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I think the real problem lies with the ones that were approved, that is legally binding until it goes to judicial review.

Maybe not necesaary, but we have taken a 32mm supply direct from meter to plant room, we then two smaller pipes from plant room to i) external taps ii) rainwater harvester. We managed to get 32mm+25mm+20mm all through the same 110mm duct. This means no hidden joins/tees and allows independnat stop-cock (or solenoid valves) if required. It was ground worker that suggested this approach. It's a bit like the the manifold approach to pluming inside ..

We've had nothing but good experiences with Ecology since first making initial enquiries, through from the application and subsequent drawdowns. Many others have retold this same experience so there's no doubt we're not the only ones. Thought I'd throw a bit more perspective on how they operate from our recent experiences. We recently agreed an easement with a local developer to put a storm drain through our site to a discharge point at the Burn behind our house. The solicitor advised us that in most cases the mortgage company would retain the land payment. Not Ecology. "Work away lads, the cash is yours. An no, it doesn't affect our valuation or your loan entitlement." Score! Secondly, we went to planning and amended the design. Informed Ecology and advised them of the change of design, anticipated value increase and also our increased costs. No bother again. "If the value goes up from the surveyors report, you can access the retention sooner. And if you need more money, you can make a further application with no legal fees." Sweet. And throughout this we've been able to pick up the phone and get through to our account manager who doesn't even need to look up our details on the computer or ask us a million questions as she knows her stuff inside out. And only extra fees we've been charged is the £250 valuation survey. *I have not received a gratuity for this post from Ecology, quite the opposite in fact ?

As @Russell griffiths pointed Out numerous times... if you dont go over the poured slab often and quick, again and again , you be ending up with a garage floor. So we had the concrete ordered for morning and ready with 4guys to spread and level, tamper and float. Pouring went smooth. Pumping was good. But when we started tampering and levelling the concrete, Murphys law kicked in: -concrete went off a lot faster than my groundworkers seen in quite a while -one Of the guys (concrete pump driver) had a stroke and needed medical attention:which took 2hours until ambulance arrived...taking out 1 labourer to take care of him So we where trying to get it done as best of my(our) skills. Managed levels and no massive dents (unlevel In a few spots but very minor /mm) . Managed getting it fairly smooth . But when it came to doing details/corners, concrete was already too hard to work it ... well , now we need to lay floor over it (later) anyways . Just thinking if that is already good enough to work with tiling on top or if we need to go over it with self levelling compound (I think that's overkill) ..

Hello from Birmingham. This post was supposed to be introducing myself as the new buyer of a self build plot in Birmingham, but the lot was pulled from the auction over night due to a legal dispute over ownership. Anyway, hello from a soon to be self builder.

Champagne budget / Babysham taste! ? Robbins do veneered sheet: https://www.robbins.co.uk/products-prices/sheet-material/

How about this place? https://www.robbins.co.uk/products-prices/hardwood/ Available in 300mm wide. Guess you would need to biscuit joint it to make a bigger board. They'll likely know somebody able to pander to your whims.

To be honest it doesn't look too bad. You could always add a thin layer of pumped screed if you want a perfectly smooth floor but a descent tiler will solve most of your woes. With this in mind it might be worth raising your ground floor ceiling height and windows by maybe 25mm. BTW I hope the poor guy with the stroke will be ok. That kind of thing makes all our building issues seem minor.

That's good, sensible to be pragmatic. This may be your first 'didn't go as planned' self build event but it wont be your last and if you can roll with them then your stress levels will be manageable. I always used to say that I was pissed off about the last problem but only until the next one pops up

Do this, or depending on the age they may have quick release connectors on them. I would be tempted to try some Tikkurila Anti Reflex 2 paint on that ceiling.

No I am an electrician, hence not afraid of dropping them down. Put them in a plastic bag to keep the paint off and you should be able to pauit around the hole without a brush.

They were already dropped as I changed spots

Some spots are an absolute bastard to drop down and reinsert. If I were the decorator that task would be by "others".

Don't tell me they painted around them? Drop them down and you can roller all around the hole without needing a brush.

Yup, that’s the ceiling not the paint ?

That’s the skim job and the boards - no amount of paint will fix that.

Costs slightly more, but you can isolate them with a solenoid valve which can can then we controlled from home automation (Loxone in my case). If you want to go one step further, with the addition of a basic water meter with a pulse output, you can also do some basic leak detection and automatically turn off supply to branch in question.=.

The sleepers aren’t a full retaining wall - they are a sound block for a lot of their height. Seemed to tag them to scaffold poles to retain them.

