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You need to build it to comply with building regs, I don’t care about your planning, but for future use if you allow anybody to sleep in it and you have a fire and somebody is hurt they will crucify you. what if after the build you want to chuck it on air b+b, it will need to have a fire safety plan to let it. doing it right will not cost much more and you will end up with a usable building, doing it on the cheap I bet two or three years after you move out it will be scrap. have you looked at the timber cabins and add more insulation and stuff. I agree about renting £25 grand down the drain build something that will be useful. will the house have a big garage. how about a big triple garage with granny flat above, build that first and it’s there forever.

If the septic is in good order and not leaching out and the soak away is functioning you will probably be OK. Septics must discharge into a drainage field and not any form of ditch or waterway. The rules you have to follow are the General Binding Rules set out by the Environment Agency. If the septic is an old brick one then it is likely it may be leaching out. They don’t last forever. Drainage fields (soak away) do not last for ever either. They clog with fine silt especially if the septic has not been desludged regularly. If this property has been owned by anyone from or remotely connected to the farming community then it will not have been maintained or desludged correctly. They are all determined that septic tanks work by magic and need no maintenance. if you need a new system buy an aeration system that does not have the blower unit mounted in the lid. Do not buy any form of rotating contactor disc or recirculating sludge system. They are crap. You will also need a new drainage field . Budget on £15,000+VAT for the lot, it won’t be much less based on an enquiry I made last year. I have done a couple myself but they were both over 20years ago and on new build and I can’t recall what the overall cost was. One cost a lot more because of the ground water conditions. One had very benign conditions.

I understand you would cut a slot in the mortar bed, clean it out, gun in fresh mortar, dip the tangs of the hanger in the mortar and insert. Masonry hangers don't get nailed down through the top.

Oh dear, that's disappointing. Suggest first sitting down with them to see whether the problem can be resolved. Start off by saying you would prefer not to have a time consuming and expensive conflict. Is it obvious what practical change needs to happen? - cutting slots out for the hinges, for instance? If so, you can discuss how to get that done without breaking the paperwork. The warranties are probaby worthless except to make a mortgage company or later buyer happy, so I would focus on the above - how can the required physical changes be made with them still providing their standard warranty? You can also very subtly hint on the bad reviews you're likely to post ('I would like to be able to post some good reviews') - that means a lot to all businesses these days. p.s. I would definitely hold the final payment until you have a solution at hand and has been implemented. Presumably this could be as simple as a some careful multitool work and (a) agreed in advance and then (b) signed off ... by whoever is installing the veluxes.

Once you go over 4.8m span you're in a different world of cost and difficulty. Stay within standard timber lengths wherever possible.

I have insisted the Vendor get the survey done, I found a local expert that they have appointed. If something needs doing, of course its part of a negotiation. The obligation is on the seller to ensure its fit for purpose, or negotiate something with the buyer. Worst case we can meet in the middle, idealy not as generous as that. We are getting the house for a sensible price, but it was based on the assumption of no significant issues being found.

