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Check this out, bit chuffed with this, never used a bender before.

So after a month or so in the house, the time has provided us with an opportunity to reflect on what we have achieved and what if anything, we would change or could have done differently. In truth there is very little if anything that we would change. The rooms flow, the doors open in the right direction and the lights can be switched on and off in the appropriate places. Even the WBS has proven to be a worry that wasn't worth worrying about, as it's position within the hearth is no longer an issue due to it being vented through the back as opposed to the top. Some jobs have been completed such as the down pipes and a few jobs remain outstanding but nothing that has an impact upon our daily lives. One such job is the porch that needs to be slated. Thankfully I still have some financial leverage over those various trades so I know they will return. Our satisfaction I suppose, has to be routed in the preparation work, the research and being a member of this superb forum. None of these elements should be underestimated. Therefore I would like to sign off this blog with a heartfelt thanks to all those who have contributed, not only to my issues over the past couple of years, but to all the other threads, as they too are just as relevant / enlightening. I have also attached some images which complete the project, namely the WBS chimney installation and the erection of the much mentioned porch. For a final time, thanks for reading, and given the date, seasons greetings to you all. Paul.

Have you asked him why ..? And how about offering to pay the supplier invoices direct to manage the cash flow. Also means you’re the owner of the goods outright.

Today we had a a giggle. We had Sharps out. We asked them to come up with a walk in wardrobe/fitted furniture for our dressing room which is accessed from our pocket doors in our bedroom. We were hoping to get some inspiration and use it as a starting point for ideas. We just asked for it to be open (knowing this would be the cheapest pricing) and maximise space. Completely uninspiring design, no suggestions, no creativity. So who wants to hazard a guess at pricing. The wall with the wardrobes on is around 3.7m and the wall with the shelves and draws is 4.5m. He didn't even attempt to put something in under the window along the right hand side because it seemed there was no specific configuration of units that would work from his book of units. Completely useless... So come on who wants to guess how much this creation would be?

Essential that payments are tied to completed stages as shown in your revised payment schedule. One BuildHubber got caught out paying the builder a monthly appearance fee. I would just caution about your relative percentages for the stages, in general for a whole house build a water tight shell is just a little over the halfway point whereas with your budget you have paid out 70% at this point.

Some builders merchants may also be prepared to give you an off the record comment on your builder.

If you want/need to help with his cash flow the best thing to do is buy materials like the concrete in your name for delivery to your site. We did this for some windows. Make sure he is happy with the price you are paying before ordering because you're going to deduct that from the next stage payment.

I've been told the same but was hoping to do it as a slab in one pour as it will be quicker and easier for me to do....ive never layed bricks either.

Sorry but I wouldn’t be paying anything upfront, we went with a small builder and we bought all the materials, we didn’t pay anything until the foundations were in and blocked up to floor level, after all he will be paying his men in arrears so no need for money upfront, he will also have an account at his builders merchant which will be invoiced at the end of the month. You just hear so many horror stories!

You might consider linking some to sign off by Building Control. Groundworks - Foundations and drains completed and approved by Building Control. Walls - Completed to roof level and approved by Building Control Roof - Structure complete and tiled and approved by Building Control. Completion etc

Yes! The quote from Sharps was more than we paid for our ex display kitchen - with 7 Siemens appliances......

If you really hate this aspect of building you could pay a Quantity Surveyor to take over the task. You could ask him to visit each month to value the work done and tell you how much to pay the builder that month or some similar schedule. He would ensure your payments went getting too far ahead or behind. The down side is they aren't cheap. Might add 10% to the build cost.

liquid, quick drying Gypsum based screed- not cheap £1600 approx. If you can, put as much PIR into the ground as you can afford, i could only only afford 100mm, most pewople recommend 150mm as a minimum.

Also I was planning on 2 course of engineering bricks around the bottom edge to raise the timber wall away from the ground a little

It is warm moist air getting in from the house. Probably no vapourcheck at ceiling level and maybe holes for lights etc. Is the top of the wall cavity closed off? Often have plasterboard on dabs letting air in from below.

There are many different roof build ups, but I am used to seeing sarking boards with gaps to let moisture out of the roof. Is there any ventilation in the roof space? Or a VCL layer below it?

then keep checking that the materials are provided and delivered to site, and watch out for any delays in procurement.

Don’t panic, does it dry out again during the following day? I think yes. I dint like it dripping on the solar inverter, fix something above it to divert the drips and may as well protect the ply boards and switch too. to eliminate solar, is it happening on both sides of the roof? Are they leaving the loft trap ajar?

Can anybody hazard an estimate of the difference in cost for this if you have to pay labour & materials v a standard setup? Also, what are the main benefits? I can imagine what a lash this would look like with the average site plumber!

I bought stuff from this place and then had the builder's joiner fit it. https://www.diyhomefit.co.uk It was still crazy expensive compared to Ikea, but about half the price of Sharp's I price up the cabinetry and it was around 2750, we paid around 1500 to fit a couple more units nd they all had doors as well as a pelmet and so on. So you could probably get it all done for £4000ish. If you can make the Ikea units fit they are crazy cheap.

No idea who’s told you a 150mm slab is too thin but they don’t know what they are talking about ..!! There are houses on here built on less ..! If you want an insulated slab then you need to work out how to finish the sides of the insulation - with a 50mm insulation upstand you could put the walls over this and run the cladding down lower but you will need to find a way of finishing below ground (cement board may work) as timber will rot. Have you sketched any plans ..? And what’s the insulation going in the walls ..??

