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I know the discussion has moved on a bit, but I managed to get some pics - unfortunately the worktop install has been pushed back till thursday - they forgot to cut one of the holes, and now are saying that they can't put it back on the water cutting table as it's 50/50 whether it will snap. Some negotiating to be done, unfortunately. However, here it is so far We turned the top drawer fronts upside down as it's not a true handleless kitchen and the j groove would have made the shadow gap too large. We are replacing the drawer runners with push to open/soft close but it's not at the top of the list just now. The red tape is to protect the edges - it's not a design choice!T

Couple of things, my neighbours pipe work floated so he weighed it down with half an engineering brick every couple of m just cabletied on. Second funny and not connected bit, we have a small man made island in the lake that was built out of breeze blocks on top of 3 huge tractor tyre inner tube, the concrete blocks where all bonded together with expanded metal and once dry the tractor tubes inflated, it was then floated out to a shallow spot where the previous owner and 2 mates swam out with pen knives in their mouths like a royal marine commandos, on the count of 3 they all stabbed the tubes and down it went, still in position 30 years later.

I’m definitely no expert but my initial thoughts are that your mother will end up owning 1 house in total and another house as a part share with the other share owned by yourself as (presumably) tenants in common. To avoid the ‘gift with reservation’ issue and the fact that you are buying a share in her principle residence why don’t you buy a share in her existing property (it doesn’t need to be 50%) to release enough capital for your mother to build the new dwelling that will be solely owned by her? You will then earn a share of the rental income from the old house as will your mother that should tick both boxes surely? The refurb costs will be shared dependent on the share of the property each of you own. Seems a more straightforward approach to me?

Goodies from Larne!

A living wall is on my wish list, i'd like one in the stairwell opposite the stairs. I think the idea is to chose plant species that match the environment rather than the other way around. My cousin is a florist and general botanical guru. She'll be deciding what's most suitable. I have considered making provision for an irrigation system if it becomes too much effort to water the highest plants... That might be on the list for after BC sign off.

I thought I would put a post together for those that are looking for windows, replacement or new build. As someone who deals with final order placing / final quote discussions. One of the things that crosses my desk on regular basis, is that the "other supplier" is more cost effective. Which leads me to ask myself "more cost effective against what" are you comparing apples for apples? When I ask people to compare, what we generally explain is to look at the following (see below) if they are not willing to supply a copy of the quote without prices. Product - is the product similar. For example are you comparing a Timber Aluminium cladded window with a Timber Aluminium cladded window? Glazing - Is the glazing on offer from both suppliers comparable? Is it double glazed v's triple glazed for example or is it float glass v's toughened or laminate? Check that doors have toughened/laminated glazing Check that windows within 300mm of a door have toughened/laminated glazing Check that windows below 800mm from the finish floor have toughened/laminated glazing Check that windows that are 1400mm in height or above for toughened/laminated glazing. Most suppliers will start to consider toughened / laminated from 1400mm onwards, some will still be float glass. Check triple glazed glass units. Some suppliers will only toughen the inner and outer panes and leave the middle pane as float glass, others will toughen all 3 panes (I recommend all 3 panes as toughened) when required. Why? quick example is from experience, a customer in the north west of Scotland had the middle pane as float glass in french doors, the doors are recessed with wall on either side. It effectively became a wind tunnel. What happened is during high winds, the door sashes had that much wind pressure constantnly, that the door sash was pushed away from the frame slightly and a rattle effect occurred (only thing I could think would cause this to happen). As a result the middle pane (float glass) shattered. This required the whole sash to be replaced, as the glass was glued into the frame on that particular product. Timber - Is the timber comparable, are both using spruce/larch/oak/pine etc.? Are any of the products finger jointed as standard (which is more cost effective versus fixed timber, but not as aesphetically pleasing). Is the timber cut from from one section of wood or is it individually glue laminated timber? Ug values - A 0.5Ug can be quoted by suppliers but the costs vary dramatically. One of the reasons for this can be the glass make up and the gas that is being used. Some quotes won't tell the gas being used but it's safe to assume that if it's 48mm glazing it is Argon. Pay attention to the spacer distance also, not for cost but if the spacer is above 18mm, convection can occur of the gas filling (gas moves around in the unit). Hinging - Are the hinges concealed or are they exposed? Door Hinging - Pay close attention as suppliers will have quoted standard framing on doors, others may have increased the widths of the jambs to increase the space available at the hinging for plastering behind. RAL Colours externally - are the quoted RAL colours the same? Internal colours - have they quoted the same? Some will offer the standard colours such as a clear lacquer, others will have them painted - does this have any impact on price comparison. Sizes - have any of the units been split, due to not being able to achieve the size required? Some suppliers will not be able to do large sizes, others will be. Look out for compromises. Don't always look at the end figure and immediately reject a quote as being to high, compared to the others. Most suppliers will have the supply price first, then additional items such as window cills, compriband, membrane, installation etc. which are optional to the quote and not necessarily required but may be included in the total cost at the end. Most self builders like to take on the mantra of doing the whole build, others would like to leave this to the supplier or builder and or source their own materials if supply only. What is being offered with the installation service, are the installation options / costs comparible to each other? Who takes responsibility for the windows upon arrival? Generally speaking most suppliers who are installing, should be taken responsibility from the moment the windows leave the factory, to the moment the windows/doors have been installed, sign off. If supply only, the responsibilitygenerally passes to the client once the offload commences. So it is important to document the windows before offload, during offload and once offloaded. The manufacturer will normally have documentation / pictures before departing the factory, it makes life easier on whether a claim with the haulage company or whether a claim with the supplier is required (both should go to the supplier who should deal with it). Warranty - how long is the warranty, what does it cover? Last but not least, is the quote comparible? Have the suppliers referenced things the same way or are have the drawings been scaled and then referenced by the supplier (this happens a lot when no window schedule exists)? A lot of architects don't create window schedules for some reason (one the major parts of a build and most costly aspects) and problems of missing windows can be encountered, due to the elevations not always showing "hidden" windows which can be seen on floor plans. Some suppliers can miss this, which then impacts that quote. Hopefully some people find this useful, of not apologies for the long read

