, so we created a wild garden view from our master bedroom and a courtyard garden view from the kitchen and link corridor where our children enjoy playing. The garden area is approximately over 1.2 acres and it is a lot of work to manage each week, also there is a 5m fall in the site. A manicured lawn wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going to work. This is why we decided to divide the garden into three different areas, front manicured garden, courtyard garden and a wild meadow garden to the rear. As the rear area was difficult for the ride-on lawnmower to access, the wild meadow garden made the most sense there. The front garden is manicured with 1.2m high beech hedging to the road with stone entrance gate pillars. As there is a natural fall in the level of the front garden, we used small stone walls to act as retaining walls and to add character. I also like to frame views with picture frame windows, which means we paid a lot of attention to how the garden would look from each window. The 3D renders ensured we were 100 per cent confident with our design before we commenced the build and therefore there was no requirement to make changes on site.

Would you change anything about the design? In hindsight, I would have designed the house slightly smaller by not providing the additional guest room. Because we have

Bedroom

Bathroom

FIRST FLOOR

Bedroom

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The 3D renders ensured we were 100 per cent confident with our design before we commenced the build...â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

three children, we wanted a spare bedroom to accommodate guests, which meant we were looking at a five-bedroom house. But if I was to change anything I would have built a carport between the garage and the house to provide extra comfort when bringing groceries into the house, especially in our winter weather. We had initially wanted to build an A rated house, but it was very difficult because bungalows have a larger footprint compared to a two-storey house and therefore is less efficient. The SAP rating was 88, this is a high B energy rating and the energy assessor commented that this was good for the house size. I would advise anyone building a new house to consider two storey and keep their footprint as efficient as possible.

How was the project managed?

Halfway through our build I had to go to Germany, as I was managing a project for six months. We were very fortunate 96 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

CO DERRY / PROJECT

that my brother-in-law Seamus O’Kane became available to oversee the project; he is a foreman by profession, and it was great to have family involved to make sure everything was done right. It meant that I didn’t have to worry being so far away. Having been so heavily involved in the first six months of the project, I had done a lot of negotiations for materials such as windows, kitchen, roof slates, etc. It meant that I could control the costings remotely, while Seamus could concentrate on coordinating delivery of materials to site. We broke ground in 2013 and our house was built in 11 months. Because cash flow is important on a self-build, we had all our measurements and quantities worked out with the local builder’s merchants which had a selfbuild advisor, Michael, who was brilliant assistance throughout the project. This was a great service, which gave us a point of contact within the merchants who knew the project and who would also visit when requested. Michael was able to source different specific products on our behalf, which was extremely helpful.

What building method did you choose?

We were interested in looking at different types of construction for sustainability and cost saving reasons. I favoured using SIPS (structural insulated panel system) but at the

time there were very few suppliers. They were mainly UK based and most of them would not install in NI. With the availability of local builders, we decided on a traditional block build, and I designed an extra wide cavity of 130mm. In addition, we applied internal insulated plasterboard to the external perimeter walls.

What did you do for ventilation, heating and hot water?

We looked at different ventilation systems but decided on trickle vents to the windows, as we had installed an internal heat exchanger that uses the internal air to provide hot water. We also installed thermal solar panels to provide hot water. Our oil condensing boiler only provides heating to the underfloor throughout the house. The ambient heat is enjoyable, especially in the kitchen where there is a vaulted ceiling. To future proof the house we have made provisions to be able to readily install an air source heat pump, were oil prices to become expensive. In addition, we installed photovoltaic (PV) panels in the garden to generate electricity, and we hope that it will pay itself back within five years. The panels reduce our electricity costs in the summertime by 75 per cent. We approximately spend £700 a year in oil heating.

How about the rest of the finishes?

In the kitchen we always wanted an island and designed it to face guests when we’re preparing food. I prefer everything flush and having spent time in Germany I was definitely influenced by simple Germanic design. The utility room was similarly designed with the cupboards from floor to ceiling height, so there are no dirt traps. We also understood that lighting in a home can create a comfortable relaxing atmosphere and knew the benefit of engaging a lighting designer. The vaulted ceiling in the kitchen was especially challenging to light correctly because of the island. We also hired an interior designer who was great to have on board to help us with decoration and furniture. Upstairs we have two bedrooms and an office for Maria who’s a lecturer and required space for work. A local craftsman made the stairs going up to it, inspired by stairs in Farmleigh House, Phoenix Park. It is made from white oak and is a clear example of Irish craft.

TIPS Take it in stages.

I find self-builders can be nervous about getting started, especially getting the site cleared and pouring the foundations.

Don’t go for the cheapest products.

Remember that what you are buying is often for the long term and will be used almost every day.

Use 3D renders.

It’s the best way to get to know your house and tweak the design.

SIZES COST & SUPPLIERS Builder’s finish: £260,000 Total cost: £351,000 Architect Healy McKeown Architects, Kilrea, Co Derry, tel. 295 57933, healymckeown.com Builder’s merchant Mc Blair (with self-build advisor Michael McKenna), Noones of Magher Interior designer Amy Shorthall Windows Baskil, baskilwindowsystems.co.uk Blockwork Creagh Concrete, creaghconcrete.co.uk Solar panels and heat pump Solmatix Renewables, solmatix.com Wastewater system Klargester, kingspan.com Bathrooms Duravit sanitaryware from Ballycastle Home Care, ballycastlehomecare.co.uk Lighting David Brown from Light Source, thelightsource.co.uk ROI calling NI prefix with 048

SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 97

INTERIORS / PLASTERBOARD FINISH

Skim or dryline? When it comes to plasterboard, you have two main finishes to choose from, board and skim or taping and jointing. Words: Heather Campbell

igning off on the first fix is a significant landmark on your self-build journey. With the skeleton and inner workings of the house complete, you can start adding the fixtures, fittings and decorations that will transform it into a home. But before you can proceed to that second fix, you need to cover up your internal walls. Plastering is the most common method; in the case of blockwork (cavity walls) this can be done with a cement render or a gypsum based undercoat and skim finish directly onto the wall or with plasterboard, which may or may not be insulated depending on the thermal performance of the rest of the wall. For timber frame, plasterboard is most common as the studs are already there. Plasterboard comes in a variety of different sizes and formats with either square or tapered edges. Contractors tend to prefer tapered edge boards for both the board and skim method, and the taping and jointing method as it makes producing a flat surfaced wall easier. There are three basic board thicknesses: 15mm, 12.5mm and 9.5mm with 12.5mm being the most commonly used. Recent changes in the ROI building regulations have resulted in increased sales of 15mm to meet fire requirements in some residential build situations. Various high-performance boards offer acoustic improvements and fireproofing. Some are moisture-resistant, ideal for use in wet areas and as tile backers, others are fibre reinforced to hold up things like TVs. In fact fibre reinforced plasterboards, which are typically twice the price of traditional plasterboard, can be jointed more easily and being tougher allow you to attach most fixings to it.

Board and skim

This is where the plasterboard is fixed to 98 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

The skim method

the wall – either screwed or glued with dot and dab – then covered with two coats of skim plaster, each approximately 1mm thick. Three layers can be applied but it’s not common to do so. To dot and dab, apply adhesive directly to the wall and press the board on to the sticky surface. The adhesive needs to be applied at a thickness of 25mm so you will end up creating a small cavity between the plasterboards and the wall. Some argue this introduces a thermal issue. In order to minimise this risk, apply a continuous line of plasterboard compound around the perimeter and skirting of the wall, of the services and openings for optimum airtightness. Dabs should cover a minimum of 20 per cent of the

plasterboard area. That gap between the board and wall can also cause problems when it comes to fixing things to the wall, particularly heavy objects like a flat-screen TV bracket. This is why oftentimes wood battens are fixed to the wall and the plasterboard is then anchored onto them using drywall screws. Insulation can be put into the cavity. Screw heavy items into the battens, which can be located with a stud finder. Once fixed to the wall, cover the plasterboard joints with paper tape and a jointing product. The plasterer’s two skims are applied in opposite directions, i.e. one skim horizontal and the other vertical, to iron out any imperfections. After a 15 to 20

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PLASTERBOARD FINISH / INTERIORS

minute break comes the ‘flattening’ rub. When the skim has ‘gone off’ water is applied on the final trowel to get a perfect finish. After finishing three walls — commonly called a set or gauge — work can begin on the next three walls. Three sets a day is an average output for a good plasterer. There’s a widely held belief that a skim finish provides a better airtight seal than plasterboard on its own, although others insist that the difference is negligible. It’s clear though that a traditional plaster finish gives a uniquely smooth result and is incredibly durable. The biggest downside of wet plaster is the cost and time it takes. Plasterers spend years training to hone their skills as apprentices before working independently. And, as is the case with many trade skills these days, good plasterers are in short supply. Also consider the plaster needs roughly two weeks to dry (depending on weather conditions) before being paintable. Having a go at plastering a wall or room yourself is not recommended. The possibility of ending up with an uneven finish and cracks where the plaster has dried isn’t worth the risk. Of course no matter how good your plasterer is, if the building structure itself moves the plaster is likely to crack – no matter the precautions taken – hence the importance of build quality. By using paper tape, the risk of cracking is reduced when compared to scrim tape. Indicative cost: NI £7 per sqm / ROI €10 per sqm (for materials and labour).

