lizzie

sounds cheap to me! and dont pay vat if you are new build....if they supply and fit it should be zero.

My redi shades order has just been delivered....I cant easily get to an ikea and it was all a bit difficult so took the easy route. Will let you know in a few weeks if they work!

Mine is a timber frame. It went up in a few days but from there to watertight took months. The frame bit is quick but the rest............ its almost 2 years since we started and circa 9 months since the timber frame went up. We chose timber frame because we thought it was quick?

I think storage is self explatory. Welfare is the toilet and hand washing. I didnt have a site office. We build the garage first and that serves as office and storage, got a fridge and a kettle in there along with first aid kit. Other than that just a portaloo with hand wash facilities. I didnt need or want a caravan on site.

Yes I subsequently found that company and the wider ones are ideal for my big windows. As I understand it there a peel off strip and you stick them up to frame or glass, its reusable and lo tack so no damage to anything. Will let you know if they work!

I'm in the Midlands and ditto on rates!

I just have a big first aid kit, bought on line from safety sign suppliers. No eye wash stations or fire extinguishers. Got all the safety signs up along with CCTV and keep out etc signs. Ours was MBC slab and frame and subbies. As far as I recall the people who we asked for H&S stuff were giving the RAMS for us to provide to the outside agencies - water, gas etc. I think MBC had some specific requirements of us and provided their RAMS to us as well. Took me a while to work out RAMS = Risk assessment etc.......one groundwork contractor put his RAMS in for onward transmission to some provider - when we looked later his RAMS related to a drive through burger car park. I don't think anyone ever noticed, its a tick box exercise....unless of course it goes wrong. People like brickies, plasterers, carpenters and electricians and plumbers ...all the important bods on site....never seen any RAMS from them nor given them any instructions beyond basic 'joining' info e.g. first aid kit in garage etc I was going to do my own but ended up not, it was given to someone else to use as a starter in setting up a new business and so heavily discounted rate, my time more valuable elsewhere. I think in the end it is just a paper shuffling exercise like so many of these things. If you are good at organising you should be OK. Lots of signs and safety notices makes it look good on site. I would do a pre printed sheet to hand out to newbies and put it up in your site office...location of first aid kit, nearest hospital, fire station etc. Most of these consultants charge a fortune to people who are time poor on their self builds. A whole industry has sprung up around regulations. One thing for sure is if its not in order your insurance will be void in the event of anything happening. I don't know if the file for a site has to be given to anyone but I think it can be requested at any time so needs to be done and available. There are some very experienced people on here who will be able to tell you whats what.

This is a girlie view........I just want to dry my laundry, quality and time of drying is far more important to me than a few £’s on the electricity bill.I never use it in the midde of the night. I had aaa rated Miele before cost a fortune, had to leave it behimd when I sold the house. Bought a cheap as chips Candy condenser dryer B rating for rental house. Turns out it is more efficient at drying than the Miele and the saving in cost of equipment will pay for an awful lot of electricity. When I bought the cheapie stop gap 2 years ago I thought I would just use it until it died and then get a ‘proper brand’ again for new house. I am so pleased with cheap Candy I have decided I will do as planned and run it until it dies but then I will get another. I could have a new dryer every 2 years for 10 years for the price of a Miele and if the result is as good its a no brainer for me.

I had one of those combi machines. Useless, it takes forever to dry things compared to a regular dryer. I gave up on the dryer part of the washing machine and installed a dryer as well. Much more efficient drying and less energy costs too.

@Triple07 thanks not seen Ikea ones will have a look

Anyone used temporary paper window blinds? I’m not going to get sorted with my blinds for a month or two and whilst I’m not bothered about privacy I dont really want to be woken up at the crack of dawn with daylight blazing in. I saw ‘blinds in a box’ advertised, instant stick up paper blinds and a blackout version available too. £48 for 6 and if they work sound worth a try. Any reviews?

I think we have some members in Somerset area so maybe not too far to suggest someone to you. All my connections that way are just a tad too far, dont think tilers travel unless it is a big job. Have you tried going to your local tile shops and asking there, most independant tile shops know a few they could suggest to you. Do you have a local community facebook page where you could ask for recommendations? Our local one is great. Good luck!

Your location would help anyone suggesting a tiler.

Yes used them on a riverbank in previous house and shortly to use them in garden of current build. I need to form a porous retaining barrier in a ha ha. Looked at the plastic sleepers too and they are very good but gabions suit my plan better. Tip if you have never used before .....fill them with the cheapest stone you can get but face any visible areas with nice stone.

I have materials sorted and deposits paid on gate and garage door ex vat. Our planning was very odd and and non specific as to materials other than roof covering. Nothing at all about garden.

Do you have to have all your garden landscaping done to get a completion certificate? I am in England, the house is pretty much finished just need MVHR commission etc which is being done immediately after Easter, all kitchens bathroom etc in and working. I will have a base surface drive awaiting final resin when I get the loot later in the year but until then it will be a binder course, some new estates live with that for months before final blacktop goes on. I was hoping to get signed off mid April with things done to this stage. It this doable or have I got to have everything outside finished too? Think I will shoot myself if that is the case! I dont plan to put the garage door on for a month or so as I want the walls next to it rendered and will wait for particular renderer to be available. I will have concrete slabs ready for patio tiles and tiles there waiting to go down but tiler can't do until about July, garden will be topsoil and grass seed. Areas that need timber fencing will be done when I have decided on style and height when I finalise garden design plan meantime I will keep heras there for about a month. Help anyone?

