curlewhouse

As regards Aedis. They are doing my BR so I thought I may as well get them to do the warranty as well & paid them (thinking wrongly as it turns out that logically they'd just get one inspector to do both) ... then to my horror discovered the folks we've applied to (via buildstore - and there lies a whole other story!) for our mortgage don't recognise them! Now here's where I gets weird - the mortgage provider and Aedis turned out to be almost next door to each other on the same business Park! So Aedis nip across the road and speak to manager of building society, who then got in touch with me and say hereafter they'll now accept aedis ?. Phew.

Yes. I think the problem is they have an ever increasing near monopoly and since less and less lenders will deal direct, there is no pressure on them to improve. Conversely, I've heard nothing but good about the lender from people who have used them, so unless BS manage to mess it up and it doesn't go through, hopefully in a few weeks we'll just be dealing direct with the lender.

So we ended up with 2 builders in the running. One who has built SIPS before but who was quite negative, (saying his guys wouldn't like the travel, his masons wouldn't like the reclaimed stone and his roofer wouldn't like the slate... he was also not happy with how he'd get pallets of the stone to 1 side of the house where it's near the boundary) and the other who had a "nothing is a bother" attitude, and an excellent reputation locally. As it happened, the second one also had the most competitive quote, and we have gone with them.... and very pleased we are too. They've turned out to be very careful in their work, but also breezy and cheerful and nothing is a problem to them. We ended up needing more hardcore stone for the ground than expected and the garage foundations had to be way, way deeper than expected, yet they charged us not a penny more. So in barely 2 weeks the site has been cleared, foundations dug (archaeologist found nothing of interest thankfully) , poured, blocks up and the beam and block floors as well as the drainage pipes are all in now. BC guy was helpful and happy with the work as was the warranty surveyor. The only blip just now is Buildstore and the mortgage. After a month and hearing nothing I chased it up to find they hadn't yet submitted the paperwork. By the time they did, the bank statements and payslips we'd sent had "expired" , so we had to send new ones in. More delay. We've been asked for paperwork in dribs and drabs - so they ask us to send 1 thing in then 3 days later ask for something else... and so on *repeatedly*. In the end I complained and someone got onto it and they finally submitted the paperwork to the lender that week. But sure enough, they then wanted something else. So I sent it along with an email telling them it would be far more sensible to A. pass the stuff straight to the lender rather than hanging on to it for a month before doing so and B. Just ask me in one go for everything they need &I'll send it, rather than wasting even more time. I got a call assuring me that absolutely the lot.... then guess what happens 3 days later? Really fed up with them. The latest is asking us to prove we've paid rent for the 3 month period BEFORE the 3 month period they already have evidence for ! (we sold our house asked are renting while the build goes on... Though it's been 2 years now). It's just illogical really, & whilst it's apparently come from the lender, why not just ask us for the 6 months evidence straight away if that's what that lender requires? It's just being dragged out over months and months as slowly as possible for either inefficiency or reasons they are not telling us and we just cannot understand. I do fear something is being lost in translation netween us and the lender with having to communicate via buildstore. If I were to use them again I'd definitely recommend chasing them every week to ask if they've done anything as we lost over a month where it seems our paperwork just sat on a desk and more weeks due to this drip feed of documents thing. So next we ae hoping for a dry weekend to dig the water pipe trench, do some ground levelling (we have a small version of mount everest in topsoil ?) & various tasks like that. But until the mortgage is finally sorted the SIPS cannot progress.

Well, the beam and block is all done and foul drains work starts on Monday. Today we've been sorting through stone for a drystone wall.

Well, I got a call from the designer assuring me he wasn't trying to bump the price but had realised there were a couple of issues more complex than at first realised. Now looking at them, I think it's probably fair enough - one being extra beams where we are having one of these sort of windows https://www.keyliteroofwindows.com/roof-windows/vertical-bi-lite at the top of the stairs which are larger than one SIPs panel so will need more support, and an issue where the stone outer wall would have been above the porch SIPs which obviously could not support it without some beams (which I've solved cheaply by a simple change). So in all, I suspect it won't be much of a hike but we shall see. They sent me their plans and asked me to check all the dimensions - so I did the sensible thing and sent them to our architect to check for me, who spotted a few issues, of which only one I had noticed! So the plans are back with the SIPs folks with my architects notes for now.