Typically, a skilled tradesman will complete the drylining of a house in around five days. Leaving one day’s gap midway to allow the compound to dry out. The task of taping the joints of the boards together is time consuming, but there are hand-held tools specifically designed to simplify the process. This method can be completed far more quickly than the plaster option, is easier to master and tends to be cheaper. There’s less mess as the amount of ‘wet’ materials is reduced. Drying time is substantially less, which means you don’t have to wait long to start decorating. But, once painted, the finish can appear rougher and duller than a skimmed wall. Indicative cost: NI £4 per sqm / ROI €10 per sqm (for materials and labour).

The verdict

The difference in cost between the materials involved in board and skim and tape and jointing isn’t huge, but it takes double the time to skim the boards, increasing labour costs. Drying out time will add to the process, especially in winter. So, if speed and cost are the most important motivating factors in your project, taping and jointing is probably the better option. However, wet plaster gives a shiny, smooth surface that is perfect to paint and covers up a multitude of blemishes, making for tidy junctions in windows and doorways. The caveat is that you’ll need to find a skilled plasterer and also accept that some cracking is possible.

ECO OPTION

Plaster alternatives Plaster that is used internally is traditionally made of gypsum but materials that were used by our ancestors, principally lime mortars and clay plasters, are experiencing a resurgence. These tend to be more expensive and used by people interested in natural materials or with a desire for breathing wall designs which regulate humidity and indoor temperatures. In restoration work, there might be a requirement to use more historical plastering methods for ceilings as well, with the use of chestnut laths and plaster. Horsehair was the original additive to lime plasters to reduce cracking when drying out, but now manmade fibres tend to be added instead.

Additional information Fibre reinforced plasterboard brands: Gyproc Habito, Fermacell

Taping and jointing, aka drylining

Drylining can be tackled by the DIYer as it involves taping and strengthening the joints between plasterboards prior to painting. However you will need to practice to hone in your skills as the paint won’t hide any of the mistakes you make. Choose tapered edge boards and if the budget allows, soundproof boards to lessen the hollow sound often associated with drylining. First, fix the plasterboard to the wall using either the screw or the dot and dab method mentioned above. Then use jointing compound and tape to cover the joints between the boards and fill the screw holes with compound. You may need to add another layer on the joints in the corners, where the walls meet, around windows and where the boards reach the ceiling. Once the final layer is applied, sandpaper all the joints and filled in screws, and then you’re ready to paint.

The drywall method

SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 101

INTERIORS / CARPETS

Carpets Although most contemporary home designs call for wood or stone flooring, many of us still prefer carpets in special locations such as bedrooms and other areas we want to feel ‘cosy’. Words: Andrew Stanway

ll carpets consist of two elements – the upper ‘pile’ which is, in turn, attached to a ‘backing’. The pile was traditionally made of wool or silk but today the majority of carpets are composed of manmade fibres. These are usually polypropylene, nylon or polyester, all of which are cheaper than wool. Carpets are commonly manufactured in widths of 12 feet (3.7metres) and 15 feet (4.6 metres). Specialist carpet made for hotels, cinemas, yachts and so on is made in 0.69 metre widths which are then sewn together to cover the space. Certain types of carpet are made in wider-than-standard widths because they are hard to join (seam). But the carpet itself is only one part of the system. Although some cheaper ones are made with a padded backing already attached, the majority need a separate rubberised ‘underlay’ (pad) underneath. This lengthens the life of the carpet and softens its tread. Carpets are usually secured at their perimeter to a ‘gripper rod’, a steel, spiked system fitted to the

Example of nylon (polyamide) carpet

floor that keeps the carpet flat after the installer has stretched it and attached it to the spikes on the gripper. Factory-made widths of carpet can be joined during installation to cover wider surfaces than a standard roll size by hand sewing, though this is now considered old fashioned, or adhesive tape.

Types

Example of 80/20 wool blend

102 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

Carpets can be made of a single, or several blended materials. Fibres are chosen for durability, looks, ease of manufacture and cost. Nylon is probably the commonest fibre used. It is easy to dye and wears very well. This makes it good for industrial carpeting.

‘Carpets are commonly manufactured in widths of 12 feet (3.7m) and 15 feet (4.6m).’

CARPETS / INTERIORS

Quadell via Wikimedia Commons

PROPERTIES

Carpet directory Pile Whether natural or manmade, yarn is woven through the backing of the carpet to make a loop that may then be cut to create a cut pile carpet. If the loop is not cut it is known as a loop pile. Berber (loop pile) samples

Polypropylene, sometimes referred to as olefin, is also very commonly used. Wool and wool blends can be easily dyed and the blends wear exceptionally well. The commonest blend is 80 per cent wool and 20 per cent synthetic fibre, giving rise to the term 80/20. Wool carpets never produce static electricity when used, whereas many manmade fibres do. For some people in some homes this static can be a real nuisance, giving them an electric shock every time they touch objects in the room.

Axminster A cut-pile carpet whose pile and backing are woven together for increased strength. Hard-wearing but a little ‘commercial’ in appearance.

Velvet Looks luxurious because of its soft, dense, uniform pile. But this very look means it shows every indentation of furniture legs and even where you’ve run the vacuum cleaner across it.

fibres but sheds for a few months as it settles. Polyester Looks like wool and comes in lots of lovely colours. Nice and soft, fairly stainresistant and cheap. Can look matted after a while.

Plush A bit like velvet carpet but with a higher and less dense look. Very nice for bedroom floors but, as with velvet, shows everything.

Nylon Hard-wearing, resilient and stain-resistant but not all that cheap.

Wilton A top-of-the-range carpet available in cut, loop and cut-and-loop piles. Very dense and hard-wearing.

Saxony and Frieze These two types are characterised by their twisted or curled yarn. This makes them robust for family areas as they don’t show marks.

Berber A widely-used name for many loop-pile carpets. Very durable and great for high-wear family areas, stairs and hallways.

Wool These carpets are lovely to touch, strong and don’t produce static. Wool is more stain-resistant and flameretardant than man-made

Linen/flax; Sisal; Jute; Coir; Sea Grass Made from natural fibres, they can look stunning but take professional advice about exactly where they’re going to be installed, what sort of traffic you anticipate, and how much you can expect to spend!

Pros

Comfort Carpet is more cosy and comfortable to sit, play or work on than are hard surfaces. It’s especially pleasant for babies and young children. Safety Carpet is softer to land on should anyone fall on it. It’s also less likely to break things you drop. Warmth Both in psychological and actual thermal resistance terms, carpet is ‘warmer’ than hard flooring. It also retains heat better than does a hard floor. Noise Homes are getting noisier with all the screens and gadgets we use today. Carpets absorb noise well within a room and can, in addition, be used to reduce noise that travels from one room to another. This is especially useful in upstairs rooms or in flat conversions in older homes. Colours and patterns The possibilities are endless, compared with stone or wood.

for dust mites, moulds, pet dander and hair. Fashion Carpeted floors appear oldfashioned, which could even be a barrier to selling your home.

