TheMitchells

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£5k worth of work to be done to the house, so the mortgage company will not give a mortgage and the buyer has withdrawn from the sale!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!

Sadly no - it is happily living in Derbyshire, as far as we know. And re the loo - the OH and I came to an agreement years ago that we both put the seat down so no arguments and as @JSHarris always says, it is healthier too! We have had a bit of a hiccup this week. Our solicitor sent draft contracts on 20th Feb yet had heard nothing back, then we were asked if the Mortgge valuer could come round on Tuesday and we learnt that the solicitors were not doing anything till the mortgage offer had come through - which of course was waiting for the valuer to do their thing! Why it has taken a month to get sorted, I dont know. I was not happy and was even less happy when the valuer said she found a bow and crack in the cellar wall. So they then wanted a full structural surveyor to assess the situation. Luckily he arrived yesterday which was very quick. He didnt seem too concerned re the wall and was quite complimentary about our renovation, which was nice. It is possible that the bow occurred when the drain alongside the alley wall was leaking a few years ago. Anglian water lined the drain, which can be seen when looking in the inspection chamber. But we may have to get some sort of paperwork to confirm this. It is an old house and there certainly has not been any movement in the wall since we bought it so we are hopeful that this will not cause too much of a delay. Fingers crossed! I know the cellar has been much drier since we added a second airbrick in that corner and we also make sure the water butt is emptied regularly as there is nowhere for the water to go when it overflows - just straight into the damp corner of the cellar.

Great project! Looking forward to hearing all about it. Whereabouts in the country are you?

What a great opportunity. Yes, please - lots of photo's and plans for us to peruse. And I am sure there will be lots of questions that you can help us with.

Thanks for all the comments - Will let you know whenit all goes through. The champagne will be out that evening! I am working out the hours we have spent there to give us an idea of how much per hour we'll have made. Probably shouldn't, may put us off doing it again!

a cellar the sull size of the house but its not high enough to use properly. You have to stand with your head between the joists and I cannot remember a single time that the OH went down there and didnt bang his head! You'd think he would have learnt after a year and half......

me too! It looks so easy but isnt. and we never have the right screwdriver/drill bit etc! How many drill bits have you got now?

Well, at last we have finished our renovation and have had an offer that we have accepted. It took longer to get here than we ever thought, over 17months, but I think it was worth it. After Christmas and our little party, we had the estate agent in who had already sold one of the neighbours houses and before we knew it, the photographer was there and the next day it was online! we still had a few snags to sort out but we soon had those done, apart from the wooden mantle for the lounge fireplace, which we hadn't found yet. After a couple of weeks, we had a good offer and so we are now in the hands of the solicitors. I am hopeful to have it all completed by end of April. Our buyer was in the middle of selling her place to a first time buyer so I am keeping my fingers crossed that there are not too many problems. We did say we didn't want a chain, prefering a FTB or cash buyer. So here are a few of the photographs of our amazing house, together with the origonal shots, if I have them. The dining room. The lounge. Our lovely bathroom - Am very pleased with this The back bedroom. I am so proud of what we have acheived. it was our first big renovation and we had to take on many challenges that we had not done before. But apart from the builder (who did the structural work on the side gable wall and removed the wall between the kitchen and dining room) and the plasterers, we did the lot ourselves! Poor OH has still not recovered, although his knees are much better now that he is no longer crawling round the floor doing plumbing/electrics/boarding etc. Whenever I mention another nice place I have seen on Rightmove that needs renovating, he turns a strange colour of pale and goes to lie down. I think I shall have to wait for a little while before looking too seriously. I hope you have enjoyed sharing this experience/blog with us and maybe have learnt some things on the way; I know I certainly have. I shall be sad to see the house go - it has always felt a friendly /warm house, even in the middle of winter. But onwards and upwards! Maybe we will eventually find a plot and can build our own house or, if not, a renovation for us rather than for profit. And whatever, I shall make sure there is a blog on Buildhub! Cheers, The Mitchells.

Keep asking the questions and you'll keep receiving lots of help. maybe start a blog for those of us who arent able to build ourselves. I can read on with envy! Good luck.

same here - I used Distinguished windows (a local firm) for the ones in our current houses. They only took payment after the windows were fitted. I liked the company, the workman were very clean, polite and the jobs seemed to be done very well. And they were half the price of that well known double glazed company with the feather on TV.

While I have only just seen some of the questioning posts on this topic, I agree with Jeremy's comment - I think we need to give the FMG a bit of space. Personnaly I am happy to accept their decision and if a post has been removed, there must have been a good reason for it. We all agree that this is one of the best forums on the web and I would hate to see this issue spoiling such a good thing. Can we let it go, please.

Will you all stop it!! I cant get any work done as I am too busy falling off the sofa laughng..... I dont dare look at another one. The OH thinks I am potty. I showed him the Veet for men review but he managed to read it without laughing once He seems to have lost his sense of humour..... I have sent the link to all my friends though.

A friend has a tariff from British Gas which gives her free electricity for one day a week. She chose Sundays and does all her washing/cleaning/tumble drying on that day. She reckons it saves her a fortune. Interestingly, she does not like tumbel dryers as they use electricity to do something the wind does for free, But this way, her washing is washed and dried and put away in a couple of hours. I already use Octopus for our dual fuel and I can say that I really like them. The bills are easy to understand and their emails are polite and informative.

This post is better than the latest box set! Glad to see the BH gang are coming to the rescue and am keeping my fingers crossed that it all gets sorted soon. What a nightmare and a lesson to us all to keep it simple as suggested by many on this forum!

agree with the garage - move the utility to the other side of the hall into the lower part of the dining room and make the kitchen/dining/living space slightly L shaped, or just have a large utulity and storage. You also need to factor in a plant room - part of the new utility? Good luck with the plans.

Sounds like a job for @Nickfromwales. Jude - he's the man for your design! Give him a PM.

Looks like a really interesting build! We did a renovation recently which did not have vehicle access - we had to barrow everything in and out of an alley for 80metres. The OH said never again! It did add to the costs and a huge amount of time and effort. Sounds like your build will need even more planning and effort - good luck.

welcome to BuildHub and we look forward to picking your brains. Not heard about Class Q house before. - just googled it. Conversion of agriculture to residential??

We have been using Jeremy's recommended Screwfix no nonsense silicone free adhesive to fix the skirting and that worked great but we have some largish gaps behind due to the uneven walls. So we need to use something to fill the gap which I can smooth and paint to finish it all off. Was looking at Screwfix No Nonsense General Purpose silicon sealant in white at £28 for a pack of 12 but is this the right stuff? Which is best to avoid shrinkage and cracking? Have 60m worth of skirting to fill. Is that different from decorators caulk? Screwfix do a few and they seem cheaper than sealant. No Nonsense decorators caulk for £1.39. Should I use that instead?

Can you provide a photograph please as I am struggling to work out what you mean - apologies.