laurenco

Good point! I'm going to get a spirit level on it all now...

Thank you, this is really interesting. I'm going to look at our pack

Hi Simon, Can I ask where it says about MBC guaranteeing a 2mm deflection on the openings and how long this is guaranteed for? MBC did ours. 2019. (Very happy overall). But we're struggling to open the corner bi-folds and the contractor who came out has found the corner has dropped 10mm. Thanks Lauren

If you can, build it as a business expense and claim the VAT through her company, then you don't need to provide evidence of it being a new build to the various labourers (who may or may not accept it as a new build) and most importantly you avoid having to lay out the VAT and wait 6 months for a rebate. We submitted our DIY VAT reclaim in Oct, it was acknowledged within a fortnight, then we chased them this week, and they said they our file probably wouldn't be put on anyone's desk until March or April.

grr.. Thanks for this

Excellent, thanks for the heads up. I'm about to do my vat reclaim, and to know they process 70% quickly is reassuring

Hi Can the VAT refund be emailed in? I've spent ages making a huge pdf of all the invoices in one document but I saw they want original invoices. As pretty much all of these are electronic, they'll all look like I just printed them off my computer —which I have— and so, sorry if this is a stupid question, but what would make them originals? Thanks

ah thanks @ProDave

The planning permission completion certificate or the building regs one? Sometimes this can take the council a whole to do, no?

We keep having to extend our self build insurance as our project runs on and on, and the cost of it is painful. We're only four weeks away from moving in but our building insurance is due to expire imminently (well, today, to be precise). The electrician is inside doing second fix, and block paving is being laid on the driveway, and landscapers are using diggers and dumpers in the back garden. Does this require an extension on the self-build insurance? The Protek quote is £437 inc vat for 3 months. I could get house insurance for the whole year for not much more than that. If, say, the electrician was to electrocute himself whilst on my house, for example, would he not be covered by his own company's insurance anyway?

Thanks @nod - this is really helpful. So large areas of massive tiles are not necessarily easier or cheaper than more intricate bathrooms with smaller tiles.

Hi, I've previously always paid £25/m2 for tiles to be laid. Now I'm getting quotes in at £35/m2. Is this the norm? One fella lays tiles in a room over 2 half days and charges £800. Seems ridiculous. Has anyone ever negotiated daily rates and, or, can anyone recommend a North West based tiler? I'm looking to get 300m2+ of tiling done, so was hoping to do a deal! Thanks Lauren

Nope. Supply only. They put us in touch with 'recommended installers' but Scotframe do not fit.

We nearly went with Scotframe. I loved that they fitted the doorframes and staircases etc. But the VAT layout and reclaim is a massive drawback

Ah brill, thanks for this @Ferdinand

great - that's very useful to know

Thanks all. I've wiped myself up off the floor now, and it's time to find a solution. In response to some questions asked: - Unfortunately we didn't pay by credit card. He wouldn't accept credit card at the time. Citzens Advice said there is no obligation for them to accept credit card. ? - Self build insurance doesn't cover things like this. Well ours doesn't. ? - I have contacted the insolvency practice dealing with the company with the hope of registering a claim. Apparently an auction house collected all the factory machinery this morning (they also fabricate windows) but whatever sums are raised will probably be swallowed up by HMRC and insolvency fees. As @Temp says, we'll probably be last in the queue. - @lizzie @Ferdinand @Christine Walker VELFAC are trying to source a VELFAC approved contractor who can come in as zero notice, and in the meantime will store the windows free of charge. This is good but they haven't found anyone yet and depending on the timescales this will impact heavily on all our trades who are booked in for after the wind and watertight hurdle. - @Mr Punter the_r_sole: The installers' employees have offered to fit the glass into the SCHUCO sliders they fabricated for us (a separate order), but not the VELFAC windows. In any regard it's not such a great deal. £700 cash to fit two huge panes of glass into the frames on the proviso they take no responsibility for damaging the glass in the process. The glass was abandoned against our hedge mid-job — No wrapping. No packaging. Just leaning against the hedge. — and the longer it's left there and not in the frames, the more susceptible it is to damage. Eddie Rigby of ERAluform really is a bastard! But then, as my husband says, if he'd have gone bump a day earlier we wouldn't have the glass that we paid for either. ? So - if there are any installers out there who want to fit these two panes of glass (4 men required as they're 2.8m x 2.4m each), then please stand up, please stand up.. - @Lesgrandepotato That's really interesting. I'll speak to VELFAC about this. Then, I could potentially get local (non approved) installers in. Thanks @Moira Niedzwiecka for the recommendation of Paul from PAB. I'll ask the question. Q. @craig Have you installed VELFAC before? - feel free to PM me direct. (Thanks AnonymousBosch for the recommendation) Fancy being put on their £400 training course?! Q. Has anyone used a non-approved installer and fallen foul of VELFAC's warranty? (I presume it's the same for rational/ Internorm?)

