gc100

For you reference this is what I paid a year ago: 170 sheets of 100mm - £22.58+VAT 30 sheets of 120mm - £28.17+VAT 55 sheets of 150mm - £33.18+VAT 30 sheets of 50mm - £12.57+VAT delivered. It came direct from the manufacture but deal was done via my builders yard

I absolutely hate the sockets this high. They look very ugly for starters but what I really done like is that are exactly at head height for my children’s head in bed so limits where I can place the bed or as currently I have to stuff an extra pillow between the sockets and their heads.

I had to make a new connection 1km away. I needed up with a 60mm pipe (by mistake) should of been 50mm. However the water board still connected it with a 32mm restrictor to the mains pipe. I called the board and said that’s the calcs and wouldn’t entertain the idea of something bigger.

I thought they will only do that for commercial premises and in only certain areas?

You can’t get angry/frustrated about delays - they unfortunately happen 95% of the time on a build it seems . As others have said you just have to be pragmatic and take each week as it comes and try to get all materials and other trades to site in good time if you are taking the role of project management . It IS stressful and we’ve all been/going through it with are life’s savings. It doesn’t last forever though, but things will go wrong and you just need to accept it unfortunately. I’m still don’t have sorted windows nearly a year after they where installed for example.

My Mrs did a lot of research into IH with extractors and her conclusion was the extractors where pretty useless (and very expensive) - I have no first hand experience personally. We went with a really nice IH without extractor in the end (https://ao.com/product/ex975lvv1e-siemens-iq700-induction-hob-black-68119-39.aspx) which we both love and I positioned 2 MVHR extraction points above the island each side (3m apart). Any smells are gone very quickly, and since we've been in, not once have I thought "I wish I had an extractor". My MVHR might be somewhat oversized though as in 'normal' speed it does 225m3/h (min regs for our house is 191m3/h)

Perhaps. There are plenty of professionals in the trade though - QS, Engineers, Architects, Project Managers, Electricians, Plumbers, etc. The issue really is most self build cannot afford to employ the necessary number of professionals to really get the job done on time. I'm sure if I could of had the money to draw up extensive detailed plans, had a QS do extensive cost analysis, a project manager to build a realistic plan, with buffers at critical joining points of trades, spend time agreeing timelines and contracts with all the different trades, full time managing and sourcing of materials , and full time managing of the trades it would all come in on time. Pay peanuts , get monkeys springs to mind...

Personally think you need to be *a lot* more flexible. Building a house is no simple task and very hard to estimate timelines. There are too many unknowns for even the most experienced builders and throwing in all the building material delays currently. Falling out with the builder is never good and ultimately it will cost you. You need to be constantly there and understand what they are doing - daily updates. It will take much longer than you hope/want. You cannot expect builders to work 8 hours straight - they need and are entitled to breaks. Its physical stuff. As far as progress not going at the speed you want - there are many jobs during a build that just appear like you are getting no where. I was lucky in the sense I spent 2 mornings and a whole day per week working with the builders on site. Some weeks it seemed like nothing got done - however we all worked our socks off.

With engineered wood, I just compare it to plywood. Some are fine in the wet and some are useless. Needs to be the a waterproof glue like Phenolic and either a hardwood or something like birch. The dryer you can keep it the better. I would stand no chance in my house due to kids. We went with tiles in the end otherwise my house would look a mess within a few years given 2 young boys and a dog! We went for this instead throughout the house, aside from bedrooms which I'm so glad we did. Super happy with it. https://www.par-ker.com/en/technology/

Nice and crisp.

wouldn’t I need to then set them in cement I suppose to get square ?

My house is wooden cladded, I need to put a little gravel trap/french drain under the cladding against the expose wall under to stop water/mud splashing up onto the wood. It will be mostly lawn but a one areas will be the drive coming up to this. Just wondering what would be the best way to edge this in. I was thinking sleepers but then they are prone to rot over time and hard to get 100% level. Any ideas? thanks

Hi, I believe I need a vent pipe of some kind at the highest point of my drainage to let and potential inflamminal gases out? Is this correct? Im basically ready to get the house signed off I think but this is the only item I think that needs doing . What are the building regs is this or can any tell me more or point me In the right direction? Much appreciated

My life is way too hectic ! - I'm looking for any accountants who could do the reclaim for us. We contacted a local accountant and he wanted about 1K +VAT for it. I seem to remember meeting a team who specialised in this at a build trade show a few years ago that charged about £350+VAT from memory but I've lost their details. Any recommendations very welcome Thanks

My house gets fairly warm/hot , it’s well insulated, airtight, triple glazed, painted black and has an anthracite zinc roof!. Lots of glazing. I knew it was going to get hot in the summer - having lived 20 years in the south of France I find the house at 24 quite comfortable. However I did install AC unit above the en-suite and it’s piped into the master and office both of which are south facing . All the gain is pretty much solar I think. My MVHR has night cooling but I don’t think it makes much of a difference as it’s the surfaces which heat up during the day that radiates heat later on. I’ve not used the AC yet as it not hot enough to bother me, having the windows open is just right at the moment. If the gains get too much I wont install solar films on the south facing windows as I get loads of free heat from them in the winter on a bright day. My most likely route would be a brise soleil slates made of wood over the south windows that I would only have up for summer (single story). I have 2x6 joist behind the cladding above all windows to attach something if I want I the future. this sort of thing However I suspect I’ll only go down this route if global warming continues at it’s current rate and the weather gets more extreme (which it probably will). (I have a 6k solar array going in to power the AC by the way…!)

but soon as you burn it surely it then adds to all the pollution so not valid vs a clean energy?

yes PM2.5. Very unhealthy. I have my own wood as well but didn’t install a stove. They don’t belong in this country anymore given the population IMO. I know everyone is very defensive of them and I’ve had them in the past. But I used the money to build a solar array instead.

Arn’t wood burners now the number one polluter above cars etc now in the Uk

Sorry I don't know which they used, but they said it was just what they always used.

Our carpet fitters just used the standard stuff and no primer. Zero issues and plenty of grip.

My house is all vaulted ceiling’s throughout and the roof buildup is about the same as yours thickness wise (except I have a zinc roof so extra void above the rafters). I have very large extensive glazing (tripled glazed). I paid great attention to the airtight membrane . The heating is hardly ever on. If you are careful I don’t think the extra cost of reducing the u value even lower in roof makes much difference compared to the heat lost through windows and not being air tight

I’ve used Alno (German), Wren and Magnet in the last 12 years . For me they are all the same - chipboard covered in plastic and there really is no difference in ‘quality’ for me . This time around we looked at getting a kitchen hand made/bespoke but was too expensive for my taste. In the end we went with a hybrid approach and got units and doors from the retailers and mixed in with our own woods/materials . Really happy how it turned out and didn’t cost any more to do.

Just to add , I think ground source is much better option if you can use it as a heat sink in the summer

If you don’t put in a decoupling matt you will run the risk of tiles lifting/cracking somewhere. Whether it happens is another question..

I have too have room for ground source but went with air. The maths just don’t add up for ground source in the UK IMO. My house is so well insulated that the heating isn’t on much anyhow in the winter...