newhome

We’re sitting down! I’ll start at 3k m2?

Have you looked at some of the UK suppliers such as Scotframe, Potten etc? Not sure how they stack up pricewise, and some might not do completely turnkey but you could still employ a builder to make it turnkey.

Has he got quotes from the likely suspects; Chargemaster, Pod Point etc?

£200 is fine. £400 a day seems a lot for round here. It’s not like house prices are massively expensive.

Saw a post on the local FB site yesterday and apparently the going rate locally for an electrician is £45 per hour plus vat. And that’s in a small Scottish town some 30 miles outside Edinburgh. Rates definitely seem to be shooting up, mainly I think due to supply and demand. There just aren’t enough trades about to cope with demand.

Have you had an induction hob? I never thought I would be a fan of cooking on electric but I love induction and much easier to clean than gas.

Like most things it can be safe if treated with respect. Those garages have been around for decades so fine to use as long as they don’t get damaged, no holes are drilled into them etc. There is still asbestos in the vast majority of older buildings including schools etc. It’s often more dangerous to remove the asbestos than to leave it sleeping. If your nephew wants to use the shed then he can but might be worth sealing any areas that look as if they may have been disturbed. There are specialist products that can be used for this.

Lots of great advice above so I’ll just emphasise a point made by @recoveringacademic. The answer to many of your fears, issues, and periods of what seem at the time to be monumental challenges is BuildHub. An amazing support network here. Between its members we do empathy, practical advice, technical advice, little kicks up the proverbial when needed et al. You may feel fearful and helpless at times but there will always be someone on here to point you in the right direction and get you back on track. A problem shared and all that, and please do share. There is no such thing as a stupid question here. When you wake up in the night stressing about the latest little thing, BH is here for you to share with the community.

Thanks. It’s annoying though as my area always seems to be more expensive than others and it seems that @joe90‘s is too! Having said that look what my supplier shows my tariff as. Wonder if they’ll honour the zero night tariff? I suspect not. I also use way more energy than shown too! It must be quite a challenge for this company to find quite as many people who can’t code as they appear to employ given the state of their IT systems. I can’t view any bills either and I’m on an online only tariff ?

Proves how bloody dense some people are. When my hubby had mesothelioma (asbestos cancer) the electrician we had here was telling us that he had seen young men taking extreme risks with asbestos, including the more dangerous types. It’s one of those things that will never happen to them, a bit like smoking and lung cancer, but it’s a totally devastating disease if you are one of the unlucky ones. Having seen what it can do I would never feck about with it.

As @JSHarris says there are different types and the type most commonly used in garages is chrysotile. It can be a DIY job for removal but you will need to dispose of it compliantly and that generally means it needs to be bagged or wrapped. Have a look on the LA's website for details of how your LA will accept it for disposal. DIY or not the key is to be extremely careful not to disturb the fibres and to wear masks and protective clothing. And to be safe remove clothes whilst still wearing the mask and wash immediately. Keep all kids etc. well away while the work is being done. https://www.armco.org.uk/asbestos-survey-news/how-to-remove-asbestos-from-a-shed-or-garage/

Why does where you live make a difference to the tariff price?

Mine is 3rd from bottom. What a surprise!

Try Bulb. Seen many people switch to them and they have offered both the referer and the person being referred £50. I am stuck with my current supplier so can't switch to anyone just now . Still, on the bright side my supplier has screwed up my tariff again after only just correcting it via an ombudsman decision so I'll just refer it back to the ombudsman if they try to overcharge me again. Twats! It's in my favour just now so am keeping QT about it for now.

My house has an upstairs room designed like that. We didn't need 5 bedrooms so the house only has 4 with an upstairs sitting area instead of bed 5. It was designed so that a simple addition of a stud wall and door would make the 5th bedroom if needed. The electrics, UFH zone etc were all designed with this in mind so it really is just a case of adding a stud wall. Doubt anyone would let BC know that they'd done that at a later date.

What if you change your mind about the construction method etc? In Scotland as @Christine Walker says we have to apply for a building warrant amendment (you still only have to meet the regs from the original date of the warrant). So if we decide to change insulation thickness, boiler type or whatever. What do you have to do in England to note such changes and ensure that what’s built is in line with the regs applicable?

Do you have a bike for every day of the week? ?

Oh bugger! You sure it's getting through the sealant and it's not getting in through a gap in that fixing somehow?

Have a look on Pinterest for some ideas of stoves that may suit your fireplace.

And you need to build a ramp. Like this!

Several people I know put temporary above ground pools up in their gardens for their dogs in summer. They tend to remove them in the winter as it’s too cold but a handful set them up in a garage and heat them. And when it’s dismantled the dogs are like, WTF ?

I hear you! I feel like that every time I do a job here!

Well done on giving it a go @lizzie. What sort did you use? The guy that came to do mine clearly used a cheap shite white one that has discoloured already and started to unbond. Not sure whether I should use a colour or clear in the gap between the white shower tray and cream tiles. The grout colour is Jasmine. I have some Mapei jasmine silicone so am wondering whether to use that but see CT1 and Forever White keep being mentioned so I'm confused lol

Hmm, well I wrote that post but I didn't know you could claim for muckaway using the method you have, ie engaged the muckaway contractor and paid them directly. It's good news if this does qualify for zero rating however because TBH it's hard to see how you can clear a site without removing things from it so surely muckaway should all be part and parcel of clearing the site. It begs the question as to why skips are alway standard rated however as they can be used for site clearance too. Moral of the story, it's always worth a punt in terms of getting site work zero rated.

Yep! If the company in question zero rates something even if not eligible then happy days. It'll only be an issue if HMRC don't like it in the muckaway company's next VAT return and come after them for the VAT in which case they could come after the self builder. It makes no odds what the call centre says though as @HerbJ was told that he could claim for a safe by the call centre and then at the reclaim stage he was told that it wasn't eligible. I guess if it's really important you need to write to them rather than ring them. They have the position of power sadly.