Cons

Carpet tiles

Short life Most modern, synthetic carpets don’t last that long, especially with hard family and/or pet wear. Hardwood or stone flooring can last for scores of years, if cared for. Maintenance Carpets absorb smells, dirt and other soiling. Hard floors, by comparison, are much less demanding. Allergies Carpets provide an ideal home

Carpet tiles

Carpet tiles are a perennial favourite because they are relatively inexpensive, easy to lay without using a professional, last longer than ordinary carpet and can be replaced, if necessary, one at a time, for example in high-traffic areas or where pet stains are hard to remove. Almost always made up of a bitumen backing topped off with the carpet itself,

they are versatile (e.g. can help sound deaden walls) and can be used in situations where fitted carpet wouldn’t be advisable or practical. Because this bitumen is heatsensitive, be careful that your underfloor heating is never more than 27degC in the floor itself. Tiles are usually about 7mm thick and 50cm x 50cm in size, though other sizes are available. Carpet tiles need to be stuck down with a special ‘tackifier’ (low-tack adhesive), or double-sided tape, rather than proper carpet spray adhesive. This enables them to be removed if necessary. It’s said that up to 100 tiles in any given area don’t need sticking but most people use a ‘low-tack’ adhesive just to be sure. Cutting them is a knack that needs to be learned. Start off by cutting with a utility knife, from the back. Score the back several times, being careful not to penetrate through to the actual carpet. Break the tile and then, from the other side, draw the knife through carefully. You’ll need a steel rule or builder’s level to cut along straight lines.

Keeping carpets clean

Most people over seventy can recall the days when cleaning a carpet or rug meant taking it outside, hanging it over the  SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 103

INTERIORS / CARPETS

MAINTENANCE

The first clean It’s vital to take advice if cleaning a carpet for the first time. Woven carpets can shrink and velvet-piled carpets and Berbers go fuzzy. There are some carpets – such as jutebacked and loose rugs with natural foundation yarns, that even professionals won’t clean, for fear of shrinkage. Valuable rugs can be cleaned by off-site specialist cleaners, as they can easily be taken away.

Cleaning hacks

104 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

Example of Saxony carpet

washing line and beating it till the dust was freed. No one today would consider such a method and to most, ‘carpet’ is synonymous with ‘fitted carpet’ so they wouldn’t be able to remove it anyway. It’s worth keeping carpets clean as it prolongs their life, removes soil and allergens and gets rid of unpleasant smells. All carpets need regular vacuuming – probably at least once a week – and a professional, deep clean once a year. In very busy homes, and those with pets, they need even more frequent cleaning. Today, it’s possible to get ‘almost professional’ machines from hire shops which usually produce very good results. Most of these – and their professional counterparts – use hot water extraction. In this, hot water (it’s not actually steam, as many people think, because the heat of steam can damage man-made carpets) along with various chemicals is sprayed on to the carpet and at once, within a second or two, sucked up by a vacuum. The soiled water is collected for later disposal. Various professional methods involve the use of pre-treatment chemicals and some pros also use spot-cleaners for the very worst or highly-trafficked areas. But the key to success once the carpet has been cleaned is to get the carpet dry as soon as possible. This can be achieved by opening doors and windows, playing a fan over the area, or even using a dehumidifier. For most simple household jobs, opening windows and doors is all that’s needed. It’s best to

Stock photo

In the past, tea leaves and even cut grass were used to collect dust from carpets and ink would be released with oxalic acid or hartshorn. Oil came out with bread or pipe clay; greases and fats with turpentine. If you had an infestation of insects you’d have used a diatomaceous earth like that in cat litter. Candle wax can be removed using a hot iron over two or three thicknesses of kitchen paper. Wet stains can be blotted with kitchen roll – the aim is to remove all the liquid in the carpet as soon as possible and then treat. Pet urine and artificial food colour stains may require professional help to remove.

keep off the carpet completely until it’s bone dry. Carpet tiles can be cleaned carefully but never use bleach of any kind or it can damage the backing. A damp cloth with some washing-up liquid often suffices. If not, get a proprietary carpet-cleaning fluid made for the purpose. If nothing works, simply replace the affected tiles. Additional information After scandals around child labour and rug manufacture, the GoodWeave labelling scheme is a quality mark that assures buyers the product is responsibly sourced. Images courtesy of Carpetright unless otherwise noted, carpetright.co.uk

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I N T E R I O R S / B AT H R O O M S

Dash for the bathroom Designing, costing and fitting out four bathrooms was a bit of a headache in the midst of our new build. But we survived! Words & Images: Vivienne Hanna

hen we were building our family home, we had four bathrooms to fit: a family bathroom, a large ensuite with bath, a wc and a compact ensuite. We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have much of a budget as we had spent our contingency in the build framework. So it became my intention to complete one bathroom at a time and move along as we could afford it. This also gave me breathing space to make confirmed and reasoned choices. However, during the course of the build we were catapulted to proceed, as

our plumbing and electric quotes included complete installation. It was going to be considerably more expensive if the workers were to return many times. Notwithstanding, it would have been difficult to get the plumber and electrician to work in synchronicity when we needed them. And so it became a must to kit out all the bathrooms with sanitaryware, and consider working on finishes later. 106 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

Design

I had started planning rooms a year earlier by going to a local bathroom company and got a lot of information there, mostly a sales process telling me what I needed. Also, this company spent a lot of time advising on toilets and self-closing easy clean seats. This convinced me that I had to invest in proper toilets and seats and not

B AT H R O O M S / I N T E R I O R S

just one from a local hardware store. That was a good call. There’s no substitute for visiting a showroom, where you can see and touch the ceramics, furniture, lighting, taps and showers. It pays off to go shopping to various bathroom companies; make appointments and let them know you mean business. It’s a good idea to come armed with a floor plan that includes your plumbing and features constraints. Usually the plan is obvious, but showrooms can be invaluable for the little tips; talk to a professional designer and get free advice. And listen to your friends and people who have survived the process. Everyone wants to tell their story. I put together a mood board, gathering photos of bathrooms I liked from online sources. Visiting real places such as new public buildings, hotels and clubs gave me a more tactile sense of what’s on trend, so I combined both sources of inspiration. This process of gathering a scrapbook really helps focus the mind when bathroom shopping. It might also come as a surprise to learn what you consistently like! The scrapbook will help determine the function of each of the bathrooms: to indulge and relax in or a practical place to get washed/showered asap? Knowing all of this will inform your style and finishes. And remember: anything goes in a bathroom, from eclectic chic to classical. At this stage I made a rough pencil sketch of the room to decide where to place things, taking into account: • The plumbing, water pipe, the soil pipe (important to get right as the loo needs to be reasonably nearby), radiators, and any specific room features. Work in storage, lighting and wall hung items at this early stage. • The need to move around the room comfortably, allowing 1m in front of the bath and 700mm in front of the loo. • Where the door will open; think of those with special needs. Architects and bathroom designers will know these rules and required dimensions and will incorporate them into your plans. It’s imperative to have this right in order to get your building control certificate (NI).

DESIGN

Tips For a streamline look and if the budget stretches consider semi-recessed basins and wallhung loos, also very practical for cleaning and mopping underneath. Short projection toilets and smaller cisterns help facilitate compact footprints. For the wet room look, but without the time or budget to manage it, a good alternative is a low-level tray surrounded by a frameless enclosure or panel, creating a walk-through or walkin shower for a barely-there look. Natural light is a mood enhancer so if possible include a window, rooflights help with privacy, vertical windows best kept away from the loo for the same reason even if you have frosted glass.

Budget

How long is a piece of string… water outlets, electrics, plumbing, fitting, tiling, all items need managed. It’s important to have everything ready to go before you start with  SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 107

I N T E R I O R S / B AT H R O O M S

SMALL BATHROOMS

Ensuites and the wc For smaller bathrooms you have to make the storage work. Consider features such as recessed soap dish options and discreet shelving where possible, e.g. in your alcoves. Newer mirror units have storage, lighting and shaving plugs within. Keep accessories and make up enclosed in a vanity unit or in wall hung units. Use mirrors and reflective finishes to enhance light and space. Wallpaper is enjoying a comeback for the boutique wc. Dark colours and images are enlarged and displayed, paired with rustic elements and industrial fittings. Last but not least, using a run of slim-depth fitted furniture paired with a semi-countertop basin can give a small room a very streamlined look and is incredibly space-efficient. Not to mention great for storage.

a clear plan. Estimate £5-£7,000/€5,500€8,000 for a standard bathroom. You can buy a new bathroom suite and install for as little as £4,000/€4,500. A more luxurious suite would cost around £5-£7,000/€5,500-€8,000. Lately one of my friends had a quote for £11,000, which included removal of the existing bathroom. All tiles were around £40 plus VAT per sqm with labour costs high and unquantifiable. An ensuite can be overhauled or finished for £1,500/€2,000 with a little thought. It helps to know your marketplace and look around different showrooms to help you make savings. Regardless of cost, I would suggest adding 10 per cent to your budget for contingencies. You can get a one stop shop, total fitout company who will do all your works and this can be effective for time, but will inevitably cost more. Start by showing your mood board to a designer to ensure your goals are affordable and realistic. As a rule of thumb an installation should take around two weeks with professionals working with other professionals to accommodate you. If you have the budget, and have the time to plan, you might consider investing in technology. Apart from low energy LED lighting and PIR sensors (lights come on when you walk in), TVs are fast becoming more common in bathrooms along with wireless Bluetooth speakers.

