New build deviating from plans…

New build deviating from plans…

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Discussion

Johnniem

2,674 posts

224 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
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Mark V GTD said:
The criticism of new build houses does amuse me. I was brought up in a 1930's semi - it was a new build in the 1930's - 9" brick outer walls, rendered and pebble-dashed, single glazed windows holding up the bay windows to the front elevation, zero insulation. In other words, simple construction but still standing today with replacement roof tiles, windows and loft insulation, re-wired and new plumbing. Basic structure all original though.

I'm sure the vast majority of todays new homes will be around for as long with a similar level of replacement and upgrading.

Edited by Mark V GTD on Monday 13th February 13:07
I think the main difference now is that the quality of workmanship can be lacking. The 1930's was actually a very good period for housebuilding and this is why so many of them remain as good, sturdy buildings.

What always amuses me is that if someone buying a Georgian house in Mayfair knew how very poorly most of them were built, they would never commit their money to one.

blueg33

35,948 posts

225 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
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OutInTheShed said:
blueg33 said:
Design is subjective

Interior space in new homes tends to be more efficient and useable than in older homes

There are new homes built in volume that guarantee zero energy bills for occupants

There are new homes accredited and warranted for 100 years

A mistake by a brickie reading the plans doesn’t mean that the house is poor quality.
Building stuff to drawing is a very big slice of what 'quality' is about.

Everyone in manufacturing knows that.

The building industry, or a large chunk of it, is 50 years behind.
Ours are built in a factory with a significant number of robots using production techniques from the modern car industry

Zarco

17,877 posts

210 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
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I've been saying for years that robot brickies can't come soon enough.

TimmyMallett

2,847 posts

113 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
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Mr Whippy said:
Sadly people buy off-plan, so the quality levels can be rubbish.
It's a bit like pre-ordering a video game. People are surprised when the product they get is released too early and full of bugs.

roadie

633 posts

263 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
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blueg33 said:
Ours are built in a factory with a significant number of robots using production techniques from the modern car industry
This is what I want to see more of. There must be so much waste constructing a building entirely on site compared to within a controlled environment.

Escort3500

11,915 posts

146 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
quotequote all
blueg33 said:
OutInTheShed said:
blueg33 said:
Design is subjective

Interior space in new homes tends to be more efficient and useable than in older homes

There are new homes built in volume that guarantee zero energy bills for occupants

There are new homes accredited and warranted for 100 years

A mistake by a brickie reading the plans doesn’t mean that the house is poor quality.
Building stuff to drawing is a very big slice of what 'quality' is about.

Everyone in manufacturing knows that.

The building industry, or a large chunk of it, is 50 years behind.
Ours are built in a factory with a significant number of robots using production techniques from the modern car industry
It’s a shame it’s not more widespread IMO.

As to design, it’s not the first time that it’s been debated/argued on PH and certainly won’t be the last. I really dislike the pseudo Victorian/Edwardian stuff that most of the volume housebuilders throw up these days, with poor detailing and cheap looking features. No imagination, soulless, ‘anywhere housing’. Where’s the architecture for the 21st century? Sure, some builders are prepared to push the envelope and come up with imaginative developments, representative of modern times and not a poor copy of a bygone era. But they’re few and far between, and instead we invariably get stuck with anonymous schemes.

Just my two pennyworth; I’m sure plenty of PHers will disagree soapboxsmile


Flooble

5,565 posts

101 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
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blueg33 said:
Ours are built in a factory with a significant number of robots using production techniques from the modern car industry
I'd be interested in how that works - timber frame and SIPs? "Pods" for bathrooms? I'm wondering how a brick/block house is built in a factory - I am probably imaging the wrong thing. Maybe a different thread?

OutInTheShed

7,636 posts

27 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
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Escort3500 said:
It’s a shame it’s not more widespread IMO.

As to design, it’s not the first time that it’s been debated/argued on PH and certainly won’t be the last. I really dislike the pseudo Victorian/Edwardian stuff that most of the volume housebuilders throw up these days, with poor detailing and cheap looking features. No imagination, soulless, ‘anywhere housing’. Where’s the architecture for the 21st century? Sure, some builders are prepared to push the envelope and come up with imaginative developments, representative of modern times and not a poor copy of a bygone era. But they’re few and far between, and instead we invariably get stuck with anonymous schemes.

