newhome

Ha ha, doesn't work with OHs. Mine was the same. I learnt to live with it save for a few meltdowns that achieved feck all .

And my biggest problem is not being able to spot the pee-taking ar4eholes. On the contrary I seem to attract the feckers! If I do get someone competent I want to lock them in the house and prevent them from leaving until they've completed every job that needs doing

I hate the amount of incompetence in the business. There are people trading who are worse than me at doing some of the work and that's saying something! I've pretty much lost confidence in most of them TBH and am very wary about having people out now. Then there are those who charge way too much (eg 1k for a job that took him circa 2 half days). I don't mind paying, I just want to pay the right amount for the job and have someone competent to do the work. I had the cock plumber who charged me £700 to fit some completely unnecessary equipment that simply got ripped out when Nick and Peter came here. It also took me 5 months to get the electrical certificate from the electricians. I paid the bill and they didn't send the certificate. I chased and chased and was simply ignored. In the end I had to involve SELECT and they gave me some advice and said to tell the guy that I had been in contact with them and they would step in if I didn't get the certificate. It still took me another month or so to get the damn thing. Surely that should be part of the job? The invoice stated that the certificate would be issued on payment but once he had the cash he couldn't be arsed. His excuse - too busy! I couldn't do without it as I had to provide the certificate to the council for sign off.

I don’t want a smart meter either, although the chances of Scottish Power being able to fit them to a 2 meter affair when they don’t even understand the tariff I’m on is slim I imagine. They are not available to me as yet. I wonder whether they will eventually have separate tariffs for smart / non smart to try to force the issue. A bit like they do for online vs paper billing just now.

2 more people wanted it but only had cars (I double checked how they expected to collect it this time). They either have very poor judgement of their car size relative to the mesh size or they think it will roll up somehow. Anyway, bored with that and my neighbour is now going to get shot of it for me.

Good luck! Let us know how you get on.

Well you haven’t got anything to lose by appealing, they can only say no, so write a covering letter highlighting the protracted correspondence with the planning department (send evidence too) and get in fast. You can easily calculate the additional floor space being created and thus the amount you calculate is due. As said above you are CIL liable, it just works out as zero if the floorspace is unchanged, or in your case only payable on the increase in floorspace. This link has your scenario noted in the 9th one down. For shop read recording studio. https://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/planning/my-development-cil-chargeable

Added to say that I was worried about not leaving enough room to get round the screens and actually there is loads of room and I could easily have ordered larger screens.

I imagine that would work fine as you would have a 500 gap to step in with the swivel pushed open and then a 600 gap to get round the side before closing it. You could go to 800 for the screen probably if needed as long as your son is average build as that still leaves 400 to get in.

Like this? I have 2 shower rooms with screens (no panels) and gaps of 500 and 600. Lots of room. I also have a small sliding shower door in another shower room which when open is only 400 but it’s still easy to get in and out. Any smaller and you’d need to match the body size to the gap I imagine. The screen I use is 900 and I’ve never had water splash out.

So I didn't buy a bolt cutter as someone said they would take it. I waited in all morning and into the afternoon for them to turn up having told them the size of it and specifically said that they needed a suitable vehicle. They drove from Galashiels which is about a 2 hour round trip (I would have thought the cost of the fuel would be more than the mesh is worth?). And they turn up in a car!!! No roof rack. They thought it would fit inside a Pajero FGS . He said he wanted it for a dog guard and couldn't visualise the size, and thought it looked small from the photo (really??!). So now I'm tempted by @Roundtuit's trellis suggestion. Reckon I could cut it into 3 or 4 bits and either use it for that or at least I could get it down the tip in smaller bits.

We didn't source our windows through the timber frame company (Scotframe) as we wanted integral blinds and they couldn't supply those (at the time anyway). We had no issues at all with the fit (but I admit that your windows look more complex than mine). I understand your motivation for sourcing via the TF company but we had no choice to go elsewhere to get the windows we wanted (they actually cost more, not less as you can imagine with the blinds fitted). If you have a quote of 7k less than the TF company is offering you for essentially the same thing, that's a very big difference and personally I would look into that route further if only to rule it out once and for all. I think (it's a long time ago so struggling to remember plus the hubby dealt with most of it) we got a window schedule from the TF company with all of the measurements. We sent that to the window company, they sent back a detailed schedule of the windows showing sizes, openings, handle position etc that we checked and rechecked, then we asked the TF company to confirm it was ok, and then ordered, and everything was fine. We were a bit anal about the windows as it was important to get right but a 7k difference does leave you with a bit of scope for something to go awry however undesirable. Alternatively could you show the TF company your best quote and ask if they will source via a more competitive company? I'm not sure how much profit the TF companies make on windows TBH. Their main profit must be from the frame itself surely? From reading a couple of threads on here where windows have gone wrong it often seems to be due to the lack of documentation from the window company. If you aren't being provided with a very detailed view of what you have ordered to check and sign off every single aspect of the windows then walk away as this is where things seem to go wrong. And yes @ProDave is right, the timber frame company won't charge you vat as long as they are erecting the frame and fitting the windows. We were supply only so had to pay the vat up front anyway (still waiting for it back lol).

