Leaderboard

Akin to a sliding van door this is.

Yes a cname should do the trick assuming you are appending different services on different points to the same fixed up address. For example web services at www.mydomain.com and ftp.mydomain.com these would be your cnames that would point at the mydomain.com A record. Hopefully that's clear enough.

We buried around 65m of formerly overhead cables around our plot. As above, including the moving of a pole, and the new cable and connection, plus some legal costs for a new wayleave, we paid Scottish and Southern Electricity £3,500. We probably incurred around £1,500 in additional ground works cost, but that was largely because we already had all the heavy gear on site for all the other site ground works.

ITYM "Fancy electronic goods can confuse the heck out of guests." I'm old but technically literate and I find the interface design of many consumer goods appalling, but they've been doing that for years, it's just easier to design a lousy interface with computers. Simple things can be bad as well. Last year we stayed in a place with an ancient solid ring hob. All the markings had worn off, so you didn't know which knob controlled which ring and the idiot designers had inverted the sense of the controls, so to turn the heat up you turned the knob anti-clockwise!

A friend who did basements always said he doubles up, membrane and paint

What about top hung, using pistons (like on a car boot) for support?

Use a membrane not a paint, they last longer. I did an underground building a long time ago and the only bit that was ever damp was the paint on tanking portion, the bit with the membrane was never damp and probably still isn't.

In our case UK power networks paid as they are not allowed, where we are in Kent, to fly cables over buildings with a limited clearance.

Ah sorry. . Something like this then ? Link Oh, and dont pay a penny more until bottom tiles removed and the bath is sealed to the wall.

Changing to a steel bath is pointless, and I would advise against one TBH, especially in a rental. Maybe you'd be better off with a short fixed glass panel, say 200-300mm, and a curtain. That screen will only get worse every day it's used and will need changing periodically so best to seal the bath properly, fit a fixed screen properly and compliment with a good quality rail and curtain which can be renewed for £20 every time you refresh the bathroom / change tennants.

A large number of the self builders here started out with zero knowledge but do not assume that professionals know it all and will make good decisions on your behalf or want to save you money - not because they're bad people but they all have a set way of doing things and know what they know - architects are as guilty of this as anyone, ours designed a pretty house but was adamant that a basement would be a disaster (best feature in the house) had had zero idea of low energy building principals or exposure to materials other than brick and block. If you really want to focus on controlling cost then you need to understand and if necessary question every design decision, why they have been made, what the alternatives and tradeoffs, are you're getting a good deal or being ripped off etc.. Also, a main contractor will also charge you 20-30% premium to effectively manage the sub-contractors and cover his other overheads, you may consider this value for money but I did not. You also have no control over the quality of the subs and may not see what's going on day to day. With some commitment (wife and I both work, have kids etc) we acted as the PMs and chose competent subs to undertake the works - helped by using packages for the big critical complicated elements such as groundworks and frame to watertight / airtight. Is occasionally stressful but probably no more than watching a contractor build your house and make potentially expensive decisions for you!

Even this isnt completely accurate. In 2015, Bosch acquired complete control of the group by buying our Siemens. BSH own the Neff and Gaggenau brands and manufacture and distribute the Siemens brand under license from Siemens. Granted they dont make everything in Germany any longer but I dont think this is important as they still apply certain manufacturing standards to the product. Audi make the TT in Hungary. A Panasonic factory in Wales makes all of the base model BSH combi microwaves. Does that make them German, British or Japanese.

Hi Lucy. We had rather a different experience with moving power cables. The trick we found was as Peter has said was the way leaves on the two poles, both on our land between which a wire ran. We had the wires crossing above the house, one storey, and we said we were building a second storey and that the cables posed a danger as although we would still be below them it would only be 5 feet. They agreed to reroute the cable underground and paid for it all. As it is not you it might be worth finding out who has the pole way leaves and see if they can help you put pressure on the local supplier. In Jeremy's response he mentioned contested works, these are aspects of the work that can be done by people other than the electricity people themselves (IE they don't have a monopoly), so you can either do them yourself or get your ground worker to do them for you.

