The Selfbuild Podcast

Matt Kinloch of SONAS Bathrooms and Darrel McCauley of Spectrum Bathrooms joined us at Selfbuild Live Belfast to talk about what’s trending in bathroom designs and how to get the style on a budget, including

• Colours and style in general: what’s on trend, e.g. is barbiecore a thing in bathrooms? What are the classics?
• General budget saving advice: consider number of bathrooms, size? How about renovations, how to save with existing bathroom upgrade?
• Sanitaryware: what’s on trend, e.g. wall hung basin/toilet and standing bath, and how to save and still get the look
• Fittings: what’s on trend, e.g. is gold still fashionable, and how to save and still get the look
• Radiators: what’s on trend and how to save, e.g. output?
• Mirrors: what’s on trend, is it still LED and Bluetooth mirrors, and hacks to save.
• What are the other big ticket items in the bathroom and how can self-builders save?

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Pete Cole of Pete Cole Consulting shares the most common issues he comes across self-build sites, including:

• How to work to a budget - where to spend your money
• Evaluating site conditions, from utilities running through the site to contamination
• Task approval in NI, developer enquiries
• Variations to designs and importance of site meetings
• How to choose a builder and pitfalls of going direct labour
• What can go wrong and examples of the need for site supervision
• What contract to sign with your builder in NI
• What to do if you want to do some work and/or hire some trades yourself
• Issue of availability of skilled labour and changing technologies
• Issues with pitched warm roofs, including potential of condensation with panels
• How to deal with defects
• Who has PI insurance and who needs to sign off on changes
• Practical examples

Recorded at Selfbuild Live Belfast in October 2023.

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• How are projects costed for maximum accuracy?
• How much is an average self-build costing nowadays, per sqm? For what type of house?
• What is the most cost effective type of house to build? Size, shape, choice of building method for floor, walls roof, window, setc?
• What are the typical budget busters?
• Direct labour versus hiring a main contractor: what savings can you make?
• Is it cheaper to build with timber frame or blocks?
• Can you haggle with builder's merchants?

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Architect Mark Stephens, who is based in Co Mayo, chats about how to get planning permission in ROI including:

-         What is planning permission

-         Who needs planning permission and under what circumstances

-         The application process

-         How to improve your chances of getting permission

-         Main reasons for getting turned down

-         Local needs provisions

-         Requests for further information: what it is and what the planners commonly ask for and how that's changed over the years with computerisation

-         How to make changes to an existing application that already got approved

-         When to amend an application or make a fresh one

-         What kind of specialist reports do you need and how much do they cost

-         Examples from Mark's experience lodging planning applications

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• The different types of insulation with pros and cons for each including cost, thermal efficiency, fire resistance
• Recipe for an energy efficient building fabric: insulation and airtightness
• Typical wall build up scenario for a building regulations compliant house vs NZEB: block builds and timber frame
• Typical roof build ups and typical floor build ups
• Performance gap: how can self-builders ensure that the design is right and the installation is done correctly?
• Typical retrofit scenarios: how to insulate an existing home (existing cavity walls, solid walls, floors, roofs)

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Where are build costs heading? We look at the situation in Ireland today, in 2023 with DJ Ramsdale of DJ Build Estimations who tunes in to answer your questions about how much it costs to build in Ireland in 2023, from what method is cheapest to what to expect to pay overall. 

He covers:

• What’s the most cost effective construction method?
• Is a dormer cheaper than a two storey house? 
• For an existing house is it more cost effective to demolish and rebuild, or renovate?
• Will material costs and labour costs stabilise? Are prices coming down enough to start a direct labour build or is labour still too expensive?
• What percentage of the budget goes into substructure, superstructure, internal finishes?
• What does a contractor typically need for a tender?
• What kind of house can you build today for €/£150-170k?
• What is the average cost per square metre these days?
• What exactly will the mortgage cover? How far in the build does it get you?
• What is a builder’s finish, what does it cover?

For more on build costs go to the Selfbuild Cost Hub.

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• What self-build insurance is and why you need it
• Is self-build insurance mandatory like car insurance?
• What do mortgage providers look for
• What makes it difficult to insure a new build project
• When do insurance companies insure non-standard builds?
• How much does insurance cost today
• Renovations and extensions: when does self-build insurance kick in?
• New duty of care legislation in Ireland and whether it will lead to lower premiums
• Competition in ROI vs NI

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• Going from a bungalow to an A rated home
• Cost details and how it compared to building new
• What is the fabric first approach
• What are the main types of insulation? Where are each best used?
• How much insulation is enough: cost optimal amount to install
• Why is airtightness important?
• How to install insulation and airtightness correctly
• The benefits of following a set standard like the passive house standard
• What the future of house building and retrofitting looks like

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• What is a tiny house
• Why he decided to build a tiny house to live in
• How he built it from start to finish, DIY with no previous experience
• Where he sourced materials
• How much it cost
• The case for tiny house living
• Tips and advice to others thinking of a building themselves tiny house
• Lessons learned

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• What grants are available and which ones suit which budgets
• How much it costs to carry out a One Stop Shop upgrade
• How to apply for the grants: dos and don'ts
• Pros and cons of going for a One Stop Shop grant
• Should you invest in solar panels? How much will it cost and what's the grant?
• Should you invest in a heat pump? How much will it cost and what's the grant?
• When does it make financial sense to invest in energy upgrades?
• Are energy upgrades worth it? What are the benefits?

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