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Welcome ..!! I'd look very carefully at retaining any structure on site - unless it's been empty for a number of years you won't count as a new build and therefore no VAT reclaim. If you retain the founds and one wall then it is OK as long as it's specifically mentioned as a condition of the Planning Permission. I calculated that we would only be £2k better off with a conversion than a full demolition when I factored in demolition and removal costs and the increase in additional fees such as SAP, air tests, etc.

Following on from the air test the insulation guys turned up. Now I know they said there was a lot but an artic load After Three days still had all this left for the roof. The machine that blows it in is in their van with one person loading, and another with a long hose filling. Holes are cut with saw and filled, plugged and taped.

Morning All, Just dropping in to say hello, newly registered on this site. We're actively looking for a good plot in south Manchester/Cheshire and think we're pretty close with one. Hoping to pick peoples brains and also contribute where I can. We've carried out two refurbishments to date and are now looking for a sizeable project as the next step up. Thanks, Phil

Good Morning All, I am glad I found this forum ! ..and a big hello to you all I hope to get some learned guidance and in turn (perhaps) help others ! Me and my wife are about to submit a full Planning application for our small plot of land to build our house (it will be a Potton Design) We have had a favorable Pre-Application advice ...BUT of course with this application has come a slew of OTHER things we need to consider and submit ...Tree and Ecological Survey (Done) Soil Phase 1 Desktop Survery (Still looking for a low cost one, as the land has ALWAYS been pastureland ..it seems un-necessary ...but it has been asked for) Also on the advice letter it mentioned ...site levels and spot levels Now this site is SMALL ...and the bit we are building on is VERY flat ..the footprint of the house is 39x39 feet. As money is tight (isn't it always) ...I was reading up on doing my OWN site levels ..I am certainly NOT from the building trade ...but I could borrow a dumpy level/ staff..and have been reading about "temporary datums" etc ..would this suffice ? I mean we are not in the middle of nowhere and there are houses all around? If anyone has experience on this, I would be grateful for advice ...i think the words used in the letter were "site levels before and after" ..well I can of course get the necessary information on foundations ....as its a timber frame / SIPS construct and submit this with a grid of the land with readings from my borrowed dumpy ....but would this be enough?..from what I can see there cannot be more than several inches from the low to the high points ..If necessary i could take a shovel and make it as flat as a pancake for them LOL your advice is appreciated

Hi Ed, I know I will get shot for this but I bought a Chinese jobbie off Ebay and it's been spot on so far (famous last words). I'm afraid I never lend my tools out (hard and fast rule I've always stuck to) but I'm guessing you might be in Milton Keynes which isn't that far from my plot. So if it's something we could do on a weekend day, I might be able to pop up (I live in London) and help you Vijay

Actually referred to here as "butt cream"! Breast milk's the thing for healing cuts and grazes btw.

I used stainless steel pan scourers, bought in bulk from a catering supplier. However, there is a better solution that was suggested by @Temp, which is to use "Pestplug" ( http://pestplug.com/), or as @PeterStarck suggested in this thread, use the stainless wire wool intended for use in exhaust silencers:

So today was the start of the floor dig. Managed to get a breaker on what turned out to be a 4 inch quarry tile and concrete slab to expose the soil base. Tomorrow we dig down the final 5-6 inches

TBH I would also think about talking to the Highways Agency and ask them for the map that shows Highways Land, which will be a green area marked on a map of the road boundaries. I have forgotten what the map is called ... Adopted Highways Land perhaps. That may be a double check as to what the Council has acquired (they may be overloaded and make a mistake). We had one consultant overlay this with several sets of deeds to prove where some things actually were, and that Highways Land was not part of a couple of gardens. The person to talk to is the County Council Highways Officer for that one. Be nice to them because you cannot compel cooperation iirc. Ferdinand

That's a bit strange. Adoption is just the process of assuming responsibility for maintenance. If they already owned it then they were already responsible. Who did they adopt it from? We have a wide verge in front of our place. It was eventually confirmed as part of the highway. These might be of interest... http://www.oss.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/C10-Highway-Verges.pdf I would write to the council/highway authority and ask them to confirm that the verge is part of the highway. Include a copy of the land registry plan and highlight the verge in red. If they confirm the verge is part of the highway then you don't need their permission to cross it. If they say it's not part of the highway then you will need their permission to cross it and I would get that in writing and file it with your deeds.

Finish the batten work on the roof of first. Once your up there you will get the knack of walking on it very quickly. a You won't put your foot throughout the membrane unless you try to ballet dance on it. Take last 2 trestles of your run and put them on top of your ones that are left. Depending on heights you might need to take the tops of to get them level with your roof. Load out the higher area with osb and tiles when the time comes and do the roof in sections. Move your scaffold further along then once you are finished the first section.

Usually involves underpinning the existing foundations. Can be done by digging out alternate 1m long sections under the foundations and filling with concrete. When set the intermediate ones are dug out and filled. The depth depends on what is already there.

