Ask the expert

the lowdown

OPINION . ADVICE . INSIGHT . KNOWLEDGE

A Selfbuild+ membership gives you, among many benefits, access to exclusive Facebook Live events. This is where we interview Irish experts about all things home building and renovating. To give you a flavour of what’s been discussed, here’s a quick overview of a few of the talks we hosted over the past few months.

Design saviour

Architect Zeno Winkens gave us a quick guide to house design, starting with the basic premise that it’s impossible to go near the drawing pad without a site. The house configuration will wholly depend on solar and wind directions, as well as the site layout, slopes and vegetation. Once that’s all taken into account, your lifestyle and needs will dictate the internal flow. All of this well before the external appearance is decided upon. Zeno also discussed the need to make sure the house doesn’t overheat in summer, also the difference between an A1, A2 and A3 Building Energy Rating home, and how to tackle the build itself, among other insights.

Energy saver

Energy consultant Patrick Waterfield chatted through his home’s simple, low cost, heating solution – a stove with spot radiators and no underfloor heating (apart from electric in the bathrooms). It was all possible thanks to a well thought out insulation and airtightness strategy, which he made sure was delivered on site, and keeping the overall U-vales to a minimum benchmark.

To become a Selfbuild+ member and listen back to the live streams, log on to selfbuild.ie/sb-plussubscriptions

Cost buster

Self-build advisor Niamh O’Donovan from self-build Instagram account @passive_build also decided to do without central heating. She chatted through her choice of going direct labour versus hiring a main contractor and warned against potential budget busters, like how she had no choice but to pay an enormous amount in local development fees – each local authority taxes you for building a new house; the amount they charge varies widely in ROI. Lots of tips and advice in this talk from a self-builder who’s been there, done that.