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Work continues on the last room in the house, the sun room. Now it has windows time to get it finished inside. So i estimated I needed 10 boards and those were delivered. Of course I should have taken the time to estimate that more accurately. By the time the ceiling and one gable wall was boarded, it was looking clear I needed another board. Not an easy thing to buy a single sheet of plasterboard. So I set about collecting all the offcuts of plasterboard I had left over from other parts of the house, and with some very diligent and careful planning to work out how best to use what I had, I managed to get it all done, and now very very few bits left over at all. Next task, taping and filling then painting.

There was new guidelines issued beginning of month, so tell them to read their own reports. My sister has an unsaleable flat, what with the cladding, ground rent demands appearing out of nowhere, increasing service charge. Leaves her 200k out of pocket and an extra 600 a month. Told her to walk away from it before it bankrupts her. But she won't.

So. Got my plans drawn, and my build method, and costings sorted. Keen to move forward from trad methods, so i have got a foundation system which is screw piles, and metal frame on top, metal floor, insulated well 0.1 ready for underfloor heating pipes, and 55mm liquid screed. Walls constructed on site by me from 300mm wood i beams. Clad on the outside with a combination of hardi-plank cladding, and renderboard. 300mm walls filled with warmcell. U value of walls 0.13 . Truss roof U value 0.9. So all good so far. Covid has defo changed me. I've got three lockdown grandchildren, and i am just not going to need a 4 bed, 4 bath house to live in when it is just me and the better half left. So basically if i build, i expect to sell when completed. Although i have tried to be good by putting no concrete in the ground, walls etc, i feel i have hit a stumbling block. To be on the safe side, i rang 4 different mortgage brokers....... 1. Don't do it, non standard construction, you will struggle to sell.....2. Stick a block skin on the outside, and you will be fine !.....3. Timber frame ? out of the 68 mortgage providers i have on my books, you have just knocked off 64 of them.....4.Nobody who currently has a mortgage, and would want port it onto your property will be able to do so, so you have just taken it out of the market to 9 out of 10 potential buyers. When is England going to move forward. ?????? They seem to be as bad as planners. lets just build using old methods and, (planners) make it look like all the other houses from the 1930's. So i either have to go back to costing, with blockwork, and tons,of concrete, or just give up on the idea, sell up and bugger off. Sick of it frankly. We talk about climate change, but it seems we don't actually care. A couple of years ago i spent a day down at the building research establishment. About 50 houses, and i don'r remember a single one being brick or block. You wonder why they bother if all of the mainstream mortgage providers are not interested.

I think porches are exempt but only if you retain the external grade door between house and porch. If you are replacing the door with an internal style door and heating the "porch" then I think you do need building control. If you want to build in brick I think you need to dig a hole next to the slab to see if its got proper foundations. If not then perhaps look at a timber frame? I'm thinking you need a few courses of bricks then a DPC and DPM on sand blind. Then insulation and screed. 200mm PIR and 75mm screedwould be good.

Never heard of that. I always regardless of painting or final wallpaper but them up tight.

Finished my capstone mould...I guess. For tomorrow we cast! Made up a square of 15mm copper to give a drip recess. Currently got the copper glued to the timber with some blobs of CT1 and cable tied on whilst it sets: I'm going to put a square of galv mesh in halfway through the pour. Got one piece of 25x25x2.5 enough for just one cap. Then some 12.5x12.5x1.5, enough for two. Not sure if the smaller mesh will be strong enough? I was going to line the mould with say plastic sheet DPM. Just couldn't get it flat. Even tried ironing it with SWMBO's iron. I did put a fillet of silicone on all the internal edges and took it off with a 5mm radius Cramer Fugi tool. Guess I'll just brush the internal faces with vegetable oil? Seems preferable to engine oil etc. Another thought was lining it with duct tape.

@pocster. @SteamyTea If you want to post about inflation or debt, seagulls or Cornish pasties then start a new thread. Don't be hijacking this thread, it's Sunday and very warm and my drink is very cold and I have to keep checking on both off you to make sure what you post is suitable for viewing by the wider public.

using old out of date plaster?-which then never sets right without actually seeing it he could not be more specific was another suggestion from my master plaster

Normally you would get a Structural Engineer to determine the method of joining the two and foundations also Followed up with a drawing Who has told you you don’t need building regs Structural alterations normally require BC

The oldest method in the world to erode debt - inflation!!!! .

