Grosey

@SteamyTea

For the build I am borrowing through folk2folk, they are a peer to peer lender - it has saved me jumping through the hoops of a self build mortgage application, however this issue has cropped up at the last minute. As as you say in mid to west Cornwall there are actually a lot of mines where rights have actually been acted upon, I'm in Saltash about 300m from the Tamar River, there's never been a mine in sight of here!

Living in Cornwall comes with the privilege of all mining and mineral rights on your freehold land being owned by Prince Charles... That's fine, I'm fairly sure there's no tin in my patch of wasteland anyway. However er mortgage company now want indemnity insurance in place before they approve the mortgage, again fine except they have stated they will arrange this with a rough policy cost of £1000! A quick Google search has lead me to believe this is them being majorly opportunistic, however has anyone actually taken out one of these policies and could they give me an idea of cost? Generic title indemnity policies for things such as flying freehold or various covenants etc seem to be up to £300 maximum, is a mineral rights policy really likely to be that different?

Ideal, that's answered things perfectly really. Yes it's 1st floor block and beam, stairs down to ground floor, so will need to shutter quite a large area, taking the membrane up the sides of the shuttering will do the job I guess. Wasn't sure if foam in the service gaps would be adequate for regs?

Also interested in JCT benefits.

I have a beam and block intermediate floor, I understand that I can just remove/drill/notch blocks in order to bring services through, but what is the recommended process for shuttering these holes when it comes time to screed? Same problem on a bigger scale are the stairwell, is it just a case of putting ply around the gap, will friction be enough to complete a seal here or do I need something else? I plan to remove at least 1 full block for 1 soil stack and have the rest as a riser for services, if I shutter this and screed how do I make good the hole once I'm done?

A lift line is a phone connection for an elevator, very common when developers are building flats etc they ask because it's something that will need to be connected early on in the construction phase - long before any flats are built and ready for living in.

Another vote for house builders bible, one of the most useful elements has to be the per m2 cost for almost every task involved in house building - updated yearly accurate pricing on materials and labour. I know people have used it to cost their entire project, I use it more to verify quote I get in are not ridiculous. The Vince Holden book does sound like exactly what I am looking for though, the order of when to do things is currently a major gap in my knowledge. Heading to Amazon now off the back of your recommendation - thanks!

Hahaha, well that clears things up. My summary of all that is... It's complete nonsense and I'll have to speak to my building control to see what sort of attention I need to give to it?

now my brain really hurts!

I wanted to start a thread on this but I'm not entirely sure what my question is just yet. I understand the general theory of what this certificate is all about, but does anyone have any details of how this has worked for them in reality and if it has affected any of their decision making? Ive look at a couple of online calculators and it looks to be quite an in depth process!

I'd rather avoid using membrane to be honest, considering the price I'll be paying for the hardcore I think I'd be better off just keep piling it on top, it's got to stop disappearing down at some point - sounds like one of those famous last words moments doesn't it!

Hahaha I spotted this snap the other day, what a beauty! I'll try and get a phot of my mates rig for comparison.

Thanks Ferdinand, we are seriously considering your idea, probably 1 ensuite bathroom and 1 ensuite showeroom. Bathroom would have the window. Need to find a suitable way of scale drawing the layouts and playing around with sizing etc Any suitable design software packages or shall I just go for good old graph paper? Also slightly concerned about water efficiency calculations - to be honest this is something I'm going to have to research a lot more but is increasing the number of bathrooms going to affect this? Thanks Neil

Hi, I've got a friend who owns a landfill/recycling plant and produces recycled aggregates. He can basically produce me any size hardcore I require. I I am looking to lay hardcore over the front of my site so it's a hand standing area and won't turn in to a quagmire when vehicles and deliveries begin. After construction this area will become a gravelled driveway, what would be the best size hardcore to lay? 40mm to dust or something larger? Thanks

Hi Jane, Utility is on ground floor and all my living accommodation/underfloor heating is on 1st floor. I've been reading it's best to have manifold on the same level as the UFH.

Do you know what the tiles you used were? Look very similar to the Marley Modern we are looking to use.

Hi, attached are a couple of my plans, 1st floor is the main living accommodation and will be beam and block construction. Underfloor heating in screed. I am wondering about the proposed stud partitions, whether I should look to build them all from block instead first, so the rooms are defined then lay underfloor heating and screed? Or should I continue with marking out the stud walls, laying the underfloor appropriately, screeding and then building the stud work. My my thoughts on all this stem from wanting to put the manifold in the hallway cupboard that will not be built until the screed is complete - any advice on how to fix the manifold to something in the correct position almost floating in the middle of the room? Ideally I'd place the manifold in the ground floor utility room where the boiler and other services will sit, but I hear this is not recommended. Ground floor and roof rooms will be radiators. 1st floor plan.pdf elevations.pdf Ground floor plan.pdf

Hmmm, we hadn't thought about chopping the Jack and Jill in half, all our conversations were about giving it to one or the other bedroom. There is opportunity to make 4 en suite rooms quite easily, but not having a main "family bathroom" seems a bit strange.

Youve basically summed up our own thoughts, I managed to get hold of the original architect and although he is now retired (this house was first designed around 14 years ago!) he has agreed to redraw it with some changes we would like. Firstly the kitchen/diner/lounge will be all be open plan. Balcony and rear patio doors will be change to 4000mm wide, then either bifold or 2/4 pane sliders, still undecided. We have the same thoughts regarding the bathroom setup. With the current layout there will be a main family bathroom that will only actually be used by the 2nd loft bedroom, seems a bit extravagant. I like the downstairs WC just for convenience. Can't make my mind up on the Jack and Jill, some people say they are naff - I don't really have any strong opinions, these will be kids bedrooms and the alternative is just to dedicate the en suite to 1 bedroom, or remove it entirely? Any advice or thoughts are appreciated?

The house was designed by the previous owner, a retired builder and now a full time tinkerer so he had much need for a workshop, as well as the double garage. We will no doubt end up converting it at some point in to a more useable space, a gym, music room, kids (not that we have any yet) play room, or maybe just a studio flat. Budget and priorities mean for now it will just be left as a cavernous open space to keep a lawnmower in. Ground floor plan.pdf cross sections.pdf 1st floor plan.pdf loft space plan.pdf elevations.pdf

Thanks all, yes a fair chunk of my budget is going in to that retaining wall. Builder has quoted me £85k to build a watertight shell which I was pretty happy with, I'll then be managing/completing the build myself inside. I I bought it off a older chap who lives in the other house you can see in the trees, it's been his project for several years hence the footings are dug (a big reason I was happy to proceed was that building control was ok with the excavation depth). Age and poor health brought him to the realisation that he was never going to complete the build himself... 2 days after the sale went through he had a Range Rover Sport and a new boat parked on his drive so he's obviously not feeling too poorly

Hi everyone, just had my 30th birthday, completed on a plot of land and am about to embark on a self build with my wife, so safe to say I'll definitely have lost all my hair by the time I am 31! The plot is in Saltash, Cornwall. Still awaiting final confirmation of the mortgage but if that all comes through we will be looking to start 1st week of September. Dad has been hinting for years that he had built 2 houses by the time he was 30 so it was time for me to crack on! Few photos and my attempt at a 3D mockup attached. 4 bedroom detached house with a large garage/workshop on almost the entire ground floor. Feel free to ask any questions, I've certainly got lots of my own!