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Well lots is happening on site:- we started with demolition and asbestos removal which was a super easy and quick, services were a nightmare (especially the electricity supply), and finally we have drainage signed off and planning conditions and building regs submitted etc. Finally ready to go!!!!! So three weeks ago our groundworkers started on site, and It is an ongoing epic against a backdrop of rain and a sea of wet clay and the proportions are epic! The foundations for the two houses are combined and built off a common RC (Reinforced Concrete) slab and behind a common U shaped RC wall - all cut into the slope. That, plus a new driveway and some interesting levels and drainage means a monster digout. There is over 600m3, to be dug out, and if that doesn't mean much to you watch the videos and you will begin to appreciate that kind of volume of wet clay looks like. For the technical - not sure if the 600m3 is ‘in the ground’ or ‘as dug’ (clay bulks up when you dig it) but either way its pretty huge! So rather than use lots of words we thought Time Lapse Video might tell the tale better - watch the week by week video instalments as the project progresses. Ask questions and we will try and clarify but there is a lot going on - blink and you might miss it. So see https://www.dropbox.com/sh/th9f6e3cel5dm1q/AAAfsWdAH184J75bCNUUtzVra?dl=0 for the gory details! We will attempt to add new weekly instalments over each weekend so look back periodically to see progress (unless we forget; in which case it’s only a temporary time lapse). Some notes on progress to date:- Week 1 – This opens with a clear site post demolition and is taken from the rear of the site, The two houses will sit to the left and right of the site and the one of the right (Plot 1) will be split level into the site and the one on the left (Plot 2) will have a full basement - in ground to the rear and out of the ground at the front. The video shows site prep, making the new entrance at the front that will be our new drive and is really neat for loading muck away lorries (try to count them!) and bringing in materials (later a lot of concrete, steel, timber frame etc). Also over on the far side you can see a new manhole being constructed. In the foreground you can see the stormwater attenuation crates going in and being backfilled. Week 2 – shows more drainage going in over on the far side and some muck away. Also some sheet piling went in but the camera failed to catch it. Over on the far side of the site is a shared driveway and we wanted to make sure this didn’t fall into the hole and that our neighbours had good access. Also, and most important, our contractors need a safe place to work and not have several meters of wet clay fall on them! Week 3 –this is where the real fun ‘big dig’ starts and you begin to get a feel for the scope of the project. You can see some more sheet piling going in to stabilise the edge and corner which was a bit unstable. Progress over the week is a finely balanced mixture of digging and muck away – getting enough out of the ground to keep the lorries loaded and flowing, while maintaining enough room for the digger to work. You can start to see the U-shape of where the RC wall will go as they cut out both sides around the site of the two new houses. The contractors are doing a great job and hardly seem fazed by the weather – though they have needed to pump out a bit from time to time! Technical note - using a Brinno BCC 200 Pro camera and experimenting with fps and time delay and timer variables so hopefully it will get better! At the moment the camera seems to chew batteries but hopefully this is now solved - Week 2 was truncated because the batteries died in under a week ? Enjoy and watch this space

Especially when great Crested Newts waltz over your site, your walls get blown over and scrotes nick your tools. Humour and a brilliant, supportive partner help. Hmmm, second thoughts, essential

Poor you!

For all of us! ?

I can't bring myself to watch it as I'll end up throwing something at the telly and I can't afford a new one.

"Build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything". Had to look it up myself.

All I can say, is as as a supplier it is important to us to ensure that the planning before installation is undertaken and the relevant equipment etc. is onsite and all the materials. We only use a select team of installers across the UK. and very happy with them. The last year for us (me personally), has been extremely difficult after the loss of a key part of team due to his untimely passing. Everything was/is on my shoulders and I was struggling with that. We haven’t been perfect, I haven’t always been on top of calling people back or responding to queries. Workload was and is huge. I had/have a team to bring up to scratch on everything, training them getting them to understand the products/details/sections/elevations/floor plans/logistics/timings - everything. As well as deal with everyday quotations/orders/installs and personal life. I’ve struggled with this and was down in the dumps for a while, recognising the problem and admitting to it was the breakthrough and I’m in a better place mentally now. It’s the first time I’ve experienced depression, normally an upbeat person and always positive, which was all stress related and I’m never stressed. I’m normally the “shit happens, find a solution” guy in all aspects of life. It wasn’t the case for 6 months or so and it got the better of me. The team are all pulling together and getting things done. I’m not here to have a go at anyone supplier or installers but sometimes, something else is happening and when things do not go correctly. It’s how it’s resolved that’s important. To us though, it’s important to use airtightness foil, compriband, pu foam. It’s important that the order is thoroughly discussed and checked before production commences. It’s also important to us, to install the product as per manufacturers instructions. PU foam is fine above a slider but has the defection rates of lintel been taken into account? PU becomes a solid and if the lintel deflects and the tolerances haven’t been adapted to suit, operational issues occur. It’s good practice to use compriband only on the heads of sliders to mitigate compression on the head and operational issues as a result. As when it does go wrong, we’re responsible and a blame game doesn’t start, as we didn’t install or the customer/builder didn’t check things when signing off. How are they supposed to know what all the jargon means? We aren’t infallible but we are honest.

