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At last, most of our scaffolding is down, 5 months later than planned. In spite of all the trauma it has been worth it. Our views are lovely and the house is looking better than I had hoped. Guttering is arriving next week & a bit of finishing to the cedar & stonework & we are nearly there. Outside anyway.

I'll have a bloody good look at it for you none the less.

We had everything you mention on our site, we are also a sssi. By the time we put in our application we didn’t have any. months before our application when the bats had finished nesting we foamed up every nook and cranny and washed the outside spotless all shrubs trees cut down and back hard, abiding with any regs, the grass mown very short then I put up a reptile fence around the build site we then had a full ecology survey carried out, they found NOTHING on site ,they actually declared the site was boring and of low importance. Perfect, everything we did was fully legal, I did not remove anything that we didn’t have consent for looking at the rest of our site I know that within 6 months of work finishing it will be back to the jungle it was. I think you have to manipulate the situation to fit in to fit in with you.

I've got a dremel, would that do it or too small? I doubt anyone else will offer to come up after the 16 hour days sorting out the heating!

It’s fine rusty - just advertise as reinforcing mesh.

Unless it is REALLY rusty, put it on freecycle and let someone collect it and make use of it.

Think he wants a handmade cherrywood loo seat, and coffin.

The mind boggles as to what would happen with @Onoff's coffin. New product: EasiOut - half finished coffins for Zombies.

So, the planning permission is in and we can now demolish the old bungalow... But first I think I've got to sort out the following: I guess I'm going to need an asbestos survey (the bungalow is of traditional construction and dates from the early 60's) and quotes from demolition companies (any recommendations in the Salisbury area?) I'll need to sort out the planning conditions before I start. The CIL paperwork. Get the services moved and/or disconnected. Selfbuild insurance. Herras fencing. There must be plenty more prior to demolition commencing, what am I missing? Any hints, tips, pointers would be very gratefully received.

As I'm so low down it the bottom of the valley my aerial is up slope, about 50m from the house, on a pole with a mast head amp and is the biggest Band A Yagi aerialsandtv do. Pointed at Crystal Palace. Most neighbours gave up and went satellite but not me! I've made a couple of horizontally polarized, corner reflector antennas for neighbours too, to go on gable ends that work a treat.

No worries. Loft aerials can work fine. I'm using one as not too far from sandy heath. Had to remove some foil from the loft insulation though.

Hey Ali It's looking fantastic and quality takes time? Hope it keeps working out?

First find out which transmitter you should point at and how far away it is. That info is used to workout what type and size of aerial you need. Also how high it needs to be. Boosters are the devil's work. If you are in a poor signal area you need a big aerial as high as possible. If that's still not getting a signal the answer might be a mast head amp. If you want to feed several TV sets you need a distribution amplifier which doesn't really need to boost the signal massively.

Is it just me sees Stargate?

I haven't taken a full picture of the front of the house as it isn't quite finished. We are finally building the archway at the front door, so we are using the kitchen door at the moment. Due to the weight of the stone they are doing two pieces a day. I was a bit taken aback by the thickness of the stone, I think the architect must get commission from the quarry!

Looks like A142? That's 200x200 squares, 6mm bars. Maybe the next time someone comes up they could give you a grinder lesson. Think Demi Moore / Patrick Swayze in Ghost! Start small with a 115mm grinder not a 9 or 12". Gloves and a face shield a must!!!

3" bolt cutters and a friend ?

Thanks Lizzie. Hugely relieved to be at this point.

Angle grinder with a metal cutting wheel. Just don't be fearful of it (called being a pussy, which I know you are not). If I get time tomorrow (got a show on this weeks so a lot of driving) I shall make a video of how to do it and how not too. Bit like one of the old Kenny Everett ones.

It ties all the joist ends together (I know it as a ring beam)

Thanks Tom. We are starting to make progress inside as well now. Just finished the cement slurry grouting of the beam & block. Done the DPM & 800mm of floor insulation & 100mm perimeter insulation in the living area. Utility & hallway to do. Started the acoustic insulation in the ceiling (horrible job). MVHR arriving this week. Henry is getting on with the joinery upstairs. Most of the first fix electrics & plumbing done.

Sorry, when I saw this first there was no picture!!, bolt cutters would be safer if you have some or could borrow some, angle grinders need treating with care, they can bite back.

Aerials, unless you live in a strong signal area are very definitely NOT much of a muchness. The sheds tend to sell "WB" models (wide band). They work best in the middle of the tv band but are not so good at the fringes of the band. Band specific work best over smaller, specific segments of the whole band. First stop for you is here: http://www.aerialsandtv.com As said above get the right one for your transmitter. You might already know what it is. You can usually take a stab by which way the rest are pointing. Find your transmitter which will give you your band the whether you're in a week / strong area. You might be "lucky" and a WB one will work fine.

You need to look up how far you are from the nearest transmitter and what the signal strength is like to determine the size of aerial needed. A lot of the "posh" looking ones have a reputation for being rubbish, particularly not very strong, but that is not an issue for an indoor aerial. THIS guy talks a lot of sense http://aerialsandtv.com/loftaerials.html

go for the correct gain group rather than a wideband one.

The support pillars are anthracite powder coated steel to match the windows. I have wrapped them in bubble wrap to protect them. We wanted them to be as discreet as possible. We would have liked the dormer to have been cantilevered but cost was prohibitive. The ironstone looks great. The location is on the side of an old victorian ironstone quarry and is in the conservation area so we had to use it. We kept it to a minimum because of cost. Our existing cottage (the new house is in the garden)is part of an ironstone terrace & most of the village is built in it.

