Susie

National grid free issue duct came in sections for bend and very large coil with no draw string. Openreach duct again free in numerous deliveries with huge amount of draw rope about 500m apx all free. was advised by National grid to use our large compressor but the water guy had a spider for sending the rope through. I was giving perhaps too many cups of tea out in the first days (it was cold and wet) to him and his guys then he realised the job was taking too long so we agreed he would send young lad to house for drinks fine by me but I didn’t see cord go through duct. We just inspected every night how far they had got. When he comes back hopefully next year I might get to see if it’s drier.

Sorry not sure other than it’s blue and the tail ends shouldn’t be left in the sun. no mention on the quote only a few months ago but my head has moved on 😂

@Furnace one trench , each in own duct, Openreach and electric provided the ducting, open reach also provided pull cord and cable. Duct for water was optional we chose to use one as stoneground. Were actually not fully connected up yet the trench from the road which will only have water in it will not be done until near the end of build. From the road it passes a pole from which the electricity and bt start this is the section we have done but not as far as build. The final stretch will be from temp electric to new build once built. So it’s the middle section of a 150m length we have dug. We just needed to claim the electric as the village is short on supply with a next door but one property off grid. We have done just over 2/3 probably. Hence why we have water tails wrapped and bagged as we didn’t want a joint. The guy who will eventually chlorinate the water dug the trench and lay everything in. Electric is connected to site box but as we don’t really need it yet we have not got the supplier yet. No point paying standard charges for things we don’t need as our other farm buildings have supplies near to build. The chlorination guy has a water number that means he can fill trench back in without an inspection.

Our trench has the water, electric and a pull cord for Openreach in to save costs. we are over 150m from the road and have been told the pipe will need chlorinating due to the distance and it has to be done at a specific time prior to water connecting to main. currently the tails are left out and bagged up as don’t want to pay standing charge until we are ready as like you water and 3 phase is already on the farm to other buildings. you can the the pipe yourself but they might want to check the depth so tractor and ripper might not be allowed.

Welcome You probably have already discovered how wonderful the site and people are. good luck getting air tight soon. We are doing a knock down and rebuild on the site of an old barn on our property. The site electric is in and tomorrow we have some hired plant arriving for a week so we can clear all the rubbish we have hid over the years behind the shed, and all the brambles and nettles we allowed to take hold and camouflage it. let’s hope May is a dryer month for us both.

Another newish member from North Cornwall @Gareth J

Welcome I’m not too far away near Bude.

Agree on the trusses as cheaper. To save money we are going for a raised tie truss rather than fully vaulted we still get our roof windows velux and a high ceiling but gain a little top area for cables, MVHR or lights etc. two local companies have quoted and no need for an SE as BCO will be happy with what the truss company provide in calculations.

We plan on putting ours in the wall and using the space above fitted wardrobes for pipe runs.

If they filed on the 31st March and we have had two bank holidays so yes it could take a few weeks but definitely before the end of the month I will get an automatic alert when the accounts hit the credit report and will let you know.

Short summary of company in question incorporated 1986 last return made 31/12/22 accounts filed 31/3/22 made up to 30/6/22 credit rating 7/4/22 60 good credit worthiness similar since 2018 limit £120,000 7/4/22 increase most years since 2018 when it was £83000 no current CCJs last accounts covered 15 months moved away from HMRC year end by 3 months. first time they had accounts audited

I would ask about the new company they have registered. It does sound odd. Only innocent reason I can think if they are splitting company supply and fitting. how late are the accounts for fileing if you PM me the company I can do a credit check if you want. name, company number, address inc postcode.

Would an extending or swing arm wall light help you read. depends if it would suit your decor.

If we ever manage to get a local builder to quote I will use RWall blocks simply because they are local. My plan now is to make payment and collect same day. Started back in October getting quotes for next year as every one says you need to book the builder early a few have been round seemed interested then not responding. had one quote so far. ICF Homes are also on my list but no quote back yet I think they use Nudura and Jackon. I hope they take card payments. We need a new protection like we have with cards payments when we pay direct through the bank.

