jamiehamy

Ooft! Finger crossed. It would make me wary - let's say you'd gone with that design and it leaked - which it easily would - how could liability be apportioned? They wouldn't be able to blame non conformance to the design spec and MIs but similarly, they could say that's what you wanted made. Hmm twice!

Hmm. There is nothing 'wrong' with this if it's their design. In this case, it looks like a steel subframe that gets bolted to the vertical part of the upstand, not laid on top of it. This may well be their design. I can't see them having two different methods surely? This one, I'd never go with. A larger unit will be a totally different design Skylight.

Just looks like a crap design not a mistake. Is that seriously how they fit their lights? Id give them a pass.

You're a star! That's exactly what I'm about to do and you've solved my problem before I got round to looking for the solution!

'one of my neighbours'... Lol

@Bitpipecan you get any close ups of them? Could be Mason bees or carder bees looking for somewhere to rear queens - they won't stay there forever but maybe a couple of months. I administer the Facebook page for our local Beekeepers association and had lots of enquiries like this last year - they are completely harmless, I usually suggest just leave them - if in a porch or garage, make sure they can get in and out (otherwise you will get problems), if in the grass, put a table of chair over the nest until they are gone - they can come and go and no-one will step on them. You can sit pretty much next to them and watch all the comings and goings! Or you could get rid of them which would be a shame! However you're on your own - few pest companies or local authorities will destroy bees nests.

Do you know what the external air temperature has been day and night @lizzie? In hot weather, particularly sunny days, it will be very easy for things to get out if hand. There is nothing wrong with opening windows, particularly at night and let air flow up, through and out the house and the cool air circulate. If the air temperature is high however then there is little you can do. If it's solar gain but less extreme air temperature, then blinds will help, but also leave that window open to let the heat out rather than into the room. I've been watching our house the last few days where it has been very sunny. Doing okay, but will need careful management. If it gets too warm, plan will be to open two windows upstairs and one down to let warm air out and cool air in. Looking at graphs, we might need to start doing that soon. Overall air trips are fine with no heating input but likely to trend up at which point proactive e management is required. (btw, kitchen is south facing with 2m2 window and 2m2 Skylight both with solar glazing. Living room is actually bedroom which faces west (8m2 window) and North (1.5m2)). You can see how much our bedroom heats up when sun gets round in evening).

Really beautifully decorated and fitted out. Could give me an excuse for a mini road trip to Skype on the bike!

Was in a tool shop in Glasgow yesterday and chatting to the chap at the counter. I was chatting about knives and he told me the Bessey rep was there. I needed some blades so chatted to the rep and told him how much I love the wooden handled knife, so much so I buy them as gifts for people. As I left, I was putting stuff in the boot and he came over and asked for my card and said he'd send me the other knife, with blade storage. I gave him my details and didn't imagine I'd ever see one. This afternoon I checked the letter box and look what was there! I think that's just brilliant! Really cheered me up.

I'm grouting so can't fully type but a discount ' plus vat' isn't possible - you can't add vat to a discount. You can reduce the price and vat calculated accordingly on the remaining balance. A supplier tried that one with me. Took a while to get my head around it.

I'm afraid going outside isn't an option - hey are and always have been house cats (before we got them as rescue cats - condition was they must remain house cats) and at 16 and 18 that's not going to change. That's aside from my views on carats killing wildlife! @OnoffI was going to tag you on this originally ?

Hi all. Something we hadn't thought about. We have two old cats. In the old flat, we just flushed their solid waste down the toilet with bits of litter stuck. In the new house we don't know what we should be doing long term - don't fancy the thought of the treatment plant getting filled with bits of litter over time. We use the dusty stuff just now, but options seem to be - Change to wood litter and flush down toilet. Create a cat poo compost heap somewhere in a far corner. Bag it and bin it. The latter option we did in naivity when we got the ladies and it isn't really a good option. Any pussy lovers got tips? Thanks, Jamie PS gratuitous cat pic.Tia 'helping' me finish the ensuite.