Hi, newbie here, have trawled this forum for a while (used to be over on ebuild). We are 20 months into our mini grand designs. Little more complicated as we had to build around some of the existing house which was a bland 3 bed 50s box. New extension on side, knocked back half of the house out to just leave 2 up 2 down rooms, & extended that. Took roof off & had complete new roof. Worst part so far has to be living on site in a tourer, the ridiculous amount of steel beams we've had to have (along with crane hire) and it's not technically a new build so liable for all the VAT! best part - seeing the new roof go on & the apex glass window with vaulted ceiling. Fantastic bricky its a true self build. Only get trades in where absolutely necessary cheers

Do get the access checked out and a legal right of access from MK council drawn up. We had a potential access issue buying our plot. The plot was last sold in 1980 (with PP but was never built on) and then, the road was a private track. The plot came with a right of access to use that private track. In the intervening time the track was upgraded and adopted as a public road. My solicitor made the point of checking the new public road was indeed in the same place as the old private track. Had the new public road been built to a different route there could well have been a strip of land between the plot and the road that we did not own.

You normally dig alongside the existing foundation and down until you just find the bottom of the concrete.

If you stick to all hep and install in accordance with the MI's you'll be warranteed. If you mix n match you won't. Edit to add : I'd only use Hepworth fittings, they're just so much better than the likes of JG Speedfit.

Ouch ...!!!! I charge about £200 for the same report .... Think I need to put my rates up ....

Welcome to the forum Ticking all the boxes will tend to bring competition, for sure! Almost certainly more trouble than it's worth, I'd have thought, even assuming the foundations are (and can be proved to be) of acceptable depth etc. It also severely limits the flexibility you have with your footprint. I assume you've looked into it, but knocking down tends to be competitive with massively renovating due to the VAT relief you get on a knock-down.

Just having a side-debate with Jeremy as to how "charges for access" are legally possible. We divert sometimes. Apologies. The Milton Keynes quip is remembering how hard it is in MK to find houses there for the trees. We used to go down when my dad was building the 'ice cream cones' in Bletchley Market.

Hi Ferdinand, I am not sure i get you on this Our land is sandwiched between my inlaws house... and what was a 60mph A Road through Milton Keynes. What happened was about 10 years ago MK council started to develop the land on the other side of the road and its now all an estate with semi-detached 2/3 bedroom dwellings on it ...i know the land there was bought by a developer and across the road... I could not connect to any of the services that feed that estate as I was told (for example) that the services were not yet "adopted" by Western Power, or Anglian Water yet ...as they are technically still building houses there! Lots of new houses in MK Ferdinand ! But the Road was until early this year "controlled" (if thats the right word) by the Highways agency ...who at the time were reluctant to grant more accesses due to the then high Speed limit ....but in April this speed was reduced to 30mph and the road was formally adopted by MK council...which has meant getting an access agreed a LOT easier, as traffic has virtually dissapeared due to management schemes and the like that have been put in place and now they use the parallel A road that is still high speed. I was originally speaking to the Highways agency (last year) ...but am now told that the Road, The verges, Trees planted there et al ...are all now the responsibility of MK council ...well they are on my side anyway ..hope that helps

I'm not sure. From what was reported on the news here, the company spent some time tracing the successors in title to the land, I think. The situation was that the landowner (a farmer, I think) had sold the building plots back in the 1950's or 60's. At the time of the sale, the same farmer owned the lane that provided access to these houses. At some point the lane was adopted, and the local authority then owned the lane, but not all of the wide verges on either side. The farmer died and the land he owned was presumably sold, but not the strips of grass verge, as there was an assumption that these belonged to the local authority, I assume. The company discovered this discrepancy, and somehow managed to buy the remaining strips of grass verge without either the residents or the local authority being aware. The first anyone knew of the new owners of the verges was when the company made the demand for payment in return for access rights.

I understand what they are doing, but if they have been using it for access for more than 10 years, would Adverse Possession not apply?

Hi Phil, welcome to the forum and good luck with your project.

@s2sap Something I've not added yet, but the Vokera is considered a very budget boiler. I don't ever fit them, and haven't even seen one for a few years . I'd put them in the same category as Biasi, HeatLine, Halstead and Ariston, as in I'd only ever suggest fitting one of these if someone was broke, basically. I wouldn't even recommend any of the former for rental properties as the reliability and longevity just isn't there. Ideal are a great entry level boiler with Glow-worm next in line, but those are again only for where the budget is tight. Worcester Bosch seem to have finally got their act together, but I'm still a Vaillant man. Baxi have dropped down a bit with their latest offerings so I'd place them at the Ford Focus end of the scale, with WB next, then Vaillant and Veissmann up top. Veissmann are a LOT of money for what they are, and I can't see how they justify it tbh.

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@MAB Sorry, I missed this somehow. If using tile adhesive, you need to be very sure there are no contaminants from manufacture on the underside. I've had a few which have some slimy stuff ( a mould release agent of sorts I suspect ) and nothing will stick to that. I'd use Sikaflex between the tray and the backerboard, applied whilst bedding the tray into the tile adhesive. Use that to create the fundamental seal between the tray and wall, and then tool the displaced sealant onto the BB to create an upstand seal ( have you read my comments in the tanking / wetroom thread )?