Hi, Slightly odd request but I was wondering if anyone in Dorset/Somerset would be willing to let me view their wastewater treatment plant. I’m north Dorset based, looking to put a wastewater treatment plant for a 5 bed in, in the next couple of months and would really like to view/listen to how noisy they are. I’m looking into a klargester Bioficient/WPL/Conder ASP. thanks

Off topic but not true - we have 3 semis in our village and a city flat. They all turn a decent profit and they are all well maintained with all the relevant certificates, gas, electric etc. It's still a great way to invest for the future/pension. The recent rise in values is also nice ? Simon

Indian variant spread by eating chicken korma or popodums . Italian variant spread by eating pizza French variant spread by eating snails Germany variant spread by eating snitzel

That is where I have been going wrong. Used to sell a bog standard 24V, 25W lightbulb for 7 quid, then charge a tenner for postage and packaging. I told the customers to go to City Electrical and buy for less than a quid. Never thought to sell irrational panic. Shall start with something to shield us all from the next iteration if radio waves.

That's ridiculous. You have to be a slum landlord nowadays to make a profit I assume. Glad i stepped away from landlord game a few years ago ... Irrational panic is the mood of our times. If you're in the game of selling irrational panic , you have a solid business model as there is very high demand for it. Unfortunately i just cant sell it with a straight face so I'm no good as a irrational panic peddler.

Just had to google EWS1. Just another bureaucracy step to rectify pencil pushers wages?. So just not going to have cladding then but a : " eco friendly environmental approved non flammable, Riba approved Facade shelling system " But anyone got that question ever answered: Does Rendered backing board fall under "standard" for mortgage/resale? o-o assume it should, but no clue and only spent 15min researching so far.

Our SE specified columns down to the pad foundations, and it's good to hear this is a standard approach, as I was apprehensive. Was spec'd initially with a fairly slimline concrete encasement, then liquid damp proof membrane painted over that to keep the dampness out: (The new column is the left one, the right one is an old wall with foundation. Column encasement is isolated from the floor slab). However, with my paranoia about steel corrosion and discussion with groundworkers we're now all agreed to instead have: A much thicker encasement - basically just filling up the holes above the pads with concrete A hydrophilic strip around the column base - to block any water potentially moving along the joint between pad concrete and fresher encasement concrete (pads were poured some months ago, encasement not done yet, and the columns now constantly sat in water) Floor slab cast right up to the steel - with isolation wrapped around the steel I.e. (Cat not to scale) Now I look at this I see a potential dampness pathway to the steel along the underside of the slab. Any comment from those in the know about the pros and cons of each option? Column bolts were a mix of cast-in and post-fix resin, to which the steel frame erectors said cast-in was much preferable.

@PeterW they shared the engineers notes from last year and, to be fair, that matches what he told me on the day just before he tested flow rate at my boundary. Having said that, there's no other 'proof' as such. The new supply pipe will be just to my property, everyone else will stay on the existing shared one.

As above, why block bond it, starter track bolted on.

Don't use nails, so yesterday, use bugle headed plasterboard screws. It is the flatness and soundness of what you are fixing to that gives good results. If your wall is not straight and your screw is forcing the plasterboard to pull in up to the batten then like a big spring it will be trying to pull the board straight again and that is when screw pop.

In a caravan? I guess he means in the house so as to reduce upfront cost? Looks like the get as far as you can then do the final bits as and when affordable might be the sound option to close the gap. That takes some planning to ensure you can live without it looking like a building site for ever but planning is something that does not add to the cost.

I've speed-read about half the A level E-S textbook. I found it pretty interesting. The school I'm in seems to have a dearth of awareness of back-of-envelope maths. Very simplistic optimists! "It'll be fine we'll all have electric cars" Ok, now look at the 'lectric needed to charge them. In winter we'll need one, or two if we do it inefficiently, Nuclear Power Stations on top of what we have now. We'll not be using gas in houses either, so add another NPS to supply us all 10kW or so all night to keep the houses warm and heat water. Then dig all the streets up because we don't have the electrical distribition. SO one of the teachers says (yes, one of the teachers) "But we can put solar panels on the roofs of the cars". Oh dear. E-S A level - one of the female teachers (biology) said there wouldn't be much interest because it's maths and they're girls. You wouldn't make it up, you'd be arrested for being non-PC. Bring back Domestic Science I say - Electricity, Gas, Water, Building materials..... how to change a friggin tap washer....

Do this - a wall starter would be much easier.

