ragg987

We used the same engineered oak in all areas other than bathrooms, toilet and utility where we have Amtico. I was a bit worried about using oak in kitchen areas but so far so good. On costs, do make sure you are comparing like-with-like, if you are laying boards then factor in the total cost, e.g. levelling, adhesive, trowels, threshold strips, labour, transport costs etc. When you add it all up you might get quite close to the £75 for resin which will be all-in costs.

As above, if you have preferences for any of the stuff you go out for tender on you need to make it known as input to the tender document. Of course is a bit 'chicken and egg' here, you may have a preference based on discussions etc but until the prices come in you cannot decide. So might be worth getting options for this. One question - how will the architect complete the detailing until the TF has been selected? I feel the TF supplier should be chosen prior to detailing, then architect has to coordinate with them to get it right. Else you might have to solve more problems on site. I had a few discussions with my architect about this during our spec phase (after which they stopped providing services apart from a few ad-hoc queries on an hourly charge). We had to balance a too-specific spec vs too-generic which would bea easier to cost up but give incomplete build costs until much later. In our case I split the package completely and went out on tender for various bits. So in our case we had quotes direct from TF and Windows, supply and fit. Worked well and I paid a Project Manager to coordinate the packages until we had a water-tight shell, then I managed it from that point onwards with my main builder plus some trades I contracted direct - e.g. plastering and paint, plumbing, electrics. The key items I selected prior to detail design (and hence prior to full specification became available) were slab / basement / drainage, timberframe, windows, MVHR - these are intrinsic to the detailing.

Zone 1 requirement is IP45, but IP65 is more common and readily available. I used SLV throughout my house, though not downlighters - not the cheapest but impressed with the quality. https://www.slv.com/en-de/products/luminaires/recessed-fittings.html# Also might be worth considering a 12 or 24v system and place the transformer outside the shower zone.

If I were a prospective buyer, here is how I might feel: Plot untouched but PP granted: Great opportunity as principle of new-build is established and I could either take it as-is or put in a new application to add my personal touch. PP lapsing becomes an issue only I wanted to build as-is. Build started and no structure to show: procced with caution "why is he selling what is wrong with it?". If the design struck a chord might view it as an opportunity. Weather-tight and BC inspected to date: quite appealing if design is right as I can personalise the innards and external finishes to a degree as well as short-cut the new-build process. One other factor - how would the buyer finance this purchase? Would a mortgage company entertain it? This might become the deal-breaker unless your buyer is a builder looking to complete it and make a profit. In which case you will be losing money. +1 to the ants

I think your summary is a good place to reflect. For example. Assuming you lay these at 30 bricks per hour it will take you 50 hrs to do, saving £12 per hour. Your brickie will do this in 16hrs. Assuming it takes 20hrs to do this, saving £20 per hour. I think the savings can be MUCH larger compared to your builder popping into TP on the way in to the build. Scour internet / eBay etc and ask for discounts, purchase from Europe, so the hourly saving could be £40 upwards. If you are going to prioritise on that basis, it is a no brainer.

I tend to be more "forgiving" if I do something and the outcome is OK, vs if I pay a professional to do the same thing. Would I call someone 3 months into a trade a professional - NO, more of an apprentice, so I might be more tolerant of their work. I believe 3 months gives you enough to perform a trade at a basic level, and that may well be OK, but it is likely you can pay someone to do it better and certainly much quicker. Having said all that, if I was on as small a budget as @epsilonGreedy appears to be, I would accept that my good enough is better than nothing. In that case pick something where the consequences of getting it slightly wrong do not lead to a disaster - e.g. it your plumbing leaks after your walls are nicely painted (disaster) vs if you plaster and it is not so flat (acceptable).

Sounds good. There is also the question of VAT, if you get this wrong your bill has the potential to increase by up to 20% VAT can be zero for the majority of a new build, either at source (e.g. your builder) or through a reclaim (e.g. materials). You have 3 months from sign off of the build for this facility. And you might need some form of sign off for it to be habitable. I am not 100% on this point in your Joker scenario, just alerting you to it.

