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Now the expensive bit begins. 10 weeks from submission is pretty good i think.

They are joints between plasterboard sheets opening up. Nothing to worry about. Sadly this is largely avoidable if only the builders had a bit of care or knowledge. When boarding around a window or door opening, don't run a sheet down the wall in line with the opening, cut a sheet around the opening so the next joint is not in line with it. Very unlikely to get a crack then. but that takes just a little more time and might waste just a little plasterboard and mass market builders don't want to do either of those.

I will answer, but bear in mind the way I operate is VERY different to most sole traders for a variety of reasons. For a start I charge by the hour, not by the day. I might work full days from time to time but it is VERY rare for me to work a full week. If you work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week on site, you will in fact be "working" a LOT more than 40 hours in that week. Materials to order and possibly collect, jobs to look at and price up, even the time you spend on the jobs you don't get, so you spend time preparing quotes and estimates, for NO RETURN. and you have to travel to get there so it has cost you money for no return. Then you have to prepare and send your invoices, check payments, do at least some of your accounting yourself (I do all mine) You have to maintain your tools, your vehicle, get it serviced, MOT'd, repaired when it needs it etc. This is all time you spend on the business that you get no income for. I recon as a rough rule for every hour I spend on a customers site working and being paid to work, I spend 2 hours in total on the business. So for a start halve the hourly rate you are getting paid for being on site doing a job to get the hourly rate you get paid for "working" Then there are a whole tranche of costs to deduct, various insurances, vehicle, tools, professional qualifications, membership of professional bodies to name a few. And after all that has gone in the melting pot to work out your profit, the tax man takes his share. So your guy working 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year for his "mega money" will probably be actually working 60 or more hours a week (i.e. a lot longer than a 9-5 employee) and will probably only be "earning" half what you think. Someone prepared to work very long hours like that bloody well deserves to earn "mega money" This is where my business differs to most. I have been self employed for 20 years since leaving "proper employment" and at that point we were mortgage free for the first time and had money invested in buy to let, so self employment for me was something to do, but no need to earn mega money, indeed I don't want to. So I have for the last 20 years been very much a part time worker, earning just enough to pay the bills and have more time to do stuff for me. And as I get closer to retirement, I am working less and less.

I've enjoyed reading the various reactions, and understand the range of views. We've called a meeting with Dan, and his office manager/finance person, for later this week to discuss exactly how the costs incurred on this stage compare to the very detailed quote he gave us - the costs are being tracked against the original quote, which was the 'target price' set out in the contract - so that we can see if labour costs are coming in higher than expected. HWMBO said that if the costs being incurred are in line with the quote, then he doesn't favour kicking off about idling about on site. I agree that after having examined the original quote very thoroughly indeed, line by line, we did feel that it was representative of an acceptable pace of work and therefore if they are on track with that we should accept that there isn't a significant degree of piss taking going on. However, the heater is now off, and staying off. When they returned to site this morning, I heard one of them comment that the workshop was colder inside than the outside temperature. Perhaps that will encourage them to hang out in there less. They are battening the outside of the house at the moment, ready for the renderboard to go up. I wonder if anyone has a view on how long it should take three men to batten the outside of a house that is 230m2? It's a simple rectangle - 11m by 8.7m. They've been at it for 5 whole days now, and I'm still wondering if they should have finished by now... The electricity bill is the subject of a separate email in which we very strongly made the point about how shocking and upsetting it was to see use of electricity at 58kWh per day (for the 70 working days on site that the bill covered), and that this demonstrated a failure to exercise proper stewardship of our resources. We have asked him to pay towards the bill, and will see what he comes back with about that. @Jilly we also made the point that this represented almost 100% of our anticipated annual electricity use for our entire house, AND that given that this is meant to be an environmentally conscious build of a low energy house, it is especially galling to see such shocking energy waste. I suspect he will offer us something, as this is an important project for him. Very much appreciate all of your kind and thoughful replies. Here is a picture of our house, for your enjoyment, with Milo the whippet for scale M

I keep on getting similar stuff asking me to look my memories from 3,4,5,.... years ago. My recollection say different which is why I hate both google photos and MS Onedrive...

