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Welcome to buildhub Stewpot! You will have good days, you will have bad days. You will also have very very bad days: Things will go wrong. Every day. Often multiple things a day. You just have to accept that shit will hit the fan and that it is your attitude to dealing with the problem that is key. Also, you can never prep enough. Even with two and a half years for us to prep, sometimes you just don't have the experience to know what you're missing out. Don't budget by the m2 - it is way too inaccurate and depends on 100s of choices you'll make in your build method and materials. It is useful on its own at the very beginning to convince you can do it cheaper than others! Money on a quantity surveyor up front is well spent to give you a dose of realism when it comes to cost. And your contingency? Go high. You will exceed your budget unless you know the industry. Same for your plan; expect and be prepared for it to take longer than you want it to. Cashflow is king. Those problems above go far easier if you can just deal with it right away. Else it lags, stress builds up and costs also go up. Cash is also king. Some trades will discount if you ask. Trades are not your friends. You will be desperate for them to get problems sorted, and curse them in equal measure. Some are great, some are good, others are a nightmare to deal with. Find the people you trust, and get references for their work!!! Also, review their work promptly for quality. before they get near the end of a job. Edit: I should finish with a positive note! Yes it is mad, but I would do it again in a heart beat. Same as pretty much anyone on here I bet.

We are all mad. There will be times you wonder what you are doing and why. But there are also times when you enjoy every moment of it, and would be nowhere else. Prepare for a bumpy ride. Any other expectation would be false, but also prepare for some major achievements and a huge sense of satisfaction at "scratching the itch"

@Home Farm Someyhing that may interest you... Did you say you set back temps overnight? I’ve been experimenting with ours. We had a 1.5c setback overnight in all rooms. Last few days I’ve removed this (so now all rooms are either 18.5 or 19.5 all day) since doing this I’ve managed to reduce the flow temp 3c from the norm (so yesterday ran at 39c). This is because the lower flow temp is fine to maintain the room temp but can’t boost it up to recover after the set back I’ll do this for a few more days To allow for weather fluctuations but initially it seems we’ve saved about 10kWh per day using the lower temp and higher overnight room temps.

Induction hobs usually draw a LOT more than an oven. An electrician is not qualified to cap off a gas supply unless he is also gas safe registered.

Ovens don't actually use much, typically they are 2.3Kw and often do come with just a 13A plug. But the thorn in the side is fixed heating appliances over 2KW are supposed to be on a dedicated circuit.

The weather was really cold this week but the guys cracked on and removed the shuttering from the first pour of the walls and moved it ready for the second pour. Luckily the weather warmed up and they were able to pour the final structural walls on Friday so this should be the last of the waterproof concrete. As you can see where the shuttering has come off we are left with really neat concrete with just the shutter panel marks. The waterproofing guy inspected these and was really happy: in his words 'near perfect'! He will do a detailed inspection when all the shuttering is off and if there are any cracks (and he couldn't see any so far) they will get filled and sealed with some sort of waterproof compound. The next step will be to remove all the shuttering and then we will see the real space for the basement and houses . Its odd how sometimes the space seems huge and at other times it gets much smaller. Following the clean-up its external tanking/waterproofing and backfill and internal masonry walls. Also you can see the opening for the garage window which has been pre-cast, its the only opening we can actually measure before we order the windows which is a scary thought! Sadly the temperature really went down with one of our main suppliers this week. Firstly they missed some details in their quote and the (agreed price) contract,and came back with an extra price to fix this. This is really annoying since we pointed out several time at the quote stage that there was a really odd detail in the Architects plans and were they OK with it; we were assured that this was OK so we went forward on that basis, only now do we find that they missed the complexity and extra work it will take. They have had the drawings for this detail, which has never changed, for at least 6 months and we released final Architects drawing to them about 3 months ago - so its taken them a very long time to figure this out, though they do apologise and acknowledge its their cock up. From our point of view, and we are confident from a contractual standpoint, we are in the right and its their cost, obviously they have their view on it which is somewhat different. Eventually they did come down 30% but they refused to meet us half way. So what do you do at this point? They are adamant that without the extra payment they are not prepared to do the work. We could take it to arbitration and we are reasonably confident we would win, or at least end up at the 50/50 point we were reluctantly prepared to go to. However if were to go down that route then its pretty certain they would stop work and we would be facing a huge delay, and certainly it would be very difficult to work with them going forward. To some extent we can see their point of view - its extra work and materials they hadn't costed and it does need to be done. Annoyingly though, if we had know about this when we were negotiating Non Material Amendments with Planning we might have been able to design it out and go to their zero cost standard detail - but going back to Planning at this stage is not really an option (or one fraught with risk and delay, and a huge history!). We had not quite decided what to do, but seemed to be between a rock and a hard place when they came back with some more elements they had missed and wanted to reduce window sizes, add more steel, take out the Pocket Doors and charge us more money. At this point I have to say I lost it a bit and voiced my dissatisfaction! Things have improved a bit and they looked at the design with some more care and it seems they can solve most of the problems and all we need to do is compromise some room sizes to accommodate them. If this had happened when they first got the drawings, or when we gave them 'final' Architect drawings we would have been much happier, but really this is very late in the day to uncover issues like this. The really worrying bit is what else is there that they have not found yet! So with the relationship temperature still below freezing we seem to have little choice but to carry on - but we are still really unhappy and as its a major reputable supplier it make our position really difficult. Perhaps we are being unreasonable, or naive, in our expectations, but its probably a lesson learnt - regardless of the contract when you reach a certain point going back becomes an almost impossible option and your supplier has you in a corner (to put it politely!). See https://www.dropbox.com/sh/th9f6e3cel5dm1q/AAAfsWdAH184J75bCNUUtzVra?dl=0 for the weekly videos.