Hunt for sanitaryware

In making our initial plan, the first ensuite bathroom came in at £11,000, which included a cast iron bath at £4,500. I was in a blind panic as I knew that was well out of our reach. At the time, I made a comment about a particular vanity unit (with a mirror, it was costed at £2,200) I said it was really my favourite but didn’t choose it as I knew it was too expensive. It was modern, dull grey and transpired it hadn’t been popular. The owner offered it to me ex display for £800 with sink and tap. A ridiculous amount of money for me to spend at that time, but I loved it and it was still a saving, so collected it a week later. I then started to look at second hand baths and sanitaryware and luckily found a large cast iron bath online, double ended, with middle shower mixer tap for £200. It was an hour away. I made a call to a local bath repairer and he confirmed he could sort it out regardless of condition. As he came recommended, we decided to risk it. 108 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

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‘It pays off to go shopping to various bathroom companies; make appointments and let them know you mean business...’

The following Saturday morning with three young kids in the back of the car, we hitched up the trailer in the pouring rain. The bath was in good condition but still needed TLC. We got it into the trailer and drove straight to the repair man (as he was en route home) to seek his assurances. He was great and told us not to worry he could sort it once it was in place. We drove home, manhandled it into the garage and the truth is, a hedgehog nestled in and hibernated for the winter! But once installed the bath repairer did work wonders. I was mindful of costs and I was worrying as our funds were quickly disappearing. Luckily an opportunity presented itself, in that, I made a decision at this point to change things with our roof. This recouped about £4,000 from our main build budget, and gave me hope. From there, I went to a bathroom showroom in Belfast for inspiration and spent hours listening to sales pitches and bathroom facts. It was painful and exhausting, not to mention time consuming. I then went to my local hardware centre, where they were very helpful and considerate of my lack of budget. They offered to show me their ex-display section which put me on a path to go around all the hardware outlets looking for ex display. I copied our plans and slowly figured out what would go into each bathroom, worked out sizes and plumbing restrictions and so forth, and proceeded to identify a purchase list for each room. I learned on the hop. I also decided not to put a bath in the family bathroom upstairs to save money. Instead I enlarged the shower tray and it’s now a family shower room. Some outlets were very good and kept my number and called me when they got certain items. I bought all four vanity units

ex display, remarkably they are all the same brand but from different showrooms. I bought most of my taps that way too. I did have to pay full price for my shower trays but got reasonable rates. I was able to buy two ex-display shower enclosures which also helped. In total, I purchased a bath, four toilets/seats, three showers, including trays and cubicles, four vanity units, lighted mirror and taps for about £8,000. A bargain. Tiling, lighting and other finishes came after.

Savings on finishes

favourite. Of course, it’s nice to get the finishes at the right cost, but labour, grouts and adhesives are also to be costed. I struck a deal with a tiler to do it all. It worked out at about £25 per metre for approx. 140m of tiling. Tilers will expect you to pay more if they are working with the larger 80cmx80 cm or 120cmx60cm tiles, as they are more difficult to handle and lay. I have heard quotes of up to £50/€60 per square metre, but as a rule of thumb between £20-£35/€25-€40 is more the norm, depending on the style and design. One thing is for sure, a good tiler is worth his weight in gold, simply as he can make or break the look. So, if you get someone recommended, go and see their work and stick with them. Talk to them, book them in advance and keep talking to them until it’s time to bring them on board. In relation to finishes I would also say do the same for a painter for he too can make or break the look. Of course, all that seems pretty straightforward. In reality when you are building or renovating, you have to juggle so many people, main builder, plumber, tiler, fitter, joiner, electrician and meld them all together to get the job done. The bottom line is, know exactly what you want and stick to your plan. This will ultimately help the workers get on with the job.

My chosen ensuite floor tiles I costed at over £100 per metre in a particular Belfast showroom. In fact, after seeing them, I didn’t want to look at any others. They had ruined me for choice! I went for months searching for an alternative but decided to leave it. The tiles were what I wanted and nothing else could compare. I focused on the other bathrooms, until one day I walked into a little showroom to purchase tap tails (as they were missing from my ex display set) and the very same tiles were on sale at £32.95 per metre. I was ecstatic when I found them, as I didn’t want to compromise. So that was full steam ahead. Another tile I liked for the shower room and compact ensuite was £49.99 per metre and I needed 32 metres. Three weeks after seeing them, I headed back to the tile showroom for inspiration and they were reduced to end of line. What a find. I purchased a job lot of 46m for £400, a saving of £1,900. They weren’t my first choice at the time, but now, they are my SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 109

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Top tips for renovating an old cottage Extensions and renovations don’t have to be expensive or complicated, as I learned on my project in Co Clare. Words & Photography: Ray O’Foghlu

few years ago, sick of renting I decided to buy a small property. My humble salary meant I had to look at the lower end of what was available on the market, and whilst out looking for another property I saw a beautiful derelict cottage on a hill. I asked an old lady on the road about it, and so the adventure began.

Finding the doer upper. When searching for a property, don’t limit yourself to what’s online or in estate agents’ books. There are thousands of properties not on the market which, in the right circumstances, for the right person, may be for sale. They may also be a total bargain, especially if it’s a straightforward cash sale. You just need to get out there and ask. I found ours by searching the phone book for the owner and in the end bought the house for €55,000 in 2016. Before

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After

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When I was looking for a place to buy my criteria were straightforward: I wanted a place with an intact roof and straight walls free of damp. Everything else I felt I could manage. In retrospect I needn’t have cared so much about the roof. I now know I could have put a brand new well insulated (basic) one back on for €5,000. Don’t draw unnecessary red lines.

Money. Financing your project through a personal loan/credit union loan can be a big advantage. Financing refurbs with banks on mortgage terms can lead you into a whole world of bureaucracy that stops you from just getting on with it. Agree to prices with tradesmen for the job completed: not an unspecified price based on days on site. In my experience basic pricing for the west of Ireland includes the cost of materials and €100 to €200 a day for labour. The simpler the plan the simpler it will be to budget; for us the plan from day one was to renovate and add 60 sqm.

‘Don’t limit yourself to what’s online or in estate agents’ books...’

will be dead right. Don’t listen to people down at the pub or people without experience. On the other hand, those who have completed a fundamental refurb themselves can be worth their weight in gold. Builders used to working on new builds/modern houses not so much in my opinion. I was told to walk away a few times; if only I had a tenner for 

Time. In my situation having a supportive significant other, no kids and a flexible job really helped. I would think twice about embarking on this journey if I hadn’t the time to dedicate to it. There is little about building that can’t be learned, especially with the power of the internet and the expertise of people who know what they’re doing.

Taking advice from others. That said, in terms of getting advice from builders/tradesmen, be careful who you listen to. This is a tricky one. Some will tell you run a mile and they will be dead wrong. Others will say run a mile and they SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 111

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everyone who said this project would cost well over one hundred thousand! It cost forty and is finished to a good standard. Square, plumb and true. I learned the hard way to get these right and it was one of my most important lessons. I didn’t come from a building/construction background where I’d imagine these principles are taught early and often. If you don’t pay attention to these from the outset they can present real problems down the line. I built the structure for the timber frame extension with my brothers over a long weekend. Looks wise someone else’s work, however good, is unlikely to match your vision. For me that was the stonework on the outside, (which I painstakingly put up myself), the flagstone floors, the kitchen and the bathroom. If there is a bit of land around the house, get an idea of your plan as early as you can so as to make use of diggers/concrete trucks on site during the build. Looking back, I am happy with my decision to plant a few hundred trees very early. This can be easily done over two or three afternoons and now three years on when I look out, I see a couple of small forests coming along.

Planning permission and plans. I believe that for extensions you can do your own planning permission application (just follow closely what the local authority asks for and have reasonable computer or tech drawing skills). Amateur planning permission for a new build would be a stretch too far in my opinion, not just because of all the calculations you have to submit. I would always ask an architect for input as they understand space and light very well. Maybe you have a friend who you could contract for a short consultation. I was no good at sequencing and planning ahead; it would have made the project easier if I had been! A set of scaled drawings early on helps a lot, especially when working with others. Google Sketchup is a good programme, not too difficult to learn and free. It allows you to play around with your ideas in three dimensions. At every step of the way pay attention to air, water and pest access to your structure. Water ingress especially: don’t rely on sealing products or tapes. Instead, have physically overlapping materials that won’t move or degrade over time. Gravity will take care of the rest.