I just did this today on the last shower room. I used ferrox, I bought it ages ago and never seems to go down. Just put it up to pressure and no leaks apparent. :-)

It pretty much is based on a cost per m2. We disputed the valuation that BC amended ours to as it in no way reflected our projected budget. He had projected at something like £1400m2 whereas we were basing on something like £900 since we were building most of it. He compromised and brought it down but said labour still had to be accounted for even if it was ours which we didn't charge for. Think it dropped the valuation - and hence BC fee - by nearly 100k. Who came up with the 90 k? BC will review it in any case if too low.

I like that - no room for dubiety over the order, dates or times! I prefer email but heyho! Good luck for Friday.

The washing machine cupboard is next to the bathroom - the waste goes through the wall and joins onto the bathwaste (around 100mm upstream of the stack). I had bunged at the stack opening, hence also blocking the washing machine run. It's a really good point - I could fairly easily tank the washing machine cupboard - although not sure about the threshold to contain any leak. PIc of space - there is a filler panel for the RHS of the machine. I could tank the floor and up the walls, but would need to create a threshold to hold any water or it would just go everywhere. What have others done as whilst I don't expect any leaks soon, who knows when machines get old. (the worktop was purely by coincidence a spare offcut we had from the main unit and fitted almost perfectly hence gaps at side)

I just quit what I was doing and took time out for a few days or until I felt like going back. I found that taking a conscious decision to do that, do nothing on the build until we were ready made a big difference. On one hand we think we can't afford 'time off' but on the other, it's vital for our own motivation, spirits and well being. Time off can be just doing nothing on the house or take a trip somewhere for a few days? You've recognised the most important thing - all the motivation techniques in the world have their limited because virtually none are geared up to motivated you non stop for years! Oh - and keep hydrated - water, not tea or coffee. That's not a flippant comment, whatever we were feeling was compounded (esp in the early days when we didnt' realise) by not drinking enough hydrating fluids). Finally - and this is only a personal thing, but it most definitely works for me - I have some really high strength vitamin B-Complex capsules - taken occasionally for only a few days, they help my concentration and general brain power. If I know I have a tough day ahead or riding the bike for a long journey I take these.

Ah well, we got over it pretty quickly so thought I should share - partly to give y'all a chuckle but also to share to hopefully avoid someone else making such a bloody silly gaff! Adding to the list of @recoveringacademicand his gables, @pocsterand his big hole and @Tin Soldier and his gammy finger - and more elsewhere! These things happen! On the night we moved in, Craig did dinner and I'd been footering about with lots of things. I had buzzed up to Screwfix to get a HEP20 fitting for the washing machine and fitted it - then ceremoniously put on the first wash. So far so good. Now, a bit of history - the bath trap supplied with the bath is a piece of crap - it's shallow and I don't think actually functions as a trap and has an odd outlet size (30mm - doesn't fit with any UK sizes that's for sure. Anyway, I've been trying to find a replacement because I'm convinced it can't work properly and in the meantime, to block potential smells if I'm right, I put a bung in the 40mm pipe which feeds into the stack (I can access it from the AAV). So - first wash on - a wee glass of prosecco, dinner made by Craig and some music. Something made me check the bathroom - really not sure why - and found it flooded. The washing machine drain is linked to the bath - with the bung in it! I stopped the machine right away and flung towels down on the tiled floor and put the UFH on full. Anyway, we finished dinner and as I walked back through the utility room, I felt the floor moving and could hear water - it had come through and flooded the utility! My heart sank. It was like a swamp. We dismantled the whole room and put it outside, lifted the flooring and cleared it back to the concrete subfloor. Fortunately, the water hadn't gone any further i.e the other way through to the bar, but the place was soaking. We got it dried, put the MHRV on full bung, and waited until morning. The floor has completely dried out although the bottom of the stud wall is damp (two days later I'm checking it and it's drying out okay as far as I can tell) - have rebuilt and will keep an eye. Won't put skirting on so hopefully most of the moisture will dry out over time. What a disaster! All because I forgot I had put that bung on there. Feel stupid but heyho, these things happen. Will make me doubly check in future. Nonetheless, we had a great sleep, and have rebuilt the utility in the morning- no obvious harm done. It was just such a silly oversight when you have a million and one things going on. I've removed the bung and put the trap on and placed the bath - no smells yet but I'll monitor it closely. But there we go - Noahs Ark on the first night! Poor Craig - I was pulling the floor up barking out orders - dry this, stack that, dry this, hold this, move that, get the trolly dolly. Lift this. We were too much in a good mood (maybe the prosecco helped!?) to get annoyed for long tho and we're back to normal.

