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Just thought I’d share this with you Ive been fitting three sets of wardrobes Very quick and easy way to do and quite inexpensive compared to conventional wardrobe I’ve just a piece of oak trim to add to the top and inset handles

In our 2nd & 3rd bedrooms we used cheap as chips Howdens sliders and they are surprisingly good...I wanted a big mirror door too as smaller bedrooms so mirror good for bouncing the light but you can have any configuration of solid/mirror. I chose Oak finish to blend with our interior doors. We just built an extra bit of stud wall to create the alcove. No architraves clean line to plaster edge and floor runners are glued down to tiles so floor runs underneath. Carpenter made a good heavy weight shelf and we fitted rails under that. Even weight of my stuff is not going to make that collapse! Will fit out the other bits as and when, what we have done is vat reclaimable....I hope so anyway its gone in for the claim. I thought they would just be a stop gap solution but they look really good and very capacious.

We are just commencing our second self-build (started onsite last week). In both cases we have used Architects and in both cases have been very happy with the results. We have outlined how in both case we selected and worked with our architect which we hope will assist other people starting out on their self build journey. 1) Start thinking about which architect you are going to use when you start looking for land and not when you have found land. 2) Draw out a requirements list. My approach is to provide a brief / framework for the architect to interpret rather than prescriptively dictating to the last detail. Requirements should be no more than 2 pages. By making the requirements generic, you can apply them to most plots of land. Include in the requirements why you are building as well (develop and sell, house for life etc) 3) Checkout your architects previous designs. There is likely to be a common design pattern and if that is way off what you want then maybe the architect isn't for you. Also go and see a couple of houses - just viewing from the outside can tell you a lot. 4) If you see a plot that is a potential candidate, email architects on your shortlist for feedback. Most architects will provide feedback for free within reason and the reply will help you to decide if the architect is thinking along the same lines as you. Also, meet with your architect before you engage formally to check that they are a person that you can work with. 5) Be completely upfront with the architect about your budget, put it in your requirements list and be very clear what that budget includes and doesn't include. 6) Be completely upfront with your architect about their fees. Fees based on a %age of the build cost are OK as long as the build cost used is your budget for the build at the outset (fixed) rather than the actual build cost (variable). 7) Good architects are in high demand and don't need to advertise so you will need to research (a lot) and do your legwork. Be prepared for the fact that you might need to wait for the architect you want to become available. 8. Check whether the architect has any experience in the build method you want to adopt and the energy standards that you want to achieve. Find out what the build costs have been on recent build projects and how these compared to budgeted costs . 9) Check with the relevant boards that any claimed registrations are correct. 10) Fees may seem expensive, but for the amount of work that goes into a design I have always felt I got good value for money. In the context of the cost of the project it is a small percentage much of which can be quite easily recouped with a little restraint on the fixtures and fittings. 11) If you use an architect local to the build, it is more likely that he will be able to advise on securing good contractors based on experience of previous builds. My architect has more than recouped his fee by drawing up an attractive house that is straightforward to build. Insulation is what we need to get to passivhaus but no more and the size of the house is what we can build to meet our budget (based on his previous build costs) and requirements. Listed below are the requirements we drew up which may assist others going through a similar exercise: Build Budget: £325K (House, Garage) excludes landscaping, external works and professional fees. The Plot There were a large number of objections to the development from residents but planning permission was granted on appeal. Plot width is around 16.7m. Plot length is 44m. Electricity, Water and mains sewerage (but not gas) available at the plot boundary. Functions of the Building Home for ourselves and the dog. Enough room for friends, grown-up children to stay and family get-togethers. Building a house for life as we can’t get what we like on the open market. We love cooking and the outdoors, so it should support that. Combine open plan living combined with a segregated quiet room downstairs Provide a comfortable and healthy interior environment with a stable temperature and no drafts. Design Direction and Requirements Good natural light to rooms is really important with dual aspect windows in as many rooms as possible but not too keen on huge oversized windows that require complex and expensive shading solutions Designed to Passivhaus standards in a cost-effective manner but don’t over-rely on technology that has high cost to install and maintain. Downstairs Open plan kitchen, dining room and seating area Utility room (able to dry clothes in using pulley) Lounge Small Study if possible WC / Washbasin Good Storage – larder cupboard, cloakroom and cupboard for cleaning utensils Somewhere to sort out a muddy dog and muddy boots (A covered porch with a stone floor and bench maybe). Sliding doors or similar out to the garden from the sitting area. Bottom of kitchen window to be level with the kitchen worktop. Back door into the utility room No large step into front or back door WC away from front door if possible Upstairs 3 to 4 double bedrooms. Small study if not room downstairs (or 4th bedroom) Built in wardrobes Cathedral ceiling. Master bedroom should be able to comfortably take a king size be. En-suite in master. Separate shower in bathroom. General Heating / DHW – no mains gas. Solar PV with a diverter? ASHP (noise?) Consideration given to some acoustic insulation between rooms and between downstairs / upstairs. Doesn’t need to be completely soundproof however. LED lighting throughout and up the staircase Point for charging electric car. Ability to use battery storage in the future should it become more cost-effective. No requirement for chimney or wood burning stove. Agnostic about whether the garage is attached or detached, but should have storage for bikes and a little workshop area. Could be modified for easy access upstairs in the future (Straight staircase maybe). Point for charging electric car. Low maintenance exterior for windows and wall facings. House to have a more contemporary feel inside. Outside to tie in with planning / design code. Window frames recessed into the openings. Other Stuff Recess in shower wall for soap etc. Built in bookcases Lots of sockets Sockets in cupboards for charging hoover etc. Room in utility room for dog crate Built in water filter Water softener Lighting on dimmers with switches that gradually turn LED lights on so they don’t blow. Good outdoor lighting (pathways) Outdoor power point / tap Phone point in every room