Use technology and futureproof. Building technology is changing all the time and there are now many ways to go about putting up a structure. Many modern systems are designed with

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user friendly installation in mind and do not require huge technical knowledge. Investigate these as some could save you time and money. I futureproofed my extension but could have done better in the original structure: wiring and insulation would be the two standout concerns here. Think long and hard on how you will be heating your house in years to come. Hint: carbon tax.

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Be sensible. In terms of aesthetics, I would be slow to delegate aspects of your project you have a strong creative vision for. But there is no need to be a martyr or a fool. Offloading certain jobs to professionals could save you time, money and (for fear of being a little melodramatic) death. I built the timber frame but got a block layer to do the foundations and outer leaf. It only cost a few hundred and was done in a timeframe and to a standard I could not have matched. Electrics the same; remember that now legally in ROI a registered electrician must do all the wiring for you. Then again there is no point in paying skilled labour to do donkey work.

Stay local. If you have moved to a new locality investigate what is going on in the area. Many local suppliers/ quarries/ fabricators are not online. I found these places to be honest, dependable and great to do business with. In terms of who does what job, once you find a hardworking honest tradesman they will often put you in touch with other hardworking honest tradesmen. I met one local family who were an absolute godsend. They were so embedded in the area and knew everyone and everything of relevance. If they couldn’t help me themselves, they would put me on to someone who could. Using their name

‘I was no good at sequencing and planning ahead; it would have made the project easier if I had been! A set of scaled drawings early on helps a lot...’ gave me a little bit of ‘local’ credibility. Find these people in your area. In terms of building suppliers even if your local place is a few euro dearer (and that was certainly not the case for me) having someone you can reach at the end of the phone for advice and ease of ordering and delivery is worth the difference. Still: shop around as your local may be able to match the lower price. Don’t mind the grouchy men and women behind the counters. Deep down they are almost always lovely people.

Where to get discounts. Find builders’ yards in your area which store materials taken out of demolitions and refurbs. You can find all sorts here; a full bathroom set would not be uncommon. There are also many entrepreneuring characters around the country who buy job lots of timber/ windows/insulation seconds. They are usually to be found online on merchant platforms. Amazing deals to be had. Secondhand shops and hand-me-downs which can be upcycled can save you a fortune. None of the above to be confused with ‘architectural salvage’ yards who know very well the value of some old pine floor/ cast iron toilet cistern and will happily charge you accordingly.

Finally, be careful. Doing work you are unfamiliar with, often alone, can be really dangerous. I took chances I should not have and was lucky. I wouldn’t do it again. Remember to use dust protective equipment to protect your lungs: dust masks but also gloves and other protective gear. Good luck. It’s a hell of a journey! SPRING 2020 / SELFBUILD / 113

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Grandest House Lessans in Co Down won Grand Designs House of the Year 2019; we catch up with homeowners Sylvia and Michael to get more information about the project. Words: Astrid Madsen

What was it like being on Grand Designs for RIBA House of the Year?

Once we’d cleaned and tidied the house this was great fun. Everyone was friendly, pleasant and incredibly hard working. It was fascinating to see how the programme is made, all the different roles and skills and how the director knits it all together.

How did the project get started?

We had lived in our previous house for over twenty years – it was built in 1898 and it was full of excellent design features. Lots of old houses get extensively modified over the years – our house was virtually unchanged since it was built. Though we modernised it we stayed true to the original layout. The features that worked particularly well for us we asked Kieran to incorporate into the new house – things like the separate pantry and big windows facing south. When we bought it, we knew we had a very special site. It was also convenient that water and electricity were available and that planning permission had been granted for a house so when we submitted our plans with a new design, one that was sympathetic to the landscape and 114 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

‘We love the gentle, rolling Co Down landscape, and were very anxious that the house would sit quietly and unobtrusively.’

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vernacular traditions of the area, it was granted without modification.

How did the design process evolve?

We love the gentle, rolling Co Down landscape, and were very anxious that the house would sit quietly and unobtrusively. The old barn was, for us, a real bonus though I think some people assumed we would knock it down. I think it’s very hard to make a garage work, for it to fit in to the overall design of a house and in the barn we had a ready made solution. When we got to the site for our initial meeting with our architects Kieran and Aidan, we were immediately impressed because it was obvious they had arrived long before the agreed time and had had a chance to walk it and discuss it together. They listened to what our ideas for the house were – when Kieran showed us the plans it was very evident that they had listened very carefully indeed. Kieran drew seven iterations and indicated which one he favoured. This happily was the one we also liked best, and over the course of the design and build remarkably little changed from the initial plan. We loved its sensitivity to the landscape and the way it subtly echoed the barn. Kieran sought out old maps and really responded to the lovely contours of the site. Having seen the beautiful house that Kieran had designed in Maghera we were keen to have a zinc roof. Kieran’s suggestion to bring the zinc down the walls, to echo the barn roof, was inspired, and is a feature of the house that we both love.

Having lived in a period property we are big fans of windows made of wood and pleased that this is an environmentally friendly choice. We were also happy that the windows were made locally by a firm of skilled craftsmen. The terrazzo floor was laid by a local company; they produced several sample sections for us – fabulous to be able to customise a floor, not just the colours of the marble chips used but the amount so that the degree of ‘busyness’ could be specified.

Who project managed the build?

Kieran was the project manager. This worked extremely well for us because neither of us had any knowledge of building, plumbing, electrical work etc. The initial site meeting started with a discussion of finished floor levels – we knew then that we were completely out of our depth. A big advantage of the architect as project manager is the opportunities for fine tuning as the project progresses. 

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‘We loved the sensitivity of the design to the landscape and the way it subtly echoed the barn....’

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A myriad of small, individual details contributed to the very coherent appearance of the finished house. For us the extra cost was money very well spent. We were all happy with the design from the outset; we chose masonry construction in keeping with the barn structure. Changes would often happen after visiting the site or during discussions in Kieran’s office. We did change where the back door would be and the layout of the hall, these changes were made in the early stage of the build before the relevant

building work had taken place. When we got going on site, the only issue we faced were some weather-related delays. Kieran helped us immensely in deciding which heating, hot water and ventilation systems to choose, and what to specify in terms of insulation and airtightness. The house has underfloor heating powered by an oil fired boiler. It is very efficient and produces a lovely even heat. The ventilation system was a revelation to us and works remarkably well, condensation just doesn’t happen. The lighting design, both interior and exterior, was also Kieran’s work. We’re delighted with it. The high ceilings called for an approach other than overhead lighting. Apart from the pendant task light over the kitchen island the house is lit mainly by unobtrusive wall lights. We were initially sceptical about how well they would work but they are very effective. We particularly like the effect in the bedroom corridor and the outside lighting.

How did you furnish the house?

Sadly, because it is so different in style from our pervious home, we had to furnish the house more or less from scratch with the exception of just a few items. It was however an opportunity to declutter, still a work in progress. For the bathrooms we went to a

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showroom in Belfast and they supplied the fittings. They had an extensive range of products and were extremely helpful. The bath was made by a small manufacturer in Somerset. The pantry is a big hit – our friend Claire talks about ‘pantry envy’. We also love the interior brick walls – the idea might seem cold and institutional but the reality is quite the opposite, so much so that we are really reluctant to hang pictures because we like the uninterrupted brick so much.

Would you change anything?

We had to think long and hard about this this question. I would have had the windows made to conceal the window blinds when not in use and I would have the extractor fan switch positioned where I could reach it. The house works incredibly well for us – it is firstly a really lovely space to live in – the quality of the light, the connection to outside, the way the high ceilings give a sense of space and lightness. It is really

‘We also love the interior brick walls – the idea might seem cold and institutional but the reality is quite the opposite.’

easy to maintain. We also really like the unfussy exterior with the concealed guttering and the way the house appears to nestle into the contours of the hill when viewed from the surrounding fields.

What did you do for landscaping?