Well little update. Had the foul drain installed over the last week, 2.5m down in the road and 7m of piperun. A week to complete except for the manhole access on my ground. lots more digging and 1.85m of concrete rings installed my me and my wife. done bloody well I might add. Haha. Just wanting to spread some happiness with progress. ????

But isn’t that the point ..?? You can spec what you want - want extraction with a Gamma cistern plate ..? Ok - it has a product code. Same with all of them - there are limited product ranges stocked so you see them more, but everything is available. Bit like your shower wall drain - when I checked with Geberit, there had been a handful in stock in 18 months in the UK. But it’s still available on stock via the systems from Germany so spec what you want. Half the point of this forum is to try and help people with their problems by sharing information - it’s saved me and others several thousands of pounds in both resolving problems and finding decent suppliers. I get the point that it’s others money to spend, but if you can save 10% on your bathroom it’s something to be able to spend elsewhere.

I'll have you know his driving instructor said if ever he needs a lift home from the pub he'd happily be driven by my lad.

I'm only doing the pug as the body is sound and my lad's having it as a first car and he'll be getting his hands dirty doing it.

I am now at the point when if I spend out on either car it's generally worth more than the car. Just spent circa £200 on a couple of drive shafts, a radiator, 2 diff seals and a pas pump by shopping around for a 2000 pug. Gets me out of the house!

I know what @pocster is getting at. That UP100 frame limits you on choice of flush plates imo. And that Vitra wc is plain fugly and then some. Those side recesses OMFG!

Sorry - not sure what you are trying to prove ! If I know EXACTLY which geberit cistern I want them yes I can online search and get the cheapest . Using your duff logic - I’ll just buy any freestanding bath ( as long as it’s the cheapest ) , any rimless toilet ( cheapest of course - even though YOU said rimless was pointless ) , any kitchen ( cheapest ) , any front door ( cheapest ) etc. Etc. Etc . YOU want cheapest ! I don’t ! . But that doesn’t mean I want most expensive!!! ; as there is no upper limit for these things . i am willing to pay more than “cheapest similar “ - that’s all . The savings on my build were because of my efficiency and work - finishes in my opinion are subjective and should suit the value of the property. Would a 1 million pound house be ok with a 5k kitchen ? . Of course it would ; it’s just as functional. But when you try to sell it - that would pop up as an issue...

This was my under slab delivery - EPS 200 in 1200 x 2400 x 300 blocks which were relatively heavy - about 30kg each due to their density. The EPS 70 which was 200mm thick was easy by comparison.

I'd imagine it would if you don't trust your builder. The only thing I need to discuss with him with regard to any additional costs, is this drainage situation, which I hadn't put on the plan (not asked to) or known of needing. Apparantly its a case of adding two 100mm ribbed black pipes: 1st from the top of the concrete pour > out to 4m away to my stream apparantly to drain off the 1"-2" water sitting on the concrete in a moat: why it can't be pumped out I don't know, but, if it has to be done (& the idea was the BCO's I think) then I'd hope either no cost , or only cost of pipe, or reasonable if not. The 2nd drainage pipe apparantly needs to go around the whole 3 sides of extention.. so I'd imagine although not a 1 hr job, not a big job so I'd hope again nothing £unreasonable to be added. Apart from these, as the build is very streamlined for simplicity/ I am doing all internal work/ & all stages itemised albeit in estimate form.. I do not envisage any nastiy surprises, none at all. I know this builder, he's done work for me before & bill was exactly as per estimate to the penny (in fact he let me off £700 for a new back door & frame he/ they did, as it got jammed so often [howden's poor door + huge moisture in air here = swell] I kicked up a bit, & I forced Howden's to refund him £300 he was rather impressed with! .. now that's a good builder).

