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At long last, as of today, our area has now become the 14th in the world to obtain International Dark Sky Reserve status: http://www.ccwwdaonb.org.uk/news/141/39/Cranborne-Chase-AONB-becomes-an-International-Dark-Sky-Reserve/ It's involved a fair bit of work to remove unnecessary street lighting, persuade people to not leave outdoor lights on etc, and has meant everyone adopting a winter culture of always carrying a torch, but it does mean we get great views of the stars on a clear night.

No longer a muddy building site after nearly 3 1/2 years, Hooray. Landscaping just finished during the wettest 2 weeks of the year. Never mind, it is done. Used the plastic honeycomb gravel crates with the weed membrane on the back. Lawn & wild flower meadow to sow, fencing & planting to be done, so still a long way to go, but at least some progress.

Time for another update. Most of our work this month has been focused upon finalising the kitchen design, stair, stove etc. Tangible work on the house has consisted of the taping and filling and fitting the last bit of ducting. Not terribly exciting, but it's all progress. Here are some photos. Next up I need to resolve an ongoing treatment tank problem which will be covered in a separate entry. We hope to start internal paint work in the next few week pr so.

That tank clearly has been sat around somewhere for a while before it got to you. Another vote for Bio-pure here!

@Thedreamer The condition of that tank is just unbelievable. Lucky you had the where with all to inspect it like you did. We went for a Bio-pure and have had no problems whatsoever with it a year on [touch wood] We bought direct from webuildit-ltd.co.uk but I'm not sure as to their policy on deliveries to your part of the world.

Re smoke alarms. I have gone overboard perhaps. SA in entrance hall, another in the main living room, SA in the utility room (my preference because of tumble dryer fires, I want to know if it is simmering) SA on landing, and another in my workshop the plant room above the garage. And in the Kitchen, AICO do a neat combined heat and CO alarm in one package (shame AICO don't to a matching combinerd smoke and CO alarm) None of this had to be presented as a special fire docment, it was just documented on the drawings where they all went (though I have fitted more than the drawings say)

My build is 5 miles from Caldwell. When's it dark, it is very dark. Takes some getting used to - the boss told me she needs a light outside as can't see a damn thing sometimes. It's mega on clear nights though.

The one thing I am looking forward to once our build is done. I remember lying on my back in the middle of the desert and staring at the wonder that is the galaxy we are part of

Correct Peter if you have recently completed I’m sure you could make ten posts We thought that there would have been all sorts that where rejected In fact our claim was paid to the exact penny that was requested While there is plenty of info online The forum has condensed this into what is relevant to all of us Which makes it a laborious but easy task to claim one thing we did do was to make copy’s of all invoices This took longer than doing the claim request

We have a date!! Three weeks and the house will be ours, so from having been working from pictures and a few visits I can begin to think how do I get my hands dirty in the coming months.. We intend to add a very generous extension to an already slightly amended 1930's semi. The weekend we went as a couple to our first trade show Grand Designs at the NEC we came across isotex and seem to be a novel idea? We then watched on catch up the street with the first two using a similar product. The idea it seems to be almost a one hit job does appeal. I may take up their offer of free training on their product. I personally like the idea they are a composite material making use of recycled pallets. The build would require a series of three walls being built

I beleive @Stones on Orkney installed a Bio Pure and part of the decision was which one he could get delivered for a sensible price.

Travis perkins. Beat any other price I could find, with the added advantage it got delivered on their own wagon with a hiab to unload it. Some other suppliers said I would have to offload it, and my digger would not have reached high enough to lift it off a wagon. Mine is the ASP6 Here is it being lowered into the hole in the ground

All seems normal for a 1930's house. I doubt anything actually needs much done unless you are getting visible condensation and mould.

Thanks for all the lovely comments guys. Still pinching myself to believe it. Still a lot to do inside, but getting there. One of the best decisions was to have the open plan living area spray painted. Its a fantastic finish & was so quick. It would have taken me a month of Sundays & the large ceiling would have shown every roller mark & streak. Wish I could have afforded to have the whole house done. It has taken me ages & the vaulted room upstairs was a real PITA to do with all the angles & being so high. Working on the utility/plant room at the moment. Should have shower room finished in next couple of weeks. I did supply & fit for the landscaping. I think the gravel crates were about £12 each 1m2 with the weed membrane on. Expensive, but cheaper than block paving or resin. I wanted something low maintenance that didn't move when driven over & didn't need constant raking. I also like the look of gravel.