Hi My partner and I are in the process of purchasing a plot to build a eco friendly bungalow, any advice on pre purchase checks would be most appreciated.

We bought our place with a scheme to install water source heat pump but like you the costs were ridiculous and hampered as well by the fact that the pool was 80m or so from the house. When speaking to the companies they were very keen to highlight how important the design was i.e. depth at which the pipes lay in the water, flow rate of the water, volume of water etc. CIBSE have a code of practice apparently but I think you have to pay for it! We've dismissed the whole job mainly on 1. cost and 2. the volume of water didn't appear to be large enough but I don't think you'll have that problem. We're probably going with an oil boiler instead now ?

they are fexible until pb screwd to them and everything stiffens up. no-one is using it as everyone is still in the 50's and this is 'new' . guys up here rattle it up, don't bother with centres, approx 4/600 hit that with a few screws, place the edge stud, fix to pb and next sheet goes on. btw they're on about 2k a week for a semi skilled job. boring as hell but good money.

This chap will help you out and give sound advice - https://www.samhawking.co.uk/

I think @nod will think thats OTT but if you do stager joints just to be sure

Good point.

I would say the likelihood is that fee quote includes an opinion and advice from Counsel and that would be usual.

foam backed plasterboard is pretty rigid ,think you worrying too much about the flimsy studding --it gets stiff once you clad it -try a section and see,

if it comes to be that it's gooing to cost 7-10k in fees, i'd be looking to appoint a barrister as opposed to a solicitor. they will be far more knowledgeable about these sort of things

How will they know? The evidence required seems to be a self build mortgage (which she is not getting by the sounds of things), a self build warranty (which could easily be in her name I imagine), or an approved VAT reclaim that could also be in her name.

Not how HMRC see it, as they would tax based on the income in year - and it has to be market rent so in London that could be a 4 figure sum per month which definitely puts the OP into income tax territory

I also think you need professional advice but may not be easy to find someone with all the experience. In return for your loan (which would be deducted from her estate for IHT) you might consider asking her to leave a share of the house to your own children rather than to you. That way you also reduce any IHT payable on your own death. If you don't like that idea you might be tempted to ask her to gift "your" share to your children now, but beware there are complicated tax rules when gifting property. They might end up having to pay IHT tax _now_ rather than when she dies. What I don't know is how well decoupled the two issues would need to be. I think it would only work if it was a loan not a purchase of shares in the house. Some info on gifting property here.. https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/money/personal-finance/giving/tax-and-gifting-property Its not clear what happens about the CIL exemption if a self builder doesn't own all of the property. I know build to let properties don't qualify so I think it likely your mother will need to own more than say 50% of the new house? In addition she will need to live in it for at least 3 years to qualify for the CIL exemption for self builders. I would hope the council wouldn't penalise you if she had to move into a nursing home or worse within the three years.

