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.

The only thing to watch out if doing on the side is the neighbours. I bet ours would rush to check the council website to see if this has been approved, and would kick the fuss. Just be careful.

The other ensuite was done in 300x600mm tiles, not sure if these are large enough for your question

Hi, yes we did - 5 panels on the feature wall in the bathroom as they were exact width of the ensuite! Our tilers loved working with them as it's a big job done in half the time. Yes they do require a second pair of hands to lift and position, but doable and looks fantastic. They are not thick so not mega-horrible to maneuvre in position.

We went with quartz by Cambria, and I am so happy with it. Looks fabulous even under piles of crap the family leaves scattered around, very easy to clean, a delight to cook on (I bake alot). Would highly recommend.

This is an interesting point. BC had seen our plans with the front door opening width clearly stated and did not bat an eye lid. If the door were to be manufactured to fit that opening precisely, the width of the clear space to pass (which is Part ** regulated) would still be too narrow by 2-3 cm!! Naturally, when the door was manufactured even narrower, it all went pearshaped. However, I won't be surprised, as the BCO only realised our project does (originally) included a garage when we actually built one. He was hugely surprised when he turned up on site one day and saw it...

Windows guys came to the site, took all the measurements, spoke to the builders to ensure the openings are as seen and no further modifications are made, received reassurances that if needed the openings can still be tweaked a bit. Then they produced the drawings... And then they manufactured it randomly... Oh, and they installed the utility-to-garage door so that it opens INTO the garage which makes it impossible to get out of the car ?? When we looked at the drawings, it did show opening into the house, not into garage, but they never checked anyway, they've re-done it as part of the new front door package to make up for the blunder. ("someone else's common sense" etc etc...)

To be honest, I start feeling the itch :)))) I'll probably need a month or so to manicure the garden into submission, and then I will have this buildlust 2.0 :)) Luckily, my sis is going to buy a house this year, so she has it coming :))))))))))))

I mean, seriously! The guy tells you - "You don't worry, I'll watch over every aspect of the build, that's what you pay me for", and then never checks that the door opening in the brick/block walls is wide enough, never takes interest in the final design/dimensions of the windows/doors ordered (to be fair, we ordered windows and doors ourselves, not via PMM - but that was based on the opening dimensions he/builders provided and from the company he/builders recommended!). A professional PM would still double-check or at least point it out to the client that the actual door opening is a regulated thing and might be worth checking... And the windows company, who knew full well this is a newbuild so the openings are done from scratch and are subject to BCO approval, did not bother to point it out either. Funniest thing (not really, but hey) is that : imagine the installed door opening must be A, and the doorframe total width be B (to pass the BC). The window guys designed and drawn a narrow door of C and D dimensions, respectively (c.5cm narrower than BC regs), and the final manufactured end product was STILL DIFFERENT and had dimensions of E and F! We could not believe it when we compared actual measurements to the drawing and found the TOTAL difference betwen A/B and E/F to be 11cm!!! And we raised this with window people. And they offered to make another door at half price (and they would take away the old one). Naturally, the reply from HWMBO cannot be quoted in polite society, but in the end they produced a new correct door free of charge. But we did get some grey hair...

Great moments - lots of them, particularly this huge sense of delight and relief when an item which you purchased on sale months ago is finally delivered - AND IT FITS!!! When your worktops turn out exactly as you designed them - even better! When the flow of the house is so nice you just love walking around. When the utility is everything you have ever dreamt of. When the sunlight starts reflecting from the mosaic panel which you have strategically placed there hoping it would work - and it did! Generally, we are still having this very great moment when I sit in the garden and look at the house and say to myself: "8875ng hell, we did build this!!".? Heart-sinking-cold-sweat moments also were in abundance: when our first team of scaffolders turned out to be a scum gang and got us into a massive row with our very sensitive neighbours and refused to take the scaffolding down to re-do it correctly. When the careless builders left Knauf slab insulation laying around on site and left and we got a call at 00:30am from neighbours saying our insulation is flying along the street like in a ghost movie. When a freak storm shuttered the low boundary wall and it collapsed onto the neighbours' car.When the builders stopped building and effectively left with our money. When the LPA killed my so-well-designed sunroom as it brought the ridge height 500mm above neighbours treshold. When walls started to crack due to wrongly placed steelwork. When the boiler drowned in condensation and nearly died. Oh, that's a big one - when BCO said that our front door (£3k!) was too narrow to pass the regulations, and this was not picked up neither by our shit of a PM nor by the all-awards-winning-grand-design windows company.... ?

Congrats on approval! Lesson 1: someone else's common sense is not your common sense. Lesson 2: spend as much time on site as possible and do not let anyone stand between you and your build. Our Builder-1 and PM tried to pull it off, with dire consequences. Lesson 3: you will know your design and your plans by heart. You are the one who knows 100% what does where. Do not expect your builders know it that well, they will sometime consult plans, but often ignore them. Unless you check and make sure this / that outlet/feature etc etc goes in this/that particular place, it won't happen. Lesson 4: confirm everything in writing, no matter how small. If you discuss putting niche recesses in your bathroom with your tiler on site, do not presume that he'll remember what you both have just agreed. I would sneak onto site once the team left for the day and leave A4 size sticky notes in key places with large letters "NICHE 300x400 HERE" etc etc - that was the only way I ended up with the exact thing I wanted. Lesson 5: talk to this Forum, this is an bottomless well of construction wisdom and real-life experience. We'll cheer you up / knock you on the head / give you a magic kick or just have a virtual drink with you - this place is truly blessed :))) Lesson 6: no matter how stressful the process, enjoy it - you'll miss it once you're done!