As an update to this, very interesting visit with the Nuenta rep, the sticking point is the depth which is minimal in the bywash. I'd definitely be keen to use the blades but they would have to be just after the bywash into the canal but we really need to get advice from the Canal and River Trust but trying to get anyone to respond to emails or phone calls is impossible. It would be easier to context Santa Claus! The technology and concept is however really good and we are most certainly going to try and pursue this.

Yes Ian Personal preference I use it everyday I’ve only a few studs upstairs Mainly making bathrooms up and wardrobes Ive lines all with ply and soundblock and doubled the walls with a 100 mil void between the two unsuits Very solid main advantages millimetre plumb easy to keep square holes Pre cut for services Much better soundproofing than timber Same cost as timber to purchase Five times as fast to install Pictured is a small job I did on a school a couple of months back Build corridor Four classrooms soundblock insulate and skim To be completed in five days Over half term Two days for two of us to build and board with electrician working with us Day and a half for two of us to skim

Standard would be fine - it’s got so high a load spec and the concrete would spread any point load.

Yep it is the Luca, I love the simplicity of no handles. It is matt dove grey with grey carcasses (which match very well). Because of budget constraints I am not having any trims or side panels, other than plinths and backing for the back of units that will be on show under the island. The wall unit arrived damaged and they had a new one to me in a week from being told. On thing I would watch for if you have a wide wall unit. The bottom shelf of the unit is not fixed to the back so wouldn't take much weight before bowing. I think this is the reason it got damaged because the units are very well boxed. On the replacement unit we have glued a block in place between the back and the bottom shelf which should make it much more secure. They send fixings for wall units but no brackets to attach base or tall units to the wall. Not expensive but worth being aware of. I have gone for laminate worktop. It is so much cheaper, and my sister and brother have granite and hate them because they mark with water so easily. I have had laminate in this house for 18 years and there isn't a mark on it. Unfortunately, 'Mr Nobody' has chipped the front of the new long worktop. All 4 workers in the house at the time deny it was them. God knows how they have managed it, they certainly couldn't #not know' when they did it because it must have been given a really hard bang. It's only tiny but I am so pee'd off about it.