That's the only thing I can take from this.... if the window manufacturer went bump not the installer, it would most definitely be worse

Our VELFAC windows are being delivered next Wednesday and our VELFAC approved installer, E R Aluform, has just advised they're ceasing trading as of today. We paid them a 50% deposit. Please no abuse on why we agreed to pay them a 50% deposit for the installation; I'm feeling rather fragile and would be grateful if anyone can offer any advice on what to do— whether we can recoup the money? and / or who can fit VELFAC windows at such short notice. Thanks in advance

I'd take advise on this from a mortgage broker. I only know from the perspective on self-employed own business with no other partners, so thy take 100% of the net profits as if it could have been taken as income. They'd probably take your actual earnings from your tax returns then. Using a pre-designed house would save you tens of thousands in architect's fees, preparing working drawings, potentially the structural engineer too. What's everyone else paid in these fees alone?

@Amateur bob In this order: a) establish your total house building budget (your savings + what you can borrow) b) establish what kind of house that will afford you and whether you're happy with that c) run it by the planners Here's some very basic info which might help: a) Times your wife's wages by 4. Times your net profit (or anticipated net profit) by 4. Add your £100k savings to the pot. This is your total budget. [note: there is a lot more to it and you should speak to self-build mortgage providers to go through it all, but use this for very basic starter budgeting purposes]. b) If you want as much bang for your buck, and are looking for size rather than bespoke design, look at timber frame kit houses, like Scotframe, Danwood etc. Here is a 200m2 house that's already been designed so you'd save a tonne on architects fees: https://www.scotframe.co.uk/house-style/orrin/. Get prices. Here's a 1976ft2 house by Danwood that's £220,000 and you can move straight in. https://www.dan-wood.co.uk/en/projects/brave-176e c) Once you've done your homework and established what you can afford, then go to the planners with your ideas. Paying £500 for a pre-app is fundamental in understanding what you can achieve and whether the whole thing will stack. Turn it on its head: specialist planners can charge thousands of pounds for information that you could gain for just £500. Good luck!

Are you proposing to increase the height of the roof? If not, I can't see any reason they'd fight it. We resubmitted the original planning application 'redistributing' the same floor area in a slightly different way —pulled in here and pushed out a bit there— and the council were fine with it. Note: it was not greenbelt or conservation area. Then, mid-build, we applied for a non-material amendment to add rooflights in our attic and stairs up to the attic, which they passed because, and I quote: 'The proposed amendments would not impact adversely upon the design of the proposed development or the residential amenity of the nearby properties. As such, the proposed development would not be unduly prominent in the locality.' That said, I'm uncertain whether they'd permit us to use the attic space for anything other than storage as the plans all show it as a two storey house with storage in the attic.

Nothing to do with the roof.. this floor is amazing. Is it real wood? laminate? tile?

Was your 11 metre run on a two storey TF building by any chance ? Johnsons PPG manufacturer are saying a horizontal compression joint would be required all the way round the house as it's two storey, which would kill the look.

Vertical or horiztonal joints? (vertical, we could at least hide behind downpipes)