Also the national figures seem to focus on build in the literal sense, and omit (or under-play) other costs like planning, architects, build control, insurances, demolition, getting services in, project management, portaloo, portacabin for workers to take a break, landscaping etc. In my opinion £900 is not possible if you are paying someone to do the build and all the other pieces I mention. It may be achievable if you do a large portion yourself, but then you need to balance the time you spend working on the build against the wages you can bring in to pay for the build. And you are right, self-builders probably want more than the volume builders can provide so specs will be better - e.g. air tightness, insulation, glazing sizes and specs etc - soon adds up!

As I understand PIV (no experience of them), these simply bring external air into the house and rely on existing gaps in the fabric to vent out. So every gap becomes a vent out. The MVHR usually pushes air into a dry room (e.g. bedroom) and draws out stale air from a damp room. It relies on an air-flow between rooms, e.g. through open doors or gaps below them to move and diffuse the fresh air. My concern here would be that an MVHR in a leaky house would result in the air from the dry room exiting the house through leaks in the dry room and not making it to the damp room. I.e. the air-flow would follow the path of last resistance. And extract air from the damp room might get replaced by cold and damp air from outside e.g. through gaps in the windows etc. This would not be the end of the world - you lose some of the benefit of the heat exchanger in the MVHR, and you could also change the relative flows of incoming vs outgoing air to achieve a small positive pressure inside the house, which would reduce the effect of cold air coming in through gaps in windows etc and improve comfort.

+1 Installation on non-zero rated goods is not spelled out explicitly AFAIK. E.g. integrated dishwashers or microwaves. Also, design can be zero rated if the design is provided as part of a permissible services and/or supply package. e.g. if your MVHR fitter also designed it or your MVHR supplier also designed it, then can charge a design fees against the rest of the package but can zero-rate it. The key here is that the design is not a stand-alone service. This is an important difference, one area where a person can save on VAT for e.g. architect's fees is to procure the design, supply and fit together. Think turnkey timberframe companies. In your case, I would say zero-VAT services.

Welcome and best of luck. With limited funds my approach would be to spend the money on the stuff that is harder to change later (e.g. insulation, air-tightness, windows) and cut the corners on stuff you can easily install or replace as the funds come in. Don't forget the VAT benefits of a new build - means e.g. that a kitchen is cheaper at first install than a few years later.

They are installing and commissioning a permitted item which is permanent and integral to the build - so qualifies for zero VAT regardless of who supplies the equipment. Note that you CANNOT reclaim VAT for services as @MikeSharp01 suggests. If equipment is purchased separatley as part of a "materials-only" deal then you pay VAT and reclaim. We went this route, I purchased direct (from BPC) and install was by my builder with no VAT charged.

I do like overhead shower heads and, after 12 years of having one, now dislike the rail mounted ones that come at you sideways. How high is your ceiling? Your water temperature will reduce as it drops which is a waste if you have the head mounted much above 6.5 or 7ft. As to lighting, overhead downlights cast nasty shadows when you stand under them. IMO. And the one over the bath will probably glare down at you try to have a relaxing bath. As you can gather, I am not a fan of this form of lighting.

I sustained some damage on-site and wanted to make a claim. So read the policy a few times and was none the wiser if this was covered - the language is designed to make it difficult for us mere mortals. Having said that, spoke to the broker and a claim went in and (after a lot of chasing) got looked at and then eventually paid out.

These are tough decisions and we were facing the same situation - home on market for 1 year and still no sale - though we were lucky it did finally sell before it got to a critical stage. One thing I will say is that juggling the incomings with outgoings vs build progress was a big stress point for me. Once we had the monies available I felt a huge weight had been lifted and this let us get on with our life, else the build would have dragged and so would the stress that goes with it. So my input here is to do what it takes to get the money side sorted. The cost of dragging the build out might outweigh the "loss" if you dropped your pants (so to speak) on the sale price. By cost I mean both financially and emotionally. In our case we needed both to sell and get a mortgage to complete the build, it sounds like your situation is different and you only need to do one or the other.