I'm looking at getting dot and dab done in the garage to use up a lot of left over plasterboard......I have never seen an example of dot and dab before so very timely thank you.

@Alexphd1 took some pics this morning we have a layer of geotex fixed round our eps to protect it then the aluminium on top. Aliminium is foamed/screwed to eps around slab and house timber frame. It extends a short way up under the render board and cladding to make sure there is no problem with water getting in. If you want a more technical explanation I can ask my superstar carpenter (he fitted it). It works really well and looks smart..... well it will do when we get all the muck off!

I wash most on 40 with a laundry disinfectant in as well. A wash below 60 does not kill germs or dust mites etc. Anything heavier duty such as towels etc go in at 60. Rarely use the 95 wash as I take my sheets to the laundry. I also run my dishwasher at a min of 65 because the same applies for germ killing and temps. I use my TD a lot too and always for towels.

I did but can’t find the post or those pics in my unsorted phot stream. Here are couple that show it but were taken to show other things so a bit sideways on. I can take some better ones on site tomorrow if useful.

I had powder coated aluminium on mine. Made at local fabricators and matched to window frame colour

With land costs included our total factoring in all will be £5000 per sqm without land £3500 per sq m and no I do not have a perfect house clad in marble with gold taps. I have a timber framed bungalow with a rubber roof which may look fine to the untrained eye but due to construction issues is a bit lop sided but we have overcome that cosmetically, at some cost to us of course! One good thing is I'm told it will get a good EPC result and it is nice and warm in there. Original budget was £3600psqm inc land £2100psqm ex land Not exactly a tiny starting budget for a 180sqm timber framed bungalow and we had prepared ourselves for as much as £2500 psqm for overruns but nothing could have prepared us for where we have ended up. As @Moira Niedzwiecka says the edge of madness was passed when we realised we had no choice but to keep going until the end. That positive light is a long way off I'm afraid!

Its touch and go...............we never expected it to take 2 years either, we have no pensions left to cash in the build has swallowed every penny and more, we are in a rented house, sold ours to build this. Still working now at 70. My fault OH never wanted this it is my folly, He is so lovely he just said ok if thats what you want when I found the plot. Almost every single costing we have been given has been wrong by miles when it actually came to the final bill.....my bits kitchen, bathroom etc are exactly what I expected them to cost, and were allready bought (in sales) when this started to go off the rails big time. Our original budget (all the cash we had plus a fair bit for contingencies) has been so far exceeded it makes me feel ill to think about it. The final tally will be 50% more than we expected, you couldn't shave that sort of money off a kitchen and bathroom. Our budget was not small to start with compared to some I read on here and was 100k more than QS had told us for basic house so a decent kitchen and bathroom not too much of a stretch from that extra you would have thought. It is complete madness but we have been unable to stop the runaway train merely slow it where we can. If I tried to sell it I would probably get 250k less than we have spent.....its a complete nightmare. We were not silly we had QS costs before we started but where we have ended up beggars belief. I can't even think about it all without feeling physically sick. I so hope yours works out better. I have a shattered dream, 2 years of life and health than can never be recovered and as for the money well now I guess we just need to work until we drop to survive, our comfortable retirement is now no longer even a dream. Most days I hate the site of the place as you can imagine. My guys on site now are lovely and have saved my sanity these last months. Superstar carpenter and great brickie/groundworker. We don't talk about anything other than build problems of which we have had a lot but I am sure they must pick up my stress I must have aged 10 years in the last 6 months. Moving in finally will be bittersweet and I don't know if I will ever get past the way I feel now. Just want to get it as finished as we can for sign off, get in and spend the next year and umpteen £££'s finishing the rest. Probably time to move into a care home by then! How to wreck your life in one easy lesson!! Fingers crossed for you at least it sounds like you have a builder you can rely on to do the right thing so that may save you from some of the nightmare scenarios we have had.

I know how you feel.....thankfully a 2 year nightmare is coming to an end for us. We are broken by the whole process - physically, mentally and financially. I could have just bought a lovely house 2 years ago saved myself an absolute fortune not to mention the stress.......I would need to live to a hundred now to make back the difference in energy costs but the equipment for that is only a small part of the financial roller coaster of £££££'s that has haemorrhaged out over 2 years . It has totally wrecked our retirement plans. I hope it gets better for you....our gas cost £13k to get in, our water took 18 months, electricity by comparison was easy. We are in the garden of an existing house ...like you we thought it would be simple to do.

I have a quote from Sennocke now, buildings only (they say our Hiscox contents only policy cover is so good they cant match it so stick with that). The premium seems Ok but they are saying it is non standard construction. I thought timber frame was classed as standard these days? The likes of Barrat homes et al are doing timber frame all over and they must be classed as standard construction surely. Anyone know if it is the outside finish that dictates standard or non standard....ours is larch and render.