LA3222

My original point stands - if a cost arises due to the build that would not otherwise have arisen then it should be included in the £/m2 cost. There is a lot of talk about if I had the tools should I include the cost a la @JSHarris - no. You did not incur a cost as you had them, if someone didn't have them then yes, as they have incurred a cost. @newhome - scaffold tower, you incurred a cost. Yes it saved you but the balance sheet only cares about costs incurred not savings made. @nod yes plot prices vary, we all know that but it is still a cost associated with a build so why wouldn't it be included. It's no different to labour costs varying depending upon location, do we ignore these in order to standardise cost comparisons? @newhome so you didn't incur fees - you answered your own question. You didn't incur a cost so why invent one in order to box tick against what fees others may have paid out on? At the end of the day 'my opinion' is that any spend should be included. I'm not sure where the grey areas are in that statement - it's black and white. The crux of the problem is that not a single build will be the same as mine, in the same location with the same labour costs etc. The only common ground is that they are self builds. Direct comparisons are impossible so the only sensible way to do it is to explain all your costs and add some context with regards to plot location, how much work taken on, what year you built in etc. etc. That way there may be common areas where people can compare like for like I.e. soil surveys, site insurance etc. I think that excluding costs can lead to the unsuspecting arriving at an inaccurate impression of how much it will cost to self build. Their are so many secondary, indirect costs associated with self building that they should be made clear so potential self builders go into this with a clear understanding of potential pit falls.

I would live to see a thread where members were honest about the true cost of their spend with everything included - I suspect the £/m2 may be very different.

And therin lies the rub. The 'standard' of build will vary from build to build which is why when £/m2 is referred to it is usually in the context of £2000/m2 + for top spec & contracted out £1000/m2 - is where people have done it all themselves. So the 'decoration' you refer to is covered by spec/build method. What we are talking about are which costs should be included in this figure. My opinion is that anything you spend which would not otherwise have been spent should be included. To exclude costs is not indicative of the true amount spent by the self builder. You can then caveat that cost with "we went top spec and did nothing" or "we went budget and did everything".

I am of the opinion that any spend associated with your self build either directly or indirectly should be factored into any £/m2 calculations. Be it tools you buy, rent you pay, fees you pay - all of it. The way I see it is, would you have spent that money if you weren't building a house? If the answer is no then it is a cost arising out of and attributable to the self build. I can't help but feel that people tend to massage the numbers in these sorts of threads, maybe it's because self builders want to convince themselves they have spent less than they have. Why is the plot cost routinely omitted from these figures? It's clearly a cost arising out of choosing to self build. It is the easiest and commonest way to massage the figures to make them look more favourable. Even the magazines routinely seperate plot out from total build cost. I am including everything, I expect to break even at best on final market value but I'm ok with that.

Look a like the verdict is in - glad I checked on here as I was wary when they pushed chalk but i needed a sanity check from here. Cheers all.

It's a 2 inch load with no fines in it - after a good going over with a roller is it still the case that it will create a horrendous mess? I just rang the supplier and they seem convinced it will be fine?‍♂️

Random question - I had limestone brought in for my temporary driveway previously from a local quarry. Asked for more of the same stuff and it's unavailable at the minute (not sure why) they said they can give me chalk aggregate instead and it will do the same job. One of my neighbours has just commented that it's horrible and goes everywhere when wet. I've got a roller coming to whack it all down, is chalk ok to use or going to be an issue like my neighbour says? TIA

I used estimators online - cheap so you get what ya pay for! I'm happy with the service - loads of info that I can manipulate in order to refine towards my project. This is one of those areas where you get what you pay for, so you need to decide how much you are happy spending and work from there.

'Forever house' will mean different things to different people. Me - I'm 36 and have lived at 21 different addresses (counting only those 6+ mths) and have never known a 'family home'. This is what I'm trying to create for my family, time will tell how it goes. Moving is a chore and I've done way too much of it now, and at 8 & 9, the kids have already racked up 5 house moves - no more!

I have a 3ph...the upgrade cost was negligible. If you trawl the electrics thread there are a few concerning 3ph supplies.

This makes sense. Correct about no WC in main bathroom - personal preference. Makes sense. So I think that brings me to 3 soil stacks with the bathroom one serving two toilets two showers and two sinks.