Ok! That’s a first for me, as all that I’ve installed have been the other way around. So yes, a simple fix and deffo the cause of the water hammer noise you’re getting. A quick drain down, spin the valve round, fill back up and then to the pub to celebrate. ?

I wish they had come into the project earlier? I would like to have seen more about the railway sleeper retaining wall that appears to be 9 sleepers high but sat on edge not on the flat. I wonder how that works and is going to retain 2 metres or more of land so close to the house? But I loved the hands on, work it out as you go approach. And never before has the description "sharp" been so appropriate. And I liked the bus as a workshop as a way of not "building" over the sewer. One of the classic GD's I think. Oh and the obligatory new born.

That is a lot of full height glazing in the kitchen. Looks nice on plan but can cause overheating, echo (especially if you have hard floors) and glare. The room may not feel comfortable or easy to live with. Lose the chimneys. They are poor for thermal bridging and airtightness and often problematic for water ingress. Also if you are burning stuff it can really affect indoor and outdoor air quality.

Tbh, we're not really DHW type people! It hasn't been used for two years or so. When I go around other people's houses I still can't quite get my head around being able to turn a tap and get hot water. After the bathroom refit, it will get used maybe once a week or so - for a shower - but that's more because I've recently been learning how things can seize up and/or fail if not used regularly. Appreciate the concern though

Why wait that long? Get a Quantity Surveyor to do a quick high level calculation now as it will be money well spent. Pennies in the grand scheme of things. The rule we have is if the cost of an extension and refurbishment is 80% of the cost of a new build then you're better off doing a new build as you reduce unknowns and end up with a better building (no cold bridges, easier to achieve better airtightness, optimum layout, etc). Personally I'd get this an order of magnitude cost and see which is the way to go; new build or extension and major refurb. If it's new build you can start clean from scratch with your own new house design. You don't have to stick to whatever elements you're trying to retain in the existing and will have much more freedom. Then this is the building you go and get planning permission for. No way would I get planning permission if I didn't know it would be a new build or extension and refurb or existing. I don't know about the UK but in Ireland you have to say how much is demolished on a planning application and what's retained. Lets say you went and got permission for the above layout and found out it was cheaper to get a rebuild you technically can't as you wouldn't have permission to demolish it all. The likelihood of someone noticing and objecting are probably small but you wouldn't have permission and compliance could also be an issue. As for the plan I don't like the way a visitor to the house has to go through a utility to use the bathroom.

I'll say it. If you are doing that much to a bungalow, it might be better off doing at a demolish / replace.`

I bought a 2-stroke McCulloch a few years ago - brush cutter and strimmer heads supplied as part of the same attachment set. Last year I purchased a chain saw attachment set, and they used to do a hedge trimmer attachment which I was going to buy this year but they have discontinued them ? I would recommend the McCulloch system

This is it in full leaf (I don’t have a pic of no leaf) a bit shaggy as poplar is fast growing and we are very rural. You could always platt the branches as they grew to make it tidier.

I planted poplars between us and next door (only reason is they leave their outside lights on 24/7 facing our conservatory, lounge, dining room). They are very fast growing like willow but yes they are deciduous. I top them off after the leaves have fallen then platt the side branches together to form a screen, just two seasons and it’s almost like a fence.

Thank you. There was a bit of learning to be bending the 25mm x 50mm battens. Going at the bottom of the roof on 10m radius was relatively easy. However, going higher and higher was challenging. At the end to be able to bend those on the top it was a combination of: - selecting battens without any knots - soaking in the water - then none of the battens were perfect straight anyway so then was trying to lay them in the direction that they are already bend. Fortunately I didn't need to go as far as steaming boxes Below photo showing precaution to avoid cracking on the knot Top rows shows the slates coming on larger angle but still the corners don't stick out too much that was mine worry. Still not sure how to finish off the top raw Possibly with lead?

I've had One of these for about 3-4 years (cost about 75 quid), use it regularly for heavy grass, edges or use the blade for brambles and thick nettles. 52cc so very powerful, maybe overkill for what you need Never missed a beat. I did replace the strimmer head with a better bump head.

I can recommend the tools from ParkerBrand (.CO.UK). I strim about 1/2 acre of scrub twice a year with their £120 strimmer/brush cutter (2-stroke 52cc). No issues and their other tools are sound as well (chain saws, generators, rachet set, pressure washer, etc). Budget class but they're managing the quality control well and good phone support etc.

Just magic - shows what you can do with a lot of graft. Loved the kitchen colours too ..! Would never have thought about concrete blocks for paving either.

