TheMitchells

Next two questions - how much and what sort of insulation should I be looking at for the floor, under the Impey Aqua Mat, if thats what we use? and when looking at the external wall build up, would Building Regs standards be okay or should I push for more insulation? Thanks in advance. I did look at jeremy's floor insulation comparison too but I cant even get it to work, never mind understand how to use it! ?

will keep watching the post! Though still not at the end yet - dont tell me - - I hate knowing the end!?

will go the thermostatic route! with a pump for better power?? OH doesnt want to do an electric shower due to the required power load needed, I think. But I am leaving that to him. Aquaseal system it is or something similar for the waterproofing. I'll see what patrick the builder says tomorrow. But I think the plan is that he will leave the actual fit out, including the waterproofing and tiling to us. And I will suggest the Aqua Mat for the heating.

I have just been watching the Impey Waterguard Wetroom tankingvideo which looks great and with care, is something I could do. I assume it would be installed onto the plastered walls. But I also have seen Aquaseal wet room system recommended on this site. Is one better than the other? I can see the Aquaseal is about £45 and have not priced up the Impey system but it looks more expensive. The Aquaseal also looks easier for me to use. If OnOff can use it, I am sure I'll be able to do it.!!? I am working my way through the rest of his bathroom post - I may be busy for a few days......

Thanks Nick - that Impey Aqua mat sounds ideal. we may get one for our own bathroom when we get round to it. The mains pressure hot water device is something I shall get the OH to look at. I think he was looking at a New Team NT1000 power shower which gives a good pressure but still runs off the hot and cold water. its the same as ours and that works well. I shall let you know how we get on with the builder tomorrow.

it should be about 4.5 m square. porch wall is currently 1.6m and the side of the bedroom wall is 2.96m. I am not sure if the extension will extend to match the front and roof of the existing building or if it will be set back slightly. there are both in extensions around the area. and if we extend further than the porch wall, to avoid the drains, the extrnal width is likely to be about 2m. I am also thinking about what sort of heating we could include. The bungalow still has night storage heating and a rather large hot water tank which is heated up with night time economy seven electricity. there is gas in the nearby road but its not connected to the house. so any heating in the wet room will be electricity and probably underfloor heating. while it would be nice to change the ehating to gas, that is a few years away.

I have spent the last two days reading lots of posts about wet rooms and waterproofing, so its time to now ask for advice. we have bought a bungalow for my elderly parents and while most of it is ideal for them, the bathroom leaves a lot to be desired. it is small with a bath, which neither of them can use as they cannot safely get in and out. we are not easily able to remove the bath and replace with a shower as there is a large window which would need to be moved/made smaller, it would be a small shower and what would they use while the work was being carried out? so the other option is to add a wet room on the side of the building. it gives a second loo, which is always a good idea, and hopefully will add to the value. we have plenty of land around as it is a corner plot and looking round the estate, it seems the council allow pretty much whatever anyone asks for. The porch will form one wall of the wet room and the side window (seen just peeping out on the right) will be removed from the bedroom and a door inserted. then the room will fill that corner on the right. the roof will extend upwards to link or be just below the origonal and it will come out a little past the porch wall. the reason for that is it appeared that the main drain runs under the wall of the porch?. the inspection cover can be seen on the bottom left of the photo and it runs straight towards my builder. so if we move the new wall further out, it will give us extra space inside and hopefully avoid too much bridging of the drain. We plan to have the usual loo, basin and shower but to leave it all open, so no screens, thinking of the future when they may need to use the room in a wheelchair. The builder has said he plans to build it with a concrete floor and then use a 70/90mm screed to form the floor, draining to a drain. But in most of the BuildHub posts, I am reading about formers. is this needed here when he is building the floor from scratch? Included in the quote is;- *To extend existing porch by approximately 4.5m2, exterior bricks and roof tiles to match existing; - *New soil drainage to connect into existing manhole; - *Existing porch window to be converted into wet room door opening and the supply and fit of new door to match existing; - *Window to be re-used in new extension; - We actually just want a small velux in the roof and no windows. also it would be nice to make use of the whole roof space, to add to the spacious feel of the room. *Plastering works to be carried out in associated areas; - *Removal of associated waste. The OH and I plan to do the fit out ourselves once the plumbing, drains, walls etc are done. we can do tiling and plumbing but I have not done waterproofing before. We have used the builder before and know he does a good job, once he starts - the hard part is getting him! I am meeting him on Friday to discuss the build and find out when he can start. Are there any questions I should ask? Any suggestions I could consider? ?

This isnt the one I was thinking about but it may be worth a read.

Good luck with it It sounds like fun!. I cant give much advice as I am still without plot but there are plenty here with good tips. I am sure there is a post somewhere for all those 'I wish I had done this ...' . Thats probably worth a read so you can avoid some things. And buy the Housebuilders Bible which gives a good idea of how much things should cost for a basic 4 bed house. while not the same as yours, it gives a rough idea. and Spons may be mentioned too. good luck and lets have plenty of photo's please.?

would that work with the electric door opener that we have? we could consider that next time. I ordered the spring and it arrived this week so I am now waiting for the fitter to come round and get the garage door working again. I certainly miss it as we use the garage far more than the front door, particularly for walking the dog - which may explain why the springs keep going. it probably does more work than usual.

