twice round the block

With black friday fast approaching there will be good some good deals about from : Blackwood Outdoors Thomas Jack's Optics Warehouse I use Pulsar thermal for pest control that cost 000's and I've purchased from the above 3 companies in the past.

We used our legal cover insurance against the NHBC

I'm going against the grain here. With the list of job's you have above I would buy a 240v Makita HR2631F, 3 mode sds plus drill. The extra action of (mini kango) chiselling out for conduit and back boxes and taking up floor tiles this will do it using an angled chisel. Haven't looked to see if any of the manufacturers do a cordless 3 mode sds plus unit, if they do it will be twice the price of a mains power job and will burn through batteries.

20% of what ever your budget is could dissappear into thin air if you don't have a legally binding contract with the builder. If has has done renovation job's for you in the past and your happy with his terms, go ahead. If you found him on faceache or check a trade then I wouldn't be handing any one 20% of my budget as an upfront payment. Of all the trades I've used and all the customers I've done work for over the year's. I have never given or asked for an upfront payment.

Grout staying in place after a few months with dot and dab should be fun especially near a shower head. The tiller is obviously trying to work round the situation, just because he's been in the trade for 40 year's doesn't mean he's any good. Best way to remove tiles and adhesive is with a wall paper steamer.

Contact a grab loader company that also supplies crushed concrete and get them to collect it providing it is not contaminated with soil or wood you'll get it moved for a cheap price. They took mine away for £120 a load and will supply me with clean crushed at £160 a load. So you can't warrant hiring a crusher that you need to feed. Wood / timber put it on Facebook foc, and someone will collect the wood providing its suitable to be processed into logs. Whatever is left put a match too it when the wind is in the right direction.

All my clean rubble went via a grab loader lorry 2000m away to another build in the village. It was loaded to the sky !!!! Clean hard-core for crushing is gold dust

The crack on the stud wall is because he didn't use any scrim on the joint. All in all pretty 💩 job

Go to your local Grant and Stone plumbers merchant. Choose the brand and style you want in the showroom and they will give you a price for trays, basins taps etc all in. They will also recommend a couple of plumbers to price the job if you ask them.

Go smaller / sub divide Did I really need to convert most of the barns and end up with 7 large bedrooms all with ensuite bathrooms, and a lounge that measured 44ft x 22ft and 14ft high. There we're only 3 of us rattling around in it. Should have gone for smaller units and a recording studio in the lounge area

Great plot Bad design. I would hire in another architect and do a design that works for your family. Art Deco on the side of a hill could look spectacular. You may go through a couple of architects until you get one that really understands what is needed on the site that fit's your, "must have list and it would be nice if" Unfortunately some architects just don't get it and see it. There are plenty of good ones to choose from in the area that are RIBA affiliated. Even when you get one that works with you; you may have too reign them back in as they can get carried away.

That is a flammable material. What is the height of the building? as that looks extremely high against your neighbours fences. Where is the rain water going to go? you've already paved over an area of your garden. You may want to get some advice on this build before you proceed any further.

Just been through your Instagram posts, very informative and some great links. Nice finishing and attention to detail within the build. Congratulations you've achieved a lovely home through the stress that goes hand in hand with self building.

Have a look on machinerytrader.co.uk you may find one local to you. Cheaper to buy in the long run and get the attachments you need ie. pallet forks, ripper hook, riddle bucket, log splitter, thumb grab the list is endless. I haven't used mine for two weeks, but now have to move 110 sqm of york stone now we have a break in the weather and I won't be tearing the ground up. When I finally finish with mine and sell I'll probably loose 1k on it. Not bad for 3 years work.

A thermal is of no use during the construction process. You need the place finished, with the heating on and use it on a cold evening or morning when there is not too much moisture content in the air. You will have to go through the whole display menu ie. white hot, black hot, ultra marine etc to try and work out what's going on in different areas of the build as they all portray different image's and intensity.