One of the best Joe Came in at 270k also Shocking site to build on

Afraid I went for the Stihl km 131 which is about £440 now. There are two versions with and without the bull bars. I think there is also a km 130 a bit cheaper. A good second hand unit would be worth considering. They also have 2 stroke models like the KM 56 and 94 which are more like £200-250 I think. Stihl don't like online discounting so many sellers require you to collect from their office. Supposedly so you can get "training" or some such. I don't use a chainsaw very frequently and got an unbranded two stroke one from Amazon to save money. The best strimmer head IMHO is the Echo Speed feed 400. It super easy to reload with line. Wish I'd discovered them years ago. They do two versions the "universal" version comes with adaptors to suit various other strimmers. The regular version doesn't have the adaptors. So I have an Echo 400 head fitted to a Ryobi Expand-it Strimmer attachment fitted to a Stihl KM 131. Only had to file some paint off the Ryobi to make it work on the Stihl.

Watch Wickes orders .. they are based on local stock not central stock. I ordered a load of timber for a date about 5 days ahead and when it came they had to deliver it in 3 different orders from 3 different stores. It being “in stock” when you order doesn’t guarantee it being in stock when they need to deliver it.

Hi Mr Punter, Yes, it is for the Roundhouse to close a big hole Let me share some photos from the roof

Just a thought. You have broker who must have some resonable relationship with the lender so that is positive. Try and establish the reasons for their sudden change of tack. Could it be that they have just taken a different view on how they view the presentation of your financial figures or is it something more fundamental. If it's the former then it may be a case of maybe realising some of your US assets into cash £ Sterling, providing security in a different way that is easier for the UK lender to call up under UK law and so on. It may just be a paper work excercise and you need to show that should you default then the lender can recover their monies quickly and efficiently. Put yourself in their shoes, that is how you win the battles. On the other hand it may be something more fundamental. The lender may be saying to themselves, hey look these folk seem to have plenty cash but once they start knocking things about, demolishing and so on the value that we can call on easily is only the value of the plot and that will be at a distressed sale price.. in other words what would the plot be worth at auction with a structure that could potentially incur demolition and clearing cost, then another journey through the planning system. Although you have equity the lender often thinks.. how easy will it be if these folk default to actually get our hands on the money and what will it cost us to do it if they resist! If it is the latter.. the plot thing, then your broker and designer should be able to help so don't feel alone here. It may just require a different sequencing of the works so that you hold more value in the plot and structure while adding to the value of the security. Yes it will be a pain to do, but it may only require a few tweeks to convince the underwriters that all will be ok. It's hard to predict what exactly will take place during the construction phase as this seems like a "renovation"? The sequencing that was origonally intended at lending stage may need to change due to site "conditions" .. that is a natural part of the construction process. Don't forget you are not alone, your broker will want to help. I imagine you have a designer.. Architect.. they will want to help to get the project off the ground. I'm sure you will find a way forward and later look back and say hey.. was a nighmare at the time but look at what we have achieved and do we not feel good!

Just to let everybody know, I bought 13 rolls of Tescon Vana tape from Latzel Dammstoffe for about 16 Euro each. A few points worth knowing: - Post brexit your order value with them has to be over 200 Euro. (They are not registered in some way for the below £135 scheme where VAT isn’t refunded). - They refund you the German VAT less a few fees (approx 25 euro in my case). - You pay the UK VAT and UK Import Duty to the courier before the parcel is released for delivery. Even with the additional charges, it’s considerably cheaper than buying the tape in the UK. The above is probably obvious to most but it was the first time I’d bought anything of any value from the EU post Brexit so it might be useful to some.

Houses are usually the same (G1/2"?) thread on ends. Hose must match rail. Hose doesn't need to match mixer or shower outlet. Colour tone difference between 'chrome' and 'chrome' may annoy you.

Not all but many are interchangeable

When I was going through the same trauma, I ended up sticking to Geberit and Hansgrohe. No imagination.

Its a systems thing - you squeeze it in one place and it pops out in another. People have gone from thinking now is a good time to start to thinking that now is not a good time to start, probably loads of reasons. Materials shortages, sky high labour costs, spent the money we saved in lockdown, this new normal way of working from a remodeled home is perhaps not all it could be, 'what they want me to back to the office' - what's the point of remodeling, too much hassle. Upsides are: the planners have more time to look at and process applications, the sky high prices will drop as less work about, the material shortage will go away as less demand, oh and commuting was not so bad after all. So relax just put your application in and keep on keeping on.

70mm studs. Yes, those are the fixings. They used a nailgun for the studs.