Once you've built up enough mist coats (maybe 4-5) - you should be able to put on a proper thick final coat without it peeling off.. It's a fine line though. Brushing also seems to be the least likely to lead to peeling while applying - rollering is the worst as it essentially is pulling the paint off the surface. A sprayer might actually be good for that last thicker coat.. You could also just run a medium grade sander over it (e.g. 180grit) - this has the effect of flicking off any bits which are loose, while also roughing up the plaster and any good paint for slightly better adhesion for subsequent coats. Either way, you have my sympathies here!

Over the last month we've spent most of our time continuing to take parts of the barn apart whilst repairing some bits that need to stay. What's brilliant is that all the fibre cement roofing which contains a small amount of asbestos is gone. The skip company delivered on Friday and collected on Monday and after seeing it all wrapped said it was very good and we didn't need to wrap the skip as well. We've pretty much finished clearing the back sheds, although there is still quite a bit of moving from A to B with no real idea of where it is going to end up, such as 8 farm gates that I will need in the future, but am not sure where to store. I spent a number of days moving rocks, where are the chain gangs when you want them, these are ones that can't be reached by the digger. I also knocked down an internal wall that we don't need, this means that 2 sheds become 2 beds and a bathroom. I also removed a number of broken blocks and HID replaced them with new ones. Then HID started digging out the floors and I got to clear, sweep and drive the digger. I'm also revisiting my plans to measure again, thinking about windows and drainage. In my online plans I've added furniture to see how space works and the best place to put doors. With all the comments about price increases I'm thinking about ordering some items sooner than originally intended. As physical self builders this project is going to be a few years, yet if I wait then we might end up with boarded up holes and no glass, nice and warm I guess. Next month is going to be much of the same as will the following months with a lot of floors to be dug out. The digger cannot break the concrete so we have to use the breaker to start and then lift with the digger. Last month I bought an Aldi wacker as they seemed a good price. It will be a long time before it's needed though. I can see all this clearing is going to lose my interest long before it's done, but doing it ourselves is literally the only way we have any chance of affording this build the ways things are going. Well I guess it's back to the grind. And, thanks for all the help and answers that I have been getting from BH.

So i can get an EPC that basically says whatever i want. The Airtest guy basically said the same "Tell me what you want, and i'll make sure the coputer spits that out" Frankly it's hard to find a reason to do anything better.

The building game will stay the same. building large amounts of poorly build homes to maximise profit shareholders and all that.

They are so bleedin' backward. Really, its shocking, really really shocking. I admire you trying to break the mould, I try to break it too but often do end up going down the boring tried and tested route for a multitude of issues.

The trouble is Hardly any potential buyer will care if you have screw piles or a shit load of concrete If you where doing for yourself I’d say go for it This non standard fixation that mortgage lenders have won’t change anytime soon

If you expect to sell when completed then why go down the route of choosing all non standard materials?? You could get a mortgage from someone but the rates will be high so might make it non feasible. So either play the game and use a block skin on a non standard build, probably the easiest method to become standard or walk away.

On the principles of ASHP and GSHP. I have spent a huge amount of time researching GSHP. Firstly for business as I needed to know what is best, and sustainable, for clients. Secondly because some 'affordable' housing near me had GSHP that did not work, and I was helping the shivering occupants. Included some 'off-the -record' chats with specialists. In doing this I established as follows. I had best say 'in my opinion'. ASHP works in small and large buildings. GSHP by slinky also works. It is very simple and understandable. However it needs lots of open ground. What has only recently been admitted is that it is not really ground heat. It is summer sun and air heat absorbed by the top surface, and harvested in the winter. Therefore it needs warmth on the area used. It is possible to 'run out' of heat. Reversing the flow in the summer can store heat for the winter. GSHP by borehole only works in the right ground conditions, which are rare. This was not admitted say 15 years ago, but is now. Not remotely sensible in heavy clay, or dense cold UK rock, as the surface is not rewarmed by conduction or local water movement. Boreholes freeze and need to be warmed by electric heating. It has become standard that the ground has to be reheated in the summer, for which there is a running cost. You only have to look at the numbers of contractors then and now. In a lot of cases it was installed on the basis of the grant available, rather than on sensible assessment. On the 'affordable' housing, many of the occupants have had the boreholes disconnected, and air-source installed, by either the housing association or contractor...I don't know which as I am told they are all sworn to secrecy, in case word gets out. The downside of ASHP is noise. It is possible to build a timber surround that reduces noise but allows enough air-flow.