That's on a par with when I was a small boy, I asked my dad who's job it was to go round and change the batteries in the cat's eyes along the roads. I don't recall if he tried to explain Retro Reflectors to me or not.

The Please not the one where @pocsterwas kneeling using the UFH pipe tacker...

Personally if I can afford lead I would always use it, looks great and lasts a very long time. My property is rural and very traditional so lead works well. On a new modern build I expect there is a good argument for alternative materials. Would be good to see some photos from people on this forum who have used alternatives to lead.

The Parish Council regularly gets requests from people, usually those that have just moved here, to get street lights erected. Hard to explain to them that we've spent years getting lights changed or removed... We do have a reporting mechanism here to try to get people who leave outdoor lights on to change them so they are PIR activated, although we have one or two who stubbornly refuse, and one who leaves a light on 24/7 all year around. Thankfully the majority have adapted to our "always carry a torch" culture, although it's easy to get caught out when the nights start drawing in. I went to a PC meeting in September, and didn't think to take my torch. Had an interesting stumble home, in total darkness, trying hard not to fall into the stream that runs alongside the lane.

Even the cheapo door bells have multiple tunes. Say Knock Three Times for the doorbell.....

This is onr of those probkems you can either go through - find a way to locate your remote or go around and stop watching TV or get a butler like the rest of us.

My last JCB went back with a piece of roof batten attached to the key as I dropped the black key and immobilizer fob on the ground and it took 20 mins to find the feckin thing ...

Cant find one for a tenner but £23 delivered.. Google found that Waytronic (who?) make a plug in adaptor that will SMS you on a power outage. It also monitors Temperature and Electricity usage plus a bunch of other functions.. http://en.waytronic1999.com/ProductsStd_221.html https://uk.banggood.com/WAYTRONIC-GSM-Smart-Power-Outlet-Plug-Socket-English-Russian-SMS-Remote-Control-Timing-Switch-Temperature-Controller-with-Sensor-p-1519750.html?gmcCountry=GB&currency=GBP&createTmp=1&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cpc_bgcs&utm_content=garman&utm_campaign=pla-gbg-tools-pc&gclid=CjwKCAjwxaXtBRBbEiwAPqPxcBZi8at0WR2S1mlhgb5tyuKH99zKYwu20Bp4Bs-xvieXGf4j7wh-KxoC8YQQAvD_BwE&ID=6257627&cur_warehouse=CN https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32787412496.html Not used one myself so can't vouch for the product/supplier. Presumably it has a battery inside which might degrade over time? Also does it support 3G? 2G might get turned off?

And it’s way easier if you prepare everything for the eventual VAT claim as you go along. Saves a lot of time at the end and helps with the discipline of checking everything is ok from the get go as invoicing errors / queries are much easier to deal with when they happen than a year or more down the line. I used to use the early evening on a Sunday night to keep all the accounts and budgeting up to date. Paid off when I came to claim.

Not my favorite job? we actually used stainless nails. We have a few clips left (normal and sliding) so if you need a few to finish of give me a shout (not looking to offload as will use them on next build but may just help you out finishing of job)

Doesn't make up for the stress and heartache of knowing your home has been invaded, but it's very good news to hear that they have received money that's come directly from those found guilty. I wonder how often this happens? If it's a fairly common thing, then it really deserves a bit more publicity. People seem only too willing to be critical of the police, so a bit of good news relating to the hard work they do should be made more public, IMHO.

Tbh should have done horizontal but that's the 2nd felt layer, questioned if really needed it.

On a slightly lighter note, my parents in law told me that the guys that burgled them last year were caught. They admitted to 40+ burglaries and have been sentenced to several years' jail. Interestingly, both of the burglars have had property seized and sold. The result is a not insubstantial payout to my in-laws. I was quite surprised by this - I assume it's something to do with the proceeds of crime legislation, but I didn't realise that money was distributed to victims.

We haven't put a spade in the ground yet ..... Im just trying to be as organised as possible.