We wanted to have a rainwater harvesting tank (garden and car washing only). Have spent ages wondering if we can economically build our own as the kits are above £2.5K and I can buy alot of water (at current rates) for that money. Have concluded that a water butt off the back of the house is going to be the most economical. I think I can fit a pump to one of those to get the water to the veg patch in due course. It won't be flash but honestly will do what want to - water some plants. Those rainwater kits are ridiculously expensive.

providing there was a proper rental agreement ,the fact she has not actually paid you month by month and that it is deferred to be paid on her demise , that should work . and all debts on an estate are paid before any calculation of inheritance tax Is that not basically the same as equity release? pretty sure something along those lines would work if constructed correctly ,maybe would need a limited company for the rental etc as ferdinand says ==opinion only

@craig wish you had done my windows?

If the damp outside of wall is colder than inside and something is touching, like metal I think it could cause condensation on the metal ,like on inside of a single glazed window, that why you need a gap roomside of the barrier ,so any condensation on the barrier will hopefully be on the outside(damp ) where the drain channel is?

OIt seems clear-ish. I think we and probably you need a bit more info. IMO it not as unusual a situation as you seem to be thinking. 7.5k seems unnecessarily expensive. If you go to somewhere like Landlordzone or Propertytribes and talk to one of the professionals who advertises or sponsors there with a development specialism it could be a start. So so we are talking the sort of swathe between say Chiswick and Surbiton. Richmond would be good. Hancock's Half Hour country. It may be useful to take Estate Planning advice and Business Planning advice as separate elements. The important thing is to find somebody who has done 20 nearly identical things before, ideally in London. I would probably be looking in eg Guildford or Sutton rather than eg Chelsea for my adviser. Very different rates. Potential other factors involved 1 - Are there siblings or children who need taking into account in the transactions? 2 - I think a good flexible solution could involve creating a property company, probably for the investment property. Property can be injected and extracted at face value without tax implications iirc. Then your mum could gift you shares etc in tranches if necessary, or resign as a director, and you can appoint and unappoint Directors. You could inject the refurb capital, and your mum the property .. or a lifetime gift of half of it etc. 3 - Might be worth converting into 2 or 3 flats for resilience of future income. One tenant gone bad can create a 6-9 month dead spot in income. Managing tenants is increasing professionalised, it is easy to come huge croppers for trivial errors, and especially in London Councils are currently riding out like Wild Bill Hiccock on landlord hunts, sometimes with justification. 4 - Presumably you are dealing in values between say 0.5 - 1.5 million. At those levels, Stamp Duty .. especially with the plus 3% .. can be murderous in London. 5 - Tidy thinking says that perhaps you want to own part of the investment property not part of your mum’s new one, though that raises the prospect of Inheritance Planning again. 6 - One way would be to develop the existing in a company, rent out or sell, and take the money out as income for mum or pension for you at 40k a year or tax free maximum over x years (or read back for 4 years). Or entrepreneur’s relief etc. But for these there are requirements in terms of having added value and done work. 7 - In general do stuff quickly and reach a new stable state .. as it is all changing, and political risk is around at present. This is opinion only. Ferdinand

I am not sure of your mother's age or state of health, but gaining planning consent and constructing a new house takes years rather than months time and she would be living alongside a building site for a fair while. If you gain consent for the new house she could sell the plot separately without any tax liability and use the money to refurb her current house and perhaps invest in a flat as a buy-to-let.

My mistake too sorry I misread your initial comment but thats the professional you need for a complex scenario such as you describe, the fee reflects the complexity perhaps? No-one is going to give you an absolute guarantee on something like this. Maybe shop around to find someone cheaper but cheap may not be best.

If I were you I would seek professional advice from a tax planning specialist possibly at the same firm as your conveyancer. It is not a conveyancers job to advice on tax.

