lizzie

We have a fully bonded single ply membrane roof with three passive standard sun pipes. We have an MBC insulated flat deck topped with our own bespoke curving trusses and marine ply. Membrane goes on top of that lot. We had the very long tube sunpipes because of the depth they had to travel down into the building through all the layers. We went for Fatra as our membrane (bro in law is an installer but he didnt do it for us). We chose Fatra over the other market leader Sarnafil for a number of reasons but both are equally as good with long warranties and bba certs. I would be slightly nervous of a product without a good back up and having seen it done would not advise a diy install. Our gutters are formed up on the roof with the membrane so we have nothing visible on the building bar 2 downpipes coming out of our huge overhanging soffits. Its not a cheap roof final job cost was comparable with the metal products but less chance of coming home from holiday and finding your zinc stripped LOL

Nope but I saw on facebook that Grand Kitchens (exhibit at grand designs) are selling a Schuler display kitchen with all applicances for 7500, they say value of15k may be worth a look. I would if I had not already bought mine.

Things can only get better!

Thanks all lots to explore. I think a total diy is beyond me! Great work on the gate from scaff boards.

has anyone got a recommendation for driveway gate suppliers. I have had some eye watering quotes from locals. I looked at solid aluminium but mega bucks so have reverted to my original idea of a simple metal frame infilled with larch cladding to match the house. Got one quote for frame only (we to infill and fit) for a pair of swing gates 2m each gate and 1.8m high it was £1500. That seems an awful lot of money for 2 galvanised black painted metal gate frames. Automation and posts etc on top of that Any thoughts

Karndean is great stuff almost impossible to wear out and it looks really smart. I had it in a bathroom in teak and done like a ships deck it was still perfect after 15 years. We used it in the commercial grade in light oak at the office in all the corridors and reception area and it looked very smart however stilletto heels caused damage. Some of the girls shoes had the rubber tips missing and the metal piece cut into the Karndean they also tended to lean against the reception counter and balance on their heels and again that caused cuts into the Karndean. Karndean is susceptible to damage from grit carried in on shoes too just like a wooden floor. I would say you need to take the same care of Karndean from foot traffic as you would with a wood floor. Kardean is a dream to clean and much softer and quieter underfoot. If I was having wood floor look I would choose Karndean in preference to the Oak engineered floor I had though my ground floor of the last house. I’m having tiles this time though. One good thing about Karndean is that strips can be replaced if damaged. Its all glued down over a levelling compound on a solid floor or over ply on a boarded floor and so easy to lift a strip and replace. I would suggest buying a few extra and keeping them in case you ever need a replacement piece. If you are anywhere near Evesham Worcs Karndean have the most fantastic exhibition area at their hq. Worth a visit its shows you all sorts of ways to use the product and offer samples of everything they produce.

Welcome.....you would have been horrified at my plastering pics a few months ago, all sorted now! We chose Internorm Ali. clad timber 3g after looking at Rationel, Ideal Combi and a few others. So much choice on windows.

Look at guttercrest they do a square (we didnt want round). They do bespoke too, which we needed for some bits, powder coated ali colour of choice. Very reasonable prices and really helpful tech dept. Mansel was really helpful. We chose them after looking at so many other companies and I am very pleased with product, service and price. guttercrest.co.uk

Thank you look forward to pics. My quotes were for powder coated to match roof as it has an edge profile.....one quote was 42k! Mad! We did get it down to under half that in the end (huge fascias and soffits) but it was still too much for now so I have painted them to match the roof. Its the only bit on the house that has any maintenence implications frustrating but needs must etc We found a good supplier of powder coated rainwater goods if anyone is looking. I have all hidden gutters up on the roof but needed 3 downpipes and some bespoke swan necks (no hoppers). Guttercrest from Oswestry. Good price and quick turn around.

