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8. That’s shed felt not piggery felt 9. The roughness will trap water behind your counterbattens and rot them 10. The lap will cause a lump in your roof. 11. It will make your slates a complete waste of money 12. The sweating in point 3 will cause condensation inside and damage all your valuable tools along with rotting the ply 13. Everyone that sees along with everyone here will know you’ve done it and think less of you 14. Because peter told you not to 15. Because I’m telling you not to

I'd advise contacting them ASAP, with a list of points as to why it does not meet the rateable hereditament tests in the case law quoted in the links in this post: If you're methodical you should have no problem in making the case that it does not meet the legal requirements, but I suspect you will be dealing with people who are inflexible and not particularly well-versed in the law. Certainly the first person I spoke to at the council was pretty aggressive and bullying, and passed me on to her manager. The manager didn't understand the law at all, and I managed to get her to refer my points to their legal department, and quoted the relevant items of case law. The moment their legal eagle was made aware that there was no potable water on site, the whole thing just went away, with a request that I call them when the house met the legal requirements to be habitable. They will try it on, as these people have learned that being bullying and aggressive, with the authority of the council, makes most people back away. The hardest part for me was staying calm and civil when dealing with them, as I was steaming mad. I can clearly remember being on the phone to them at the top of our lane (there's no signal at the house), finishing the calm conversation with one of the morons and then shouting and swearing with pent up rage. The lady walking her dog that passed me at that moment just smiled at me and said "was that telephone call a little tiresome?". Calmed me down better than a bottle or two of wine.........

I was very, very tempted to set up booby traps after catching the Council snooper on camera. I don't often get really angry, but the Council managed to get me seething for weeks by doing this. The pompous woman I spoke to on the phone, that tried to justify a member of her staff breaking into our property, with no PPE on, and ignoring all the warning and keep out signs, by telling me that lots of builders tried to avoid paying Council Tax so they had a duty to check up on every new build regularly. The implication was that she thought I was deliberately avoiding paying the tax, even though we were so far off completion that I hadn't even started to think about it yet. Anyway, they lost out on around 18 months of Council Tax just because they put my back up so much that I very deliberately (and perfectly legally) kept the house in a state where it could not be declared a rateable hereditament, just out of spite.

Land mines is an alternative, but slightly more controversial.

Yeah I was going to go but I was worried they would tell me the breakers yard was down the road.

Those that can do, those that can't teach I liked lecturing, the worse that happens is that you have to reboot a PC.

After trying several jobs, all of which he left just before being sacked (one of which his colleagues, some of whom I knew well, held a party the day after he'd gone to celebrate his leaving - without his presence), the chap I mentioned earlier eventually ended up as a university lecturer, and may well still be, if they haven't sacked him yet. He was the bane of my life for a few years, as he used to give his students my contact details, telling them I could help them with their research. No matter how many times I told him that I just didn't do professional pro bono work, he carried on doing this, so in the end I had to take it up with the university, telling them that if another one of their students contacted me, I would bill the university for my time, sending them a copy of my Ts and Cs, plus my current rates with the letter.

Point out there is no water supply connected, ask them to check with the water company if they don't believe you, and quote the relevant bit of case law that says that a building without a water supply cannot be lawfully classed as a rateable hereditament. I'd delay getting the water connected if you can, until you've resolved this. If you agree to notify them when you feel that you've met the requirements for habitability, then the chances are you may get the same reaction I did. They backed right off when I did this, we had no more snoopers coming around, and they didn't even use the statutory powers they have to issue us with a notice of intended completion date. I think they thought that I was likely to give them pain and grief (which was spot on) if they tried to get us to pay up before we were ready, so just backed off. A few weeks after completion I wrote a letter to the VOA, requesting that our new build be valued and put on the register. If you want to delay things further, you can, as you can appeal the banding, and that adds a few weeks delay. The Council cannot charge you Council Tax until the VOA have put the house on the register. My guess is that your house has been put on the Council Tax register now and that the VOA have done the external inspection (done from the roadside, or even just the plans). You need to get it off the register ASAP, by highlighting that it is is on there by error with the VOA (not the council). No building that is not a rateable hereditament should be on the register, as by definition the register only holds details of buildings that are - it goes back to the old Rating Act again.