We had a tiny city garden in our previous house so we were very excited at the prospect of a bigger garden though daunted at the prospect of planning it. As it happened plans for the garden fell into place around the design of the house and no planning was needed. Ideas evolved as the house was built with formal planting beds close to the house. The long planting bed in the bedroom courtyard is lovely to look out on and, as well as being a sheltered environment for plants, is home to robins, frogs and at least one newt. The raised bed at the front of the house provides colour and a welcoming feel. We’re in the process of establishing a wildflower meadow with the aim of complementing the way the house design seeks to be unobtrusive in the landscape. There are plans for a vegetable garden and polytunnel behind the barn and fruit trees have been planted on the bank behind the house. We bought most of the plants for the garden at the local garden centre, not just a great selection of plants but lots of advice as well.

PROJECT DETAILS Architecture & Photography: McGonigle McGrath, mcgoniglemcgrath.com Completion date: 2018 Project cost: £335,000 House size: 235 sqm

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Towards a zero waste garden Little things can make a big difference. Bringing your own shopping bag or having a travel mug for your coffee doesn’t seem like much but the ripple effect is quite impressive. So what little changes can you make in the garden to lessen the ecological and environmental disaster we are otherwise potentially heading for? Words: Fiann Ó Nualláin

ermaculture and ecological gardening are all about caring for the soil and biodiversity and thereby maintaining a better balance and lower carbon footprint. The aim of zero waste is, on the other hand, to eliminate waste. Not just better manage it or offset it with a planted tree. As a gardener, I have been working for a number of years now toward creating and maintaining a zero waste garden. It takes a lot of sticking to your guns and a few tweaks. The mantra here is that prevention is better than cure, or not introducing waste in the first place. The more we reuse the less we fill the bin and the more the zero is within our grasp.

Change your habits

Consider what you bring into the garden. You don’t need to buy all your plants, you can grow from seed and with time these will be coming from your own garden. When starting seeds, know that you don’t need a plastic kit. All seeds are primed to germinate with the right temperature range and adequate moisture. So seeds will germinate in a loo roll or upcycled strawberry punnet just as they would in any brand spanking new seed tray. When you do have to buy a plant, or need an established plant, then look for ones sold in compostable containers instead of plastic pots. Ask at the garden centre; let them know there is a demand. 118 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

Planting from seed reduces the need to buy in a pot; use a humble toilet roll to start germination.

If you can only find what you want in plastic, then the colour of the pot makes a difference. Black is recognised by sorting machines at waste recycling plants and this is why we are discouraged from putting them in the recycling bin, but plant pots in shades of pink, yellow, white, blue and so forth are easily read and so recyclable. More and more plant suppliers are opting for more rainbow pots. Developing an eco-mindset perhaps also means a more natural aesthetic: go with willow or hazel supports as opposed to plastic or plastic-coated metal ones. Also consider planting sustainable harvests – some comfrey to make home liquid feeds, or a hazel to coppice for wigwams and garden boundary fences.

Get cooking

The garden generates waste in that leaves fall from trees, twigs snap off shrubs, flowers go over, weeds sprout up. The productive runner bean or tomato plant will leave a lot of biomass behind after the harvest. The answer to this waste is to make something you can use out of it instead of something you need to dispose of. By transforming garden debris into a useful product the waste becomes a resource, not a problem. The fertility and soil amending properties of the compost keeps the garden a closed loop ecosystem. In making your own compost you not only keep waste out of your disposal bins but you don’t ever again bring plastic wrapped compost into the garden. The first trick is to know that while worms and beetles and other garden friends help break down matter into soil, essentially compost is produced by the action of bacteria living off decaying matter. Supply the heap with conditions suitable to host good quantities of this bacteria and the heap becomes a faster engine. The ideal conditions for bacteria to actively decompose material are warmth and moisture. The trick to keeping those conditions in steady play is to construct a firm heap that holds the compost in fixed shape. That can be some upcycled pallets or wooden laths to make a holding pen. A heap just dumped on the ground is not just unsightly but less active – a constructed heap keeps more warmth and moisture in and allows the bacteria present to work faster and generate more heat

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(heat which can kill off any weed seeds that slipped through or any plant diseases or viruses too). The hotter it gets the quicker you cook it. The idea of the pallets or the laths is that you need ventilation; oxygen maintains bacterial activity. The process of turning the heap has a few other purposes – it lets out steam and moves some of the newer material into the ‘center of the oven’ and refires the process. It is good to turn the whole heap at least every month, so construct a second corral beside it and you can just fork or shovel it over with ease. Adding a watering can of water every now and then will top up the moisture content and keep everything ticking along. The trick is not to make it soggy and quench the fire and also not to let it fully dry out and stop the bacteria reproducing. My favorite trick is a tarp or cover over the top in rainy conditions and winter. When it comes to making the heap of materials that becomes the compost think of a lasagne – it is all about the layers. Essentially compost is a mix of soft, green, nitrogen-rich material (grass clippings and green garden waste) and dry, brown, carbon-rich material (woody material and items like shredded paper, cardboard and so on). Kitchen waste, between carrot tops, potato peels, tea bags, coffee grounds and eggshells, will

‘By transforming garden debris into a useful product the waste becomes a resource, not a problem.’

enhance with the properties of either. The trick I employ is to think more of my heap layers in terms of soggy-drysoggy-dry rather than green-brown-greenbrown. The aim is to balance so as not to retard decomposition, too dry and no bacteria action, too wet and no heat to speed it along. A layer of grass clippings will go soggy so a layer of browns on top will balance that. A layer of grass clippings that have been dried off in the sun over a day or two is effectively straw and so can be considered a brown layer.

Get rid of the sprays

By far, the biggest product quantity purchased by gardeners are treatments. Weed killer, bug spray, lawn feed, you name it. All in plastic containers and often with an extra layer or three of packaging. Most are not that healthy to biodiversity or indeed the gardener. What is good to know is that it’s actually quite easy to make your own home remedies for pests and garden problems – you just have to be a bit patient with the results. Natural weed killer In recent years several alternative weed killers have found their way on to the market and these tend to use the acidity of citric acid, ammonium or acetic acid (vinegar) to destroy the structure of foliage and interrupt normal metabolic functioning of the plant to such a degree as to be fatal to its continued survival. The vinegar in your kitchen cupboard lacks the potency to be instantly fatal but it will scorch and damage and with several applications over a week will do the trick. Just be careful with splashing it on other more wanted plants. I am a fan of boiling water to kill weeds and moss between cracks in paving 

Compost pots are a better alternative thank plastic.

Willow fencing

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Taking up composting is an ideal way to reduce waste

‘By far, the biggest product quantity purchased by gardeners are treatments: weed killer, bug spray, lawn feed, you name it...’

Wild garlic will work equally well for homemade sprays

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– that cooks the photosynthesising parts of the weed and boils a bit of the root – enough to trigger rot. It too may take a few applications with the more perennial weeds but decimates annuals in an instant. Hand pulling usually makes weeds stronger but if you want to use this method, do it for your borders; hoeing will produce a better result for raised beds. Solarisation, which involves using clear polyethene sheets or cloches to allow the sun’s heat to cook off the weeds, is used for larger scale problems and allotment plots. Homemade bug spray Garlic is toxic to a broad array of insects and other pests. It also adds sulphur to the plant when applied as a foliar spray, and sulphur can boost the plant’s own defence mechanisms. There are two ways to make a great garlic spray. The traditional method is to finely chop a dozen or so garlic cloves, place in a container or bowl with four ounces of mineral oil. Cover and leave to marinade for a day or two. Strain the mixture to remove the diced cloves, decanting the flavored oil into a suitable container/bottle to which you add three or four drops of washing-up liquid. Stir well. Then dilute it with a half cup of water. Pour this solution into a hand-held or tank sprayer. The quick and easy method I employ is to simply blitz some peeled garlic cloves in a blender with a mug of water and strain through a muslin cloth into my sprayer.

Both versions can be used as an all-purpose spray for the range of bugs and pests, just remember the nonselective nature of garlic mixtures means they may also kill beneficial insects, so be vigilant before spraying. Eco-friendly lawn feeds Magnesium is essential to produce chlorophyll which is the green pigment in plant leaves. Depending on the hardness of your tap water, hosing the lawn can deplete magnesium from the plant and the soil. A foliar feed of Epsom salts – a few tablespoons per four litre watering can – will do the job and help replenish magnesium levels. You can of course gather some of your grass clippings which are packed full of nitrogen – essential to leafy growth – to make a liquid feed. Ferment them in a bucket of water, to a 50:50 volume ratio. It may get smelly but persist. After two to three weeks discard any sludge/ solids to your compost heap, mix the remaining enriched water with a handful of gardener’s lime (the sort you would use for vegetable beds) and dilute half a litre of this mix to a full watering can to feed the lawn. Not only does this help your grass green up and strengthen, it colonises the moss patches and raises the pH of the surface soil of your lawn to a moss-hostile level.

