Ralph

Is there any reason as to why you can't lay porcelain slabs individually in an otherwise gravel path? While I realise they need to bedded in cement we are being told they must butt against each other or they will break. Thanks.

I think you would struggle without doing a lot of work yourself. So there is the usual caveats on hourly rate etc but with fees and utility connection that's in the ballpark for what we built our 150m2 house. It is a Scotframe valu-therm kit, quite a bit of Rationel triple glazed glass, standing seem roof and first floor and cedral on ground floor. We also have a 38m2 separate garage, again with standing seam roof and Cedral cladding. It's open frame with rockwool insulation but without an insulated slab. All done with a central contractor.

Open reach dropped off 150 meters of cable and trunking along with a cable inspection chamber. There was even a coil of rope to pull the cable through, all for free. We dug the trenching and laid the cable. I'm about to book a provider to come out and connect to the pole and I don't think it will be BT. All providers should have an allowance for new connections so that should also cost nothing or close to it.

We looked at both types of Cedral and went for the lap over click. The click seems to be quite a bit more expensive per board and it's available in less colours. I will say that the click probably gives a neater finish.

That is very frustrating, you have my sympathies. Keep grinding away at them. We had some debate because ours was not within the "Scottish vernacular". still not 100% sure what they actually wanted.

I don't think split leather gloves would do much if you really messed up. You may be better off looking for some cut resistance Kevlar assembly gloves with a cut level 5 rating. They are fairly flexible and come with some rubber grips so handling is ok.

The internal handle is long (presumably to allow for the door to be pulled into the seals as above) and getting the doors moving initially can be awkward when opening from the inside. I think a recessed finger grip as it has on the outside would have been helpful.

To be honest I've not noticed if they slow down but you would have to be in a a hell of a mood and built like a brick sh*thouse to slam them open. They triple glazed ones we have are very heavy although they do open and glide nicely.

From getting them the paperwork to getting an offer was about 4 weeks. We then had another 6 or 7 weeks or so to get the final offer done and the money released but that because our solicitor was a bit slow with some of his bits.

We got rid of most of our stuff a few years when we moved into a small flat for the build. I found it very freeing. We're about to move into 150m2 for just the two of us and I'm determined not gather more crap.

Thanks that's exactly what I was looking for. And thanks for the offer, very kind of you.

@bozza would you mind posting a close up of where the floor meets the window on those? We're having a debate about that for our own Rationel windows and joiner is talking about beads and sills to finish the edge that we don't like the sound of. Many thanks.

North East of Scotland so may be just a wee bit far.

That's not far off what we're paying for the ASHP, UFH and plumbing in total.

We looked seriously at biomass a few years back as our original architect was pushing it. We talked to a couple of people who had it and I got the distinct impression that they were putting a brave face on a big mistake. I think if you have a commercial property, a massive stately home or you're using it to heat multiple houses like holiday lets it may be a good idea. We are fitting ASHP and even that's only because mains gas is not available.

For 10% of the build costs I would be expecting him to be lifting a shovel and lending a hand, but maybe I'm tight.

It's one of the things I like about our architect, he talks to the builders on site, discusses things in detail and actually finds a reasonable solution.

Good call, thanks for that.

I did think about that but would it not leave a gap down the side if I just pack the top?

One of the things that I did not think about when going for the lapped Cedral planks was the pain in the hoop that fitting external lights would cause. Because the planks angle back any light fittings, even if you get them across one plank are tilted. It's a small thing but it's bugging me. I was thinking about getting some gasket material that was either compressible or I could cut to a taper to kind of shim the light and stop water getting in. Any opinions on whether this would work or would it just look rubbish? Thanks

When I last used Houzz it seemed like it was Instagram but with links to product pages and some articles. It mostly seemed to be high end stuff that we could not afford or was in other countries. We never found it that useful. You could probably better spend £4k on getting your social media up to scratch if it's not already. My wife posts photos of our build on Instagram and it's surprising how many people get in touch asking who we used for this and that.

I used to go here as a child regularly shooting at a ace called the Gannochy, loved it. Stayed in the big hotel in town every time. Angus Glens are a cracking place to live. Love it here.

Some people on here have gone for things like water bore holes because the price is less than connecting to mains £10k was a figure that comes to mind. Getting a sewage treatment plant is not too bad and a lot on here have them. I think the real problem is power. Even supplementary solar can take a long time to recoup costs. Some of the issues we hit: We have a water main running through our plot and it still cost £4k just to connect because it's a massive pipe and high pressure, 15bar or something. We have trenching on top of that. Electricity started out at £16k because they tried to get us to pay for a new pole and transformer. We argues that right down. Some on here have had massive connection costs. With groundworks we found an old river bed that test digs had missed. It would have added £50k to the foundation costs to build there so we moved the house and garage over a bit. Still glad I started all this though!

So much depends on the site, groundworks, utilities connections etc. as well as finishes. If you can get the right contractor and your site is not too complex I think you can build a good standard house in Scotland for £1,700m2 without touching a nail gun. Plus cost of plot. I would be surprised if you can do it for less than that without doing a chunk of work yourself.

Hi, we're coming near to the end of our build in Edzell. Happy to connect.