One spring ordered at a cost of £114 with fitter costing £75 so much better than Hormanns offerigns.

spring ordered from ABI Garage Doors Sullies - Only £110 for the spring and the chap will fit it for £75 so much better and a lesson to me - always look online to make sure we are not paying over the odds for goods! ?

Will both sides be the same - Ed, my fitter, took the tag to order another one? I shall see if we can get the number and have a look online. I guess we can't invalidate any warranty as we dont have one now!?

When we built our garage in 2002, we had an electric door fitted, 3.6m wide, supplied and fitted by a local chap and it has been great apart from one thing. in 2009 one of the springs went and so our local chap ordered another one from Germany and fitted it - cost £182 which seemed rather a lot for a metal spring but that did include fitting and vat. Then in 2012 another one went, this time it cost £238. the fitter said that he had only ever had to replace one other spring in all the doors he has fitted but ours seems to keep going - in 2014 the opposite one broke. I guess I should have made a big fuss with the German company, Hormann, but we didnt and paid the £295 for our third replacement. Guess what! its happened again. the spring went last thursday evening, luckily with the car on the outside as the OH was away and I ceretainly could not have managed to lift the door without help. Again our local chap came and had a look - this should not be happening. Our door is the only one whose springs keep going. So this time he said he would see if Hormann wanted to come and have a look and see if they could help with this issue. But you've guessed it, they dont want to know. Its out of warranty! I am emailing the company to ask for some sort of discount here - it has already cost us over £700 over and above the installation costs and I would guess the price for the new spring will keep going up. But surely I should have some comeback on Hormann as no-one else seems to have this problem. Any ideas on what else we can do?

cost for a new build vary enormously and while we have not built ourselves, we did a huge amount of research and I'd recommend in the region of £300k at a minimum, but that could go up or down depending on size, design and materials used. Get hold of some of the self build magazines - some of them give ideas of costs, visit the Self Build Centre at Swindon and maybe read the Housebuilders Bible. then you will have a much better idea of what is invovled. Certainly, i have seen some lovely houses built for £300k but most are more than that as the owners want their 'foreve home' and therefore tnd to make it better quality than a general house would be.

I'd recommend looking at one of the building companies such as Scotframe, Danwood or Potton who can do everything for you, including the design and applying for planning. I have been to the Poton site near St Neots and it was very useful. I dont they are too expensive either - they hold your hand all the way through and the houses are lovely. I would certainly consider building new as you can have the house exactly as you want it (within reason) and make sure it is well insulated and efficient, something you may struggle to do with an extension and re-design. Are the bills in the future an important consideration? Anyway - sounds like a great project whichever route you take - Good Luck.?

Better late than never - a final post for this blog. the house eventually sold on 1st June - two years minus two days since we bought it. the buyer is very happy and so are we. we have had some time away from renovating but new plans are taking shape - not quite what I expected but it will do for now. tell you more soon! ?

well done Guys! it looks fab-u-lus!. Love the colours - may have to pinch some of those for my revamp of our place.

Dig them out if possible, after cutting/strimming down the top growth. then anything that comes up, hit with a spray of SBK. You need a systemic weedkiller that gets right down into the roots. Glyphosate is the mian checmical used and does work but it takes a couple of weeks for it to get right through the root system.

When I click the link - it just comes back to the BuildHub site???

Can I suggest you take a look at Janet Cotterell and her PH15 system. I met her a few years ago when I first thought I would be building at Graven Hill and I liked her and her system. She has researched all aspects of passivhaus and has come up with a system that works and uses the best products at a good price. her website is http://www.phhomes.co.uk/ I think her system is cut in a factory and then built on site and uses cellulose insulation with a timber frame system. You can also see one of her builds going up on the www.houseplanninghelp.com website on the Hub. The site is worth a look if you are still learning as there are loads of podcasts on all aspects of self build. And I would recomment a visit to Swindon's National Centre for Self build and renovation. https://www.nsbrc.co.uk/ That is a great place for information and inspiration - particularly on one of their open days. and its free if you pre-=book. Very exciting time - keep us all informed with lots of photographs.

that brings back memories! I was only about 4 when that came out.

just wanted to say that I have fianlly caught up on your posts and I am impressed by the work you have done. The house looks great and I am looking forward to seeing the improvements develop. Great work!

Well, after the report from the valuer, they got in a structural surveyor who had a look and while he was quite positive to the OH, it seems he has recommended £5k worth of work to be done to the house, so the mortgage company will not give a mortgage and the buyer has withdrawn from the sale! We are trying to get hold of his report so we know what work he is suggsting but no luck yet. The estate agent has put the house back on the market and already has a viewing on Saturday but its such a pain! We are now thinking about renting it out instead but will give it a few weeks and then if no luck with a sale, we may rent.

Sorry - should clarify - we both put seat and lid down!