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Chris & Vicky King

Tags: New Build Energy Efficient

Chris and Vicky King completed a traditional-style self build home in West Devon using ICF Woodcrete construction. The 329 sq. m. project began in July 2021 (with the purchase of land) and finished in April 2024.

Could you tell us any interesting facts or remarkable features about your project?

Green field country location of project within sight of Dartmoor.

Use of low 0.118 ‘u’ value insulated/insitu RC within Woodcrete wall blocks.

Eco features designed for comfort – extra wall / floor & roof insulation, triple glazing, GSHP (ground source heat pump) under floor heating, 21 solar 7.5 kW panel system, winter solar gain, building orientation, infra-red ceiling heaters (in the room over the garage).

  • Floor to ceiling height of 2.7m.
  • Bespoke wooden kitchen.
  • Large size triple glazed sliding doors.
  • Aluminium faced engineered softwood triple glazed windows.
  • Open plan ground floor living rooms and kitchen.
  • Ground Source Heating slinky pipes installed deeper at about 1.8 m depth to be in the water table for better heat transfer.

Monthly cost of electricity from August 2024

Electricity cost for property (floor area 329 sq. m), sole supply (no gas), and living areas run at 23 deg. C temperature for elderly relative.

Chris & Vicky’s Experience at the National Self Build & Renovation Centre

How many times have you visited The NSBRC before?

About 20 times.

What was the most helpful feature / resource at the NSBRC?

Great information & project related courses.

Did you use any exhibitors at the NSBRC? If so, who?

Rationel - Windows

Kensa - Ground Source Heat Pump

What building system did you use?

ICF Woodcrete inspired by the simple concept, strength, low ‘u’ value (much better than current building regulation requirements), blocks in production in Italy for 75 years, used in buildings in earthquake zones, can incorporate lintels over openings, floor hanging bolts and roof hold down bolts.

What did you enjoy most about your visit to the Centre?

Always very helpful, informative & motivational.

Would you recommend the NSBRC to a friend, and if so, what aspects of the Centre would you recommend and why?

Yes - the NSBRC shows, courses, tours & technical help were all very informative.

Property with high end Spec Eco build – Introduction & Background

About us - Chris – Retired Civil Engineering consultant with about 41 years in the construction industry.

Vicky – with an artistic flare has an excellent vision of blending colours, arrangements and achieving high standard and quality.

Building plot – It took 3 years searching online to find a suitable building site to meet our requirements at a reasonable cost.

The house build concept – ICF build with many Eco aspects - a low ‘u’ value, extra insulation, triple glazing, GSHP, under floor heating, solar panel system (with export to grid), winter solar gain / limited summer solar gain, rear of house south east orientation, infra-red ceiling heaters (in the room over the garage), etc.

With ongoing climate change development, a strong robust build is essential.

Build arrangement – The site had ‘Reg Q’ planning approval for a dwelling, a new planning application was submitted for a larger house to take account of our large family and planning for our future requirements as we get older, rotating the rear of the house 45 degrees from ‘east’ to ‘south east’, with a large ‘north’ facing garage added, with 21 solar panels on the ‘south’ facing garage roof.

A scaled cardboard model of house was prepared as a visual aid of the spaces within our project house (see image below).

Scaled cardboard model of house

The O/A build period – it took longer than our builders initial programmed 40 week ‘build’ duration (very optimistic in hindsight) due to various reasons.

The total build cost – was significantly more than the original quote again for various reasons.

Build quality – We selected ‘high quality’ items throughout the build, contributing to the excellent quality of our ‘forever home’ project. In a number of instances, our builders incorporated some of our selected materials / products into their own builds.

End results – The QED end ‘electrical energy & cost efficient’ results of our high end Spec Eco build have in our view been demonstrated and achieved (see electrical costs for 9 month period from August 2024 through to April 2025 period) especially noting and taking account of the following selected project & adopted ‘living use’ requirements with higher energy demand.

  • Main soul source of electricity supply with no gas supply available locally. With a modern log fire installed as a backup heat source in cold spells and in power cuts.
  • Living areas are kept at a higher temperature of about 23 degree C for the comfort of Vicky’s Dad who is living with us who feels the cold. Due to this, our electrical costs could be expected to be perhaps 30% higher than a similar sized property.
  • For room aesthetics we chose floor to ceiling heights of 2.7 m rather than the conventional 2.4 m.
  • The use of 6 large sliding glass house door sets (up to 4 m wide) and (up to 2.4 m high).

