Moira Niedzwiecka

It was waiting in the garage when I got home from work yesterday. Was tempted to sleep in it.

The balustrade design is not a problem, already discussed with BC & they are happy with it. Lots of examples on the net. I thought Dave meant the lighting.

I am not really bothered what BS paid for it & I have found it elsewhere on the net on sale for £1800 ( Personally I wouldn't have paid more than £700 for any bath as that was my top budget) It is soooo much nicer that the one I was looking at from Victoria Plumb for £599. To be honest I don't really like the tap but as it is included in the £695 I'll happily live with it.

My plumber & his Dad put it in the garage for me & said no heavier than a good quality normal bath. Also the bottom of it is not solid, there is a void of about 5" before the bottom of the underside of the bath. QUARRYCAST® A naturally superior bath: It may sound obvious, but not all baths are created equally. At Victoria + Albert we are passionate about our unique QUARRYCAST® material. QUARRYCAST® is made from finely ground Volcanic Limestone™ mixed with resin. As the stone-rich alternative to both cast iron and acrylic it is 100% one piece, hand finished and packed with naturally desirable properties: Warm Due to the quality of the QUARRYCAST® material it has high insulation properties and is warm to the touch Beautiful TheVolcanic Limestone™ mineral delivers a naturally white, gloss finish, featuring excellent stain resistance Strong This raw material has special needle-like particles formed by the rock undergoing superheating. When mixed with resins these bond together to create an incredibly strong web. As well as being naturally white and naturally harder than acrylic, this makes QUARRYCAST® incredibly strong and ensures no creaking or flexing of the bath Renewable Easy clean solid surface – as the material is solid all the way through, internal scratches simply polish out Practical Drillable for unique brassware installation Unique Hand finished interior — exterior can be painted or personalised after purchase Lasting 25 year consumer guarantee Who knew?

Thanks Lizzie. It has just been delivered & put in the garage (no delivery charge either) It came out of the local Buildstore showroom believe it or not. Maybe the customer shopping for that type of thing wouldn't instantly have thought of a builders merchants. I know I wouldn't. I was in there looking for something at a tenth of the price. I am at work, can't wait to see it & verify I wasn't dreaming. There are pics of it on Sanctuary bathrooms website.

Bugger. I better check that out before we go down that route. I saw it on the Aalco stand at HB&R in March. They had it on a stainless steel handrail & use it largely for outside use on bridges or restaurant terraces etc. I thought I could just adapt it for internal stair use.

I think I have just got the bargain of the century. Victoria & Albert Ionian limestone bath list price £3215 V & A Tubo 14 freestanding bath tap & shower list price £1495 V & A waste Kit17 list price £350 Total £5060 I have bought the lot ex-display for £695 Would anyone really be mad enough to spend £5k on a bath & tap???? It appears not. The display has been in the showroom for nearly 2 yrs & they have not sold one, which is why they are changing the display to something they may stand a chance of selling. Got a couple of other good bargains. A Roper Rhodes Serrif Light Ash vanity unit with isocast basin & tap & waste £1200 for £495 A Duravit console with basin & waste £1895 for £550 & they threw in the £400 Crosswater tap as well after some persuasion. Never thought I would be able to have anything like this so chuffed to bits. Got a lovely DAR opaque glass chandelier type thing as well for £200 instead of £460.

We are planning to have a stainless steel wire balustrade with an oak handrail. We are going to rout out a groove on the bottom of the handrail & put in an LED strip with a diffuser.

My scaffolders were great. It was like a party when they were on site. Lots of banter & fruity language. The timber frame lorry blocked the road for about 10 mins while they craned off a large panel. I spoke to the few car drivers that came along (quiet country lane) & they were all really pleasant except for one. That guy was a git & had a right go. The scaff lads saw what was happening & came to the rescue. The site of 2 hulking chaps covered with tattoos & piercings soon shut him up. I paid £1400 for an initial six week contract. They had to come back to add another lift for the roofers & also the scaffolding ended staying up for 5 months longer than contracted for because of the pigging weather. I was charged the same amount again when they bill should have been for much more.

@lizzie just seen the photos of your kitchen. Wow, its fantastic. I love the hob sunk into the granite. What a wonderful idea, no chipping the edge of the hob.