I happened to be in my local Howdens branch yesterday in search of light coloured Quick-Step Uniclic Laminate Floor. This is the full range (I was told), but not all branches stock all of them. Prices in my Howdens without underlay are around £18 per sqm inc VAT, but the VAT may not be reclaimable. Obviously colour reproduction from poor light to dodgy phone pic to colour autobalance to your screen to different lighting means that a physical sample of the one you are thinking about is important, and it won't look like that anyway in your new house ?.

This might be of interest: https://www.simasa.co.uk/blog/sin-categoria/how-to-use-a-tile-saw-to-cut-bricks/

Criteria for eligible Wardrobes from VAT Notice 708 is below: Basic wardrobes installed on their own with all the following characteristics: the wardrobe encloses a space bordered by the walls, ceiling and floor. But units whose design includes, for example, an element to bridge over a bed or create a dressing table are furniture and are not building materials the side and back use three walls of the room (such as across the end of a wall), or two walls and a stub wall. But wardrobes installed in the corner of a room where one side is a closing end panel are furniture and are not building materials on opening the wardrobe you should see the walls of the building. These would normally be either bare plaster or painted plaster. Wardrobes that contain internal panelling, typically as part of a modular or carcass system, are furniture and are not building materials The wardrobe should feature no more than a single shelf running the full length of the wardrobe, a rail for hanging clothes and a closing door or doors. Wardrobes with internal divisions, drawers, shoe racks or other features are furniture and are not building materials. Of course you can just claim for the bits that make up an allowable structure and add the internals later. The thing they will disallow is buying a wardrobe as flat pack even if you said you were only using the doors and did away with the sides etc (someone apparently tried to argue this case). I haven't actually altered mine. I find the shelf and hanging rail work just fine as I have lots of other drawers etc elsewhere to use. Actually that's not quite true as I have 2 hanging rails in a couple of the wardrobes as I only need one to take full length clothes.

I have used the perforated metal stuff from James Hardie. They do a bottom profile which gives a kick to the first row of cladding or slate and a l shaped top profile.

Yeah kit comes with two splayeyed bits that fit Ito the track

Super detail! Ours doesn't come close to that ?

Your best getting a second hand mounted wet saw. The dust this work creates will ruin anything that’s not specifically designed for the job. Yes they say they will do it but for how long. Use a good second hand one and sell it when your done. It’s dirty, nasty work.

That's just how the professionals do stud walling. Gives you thinner walls than in timber.

I purchased the runners from Slingers of Preston

Dunno, 300x75 I'm reading one web spec 220x60 on another. I've got the Rage 3 btw not the Rage 3 +.

Hi if you have a drawing to accompany the sheet It will be fine

Looks good to me - I have attached a screen shot of what I sent though along with all the relevant drawings etc. It seemed to work for me and proved to be the basis of what we have worked with since. The end column was for them to price up the various elements of that section of the project. the tabs at the bottom worked through the whole project in a similar vein.

Well played! It is only a row of chipboard boxes.

Well, I'm back from my meeting with the Kitchen company sales guy. I went through the quote line by line and within ten minutes I'd pointed out well over £1000 of saving for the appliances, sink and accessories when comparing their prices with reputable online companies. He was adamant that their price for the quartz worktops could not be beaten until I shared a quote from a company I have an account with, so there we had another £450 saving. He's now gone away to talk to the company director about their best price on the kitchen units. I think he got the message, I'm neither green nor cabbage looking! Let's see where we end up!

What you are speaking about is do able but you may/probably have a lot of work with getting the plumbing sorted out for motorised valves in the rite places to only take control of that radiator. I have also seen trv's been replaced with hard wired actuators with the cables running down behind the pipes and wired up like a UFH set up.

@canalsiderenovation, I tracked it down. It wasn't Grand Designs, it was this: https://www.houseplanninghelp.com/hph182-extracting-energy-from-watercourses-by-generating-electricity-and-extracting-heat-with-justin-broadbent-from-iso-energy/ Extracting energy from watercourses by generating electricity and extracting heat – with Justin Broadbent from ISO Energy. A podcast by Ben Adam Smith, the House Planning Help podcast. Have you listened to it?