The worst thing I found about Kwikstage is standing on a working platform with no handrails plugging in the next stanchion. If in doubt wear a harness and fall arrester while doing that.

I think so. Gaulhofer's terms are the same (I'm almost sure). Watch the fitting cost payment terms, though. Ecowin offer a 50% retention - and they've been back a couple of times without question .....

I love a good bit of retarding of an afternoon. I'll PM you my Wife's number shortly, she can make you feel better about your relative level of retardedness.... And for the avoidance of doubt, i'm the retard - not the wife..I just meant she could confirm it..

right - well unless mr @nod - who i believe uses this during the course of his normal daily life, comes up with a pretty good reason not to use it. I'm sold. there must be something i'm overlooking as otherwise surely everyone would use it, at least in respect of the mass market producers anyway.....no sod it, anyone!!

A layer can be, by any building standard, airtight yet still be vapour open enough to be put on the outside of any reasonable construction. For example, the Protect TF200 Thermo I have on the outside of my gable walls has a water-vapour resistance of 0.45 MNs/g which equates to a vapour permeability of 2.22… μg/N·s. AFAIK, most membranes just resist gasses, they're not picky whether the molecules they're stopping are H₂O, O₂, N₂ or whatever. 50 pascals for an hour over an area of 1 m² equates to 50×3600 = 180 kN·s which, multiplied by the permeability would let through 0.4 g/m²·h. Air has a density of around 1.2 kg/m³ so that would be an air leakage rate of 0.000333… m³/m²/h. Somewhat less than 0.6 m³/m²/h so, if you can seal it up tight, that membrane while quite breathable and suitable for being on the outside of the building would make a perfectly acceptable airtight layer. More practically, Tom Foster has been designing houses with the airtight layer being the OSB sheathing. With careful control of the brand of OSB used (there seems to be wide variation in the airtightness and vapour permeability of OSB from different suppliers) and thorough gluing of the joints (as he seems to achieve with use of the right builders) that seems a very good approach to me; combining the windtightness and airtightness layers in a bit of the structure well clear of marauding sparkies and plumbers. It's good that you can do the airtightness testing and any correction required very early in the process, as soon as the house is weather tight, while things are still easily accessible. Also, you get to actually test the windtightness, something that's not normally done. That outer layer can be airtight enough without being so vapour tight that an inner vapour barrier (which would then be a de facto airtightness layer) would be required.

Still wants something under it - can you just put 6mm ply under the tray and that will make sure nothing moves.

Just don't….. it will be more hassle and not as useful as dropping the inset panels into the floor.

Joists 150mm...?? Can you fit battens / 3x2 inside each joist at 22mm below the top, then cut and fit 22mm chipboard between the joists..? Then overlay this with 18mm ply, glued and screwed at close centres (200mm) and then tile on that...? 10mm tile seems pretty thick when you then add 2-3mm for adhesive..?

The limiting factor is my brick laying rate which is 1 barrow full in the working life of a mix. The mixer is an electric Belle 150 I think. Too late, I hit send on the Amazon order before reading the second half of your sentence. That's Swmbo's birthday present sorted ?

Peter beat me to it make up a gauge box it saves lifting lots of heavy buckets you will find your perfect bucket will get nicked by the bricky and used for water, it will then get split and chucked in the corner make a gauge box and it will sit by the mixer for ever generally have a sheet of ply on the floor by the mixer, you fill the gauge box and after lifting you have a nice flat surface to shovel off. Simple innit.

Its actually pretty dangerous and there are plenty of accidents where shovels get caught in the mixer blades. The handles will spin round and break wrists or do other damage. What you are describing here is a gauging bucket or gauging box - see this for a useful guide

We've had a few, caused, I think, by the interior being a bit too damp when we were boarding and plastering. It was very humid indoors at that time, not helped by the wet and cold weather, and all the plaster pops happened as soon as the house dried out and stabilised, maybe 6 months after being painted. My fix has been to just remove the loose plaster, fill the holes, then sand and repaint the areas. None have recurred, and all looked as if the screws underneath were still very firmly embedded in the underlying board. The filler is at least as hard, maybe harder, than the plaster, so once packed around the screw head I think it seems to hold things securely. I've not felt any indication that the boards are flexing where there have been pops, and get the feeling that the pops aren't from movement in and out, but from lateral movement that's tending to sheer the screw and causing the head to angle very slightly, so pushing the plaster off.