Just my two pennyworth; I’m sure plenty of PHers will disagree soapboxsmile
It's what sells though!

Some people like what the builders mass produce.
Some of the rest of us would prefer older places anyway.
A few can afford to escape the mass market.

Also when builders try to do 'modern' or 'innovative' it tends to look like a bad idea within a few years.
More so when it's compromised by budget and 'trending back towards the norm'.

I quite like some of the 60s and 70s attempts to break away from 'the traditional 1930s look'.
But many people would describe them as very dated.
And of course a lot of the materials, like flat roofing and timber cladding, haven't stood the test of time.

My own house is not great architecture, to look at anyway.
It's a good size box in a good place.

barryrs

4,391 posts

224 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
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Flooble said:
I'd be interested in how that works - timber frame and SIPs? "Pods" for bathrooms? I'm wondering how a brick/block house is built in a factory - I am probably imaging the wrong thing. Maybe a different thread?
I’ve placed around 150 of these on a couple of sites

https://ilkehomes.co.uk/

They are based around a steel frame and make great 2-beds; however, the 3’s were a bit cramped in my view as it’s dictated by the transportation.

blueg33

35,948 posts

225 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
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barryrs said:
Flooble said:
I'd be interested in how that works - timber frame and SIPs? "Pods" for bathrooms? I'm wondering how a brick/block house is built in a factory - I am probably imaging the wrong thing. Maybe a different thread?
I’ve placed around 150 of these on a couple of sites

https://ilkehomes.co.uk/

They are based around a steel frame and make great 2-beds; however, the 3’s were a bit cramped in my view as it’s dictated by the transportation.
The 3 beds have been revised I believe. They meet NDSS

Promised Land

4,734 posts

210 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
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barryrs said:
I’ve placed around 150 of these on a couple of sites

https://ilkehomes.co.uk/

They are based around a steel frame and make great 2-beds; however, the 3’s were a bit cramped in my view as it’s dictated by the transportation.
These companies do like to go on about zero carbon fossil free living but where did the concrete for the footings come from and how did it get there? Also all the naughty smelly heavy plant required to dig out footings, drains, services, cranes sat there all day lifting modules in place.

What is the external veneer made from? Brick slips or some lookalike bricks? How are they rendered as well? On site or in the factory?

Artist’s impressions are never true to form, most plots would have 2 maybe 3 cars outside when lived in yet there are hardly any cars in those scenes, a few walking or cycling that’s it.

I’d like to see like for like costs on building this way compared to traditional brick and block plots.

It also says you can live for under a pound a day, quite a statement.

barryrs

4,391 posts

224 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
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blueg33 said:
The 3 beds have been revised I believe. They meet NDSS
They needed it in my view.

My only other concern was future alterations after the O&M manual had been long lost. A sparky trying to put in an extra socket will be in for a surprise!

blueg33

35,948 posts

225 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
quotequote all
Promised Land said:
barryrs said:
I’ve placed around 150 of these on a couple of sites

https://ilkehomes.co.uk/

They are based around a steel frame and make great 2-beds; however, the 3’s were a bit cramped in my view as it’s dictated by the transportation.
These companies do like to go on about zero carbon fossil free living but where did the concrete for the footings come from and how did it get there? Also all the naughty smelly heavy plant required to dig out footings, drains, services, cranes sat there all day lifting modules in place.

What is the external veneer made from? Brick slips or some lookalike bricks? How are they rendered as well? On site or in the factory?

Artist’s impressions are never true to form, most plots would have 2 maybe 3 cars outside when lived in yet there are hardly any cars in those scenes, a few walking or cycling that’s it.

I’d like to see like for like costs on building this way compared to traditional brick and block plots.

It also says you can live for under a pound a day, quite a statement.
All houses have site works. The fact is that these use less concrete in foundations than traditional build.