Fair point, each WC has its own soil stack as things stand, now you point it out I can see the benefit. I think grey water going into them can only be a good thing though - to keep things moving? I cant move it so will have to reduce noise, i dont envisage it being an issue, its an ensuite so intermittent usage. I'd never heard of Marley dBlue so cheers for the steer. I'm trying to keep them to a minimum as they are ugly things at best! This is why i like having grey water from upstairs feeding into each of the stacks. It may be, from the feedback that the layout is a reasonable one. I will stew on this for a while longer before going firm on It! Ta

I paid £7k. Your quotes fine, don't get hung up on thinking it's pricey - at £2k, it ain't. Prices vary widely because there's different nuances to all of our connections so you will find it hard to do a like for like comparison against anyone else on here.

Afternoon all, I'm hoping the collective wisdom in the forum can look at my drainage plan and tell me if it needs/how to improve it! It's something I keep coming back to, but as much as I stare at it I don't think it's optimal. On the ground floor there are two foul runs coming out to the same IC, not sure why it was drawn like that but surely they can be combined. TIA for any feedback.

This made me chuckle. I had exactly the same problem when trying pull some swa through a duct I had laid previously. I didn't have a borescope at the time to look what the problem was so a lot of pulling rope from both ends to measure where the blockage was and three holes later I found the duct. Turned out to be a brick that had crushed the duct when it was laid - God alone knows how the brick got there. A simple job became an all day event!!

I have had similar issues recently but I don't think it is anything to do with being registered with the royal mail but rather an issue with internet providers systems taking ages to update and recognise you have a line etc. My saga: Rang openreach to get stuff for a line, not too difficult, stuff dropped off and I lay line in duct to nearest pole. There is FTTC in the village so I rings BT for a broadband connection. "Negatory ghost rider, you's got to have a standard connection put in then ring up to upgrade and we will honour the new customer price". Ok....so I gets a standard connection put in. The engineer who installed my connection is also the chap who ran the wire back to the cabinet, he told me there are FTTC ports available and told me the cabinet no. to mention when ring BT to upgrade to fibre. So far, so good. Rings BT up the next day to upgrade and "computer says no". Apparently fibre was not available to my address...mcscuse me. Mention cabinet no. etc and still no joy. ? Go onto the openreach website and my address is there but fibre not available. Wtf. BT site was the same and many others I tried. I then emailed openreach to find out why the hell I couldn't get fibre....didnt really get much out of them tbh. A month later, check the openreach site and it says I can get fibre, Ok, check the BT site and it now says I can get fibre so I rings BT up. After a lengthy chat explaining my saga and talk of honouring new customer price etc, the chap checks his system - "computer says no" ffs! So another month passes and check my BT account and lo and behold the option to upgrade my account online is now highlighted. So rings BT again, explain the story, got cut off twice and had to repeat the story but now, after all the hassle, I have a FTTC connection at the price a new customer would pay. The only conclusion I can draw is that it takes an age for everything to sort itself on their system. Not sure if this will help anyone but I'm certain that being registered on the PAF is not necessary.

I thought the principal contractor aspect had already been done to done within the forum and the consensus is that as a domestic client the duties do not apply.

Did you have to "dispose" of the help once it was in place in order to keep its location safe?

The sort of post which suggests you really should look at getting someone who knows their onions in to have a look. At the very least a 'pro' will have all the kit required to get the job done quickly and safely for you.

I'm not able to advise but can tell you what I paid to get a pro in as it may help to give an idea of costs. I had 25 x 40ft Leylandi to come down, the chap charged me £750 to just chop and drop where they were. I asked him to cut them into 1-2m lengths and then I dealt with them. Took me a while but you only have the one tree so shouldn't take long once it's chop into manageable chunks. May be worth pricing up someone to chop it for you and then you deal with the disposal aspect.

This is how I intend to do my first floor UFH. 18mm OSB on the pozi joists, batten out 50mm for the pug and pipes then 18mm caberdeck on top. Final floor finishes on top of that.

I'll chip in. Your plan to wrap around the joists is standard - it tends to get referred to as a 'Tony Tray'. Running it under the joists upstairs is fine. You can batten out from there to give a service void - saves puncturing the vcl which would occur by running cables through the loft. The garage - rather than put the VCL above/under the caberdeck flooring, take it round the joists again so it runs below the floor joists. You will have to plastervoard the ceiling in the garage to meet fire regs for the room above. That will cover/protect your VCL

My opinion on these sorts of questions/analysis is that the payback peiod can't be accurately predicted. Insulation costs 'in the now' are fixed. Energy prices are fluid, I would argue that predicting them long term and therefore allowing you to calculate a pay back period is not possible. I believe a better way to look at it is how you perceive comfort levels and how you want to live in your home. I suspect that saving a few quid now is probably a false economy in the long run.

When you due to pour?

Ok - useful to know. Thanks for your input, I have a better of idea of how this will ultimately look. Cheers