My experience of larger (non-residential) development is that there is often quite a bit of investigation work prior to construction, some of it intrusive, some of it not. It is expensive by the standards of self builders but still proportionate when you consider the overall costs.

Looks great - It's a fantastic feeling when you can go in and out without the trail of mud & grit !

I can't comment on the underfloor heating product, as I don't have it, but I did recently change the Wall Hung Radiator pipework at my house to a manifold system, and MLCP pipe, and its so much better, easier to control, balance and portion of radiators if I need to remove them for whatever reason. We fed the pipes complete with insulation tie wrapped onto them throughout the entire house, with only a small 20cm2 hole in each room, and one access panel to give additional control, was a few hours work, and a lot of sweat and toil, but I'm really pleased with how it performs. In answer to your question, you can use any manifold, they're all the same, this was an underfloor heating manifold, with MLCP 16mm cones

What a great looking build, well done.

This and some double sided tape. if you’re going to attach one to SWMBO then be careful where you stick it. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CNZR2Q3/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_bIxQDbNGJZTRF

@Alexphd1 can you explain your reasoning for putting your roofing felt on in vertical strips rather than doing the whole roof first and laying it in horizontal formation starting at the bottom so that your overlaps will prevent water ingress should there be a leak. I am sure you are following proper guidelines but I have never seen it done like this. Thanks.

Well done Moria, you must feel proud of that ?

Moira, thats a picture. You must be very pleased. Hard work a bit of courage and determination has its rewards....

Looks good. Lot of area. What did you pay for the crates?

I can see how this bloke's neighbours might have complained and the council coming down on him: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1469925

I think we also had insurance that was a modified renovation policy. I've just dug out the policy and it was with Versatile, https://www.versatileinsurance.co.uk/ It was a modified renovation policy to cover a part-completed self-build, that was outwith the terms for a normal self-build policy.

@Lets thought I’d posted this https://gsi-insurance.com/products/household/renovation-insurance/

I agree with all this except for one thing: we have no idea what the builder is actually thinking. He may well be on target to deliver exactly what Zoothorn hoped for and drew, and quite possibly would be stunned that such a straightforward job (from his point of view) has run to 11 pages of discussion on a website before a block has been laid. At the moment, it could be as bad as @zoothorn is worrying about, but from my perspective that worry is based entirely on speculation. I think that unless and until some form of communication with the builder takes place, talk of being stuck with the wrong outcome, or falling out with the builder, or firing the builder (etc, etc) are all premature.

There's a thread here about Isotex that may be helpful:

Understandable. I claimed a couple of extra items in error (receipts had claimable and non-claimable items), they spotted and just adjusted the claim. I got a strongly worded letter about it but that was it.

Here's the spreadsheet version of the VAT form (which is acceptable to HMRC): VAT Claim Form 431 - Blank - extra sheets added.xls

I haven't installed a thermometer in my larder so can't give any detail (yet). We aren't living in the house (yet). But we are using the larder for some food stuffs, wine and storage for other stuff and it is significantly cooler than the house. It was delightfully cool during the brief heat wave in Aug. Ours is insulated but not heavily. Had a top vent and bottom vent to the outside. Is on a separate slab so no underfloor heating contamination via the slab. Has a passive door between it and the kitchen. It doesn't feel damp in there, but it is cool. And the key is it is north facing and literally never sees any sunshine. It is also under trees. I reckon its going to be brilliant. And exactly what I was aiming for. And a thermometer is on my Christmas list so will report progress.

Shame there's no way of resolving that (cough?)

Ah sure where’s the fun in that I quite enjoyed reacquainting myself with vendors from 3 years previously .... I had nothing much planned for those three solid weekends anyway...

Chuck key bloody hell blast from past

Wedge an eighth in the battery compartment and get an ex police sniffer dog?

Very wise. My most recent “weekend warrior*” injury was to sink a jig saw blade right into the top of the front of my finger THROUGH the nail and nail bed. It seriously fecking hurt! On the plus side because I cut through the nail bed the nail has grown back with a rather funky permanent valley in the middle of the nail. ? Yes, I know never have your hand in front of a blade or saw. I know all the rules, I just ignore them too often ? *weekend warrior is the nickname given by the nurses at my local minor injury unit for tw*ts like me. ?