We have the MBC slab with the UFH in it - we asked to use our own pipe and not MBC supplied pipe but they put it in for us and we got a reduction in our mbc price for supplying our own pipe, they also fitted it to our designed spec for spacing and zones. We have used the German Robbens pipe and manifolds. The Robbens system is very good with pipe that has an aluminium inner so very robust. Robbens design was good and they were really on the ball. We got our UFH and MVHR from them and used a recommended installer, he is brilliant, a specialist in passiv style stuff. He has done all our UFH and MVHR and put in the gas boiler and hot water tanks and hot and cold feeds to our desired points around the house ready for our bathroom plumbers to first fix into. He specified the plumbing kit (ex mvhr/ufh) and I bought it all at best prices I could get on line so no middle man cut. All our h&c pipes are in the roof and now buried in masses of mbc pumped insulation, so we dont have roof space just insulation LOL We chose Robbens for our UFH/MVHR after having quotes from 3 others......they also do some very stylish magnetic covers in glass for the mvhr room vents much nicer than the plastic ones that are the norm and I didnt find anyone else who offered such a stylish product

I wanted aluminium fascias and soffits but the cost overspends on everything has pushed us so far over budget I am having to cut back where I can so we have hardwood ply with 4 coats of sadolin. They look good and should last for a few years before needing maintenance and by then I may be able to afford the aluminium. Have you got a photo of yours?

Our MVHR is in the plant room so very accessible. I wanted it somewhere I could get at it easily as having seen some up in the roof I knew that would not be an option for me as I wouldnt easily be able to change filters etc. We have a single storey house so roof space would have been limited in any event. We have silicone render the Alumasc vented facade system. Pricey but I’m pleased with it, it has a guarantee and BBA cert and never needs painting.

Have a look at Vastern Timber website. Lovely company, they sent me no end of samples too. They do all sorts, such as ash, oak, poplar as well as the usual cedar and larch. They do a few in thermowood too which is expensive but if its just a small area may be worth a splurge. I had samples from so many including Russwood and Silva as well as Vastern and Vincent. I was set on cedar but having had lots of different wood samples outside weathering for 6 months or more I decided against the cedar as too much colour variation for me. I ended up with Siberian Larch with Gris treatment because for me it looked so much better than the others after weathering. Personal choice as always though. Liz

I’m using pre treated Gris larch from Vincent Timber for my cladding to avoid the colour change. If you dont want a lot you could keep an eye on the clearance section on their website they often have some real bargains.

Good luck tomorrow.I am really pleased with our render, it was expensive but it is really good. One of our rendering team was a girl and she was excellent and kept them all in order! Our last house (built 30 years ago) was in a conservation area so know what you are up against.

Thamk you, a labour of love painting them!

Thanks Moira, you can just see the render, Alumasc system same as you I recall. Hope you are doing OK.

ha ha I can actually laugh today.....back to the troubles tomorrow! Drainage and service trenches being dug this week then backfill.......still no water to site, best date now is 13 December for water and I dont think we will be able to improve on that but Im enjoying the moment today ?

Internorm but not from ecohaus we used Rangemoor who are in Solihull near Birmingham. They gave us a better deal than ecohas. They are 3g aluclad with laminated glass.

No blog but Ive got plenty of photos if you want to see any and thank you. Its been a very long hard road to get here

We finally got the scaffold down today, oh how i had grown to hate it! Larch cladding next, starting to look a bit like a house now......only taken 18 months to get this far!

Moira sending you hugs. Keep going you are doing amazingly well. I have some broad similarities in as much as OH serious health issues came out after build was started and it was too late to turn back so now we have just got to get it finished, trusted professionals on budgets while I was distracted with health matters, massive overspends and we too are having to cash in pensions to finish it, we are in our 60’s now and god knows what we will live on with not much pension left but thats not todays problem. I am luckier in as much as my OH health issues are life changing but not life threatening, my heart goes out you, must be very hard. xx

great job, well done, finishing line in view!

Perfect thank you so much

Oh I had no idea I had to fill them with that sort of stuff.......I have a lot to learn!