Kevin McCloud's Self Build Tips: Using The Internet | 4Homes

Date Published:: 03/06/2008

With thousands of companies only a click away, the web will be an invaluable tool in your self build journey - just remember to keep track of your online adventures.

You can now find everything online - toilets, soap dishes and decorative boot-scrapers in the hilarious shape of a pair of breasts. You can bid on eBay and buy a house for 3p. You can become the owner of an entire French barn, in pieces. All of which represent phenomenal value to the right person and all of which should be celebrated as the acme of sustainability and recycling.

kevin mccloud. self build tips: using the internet

But the real value of the net to the home-builder is as a research and design tool. Every decent architectural practice in the land has a good website, packed with photographs and drawings that will save you not hours, but weeks of investigation when you come to decide who should design your house (but do visit those architects you really like the look of).

RIBA offers online advice and contracts (architecture.com); the RICS has free downloadable guides; and you can now even file and monitor your planning application via the Government's planning portal, which has a lot of useful building regulations and planning advice as well.

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Hi,With the concerns regarding carbon emissions and the high cost of heating the home, its easy to get advice on insulating the home and reasonably inexpensive to have cavity wall insulation installed.Insulating the loft to the desired thickness is also an easy D.I.Y task within most persons capabilities. All this is fine if your house has wall cavities; mine does not. One then has to consider internal insulation and if, as in my case the disruption to the interior services and decor is so prohibitive through cost/mess/loss of internal space etc. That it is not a viable proposition. I would consider installing external insulation, however unlike other areas of home repair or maintenance there seems to be little information available. I would like to insulate exterior areas of my home using 60mm polystyrene planks, Possibly 600x1200x60 fixed with adhesive or some type of plastic tie, this to be covered with a mesh, bonded to the polystyrene then rendered over using a waterproof render. I feel that this method would not be outside the capabilities of an able D.I.Yer, would cause far less disruption to the household, it could also be installed over a period suitable to the individual, as the integrity of the main structure is not affected.I understand that there may be issues of approval and also certification of the effectiveness of the finished work but none of these issues should be insurmountable.Am I just being stupid! or could this method really work and be approved? At the very worst my home would be much warmer.

Posted by Anthony Hyde on 25/11/2008 16:09:03

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hello I love your show. I am australian and its interesting to watch obout how people build to keep the cold out and the warmth in whereas in australia we domn the opposite. It would be great to see a grand designs australia to see how and what materials we use to live with heat. We are bout to extend our house and I am looking at PVC windows and doors thanks to watching some of your builders. Lee

Posted by lee wilmott on 24/08/2008 02:01:25

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