Hazel can be coppiced and used for fencing.

HOUSEBUILDER’S BIBLE / OPINION

Information overload

Words: Mark Brinkley

The Housebuilder’s Bible is celebrating its 25th anniversary, a good time to reflect on the evolution of self-building over the decades in NI and the rest of the UK. The first edition of the Housebuilder’s Bible came out in December 1994 and the ‘project’ (for that is what it is) has since sold over 175,000 copies, the equivalent of one every 75 minutes. During this period, self-build as an activity has changed. Many years ago, back in the 1970s and 1980s, self-build had a decidedly alternative flavour to it. In the UK it usually came under the guise of a number of individuals or families pooling their labour to build homes for themselves in a little estate. Today the mainstream self-build market consists of people acting as what the Americans call paper contractors – do-ityourself property developers, a group that tends to be fairly well-off building high spec houses to live in with little physical involvement in the construction process. Some estimates reckon over a third of all detached housing in the UK is now selfbuilt. From the self-builder’s point of view, perhaps the most salient change is that the process of house building has become far better known. There is so much more knowledge out there now available to the nonprofessional. Not to mention the coming of the internet, which barely existed in 1994. Alas, today the internet can be a lonely place and there are many questions that it doesn’t answer terribly well. Sales patter.... it’s full of it. Opinions....everywhere. But a simple question, like how best to build a house, really isn’t addressed at all. I hope Edition 13 can shed some light on this. Whereas in 1994, my aim was simply to be a conduit for lots of useful information, today it’s become a little more nuanced. Now it’s more about trying to make sense of the overload of information out there.

I myself started off as a self-builder and went on to become a ‘professional’ in that people paid me for my labours, often working alongside other self-builders. It’ll come as no surprise when I report that the hours are long, the work is backbreaking and the pay is often crap. The pay rates usually follow the economic cycle, so that in boom times they can go sky high, whereas in busts they fall pretty quickly. And all in all, the basic design, management and build principles remain the same: good design, a reasoned choice of how to project manage the build, then building the house from the foundations

Housebuilder’s Bible, 13th edition, Ovolo Books, paperback, 344 pages, ISBN 9781916016804, £25

up, making choices on heating, plumbing and electrics, choosing finishes and being savvy about how you shop. I will leave you with an extract of what lucky number 13 has to offer, from the Pitfalls chapter: Whilst not skimping on the basics, don’t be obsessed with fitting all the latest gear. Don’t be greedy about size – most selfbuilders build too much house for what they actually need, and often it gets wasted in needless circulation space. Which is a fancy way of saying don’t skimp on good design. It may seem that design costs a lot, but if get you a better house for less footprint it’s actually a bargain.

Where the money goes when you’re building a house Design 3% i.e. professional and planning permission fees

Preliminaries 3% including connection to utilies, site assessment Finance 7% i.e. bank’s interest rate

Construction 50%

Profit 7% Final profit level mostly dependent on economic factors (house value)

Plot 30% Very site dependent, this can be up to 50%

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OPINION / GARDEN

The early bird gets the worm There is not one element of your self-build that you haven’t taken seriously or haven’t had an input into. So why then does your outdoor space receive so little of your time and consideration? Not to mention budget. Words & Images: Andrew Christopher Dunne

Why it’s important

You wouldn’t ask your builder to design your house so why are landscape contractors so often asked to design a garden? This is the role of a professional garden designer who can supply detailed concept construction drawings. A professional design can save you thousands and sometimes tens of thousands in the long run. Most houses I’ve seen have wasted money because of avoidable mistakes. Concrete footpaths are usually installed as standard but are soon after ripped out, patios are often in the wrong place, lighting is installed in areas that will never be used. The list goes on.

When to do it

Natural swimming pool in Dublin with garden gym.

elf-builders’ can-do attitude has always impressed me, rising as they do to the challenge of building their home with relish. “Feel the fear and do it anyway” seems to be their motto. Perhaps this is in part due to the increased awareness of the process of home building; most of us today understand the role of architects, engineers, quantity surveyors and interior designers. And when looking for inspiration, the sky is the limit. Grand Designs, Room to Improve, Home of the Year, hundreds of magazines, (most importantly, this one!) and let’s not forget online content such as 122 / SELFBUILD / SPRING 2020

Houzz and Pinterest. All this leads to an awareness of what is possible, should time, effort and budget allow. Indeed, the chances are, if you are building your own home, you have had the opportunity to visit at least one beautifully designed house and you may even know what it cost. Not so with gardens. There simply isn’t the same amount of material available to draw inspiration or get information from. In Ireland, most high-end professionally designed gardens are behind closed doors and if you are lucky enough to visit one, the owner or designer would certainly not tell you what it cost.

The norm in Ireland tends to be that the garden is only considered in the last week or two of the build, having been relegated to the bottom of a very long list of priorities. This happens when everyone is exhausted, (along with the budget!) and is rushing to finish the job to get you in the door. The result is a glut of poorly

GARDEN / OPINION

done with a clear end goal in mind. Decisions like, where the driveway should go, what shape it should take, what should you do with the leftover topsoil on site? What trees to remove and what to preserve? These are all questions you should be asking your garden designer, even if a finished garden could be years away.

How much it costs

‘There is little point in investing thousands in stunning floor to ceiling windows if there is nothing spectacular to look out on.’ conceived and underwhelming outdoor spaces. Instead, use the time at the early stages of the planning process to consider the exterior spaces; in my experience the earlier I am contacted and become involved in a project the better. As soon as you have your house drawings confirmed is ideal. There is little point in investing thousands in stunning floor to ceiling windows if there is nothing spectacular to look out on.

Example of a concept 3D render at the design stage.

mood boards, 20 to 40 rendered concept 3D images, full design and construction drawings as well as planting, lighting and maintenance plans, along with a bill of quantities. One advantage planning a garden has over planning a house is that you can implement it over time and as the budget allows. This means that every cent you spend on the exterior of your property is

The cost of a professional design service depends on the size and complexity of the project. Initial consultations usually cost between €50 and €200 or around £50 to £150 depending on distance travelled. This is often deducted from the cost of a full fee should a design be commissioned. Design fees can vary greatly depending on the calibre of the designer but as a guide, for a quality design, you should set aside 10 per cent of your overall garden budget. At the lower end of the scale it is possible to get a straightforward suburban garden designed for €1,500 to €3,000 or in the region of £2,000 all in. However a top designer working on a quarter acre site and offering a comprehensive service will come in at significantly more. My advice is simply to ask how much it would be for your project; this costs nothing. Gardens are a lot like kitchens, you can choose a perfectly good flat pack kitchen that will serve you well or you can choose the luxury of a bespoke masterpiece for your home. They are both kitchens but are vastly different in quality and budget.

Who to ask

The first thing we tend to do is find out who is available in the locality. This is a mistake in my opinion as convenience is no guarantee of quality. Most designers will travel anywhere as they don’t have to worry about lugging large amounts of equipment or labour with them. So instead of looking for someone local, look for someone good. As with architects and builders, not all garden designers are the same. Each will have different abilities, styles and experience, so vet them thoroughly. Look at their past work/achievements with sample drawings.

How it’s done

You wouldn’t build a house with one drawing and the same applies to a garden. For a quarter of an acre site you can expect a garden designer to produce

Outdoor gas fire in Corten steel.

