newhome

You can’t claim for fitted wardrobes unless the wardrobe encloses a space bordered by the walls, ceiling and floor. The sides and back must use three walls of the room and you must open the wardrobe doors and see the walls and ceiling of the house. In addition as you note you can only have a single shelf and hanging rail.

Mine is pale cream. Not quite as bad as white but as there is so much of it I regularly think wtf was I thinking of!

Hi @Jenjen, welcome to BuildHub. I know you say that you have circa 350k available for the actual build but have you started doing any specific costings on the type of house you want to build, and how much that property may be worth once complete? Before deciding how to finance you will really need to see if you can build the house you have in mind for the budget you have set. For my own build I bought the plot with savings and completed the groundworks. My existing house was on the market but hadn’t sold at the point we needed to order the timber frame so I remortgaged it. It was useless as a place to stay during the build anyway as it was some 400 miles from the plot. A few months later it sold and I was able to complete the build using the equity. If I was in your position I would probably arrange a self build mortgage upfront and arrange for the initial drawdown to be when you need it. I’m not clear how they would view you having an existing mortgage whether you remortgaged or not so you would need to check that out. From the mortgage lender’s perspective it would all come down to affordability and risk I imagine plus it’s likely to be lender specific. I probably wouldn’t blow all of your savings on the plot purchase if that wipes out your savings. It’s always useful to have a bit of cash in reserve for a project such as this.

Happy wife, happy life ? But I agree, pale grey would look nicer. @Onoff tell her it’s 50 shades come to chez @Onoff ?

Just go and get another eye test done? I know you’re only supposed to have a free one every 2 years but if you use a different optician they can’t check anyway. Or as @Ferdinand says your optician should have a copy anyway.

Would you not be able to order some cheap glasses online using your own prescription that should in theory correct the astigmatism? With delivery you should be able to get them for less than £15 as long as you choose the included lenses that come as standard and you don't have a special or unusual prescription. https://www.selectspecs.com/cheap-glasses/ Below is the info from Selectspecs re the values that are important to enter. https://www.selectspecs.com/info/glasses-guide-buying-glasses-online/ CYL / Cylinder The CYL and AXIS compensate for an astigmatism. So what's an astigmatism? An astigmatism is where the eye is shaped slightly like a rugby ball or referred to as ‘toric’, not a perfect sphere like a football. This just means the eye has difficulty focusing at certain angles. This box maybe empty or have a plus or a minus value in it. The measurement is the Dioptre. Most values range from +/- 0.25 to +/- 4.00 and will go up in steps of 0.25. AXIS The AXIS is only present if there is a value in the CYL box, the AXIS tells us where the astigmatism is on your eye. The measurement is in Degrees. The values range between 0 and 180 and may go up in steps of ½, 1, 5 or 10 degrees, we only show the AXIS to a whole number but if you have a ½ degree on your prescription you can list this in the additional information box when ordering.

Hubby had his eyes lasered years ago but it did speed up his need to wear reading glasses. The only benefit was that due to the laser treatment his prescription was identical both sides so he could just by an off the shelf pair. He did a lot of stuff with tiny electrical components and struggled to see those enough sometimes so he bought some like this (not these actual ones but a similar type) that magnified everything circa 20x https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10X-15X-20X-25X-LED-Eye-Jeweler-Watch-Repair-Magnifying-Glasses-Black-Loupe-GA/282977196381?hash=item41e2c1595d:m:m-pgzseOrwc8brujoHvWTFQ I don't use glasses that much other than for driving but do have many pairs in various colours . I sometimes use readers if the text is very tiny and have always bought them online for not much money. Goggles4You or Selectspecs always have offers on prescription glasses. You take a bit of risk that the frame fits or suits you, and they can take a while to arrive but for price and having a spare pair around they are a pretty good deal. https://www.selectspecs.com/cheap-glasses/?gclid=CjwKCAjwwJrbBRAoEiwAGA1B_d5L27GWQugjA4rrSU8kcwSWsqpinwasX5Lfht3zdU1X-TVROYFTLxoCl3YQAvD_BwE

Don’t they say 30 m2 a day for a professional? TBH by the time you waste time trying to work out how long it’ll take you could have laid them. With everything cut it can’t take longer than a couple of hours surely if you’ve got @Onoff‘s little helper at the ready? Double that for contingency and 4 hours tops! I tiled a complete bathroom in 1989 on my own when I could actually do a few DIY jobs. Then hubby came along and I never did much DIY after that, and anyway we had someone in to do the tiling here.

Lol, I have various contraptions so that I can move stuff these days; dollys, sack trolleys and the like. No choice if you are on your own. Best I ever did before was 'help' a little.

Looks perfect for a low maintenance garden. Lovely outlook too. Looked the white one up - Lavendula Snowman but it seems to have finished flowering now whereas the others are still going. Love the acer (assume it's an acer?). Can't have them here - just too fragile by the coast. I couldn't have those tree like ones either (bay?). Anything like that would be ripped apart. Pity as those are really attractive. I have several types of hebe that so far have survived all weathers and could possibly withstand a small bomb.

I'm on the coast in the Borders about 20 miles north of Berwick Upon Tweed.

Maybe you could ask that the services are connected as part of the deal?

Love your planters! Really smart. I have quite a bit of lavender here and it does pretty well; English, French and a white one that I've forgotten the name of.

That doesn't seem to make much difference as there are a number of tales here about electricity connections (for example) coming in at huge cost because they are out of capacity. Even drainage etc can be very costly. So do your homework fully in this area as it could blow your budget. A couple of topics relating to this are below.

I claimed for my extractor (it's not vented to the outside due to MVHR).

You could get in together. Then you might not need much water at all .

Lol! At least when there is a body in there you won't need as much water to cover the jets. The reality is that you should get in and switch it on afterwards. If you haven't used the jets for 8 years maybe you should sterilise them before using for real?

Some of the companies I had to quote would not under any circumstances zero rate their invoices. Some thought I was trying to fiddle the vat and others said it was too much hassle so I moved on.

Must be hellishly difficult for traders to keep up with the sometimes quirky rules; garage doors but not motors unless the motor is part and parcel of the door operation as designed for example.

If you say it's for furniture then it will likely be a no, but if you say it's because you need another 20k to complete the build and it's within the LTV limits then maybe. No harm in asking but stress that it's to complete the build not for other items.

If there is a mix of supply only (kitchen units?) and supply and fit (worktops?) I would ask for separate invoices to avoid any confusion with the reclaim unless supply only things are clearly stated as such. I ordered my kitchen and appliances from a single supplier (supply only - the worktop came from somewhere else). The appliances were on a separate invoice all with vat included and I marked up the extractor and claimed the vat back for that in full. You may not have an issue but from reading the experience of others sometimes HMRC queries specific invoices and then don't pay out on those initially meaning you have to wait even longer for the vat to be refunded. So just make sure that it's all very clear and unambiguous. . If they fit the appliances should the extractor be zero rated too?

Thanks, already have 3-phase here to run the existing electric boiler.

I've been told I might need something around a 16kw one so not sure how much that will cost! Anyway I've emailed the company @Redoctober is using to make enquiry number 6 ...

I'll give you a tip though! Don't turn the jets on until they are fully covered. I got bored waiting so pressed it while they were only half covered. It shot a spray of water straight over me .

I don't think just Nick would suggest that. Seems obvious even to me