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Yup Someone didn't have the basic decency to just tell you it wasn't happening. . Now, the positive bits . The ensuites look really nice, and if your happy with something as simple as floors and skirting, I sincerely wish I had more customers like you ! Tbh it's best to let things take natural progression, as pushing doesn't give any decent trade the opportunity to do their thing. That kind of compromise will haunt you later when you see the detail isn't there. Enjoy xmas, do as I've done and say "fack it", and eat as much damn turkey as is humanly possible. "Tomorrow is another day" . Forget the build and enjoy the festivities, as the build will be there when you decide to pick it back up. It's your build after all.

Neither of them will be coming any where near the site. Architect came twice, once before pre planning and then before actual plans. SE has never even been, which is a big part of the reason that he has massively over specced. Matt (my son) has been for a couple of hours this morning. Had a good long chat with the builder and they have worked out how it is going to go, where there are grey areas that savings can be made without damaging integrity. Agreed builder does know what he is doing but doesn't speak 'architect/structural engineer' language. Matt going to speak with SE with adaptations that, more or less, maintain what he has said - and some alterations to the plans that architect has drawn that just don't work. (what a surprise!) No one else will be coming out until damp proof check (builder got to take photos though), by which time, a lot of stuff will be hidden - will still be over specced but will save about a quarter (like 400 mm tapering to 375). There will be no surprise visits over Christmas and New Year - people have got better things to do. @Onoff @Nickfromwales Definitely inexperience all round. Mostly on my part.

Woo-hoo we own a field! our private laneway how the site looks now the view "from the front door" field drain. Note that the fence isn't the boundary here, rather the centre of the drain.

Concrete pump and lorry queue

Got to say that what is finished looks very nice, but what isn't finished has a fair way to go, and by the photo's I don' think there was ever a hope of being in for Chrimbo. Just more to look forward to next year

Haha, so nearly. Yeah we're not in, they just couldn't get enough done. The electrics in particular weren't finished and the smoke alarms. Also I don't think they were going to manage to get any doors in. Another week and it might have worked. Temporary stair finally went in onTuesday. Can finally use the front door. Master bedroom plastered and ready to decorate. Sofa delivery, just had to leave them wrapped up for the moment. This en suite we hoped to be using by today. Kitchen will be finished tomorrow I think. Two ensuites made it in white and grey. Really pleased with the floors and the skirting boards.

Wife has moved in and he's hiding in AirBNB for his own safety?

If you use a dehumidifier make sure the bucket has a sealed and tight lid, else you will be trying to dry the water in the bucket. Better still hose to outside.

Really? Such an important hurdle, and only a moderate investment is required, surely a good investment if it goes towards preparing your house to be finalised and habitable? Is your mvhr up and running ?

From another point of view, looks like this one might be gone too far to turn around. Better to stress on what can be changed than what cannot. Better use of your lads time to review the going forward stuff instead of the back?

From what I understand you do need conditions that will allow moisture to be removed. Heat and airflow are the 2 main contributors to this. In our case I switched on the MVHR early and put it on a timer so that when people were working in the house it would be off (to avoid too much dust in the works, so i asked the builders to open windows and doors during the day and shut them all when they left), then come on overnight for approx 14hrs. I also used a large fan and heater in our basement as that was very damp from flooding during some core drilling through the ICF. I then changed the filters and washed the heat exchanger prior to moving in - they were filthy, and I think we still have a bit of dust in the ducts but we live with it. In all it took a bit longer than the 6-8 weeks (calculated) it should have to get a sensible reading on the meter. Also, suggest you scrape off the laitance sooner rather than later. It will be easier do remove if done early and will also improve drying. Tip from my screed company.

As an update, the Genvex has been running for two days. We found it a plug and play device to get it running in a basic state. The Optima 312 controls everything and is straightforward to set up. We set the water temperature to 40C and turned off the 'immersion heater' and it took the EASHP just under eight hours to heat the 185l tank. When the water was up to temperature it started pumping out warm air. We're still working in the house so the room temperature is turned down. It is fractionally more noisy than the fridge/freezer when the EASHP is running and quiet when it's not running. Just following the instructions gets it running but it is over ventilating in our house and I may play with turning the extract motor down a bit to see the effect. I will set it up properly in the New Year. Our house has 127m2 internal area excluding lofts and porch and has large areas with vaulted ceilings.

Ok, I'll be the one to say it.........so that means your not in then ? ?

For the cost of rebar, I'd be putting it in regardless, especially on unknown ground. Piss them off some more, simple. If they were building a house they'd do it to you without a second thought. Life has taught me to stop being kind to folk on the assumption that they'll be nice back, cos it rarely happens trust me. This is an absolutely fundamental stage of the build, so stop compromising and put your foot down. Get the concrete trucks in and time will be a healer, and when you see the neighbours blame the architect . Takes the heat off you.

I've just looked at the drawings again, a bit more closely, and found that the orientation of the manifold in the drawing is 180 degrees out compared to the installation photo. That suggests that the always on bypass loop may really be the bathroom, rather than a bedroom.

+ a little joist above the door with a block an tackle to lift the flour sacks up to the roof space.

Folks, I have very strong feelings about this forum being allowed to be used by commercial entities, and this thread exemplifies why I think that forum policy regarding commercial use needs to be tightened. It's inevitable when we get competing commercial interests, in the same sector, as in this case, that they will end up being critical of each other in order to try and gain some sort of commercial advantage. The fact that it may well tend to make many of the potential customers of this non-commercial, member owned and run, forum, think again about using any commercial entities that misuse this forum is a point that seems to be lost. As one of the founder members that invested time and money in setting up this non-commercial forum, I think it's time that we gave a reminder to all who use it that it is NOT a place for commercial entities to promote their wares or raise their own profile. This forum was founded by a group of fourteen volunteers, who invested their own money and time to set it up and who, with the generosity of other members, pay the costs of hosting it. Will our members that are in business related to self build and renovation please take note of this, and that people like me are paying to give them a vehicle to promote themselves on here, something I find abhorrent.