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Tube mastic

Render must never be lower than the dpc ie 3-4 course of engineering brick dpc Then render bead on the top of the dpc Or higher

Plus 1 Affordability has to be your first consideration

Most mass produced homes arnt air tested I used to see air tests being carried out on sites every week While commercial properties are still done It’s quite a few years since I’ve seen an air test being carried out on a site I’m guessing that it’s being done as a desktop Most claim sub 2 When I’ve asked about testing Site mangers all say the same Done while you are not here What are the chances

Love it Ian Id certainly do things differently to what the big companies do For not a lot more money It all seems about box ticking

mum always pretty positive and enjoyed both builds Except for the planning process 😁

Strange wether We still have floods

Kind words Jack Thank you I’m often asked can I recommend a good roofer plumber etc I don’t like to recommend anyone that won’t do a good job at a reasonable rate and is reliable You tend to find that with most tradesmen So my massive list of contacts is quite small Bits of advise If you are using a main contractor or getting the trades in yourself Expect delays between trades Or your just going to get who’s available Be patient A few weeks delay in the grand scheme of things won’t make that much difference This is why mass produced houses are so bad Know what you want before you visit your Architect Don’t let fees rack up Get a good SE onboard We spent 800 -1500 on the SE Plus 500 for a Topo Familiarize yourselves with the drawings Then you can spot mistakes easily LA building control won’t be swayed by the builder that’s brought them in and are readily available and on anyone’s clock Most builders will tell you that LA BC are a pain in the arse and they are But at least there inspections don’t rely on Photos of YOUR house More so this time round Do all the buying in yourself Quotes for the same items can be double when going in to negotiate on tiles bathrooms etc Go in your scruffs and boots It’s common knowledge that all self builders have money to burn 🔥😁 The biggy Do as much as you can There’s lots of jobs that we have tackled that neither of us had any experience of So many things are a learning curve Oh Remember when you go into the merchants The chap selling the stuff probably only knows slightly more than you 😁 When dealing with trades There working for you not the other way round They are definitely not your mates Plenty will take advantage of your kindness The best way to earn respect is to have everything ready in front of them DON'T LET ANYONE OVERDRAW OR DRAW IN ADVANCE No exceptions Im sure there’s lots more feel free to ask

I’m near Preston No one really bothers over correct terms on here Just post a picture along with any questions 😁

Thanks Dave

Prompted by a private message today We have just finished the house With just I say just the drive and patios to do As with our previous build I’ll put the cost m2 Excluding the purchase of the plots But including fees surveys Architects etc etc While I’ve a trade background and plenty of contacts There’s lots of aspects of building a house that where as new to me as they would be to most of you I’m 63 and my wife is 60 and both work full time Monday to Thursday From our previous build to this we’ve tried to do as much of the work ourselves as we possibly could The figures are to encourage Not to discourage and show that you can build a house far superior and much better insulated for less money than your average Persimmon home we are at 420 m2 and have spent Just short of 350k We expect to pay 12k for gates and allowed 20 k for materials for the drive and patios Which the 39k vat refund should cover The seller wouldn’t split the two plots Or the field So we may have another build in us 😁

Used Hager on our previous build Expensive Our Electrician works for an electrical company that have multi million pound housing association contracts all over the UK and only use Fusebox Im sure he said made in Scotland Someone will probably correct me shortly In any case he said it’s the availability of bits and reliability that they want Time will tell A fraction of the cost of Hager

It’s just dry out in a cold house Bang a little bit of heat on Let it dry Brush the walls Then lightly spray with 5-1 mix of bleach and water and wipe with a sponge PAINT

I’d thought about this on our previous build Being it was the first time I’d fitted a TP and no knowledge of TPS Other than gem of info that my architect supplied “Just like a 59 gallon barrel that you stick in the ground and the waste runs through it “ I added a vent near the TP

Cheap enough lots of info out there at your fingertips On here for one Asking LA for guidance shouldn’t be an issue to you After all it’s what you are paying for

It depends on what it costs Using local authority BC is usually cheaper and you get unlimited FREE advise On a daily basis if needed Where as private tend to make you feel like your being a pain in the ass and tell you to take photos

We where quite Naive first time round Our build was part of a Heritage site Lots of conditions We thought that planners would be all over us But in truth No one really cares or is about to enforce these things This time round we needed to strip 600 mil off the site prior to starting BC insisted we strip along a line of trees we where supposed to be protecting I think much of it is a box ticking exercise Still had to folk out a grand for a survey showing how we would protect the tree line 😁

One thing that you need to know Is that BC have no interest in planning let alone enforcing them

We had this on both our builds and chose to ignore it as it was totally impractical No trees died Our recent build specified 100m2 of Cellular and Herras fencing around it making it impossible to get plant and deliveries past None of the trees had TPOs Except for three on our previous build Our neighbor is building at the other side planners have specified the same protection as us There planning consultant has pointed out that there are no TPOs and therefore not governed by planning

Unless it’s glued to the floor with a polymer glue you will get a bit of noice from the underlay Even tiles can do this when on anti crack Matt

Five times Only if you are getting an alternative at less than a £1

It’s quite common for boards to get damp I tell the guys that work for me If a board can’t be lifted above your head by one person It needs to go on the wall

Yep Screw go through the paper Skimmed in damp cold temps screws slowly pull through usually Bottom of pile Same boards are fine on walls

Damp boards

Plus 1 Electricity supply has to be prioritized You could end up spending more on PV and batteries Which won’t do you much good November to Feb