Definitely habitable for mice but for anyone else that would be no. Can you contact them and ask what exactly made him think it was habitable.

It's all @Construction Channel, @Barney12, @Triassic, @vfrdave ' s faults. I have decided to try and slate the roof of our little piggery. The key factor in my decision is the simplicity of the roof. It's five meters long and dead straight (now) Well, got to save money somehow. And as SWMBO says, it keeps me off the streets. I anticipate going into a lot of detail, so this post will be one of a few: I'll make a little navbar within this and subsequent posts. (There's nothing to link to yet, so the doesn't work). Why do that? Because it will make it easier for potential roofers to follow the threads. This (will be) one of a series [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] The background We have an old piggery which is not subject to Building Regs that has been knocked down (under Permitted Development) and rebuilt (badly: there's a really big curve in the west wall - one of the reasons we sacked the builder). Again at @Construction Channel's encouragement I built the roof like this.... using recycled wood from the shuttering disaster (another reason we sacked the builder) By the way, I colour-coded the recycled wood : red paint means there are or were nails in the wood, green means that the recycled wood is metal-free). Ask me why I do that now The roof now looks like this: I re-used some OSB left over from the shuttering and covered it with normal 'shed' felt. I thought I'd do a quick review of what others have posted about slate roofing (all summarised from BH posts where the term 'slate' is in the title: 'slate' in the title and content brings up too many results) @pudding posted a useful shopping list here for a similar project. As usual, there's good advice on costs and the causes of costs . There's reference to the roofing superstore. @Temp reminds us that battens need to be treated and meet BS5534. @pudding (and I) forgot to think about eaves protectors: but they're fairly cheap. @vfrdave's post here continues the concern about verges, his post raises issues I didn't even know about (unknown unknowns) ; drip profile, drip beads, Kytun dry verge, (and how to trim it, thanks @JSHarris) Nails. @Construction Channel's special subject when he gets on to Master Mind. Answer? Copper. Want the detail: it's here @Barney12 s post is the one that set me thinking about whether I could do it too. Several people suggested he look at YooChube videos: so here's a link to 20 or 30 relevant videos. @RichS advice on the above thread chimes well with what I have heard from several sources: take your time on the first (bottom) course. The issue of plastic slates is discussed here: they're news to me. Maybe I should consider them: shame there's no discussion on price in this thread.Size matters: there's a whole whirlwind of slate-related technobabble (just as bad as JavaScript coders) here, but within the post is this gem about traditional roofing ; and then there's the normal self-build concern 'How much? Ya jokin' mate' @Leaway asks about verge end caps. I don't know what a verge end cap might be: but this kind of explains what one is, and this link explains it properly (google image search) Then there's this quite important post about doing it yourself started by @Tin Soldier. It certainly put lead in my pencil about the whole issue. It's a must-read. Next: weighing the job up.

I think the issue is in the building world most of the time the customer won’t see the work completed until they get home from work. At which point they think it’s a good idea to call the person running the job and discuss things (I used to run jobs but not any more for this exact reason.) I used to get calls at ridiculous times. They generally don’t understand that we have lives too and finish work at 5 like everyone else. By all means send me a text and I probably will reply that evening but I will do it when I’m not eating dinner/ watching a good bit/ having a bunk up,....... or call me within the hours you are paying me for. The other difference would be that “usually” white collar workers have got a secretary/PA to fob people off until they are ready. We don’t. We just have a misses that moans at us for never stopping work when we do rarely answer the phone out of hours.