Lifetime zero carbon will be calculated using accepted techniques. Ilke have a very interesting Zero energy bills product.

Like for like costs are about the same and with enough volume i expect them to be lower, economies of scale. Build rates can’t be matched by traditional and this means less disruption for existing communities where the new ones are being built.


barryrs

4,391 posts

224 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
quotequote all
Promised Land said:
These companies do like to go on about zero carbon fossil free living but where did the concrete for the footings come from and how did it get there? Also all the naughty smelly heavy plant required to dig out footings, drains, services, cranes sat there all day lifting modules in place.

What is the external veneer made from? Brick slips or some lookalike bricks? How are they rendered as well? On site or in the factory?

Artist’s impressions are never true to form, most plots would have 2 maybe 3 cars outside when lived in yet there are hardly any cars in those scenes, a few walking or cycling that’s it.

I’d like to see like for like costs on building this way compared to traditional brick and block plots.

It also says you can live for under a pound a day, quite a statement.
In my experience they were around 12% more to buy than traditional and the groundwork is less forgiving. Try asking for your foundations to be within a +/-3mm tolerance laugh

As for green credentials; unless we are all going to start building our own cob homes, I don’t think you will find any better solution than factory built volumetric homes.

rex

2,055 posts

267 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
quotequote all
barryrs said:
In my experience they were around 12% more to buy than traditional and the groundwork is less forgiving. Try asking for your foundations to be within a +/-3mm tolerance laugh
Very true. 12 years ago we built a SIPS house that came over from Germany. Could not get any UK company to guarantee that they could get to the tolerances required of the slab. Had to get a German team over who just got on with it and said it was normal to have the tolerance we required

Promised Land

4,734 posts

210 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
quotequote all
barryrs said:
In my experience they were around 12% more to buy than traditional and the groundwork is less forgiving. Try asking for your foundations to be within a +/-3mm tolerance laugh

As for green credentials; unless we are all going to start building our own cob homes, I don’t think you will find any better solution than factory built volumetric homes.
I understand nothing can be completely green but they do tend to go on about how much better they are quite a lot with these types of builds, since being on new builds in the late 80’s to now I have only seen timber framed construction a handful of times so I’m yet to be convinced modular homes are the future either.

You need piss wet concrete then for +-3mm wink

The pound a day living on that site isn’t obtainable with your standing charge before you plug anything in let alone an electric car.

Time will tell as always with new ideas, ways to build. I’ll be retired by then though. smile

blueg33

35,948 posts

225 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
quotequote all
Promised Land said:
barryrs said:
In my experience they were around 12% more to buy than traditional and the groundwork is less forgiving. Try asking for your foundations to be within a +/-3mm tolerance laugh

As for green credentials; unless we are all going to start building our own cob homes, I don’t think you will find any better solution than factory built volumetric homes.
I understand nothing can be completely green but they do tend to go on about how much better they are quite a lot with these types of builds, since being on new builds in the late 80’s to now I have only seen timber framed construction a handful of times so I’m yet to be convinced modular homes are the future either.

You need piss wet concrete then for +-3mm wink

The pound a day living on that site isn’t obtainable with your standing charge before you plug anything in let alone an electric car.

Time will tell as always with new ideas, ways to build. I’ll be retired by then though. smile
Timber frame has been widely used for decades, not sure why you haven’t seen many. There are hundreds of thousands of them.

However, the houses in question are steel framed. They are insulated to levels that traditional build can’t get close to.

OutInTheShed

7,636 posts

27 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
quotequote all
Promised Land said:
..

It also says you can live for under a pound a day, quite a statement.
When your council tax is pushing a tenner a day!

A fridge and a freezer come close to £1 a day.

blueg33

35,948 posts

225 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
quotequote all
OutInTheShed said:
Promised Land said:
..

It also says you can live for under a pound a day, quite a statement.
When your council tax is pushing a tenner a day!

A fridge and a freezer come close to £1 a day.
I think you will find it’s about energy bills.

barryrs

4,391 posts

224 months

Wednesday 15th February 2023
quotequote all
As above, zero and net zero are very different standards.