@Russdl This thread is worth a read. With regard to SE chose one who is experienced with the type of construction you are going to use. Im building with ICF and have gone with the ICF company's recommendation. So far so good... SE doesn't have to be local either which was news to me but makes sense. No need for expensive site visits if not necessary

Very, very nice, well done ?

One of my neighbours asked me yesterday- "When are you going to be finished?" I replied "First guests are arriving on Saturday" (it's a holiday let). He also has a holiday let and just smiled and knowingly said "yes, but that doesn't mean you're finished, does it?" It's going to be a race to the finish, for sure. The good thing about this build is that I cannot simply kick things into the long grass. If it was my own house, I would have moved in months ago and put up with various bodges and unfinished details. Still got some cladding details around windows to do, guttering, and a couple of ditches to fill in. Saturday is ages away... isn't it? We have chosen not to build the decking yet, and I would like to do a bit more landscaping, but these things will have to wait. As to serial self building- yes, I can see how you can get the bug. Right now I would run away screaming if I was told I had to start another build all over again, but in the course of this project I have learned so much that it seems a waste to never do it again. I have also come to appreciate how terribly designed and finished my own house is. So I think selling up and building a new house for the family is very much on the cards, but not for at least a couple of years. And it would be great to be putting all of this thought, effort, time, and expense into something that my family was going to enjoy.

I would also remind him that he’s had a good earner out of the rest of the job and been paid on time Even if he only manages 15 mtrs per day it’s not a bad earner Problem is that everyone is still busy

St Andrews day party it is, I'll bring the fireworks ??

The worst he can do is tell you to FO Worth asking afaic. .

I have sent him an email asking why so high.... see what happens

I paid a day rate to my Tiler’s (they were trust worthy) - worked out at £30m2 for my outdoor tiles.

Not a the moment sorry I suspect that is why your tiler is trying you with a high quote

Ouch that’s a lot for the scaffolding! Mind you my experience with scaffolding wasn’t the best and I would have rather paid a little more after all the hassle we had with ours. Just make sure no one goes on it until the ‘ticket’ is on it if it’s not there already. Car port is looking great!

bought maybe, but what about erected and certified?

My dream job if all the falls are done and correct £2500 would be plenty This time of year

Separates the boys from the men IMO. A LOT of plastic heros out there since pushfit was born.

Visible? It's having floor over it! + To be fair the loft is FULL of Hep2O and I've not seen any chewed yet but I'm intending gradually replacing it for peace of mind. Going soldered.

Right, I understand now. Yes, ours went through the DPC at the inner surface of the upstand, like this: I believe we cut a circle in the DPC (see arrow) so that the duct was a tight friction fit, on the assumption that there was nowhere for the water to track to this point once the outer DPC was sealed around the ducts anyway. If you were paranoid, you could use a sheet grommet of some sort attached to the DPC to provide a more resilient seal, but that felt like overkill to me at the time.

If I was to hypothetically apply to knock down and rebuild, in terms of "damage to the environment" what conditions might be imposed to mitigate this, particularly in terms of native fauna & flora? As we have: - Bats - Slow worms - Adders - Grass Snakes - Newts - Those bfo Roman snails (presumably from Lullingstone). - Dragonflies that look like they're from the Cretaceous period. - Orchids of a type on their own making us an SSSI. We're already in the Green Belt and an AONB. - Several mature trees, one close to the house. Tbh they're fantastic specimens, like the Tree of Life in Avatar but the nearest (and "best" imo) is I'm sure starting to lift a path with it's roots and threaten the house. They're also a handy jumping off point to the roof for squirrels. (One beech, three "firs" and a cherry all planted by the previous owner btw). Disturb or lift anything here and some creature will be residing there. Tbh I'd flatten and level the lot but leave a wildlife "haven" and perhaps large wildlife pond whilst being sensitive to rescue and relocation during the build. Is there a general document available anywhere that goes into all this? I imagine it involves experts coming down and charging me £££ for a start.

Kraftwerk, now you're talking. Got loads on vinyl. On my bucket list to see them live. Amazing how many modern artists sample them. There's was a good article about Chris Martin from Coldplay approaching them to use Computer Love on "Talk". He said he was already starstruck and in awe of them plus dreading they would refuse permission.

I knew the name (through my kids though) But what made me smile was the predictable unpredictability of your response ? ?

I need one of those. The plasterer hasn't showed up this morning and is not answering his phone. God I hate relying on others.

Playing a dangerous game if you don't stick to the spec to the letter. Its not that important though, it's only holding your house up after all . Very easy to rectify after too. . Get them to change it now. Simples.

I had a nice bath with Christina Novelli!

DIY coffin made of old pallets. My final project?

I always leave my homework until the last minute. Works for me. Generally, I find that having others rely on me is a good motivator. I once had the production manager of the company I work for ask me what I actually did. Rather than explain to the ignorant twat, I said I would stop and he would find out after 3 weeks. I have a bad habit of making my job look easy and seemingly having a cavalier attitude towards work. Not done me any favours. But as the old saying goes: "When you are in a hole, stop f@cking digging"

Build Swap...where two disheartened self builders swap caravans for the weekend and see they're not the only ones in that boat!