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It's been a week of mixed emotions, we've made good progress on site but hit our first major budget overrun. First the good stuff, blocks got delivered on Monday. JUB will only ship them on pallets which sounds OK but in practice, but causes several problems on site. For a start we didn't have a fork lift on site and fork lifts don't tend to do well on soft ground. In the end we got in a tele-handler for which a single days hire is a significant cost. It should have been a small unit, but in the end the hire company delivered an 8 ton far too heavy and large for our site. It was so heavy it ended up damaging the new dropped kerb work done for the build. Besides unloading the blocks, other problems with having them on pallets soon became apparent. It's a small site with limited space for storing materials we needed to store the pallets on the raft leaving room for bracing to be put in place once the walls are built. Each pallet had a manifest of the blocks loaded onto it. No cutting is required so it should just be a case of selecting the blocks and putting them in place. JUB provide a nice block plan for the build giving a cross reference of block type and location. 646-2018 WALL - Assembly plan 1of2 A1.pdf It quickly became apparent that finding the right blocks would be a challenge. There are a fair number of types, some quite small, all carry an identifier in the form nnn-tt-nnn but it's not that easy to read, so we thought it would be a good idea to use a marker to add wall position. Not such a good idea as the same block has multiple wall position numbers which further complicates finding blocks as a no 5 is in fact just the same a no 11. I've now looked at the wall assembly plans a couple of times and the logic for the labelling escapes me. It would be a lot simpler on site if each unique block type was allocated a single number for a given kit and the number was used consistently throughout the kit assembly plans. This is a first for JUB in the UK so I expect the kit process will get refined. In any event the block assembly went very well and by Wednesday the blocks were up to the first floor and the bracing was in place. First impressions of the JUB systemare very favourable. One other item completed was the connection and testing of the sewer pump station. The pump has to be connected with “class C” 63mm MDPE pipe which is designed to withstand the pressures associated with a pump. The pipe is referred to as flexible but it's anything but especially over short distances. The result was that making a connection required the use of an angled connector, just a single 45 degree, but we would have preferred no connections. The 63mm run is very short less than 1M and has good access from the pump meaning it can be easily rodded. Now the less pleasant news, budget overrun. In hind site this is a self inflicted wound and I should be old enough and wise enough to have avoid it. Back when we started our project we had a budget offer from our shell builders Intelligent Building System. The budget included the raft and associated concrete and steel but not the ground works. From various items on the build hub and other web sources I had come up with a figure in region of £15K for the ground works. I didn't verify this with the builder or get a phase 1 statement of works prior to the work starting. Sounds a very basic error and I still wonder just how I ended up in this position, my only excuse is that I got carried away in the practical aspects of the build. The phase 1 works came in at 34K added to this was 4.4K for the insulated raft which I had to purchase directly from JUB, so 38.4K total. The original budget offer was 14.3K a figure which included an insulated Isodom raft, assuming this would be about the as the JUB raft brings the figure down to 10K. Some analysis of the costings showed the labour had changed from around 5K in the initial offering to 15K in the costings. There were also additional materials costs which are much easier to understand, we also added items like a very big hole for the rain water harvesting tank and soak away . I had discussions with our builder over this but they are adamant it's correct. My own fault for not getting the work properly defined before starting. I'm still on talking terms with the builder, whom I'm generally very happy with and would recommend to other self builders. They have been very proactive and helped considerably with getting JUB to engage with the build and many other items.

This would be typical for one of our developments: Profit 17% Acquisition cost includes SDLT, survey, valuations and legal fees. 32.5% Construction costs (to include S106 / CIL). 40% Professional fees. 4% Disposal fees. 1.5% Finance costs. 5%

I'm pretty sure this was discussed on a long running thread a while ago. Generally the definition of profit would vary between a self builder or developer As an example a developer will probably factor into their profit calculation financing costs as part of the overall project, however a self builder would probably not see their interest on self build mortgage as a part of the overall project cost. Another would be that a self build would probably not add an value to the overall project cost, to factor in that they have accepted a reduction in the standard living whilst living in a caravan or moved in with family members during the self build.

