The last 18months of the blog have been
very interesting. We are getting about 400 hits per month with the
most read post has been ' How much does a passive house cost to
build' which really shows that there is a lack of good information
out there about what (1) what a house costs to build and (2) how much
extra a passive house would cost.
Well we've been in the house now for
about 5 months now and it have been an interesting time in terms of
wrapping things up and perhaps areas where we would do things
differently.
Paint
The main lesson learnt on paint is to buy
the best you can. Secondly it takes twice as long as you think it will, & even more if you have the final floor coverings down. We went for water based paint from Colortrend ( International Paints) based
in Celbridge Co Kildare. They distribute through a limited number of
suppliers who make up the colour in a mixing machine in the quantity
you need, the paint is amazingly hard wearing . A stunning range of
colours and better value than other high end suppliers like Farrow &
Ball. We rolled the entire house in an obliterating white emulsion as
soon as the plaster was dry. We did all the woodwork in a Colortrend water based mid satin
off white; if I were doing it again I might more seriously consider a
gloss for the woodwork given the proliferation of little mucky hands
everywhere.
Building Drying Out
There is a tendency when wrapping up a build to rush the finishing, especially the installation of doors ,
skirting, architraves etc. Well, whatever you do dont rush it. The
building when the second fix carpentry is installed should be very
dry , in particular any plaster be well pink. Secondly, the timber
should planed / treated / knotstopped before installation but also
let sit in the building for a few weeks so that the moisture content
stabilises to that of the building. If the moisture content is higher
then than the building, the the timber will crack as it contracts as
it dries out. Your tradesmen will want to rush to get finished, so
order in time & its well wort waiting.!
Buying on the internet
We bought a number of items on the net,
in particular the branded sanitaryware & taps from a German
website ( mainly http://www.reuter-badshop.com). Given that the products are
branded ( mainly Duravit) with international warranties ( check this
before buying) then once we ordered the correct items then there was
actually little risk. Furthermore if you pay using credit card then
you have protection should faulty good be delivered , for up to six
months. The prices were 40% less than here in Ireland but there was
an 8 week lead-time on some item but in stock items were delivered in a
week. They were excellent with questions We did buy some mid level
taps from a UK website and that experience was less positive as the
quality of the goods was simply lower than the German products. So in
summary, buy good quality branded goods on the net, for mid level
products then buy in the trade outlets locally.
Choosing Tradesmen
We have has a really mixed experience
with our tradesmen. My lesson is document what you have agreed in
advance & either email it or both sign it. Such a document means
that an alterations from it will need to be documented so else you
end up in a ' he say....she says....' situation eventually. No matter
how convivial it all is at the start, there will be moments were
selective memory will kick in. Always ask for references & check
them out. In general, I would suggest buying the material for tradesmen and getting them in on day rates for the work & then
monitor the quality. This is generally cheaper than a lump sum where
you don't have transparency on pricing or material quality Finally, I
would always suggest using tradesmen that are local, meaning within a
1 hour drive, in particular the plumber, roofer & electrician.
These should be people who value their good name & have a vested
interest....too often these days the work is ' hit & run' All of
the above seems like common sense, but it is something that is often
forgotten. To say that we were let down by many of our trademen would
be an understatement, inlcuding the roofers. At the other end of the spectrum has been the
electrician, Tommy & Maurice Whelan of Marathon Electrical, who have done a great job and stand over their work.
Documenting Your Build
This is absolutely key and should involve buying a small handheld HD video camera & a good high rez
camera with a flash ( not a phone). The price of both would be around
€200 on amazon. You should aim to regularly walk all the building walls,
exterior, roof, scaffolding, skips etc... twice per week to show (1)
progrees (2) technical details as they are being constructed (3)
materials on site with batch / quality marks. We have had cause to produce some of these photos already & they were simply invaluable.
Gardening
Even though we're in the house a few
months, some parts of the garden were planted over a year ago. If
youve a large area to plant then its best to use bare root plants or
whips ( little bare root trees). These take a while to develope but
are a fraction of the price. Likewise now that the construction boom
is over, there are many plant nurseries ( not gardencentres!) that
have root balled trees - many of which can be 6m tall – which can
be planted & have an immediate visual impact. All these type of
trees / shrubs need to be planted by the start of April and well
watered in their first season. Trees like silver birch are typically
used in passive houses to give solar shading during the summer months
to reduce building overheating. Gardening lesson over!
Paths Around the House
We put a 750mm concrete path around the
house with a small quantity of smashed glass & pebbles pushed
below the surface when it was drying. We will grind this back a
few millimeters to give a polished concrete finish & the fall is
away from the building of course. Between the build and the path
there is a large gap with a land drain below the surface with a
covering of grey pea gravel. We put the structure / pad in for a
patio down too as this involved some heavy equipment and if done in
the future would have shredded the lawn that is about to be
planted.
Lighting
The best value & designs are to be had by going to
the trade lighting outlets who will stock enormous ranges from the
likes of Philips & Massive. These sellers do not have retail
outlets but have good catalogues with all the dimensions. I would say
these suppliers are 60% less than the usual lighting centres we all
know. Have just done an exercise of replacing a few
halogens with LEDs. Got these online from futureled.ie and whilst
the quality of the bulbs if great, the light from LEDs is a harsher
white. I did order warm white LEDs which are supposed to mimic the
yellow of halogens but even then the 3 types I did order, each have a
very difference ' warm white' colour, so do definitely order the
LEDs in small quantities first as they do cost about €6 each. Switching the bulbs is a very straighforward job. The electical power
saving is incredible; for example I replaced 50W halogens with 3W
LEDs & the latter are actually brighter than the halogens.
Will keep working through my list of
observations on the design and construction of the house. If there
are certain topics you would like to see addressed, then let me know.