Ok so that's very different to a tree survey ..!! all you need is the standard detail from BS5837 about protection of root zones and that you will use a fixed fence etc and you will be fine. It's all pretty standard stuff ...!

Thanks Grosey I have re jigged it slightly, this is what I want. Looks a fair price to me. http://www.stairbox.com/stairbuilder-staircase-designer/?dmVyc2lvbjIuMy1zYy0yNzAwLTEzLTIzMC42Ny05MzAtOTMwLTkzMC1sZWZ0LWhhbGZfdHVybi1ub25lLTNfd2luZGVyLTUtTmFOLWxlZnQtc3F1YXJlLUxCdWxsbm9zZS1tZGYtc3F1YXJlLTAtMC0wLTAtMS1waW5lLW1kZi1waW5lLXBpbmUtcGluZS1hc3NlbWJsZWQtY29sbGVjdGVkLS1mYWxzZS0xLTAtMC0xLTAtbm9uZS0wLTAtMS0wLW5vbmUtMC0xLTAtMC0wLTAtMC0wLTAtMC0wLTAtMC0wLTAtMC0wLTAtMC1kb3VibGUtMC0wLTAtMC1TVEQtLWZhbHNlLVNxdWFyZVNwaW5kbGUtNDEtMTQwLTU4LTAtMA==

I believe the correct verb is Shat...

In that case, you need to read this document, the General Binding Rules, and follow them to the letter.

I would strongly recommend deciding what you will be doing with trees, and *implementing* it before you apply for PP, but after you have dealt with potential show stoppers around drainage etc. If you have a TO who is getting hung up on technical definitions of hedgerow bushes the size of a finger, then you need to limit their scope pronto by removing some things. AIUI these tiny trees only come into play when dealing with woodland TPOs as one particular judge made some peculiar decisions about tiny saplings being an essential part of the wood's future and therefore must all be controlled by the LPA. It is not clear whether the owners of consuming goats or sheep or beetles should be prosecuted. The rules may have changed, and I could be mistaken. A hedge with 3 or 4 larger trees is probably going to be a better quality long term hedge than something much higher, both from ease of maintenance and growing things next to it points of view. You want some sun to get through it imo; this is not Mirkwood. For hawthorn I would say get it traditionally laid, but telling the layers what height of hedge you want for the hedge itself, and leaving a few small trees for birds and the white/pink blossom. What colour do they flower? See if the hedge layer will adopt you as a oppo for a day or two; it is a fantastic skill to appreciate. Ferdinand

Thanks Dave, the land is literally "connected" to my In-Laws Garden ...and was once just an extension of it... No Flood Risk here at all as far as i can gather from looking at maps ...if anything it is a rather "dry" area ...the soil composition is dark and peaty ..going down to stony/sand stuff ....and it drains REALLY fast ...unlike my old house which had clay close to the surface. Excavated soil ..we can DEFINITELY use as the very far REAR of the plot ....that will form the end of the back garden ...DOES have a slope off and we could lose a few tons at least there and grade it out with no ill effect ...its good soil. Its good you mentioned drainage and services though ...sadly due to the adoption of the land directly opposite ...it would be costly and complicated to connect to the OBVIOUS close points. But as we have a Wayleave? being drawn out ..we do plan to put the services effectively THROUGH the in-laws garden to the front of their property. We have consulted Electric and Water and Gas and all these seem to be in agreement and have sent us plans of proposed "routes" ...I am hoping to do the digging myself as of course we are trying to save where we can . The only "sticker" is the waste water/sewage ....Around here most of the older properties (prior to 1990) are on private cesspits. For this reason I have had to look at practicalities of either a sealed unit or a water processor and soak away ..WE have also though long and hard about actually connecting the sewage in the same way as other services, and in turn we could effectively connect our in-laws house "on the way" and both share the benefit ... But its a big pipe and we are talking 50-60m from our site manhole (when it is in) to the fron of our in-laws property ...So I am not sure about falls and stuff and dont't want to litter my wifes parents land with copious manhole covers ....sigh. Regarding the "finished levels" ...I am at a loss as how to know this (perhaps I am daft) ..I mean in a few days i will know the site levels and I will be getting the foundation/basework information from Pottons Contractor so i "suppose" together they would give me this ? As you can probably see I am trying to do a fair bit of the management myself as we only have so much money to play with here ...and you can blame that on the NORTH SOUTH divide My recently sold detached house in Manchester (in a half decent area) with big drive way for 4 cars wouldn't not even get me a 2 bed flat here with ONE parking space ...I am SERIOUS ... But my In-laws are not in great health and my wife wanted to be close to them as they are of advancing years and so I up-sticked and threw my lot in with this project. God Help me

@Ryan8087 i can onlyy apologise for my mates! It must be Friday effect! So to attach your drawings! Go back to your first post and hit the edit button, scroll down and look out for the paper clip, next to that is the add file button, click it and find your file, add it. Then sit back with a cool beer and wait for all the useful comments to come in!

I'd recommend a few more walls and a roof

Just to round things out, here is a picture of the finished fence, well one side, got another 12m of fence to go