You might notice some inconsistencies between the elevations, we have been playing with combinations of Render, cedral cladding in a choice of 2 colours and brick. Will put the internal up later although they are here somewhere from when i was asking about MVHR options.

@joe90Thanks. The old existing garage which is block and render was pretty watertight and not too noticeably cold (no insulation) until recently when the roof started leaking, however it is now over 40 years old so no surprise. That is partly why we are thinking of the same opposed to steel, although without the flat roof! I'm presuming the architect will factor building regs in, wouldn't he? I haven't instructed him further since our last meeting and we need to start getting on with this soon as want started before house plans move forward. We know nothing about building and this kind of thing so quite a learning curve and wonder what on earth we are doing!!!!

Presumably you could do similar with WC pans and soil pipe runs?

the overarching point is that this is nothing to worry about. Wait till the house has gone through a bit more weather changes, then poly filla and repaint.

It always amuses me to read posts like this - the old chestnut about architects and architectural consultants - and architects getting a hammering yet again! Try reversing the argument with the architect with 30 years of experience and the architectural technician fresh out of college doing a few “homers” in his bedroom at night knocking out a plan for a couple of hundred quid and most likely without PII. I know who I’d rather employ. Had a conversation with a colleague recently who employed his friend - an “architectural consultant” to help him do the plans and engage a builder. Completely forgot about CDM and a suitable contract and has now turned off his phone. Great friend. Give me a break!!!

So, to break it down a little, I've totted up what a basic one man band tradesperson non vat registered might just spend on a monthly basis, with some assumptions. These are the kinds of costs involved which obviously aren't exhaustive - e.g. no tools/plant/equipment/premises costs as that can be a bit more complex - but representative. You'll see that the total below is just under 1.5 weeks work per month for the basics at £200 per day so essentially after these costs it's a mere 31k/pa, minus tax and NI and to cover any sick leave. The other important thing to consider is cash flow. For example, for February, my expenditure is 3x my revenue due to work on a large project where I supply all materials and which has only just been invoiced - there's a significant cost associated with this which is so often overlooked by newbie business people, especially if and when customers are slow to pay up - this is why so many young businesses fail in the 1st 18 months! In terms of estimating/quoting, I've recently spent several half to full days working things out because they're for large whole house heating system replacements that whether I like it or not require at least basic whole house heat loss calcs which I then caveat with a full calc included if they accept the quote. I'd say I spend at least 3-4 days per month just doing basic pricing work. And today, my afternoon was blown out because one customer wasn't there when I arrived for an appointment and then it took me 1.5hours just to get across town to pick up some bits for a job on Friday (To save time I mostly use a supplier that delivers directly to site either morning or afternoon provided I order before midnight or midday, but they didn't have the specific bits I needed) Some basic monthly costs: Accounting software 25 Customer Management app 25 professional insurance 35 professional registration 15 advertising 80 website 15 van 600 vehicle tax 12 fuel 300 accountant 50 equipment calibration 15 tyres 30 checkatrade 50 van insurance 40 bank transations costs 42 clothing 25 phone 35 IT 50 1444

Your big issue will be electrics. A bathroom cannot have a socket within 3 metres of the bath. It sounds like your room is not big enough for that. This was an issue for me once where a customer put a shower in the corner of a bedroom. It was just, and only just, possible to put a double socket in the opposite corner of the room to the shower, which of course was not where he wanted sockets to be.

