NSS

I've just ordered an item of furniture from Germany. They won't deliver it, but it's still significantly cheaper for me to hire a van, drive to Dover, get a ferry over to Calais, drive to Germany to collect it and then drive back than it would be to purchase exactly the same piece of furniture from a UK retailer.

It was, and is the single biggest reason why it took us longer to finish than hoped/planned. Unfortunately we had objecting neighbours who took great delight in calling the council if we did anything outside the permitted hours.

Not always possible. Our planning conditions limited work on site to between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday, and 8am to noon on Saturdays (no Sunday or Bank Holiday working permitted) and this was strictly enforced.

We had the same problem getting insurance but ended up going through https://www.intelligentinsurance.co.uk/

We have 48 spotlights in our ceilings. Not one of them has been sealed as there's no need to. If you have air leakage from outside to your ceiling voids then you're already fighting a losing battle, surely?

The MVHR in our home has, quite literally, transformed my wife's life, and probably added years to it. Frankly I don't give a damn whether it ever pays for itself in a financial sense.

Ours was very similar

How many times has ownership of the plot changed in that time? If each application has followed a change of owner, it may suggest each have subsequently concluded that it wasn't viable/economic to build it and sold to cut their losses. Of course, unviable then doesn't necessarily mean it's still unviable, but there's usually a good reason why plots either don't sell or don't get built.

We have 22mm OSB covered with 15mm plasterboard. The OSB gives something firm to fix to and the plasterboard offers a level of fire control (we figured with the number of electrical devices/controls contained therein that it was prudent to do so).

This may be controversial, but I also think there's a need to differentiate between a self-build, where the individuals who intend to occupy it have significant input into the design and build (method/specification) even if they're not particularly hands on in the actual construction, and what I'll term as 'custom build commissioners' who purchase a largely off the shelf design/turnkey build package (maybe choosing only the kitchen/bathroom finishes).

? ?

How long is the warranty? From my experience they tend to last between a week and a month longer than that ?

Yep, that's exactly what I mean. As you walk 'around' the opening door the bottom step becomes a trip hazard. Also, if someone happens to be taking the last few steps down as someone else opens the front door..... It's something I'd definitely want to 'fix' ?

As I've said before, not keen on critiquing others' designs but got to comment on the front door / foot of staircase. Imho they're far too close and you (and guests) will be regularly tripping over the bottom step as you/they walk through the front door.

I used to work in Basingstoke, travelling up and down from Fareham via Alton every day. Love the A32/Meon Valley. Drove the same route recently for the first time in years and was amazed at all the houses being built where the deer farm used to be but still a lovely area.

Welcome Tracey. We're also in Hampshire (close to The Solent). Whereabouts in our fair county are you building such a fine looking house?

If, as appears to be the case, the overlaps of the Actis blankets are not taped, the first thing I'd do is tape them as this will significantly improve your airtightness. We have a warm roof with Actis Hybris between the rafters and then Actis H-Control over that and the rafters (ie on the inside of the rafters not the outside as yours is) and it works very well. However, we spent a lot of time taping the joins/overlaps and achieved 1.6 on the air test. That said, we also have 200mm of rockwool between the ceiling joists, and at this time of year the loft is usually a couple of degrees cooler than the rest of the house as there is obviously no heating in there. Our MVHR trunking runs in the loft space and is not insulated.

... clowns who pretend to know a lot more than they thing they do ?

Kindle probably just figured someone so experienced and with such a busy practice wouldn't have time to read it anyway ?

Largely via stage payments made upon agreed milestones being achieved.

Opted for timber frame for the speed of erection to weather-tight, and because it enabled us to do more of the work ourselves. Research led us to a short list of three TF companies who we had detailed conversations with. We had two of those quote for the TF, only one of which offered ESCROW. It wasn't the only factor in the final choice but it was a significant one.

Hi @Lakeside, I also completed your survey (when first posted) but, as I stated, i didn't feel we were taking any significant risk as we were in the fortunate position of having the wherewithal (financially) to cover the budgeted spend plus any reasonable overspend. Like you, we didn't have a main contractor and carried out much of the work ourselves. However, and picking up on @Temp's point about ESCROW, this was a major factor in our choice of timber frame contractor. That was the largest single cost (excluding the land purchase) on our build, and the fact that our chosen supplier offered ESCROW removed the major (cost) risk entirely.

We have 140mm Hybris between the rafters (105mm in the walls) with Hcontrol over, taped, counter-battened and plaster boarded. Works for us, but there are those on here who will tell you it's snake oil.

I think it was more like thermal moss ?

We did the same Peter. He/she has been sleeping in the house for several weeks, after initially adding leaves to the hay we'd provided. Last night we had a our first frost of the year and for ten minutes (just before 3.30am) he was in and out every 30 seconds or so with mouthfuls of leaves.