We don't have anything like that in NI.

Something to check... Is the CIL mentioned in the Planning Grant and if so has it been paid? If not be aware that you probably can't claim the exemption because work has started.

Got an office in Newton Abbot and do cover the south west so may be worth a try

For you I’ll do it for £59.50 as they are a doddle ..! They need a good set of eyes to see the terminals and a small screwdriver so I tend to make them up on the kitchen table with some tails on and use Wagos to connect them. Make a power fly lead using a plug and you can test and programme on the bench first as they keep their memory for ages. The main issue I found was getting it to recognize on the phone app, so use an Android tablet or laptop - also worth adding your phone hotspot as a secondary internet provider so if you lose the internet signal you can still access the unit. Monitoring is good too - I’ve got a couple (one is a 1PM with the sensor header) and it gives me the outputs of the sensors over a period of time and you can download the data too. Nice touch is the override switch - if you go for a retractive switch it means it can never be left “On” and lock out the controls from the app or the timer.

Jack o board. Marmox.

Good point, weatherproofing collar and flashing kit will be hard to re-use with any confidence

The velux will be fixed to the old battens so it's going to have to come out anyway. It's just up to you if you want to put in a new one. How old is it?? I would reuse the tiles if they are in good condition and put the £700 towards the new velux window.

If there are a fair few tiles that need replacing I would renew the lot as the new ones will not match and the old ones are probably past their useful life. With Velux if they are OK and a current size you could leave. If not, replace. Easy for me to say as it is your money.

If the plan is to build basic and upgrade later, get the basics of the build right, decent insulation and air tightness and go for a basic finish that you can improve on later. Another popular plan is only complete the downstairs initially but get the structure of the building built for the rooms upstairs but leave them to do later. My neighbour did that building a 1 bedroom bungalow initially and adding 3 upstairs bedrooms and another bathroom later.

Teaser....................... Me and Mrs W just played a game with by not scrolling down until we had guessed!! Anyway - between £9.5 & £13k ?

£8k

Yes, new information. Those loops will have filled with air. It is very bad practice to feed a room above the manifold as even if it works to start with, it will collect every air bubble in the system. A manual hose pipe purge will get it working but you really want to insert an air bleed point in the loop at it's highest point which might not be a trivial task. Can you post a picture of your manifold?

Beautiful home. Well done

It may well have done but I had some airtight tape left over so I used it. I had MDF left over as well hence they are made of MDF and not ply, we’ll see what happens. Thanks for the offer of the old light fittings as inspection thingies, a great idea, I won’t need them however as the fronts come off with a few flicks of levers for inspection/cleaning. The fronts are sealed with closed cell foam, I’m guessing that’ll be as close to airtight as I’ll need. (They’re still not fitted properly yet)

Ageee 100% with btpipe. Never missed a episode of grand designs or any other build program, had the magazine subscription even flew down to London for various shows before build started...... now they just annoy me.

Hi @WWilts - Perhaps you do need to explore possible "turnkey" routes or as you say, employ a Builder who will take on that responsibility too. Your build doesn't sound as if it really needs a PM on board - It sounds as if your circumstances are making you feel you need one. The things you list such as drawings, quantity estimates / programme of works and even a contract can all be sorted / sourced individually by yourself. I'm sure if you asked for the collectives experiences on these matters, then you may find yourself emboldened to undertake them yourself. If that is all you are looking for from a PM, then I would suggest you don't need one. Take a look at my blog - you will see that although I was on site the majority of the time my duties amounted to no more than making decisions, sourcing materials and sweeping up. No PM employed - just me and I am no different to anyone else undertaking a self build of the nature you describe. Good luck.

You will need to up that insulation level as 100mm is a very low spec and in keeping with the time your foundation was put in, you need to allow at least 150mm plus 50-80mm of screed depending on type of screed, then finish floor. So that means your finished floor will be 250mm higher than the concrete you have in your pics.

A ‘minor material’ amendment as the OP mentioned is different to a ‘non-material’ amendment as you mentioned.

Been v busy - it's a bank holiday and I'm shielding. Will look soon.

@tanneja I will be using the restrictor rings for balancing and they will require cutting, I'll also be using air valves that have a small amount of adjustment on them as well. It's not commissioned yet for several reasons, not least of which is that there is no power up there yet. The front face of the home made silencers will be screwed on and then taped so if I do need access at a later date (bound to!) then I'll just have to cut the tape and undo the screws and the silencer will be removable, in fact everything will be easily removable should the need arise.

These? [£5.97 27% OFF]10pcs RC-33 Wired Door Window Sensor Magnetic Switch for Home Alarm System Security & Surveillance from Security & Protection on banggood https://banggood.app.link/VsgsXSZZHcb

I've not much to add here but sounds like you're having a pisser after you've had to sack the builder. Build looks good so far, liking the L shaped skylights I have a few of those on ours too and also I'm in East Ayrshire. Good luck.

A photo will tell 1000 words

I've ordered some Corefix but I have to pop to Huws Gray tomorrow so I'll see if they have any in there. Our TV came into stock at Argos this afternoon so we have it marked and ready to hang tomorrow all being well on getting tht right fittings.

*still waiting in anticipation* ?

Do it yourself. Save a fortune and you will get it done the way you want. Note: I am a project manager.... it’s not rocket science

Frankly I had not heard of corfix so looked it up, I am impressed........https://www.corefixed.com

Don't you just produce Gantt charts, have a meeting to discuss progress, then change them to suit...then have another meeting? ?