You could also just feed a HW tap direct into a drain and then you'd get through the HW a lot or you could ask what your objective are here and modify behaviours accordingly to minimise costs whilst maintaining those objectives. In terms of our DW and WM, these are both cold-fill and have timer functions in-built so 90+% of the these go on overnight to use cheap rate electricity. My aim in having a shower is to get clean, quickly and efficiently. All of this COVID focus on the "right way" to hand-wash reminded me that the three most effective components in removing microbes, dead skin, sweat and dirt are (i) soap solution on skin, (ii) contact time, and (iii) mechanical friction. A high-flow volume doesn't really help here, as this buggers up (i) and (ii). So my strategy is to do a quick wet down (say ~10s), then a full body lather and rub down for at least 60s, then a quick rinse and blade off to remove 99% of the soap and then a final rinse off. Our showers have a 8 L/min click-stop and I probably have under a min flow under this stop limit. We have ~2bar head at normal flow rates so unstopped we get maybe 15-20 L/min but I find I need maybe 30 sec final rinse-off to come out spotless and soap-free, so perhaps 15-20L in total for the shower. Maybe this might seem a bizarre behaviour to most members, but all I can suggest is that I come out of the shower cleaner than if I'd just stood under it for 3-5min @ 20L/min, so I view this latter as pouring money down the drain for no benefit. Or just call me boring old Mr Pompous. 🤣

No. Waste of time and tape

I can do this with the standard Hitachi ASHP controller, provided the times for price boundaries are known. I use the flow temp compensation and variable circulator speed options. Set timer to raise room temp by e.g. 2 degrees and flow temp will boost, so will flow rate. Set timer to reduced room temp and either the system powers off or reduced flow temp and rate. Depends on the delta temperature. I use this scheme when the external temperature is above freezing. When colder my system efficiency drops quickly so I leave the room set to a constant temperature, however the compensation control will still adjust flow to optimise for the load. I am about to get a smart meter fitted and will switch to octopus intelligent soon after. My simulation suggest I will save about 25% on the bill with a few timer and behaviour changes, even allowing for a 10% increase in electrical consumption due to running less efficiently overall.

The merchants are there to supply the trades who pass the cost on to the customer. Convenience is their main selling point, almost always dearer than online.

You're the one who wanted 900 litres of stored hot water. 😉 A more reasonable option might indeed be something like: - 7 kW Arotherm (still turns down low enough to do your space heating; but offers a usefully higher output to the DHW reheat) https://www.vaillant.co.uk/for-installers/products/arotherm-plus-7kw-146561.html https://www.theheatpumpwarehouse.co.uk/shop/heat-pumps/air-source-heat-pumps/vaillant-arotherm-plus-7kw/ - An off the shelf 500 litre cylinder from Telfords (which at 710 x 1850 isn't stupidly big; and at 3.3 m2 has a coil just about big enough for the 7kW Arotherm) https://www.cylinders2go.co.uk/shop/renewable-energy/500-litre-telford-tempest-heat-pump-cylinder-twin-immersion/ - A direct electric backup heater for that odd occasion when it's actually cold outside (and your heat pump is busy doing nothing but space heat) or you otherwise need to refill that 500 litre cylinder in doubletime https://www.cylinders2go.co.uk/shop/stainless-steel-unvented-cylinders/indirect-unvented-stainless-steel-cylinders/telford-tempest-500-litre-stainless-steel-indirect-unvented-cylinder-fitted-with-2-x-6kw-titanium-immersions/ (I'd ask Telfords to do you a heat pump type cylinder with the big coil and 2x 6 kW immersions - expect plenty of change from £2k) Overall cost not too silly. It's a fairly standard heat pump (for an existing old stock building) with a slightly larger but not in the least bit complex cylinder. Idiot proof. 🙂

If it really is a garage, nicely pointed blockwork and a coat of masonry paint will be cheap, clean and hard wearing. Only if it needs to be something other than a garage would I waste time boarding it with anything.

Yes a Combi boiler and a combi-nation of components

Fb isn’t fibbing for me of course !!

Cut my Sampson locks of yesterday. All part of my energy saving regime.