Series 10 Episode 3 was shown on More4 tonight. Below are my show notes: Location Hampshire (Harbridge 15 miles north of Bournemouth) The Self-builders: Ryan (Digital Consultant) & Jenny (Self-confessed Townie) Setting the Scene: Sept 2016 – Charlie visits to meet the self-builders & review site and plans 120 year old barn stripped with scaffold enclosure up Purchased for £305k with planning permission for three bedroom conversion/refurbishment. Spanish slate roof and larch cladding. £230k build budget. £850k expected value for completed house. Plan to complete within 18 months Charlie suggests front elevation is too symmetrical and double height glazed entrance/statement window should be moved to one side. Likes their double height entrance but suggests turning stair to give more room to front door. The Build Nov 2016 – Foundations being underpinned. 200Te of material removed. Jan 2017 – Remainder of steel frame installed. Ryan moves to static caravan on site but Jenny stays put in flat in Bournemouth. Apr 2017 – Roof installed. Formwork erected for concrete staircase. May 2017 – Concrete staircase cast. Glass arrives – door frame 20cm too small due to Ryan’s error Aug 2017 – Charlie returns to site, his suggestions to relocate entrance and not to go for a concrete staircase have been ignored. Windows installed. Larch cladding almost complete. £250k spent to date with Ryan doing plenty of work. Overspend on kitchen, windows and concrete floor. Forecast another £50k to complete by April 2018. Lots of reclaimed brick. Exposed pine ceiling timbers painted white without any noise insulation – not sure how this meets building regulations? The Visit to Another Self-build: Four bedroom, Victorian detached in Beckenham bought for £1.3M in 2013 and refurbished with an industrial look. Created different wall textures using wooden panelling and stripping back plaster to brick & painting white. Pocket sliding doors with glazing above. Quartz island with herbs growing in cut-out. Lots of large bulb pendant lighting. The Build contd Nov 2017 – First fix nearly complete. Plastering underway. Dec 2017 – Kitchen assembled. Second fix electrics underway. Cladding ground floor internal walls in reclaimed timber. Feb 2018 – Steel balustrade being fabricated. Sept 2018 - Charlie visits completed home. The “final” figures: Actual build costs £300k. Giving “total” costs (usual caveat) of £605k. Actual valuation of £950k (2019 prices).

The BuildHub forum was founded by the Forum Foundation Group (FFG) in 2016, following the closure of a large UK-based self-build forum. The forum has continued to grow significantly and we currently have over 8000 registered users, and that number continues to rise daily. To date, BuildHub has been managed on a private and voluntary basis by a small group of members known as the Forum Management Group (FMG). The FMG looks after BuildHub's day-to-day running, including hosting and maintaining the forum software, moderating member posts, and managing membership applications. The FMG was originally constituted as a Members Association for the purpose of forum governance and ownership. While this was the quickest and easiest way to get the forum up and running, it has the disadvantage of not having an associated legal entity. The absence of a legal entity means that many suppliers will not contract directly with Buildhub. The result is that BuildHub contracts and assets such as forum software licences, server space, and URL ownership remain in the names of FMG members, which places a large legal burden on those members, and also involves risk to BuildHub. To address this ongoing issue, the FMG recently approved motions to: Form a Private Company Limited by Guarantee; and On an agreed date, dissolve the Members Association known as the Forum Management Group, and transfer its assets, including ownership of the forum, to the new company. To this end, Buildhub Forum Management Limited has been formed as a not-for-profit company, limited by guarantee. The company will operate the BuildHub forum website, provide a limited liability structure to own and operate the forum, and ensure that the forum software licences, server space and URL ownership are no longer subject to a single point of failure or irrecoverable circumstances. The company directors are not remunerated, and the costs for operating the forum and its support will be kept to those essential to run and operate the service. The date of handover was 30th April 2021, and this is the formal notification that it has been completed. BuildHub has always operated on a strictly non-commercial basis and will continue to do so. Advertising is not allowed and members may not offer services to other members via the public forum. This policy will remain under the new structure. Similarly, BuildHub intends to continue with its periodic donation funding model. Day-to-day operations will continue to be run by volunteers giving freely of their time and expertise in much the same way as it is now. This group will be known as the Operational Management Committee (OMC). Information about how you can get involved in the running of the forum will be posted shortly. In practice, your experience of using the BuildHub forum should be unchanged. As chair, and on behalf of the members of the now-dissolved Forum Management Group, I would like to express my thanks for your support of BuildHub since its creation. We look forward to the continued growth and improvement of BuildHub under this new and long-term sustainable structure.

