Jilly

Yup, agree second opinions can be useful as there's ,ore than one way to do everything. Don't forget you can appeal.

I'd love one but £££. A friend up the road has one which brings up nitrate contaminated water so might not work for me.

I'm worried it's too late. We have sheep staying and they are guzzling like there is no tomorrow. Maybe I need to apply to be a smallholding?

Are you going to live in this house? For most of us the joy and agony is of choosing every darned thing. It does send you a bit bonkers. No way I'd risk some one else's taste in my house...but I wouldn't aim to be hands off. Worst case windows/doors are in the wrong place. Kitchen doesn't work ergonomically, light switches in funny places. all kinds of stuff can happen..

My Building Control Officer has asked for this. What's the best way to do it to ensure compliance? Have people used online companies to do this?

Have you got planning permission? Building Control comes afterwards and is a different, unrelated set of requirements to planning. Have a read of the recent post from the planning officer who got permission for a self build recently, it's a really useful document. Do lots of reading it's a very steep learning curve.

Welcome. Are you planning to build your own place now?

Brilliant, well done, that is a very useful resource, thank you. Have you done your costings yet? I would have loved a GSHP, but the figures just wouldn't stack up.

It would have been pragmatic to pay him and let him go...

Seriously, that could be £10-20k down the tube...

Gosh that sounds awful. Not sure about the legality, but if you paint it, drips will likely run through to his side and look terrible, which might well inflame the situation. The workman is probably stressed because he didn't consider this issue and doesn't want to take it down. I might attempt to politely insist to the owner without the workman present first... it's your land they are encroaching after all. Moving forward, to disguise it, how about considering quick growing shrubs to make an informal loose garden edge? A neatly trimmed hedge might draw attention to it. Something which will grow quite quickly and sprawl a little at the junction between the two different fences would help disguise the different parts.

Live on site in a static caravan is what most folks do who self build slowly, for convenience and to save rent as that can be a huge money sink if you get delays.

Whatever weedkiller you buy should come with full safety instructions about withholding times etc, so be sure to follow the manufacturer's recommendation and you should be fine. I thought bindweed was lovely, till I got to know it.

I've got permission for an approx 9m2 extension with a flat roof and would like to increase it to 18m2. I have put the piled foundations in, in optimistic preparation on a Building Notice (first builder tried to persuade me to build it without pp). I've had a preliminary site visit from a planning consultant (we are in a Conservation Area), who recommended we opt for a green roof (the area is by the roadside, screened by trees) to increase our chances of approval. My own research had already reached that conclusion. However, the Architect quite rightly pointed out that it would be a dark room with a low ceiling, so a sloping tiled roof with roof lights would be a better option, which I liked the sound of. All the fees quoted are likely to add up to over £8k and I'm seriously considering doing it myself, as I've only got £10k left in my self build pot atm, so this will be a slow build-as-you-earn thing. Is that bonkers? I'm quite arty and have paid for all manner of drawings previously, which I could pinch from, even though I don't use CAD. We have to use matching black featherboard, so it's not stylistically very creative. I know it's a risk (please give me the downsides), but I'm thinking it's worth it.

So er, what happens if you lose your phone?

Maybe live with it for a few days and see if it starts to bother you less.? We've all got very stressed over stuff at different times. I tested a few as all colours (walls etc not just grout) seem to change somewhat when next to different colours and in different light.

How bizzarre. Perhaps he wanted to help you so that he could control what happens and is mortally offended that you didn't take up his offer. I agree if you have previously been very good friends, t is worth attempting to sit down and talk. Can your spouses broker mediation perhaps?

Very smart.

We've cooked on the last two really hot days too, but normal warm/hot days are fine, so I'm not rushing to do anything.

Sorry Rygel, it's not clear what your problem is. What are you trying to achieve?

Welcome. Fingers crossed for the planning.

I can't remember which one it was, and we didn't bother in the end. But I do remember, JL took it back, no question and I buy everything I can from them as their customer service is so good, so if you are uncertain, maybe bear that in mind?

Can't help, but do look at Db levels, I sent a wine fridge from John lewis back because it was noisy!

I think self builders often do it that way as there's more you can do yourself from this stage. However if you are inexperienced and don't have a black book of tradesmen, the inevitable delays can slow things down so much the savings can be eaten up by your rental costs. I have found it very time consuming and frustrating to do it this way, but I lost trust in my builder and so prefer being more comfortable being in control of the trades and could make some changes (that's the bit everyone hates because there can be a surprising number of knock on effects). It really depends on the builder and tradesmen concerned and your relationship with them. I would get prices for both approaches and see how you feel. If you can slum it in a static caravan and use savings rather than borrowings, you can manage some of the financial risk. If you are seriously worried cost might go out of control, is there any way you could finish part of the house and live in it and manage the rest yourself as you can afford it?

I'm getting round building the flat roofed extension (the main building is a block build stable conversion with external wall insulation (PIR) and featherboarding and more or less finished) and am researching costs. The piled foundations are finished with a beam of 300mm wide. We have to have the weatherboard cladding but I'm investigating the best build method. My preferred builder is a one man band on a reasonable day rate, but he comes intermittently, depending on his other work. Although frustrating sometimes, it might work as I can keep spending under better control now we're not renting. He's very straight, a nice chap and is a very good all rounder and I think could turn his hand to most things. I started reading about ICF, is that madness? I need something which will not deteriorate if left to get wet. I have no skills except labouring. Are we limited by the width of the beam? Any suggestions folks?