Electrics 2nd fit, Gas, UVC must be done by a certified professional. Some trades require a lot of skill / learning curve so it just isn't worth trying to do then yourself unless you are "in the trade": plastering, slating, bricklaying, precision concrete work, etc. In our case we use a local builder to do our groundworks: we had to drop the entire site by ~ 0.6m to get the headrooms we wanted and maintain ridgelines; that was a lot of 40 tonners of subsoil to dump. (Luckily a farmer in the village was culverting a stream that ran alongside his yard and happily took it all.) He also did the drainage, stone skin and other outside work. We use MBC for the TF, warmSlab, insulation and air tightness. We used some of our builder's preferred tradesman subbies: electrician, tiler, slater, plastering. MBC's structural engineer did all of the structural calcs and worksheets. Internorm did our fenestration. We pretty much did the rest ourselves: Overall architectural concept, but an architect technician (AT) did all of the initial AutoCAD drawing for Planning Applications; these were passed to MBC's TA for the basis of the build drawing sets. Overall project managed, planning submissions, procurement. I was recently retired and had done some (IT) PM professionally, so we were comfortable taking these on. Thermal specification and design; heating implementation (less 240V electrics), home automation. All joinery / woodworking including fitting a custom staircase spanning 3 stories. Used to be an occasional hobby, and I was a lot more comfortable with my standard quality of work than that of my builder's preferred chippie. Fitting kitchen and all sanitaryware. All plumbing, and MVHR, both design and implementation. Also external rainwater and weather proofing. Decorating (though used / paid a nephew who does this professionally for a lot of this). Jan used to run a custom-made curtains business, so she did all of our window hangings. (i) This saved a shed load of money -- maybe 40% of what the build would have cost us if we had subbed out these. (ii) We had far better over design and implementation cohesion and quality because we could consider the issues end-to-end and were motivated to achieve a standard that we wanted to live in. However you need to be realistic: What are your own skills / aptitude experience? For example Project Managers and Architects charge a lot because the work is skilled and time consuming. Doing these functions yourself can save maybe 20% of the total build costs, but you have to be totally honest about your own skill levels here because you doing them badly could end up costing you a lot more. BRegs impose certain requirement v.v. certification and those are primarily triggered by safety / risk issues. e.g you cannot do electrical installation because the Regs mandate that it is inspected and certified by a registered qualified electrician. So even though I have rewired my previous house to the then Regs, it was a lot easier to subcontract this all out to a known and competent sparky. However some here have done the first fit themselves and used an electrician for second-fit and certification. We used an approved private BInsp rather than the LEA inspector, slightly more expensive but better overall because the Inspector was more customer focused, whilst still enforcing the regulations, but we found we could discuss issues with him and he occasionally made excellent suggestion of an implementation approach that would still comply with the regs. For example, I still had to submit and self certify all the required design and test documentation for things my MVHR, foul and potable water (including why my system was exempt from relevant the Part G HW safety thresholds.) I did the SAP-as-designed calcs myself. This was a mistake in retrospect, because the as-build calcs must be registered by a certified practitioner. All of our local SAP firms would only quote for a job lot and weren't interested because I'd done the as-designed myself. Luckily I found a company that was more flexible and were willing to do the as-built submission, but TBH, it probably cost just as much in the end. Time is money for other trades, so you holding the work up is going to lose goodwill and prove costly. We always made sure to have any prep work that we were responsible for completed before it was required. We were helped because our TF + fenestration was erected and weather proof in under a couple of weeks. After that we were largely responsible for all internals at our pace and the builder could get on with the externals. This made the interfaces straightforward and stress-free.

Took me 5 yrs to get planning - so you’ve been a bit quicker . Question is now can you build it quicker than me ? . Funnily enough Facebook showed me a photo today of when I broke ground - it said “ 10 years ago today “ ; which is of course a lie .

As replies above, WC in theory should reduce bills a little as the lower temperature the heat pump can operate, the higher will be the COP. but it willmean the heat pump will be running for longer or even 24/7. It would be interesting from one of the people that has implemented it, if anyone has been able to quantify the sort of savings they have observed compared to constant temperature.

depends how much energy and time you want to expend, you could get someone (surveyor so his report is recognised by the court) to list all the stuff thats wrong. Get it quoted by someone, preferably two other builders. Ask the original guy to make good in line with surveyors report, work to be inspected prior to completion. If at this point you get radio silence then its off to small claims. very very simple process.