So.... acrylic feels like ...... acrylic .. porcelain, well it feels remarkably like ... porcelain ... You can “feel” quality with baths if you push and sit in them, and see if they flex, but I can also find you a decent bath for less than £200 (look at Trojan Baths) and it’s just horses for courses

Yup will do tmrw/ old cam needs a day to charge! @Redoctober appreciate your post. Its bullying.. but in the best way actually: the guy -does- know best over me (of course) & according to my builder (main guy) probably knows best over the BCO too with regard to some things. They are pretty thick with each other these 3/ colleagues really (very good this "so we're all p*ssing with the same c*ck see!" said my 2nd-in-command! very welsh humour, very amusing). @Bitpipe & also appreciate your advice too. 1) The plans are mine, simple & clear, & both builders perfectly happy with them. 2) Yes I have a written, itemised estimate.. exactly as I asked. 3) I'm paying on completion. Ok I spoke to my builder (main) asking about: the water/ concrete etc, & the 11" discrepency. Concrete.. fine, he reassured me. The 11".. he just reassured me "no you've got that wrong.. we work from the top down [innitial measuring by 2nd -in-command from the eaves etc] & I can guarantee it'll be correct". Well, my 2nd-in-C said maybe 2" gained.. so there's still a 9" discrepency that I'm still fairly sure of. I said to him ok if there were to be let's just say, 10" gained, can I in theory add 5" to both rooms' height? yes he said. Now that.. would be terrific. So alot better, from my pov. He said just wait till the slab/ scree is done & you'll see then. Good call, friendly, all ok. Relieved, zoot.

If it’s lacquer then assuming it’s a hard lacquer you need something like HG Laminate Gloss as it will re-coat the top layer https://uk.hg.eu/products/laminate/hg-laminate-protective-coating-gloss-finish-product-70-1l

Why go to a showroom with a view to spending money? I go to them to steal ideas and make money Geberit WC frame on the 'net ~£200....in the showroom £300 +. You rich or summat?

No experience of engineered floors So phones a friend who has a commercial cleaning business He told me that it’s normal for your floor to go dull after being scrubbed and suggested Elka oil Not sure of the spelling But assured me it’s quick and will bring it up like new Hope this helps

Sorry to hear about this... I have a similar issue in that I have made a staircase with oak treads and put some 6mm ply over the treads to protect them until I could get round to varnishing them, dirt and grit has got under the ply and caused discolouring. My only option will be to sand it down a bit before I varnish it but it’s solid oak so that won’t be a problem. Hope someone can give you some good advice.

No. This. Remember it has to be green or brown so the baby effect will not show.

SWMBO here isn't keen when I play them now tbh and I'm fifty...erm something...

Sorry I haven't replied earlier, I haven't been on the forum for a couple of weeks. Our I-beam sole plate sits entirely on the concrete slab with the OSB3 racking lining up with the edge of the concrete. There is an EWI layer of high density RW6 Rockwool on the outside of the OSB3 which joins up with the EPS foundation upstand.

I did have a chat with an elderly couple at the Kent Build It event and had to politely tell them they'd need to live another 25 years to break even. I think 5 would have been pushing it lol. They very politely thanked me for my diligence, and explained that they wanted to preserve their kids and grand-kids futures in a property that was to stay in the family for the next few generations. Very lovely couple they were too.

For us it was both I needed time as my wife is very particular and rooks ages to decide on finishes and layouts 18 months looking at kitchens and bathrooms We had no borrowing so the time allowed us to pay for most things out of what we were earning If we had brought a contractor in they would have walked off the job with the amount of delays through changes But we have finished up with a house that is high spec and just as WE ?wanted

Fear not @Nickfromwales My friendly plumber is going to test it and sign the installation paperwork at the same time he does my Gas Safe test and certificate.

Check your building insurance as not having this in a block of flats left a L/L with a bill of over £30k to pay out of their own pockets. 1. Heating your tank will cost less than a quid, if you do it midday. I'll give you the quid ok 2. Up to you. 3. That will not satisfy G3. End of. The pressurised cylinder categorically must have a stat on it that arrests the input of heat. 4. Your'e not qualified to do it. 5. See 4. It's the wrath of your wife that'll see you 6' under if you have a failure and the insurance doesn't stump up After all the money you saved building your own home, had you not factored just paying for the things you have to pay for...........? Disclaimer; I'm not actually going to give you the quid as I know you'll take it ! Ha ha.

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1: I am buggered if I want someone wasting a tank of hot water. If I do it myself I can do the tests just after someone has had a bath and USED the hot water rather than wasting it. 2: Heating from cold with my ASHP will take about 2 hours. Partly because it only heats DHW in half hour bursts and then waits half an hour. I am buggered if I am going to pay someone to play on facebook on his phone while he waits that long. 3: My cylinder will stop heating when the ASHP's temperature probe in a pocket says it is hot enough. You would have to add an EXTRA test, heat the cylinder even hotter with the immersion heater to confirm the cylinder thermostat clicks off at about 70 degrees and shuts the motorised valve. That does NOT normally happen in normal use, but is there purely as a safety function. The tester would probably not understand what is going on, and tell me it is "wrong" 4: easy 5: easy I know I will incur the wrath of the forum, but I will stick to doing the tests myself.

Show us your plan, so we can talk you through it.