Love the "poetry" . Actually, a druid or Wiccan ceremony would fairly freak out a few people ..... hmmm, idea!

Hmm, sent the full plans off for the SIPs price a while ago, and got the proposals and price back showing where steel beams would be required and were factored into the price etc. Sent our deposit off and now getting emails (in language we struggle to understand what they are actually trying to say) saying they'll have to add this that and the other - starting to get a bad feeling that the price is getting bumped. The designer is saying they did not allow for X, Y & Z in the price and so on - but they had the plans all along, and this is making me begin to feel a little wary about what is happening. So I've been quite frank and asked him what price is it he is trying to work up to and just tell me rather than go round about the houses. Personally I blame all those "Grand Designs" where the people say they have a budget then pull an extra £100k+ out of their hat - so a lot of firms seem to have come to think self builders have secret pots of money (I'm sure some do, but oh how I wish we had!) they can access whereas our budget is what it is and there's genuinely no more after that. I've come to call it "The Grand Designs Effect" a few times already with solicitors and the like just getting to this stage. I'm not saying that is happening here, but it is beginning to concern me how far this will go.

Actually we plan to have some sort of "do" near the end (I say near the end as I suspect I'll be doing "stuff" around the house for the rest of my life in reality, so probably to mark when the final certificate is granted) and invite neighbours and friends, and as a thank you for the Parish Council support and for all the good wishes we've had - its more people just wandering around when we are not there that concerns us. I myself would never just enter someone else's property and just wander about looking at it without them being there (unless a close friend where I knew I was welcome), not to mention the H&S aspects of course.

I just wondered how others have dealt with this. I am building in the village I grew up in, returning after just under 40 years away. Anyway, we are being made very welcome by everyone (though most now have bought into the village since I grew up there) which is lovely. However, we've had a couple of incidents of people just wandering onto the site while there is work going on (and possibly after we've gone for all I know). I've got the big "Building site, keep out, hard hats, safety shoes, report to reception etc etc signs, but no one seems to take any notice. At night there's a gate across but obviously while the builders are in and out that's not the case. Apart from the obvious risks, it just seems cheeky to just wander onto someone's land just to nose (it's not something I myself would do uninvited) when we are not there. Tonight we've made up a sign thanking people for their interest but asking them NOT to enter unless accompanied by myself, my wife or our daughter. Trying to be firm but not too unfriendly. I wondered if anyone else had dealt with this.

Perhaps a different model of builder? The biggest eye opener to me has been the utter cr*p which the volume builders are putting up in comparison to what we can build for half the price - ang vien that the materials probably cost them a fraction of what we have to pay, a lot of shareholders are presumably doing very well indeed out of that. Frankly knowing what I now know, I'm horrified when I pass volume sites and see what goes on (I learned recently how they get it past BR) in comparison to the care taken in self built homes. Maybe we need a not-for-profit model of some kind, not just building homes to rent, but to buy.

If you do a search this has been asked about on a few forums. for some bizarre reason, armoured cable questions seems to meet with real hostility! I had noticed that when searching and then I posted a question about the size required on a DIY forum and the vitriol from a couple of people was astounding! (I actually blocked them so I don't have to read the snide remarks) I think it's some professional electricians getting protective about people doing their own work (even if it's being properly certified). Which is odd as my father was a professional electrician and certainly was not like that, so it's not an "electricians" thing. My own understanding is that you MUST use armoured cable. But you will find the definitive answer as regards the regulations HERE