That was very decent of you, I would remind Dan of this facility, and incorporate the words, "fair use" into the conversation. This is a policy often used in holiday rentals for electric and free Wifi and all sorts, and it is just for these situation - I think you work out (I am happy to help you do a load analysis and work out a fair kWh per day rate) rate that they can use it, anything over that they must pay you for the electricity. That might solve things, if not, at least you get paid. Let me assume you have a 2kW heater in there, if it was on for even 3 hours a day that would be 6kWh a day, so 168kWh - I think that could easily be halved for a non work-shy workforce, but leave it at that. Then there might be kettle boiling. If the kettle boils for over 1 hour a day then you need to start talking, so another 62kWh a month, running total: 248kW. Then I assume tool usage, this is a bit of a variable and I don't know what tools, if just charging power tools and the odd bit of corded saw or drill use - tops 2kWh a day, so another 62. Total: 310kWh a month. I think that is fair - they they are running a power tool a lot that is a heavy consumer, then maybe add a little more. What is that £100-125 a month depending on your tariff. The good news is, as they are your facilities you can configure the heating to suit if you need to. Are you far from site?

In general WC allows the lowest supply temp, as heat loss equal to heat supply. Needs a mind set change as heating is on 24/7, limited use of thermostats

A 50kW gas combi could perhaps get to 18l/min of 50°C water, so blended down to 38°C could get you to perhaps 25l/min. With just 2 you'd still be +30l/min below your target. I'd suggest it's not reasonably practical to meet your unusual requirement with an ASHP, so go with Gas.

Think reducing water consumption will have a bigger impact on the planet than going all electric.

All of the groundwork for my site has been done without a welfare hut. He has one and would have used if it was peeing down all day. It’s freezing up here too. The kit erection team don’t need one just a loo and the trades for the rest of the build have also said they don’t need one. In fact one of the guys said that if you make the site too comfortable folk get lazy.

Does it mention welfare facilities? What if, for example, they had an electric van, and were charging it up, even at the normal 13A plug lead at 3kW solid all day? A line must be drawn in the sand. I think power for a build and power for heating the welfare cabin could be deemed quite different.

Yes the gender thing can be a challenge as my other half has found and she’s pretty tough. She in sales so has a way about her that wins people over. If you are direct with people but stay reasonable I found it works better.

Some? Some? Phhhh. It works 'tother way round too. Try having your evidence based opinion accepted as valid when you're a male Early Years Specialist.

some heat pump cylinders do not need a separate ufh manifold pump, seen a couple installed.

As it’s over 30 sq m you need building regs!. My current workshop/garage is 7.5m x 10m, no insulation in the floor or block walls, roof is steel on battens with membrane over trusses and suffer no condensation despite no insulation. Yes it’s cold in winter but perfectly dry.

All depends on what the mass flow rate to building volume is and by how much you drop the temperature. Just physics. I have often wondered why we don't fit larger diameter MVHR ducts. Be nice if the MVHR units, which is basically always running, could also supply heating or cooling for 90% of the year.

Little bit less than my old diesel, but currently cheaper to run. You seem to have a Dormer in the way. Be quick as the scaffolding is up and the modules in place.

BIG POINT from George.. Use strong boys with great caution! The below is not how it should be done.. I stopped this job.. and went for emergency dead propping just to stop it falling down. The props and strongboys you see are not just holding up the outer skin of masonry but the inner leaf which supports the roof and also the first floor joists were spanning onto the inner leaf. The bottom of the props are sitting on the patio slabs.. I had investigated the ground and the soil below the slabs was as soft as putty. Designed a full propping / wind bracing scheme for the slapping including diagonal wind bracing and the internal propping to hold up the inner floor. Client engaged builder off their own back as they were the cheepest. Builder ignored it all (my proping design) and went for the above. I was actually surprised that the building had not fallen down / cracket to bits by the time I got there. Note the "juanty prop" second from the right.. and the STRONG BOYS rated at 340 kg as @George When I challenged the tosser builder he said.. I'm insured! Very glad to say no one got hurt.

