jack

Bit big isn't it? I think a room-in-roof cottage would have been more appropriate.

Welcome to the forum Ticking all the boxes will tend to bring competition, for sure! Almost certainly more trouble than it's worth, I'd have thought, even assuming the foundations are (and can be proved to be) of acceptable depth etc. It also severely limits the flexibility you have with your footprint. I assume you've looked into it, but knocking down tends to be competitive with massively renovating due to the VAT relief you get on a knock-down.

Same. We used our tiler's account at Topps Tiles and the price dropped 60-odd percent

Our taps are set at the entrance to the shower, away from where the spray lands, so you can turn it on without getting your arm wet.

I think the general (not universal) level of incompetence is what people are referring to when they complain about window companies. It's a fact that a significant proportion of people on this forum have had poor experiences with window suppliers, and it's rarely due to something that would have been picked up by the sorts of checks you're talking about.

It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure mine was damp too.

Based on my experience during our build, I don't know any good trades except our electrician and (to a lesser extent) groundworkers. Actually, I've since become friendly with a really good plumber (not the one who did the build!) who's coming around soon to price up a list of stuff we want fixing and changing. This is on the list, for sure. We have an identical problem with the water softener.

Agreed. Our current arrangement is like this, and it makes a hell of a racket when the dishwasher drains.

There was a whole range of these details on their site a few years ago for different wall types, many including brick and/or block. I'm sure(?) it's been engineered properly, but it doesn't look/feel like very substantial support for two masonry walls.

Yes, I went for a 250L. No particular reason for the choice. We don't generally run out (I think we've done so twice in 18 months). We also have shower waste water heat recovery, which (given shower usage patterns) probably makes the 250L tank act more like a 300-350L tank.

Glad to hear they're taking responsibility.

Have a look at this thread, and particularly @Bitpipe's stuff about waterproofing:

Here we go @Barney12 and @JSHarris:

Insurers will always try to avoid paying. I have a written admission from our roofer that they caused the leaks in our house, but the insurer still insists that we have no evidence. That's fine, I'll be suing the roofer directly once the rectification work is complete. I'd have thought based on their website that Durisol should provide the blocks for free, and perhaps an additional contribution to labour to replace them. What else can you do but follow manufacturer's instructions?

I was surprised at how few trades we had onsite who actually took builders' tea! Probably less than half - most seem to have moved on to tea with no sugar, and a few drank coffee.

Sorry, I was away over the weekend and forgot to reply to this when I got back. I'll take some photos tomorrow.

I've heard it suggested that building a "skirt" out of, eg, plywood to reduce drafts under the caravan keeps things warmer in winter.

We had battens pre-installed within the reveal, positioned so that they stopped the windows in the correct position relative to the insulation. I agree completely about flush windows. In fact, I'm sure that I read somewhere (maybe A Pattern Language?) that externally flush windows are a major factor in modern houses not looking quite "right".

The architect used the supplier's standard details, so neither of them was the problem. Indeed, we took the architect with us when we visited the factory (huzzah for ultra-cheap flights!) and the managing director went through all the details and suggested some useful tweaks, especially around thresholds. The installers were the sole source of the problem. It shouldn't have been like this though, because they were also the official sales rep for Ireland for the supplier (the supplier being a German company located in the Mosel valley - I'm sure you know the company, but I'd rather not identify them given that they weren't the source of the problems). The installers missed an important element in the sections, which involved all windows being packed up by 15mm to allow for the correct fall on the cills. This was drawn and annotated on the details that we supplied to them when they quoted. They also failed to check the installation details for the external blinds, and only discovered after all windows had been installed that the external battens in the reveal prevented attachment of the blind rails. Other than a slightly threatening series of text messages with one tradesman who we ended up having to kick off site, this was by far the most stressful part of the build for us.

Agreed. At one point we were considering using MGO boards for the internal lining of the house. I can't remember why we didn't - I think it was one of those many ideas that just never quite got important enough to make it into the final plans.

All of ours were installed from inside (including a 5.5m, 900+kg lift-and-slider - my wasn't that a stressful afternoon!) Surely it must be easier working off a level, stable, and higher surface?

I'm sure it often is. However, our architect provided a full window schedule, dimensions and installation sections for every window, and yet in the end the experienced, specialist installers ballsed things up in several ways.

One thing to consider: the architect that did our house used MGO-based SIPS on a project two or three before ours. He said that they'd had serious problems with the panels being curved. I can't say whether that was anything to do with the supplier, storage conditions, or the product more generally, but I know it caused huge issues during assembly.

I can see the advantages in your approach, but many of the issues complained about (e.g., late delivery, damage during transport, poor quality finish, wrong sizes, poor installation) could just as well have happened to you.

I'm far too soft for that.