Sounds like he should have been an architect :))

Architects topographical survey Planning permission ground investigation Water Gas electriciy Sewerage NHBC insurance Building Control A list of things I didn't fully consider (I considered them but took averages rather than getting quotes - apart from architect who was pretty much a waste of money anyway) before starting my own self build ... Cost of all of these approx £20,000. Yours may not be as much BUT have you the contingency if they. Some of these costs are lower for a small project like yours (and mine); many are the same whether you are building a 70 sq m bungalow or a 500sqm mansion. On top of this I have the other extras (£15k) ish on the the actual build. I am not trying to be negative - I know that despite all this I will love living in my new build - however I had (sort of ) available funds way and above my contingency - my pension fund - so really didn't want to use it. I hope you can sort it out BUT don't get to the point of no return without knowing how you'll cope. Many sleepless nights here and I know I will be ok.

There are some posts on this, as we had the council send around a lady one evening to climb over our security fencing and snoop around, in order to send us a council tax demand for a house that was far from finished. The law is pretty clear, and relates to whether or not the house can be considered a rateable hereditament under the Rating Act (1969, I think). There are two bits of case law that clarify this, but the key one is that in order for Council Tax to be levied the house has to meet certain requirements in terms of habitability. The easiest one to not connect in order to make the house definitely ineligible for Council Tax is the water supply. If the house does not have a supply of potable water then it is not a rateable hereditament and therefore cannot be valued for Council Tax purposes and placed on the register. If your house has already been valued, banded and placed on the register, then you need to appeal to have it removed, on the ground that it is not a rateable hereditament. A search of the forum will find the relevant case law, as I know that it's been posted here somewhere. The other thing worth doing is removing the assumed right of access under common law that the Council has to walk on to your plot. I did this by both writing to the Council telling them that I had revoked their right of access, and that if they wished to visit to inspect (they have the right to ask for this) then they should contact me to make an appointment. I also put signs up outside, specifically revoking the assumed right of access for all Council staff or their contractors. Edited to add: Have a read of these threads, as they have more on Council Tax liability and the relevant case law that applies:

Superglue is a right pita to get out of car / door locks. Just saying.

Could you build it so it's an alleyway so you and the neighbour have access to the back but you also gain 1m width upstairs.

I can't answer the whole question but the legal costs of the mortgage itself can be included in the mortgage - In my case I have a ridging loan rather than a self build mortgage as I don't have an income. The interest in this case is also rolled into the loan until I pay it off. One thing I think other members will tell you soon don't go with Build Store but try and go direct. In my case the same mortgage came in at about £1,500 cheaper by using a broker but I suspect I could have gone direct and saved even more. You are lucky to have found this forum earlier on in your quest to self build than I did. There is so much help, knowledge and support on here.

That's what I have done

Yes, I had a two supervisors that were hopeless. One even claimed to have left messages on both my landline and my mobile. Neither of which had an answer service.

For it to sag like that the rafters must be moving over the perlins and / or the wall plate are the perlins / wall plate bulging out at the 100mm sag point? If they are then the problem might be bigger than you think.

I'm the first to admit to colleagues like @SteamyTea, @Construction Channel, and @Nickfromwales, that customers can and do behave badly. They do so in all sectors of commerce, not just building work. The point I want to make is that trades folk are just as elitist as the so-called 'elites' we associate with the Rollo's of this world in so far as they can make themselves unreachable by their customers. Want your loo unblocking on a Sunday afternoon? Want your property securing when there's been storm damage? Don't pi$$ a trades person off.

Lol I meant Faye. First thing I do on a job is find the customers number and block it. ?

Another point to make about text/ WhatsApp is it gives the recipient a chance to construct a response. The main reason I don’t answer the phone after 5 from anyone related to work is they almost undoubtably want me to do something. I find it very hard to say no, so on phone calls I used to find myself getting into things I don’t want to do just because I don’t want to be rude. By text at least I get a chance to ask the boss / think of a nice way of saying no.