You ask for encouragement ... Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost And if poetry isn't for you, then think of the time you will have to wonder ~ what if I had given it a go? All these years of 'What if' Most here have given it a try. Not all of it pleasant either. But everyone we meet even for a brief chat realises that self building adds something extra to your life. Something more than just the house. In my case, wrinkles.

Still working on it, this photo was last year ....

Welcome. I ache all over and not building. So probably nothing to do with it. I have 5 pairs of glasses, it is annoying when I sit down to read and then realise my nose is holding up my driving glasses.

Often up here, people build a garage and then put a wee studio flat above that to save money. Depends on your situation (kids etc) whether there is enough room for that to work.

If you are using foam bonding for insulated plasterboard (or making your own) you are supposed to fix it with additional mechanical fixings too. E.g frame fixings

Hager do up to 63A mcb's, I have used one to feed a moster electric boiler. What I like to do when fitting something so big, is over size the CU so you can fit the big one with an empty space either side of it.

I don't have any pictures of it before it got boxed in unfortunately. But it was the standard metal case CU (in this case with a plastic front) screwed to the OSB that covers the frame. The wall was then battened with 45mm battens to make the service void, and then 12mm plasterboard and skim. That was just about the right depth for the front to go on and makke it look like it was designed all along to be flush mount. All the cables exit the top or bottom cable entries and run up or down the wall behind the plasterboard in the service void. Except for the incomer which is SWA and that enters from the side and is glanded into the metal CU again hidden behind the plasterboard now. I did have to be accurate cutting the plasterboard as not being a proper flush mounting CU there was no flange to cover any imperfections in cutting the hole. I bought all the rcbo's from ebay and I didn't pay more that £10 each but you can't always do that if you are in a hurry. I bought them over a period of time when they came up. The CU was fitted as soon as the house had a roof so I have plenty of time to populate it.

As long as it’s metal and CE marked them it should be fine. Fitted plenty of “double-decker” CU’s in the part.

You should get a confirmation letter/email back. We made sure we had it, as there was a case where someone had notified the LPA but didnt get a confirmation and they ended up paying the full CIL.

Ah the Grand Designs curse.

The worst of it??? And you put up with the rest ?. IMO no chance. I could not live with that and being a DIYer I would expect better if I did it myself. As I said before, it’s all in the prep and the floor was not flat.

These are the 3G ones i've got, though they're even better now than when I got mine: https://www.sterlingbuild.co.uk/product/eco-white-pvc-triple-glazed-roof-window-bundle-with-insulation-collar-and-underfelt-collar They are actually OKPOL, a polish window manufacturer, and really good. 0.83Uw for that price is brilliant. Mine was 1.0U when I bought, they've made a few improvements since including using Krypton gas now. The Neo Air vents tend to be a bit leaky, but you can buy a Vent Blank plate which seals it off from a company called Sunlux for £50 each, which I did as soon as I realised how leaky they were. Rest of the window seems airtight as far as I can tell. Would recommend them though, a bit fiddlier to fix than Velux, but I guess you are paying for ease of install with those.

Yep - anywhere you would use adhesive

If you fancied a day out (Stockport, 70 miles from you) then I'm sure Dave Stansfield at SBS would show you his wares, maybe even give you a sample RCBO to show your sparks. The SBS compact RCBOs are true double pole switched in the event of a fault. Bonus if you have a TT earthing system. Reasonably priced too so you could afford to buy some spares. Just to throw a spanner in the works, Wylex was my old favourite pre the dodgy mcb scandal. I think their single module rcbo combining an AFD is great and theres no argument about compliance with the 18th. https://www.electrium.co.uk/news/wylex-launch-single-module-afdd 20190228111955_0_WY2520_Wylex_18_DCP_solutions Feb 19.pdf So much choice! ?

While its still in the hands of the executor there are a few legal issues to be aware of.. The executor has a duty to realise the most he can from the sale property for all the beneficiaries. If he thinks he could get more by putting it on the open market or auctioning it off he probably should. On the other hand selling to a family member at market value might reduce costs (no estate agents fees?) and increase the amount each beneficiary receives so that would be ok. If the uncle is executor, beneficiary and potential buyer he probably needs to be squeaky clean in case another beneficiary gets upset later. The tax man is also fussy about the value of property. They will accept valuations from estate agents BUT if the property eventually sells for more or less than the valuation they expect/allow the executor to revise the figures used for probate and pay or reclaim any extra IHT. The fact that it has "development potential" may increase the valuation that estate agents put on the property increasing IHT if applicable. That said, I don't believe the executor is obliged to actually develop the property in any way - just get the maximum he can for it "as is". Once the property has been sold by the executor any further development wouldn't be subject to these issues.

This stuff DryFix

1800 x 800 here. It's lovely. One day I hope to have enough hot water to fill it!

All plastered on the inside. Let the painting commence.

Thanks yes I tried to get them to double check records and they assured me they had a robust post system!

My last roofer had the apprentice empty and clean the van on my site ...... the apprentice dumped £150 of scrap lead in my skip that promptly made its way out when they left ..!

13A is 3KW. Put all 4 rings on and that's 750W per ring available. I hope you are not in a hurry.

House looks amazing and that caravan must have been cosy if it produced 3 children ?.

Thanks again for sharing. I’ve torn my knee cartridge so out of action for a few days. Will tamper with valves later this week.

Welcome @KTCastle have got some nice pictures to show us? The build that is...? but I’m sure the kids are lovely too