That's a lot of tough questions! Ok my thoughts. Well you are at least 1.0m away from the boundary so that eases the fire boundary conditions which opens up the opportunity for a light weight cold formed steel frame or a hot rolled steel frame. Next is your budget and your expectations. A lot of folk think a garage should be like a house.. yes it needs to stay up as long as a house and be safe but in the main it's an unheated building and not occupied.. I'll come to the cars in terms of keeping them bonish dry in a bit which is different. Assuming the garage is 8.0m wide and 12.0m long then it becomes hard to make modest masonry work without piers, wind posts and so on. Much also depends on your eaves and ridge height.. that is a big driver. My first thoughts.. you have cars so maybe have practical skills so would be comfortable around a hot rolled steel portal frame and an attention to detail.. be able to measure! Two gable frames with a central frame, purlins between. Floor slab.. well you can do what is sometimes called a tied pad found for these small buildings.. here the DPC / DPM is not continuous but if you treat this as a workshop / garage, pour and compact the concrete well then to all intents and purposes the concrete is waterproof.. that is where the savings lie for example! A tied pad found has a slab that has the pads under the columns cast at the same time. Best thing to do is to post some sketches of what you are thinking about and we'll all chip in. If you are storing classic cars then you really have to stop dripping condensation from the roof. Normally we use a default of 40mm PIR on the roof in an unheated building. Depends on your location but if more up North or say in Linconshire the maybe 60mm PIR is a safer bet. In the round though need a bit more info to contribute constructively. Things that would help.. eaves height and what temperature you want to store the cars and work in when you have time off. Then we can play.. what about an engine lift / hoist?

I wouldn't get too upset, as most trades know little or nothing about airtightness, in fairness. To solve this, all you need is a squirt of Illbruck 330 foam and it's job done 10 minute fix.

I asked my builder why he didn't have any sockets in his site van for a heater or kettle and he told me he didn't want his trades sitting around. He said they can sit in their cars if they are cold. I learned a lot from him. He also put a lot of effort into ensuring trades never had to go of site to get materials. Every day before closing up he asked everyone what was needed for the next day and personally went to buy it on the way home if necessary. He said if you let trades go and get stuff they will be gone hours on your time.

One physical inverter can still be 3 Phase. I am sure it has been mentioned about putting the most effective (probably south the facing ones) onto the house phases that gets used the most during the day i.e. washing machine, hob, cooker, DHW, HP or car charger. It would probably take a half decent electrician 20 minutes to work out which phase has what on it, the rest of us maybe half an hour. Usually just a case of looking closely at the consumer unit.

Nicely done and super quick, now the fun, stress, fear, and craziness begins.

Either Toupret or Alabastine filler are fine

Get a lock up, and start filling with the expensive stuff, when you see a bargain. I bought the full heating, ventilation, solar PV system well before I started, all bought in the pre lockdown sales in March 2020. Our planning came through in September 2020.

Try a steel portal made of lightweight steel, rolled galvanised sections as the primary steel. @Gus Potteris a bit of an expert on them. I used the principle only once, and found that the saving in structure cost was equalled out by extra labour. But that was with a super steel erecting team. For DIY or just a builder that could change because it is all more manageable. If you need it to be heavily insulated then perhaps icf. If it needs solid walls then trad or icf. For cheapest use timber shed type, but won't last so long and not very high. For best value open space, with height: steel throughout.

Douglas Fir is fine for post and beam. Glulam is not as nice looking. I would be doing something like this: https://ibb.co/5TLVKt7

Icf blocks. Single storey rectangular build with one or two opening will be the easiest thing to build going. You could get the blocks up in two/three days with two of you. Then concrete pour. Roof trusses with a raised cross tie for extra head room, will be very thermally efficient and good airtightness. Render outside, 18mm ply on the walls inside and then pink plasterboard. Will make the nicest workshop you’ve ever had.

No need to cover entire area, would be a pain to level and pallets not rocking. Whole or part slabs stacked to support corners of pallets would work well

get a grinder and cut it out, looks totally pointless.