Bored Shopper

A happy update: we have received our reclaim today! Submitted mid-December, got a letter that it was approved last week, and got the money today. Every.Single.Penny. Thanks to the Forum for all the wisdom, and to Andrew and his team for processing a tonne of paperwork. We could not have done it all without you guys. (fun fact: had moved in mid-September, completed end of November, and all this time up until late May the house remained unbanded for council tax payments. Nice to start paying council tax after you get your VAT return. Does not happen too often...).

If you feel at any point that the meeting is necessary, even if those two don't think it is, - insist on a meeting. Someone else's gut feel is not your gut feel. It is you who have to live with the end product.

Welcome Bobby, we are all very friendly here and supportive of all sorts of projects! Just read and ask. Oh, and we love lots of pics.

our neighbour posted on Facebook marketplace an ad saying "come dig it up and have it for free". He had about 20 people turning up with spades ready to dig up and take home anything in sight.

any ideas which month they are catching up on at the moment?..

Welcome! There are a few of us here who demolished and re-built. Tons of advise in relevant sections of the Forum on all your key query points. Personally: - hire a PM if you don't have time to manage the project or visit the site daily. But find someone who you can trust absolutely and watch them like a hawk. Still visit the site daily. - what problems do you envisage with VAT claim back? For a knock-down and rebuild it's pretty straightforward as long as you keep all your receipts and invoices. - can't really comment as we had one contractor for demolition and early re-build stages.

For me, UFH in bathrooms is perfect. We have walk-in wetrooms, so for me it is essential to step on a warm floor, and also for the floor to dry quickly afterwards to prevent mould / wet smells (yes, MVHR is in residence, but UFH helps). Now got used to it and won't have it any other way.

Hi, has anyone got their refund recently? We submitted in December and according to HMRC letter the consideration time expired early March. Still no news...

Would do again: - Porcelanosa wood-effect tiles throughout GF - UFH everywhere where it can possibly fit - ensuite to at least two bedrooms - and done as wetroom, NO shower trays! what a bliss! - absolutely another deep soaking bath instead of a long one. Or two? - Toto washlets everywhere - built-in blinds in bedroom windows. - extra acoustic insulation everywhere (and put even more, its never enough) - bifolds. Yes, lots of heat gain, but we have built-in blinds in central panels, and retractable curtains on side, so can screen it all off. But I love wide opening into my delightful garden, or even just an uninterrupted wide view into the garden from the place I cook - Kitchen from DIY kitchens - Another Cambria quartz worktop - U-shaped kitchen with eating on the long run of the U, facing each other. Delightful. I don't really need a standard dinner table anymore. - UFH and towel heaters in bathrooms - I love warm and dry towels - solar panels + a Tesla battery. We already run half-independent from the grid and expect to be fully independent in summer. Probably add one more Tesla. Panels installe flush with the roof and look excellent. - MVHR - skywindows in garage roof. Excellent light. - oak staircase - plenty of niche recesses in bathrooms Not sure worth repeating / would do differently: - would choose Posi joists - such a pain to run cabling and ducts through standar ones - will not trust external PMs - would invest in selecting a proper builder and working in partnership - would double-check all dimensions - make shower enclosure even larger and include bathtub within it - make utility twice bigger and place MVHR unit in there - go for composite fensing all around (budget for it properly) - avoid French gutter (bloody pain to clean and pebbles get everywhere) - MORE SOCKETS (we have plenty but not enough)

Interesting. What about habitat for forest fauna which forests provide? Would they thrive in bogs? A balance should be found somehow... Nevetheless, I can't create a bog in my garden :))) so I planted 4x trees and a full shrub hedge to make up for the devastation caused by the construction process (silly me, should have thought of the bog earlier!) ?

From what I see, there is a set of mistakes from various parties, which the build owner now has to sort out. SE/Architect really deserve a kick in the tender regions for not checking the foundations properly - why was not a proper survey done (or have I missed it above)? The builder will, understandably, be very nervous re delays as he has a few contracts lined up which are tied up to the finish of this particular project, that's standard practice. ALso true re him having to pay the crew for delays whilst waiting. What cannot be justified - the builder ignoring your instructions and proceeding with the underpinning against your express direction. This is not good. Ignoring the drawing will happen regularly, but it can be minor (eg ignoring the indicated place for a niche recess when tiling) or MAJOR. In our case, our Bulder-1 (the bad one) ignored the SE drawings/calculations when placing structural steels on block walls, which resulted in cracks all over - cost us £20k+ to rectify once we fired him and hired our Bulider-2 (God bless him, a great guy). I'm not sure how you/Architect have been PM-ing this build so far, but from this point onward you must be present on site daily if you want to get good results. The builder himself is not on site daily, and we don't know how good the communication is between him and his site manager - it adds another layer always. Most likely the builder will be annoyed with your daily presence, but if you want things to progress correctly and avoid costly mistakes - you have to be there daily, check progress against drawings, look into every corner of the site to ensure the right thing is done. It may help having a very detailed conversation with all involved, to set the record straight. Ideally minute it. And from now on don't rely on anyone and watch it as a hawk. If the builder continues with this F-off attitude, fire him. Six more months to go on in such mode of operation would be too stressful.

I would suggest talking openly about this. Worst case - you'll lose her (but I assume you still keep your design?) but will be able to move on with the project as other doors would open. Best case - you clear the air and move on all together now, with her being very clear on what / when you need. Reluctance to visit a complex site rings an alarm bell for me. They "think" they know the site from a description, but no one knows it better then you and if your gut feel tells you a site visit is a must to properly integrate the design - then it is a must. Overall, it's much better to clearly understand where you are with the architect of a complex project early on - as early as possible. Things will get much more difficult further on.

Indeed, the concept is Japanese, it's for proper deep soaking in tight space. Getting in/out is VERY easy - I've got really bad knees and cannot get up from the standard low long bathtub even with grab rails! WIth the omnitub, it's a question of swinging your legs in and sitting down as if you are sitting down on a cushion (one leg bent). Getting up also very easy as the space (we've got a Duo Plus) allows you to move around freely to find the right position from which to raise up. They have flat topside, not rolled, so support is very good. Also they are perfectly flat at the bottom, not semispherical like standar baths, so risk of slipping is very low. Overall, we are fans HHMBO was so keen on the concept that we travelled all the way to Omnitub workshop in Somerset to watch how they make them, and test out all the sizes they had

I know it's apples and oranges, but both HHMBO and myself find that with age standard long baths, no matter the depth, are becoming quite uncomfortable. And for larger people there is never enough water level. We opted for a soaking bath from Omnitub (with some initial resistance from my sceptical self, admittedly), and I could not be happier with the choice. Our ensuites are very narrow and space was at a premium, but the square deep bathtub fit perfectly and I am having my bubble baths now immersed up to the chin :). Keeps the heat pretty well, and takes a lot of weight.

I'm very pleased with our MVHR. We live near Heathrow, so quality of air is an issue at times. So far I can feel the pleasant difference, as we definitely have less respiratory problems. Unpleasant odours are sucked out quite efficiently from wet areas / kitchen, and I do enjoy very even temperature spread across the house. Expensive, yes, but I strongly believe every newbulid should have one.