no idea what a 'drogue position' is, but do you mean this sort of thing, albeit bigger? https://www.littlefieldsfarm.com/tubtrug-flexible-micro-370ml-red?of_tid=MFRWG5B5GE4TQJTGMVSWISLEHUYSM4DSN5SESZB5GE3DAMRY&adGroupId=43737471283&device=c&gclid=CjwKCAjw_MnmBRAoEiwAPRRWW-yR2w7nl994MfKA0i5t9PdPCC2V_FOz9nDQKUPqjGnpENotRn5jOBoCeh8QAvD_BwE

Does the plot have any physical access constraints? A weak, steep or narrow approach road. Overhanging trees or power lines. A loaded concrete wagon is about 30 tons. Roof trusses and picture windows are awkward and delivery of a 38' long static caravan can cause high anxiety when delivered down a narrow country lane.

Welcome. Start with a plan. The Head Gardner in my life spends many happy hours fantasizing about (me? ..... nahhhh) what she's going to get me / force me to do . Mind you, if a digger's involved, I'm right there,Mutley-like - and wanting medals when it's done. Visit lots of gardens - Heres where to start. You'll have an extremely enjoyable time. I envy you: greatly.

The sci-fi author Harry Harrison depicted literal living walls in his Eden books series. The dominant species on Earth being bipedal reptiles, they grow their buildings (and even transport) from genetically modified plants and animals. Very carbon neutral I imagine. No, I've not taken anything this morning!

Until @Bitpipe's dry mix comment I was thinking to insert some cut down scaffold boards the height of the flint panels, width is about spot on, then infill the column with a wet mix.Once removed it'd leave a nice recess for my flintwork. These will be actual flints, a lot with fossils in, collected by SWMBO's geologist cousin before his death so it'll have a sentimental element.

Think they are called window T handles. https://www.interiorhardware.com/window-hardware/tilt-and-turn-handles/tilt-turn-window-handle-stainless-steel-85mm-8520830mrs.html https://www.interiorhardware.com/window-hardware/window-handle/window-handle-t-brushed-nickel-with-antique-white-porselein-110mm-1340110agn.html

You see these all the time in France. Maybe try one of the big French DIY places online?

Welcome. I recommend "How to find and buy a building plot" by Roy Speer and others. Try for most recent edition but some things may still be out of date. Has the plot already got planning permission? Measure the plot, is it the dimensions claimed on the paperwork/title plan? Are all the features (fence posts, walls, distances to other buildings etc) in agreement with the title plan? Are there services nearby? Who owns any land between plot and services? Any services under or over that will need moving? Who owns any grass verge between plot and road? Are any of the services at capacity/need upgrading before you will be allowed to connect to them? Is it uphill to the nearest sewer? Any restrictive covenants in the title deeds? Any rare animals/wildlife/archeology? Will soakaways work? If not are you allowed to put rainwater into the sewer? For not what will you do with it? Any known ground condition issues? Mine workings, contamination etc Any footpaths or neighbours claiming a right of access? Does the asking price make financial sense? Eg Would the cost of the plot plus cost to build end up more/less than the finished house is worth? Sure there are others.

Hmmm. Sparklng water tap. Or 350 bottles of champagne & £3.50 change. Tricky.

To me it is unnecessary and the money should go on ‘fabric first’ rather than an unnecessary gadget. I bought a better quality, more robust, fridge and a nice giraffe that goes in the door. Even better is one that came with wine in it .. bonus if nice wine. Also my kettle filling device of choice. Ferdinand (Sorry ... carafe)

(Strangely didn't see any these replies until now - sorry!) Thanks! I hadn't heard about the difference for communal areas (I thought that was more about shared-use passegeways in apartment blocks, but maybe totally confused!) Thanks - hadn't seen Lamilux before, I'll have a look. And, congrats on the build. Looks amazing!

Has a month really passed? About 400 tiles left to go we reckon. And boy will I be glad to see that job complete. Guttering (UPVC ogee) arrived today. I've got the microinverters in place in the attic, and they're all flashing away happily. SWMBO and boy have some of the sloped ceilings stuffed, I've got VCL over some if them, and the PIR awaits cutting and placing. Next stop firstfix of the MVHR and other services.