Yes, my mates dad was a Sgt Major there and the range was our playground! Wouldn't be allowed nowadays of course, (climbing on the shot up target tanks for example!) but gave me a lifelong interest in shooting (which has one way or another been my employment twice in my life) and things that go BANG! . The sound of distant artillery is the sound of home! Sadly we don't get such low flying jets as we used to back then which were great fun, Harriers, A10s and the like especially. Anyway, back to the subject and here is the current spoil heap/s! Well impressed with the builder we chose - really friendly guys and know their stuff backwards. With just the boss and the digger driver we went from in unmarked out field on Monday to foundations and blockworks in by Friday. Much to my relief the Building Inspector was a very down to earth and helpful guy too. I gather we may see different ones hereafter and I hope they are like this guy as he was only too happy to answer my questions (I'm doing all the internals, plumbing etc and building the garage). Beam and block is expected to be on by next Thursday and then we kind of come to a halt for quite a while (apart from drains as we've got a 60+ meter foul run to do plus a backdrop manhole due to the big fall, plus all the usual soakaway etc, though our rainwater goes first via a big pond) as the SIPs folks are still seeking more information from me, which I thought they'd have asked for much earlier than this, and have spotted things they had not factored in, so I think we may end up with at least a 2 month hold, but we're not concerned about that really as there's loads of other things to be getting on with during that time.

Well, we finally started real work. Fortunately the snow melted yesterday, but the sun shone on us today and it was perfect weather for setting out and stripping the site. We finally found a good builder with a lovely attitude and a fair price. I know these folks by reputation so was pleased to find their quote was competitive. Just the owner was on site today along with a digger driver from a firm he uses, and what an enjoyable day it has been. The two of them taking the mickey out of each other most of the day, but very,very competent guys. The archaeologist we have had to employ for the day as part of the planning conditions was just as nice and fortunately we found nothing more than a few shards of medieval pottery - which as he says, in a medieval village is to be expected. But an interesting guy to talk to as well, so I was very relieved we didn't come across anything that would have stopped the work (though I'd have settled for a golden coin hoard of course) . So all in all, a really satisfying day. Tomorrow comes trenches and hopefully the start of foundations, and I meet the BR guy for the first time.

What about not using rawl plugs and using anchor bolts instead? (or shield bolts as they are more secure than rawl plugs) I've got my gun cabinets secured with them and you can quite literally swing off them and they'll not budge! Remember even if someone levers a keysafe off, they've still got to get into it. I see them right beside the doors in some places and they don't seem to have an issue, but if you hid it well enough, then needing to see it each time in case of tampering shouldn't really be necessary.

Was cursing a couple of weeks a go - a guy I know who works at a local amenity site (Tip to you and me ) posted that someone had thrown away a proper old V.R red post box - the sort that is mounted in a wall or on a post and is made of cast iron. Sadly some swine beat me to it - I think he got £50 ! I'd have happily given him a lot more!

Well, 14 builders tried and months on we still have no quotes! I've got one "back of a fag packet" type estimate from one firm and am currently waiting for 2 actual quotes from firms with good reputations and backgrounds, though both of those are now at a month of waiting and one replied to my gentle reminder only today by ringing me to ask "what exactly was it for again"? !.. and that's a medium sized one with a good reputation, which is worrying. The other is well experienced in our sort of build, but it's been coming up a month for them too, so I really don't know if anyone is going to quote as we've been strung along by others like this and ended up with no quote at the end ! Never at any time did we expect we'd find reluctance to take our money! What's most ironic is the folks doing the stuff that's "artificial" (as compared to actually building something), councils, planners, BR folks, everyone else's solicitors I've had to pay for doing in effect bugger all, etc. are only too happy to take your money - but come do get some real work done and it's proving a massive struggle. It also means shopping around is very, limited - if these 2 don't come through I actually don't know what to do!

Well, progress of sorts, with BR agreement to the plans and finance decision in principle all fine. Getting builders quotes has proved very problematic for some reason, which wasn't an issue I foresaw. Out of 12 who responded via those check-a-trade and trusted people web sites, only 2 eventually came through with anything, one very detailed and very good, who is so busy they could only offer to do the founds, another who I really liked when I met the owner, but whose quote came in one day and was just a sum, no breakdown, and so it would not seem safe to rely on, and useless for out building society (who want the most detailed cost breakdown imaginable - just one tiny example being the roof vents have to be costed separate from the slate, and lead work and soffits separate from barge boards etc - all elements having to be priced separately for the building soc.). Was recommended a third builder by a friend, met the two guys running the firm on site, impressed by their attitude and previous work.... waiting a month for their quote with promises each week that it would arrive "this week", but a month on no sign of it, so all held up for nothing. So have had to go back to square one looking for builders! Very frustrating. It also makes a mockery of claims that the building trade is suffering a downturn really, they clearly have so much work on they're not really looking for any more. Though I cannot do any ground works without an archeologist present, I have been able to grub out a broken down dry stone wall on site ready for the waller who says he will do it between Christmas and the new year, so last weekend I had some stress relief at actually being able to do something real toward the house. I have to say we are almost crackers with the frustration at all the delays.