Plaster boarding at least

Go for it as a garden extension then. It may increase the value of your parent's house anyway as a garden extension even if you can't get PP just now (and assuming you can afford to just buy it speculatively).

...and hope they don't read this!

You can submit a planning application on land that you do not own, but you have to serve notice on the owner saying you have done so. We did this when buying our plot as we wanted to be sure we would get planning before buying it. If you are getting planning first, expect the owner to want building plot price for the land. The alternative is try and buy it as it is with no planning for less and take the gamble, but then the owner may put an uplift clause on it anyway. You really need to speak to the owner first or it all could be a waste of time.

OK - Between yourself and Jamie it looks like I will be able to get some - I have a friend in Carluke too! Let me work out what I need and what will be the simplest stuff to get hold of and I will be in touch. Big thanks.

The finance cost is 5%, not 0.5%.

We've been surprised at how good the LG condensing washer drier we bought just over a year ago is. We bought it in a hurry, as our old washing machine went wrong just before Christmas, so no time to look around, just had to buy what we could get delivered quickly before the holiday. It has a very solid feel to it, a nice wide door (makes it a lot easier to load and unload) runs quietly, washes and dries well, has a timer so it can be set to run at off-peak times and has an easy to use operator interface. My only criticism is that the damned thing plays silly tunes when you turn it on and when it's finished a programme, and I've yet to find a way to stop it from doing this. It seems to be the plague of our time having things playing tunes and going "bong". My car does it too, and I can't find a way to stop it sounding like an amusement arcade, either.

friend of mine bought a plot in 2012. Had to change planning but recently sold all the units on the site. Paid slightly less than 10% GDV for the site. No that isn't a typo either. Banks were desperate for cash even then.

I know a couple of developers who do 10-50 units per year (depending on sites) and they reckon 12-20% but that is before cost of money which can take 3-5% out of those numbers.

Not quite the same but a warning to remove tape on window frames when they are installed like it says. We left ours on for protection while the build was still going on and it was the nightmare from hell trying to remove it afterwards once the UV had cured it. I ended up scraping it off a mm at a time with an old credit card. Nightmare job! No chemicals I tried touched it, and I tried a few.

Our driveway man turned out to be one of these...we started to pursue him knowing that he was a wily character and would likely just put his company into liquidation. Thats exactly whats happened and liquidators fees vastly outweigh any assets so only people who get any money are the liquidators as per. I am determined this man will not get away with this (we now know this is not the first time) and do it again to anyone else.......list of about 10 people like us as creditors. I hope I can get him banned from being a director of a ltd company again plus letting as many in the county as possible know his personal name so if he pops up under another company name people will recognise him. Won’t get me my money or drive sorted but damned if I will let this one get away with it, had a long line of stetson wearers on this build so a lot of angst to disspiate and he is the one to get it...and he deserves it. @Odyssium if you think he owns property you know a bit about him...presumably you have been down the trading standards/local councillors route....that leaves you the TV expose programmes, or ask your lawyers if they can recommend a reputable enquiry agent to do some background digging on him.....might cost you £500 or more for a report though and even that may not be much use to you.

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If you attach a wide strip of membrane to the I-beams behind the ledger plate before fitting the ledger plate you can tape the membrane to that strip on the first floor and on the ground floor.

Ah! I wasn't sure how fresh it was and just trying to cover bases!

Our first floor metal web joists hang from a ledger plate that is attached to the I-beam wall studs. We used 300mm I-beams and extended them to 350mm by adding battens to the inner flanges of the i-beams. The ledger plate is the same thickness as the battens and sits on those battens and is nailed to the I-beam flanges. We don't have any membranes or tapes in our construction as the wall itself with the Icynene insulation is the airtightness layer. We achieved an airtightness result of 0.47ACH.

Plus electoral register? Depends how determined they are I guess if they get suspicious.

Here’s a link to a sketch of the Tony Tray http://tonyshouse.readinguk.org/tonytray.pdf

I would wait for people to confirm what I’m thinking, but I think you need aTONY TRAY. i havnt looked into it much but I’m thinking of doing something similar with my roof you basically get a strip say 600-750mm wide of your chosen air tight membrane and install this first horizontally around the building at the floor height, you then install all your hard ware and joists onto this leaving a flap hanging down below ceiling level and one poking up above first floor level, you then tape your other membranes to this strip as you finish your build. Im sure someone will have a sketch.

