The Selfbuild Podcast

Pete Finn, AKA Pete the builder, of RTÉ's Home Rescue and advisory firm Let's Talk Homes joins tiny house builder Paul Lawford of smallchange.ie to chat about the process of building your home in Ireland today with cost saving tips, including: Once the house has been designed, planning permission has been approved, Health & Safety has been done on the design, what are the next steps? What is t...

Jonny Orr of Daniel George Kitchens and Caroline O'Neill of Digg Mama chat about Caroline’s kitchen design journey including how she went about it and what steps she would recommend self-builders taking. The chat also focused on: ·        Main things to consider when designing a kitchen; common mistakes to avoid. ·       &n...

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...

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...

DJ Rasdale of DJ Build Estimations updates us on builds costs in Ireland at Selfbuild Extend & Renovate Live Limerick in January 2024. He covers: 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, w...

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 -  ...

Francis Rilley of Unilin Insulation and Andrew Rennie of Energy Store chat about insulating your home in Ireland today. We caught up with them at Selfbuild Live Belfast 2023 to chat about: 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...

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...

Kieran Dwyer of insurance broker SelfBuild Protect chats about: 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 ins...

Barry McCarron, Chairman of the Passive House Association of Ireland, chats about doing up his family to make it energy efficient, including: 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...

Paul Lawford explains how he built his tiny home on wheels from scratch, including: 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 Hosted on Acast...

Rodger O'Connor of ROC Energy explains when it makes sense to apply for an energy grant from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, including: 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...

Dr Ciara Ahern chats about what energy upgrades and if they're worth doing, issues people are having with heat pumps and heating systems and what can be done about it, plus what changes we can expect coming from Europe in relation to energy and the building regulations. More specifically, she covers: What is the difference between a shallow and a deep retrofit? If someone has a house, how can they...

In this episode, David Magnier chats about his self-build in Co Wicklow: Design process Securing planning permission Choice of building method: pros and cons How day to day went on site Working through Covid Switching from main contractor to direct labour Keeping on top of the budget Keeping on top of quality  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gavin Millar of BPC Ventilation chats through the benefits of heat pumps and MVHR, including: -   What is mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) and is it worth the money? What are the benefits? -   What are heat pumps and are they worth it? What's the payback? -   Why are heat pumps and MVHR more efficient than traditional systems? How much m...

Jonny Orr of Daniel George Kitchens chats about how to design your new kitchen in Ireland today: -         Optimal kitchen size -         Current trends, including colours and handles, and must haves -         Where the most savings can be made in a kitchen, includ...

Eoin Ó Broin, a TD who’s written a book called Defects, chats through the issue of quality control when building a house in ROI. He talks about: ·        How the building control system works in ROI and why it’s broken ·        Opting in or out of appointing an assigned certifier ·     &nb...

Laura and Ronan Campbell built themselves a house on Ronan’s parents’ laneway. Here they chat about: Difficulties with planning permission and why they had to leave a deposit with the local authority for three years. How they made a narrow site work with their design vision. Choice of steel frame construction and challenges building the house. Delays (due to windows and Covid) and how they affecte...

Kieran McCarthy of KMC Homes talks about: The new concrete levy due to come into force September 2023 in Ireland How to reduce the amount of concrete you use on your build How to save on your build costs What's the most cost effective build route nowadays? Where are build costs heading? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Susan Andrews of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland chats about how to get a grant for your home energy upgrade, including:- The three types of grants available in ROI and how each of them work- One Stop Shop (OSS) vs individual grants: the extras you get with OSS- Cost of home energy upgrades for detached houses in Ireland- How you can get up to half the cost of the works funded through...

Tony Dunne, Managing Director at MBC Project, chats about the ins and outs of buying windows in Ireland today, including:- Main types of windows available in Ireland: timber, uPVC, aluminium, alu-clad- Average cost of windows on a self-build today- Double vs triple glazed, options for quadruple glazing- What specifications to look out for when choosing windows, certs/standards- How the process unf...

Connecting your sewage to the mains is not always an option when you're building in the countryside. You might need to install an onsite wastewater treatment system instead, which is a mini sewage treatment plant. In ROI, if an onsite system is not feasible you will more than likely be denied planning permission. Cathal Keane of Graf Environmental gives us a crash course and highlights what you ne...

Resident construction expert John Corless chats about flash points to consider when building your home, including:•Managing heat loss, U-values and airtightness•Ventilation•Insulation•Space and water heating including thoughts on PV•Intermediate floors•Roofs •Contracts•List of other considerations: security, waste, health and safety, equipment hire, etc. Michael Doherty of the Mica Action Group ro...

Brian Corry of Selfbuild+ introduces self-builders to modern ways of building in Ireland today. In Part 2 he chats about:- Insulating Concrete Formwork (ICF) with Ballantine Building Solutions - Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) with FutureTek - Hemp block construction with Hempbuild Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brian Corry of Selfbuild+ introduces self-builders to modern ways of building. In Part 1 he chats about:- Timber frame construction with Redwood Timber Frame in Dungannon- Structural polystyrene construction known as M3 with Passive Housing in Kildare- Steel frame and precast concrete with Future Cast in LeitrimFor more about the building methods available in Ireland today, check out the Selfbuild...