Floorplans & Elevations:

Inside the Property

Fact file

Names:
Chris & Vicky King
Occupations:
Chris - Retired Civil Design Consultant; Vicky - Retired Nurse
Project location:
West Devon
What type of project did you undertake?
Self Build
What construction method did you use?
Insulated Concrete Formwork (ICF) with woodcrete, a composite material made from recycled wood fibres and cement
How would you describe the style of your project?
Modern Transitional Architecture
When did you begin work?
July 2021 (purchase of land)
When did you complete the project?
Completed April 2024
What’s the floor area of your project?
329 sq. m.

Chris & Vicky’s Self Build Experience:

What first inspired you to undertake project – what did you hope to achieve?

Inspiration and dream taken from my engineering background, ongoing progressive climate change development, increasing energy bills and desire for a ‘comfortable’ home, dreams of a ‘forever’ home and the NSBRC inspired us to plan, start and follow through to the lovely home that we now have.

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What was the cost & size of the land?

Just under 1 acre, plot with planning permission with an approximate cost of £250,000.

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How did you find the land – and do you have any tips for others currently searching for a plot?

We used online searches and Estate agents. Advice to others – Be methodical, don’t give up, as it took us 3 years to find our plot.

3

Did you have any issues getting your planning permission granted or with building control?

No issues, straight forward in 4-week turnaround.

4

Why did you choose your method of construction?

Quick and straight forward, but our builder seemed to make a meal of it.

5

Did you use a project manager, or did you choose to self-project manage?

Project management was provided by our builder. In some ways we wished that we had project managed the various elements but then we would not have had the necessary contacts, to put the complete work package together.

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What was your budget and were you able to stick to it?

No, cost overrun due to many reasons (see below). Initial quote was £600,000 with various items excluded.

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If you didn’t stick to your budget, what was the main reason for the overspend?

Many reasons:

Provisional Sum values (PS) were under-priced & were found to be too low for the required high standard and quality. The increases on the following material & work items varied by a factor of 1.8 to 7.5 fold increase – Items affected included – Bespoke kitchen & Utility / Electrical works (rooms with speakers, CCTV, media console, Wi-Fi meshing etc.) / High quality porcelain ground floor tiling and ditto for wall & floor tiling for 5 wet rooms / Plumbing works / Triple glazed doors & windows / Internal doors and ironmongery / Stone cladding.

Excluded and extra costs above the builders quote – Demolition of 3 barns, site excavation, provision of hard core, sanitary ware, external tiling (front & back), work related to utilities, solar / inverter system, ground source heat pump & slinkies, extra costs on ICF due to builder / electrical works / carpentry works / stone quoins / balcony / balustrade / log fire, hearth & chimney / extra insulation beneath the ground floor of the house etc.

Other factors resulting in increased costs:

    • Longer construction program increased from initial 40 weeks to 2 & ½ years
    • Covid material shortages & rising cost of materials & manpower, situation made worse by national house building program,
    • errors / wastage and breakage of materials,
    • extra cost and delay getting electrical power to site,
    • some changes like flexible render verse conventional render cost more and resulted in delays,
    • scaffold required for longer due to program delays
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What is the value of the property now?

Value thought to be in the order of £1,200,000.

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Did you reclaim the VAT, and if so, how much were you able to reclaim?

Yes. VAT saved on contractor’s build materials and no VAT charge to us - VAT value not known. We reclaimed on items purchased by ourselves which was about £900.

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What aspects of the process did you find stressful - and do you have any tips on how to avoid the pitfalls you encountered?

Our project was meant to be ‘Turnkey’ but in reality it was not, we found that the ongoing research and selection of many materials over a 2 & ½ year period quite stressful and time consuming. We found that the ongoing delays with often no one on site, especially when the weather was good very frustrating. – and do you have any tips on how to avoid the pitfalls you encountered? Insist on a proper turnkey project with agreed examples of how materials will be proposed, agreed and selected. If possible incorporate a penalty clause for delays to program.

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What did you find most enjoyable about working on your project?

Designing the house to our needs and seeing our project develop and our vision materialise.

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What is one of your favourite features about your project?

Internally - our bespoke ‘wow’ factor wooden kitchen / Externally - the balcony and stone cladding.

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How did you tailor your home to suit your lifestyle?

Choosing a quiet, country location, with house and grounds catering for our large family & our hobbies, located close to town having all the essential requirements, also having good travel connections, also incorporating aspects of the house that will be beneficial as we get older.

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Is there a possibility you would ever undertake another project in the future? No, as our age is against us.

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If so, is there anything you would do differently?

We would do the project management ourselves.

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What would your top tip be for other NSBRC Visitors about to embark on their first self build or home improvement journey?

Plan and follow a realistic dream. Budget and allow contingency, build as much eco into it as the budget will allow, concentrate funding on the best type of house structure, being robust, energy efficient and minimal maintenance.

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