It doesn’t sound like the purchasers had much choice it was pay by credit transfer or go else where. Many companies only take money in by direct transfer. My company does not take credit cards mainly because we do mostly business to business transactions but do get asked occasionally and I have to say no because of the fees involved in taking the payment by card. I’m not aware how having an overdraft makes any difference for protection. Do you have any info on this @Dave Jones I hope when the time comes for me to pay for my ICF blocks the company accepts cards. it must be very difficult for all the purchasers my thoughts are with you all.

Sorry to hear you’re having trouble with NICEIC I thought since MCS escalated it to them there was a specific notifiable problem e.g. your dangerous wires and that you had MCS helping you. It’s probably a bit late now but if you still have unsafe work another registered NICEIC could give you an installation certificate and if they state it’s still ‘unsatisfactory’ then that should be enough proof for NICEIC to get involved more.

Did you not put any loops under the beds. I’ve had two drawings done both have loops under the bed. For one room I definitely will as it may be an office the other two rooms I’m not sure, what if the bed is in the place for the next owner or even me when older with a walking frame. 😂

So happy for you. try to enjoy it all from now. have fun digging the trenches. 👍

Have you been online and checked there weren’t any conditions. We are not Part Q but we had to do a landscaping plan that the type of fencing.

I have read lots of articles about extra coatings that can be specified for ASHP and also for windows. I think for allu windows the marine paint is for when you are within 2 mile of the coast. Personally I think the distance is a bit misleading as I’m nearly 2 miles but the sea mist comes in quick up the valley and can hang around for hours. If I forget to bring something in from gardening it will rust up, even things in the barn get the sea air pitting. The ASHP you see nice and clean white outside doesn’t mean it’s all ok inside like @Jenki says protection is the answer and regular checking.

Good timing for me also I hadn’t thought of the condensation in the bathroom. We have one in our bathroom now but it’s nearly always on vent and it’s very high ceiling. I wasn’t thinking about the solar gain as they are on the north side and they are there for ventilation to pass part O. Nice to hear your thoughts @ProDave on 2G and 3G I had been concerned about them only being 2G but feel better in my choice. I like the way you can open them with a pole mine will all need a 1.5m pole to open them at least. Have you @richo106 found any other makes you like?

Drawings are just structural but I have had free drawings completed for the UFH and the MVHR and shall be looking at those again in the next few weeks. David will do the Electrical drawings and I will do the plumbing. I need to look up loop cad I think it’s called and get a free trial. I think the rectangular shape will make it easy and the plant room is a decent size. The hall goes straight down the centre of the building with the plant room at one end and the utility just after half way. I was always thinking how pipe runs would work just not got it out of my head yet and onto paper. I know where the Christmas tree will go and it will have a power socket near by. 🌲 I’m never going to say which Christmas we will move in by although most likely 2030 something. The architect was definitely not the most expensive quote we received but he has been very very slow, it’s a good job I’m not living in a caravan or paying rent whilst waiting to start the build. Just getting an email reply takes a week. I’m not sure if it’s the Cornish ‘dreckly’ way or because I’m so organised that it seems so slow, it does take a bit of getting use to down here.