>>> if i get a positive response and then they go on to actually refuse the application surely that would be outrageous We had two pre-apps: one by the previous owner of the plot. One said simply ‘can we build a 1.5 storey?’ (There was already permission for a single storey.) Answer was ‘yes’. Seems the LPA significantly hardened their attitude over time. The single storey application had a single line in the design & access statement re the relationship to the ‘heritage asset’ farmhouse about 75m away. That was deemed sufficient by the heritage guys. For our later applications, the LPA demanded extensive heritage statements - this is for the same plot. Our 1.5 storey design was thrown out for the reason ‘too big’. This, without explanation of what would be an appropriate size and an extensive analysis by us of all the dwellings in the cluster, some of which are 1.5 storey and an 1.5 application has been approved next door. The second pre-app had our single storey design. This time the LPA didn’t like the idea that the building wasn’t positioned exactly parallel to the road, despite the fact that we explained that this was to ensure minimum south facing exposure for solar gain but maximum effective PV generation through the day. The LPA has a specific policy to support this approach re orientation to the sun. Also there are 4 hotch-potch barns next door with different orientations, heights, shapes, roof slopes etc and we would just be seen as part of this set-up. Many, many months later, the same case officer tells us he wants to approve this same design that he ‘turned down’ at pre-app. Nevertheless, the LPA then argued against this design at appeal with some spurious arguments that the inspector then threw out. So, that’s two flip flops. I’m pretty sure we’ll end up building that design after resubmitting it. This is not pre-app but similar. For our present barn conversion, heritage told the developer ‘knock it down if you want to, it has no heritage value’. The developer ended up converting the existing barn. Trying to get our PD rights re-instated, the LPA argued ‘it was important that they had control, so they could preserve its historic barn-like qualities’. Yeah, right. Note that you are unlikely to get any explanation or apology for any change of in LPA’s view. I think as they know there’s no come back then the LPA’s give the pre-apps to junior people and they spend no time on them at all - they’re probably the least important bit of work they do and a small money earner if they can knock them out quick. The LPAs care not a jot that you may expend considerable resource based on their advice, but are happy to change their mind on a dime without any expectation that they will need to explain or justify their change of opinion. So, I will now always opt for full applications - at least the results of those are ‘material’ (i.e. you can argue the LPA’s present decisions should be consistent with their past ones.) Whereas pre-apps are not. Now I think that there is great randomness and variation between LPAs and even between case officers at the same LPA. So, you can also be lucky or unlucky at the amount of real communication and the veracity of the advice/decisions. That is, pre-apps are a complete crap-shoot random number generator imo.

At this remove, other than offer generalisations, we can't help. I'd plan on removing the tank and replacing it with a treatment plant. Either now or at some point in the future . DIY about £6k, otherwise £10k. Choose the system with the least moving parts. That type uses an air blower(s).

I’ve a good friend who replaces several tanks per month He seems to be around 10k plus vat per tank and additional for upgrading drainage field

Yes definitely get a static caravan as large as you can find. Then spend the time and effort to add external insulation and clad it if you want it to be warmer and look nicer. It will comply with all the rules it has to and be fit for habitation. I don't know the law in Ireland, but in the UK a static caravan comes under a different set of rules to building control. Assuming you have planning for the house build, it should be easy to get permission for the static and do it legally. Alternatively as you are building a house, why not design it so you can build one wing of it first and kit that out to live in while you build the rest? That way all your work is permanent and gets you to a finished house quicker. You can think of outbuildings for holiday use after the main house is built, but do them properly.

Can't comment on price, but assume it needs to be replaced and negotiate a reduction in the purchase price accordingly. This topic comes up all the time, try a search.

Well....it looks to me that the ridge is not touching the horizontal timber, at the end we see anyway. To that extent it is not functioning.....yet. But that results in the rafters not bearing on the steel beam at all, i.e. the steel isn't functioning either...not yet anyway. In life, the rafters will spread out as discussed earlier, and drop. Then they will bear on the timber and steel. I'm saying no more as your advisers have the advantage of seeing the real thing. I'm just concerned that they understand what they are looking at. I would pack mortar between and around the slates as a minimum.

Are you sure? A large static would be so much easier and probably cheaper, and leave you to spend your energies on house building . @ProDave got permission to keep his on site after the build 🤷‍♂️

Felt expensive at the time . But a cheap custom staircase ( that looked very basic ) was coming in around 13k . As underground is open plan I wanted a functional thing that’s always on view to also be eye candy also 😊

But more willing to engage if a draft/proposal has gone through a pre-app process first. I’ve seen a load of cr*p submitted to LPA’s.

See 'doublespeak': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doublespeak George Orwell saw this coming in 1949, clever guy. He told us how it works and we said 'hey, that seeks a good idea'.

FYI these kind of companies often have quotas of various kinds of customer & risk to balance their portfolios. When they have reached the quota of one type, they'll downplay it until the others risks (in terms of monetary volume) have caught up a bit. That way they keep their portfolios how they want them.

I just spoke with them. They are not pulling out, self-build mortgage applications are on hold until October.

We ended up going with Urban Front, it is an amazing door but cost an arm and a leg.

Personally, make sure that all glazing panes are safety glazing at a minimum, no ifs or buts. If the middle is float that is susceptible to breakage and not covered under warranty (thermal stress fractures for example), if the door is slammed shut it could crack and for the sake of a couple of quid. It could save you heartache later (less likely to break if safety glass in the middle).

