Mr Punter

5% is fairly standard, but is kept for x weeks after completion to ensure snagging / site clearance / defects are taken care of. If you hold back any more they won't have enough cash to finish it properly. How far through the job are you?

I was surprised to learn last week that we now need a GRP kiosk with a concrete base.and ducting through the base for the temp supply. We used to do it like @Dreadnaught but UK Power Networks have changed their requirements.

try https://ebico-energy.org.uk/energy-plans/#ebico-zero I don't think there are many who do these any more.

nice

That looks a lot better. What is the height now?

I think I might offer to pick the guys up from their houses and take them to site. Maybe pleasure them during their breaks (to the extent that distancing rules allow), take them to the pub after work, buy all the drinks, drop them back home and tuck them into bed. Still cheaper and (perhaps) less humiliating than £1,200.

Last week I got some site clearance work done. I left a car in a pay space 4 hour max for the week so the grab lorry etc could get access, thinking I would just pay the fines. Not a single ticket!

I am not really sure at the moment. They have replied to my query regarding scheduling to say "In regards to your questions of the works, we would do the digging on the first day, then the second day we would disconnect your single phase supply and then install your new three supply, then reinstate on the third day, which can take up to 5 working days, depending on the surface, to allow it to set." They are just doing a joint bay in the footpath adjacent to where we have excavated 600mm deep. We will have duct running to the edge of the joint bay into our kiosk. This could be done in a day. I cannot believe how far they are prepared to take the p*ss just because they have a near monopoly. I think the LA cost of a bay for a utility is £60, so they seem to have allowed for six vehicles. I shall be writing back.

OK a bit late for the update, but they are asking for £1,200 for parking. Amazingly @Thorfun was closest and also overestimated by £600. Trophy symbol for him, sad face for the rest of you.

I will update this at 19:00 hours. Some guesses have been closer than others...

If you are getting a local builder they may have a good idea of ground conditions / foundations needed. If not, ask Building Control.

Who is the builder?

They will always go for a repair if possible. To get them to buy back you will need to exert considerable and sustained pressure and I do not think you have much chance of success. The evidence on this thread indicates that the house is not built to an acceptable standard and I am not sure that you would need additional expert opinions to establish this. Photographs and a timeline of events may be enough. You need to escalate this as high as possible. Write personally to the Chief Executive. Explain the position and be clear and to the point. Explain that you have attempted to go through their standard channels without success and that a referral back to those will not be acceptable. It is sometimes worth quoting from their mission statement and pointing out how your experience contrasts with it. Tell them that in view of this you would like them to either reverse the sale / buy back the house or present proposals to you that would find satisfactory. If you can, look to social media. Do not go out of your way to defame them or be rude in any way, just point out how disappointed you are. If they think it is less hassle to just buy the house, they might just do it (subject to you signing a non-disclosure agreement).

Could you do both? And a load of shingle?

I have seen cases where, for example, the mortar mix for a brick / block house was 18 sand to 1 cement. The "remedy" was to repoint the outside!

Unless they are a large prestige housebuilder I would say there is very little chance of that happening. Sadly the way the industry works is that trades are on a price and most do not care about quality work. Site managers come and go and are not full time employees. Results can be shoddy. The parapet, curved wall and clay soil have not helped here. Many of the housebashers stick to foolproof designs that can be built using little skill and at a known cost.

Yes if you pay within 14 days.

For a connection of 3m? I cannot think that many Scots would agree with you!

I have just got a quote for a new leccy connection. 3 new flats, so 3 phase into a kiosk (supplied and fitted by us). They are also disconnecting the existing supply. All the cables are in the footpath, 3 metres away from the new kiosk. This is in Brighton suburbs. No road works or traffic lights needed. All on a quiet footpath. Because they can, I think they allow 1 visit to excavate joint bay and lay out barriers, 1 visit to disconnect existing and joint new and 1 visit to reinstate and remove barriers. Could all be done in a day without breaking sweat. The price? £3,094 to do the work, which I think could be done for a quarter of this but they have the monopoly and want to make a profit. The parking costs? I would welcome your guesses as to the amount they want to cover parking and I will let you know the quoted amount tomorrow (Tuesday 4 August 2020), with a special prize of a LIKE to whoever gets closest!

Can't you have a bit more wall and a bit less glass? 100m2 is a lot. You will probably suffer glare, overheating and unpleasant acoustics, as well as the poor insulation values. Bear in mind that if you are outside of conservation area and not listed, you may be able to have external shutters / shading after the development is completed as permitted development.

No issue as long as it is not throughout but it is unusual if the crack is through the blocks as well as the render. It is good to get render cracks sorted as water can get in behind it and freeze / thaw can take off large sections. It is very difficult to get the patches so they will not show, so unless they are serious I would just fill and paint. Any cracks in any brickwork? Are you on clay or made ground? If no to both I would not worry.

You could consider leaving a 6mm gap between the boards.

It will be easier to have the stair either completely outside or completely inside the balcony, otherwise you will need to cut through the main balcony framework. To connect at the edge the stair would need a small landing at the top. The stair people can make this to form the top tread as a quarter landing with some holes so that you can fix it to your balcony. Get them to also provide for the outside handrail to return to the centre post at the top.

If you are having Velfac outward opening windows where the sashes are the same size as the frame you need to render first and fit the window within the render - normally 10mm gap all round that is sealed with Compriband. Otherwise they would not open. Many other windows you render up to the frame or a render bead that butts to the frame as the sash is smaller than the frame.

You cannot close off the base of the cavity. If you want insulation down to the ground make it 25mm thick so as not to impede the flow of air through the vertical battens.