100% with you. I even have a shower curtain in my own house. Ref the hinged screens, fwiw I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole, but we are where we are. @Dbas, if your into removing tiles, and the bath turns out to be unfit for purpose, then I'd seriously consider a square ( D-shaped ) shower bath with a half fixed / half hinged screen. Not the best news TBH, but this problem is only being moved side to side at the moment and not fixed. Wedging the edge of the acrylic may work, but I think the bath with crack over time with use and the stress of not being able to move accordingly

@Onoff The proposal isn't to lift one of the legs, it's to wedge a batten under the actual dog ear corner of the bath. Forcing the cast acrylic where it doesn't want to go will go badly imo, but you should go back to the bath manufacturer here.......except that you can't ( as you cannot complain about a defective bath AFTER you've fitted it in error ). Lets clear up some nonsense here..... This is a shower over a bath. Question #1 is "is this a rated and fit for purpose SHOWER BATH"? You can buy a bath which is NOT for using in conjunction with standing and showering, and then you can buy one specifically for doing so, eg a 'shower bath'. NOT a P-shape or D-shape space saver etc etc just a bath that the manufacturer CLEARLY STATE IN BLACK AND WHITE that is suitable for use as so described. That type of product will go through more strenuous manufacturing tolerances, be beefed up accordingly as to where you'll be standing whilst showering etc, and typically have flatter smoother upper decks specifically tailored to accept a screen, and deflect / divert water from standing on said decks. Find out which one you have. Qurstion #2 Has everyone forgotten that this is a screen for a shower ?!? Of course it's got water standing / pooling at the bottom ITS A BLOODY SHOWER !!! The screen installation is ? REGARDLESS of what bath is there, IT STILL SHOULDN'T LEAK ! You should be able to have water INDIRECTLY spraying against that without issue, if it doesn't then it's a bad screen or it's been fitted poorly. It does seem that we've a mixture of both here......if the manufacturer hasn't allowed for anyone to actually use the shower. Some more info re the above ( #1 ) please

I have had issues with these screens. I no longer spec any shower screens around baths as they can lead to callbacks.

Yes provided the radon barrier does not get punctured by things, small stones / rough cement, sticking out of the slab then I cannot see the need for anything else. I cannot think why either way round has an advantage so either way and, as you saw with our pour the reinforcing supports didn't push through the EPS, in fact my experience was that he supports crushed before they went into the EPS.

Won't just be one foot that needs adjusting imo. You lift one corner and the diagonal to it will stay there but the other two and centre one will all lift up. Nick will be along shortly!

I am with Mr Punter on this, your radon barrier is also likely to be DPM. Certainly the one from Visqueen is http://www.visqueenbuilding.co.uk/products/gas-membranes/radon-membrane So another one not needed.

I would have thought the radon barrier would be all the DPM you need. Not sure what the others are for. How are you fixing the sole plates?

Welcome to the forum Lucy. Do you mean you have overhead power cables crossing your property? If so do you have a wayleave agreement with the DNO? If so you could find out if it is possible to remove the wayleave agreement and make them reconsider the cost. I had uninsulated overhead cables replaced with insulated at my previous house at no cost to me due to the wayleave.

Thanks @jack

Thanks @jack - having no heating upstairs would be too brave a move for me. P.S. "...nipply in winter..." conjured up images I didn't really want to see at this early hour of the morning

Like many, I suspect, I did the rounds of all the BM's when we were still at the planning stage, to see what they offered. The "big names" (Jewsons, Travis Perkins et al) were all pretty much the same, and generally far more expensive; Buildbase was far higher than anyone else. Wickes were often surprisingly good, but a bit variable on quality, same goes for B&Q, where buying on a Wednesday knocks 10% off (if you are over 60.......). Screwfix were so-so, not ever the best on price, but very convenient with their click and collect service (far better than Wickes click and collect, which just doesn't work half the time). The best overall was our local independent, Sydenhams, who consistently gave good pricing and offered to price match. Sometimes they just couldn't match the prices for some stuff (an example being the pavers referred to earlier - they told me that they had to pay more for them than Simply Paving were selling them for). Whenever that happened they were honest about it. I used Sydenhams more than any of the others, not only because of their pricing, but because they had really good drivers, who'd take the time to deliver stuff exactly where we wanted it, with no hassle. The best prices were often from online suppliers, but the big downside was that pretty much all (the exception being Simply Paving, who do HIAB delivery) only offered pallet curbside delivery, a real pain when you have a steeply sloping drive and it's heavy stuff. The moral of this tale is twofold; get loads of quotes and push suppliers to price match, and take account of the delivery method - often it's better to pay a little more to get a delivery to where you want it on site.