'Their' maybe. Agree that realistic budgeting helps. Someone here, at millstone manor - not me, thinks that Architects should take a course in costing their ideas as part of their charter, the course can be simple as 'think of a number and double it twice', an old friend, who when he retired had spent over £300m on buildings in his career, tells me architects don't do money. You have a guide though - just work on £3K per m2 and the chances are that 80% of the time you will come in under budget!

I feel such an amateur! ? The idea behind all this "faffing" is to be able to remove elements later without breaking the tile: This box spannner's for a Landrover apparently...

I took a Starrett arbour, removed the 1/4" pilot and drilled up the middle so it slipped over the the spindle after measuring the diameter of the spindle with a Vernier: It allowed me to then fit a hole saw and use the spindle in effect where the pilot drill was. Thus the hole drilled was perfectly concentric to the mixer: Thus the mixer fitted perfectly: Appeciate this was in Aqua Panel but you could do the same for drilling the tile but with a grit edged hole saw or ideally diamond edged one.

Probably around £2/m roughly, depends on the size and type specified by the DNO though.

Welcome to fluid dynamics ... So in Hep2O and all copper fittings, the internal size of the bore is equal or larger than the pipe bore. Only valves have smaller bores unless they are marked as full bore. The issue is one of fluid dynamics, and not just about the size of the pipe. Most 90 degree elbows and tees are the same internal size but very tight when it comes to the direction change. This causes significant slowing of the flow as the pressure is lost in the pipework as a secondary reverse flow is set up as the water “bounces” off the end of the pipe. You can test this by using pressure gauges before and after bends. These are also incredibly damaging pressure waves as they can in time make joints weaker - the trick is to smooth the flow, and using street elbows in copper, or long radius elbows as they are sometimes called, reduces this issue. The slower the bend, the less the flow reduction due to pressure reduction from back pressure.

And the losses are only losses in the summer!.

Having been in a small plant room with @Nickfromwales for numerous hours I can tell you he will have NO problem with F Gas! Arse like a sewer ? ?

can't see servicing being an issue really. CO2 is Everywhere. Pubs, fire extinguishers etc. Just needs a new set of gauges...

People think you are supposed to use 22mm for hot as standard because they didn't understand the logic behind it on old non-pressurised tanked hot supplies. I still see people immediately reach for 22mm pipe when they are doing hot water piping even though they are on mains pressure via combi/sealed tank. So my guess is ignorance?

In ours, loos are to side of door so if it's open you see sink / bath - only exception is the downstairs WC which is long & narrow so WC is at opposite side to door (also meets the BRs)

I have paid a personal pilgrimage to this holiest of shrines to self-build centralized manifoldness. It is a wondrous sight though at the time I could only comment on the colour of the floor tiles.

It'll just be down to the difference in the restriction between the two sides. I think ours has about a 9% correction via the extract and supply fan speed adjustments. To minimise this difference the duct system really needs to be designed so that the total air flow resistance of each side is exactly equal, but this is pretty difficult to do in practice, as it's unlikely that duct lengths, number of bends etc will be that well matched, plus there will normally be more supply terminals than extract terminals, so the extract side often needs to work a bit harder to provide balanced airflow on both sides.

Time for another update. Our joiner has pretty much finished the plaster boarding. Here are some photos of the progress made. Kitchen/dining room Our bedroom. Our joiner has started to construct the internal partitions, we now have an ensuite and some cupboards. Living room Triple velux arrangement Upstairs kids living room My favourite view had been covered by a dust sheet for a long time. Looking forward to seeing boats go by. The house has a fair amount of south glazing which warms the house. Once opened these big velux windows work well to bring the temperature down. Both bedrooms upstairs have two windows to ensure a good circulation of air. The storage container went this month on a hiab truck. I was a little nervous watching a couple tonnes of steel on chains so close to the house. This has now opened up the window views from the master bedroom and living room and also allows the house to be viewed by itself for the first time. With the recent great weather I’m back to painting. I much prefer sitting in a chair compared to being on a wobbly scaffold. To finish off here is a shot of the Loch. Next up, a few more partitions need to be created, taping/filling, installation of our treatment tank and adjusting the levels around the house.

Why are scaffolders so difficult to deal with, my ex-scaffolder took to texting me at 5:30 in a morning and demanding updates on progress. In the end I’ve shown him the door, mind you, I’ve had value for money out of him. In the future I’ll be using my own to finish off the few bits. So here’s the photo of the house without the scaffold. In the next couple of weeks we we start putting in the rest of the windows, the scaffold was in the way previously, making it difficult to handle the largest 5 doors weighing 250kg each.

I completely agree it is an unregulated shambles BUT If it was all fully regulated with warranties on everything you wouldn’t want to pay the correct price. You would then then have a thread saying why is everything so expensive.