Many members of this forum inc me have successfully done the one hit process you describe however there are 2 main reasons that it’s not more commonly used as a method compared to the more traditional method of having a sub-floor and a separate screed: - it’s not an easy job getting the flatness needed in order to be able to lay a floor finish such as a ceramic tile directly onto a mass concrete floor. (That’s why floor screeding tends to be a specialist job) - the ground conditions need to be suitable to allow a ground bearing slab. For technical reasons many builds need to have a suspended floor construction and a mass concrete one-hit floor is not used in those situations.

@ash132 as @ProDave suggests, first area I would check is air bricks. Have external levels been raised/is water running off downpipes etc? For damp and suspended floors, I would check out a few of these videos.

I would say without a doubt you have high ground water. How have you ensured the air bricks to the existing suspended floor are still ventilated?

Righto, not sure if it helps but your tale bears similarities to my own. The lane to my plot serves 3 properties, it is an unmade, unadopted and also a public right of way. No one knows who owns it - my solicitor and everyone tried to find out but to no avail. My solicitor then had some legal letter from their solicitor to say access had been established and on going for yonks so the right to access had been established and there is no drama. I had no reason not to believe him but chose to pay for an indemnity myself...peanuts at £160. So the right to services saga. I didn't know if the utilities would have the necessary wayleaves etc to dig up the lane to lay a new connection if the owner was unknown. Applied for water and they said ok, crack on and find the main, lay a pipe to it and we will connect. So they weren't bothered so I weren't either. Electric would not give an answer as to whether they could provide a connection until I actually paid to get one in. Spoke to their wayleaves department, everything to no avail. Soo...to solve this we exchanged contracts on the proviso if an electric supply was not forthcoming then all bets off. I paid the cash, spoke to the engineer and their wayleaves department - they looked, couldnt find who owned it and basically said "feck it - nay bother, we will dig the lane (70m) and put your supply in, if someone complains then we will deal with it then". Cool, the lane is only 3m wide, so let the neighbours know, they are sound as a pound, the ramblers just had to deal with it. The guys came out, laid the cable and jobs a good en. Water was a saga....i dug loads of the lane up and couldn't find it - the main turned out to be in the neighbours garden! Anglian dug the lane up trying to find it without giving two hoots who owned it. They were only bothered at the top in case they dug council owned land. Soooo, long story short....it was a lot of hassle trying to find out who owned it but from a utilities pov they didn't care. Do your due diligence to satisfy yourself and go from there. At some you need to decide to take the plunge or walk away but only you can decide what the risk means to you - acceptable or not. As an aside I have sewerage getting dug in soon once Anglian tell me I can proceed - again the contractor sees it as a bonus in not having to bother with road permits and the like. I showed him where I want to connect and he said nay bother! Good luck.

Please don't compare my thread to years of rambling indecision!

Just an additional thought. As well as a right of access to the plot, will you also need a right to put services under the access track/lane as well, or will they be able to get to the plot without needing to go over or under the access? This may have a bearing if there is found to an existing right of access for people and vehicles, as it may well not include running services as well. Some utilities can (when pushed very hard) use their statutory powers to put services under land, but I believe this may only apply to water and sewerage; I'm not sure if the other utilities have such statutory powers. It's a bit of a moot point anyway, as when I discussed this with Wessex Water years ago they made it clear that they would be very reluctant to use their statutory powers and would rather that we find an alternative route, even if that meant digging up 140m of single track lane and restricting access to half a dozen houses for a day or two.

That's the Geberit wall drain in. Push the brushed st/st plate in, bring it down onto 8mm packs, take the plate off and lock in place with the Allen key. Push plate back in. The brushed finish doesn't really match the chromed mixer, riser rail, flush plate etc but hey ho. Tbh the simple look belies the work that went into this and what's hidden in the wall & floor: Geberit never cease to amaze me. I invariably look at the instructions and first think WTF? Then I figure it out and think how bloody clever albeit simple. It's just good design.