I think maybe your neighbour will appreciate you having a tidy garden. Here are some hedge designs I think you may wish to consider that will be visible from his/her property:

It was literally 1 block thickness that was all. 1 layer of foamglass blocks that was all, like oranjebooms pics with the thermoblock (which we might substitute for the foamglass actually). The foamglass isn't going under the internal slab, K103 is. We have a 50mm cavity then real stone outer.

I use instant gasket stuff for that. Great on chocolate box connecters on cars/boats too. My doorbell terminals have it on.

Well, had a quote from BPC and the Green build store.... £4k difference! Looks like it's BPC for me! :-)

2 bathrooms and just the two of us and a daughter about to go off to university. Interesting about a heat store combi as I was just talking to my wife about where would I get unbiased advice as to what to go for; combi, system boiler and heat store or whatever (figuring a plumber/installer might just advise me what's best for them rather than us). Obviously have to be a modulating boiler, but beyond that with UFH I am a little unsure what to go for.

The view to the West from our site. Sunset here is just gorgeous. Part 1 of the whole build has been the forced relocation of 3 residents..... my parents very elderly hen flock (mum and dads hens always die of old age and tend to live for amazingly long periods thanks to a diet of proper hen food supplemented by leftovers from a small café! Usually they are so full they just lie around ) . Here my daughter and I are posing by the first part of the construction I had to do - a brand new very large hen run.

Well, got the SAPS results and very disappointed. We got an 82, basically the same mark as the national average - so all those jerry built mass developer houses are supposedly the same as ours with over 200mm of insulation on walls, roof and underfoot, SIPs build, MVHR and airtightness. This makes no sense of course (have you ever seen the mass builders at work and what "care" actually goes into the detail of those houses...sheesh!) and I enquired. It turns out that as we cannot have solar PV (bad orientation and National Park restrictions), using an ASHP is really bad carbon wise since so much electricity comes from coal or gas fired power stations, plus not being able to generate some electricity on site marks us down. In effect, they tell me yes, it really should be A rated, but the "system doesn't allow for it". This makes sense since a good few years ago when HIPs (home information packs) were just appearing, we looked at selling our then house, which actually featured on the energy saving trusts web site, and featured in an information film made for the EU, it was so good ...... but our SAP result was a D! As they told me at the time, basically these systems assume that every house is a developer built house with a standard heating system and are just not flexible enough for anything else. So since we are building for US and not to sell the house, I guess it doesn't really matter, and only the actual real life performance matters. It does however raise the question about using an ASHP. That was going to cost me about £6k, whereas an LPG boiler (no mains gas here) will come to just over £1k and score us a better carbon output! .. and that £5k difference buys many, many years of LPG given our insulation levels. Seems a shame in many ways, but since money for the build is very tight, it seems a no brainer really if it improves our carbon output and lowers our costs. Of course, this means applying to the National Park to change that part of the planning.....

I feel your pain volcane about unexpected battles. It's the sheer opportunism to fleece you of money from so many people, and completely unnecessary power trips that got to me before even a spade went into the ground. Watching a self build programme the other day (a repeat, but I love these programmes as there's always ideas and things to learn in them) and the poor guy had a heart attack half way through. Now they didn't blame it directly, but a certain agency were being bloody minded with him (an agency who seem quite happy to watch old buildings completely fall down into rubble but then impose massive amounts of sheer pedantry on the people who bravely buy and try to save the very same building - it being the easiest thing in the world to spend other peoples money of course) and it seemed to me that it can only have made his condition much worse. You often also see clearly that there have been tears. So without doubt there is a cost in this over and above money. But to answer your question. Yes, we're all crackers, but stubborn. You can't let the tin pot dictators beat you though. But we are still less crackers than the folks buying jerry built houses from the volume developers for double the price