Ralph

The rate of injury in construction is 1.64 per 100k, agriculture is 8.44. The fishing industry is 62 and that's in 2017. As a teenager in the 80s I spent quite a lot of time on fishing boats, sometimes in seriously bad weather. I don't think I ever saw even basic PPE, not a safety harness or even a life jacket, never mind survival suits and hard hats.

This is why it puts my back up when people talk about "health and safety gone mad". The potential for horrifying injuries or worse is very real.

Thanks for this @KXI I've just had my quote in for Rationel and wanted to compare prices. Rationel seem to be hitting the right balance for quality and price for us.

Not sure about other manufactures but Rationel say that their powder coating is suitable for use in coastal areas and for weather conditions classified as C5M (areas highly affected by corrosion impact).

Unfortunately we are yet to break ground, we ended up starting from scratch this year with a new design about a month from starting (it was just costing too much). We're currently specifying aluclad Rationel for this build. I think the windows we looked at before were https://www.internormbyscotia.co.uk/ They do UPVC and UPVC Aluclad and http://www.ecowindowsscotland.co.uk Once we get started, hopefully Sept/Oct you're more than welcome to have a look at anything we're doing.Where about is your bulid? We're not too far from Brechin.

We looked at some UPVC windows that were foiled and others that were sprayed with Kolorbond and they were much better looking than I expected.

27 here in the office in Aberdeen. Air con unit has just pissed the bed.

Yeah we were the same, we could get planning permission only if we did something with "architectural merit" We liked the big white and glass cube but in the end it was just to expensive to built. What we've ended up with is a "contemporary barn" style build, a phrase that I'm not a fan of. It ill be grey, metal and cement board clad, still with some reasonable glass for the nice views. The planners like it at the couple of people who live nearby seem happier with it than the cube.

I've been round the houses with this a few times. In the end we have decided that as we are both working full time we're going to go with a central contractor and our architect is handling the tenders. It's more expensive and not the way I wanted to go when we started on this. However, we've had a few false starts and have pissed away way too much time. I now just want the bloody thing built.

It's one of the things I like about living in the country, with retired neighbors. If the CCTV alerts us to any intruders when we're out a quick call will have someone round much quicker than the police.

We have a De'Longhi Autentica bean to cup in the office, I think it was about £400. It's not missed a beat in 3 years and it must make about 20 coffees every day.

Wow, that would solve my issue of a potential large early cost for foundations and kit. I will investigate further.

Not quite what your after but they may have similar https://www.wayfair.co.uk/furniture/pdp/17-stories-baggs-european-kingsize-160-x-200cm-bed-frame-alas8576.html

Are you sure that's correct? My understanding was that while they don't do staging based on the usual foundations, weather tight etc the money is still released only as a percentage of the value of the build as it progresses.

I think Buildstore are asking for the same to be honest. It's certainly down in their build cost spreadsheet.

Hi Andy, We're going through this at the moment, currently talking to Buildstore and as @JSHarris writes they do seem expensive although we've not had problems with the amount you can borrow, it seems to be like any other lender, based on your income etc. Some people have not had the best experience with them but I have heard from people who were happy. You are quite limited with who will lend for a selfbuild in Scotland. We've had one lender pull their initial offer of a mortgage once we moved to 100% clad timber frame. They were ok when about 30% was breeze block skin. The other place we are going to look at is https://www.scottishbs.co.uk/

Hands-off for sure. Some things I'm happy to get in and about but heating and electrics I'm best leaving alone. General takeaway then is the quality of the installer (and the price) and the after sales support is probably more important than the model.

Previously I never understood the requirement for things like wifi controls or being able to control your heating from your phone. However, I'm now wondering if it's more about an app that simplifies the controls rather than controlling it when your away from home.

The plan is for reasonable insulation etc but not passive standards in 147 sqm. There are only two of us and we tend to be out working so DHW would not be too high. We are in the north of Scotland so it does get cold. Having said that the last few days have made me want air con rather than heating.

Thanks for the response, that does make sense. Our local supplier, who seems well thought of, only supplies NIBE. Feedback on here seemed to be that it was on the more expensive end of the market. Although having seen one in action it is very quiet compared to a Mitsubishi I looked at. Meanwhile our architect recommends Daikin in almost all his builds. I have to say the Daikin controller looked fairly good but I'm basing that on demos of the app.

Can anyone point me in the direction of some reviews? My apologies if this has been done to death but I'm struggling to find any decent comparison reviews of ASHP manufacturers and possibly models. All I seem to be finding is reviews of ASHP in general or manufacturer reviews that seem to have been culled from the manufacturers website because every one seems to be super efficient, reliable and basically awesome. Thanks.

Second the going and looking comment. Our frame builder is pushing very hard for Nordan and the ones in the showroom looked ok but the finish on some we looked at that had been in for a while was not great.

Yes I see your point, so much hidden after the plasterboard goes up.

I watched Channel 4 Dispatches - Britain's New Build Scandal last night where they focused on Persimmons, astounding levels of incompetency and negligence all propped up by the help to buy scheme. Nice £70 million bonus for the top man at Persimmons as well. Now I would hope that a combination of using a decent contractor, spending a lot of time on site and actually caring about the quality would mean that problems are kept to a minimum however the show did make me think about the value of a professional snagging contractor. For about £400 they will come in, spend the best part of a day going over the build and compile a snagging list from the major regulations failures right down to the minor finishing issues. I'm sure for a true self build you would be well aware of most of the shortcomings but has anyone got an opinion on using one when your going down the main contractor / trades route?

Oh I can believe it. We're basically surrounded by shooting estates and grouse moors owned by the gentry and while the ones I've met are perfectly nice the disconnect for reality is amazing.