Yeah, I think this 'we refuse to talk to our customers' thing is just making everything much slower and more resource intensive - for the LPA as well as the applicant. In my case, I've now put in one pre-app (the seller had also put in one), two applications, two appeals, I've just filed my costs with the LPA and I'll submit the original application again on Friday. I'm pretty sure now I'll get to build what I asked for on the pre-app several years ago. If the case officer had read it properly and discusssed it with me for an hour, we could all have saved a couple of years and a lot of resource. This is like doctors refusing to talk to their patients; polititians refusing to talk to their constituents; businesses refusing to talk to their customers (all online businesses?). It's all going to go downhill fast and then someone will discover that a 10 minute chat could avoid work for everyone lasting several years.

Not applied, but have spoken to Hanley Economic. They were very helpful, but would be worth looking at their website as they detail what type of property they'll lend on.....our planning design of timber frame with more that 50% timber cladding did not meet their guidelines.

That steel is a ridge beam supporting the weight of the roof. If you took it away, then the weight of the roof would be supported on the timber rafters which would transfer the load to the walls, but in doing so would push outwards and the rood would spread. Those ties at the top are not enough to stop the roof spreading.

When we did this, to keep the stairs as is we excavated to the edges and then added an insulated upstand to minimise cold bridging to the rest of the floor. Below our stairs is only cupboard space, if we ever clear it out we'll probably add a layer of rigid insulation and a false floor

Something like: Prop up with acrows checking levels. Remove metal shims. 'Shutter' fairly convincingly as the grout is very liquid. Pour - I'm thinking just up to a level a little higher that the bottom of the RSJ. So the RSj is supported without any air bubbles but, to allow thermal expansion of steel, not too enclosed . (Others may have different views.) Check the levels again straight after pouring 😃. When green, remove and trim any flashing etc. Cover with polythene in hot weather? Takes ~1 month to cure to max strength, so resist the desire to load up quickly.

Looks horrible? Compared to (say) the horrible concrete tiles on my roof? I think solar PV on a roof is far far easier on the eye than a monstrous dangeorus polluting noisy SUV / 4x4 obstructing a road, just for one example.

I used 6mm sand coated basalt from Orlimex UK Limited. they supplied in 2.5m lengths then just cut them to length and install an o ring in the middle as a drip. They costed out at 22p each.

Thanks for your reply Alan. I toiled for a week over possible solutions, even trying to make pieces myself out of scrap Zinc they left, before going to the Zinc installer as I am someone who is minded to solve a problem rather than cause agro, but the more I looked at it, the more I can see a bodge-up ensuing. I wish there were an easy fix, I would do that rather than go through what I feel I'm about to have no choice but to endure. Sadly the contractor is not a reasonable man at all, he has lacked empathy and understanding throughout the process that I have had to be fully engaged in, but that isn't fuelling this complaint at all. The poor workmanship I raised in the dispute is isolated and it is only that I need a solution to as I am desperate to get these windows in. His view that his detail is water-tight and meets the VM Zinc guidelines is his defence and in a way he isn't wrong, but in refitting the hinges, the water-tightness will be lost and without a feasible and lasting way to regain. In my view, you cannot take parts off to ease an installation without a view of how those parts will be refitted and, as it stands, he might as well have removed my upstands and zinc'd over the entire openings as, although obviously not a viable answer, at least I'd have been water-tight!

why would it ? It's not in direct contact with soil so as long as cavity remains dry (tray) wil be fine. stick to scribbling.

Yep…..that’ll stop damp coming through the wall!😂😂😂

Agreed. Its a tax, but unlike CIL theres no way of working out the cost unless you pay an ecologist to prepare a BNG matrix. So once they've done this you are told how many 'units' you need to achieve 10% net gain. Units can be bought on the open market from 'registered' landowners. Landowners undertake to improve their land and maintain it for 30 years via s.106 with the LPA. Once you buy the units from the landowner you discharge the condition and your purchase is logged on the register. You all still with me? Units cost around £30,000 on the open market. If you can't or don't buy from the open market the default is to buy 'credits' from UK government. Credits are priced significantly higher than 'Units' to force you to go to buy from the 'open market'. Hard to see how this doesn't slow down planning and increase agricultural land prices.