It's available for playback on All4 Building the Dream - All 4 (channel4.com)

PM sent. The mixing valve it the one the Welshman recommended on here a while back. Esbe ARA662 actuator 230v 50hz 120 sec https://www.wolseley.co.uk/product/esbe-ara662-actuator--230v-50hz-120-sec-(1)/ Happily the heatpump will drive up to 60ºC (using a separate "smart grid" input to boost it +10ºC when the sun it out), so I can get the whole tank fairly hot on a sunny day. Definitely if we were more than two people, maximising the whole tank temperature via multiple / lower immersion pockets would have been a higher priority. As it was I focused on minimizing losses: just 2 people here, and foolishly designing for a long forgotten world where we only spend a few waking hours at home each day, and away a lot at weekends

To the OP: we have 100m2 downstairs, 55m2 upstairs, passive House enerphit (so slightly higher heat demands) PHPP says about 2.6kW max load. We installed a 8.5kW ecodan R32, oversized mostly for the DHW reheat time but also allows us to push more heat (or cold) into the house at the very cheapest times. (8kW of solar to maximize use of too) Ground floor is all UFH, the ecodan drives an electronic mixing valve to run it with very fine control, generally 24°C flow temp seems plenty but I set a little weather compensation boost when it's below zero out. The other zone is a fan coil in the loft which can run at a hotter or colder temperature (thanks to that electronic mixing valve). We'll only use it for cooling. Upstairs bedrooms are generally 1-2°C warmer than desired even with no heat sources in them, so glad we didn't! The fan coil will dump cold air in the loft, and hopefully a bunch of that will drop down the service void to each room. If not, we can duct it into specific rooms (bedroom, home office) very easily from up there UVC is an oso geocoil 300L. I looked at all the Mixergy/sunamp but putoff by the complexity. The OSO is fantastic. It stratifies amazingly well: bottom half never once got above 14°C when we were using the immersion only. The one downside is it only has one immersion or probe pocket. But in a way it's a blessing: it's forced me to keep the control systems really simple and dumb: heat the whole damn thing up from ASHP and the top up the top half from solar. Mitsubishi have a detailed CAD schematic for this system design, if anyone needs it let me know. I couldn't be happier with how it's performing. (so quiet it took 3 weeks running before we even heard it run, have to be stood outdoors right next to it)

9kW ASHP and 400 litre UVC with HP coil. 2 power showers will empty a 300 litre in around 14 minutes if it is at 55°C. Bin the idea of the summer house using UFH - you won’t have the PV spare capacity at the right time of year so just fit a 40A supply to it and an inline water heater and an air to air heat pump which will be change of £700

Where is your vcl in this section...or isn't there one?

Good evening this is my first post and hope to secure PP within next week or so and, have been considering the structural options on how to build. My preference is no masonry above DPC, so all Lt weight cladding of some form ( planning aside) but my concern is the long term sales potential , in as much as the mortgage companies/ banks etc that accept this option I believe are fewer, so what would be the consensus. Have members experienced problems selling there home who have used this method and regretted it , or should I not worry about it. Its not our forever home, just 2- 3 years. I did one for client about 8 years ago who was not concerned about this matter. Would appreciate your thoughts/ experience in the matter. D.

I had a semi once

British variant spread by jingoism, ignorance, racism, petty mindedness, ........, and dogs.

In a caravan?

I know. I build a crappy bog standard gaff, get some micky mouse EPC and airtest. But to give me a huge uplift in value, i'll stick some walk on glazing on the landing to sex the place up. If only i knew where i could get some ??

Our rental house in Bristol is a weird build, post war steel frame and poured concrete (even ceilings), previous owner had difficulty getting a mortgage and they had to get holes cut in several locations to make sure the steel frame had not corroded before they were offered a mortgage but many companies just refused. It has no insulation in the walls and feels like a fridge ?.

The developer actually give me the details previously of his guy who does the EPC's for his houses. When i spoke to the guy he didn't even want a set of plans. Simply said "Nobody understands the calcs, Just tell me what result you want, and i'll put it in the post" I've been on site when they have been stuffing insulation into the visible cavities because the building inspector was due on site. No insulation in the rest of the walls. And our kids are expected to pay up, and get 30 year mortgages on the crap we currently build.

The trouble is Onoff, i've got a projected 18 month build time. I doubt anything will change in that time, so i could end up with a very expensive house that i can't sell. I can't afford that risk unfortunately. I think it's going to have to be either a trad build, or i just don't bother. Spoke to a developer i know who builds about 150 houses a year. "don't bother trying to be smart. Just build to minimum standards, cheap as you can. Nobody gives a $hite" That is the future of our housing i'm afraid.

Industry secret that since 2016 this is how a Tesla's AC heating works. Sure they say the data connection is for OTA updates, but really it's sending the satoshis back to papa.