@SuperJohnG don't over think it bud, it's easy. I used Intello products. I used the intello plus membrane with the tescon vana tape. They do a double sided tape too. I ran strips of that along the wall near top, middle, bottom so it would hold the membrane temporarily. Then used the tescon to seal it to ceiling, floor, windows etc. By time you've done that it effectively takes the weight. I would then batten the wall so it pins the membrane in place. A couple of times on sloped Ceiling and one wall I didn't batten straight away and the membrane sagged which was a bit of a pain to re-tension. I used orcan f in joins such as membrane to concrete slab, not really for that but I used it that way. Around joists, studs etc its a pain. Just a case of suck it up and use lots of tape. Don't underestimate how much tape you will use, I think your build is a similar size to me and I think I used over two full boxes (think its 20 to a box iirc). Try and source it all from Germany, it's far cheaper, they stopped exporting to UK just after Brexit, not sure if they have resumed? If they haven't I would almost say it's worth a trip to Germany as I think there's a couple of thousand in savings to be made potentially.

5.5

We put together an itemised list and got the architect to sign it off. That and the provisional SAP assessment was all they needed. Everything else was standard, three months bank statements, pay slips etc etc.

The heat loss from a window is the u-value. The heat you get into the room from the sun is the g-value and a low g-value reduces the amount of solar gain. You want something with a low u-value (to reduce heat loss) and a higher g-value (to increase solar gain). The third figure is the Tv value which is the amount of light (think bright room) that gets in. With a lot of glazing this isn't an issue. It's a balancing act. Here are some examples (they will vary from company to company so using them as a guide only): Glass type and designation Structure G Ƭv U (mm) [mm] [-] [W/m2 K)] Single glazing 4 0,87 0,90 5,8 Double glazing 4/ZR/4 0,78 0,82 2,7 Triple glazing 4/ZR/4/ZR/4 0,67 0,72 1,9 Double heat protection glass, coated 4/ZR-AR/b4 0,63 0,80 1,1 Triple heat protection glass, coated 4/ZR-AR/4/ZR-AR/b4 0,50 0,71 0,5 SOLAR + triple protection glass coating 4/ZR-AR/4/ZR-AR/b4 0,62 0,73 0,6 Looking at the above if you had standard double glazing you'd have a g-value of 0.78 which would be good for solar gain but that u-value is terrible. It would almost loose heat as fast as it gets it. For standard triple glazing you've a g-value of 0.67 but a poor u-value of only 1.9. The top spec triple glazing with a SOLAR layer has a g-value almost as close at 0.62 which will let almost as much heat enter via solar gain but a very low u-value of 0.6 reducing heat loss considerably. In short I think you're far better off sticking with triple glazing but getting a high g-value (circa 0.6), low u-value (circa 0.6) and using the internal doors in summer to stop the house overheating.

Didn't think you would be up for that with it not being reassuringly expensive.

An update on this old thread. I was doing a dry run in preparation for my final BC drain test. So I start pressurising the drainage and it is pumping up nicely until it got to about 70mm and then suddenly lost all pressure. I thought I had just blown the water out of a trap so I went round and ran some water down all of them, but still it now would not pressurise. Time for some more investigation. I found it was one of the Impey drains, much as I suspected it is barely fit for purpose. On one of the trays, the bit pictured above with the O ring had popped out under pressure. Push it back and pump it up again and the same happens. This is clearly not going to impress BC if this keeps happening. So I have engineered bodged a solution, a temporary clip that exerts pressure on this part to hold it down. Drains pump up now and hold pressure. In real life, it is not going to blow out under normal operation, but as I feared from over 3 years ago, it might cause issues during a drain pressure test. No I never did get around to contacting Impey for a solution but perhaps now i will.

I'll dunk this Tower 3 port in a bucket of citric acid to de-rust the bolts. I'll strip it apart when done. A few thoughts if you DIY it: I fitted like for like originally, replacing Tower valves with the same. I dicked around replacing micro switches and other components here and there. I used PTFE tape as was on them when I took them off. All the valves leaked over time. I replaced the x2 2 ports and x1 3 port with Honeywell. This time, no PTFE tape just Jet Blue Plus thread sealing compound. Getting the old olives off; a multi tool with bi-metal blade (like hacksaw teeth) is good. The nuts on the Tower valve aren't the same thread as on the Honeywell. I was going to see if I could get away with reusing the Tower nuts/olives on the Honeywell valve...I couldn't even though both valves are for 28mm pipe.

?? Oh, ghostly. Thought you said ghastly...