Are you trying to remove the sag from your roof ? Or just prevent it sagging anymore. If you want to remove the sag you will need to re,build it as it has taken 40 odd years to sag to the degree it has and trying to straighten it will be a non starter. This looks like a relatively easy fix by transferring the roof load directly down to the wall below BUT You need to make sure that the wall can take the load, look at what the wall sits on, if it is just built off the top of the floor boards then it is just a partition and should not really have any additional load placed on it. If it passes through the floor and continues down stairs then it can probably take some more additional loading. You need to do some poking around. Alternativly you can make up a truss type arrangement by adding a spreader tie with a vertical member from this. A spreader tie would be a timber probably a 4x2 that would run from side to side bolted to the rafters on either side, from this spreader tie you can run a vertical timber to prop under the ridge. As I said you will stop it sagging anymore but you won’t push it back up straight.

Bloody hell you lot are well dodgy i was thinking it may creep by 25mm we have no dodgy neighbours and the house is barely visible from anywhere. Thanks all i will crack on and wait for the proverbial to hit the fan.

I actually made a long trip up north to visit their Showroom. They are not your normal kitchen supplier - they do what it says on the tin - DIY. They are doing very well - lots of sales, expanding. Staff are very helpful and it's an excellent showroom. (A friend also bought from them and they are very satisfied). However, in the end whilst we did go the DIY route, we didn't go with this company. The main reason was the choice of material for the drawer and door fronts. We decided to go white high gloss. We then went to some other kitchen suppliers and picked up the white high gloss samples. The sample we preferred was Vivo because it was more dense and solid than the others. We then looked for a kitchen supplier who could supply Vivo (and Blum drawer runners and hinges) and we came up with TK components in Manchester. TK are trade only. My builders opened an account with them and that's how the basis of our kitchen and utility was built. We bought the granite separately from a local firm. We bought the handles from PWS. We gradually bought the sinks and appliances from eBay. Taps from Germany. Specialised pullouts and drawer organisers direct from Germany. Have to say I'm extremely happy with the result - both quality and cost Going back to your original question I believe most people are happy with DIY kitchens so you shouldn't worry about buying from them. Then again I'm 100% happy that we went the route we took, and I'd recommend TK to anyone.

Yup I have had 2 off them 1 for myself and 1 for somebody else. Mine is 8 years old and still as good as when fitted They come ready to fit, that's where I will be getting the next one when needed.

Normally the ends are packed to take the compressive load in the lower member, and the upper member has to be fixed so that it can take a tensile load. If there are gaps like that at the bottom, then as I think I mentioned much earlier in this thread, that could well be a contributory factor. I think one issue may be that some builders don't realise that any composite joist, like posijoist, I beam or whatever, has slightly different end fastening requirements to a solid timber joist.

Spons is ok as a guide for a trade working for a company. But most would find it impractical running a business based on £18 an hour. Most of the larger companies are paying bricklays that don’t want price work about £18 an hour Extra for weekend work Holidays paid Just turn up with a bucket of tools £18 is pittance if you are trying to run a business

So the man came round....from Think Green Energy. Didn't have any brochures or even leave a card. Seemingly they felt an ASHP was the wrong thing as quite expensive so he tried to sell them a "pv optimiser that limits the voltage going to the inverter". British made in Sheffield. He showed them a photo of a burnt out time clock that was running on 240V instead of 230V! This makes them overheat and give up. AND it would prolong the life of the inverter. £2500 in the sale that ends today funnily enough! If he doesn't take his commission he could do it for £2100! The bloke was there 3 hours! Amazingly my mate didn't go for it!

1. non breathable 2. Flammable 3. Will sweat 4. Short lifespan 5. Degrades with heat not light 6. Edges will degrade leading to water ingress 7. No guarantee unlike membrane 8. If you need another 8, ask someone else ....