We moved from Manchester to Cornwall 6 years ago and we are very happy with the overall location. Our existing converted barn, was converted by the previous owner and is very nice but is built on three levels and has 4 double beds, kitchen, dinner, lounge and snug and 3 baths so it is far too big for us when we retire. When we bought the house I always say we chose it for the working barn apx 300m2, not the barn we live in. We are building for our future in the hope that we can continue to live her a long time, if it takes us 10 years to build we will be 65 when we move in. My husband has a history of bad backs a bungalow with no steps and easy access is high up on our want list. More recently our Greyhound is refusing to go down to the snug in the lower ground floor at night preferring to stay upstairs in the kitchen. He is incidentally another reason we bought the property, two fields he can run off lead. We don’t want anything too large, a well insulated bungalow that will be cheap to run and maintain. We have a small cow shed on our land and although our property is listed the cow shed is outside the curtilage of the property and built in the 70’s so does not require any listed building planning consultations. When we purchased the property a new build was never on the agenda, but it is now. In September 2021 we engaged the services of a planning consultant with a view to demolish the small barn and replace it with a new build, his view was favourable. In January we then approached an architect who suggested full plans would be best since what we were asking for was in keeping with the surroundings, not that much larger than the existing barn and since it was visible from the listed property more detail such as windows and cladding would be required. Two months of absolutely nothing happened then in March we met up to discuss our requirements and finally in May we submitted our plans. In June we had our necessary bat and bird nesting survey, the gentleman who conducted the survey nearly started looking at another old stone barn until we corrected him and he then told us that bats wouldn’t like the old cow shed as it would be too hot in summer (tin roof) and too cold in winter due to the holes, drafts, and thin wood walls. Then in August we had the Phase 1 preliminary risk assessment, required because we were previously farm land. From the survey I learned that in 1884 there were two wells 165m W of the site another 580m SW of the site and two quarries quite a distance away and in 1906 a smithy in the village, no surprise there as there is a house called ‘The Old Smithy” . The geological map indicates that the site is underlain by the Bude Formation - Sandstone. Sedimentary Bedrock formed approximately 310 to 319 million years ago in the Carboniferous Period. The report was very detailed but returned very little about the land the barn is occupying, that a visit to site wouldn’t tell you. Nothing bad was reported so we were happy and we continued pushing more paper around. Eventually its our turn for the case officer to look at us in detail and we get conditional approval in mid October 2022. Mid March 2023 and we have submitted our building regs drawings and my Part O Spreadsheet, window amendments to the planning department and the SE has quoted and is starting on his work. We are over 150m from the fresh water main so will need chlorinating. I found a great guy who has dug the first trench for the Water, Electric and Openreach, he will return when the new build is ready for the second trench to install the services into the house and will then chlorinate the pipework. Site electric is in from the pole in our neighbours yard towards the Old Cow Shed. We were offered a good price by National Grid for 3 phase, they would have struggled giving us single phase due to lack of supply network and another new build close to us in the village has gone off grid because there connection fee was too expensive. We wanted 3 phase any way as we hope to fill the roof with 30 solar panels facing SSW with no shading. As soon as it warms up and the field is firmer we plan to start clearing the site and moving the spoil down the field into our larger field. Doing it now would be like making a mud bath. Sometime between October and February we will demolish the barn and this time next year the new ICF build will go up. In the meantime lots of planning continues and I’m going on a short plumbing course. The husband is an Electrician by trade and can do some plumbing but hates getting down on his hands and knees now. Last year I tanked and tiled our existing en-suite and have learned all about wet wipes and silicone so another job moved from the husband to me. 😀 The main photo shows the site electric and the drive leading up to the cowshed to the left at the end and just on the edge of the photo are the old stables used as workshop storage each stable bay has a different items stored. A new entrance to our field will be made diagonally from the site electric to the left of the old cow shed which will make our farmer happy as he currently has a very tight turn left just in front of the cowshed. He comes twice a year to cut the grass and in return he usually takes at least 15 round bales away. The other images are from the architect but are already out of date. To pass Part O we are submitting an amendment for the removal of 4 windows on the North elevation and replacement with 6 roof windows that offer more ventilation. Costs to date Planning Consultant £600 Council planning application fee £500 Bat and Bird nesting survey £370 Phase 1 preliminary risk assessment £740 Architectural Design and planning £3000 Building regs Drawings £1250 SE £900 Trench and ducting etc for Water, Electric and Openreach £2830 Site Electric £2470 Openreach cable and ducting £0 Total £12660

If the company was NICEIC registered then if NICEIC find it at fault and particularly dangerous they can ask another company to put right it it’s part of the guarantee covering NICEIC registered installers. If particularly bad the original installer will then lose their NICEIC registration.

And was that before the move to Cornwall or have you had nice Cornwall BC as well. 😀