Read the small print carefully else your insurance may be invalid. If you are doing substantial building works the policy might not apply. And if this is not in the policy terms, the insurer could easily decline a claim unless you spell out the situation prior. On the basis that you did not declare a material fact that impacts their risk assessment.

They are pretty thorough as they need to protect their risk. As part of the application process they asked for plans, permissions, insurances, build costs, source of funds, etc. I cannot recall if they explicitly wanted the warranty but I had that covered. Also they send a surveyor prior to each stage release, it is only a 5 min visit but a notional valuation was then created to ensure the loan amount was proportional to the value of the build at that point.

We have Hormann up-and-over garage doors and a separate pedestrian door. Bought from one of the web suppliers. Fitted by our builder. Nice doors, smooth mechanism but nothing exceptional. LONG delivery time as made-to-order from German factory and they had a factory shutdown around the time...

We purchased the land with cash and started our build based on the cash we had, but having arranged a self-build mortgage first. We asked for the initial drawdown to start when we needed it rather than the traditional "5 stages". There was a lot of to-and-fro as it broke the standard model, but in the end we drew the sum down in three phases which I had a degree of control over, and provided the lender could see our build value rising they were happy to lend against that. This meant we only paid the higher interest rate when we needed the next tranche of money - in the end we had the build mortgage for approx 13 or 14 months and once BC sign-off they transferred to a standard mortgage with no extra fees or paperwork. In between we had to juggle finances / timings as we were selling our house to finance a large portion of the build (apart from the mortgage). Luckily we managed to sell before it became critical. Our fall-back would have been to get to water-tight stage and stop until we sold it. Melton, I approached them direct.

Welcome and looking forward to more details. One aspect to think about (if not already done) is total cost - your approach may require more steps and / or materials to complete and what is the total cost compared to package timber framers? And impact to time to complete? Also make sure you understand the impact to hitting passiv standard if going your own route.

Any reason you cannot swap the utility room with the office? Makes all runs (water, gas, electricity, ventilation ducts) that bit shorter.

Cannot speak for all planners, but in our area they worked from their offices and did not venture to our site - either pre-planning or after (AFAIK - they could well have turned up when no one was around). We did get a complaint alleging breach of one planning condition, however this was resolved with a brief exchange of emails.

I would say not so clear-cut and if I had the choice I would stick with gas. Here is a posting I made a while ago illustrating the options, though I did not factor in RHI payments. The cost of installation is likely to be higher for a certified install ("RHI premium"). Do note that standard ASHP is only really good for water at 50 or 55C - to raise it beyond that you either have a 2-stage ASHP or direct electrical heating. Gas offers higher temperatures so you could get away with a smaller DHW cylinder. I also came across this article from a few years ago. Not sure how accurate it is, but I lean towards the same conclusion. http://www.narecde.co.uk/air-source-heat-pumps-vs-gas-boilers/ A lot will depend on your overall system efficiency. Our ASHP system is giving a whole system coefficient of >4 in a mixed DHW + space heating scenario, even in Dec and so far also Jan. This is for whole system energy so includes pumps, valves etc. Not the same as a COP. So factor in PV and I think this is a great combination financially. But mains gas without PV would save you £7k (ish) in capital costs and seems a more compelling case.

Telford tempest stainless. On reading the label to find this info I see there is a notice, in red, saying it needs annual service by a competent person. Your case is made!

Thanks - this is exactly the type of info I was hoping for so I can package up a regular contract. My G3 installer told me that there was no need for an annual service on the UVC. Keep the experiences and feedback coming - specifically interested if ASHP need servicing.