Roofers were a nightmare but came good in the end. Glass on the dormer was a last minute change. It was going to have the glazing bars in to match the window below. Really glad we changed it. @Ferdinand We are on the Leicestershire/Rutland border, just south of Melton Mowbray. Lot of ironstone around here. It is a lovely warm stone with dark silver threads running through it in places, but very expensive. That's why we have render on the gable walls. Tried to match the render to the lime mortar. @newhome Getting excited about the inside now But rapidly running out of money

Thanks Lizzie. Hugely relieved to be at this point.

Thanks Tom. We are starting to make progress inside as well now. Just finished the cement slurry grouting of the beam & block. Done the DPM & 800mm of floor insulation & 100mm perimeter insulation in the living area. Utility & hallway to do. Started the acoustic insulation in the ceiling (horrible job). MVHR arriving this week. Henry is getting on with the joinery upstairs. Most of the first fix electrics & plumbing done.

The support pillars are anthracite powder coated steel to match the windows. I have wrapped them in bubble wrap to protect them. We wanted them to be as discreet as possible. We would have liked the dormer to have been cantilevered but cost was prohibitive. The ironstone looks great. The location is on the side of an old victorian ironstone quarry and is in the conservation area so we had to use it. We kept it to a minimum because of cost. Our existing cottage (the new house is in the garden)is part of an ironstone terrace & most of the village is built in it.

At last, most of our scaffolding is down, 5 months later than planned. In spite of all the trauma it has been worth it. Our views are lovely and the house is looking better than I had hoped. Guttering is arriving next week & a bit of finishing to the cedar & stonework & we are nearly there. Outside anyway.

Thanks for the info Dave. Very much appreciated. I will have a go at the insulation tomorrow. I am starting to itch already.

That's it Dave, Thank you. I have 100mm rockwool acoustic slab insulation. I was wondering if I needed to prevent it sagging by supporting it to sit snug to the underside of the boards above? I can do this by stapling nylon tape (the sort that comes with pallets of bricks) to the underside of the top wood part of the web joists at intervals to hold it in place. I think I can see you have put lengths of board to hold yours in place Should the ducting (quiet vent radial) for the MVHR be above or below the insulation?

A while ago I remember seeing some great photos someone had posted showing their ceiling insulation between web joists prior to boarding. I am just about to start this job & seeing the photos again would be so helpful. I have tried to find with lots of searches but to no avail. Anyone remember this? Thanks

Blue Sun Tree is the website. The showroom & warehouse is about 30 mins away from us. They have some really nice stuff. I am going to collect the lights tomorrow & see if they have any bargains in the showroom. The make of the lights is Naxos. They are widely available on the net. Previously the cheapest I found was £85 each but mostly they are £140 ish.

Thanks for all the comments guys. I wasn't aware they were a pain to fit. We have not boarded or plastered yet. Walls have 50mm battens to provide a service cavity. Hopefully at this stage our electrician will figure out a workable way to fit. I hope so because I would like some different ones in other rooms. It was just a nice feeling to actually buy something decorative for the inside of the house rather than materials for building it.

Just found the plaster wall lights I have been looking for at a great price. £30 instead of £141.00. I visited a passive house local to us that had them & they looked great, but were too expensive. Its feels good to get a bargain. NAXOS LED WALL WASHER £141.00 £30.00

Brilliant, thanks for the detail Peter.

@PeterStarck Hi Peter, I am now ready to source exterior grilles for my MVHR. I love yours & have looked at the sdslondon site. Theirs are flat grilles. From your photo yours look more like slim box ones. Is that right?

I am with Buildzone. £1400 for 147 sq mtr. Local Authority for BC. Although warranty probably not worth much in the event of a claim it is necessary for most mortgage lenders if ever needed to sell. Retrospective warranty is very expensive. I have found it quite useful as the warranty surveyor has been really thorough & helpful with advice. He is familiar with timber frame construction & the importance of the insulation & airtightness standards we are looking to achieve. Local BC are less familiar with our type of build but interested & helpful where they can be. As I am a novice 2 pairs of eyes has been reassuring. One thing I am about to sort out is that surveyor has emailed asking for various things following his last inspection, no problem, but he has said that our PV is not covered. I understand that they will not warranty the individual panels, but, as it is an in roof system & forms part of the roof covering I want them to cover that aspect of it. I was not excluded on the policy and they were fully aware of it when they quoted.

PYC from North Wales.