I would always recommend the basic models from good brand appliance over the cheap stuff. Bosch/Neff/Siemens and Miele are the best of the large mainstream brands. The first three are made in the same factories using the same components. Think of it as the Audi/VW/Skoda/Seat scenario. The quality of BSH group and Miele is hard to beat but its not the cheapest around. Contact your local kitchen specialist as there are often ex-display appliances available which of effective unused/mint with full warranties and sell cheaply. Below is a list of sources of major brands in the UK. BSH group does Bosch, Neff, Siemens, Gaggenau Electrolux group does AEG/Electrolux and Zanussi as their main brands. Generally overpriced compared to quality. Whirlpool does IKEA, Fisher Paykel. Patchy build quality Hotpoint, Ariston, Indesit are part of the Merloni group. Budget end brands Candy/Hoover are another italian group but mainly chinese made. Budget end brands Beko /Grundig is Turkish. Budget end brands, thought Grundig tries to sell the German connection on a cheap base product.

Since the conversation has broadened, I have changed the title. I have accounts at TP, Wickes, and B&Q and the usual "identify yourself" at Screwfix. Of those I spend most by far at Wickes, where discounts are reliable, and Screwfix. B&Q are useful for a wider range sometimes, but their discounts are a lottery. TP have better charges for small order deliveries for me (£5 vs £25 for under £200 or so order). I also buy a surprising amount of smaller orders via Amazon, nearly all under £100. But i have Prime, and bought a fair quantity of gift cards when Tesco had an equivalent 9% off offer on the cards. For me, Wickes are also much closer ... about 4-5 minutes vs at least 10-15 for the others in the same direction. When grabbing stuff in the day that makes a difference. I have never really engaged with Jewson's as their closest decent size one is further away. I could probably do a more thorough job. Ferdinand

If you need to find the mini water stop tap cover then why not try a metal detector?

All done and ready for slab! Some amount of rock they've taken out.

And the £24k you saved can go towards the divorce

That is one shop I would never use, They are criminals when it come to competitive pricing. They are not interested in the self builders of any other builder. there is no reason to discount, they make far more profit selling to Joe public who have no idea what the proper price should be . I tend to use independants

You can use a single skin lintel on the outside for the bricks and a concrete head on the inside. Then bring whatever you have in the cavity down to fill the gap.

My own understanding would be first fix would have the connections from the sewer main/soil pipe and drains in place through the floor for the loo and water in place ready for second fix guy to literally just connect to them to plumb everything in. You can roughly look at it that everything you won't see when the bathroom is finished is first fix and what you can see is second fix. Also depends on what each plumber wants to do if you are using two different ones. Personally I'd be careful using the labourer as although his/her time is cheaper, you need to be sure they do exactly what the plumber wants, so if you do, make sure they speak to each other.

3 Buy well. There are quite a few threads on how to reduce costs, including this one about buying well, with dozens of suggestions of how to shave 5-10% off the *payment* side. But my top tip would be to know what you will definitely need, then get a dry, secure storage facility (eg container or double garage), and buy things in advance when you see them reduced. That way you will be able to get a lot of your basics for 40-60% of their retail price. To buy months in advance I would want at least 30-40% off, which is achievable for many items. eg I have just bought a pallet of 50mm celotex at £10 per 8x4 sheet delivered (Wickes - about £25). Someone here pointed out foil faced 125mm celotex at £25 a sheet a couple of weeks ago (normally £40-50 even at cheap online orders). Ditto I just bought 25 sheets of OSB3 at £13 per sheet delivered - OK but others will have done better on that. Equally I am currently looking at doors, and it is possible to source Oak Veneered heavy doors with posh door furniture for approx £80 each, which is the cost of a mid-range pine at a DIY shed. If you do that with as much as possible, and are not too persnickety about *precisely* what you want, that could save 10s of k. I'll leave the ufh for the other thread then; the point is to design things out you do not need exactly by going for a high spec. Ferdinand

Consider this .. Floors (still achieving u Value) o Ground (0.14 W/m²K) § UFH in 100mm screed structural slab § 125mm foil backed polyurethane § sub-floor o First § UFH in 75mm screed 22mm Weyroc/Egger Chipboard § 50mm insulation 75mm fibre (soundproofing) § hollow-core slab Metal Web Joists § 150mm void for services (including MVHR ducting) · Walls o External (0.15 W/m²K) § Sand/cement plaster § 100mm block § 200mm cavity fully filled with pumped in grey beads & glue § 100mm block § Sand/cement plaster · Roof o Warm roof (0. 13 W/m²K) (assuming 195mm rafters) § 100mm insulation on top of rafters 40mm PUR below rafters § 125mm Spray foam insulation between rafters 195mm Frametherm 35 § Plaster board with foil backing Not sure why you need UFH first floor..? The floor build up using web joists will allow your service void to be eliminated. It also probably reduces your floor depth and associated costs of additional walls. Structural slab may also help with depth of dig out and costs there too. What size is the proposed property..?