We laid it in our last house about 16 years ago. It was the thicker pile however, not for golf. We did go for the most expensive type (at the time) as we wanted it to last. Think we paid circa £20+ m2 back then but it was still looking decent 15 years later (old house was on the market last year and I saw a photo). We laid it ourselves and the vast majority of the time was for the ground prep. Lots of time stripping the old lawn, making sure the ground was level and well compacted, type 1, timber fixings round the perimeter, decent landscaping fabric, granite dust as the top layer and well compacted, and only then was the turf ready to be laid. You need to take the drainage of your garden into account and prep accordingly otherwise water can lie on top in pools. I’ve seen artificial lawns laid from cheaper turf and they have creased. The turf needs to be heavy enough to stay down using its own weight and the pile density is important too as the less dense ones will lie flat after it’s walked on. UV protection is important too. Also some artificial turf needs sand brushed into it and some doesn’t. Ours didn’t and we used to vacuum it with an outdoor vac. The only issue we had with it was in a dark corner of the garden where there wasn’t much natural light and black patches appeared in the winter. Probably a sort of mould but we used to spray it with mould killer that addressed the issue.

We were really lucky. The neighbours offered to provide us with an extension lead to our caravan initially before the electricity was connected (they offered, we didn't ask), and we bought them a case of wine. The start of a great relationship with our neighbours. The hubby and my hubby used to sit outside and drink beer together in the evenings lol. I wouldn't bother if it was just for hot drinks. Camping stove will be cheaper as suggested above or take flasks of coffee.

We did have one stolen from the garage in Kent when the hubby was doing something in the garden. Really odd as we were right at the end of a cul de sac and no one ever just walked past. Never had a thing stolen here even with stuff from the build left everywhere. I’ve just jinxed that now of course! So I guess it’s luck. You can chain them up but it won’t stop someone determined.

We’re all too polite on here to point that out . You can change it if you edit your first post though Glad you’ve got a way forward with the doors.

We came in largely on budget until my husband got sick and then it probably cost about 20k in labour costs more than anticipated but not too terrible in the great scheme of things. We also had an element of luck involved as some things did indeed cost more than expected and we had some unexpected items too, but it was balanced by some things coming under budget (like the roof - we were amazed at how cheaply we got the roof done TBH, as in the labour that was half what we anticipated and the guy and his team did a great job), and scaling back the budget on areas like the kitchen and bathroom fittings. My relatively large initial kitchen budget scaled back dramatically to compensate but it still looks fine TBH and I still managed to keep the granite island and worktops. I don't regret scaling back the cost TBH because when I come to sell I will get back at least what it cost to build and it's very easy to pay out more than a house is worth here. Of course there are things that I wished I had done differently but I don't think there are many people who can say that everything worked out perfectly.

My OH did lots of the internal fit work himself so all the electrics, first fix plumbing, kitchen fit, UFH pipes, all painting, wood flooring, internal doors, sanitary wear (but we had a plumber to connect up), and a variety of other tasks until he got sick and I needed to get trades in to finish things off that he had planned to do. The labour and everything else pushed it up to £760 m2 (excluding the plot price).

So if I strip out everything but the raw materials used to construct the house (the vat claim essentially) I get circa £500 m2. So no plot, labour, services, hire of equipment, etc etc. Thats based on a 350m2 house with detached garage with the floor space of the garage not counted in the m2 figure. Also note that the build was started in 2009 so prices may have changed since then.

That’s pretty impressive then. Maybe little willy needs a pay rise!

I agree that it’s mostly about practice but many power tools are quite heavy and I find it hard to hold them with one hand like most guys go. I’m all for equality lol but not everything is equal. I guess we might just need lighter equipment, and not in bloody pink! Maybe once you’ve learnt how to use the equipment proficiently the weight becomes less obvious and you become more use to the feel and the balance of the things.

Including all fees? Is it a new build in all but name or was there a structure there to start with? 100% paid labour?

I think I’m more worried about strength than the weight of the cutters. I’m not a complete weakling but don’t really want to get some and struggle to cut anything with them. So longer makes it easier to cut then I guess. Another thing I’ve never done before!

Going back to bolt cutters since no one has yet replied to my free ads to remove the mesh. What are the easiest bolt cutters to use? I only want a pretty cheap set and they do various ones on Amazon for pennies. Would this do the trick for example or do I need a longer / shorter / different type? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blackspur-BC103-Bolt-Cutter/dp/B005EXLAZW/ref=sr_1_29?ie=UTF8&qid=1527720085&sr=8-29&keywords=bolt+cutters

Thanks! That's where I'm going wrong I think as I don't hold the screw at all as I have one hand on the drill handle / button and the other one holding the front of the drill to support the weight / steady it once the screw is sort of in position. I think pre drilling is the way to go as I can at least get it part way in before I let the screw go. Or I think I may try the dremel next time as I can hold that with one hand. In truth I've only very recently started to try to use a power drill / screwdriver (Feb was the first time I attempted it) and I haven't done it enough to get any sort of technique even half started. Need more practice .