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GARDEN / DESIGN

Garden passion Taking on the challenge of landscaping over an acre of land with poor soil conditions. Words & Photography: Rhona Irvine

modest house close to the city at an affordable price didn’t seem much to ask but a large garden was one of the key things we were looking for when it came to looking for a new home and it did not prove easy to find. After years of casually looking we fell upon an old farmhouse which was for sale with 16 acres of land from which there were fantastic views to Strangford Lough. The neighbouring farmers were keen to buy

Summer in the parterre garden with ‘red hot pokers’ and fennel giving colour and interesting foliage

First stage of planting in the parterre garden

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most of the fields which would leave about 1.5 acres around the farmhouse as a blank template on which we could create a garden, from scratch. The thought didn’t daunt us at all and it never crossed our minds that this was actually an extremely big project to take on at the same time as renovating the house. Any doubt expressed by friends only left us more determined to get started and make it happen and so the work to the garden got underway while the house was still going through the planning process. When beginning to plan the garden we felt it was important to consider the wider landscape in which the house was sitting. This was the rolling County Down countryside and we wanted the garden to blend in and feel natural rather than sticking out. It was important that the garden increased the amount of habitat for wildlife

rather than becoming very manicured or formal. The work of William Robinson, the famous Irish gardener, and especially his approach to ‘Wild Gardening’ was inspirational to us and reflected the style we wanted to capture. The only existing feature was a hedge around what had originally been the small square front garden of the house. The

CONFIGURATION Location: North Down Terrain: Agricultural field at 450ft above sea level. Size: 1.5 acres Topography: Sloping to the south Soils: Poorly draining clay and shale Conditions: Very exposed

DESIGN / GARDEN

Red and yellow Alstroemeria

field which we were going to transform was outside this. We decided to keep the hedge, firstly because it was the only form of shelter from the strong winds on the entire site and also because it gave the opportunity to divide the garden into separate areas. After a bit of pruning we discovered the hedge was actually growing out of an old stone wall which felt like a part of the history of the house. We wanted to get a hedge in around the entire perimeter as soon as possible to increase the amount of shelter available hence giving a wider variety of plants to choose from and more likelihood of them surviving. The hedge too would need a little help to begin with so we attached windbreak fabric around the entire exterior of the fence to give it a better chance of surviving and doing well. We chose to plant Hornbeam (Carpinus Betulus), a deciduous broadleaf tree native to the south of the UK, but widely planted elsewhere. Hornbeam are hardwood trees in the birch family and look very similar to beech (Fagus sylvatica) but are more suitable than beech for heavy, wet soils with poor drainage. It is important to consider that bare-root deciduous saplings should be planted once the leaves are off the plants which means in the winter and to take care not to let the roots dry out before they go in the ground. Around the margins of the site we wanted the garden to merge into its surroundings. In these areas we incorporated many species of birch trees. The White Himalayan ď&#x192;&#x2DC;

The existing hedge growing out of an old stone wall was kept to provide shelter from the strong winds and because it gave the opportunity to divide the garden.

Yellow Inula orientalis

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GARDEN / DESIGN

Aeoniums give an exotic look to a dry area of the garden

Plants are allowed to reseed and naturally regenerate, such as foxglove which gives beautiful colour

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Lilies and achillea provide a stunning contrast

DESIGN / GARDEN

The site started as a bare agricultural field

Yellow Helianthus ‘Happy Days’, pink Achillea ‘Pretty Belinda’, and red Lychnis chalcedonica in the parterre garden

Birch, Betula Utilis spp Jacquemontii ‘Snow Leopard’ and Betula ‘Nepalese Orange’ are particular favourites. Alder, hazel and rowan help to make it feel just like part of the countryside especially as the trees have started to mature. We planted large numbers of spring blubs, Hellebores and bluebells for spring colour and interest and have allowed the grass in these areas to grow long and encourage the growth of wildflowers to add to the relaxed and wild feel. Back in the area which was originally the small front garden of the farmhouse we took a very different approach. I loved the idea of a formal parterre with four symmetrical beds divided by gravel paths and felt that mirrored the character of the older part of the house with its sash windows. A parterre will often have a short Box (Buxus) hedge around the borders but we used Hebe instead to avoid the potential problem of Box blight. We realised that Hebe seemed to love the growing conditions and we have since increased the number of varieties within the garden, adding some great colour and also evergreen structure

through the winter months. Hebe are extremely easy to propagate and all of the parterre hedging we disseminated ourselves from only a few plants. The use of plants with different structures, textures and colour has been

inspired by the notable plantsman Christopher Lloyd and his iconic and charismatic garden ‘Great Dixter’. We have used mostly hardy perennial plants which bring striking colour and drama with the likes of diascia, achilleas, echinacea, geums, lillies, dahlias, roses and ornamental grasses. Buying plants is not cheap but we often bought plants that perhaps were a little past their best and so reduced in price, but these would flower again perfectly next season. So many of the plants self-seed too and ones such as Aquilegia and Foxgloves offer incredible colour and variety without very much effort at all. Fruit trees are another feature of the garden both in the wilder areas on the boundaries but also grouped in a small orchard which has apples and pears giving both stunning spring colour and the joy of autumn fruit. Maintaining such a large garden does take a lot of time and luckily for us it is a passion which doesn’t feel like a chore. It can be extremely therapeutic and is a pleasure to watch how the garden changes with the seasons. There is always something else to be done but the beauty of having wild areas in the garden is that it doesn’t matter if there are weeds or the grass is long because it is still a beautiful space conducive to relaxation and tranquillity. Additional information Birch trees were mostly sourced through Stone Lane Gardens that hold the National collection of Birch and Alder.

Pink geranium gives a dramatic backdrop in the patio area

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ASK THE EXPERT / Q&A

Ask the expert You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers. And if we don’t, we’ll find out by scouring our Facebook group, calling help lines and talking to the experts. Q: We have planning permission to build a house in NI and want to hire the trades ourselves; what can we expect from the process and who can we rely on to advise us? A: Project managing a self-build is a time-

consuming job where you have to keep many plates spinning at the same time. You will need to draw on the expertise of others when you need it, from pricing the job to proving compliance to the building regulations. A bit of handholding will go a long way; your architectural designer and engineer will be able to provide advice throughout and sign off on the stage payments. But you will also need help pricing every aspect of your project, which may include value engineering. You will already have an idea of how much the total will come to as you will presumably have designed a home you know you can afford to build. As they say the devil is in the detail so getting real time costs for all aspects will be vital in managing cash flow, to know when you will need money for what. To estimate the costs you can hire a quantity surveyor or other professional but you can also enlist the help of builder’s merchants, all of which will work out material prices off the plans. Some even provide more advanced costing services which include labour and plant hire. The sooner you do this the better, so the costs can be estimated early on for mortgage drawdowns and cash flow and so you can order those materials that need to be bought in advance. In terms of complying with the regulations structural aspects tend to be signed off on by your engineer while other design aspects tend to fall within the remit of your architectural designer. There are of course a number of aspects to cover from the point of view of energy efficiency, from airtightness and SAP assessments to registered construction details (RCDs) which are used to help you overcome thermal bridging on site. Again you can hire a design professional to guide you through this process, but this service is also available through some builder’s merchants. Chris Mc Comb, JP Corry Build Aviator Manager

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We opened up a help desk for a day on Instagram, here are some of the questions you asked, with answers. Always consult a professional for specific guidance about your project. Q: Top tips on where to make savings on a tight budget? A: Spend most of your time on the design:

build a simple shape and keep to a square footage you will actually use. Invest in insulation and airtightness with a dedicated ventilation system to minimise energy bills and to reduce the size of your heating and hot water system. Take your time choosing finishes (sanitaryware, lighting, floors, etc.) to get deals on products you want and also consider that you don’t need to move into a fully completed house – that extra bathroom can be kitted out when funds allow. In terms of building methods, flat pack systems will save time and control quality, a bit extra upfront but worth looking into if you’re a novice and borrowing money (want to get moved in quickly to avoid paying rent).

Q: Any tips for the airtightness test? A: Ideally you’ll get a test done mid-build to

make sure you’re on track and fix any issues at this less costly stage. An airtightness test is required at the end of the build, but if at this late stage you need to make alterations then it could involve invasive work. Laying the membrane is fairly straightforward, as is jointing them with tape. The ducting, electrics and other breaks in the membrane are the trickiest to seal off. It used to be a case of using loads of

(expensive) airtightness tape but there are now custom sized sticker-like airtightness products you can use, or paint-on products to deal with these. To check the quality of work as you go, you can use the like of a smoke pen to check the junctions are airtight. The trick is to make sure no trades then start making holes in the membrane to run their services, or if they do, to get them sealed up. Generally speaking if the build was supervised and done with reasonable workmanship, passing the test won’t be an issue.

Q: Hi would you recommend, natural ventilation (vents on walls in each room) or the MHRV system? A: There’s also Demand Control Ventilation as an in-between option in terms of cost and maintenance to check out. People have built homes with natural ventilation and good levels of insulation and airtightness, but this can mean having a lot of holes in the wall and associated draughts. Especially now that the new building regulations have come into force in November 2019, in ROI you’re probably looking at a mechanised system. MVHR is, however, not maintenance-free to work as intended; the filters have to be changed and the ducting needs a sweep once in a while.

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A clearly marked out dining area in an open plan layout, versus one that’s integrated in the kitchen.

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