Thank you - a bit of variety - we went F&B throughout - and really pleased with the result (I know there's another thread elsewhere!). Dimpse is a common colour throughout, and Ammonite with skirting mainly Manor House Grey. The paint is very odd - it really does change completely with the light and depending on what room. Don't know if I shared this one - Oval Room blue in the middle - I was worried it would be too dark, but we wanted something bold. Worked out nicely. The 'Indian Yellow' on the left divides opinion!

I know! We'll keep at it and keep each other motivated!

Hi all, Been a bit quiet here recently as been focussed on getting a temporary Habitation Certificate and ready to move in. We moved in yesterday - and what a gorgeous day for it. Building Control visited two weeks ago for the final drains pressure test, something i was dreading - I could get it up to pressure but it didn't hold for long enough. I filled the system to floor level and the water never budged, so there was no obvious leak - maybe an AAV or trap somewhere? I explained this to the BCO and he was fine with the water level test and suggested maybe air is leaking up through a trap under pressure. I had a problem with the bath trap - a shallow one but actually, doesn't function as a trap at all, so I'm currently trying to find one I can retrofit as access is limited. There's a bit of a story to that (to make @pocsterfeel better) but that's for another thread. We have one bathroom to finish (planning doing that next week), some carpets and flooring to go down and lots of small internal bits to finish. Then over summer lots of external details need completed (window trims, reveals, proper downpipes, coping etc etc), the garage finished and driveway put in. First night way lovely apart from a minor disaster that I've only just recovered. Can't wait to enjoy the house over the summer, watch the wildlife come and go, hopefully get some honey from our bees (they survived the winter), start working on my cars again once I get my ramp and just enjoying the finer things a bit more. It's been a great experience, and one we both agree we would do again at some point. Not as big as this one tho, but this is likely to be our forever home. We've been building pretty much for three years non stop, it all seems a bit odd now as we recount all the different stages. Needless to say, we would have struggled a lot without this forum - thank you everyone - there is such a wealth of information here that almost every question can be answered, or nearly, and if not, it's only a few button presses and hours away, so thank you everyone - more often than not it's the basic questions that have been most useful. Back to work for me next Monday - I finished in December to focus on the house so back to Mon-Fri 9-5!

I feel your pain. When our windows arrived they were all 20mm too large - despite me signing a piece of paper saying they would take 20mm off, they didn't. Well, I reckon they did but too early and so the drafts I ws updating were actuals, not openings. Not that I knew or was advised. When I got our skylights they company must have thought I was paranoid because I kept checking what the finds were again and again I. E annotating 'rough opening' on each version so there was no mistake. You'll be feeling sick to the bottom of your stomach no doubt but although it might be a bit early to say, only your bank balance gers hurt (aside from blame where a bit of pride might get bashed). My point is, it happens to us all no matter how careful we are. Chin up!

Sorry! I used the same company three times so call them 'our' crew! I liked them the first time and they knew their stuff so they got repeat business. Glad you've got it sorted!

Our crew were always on site at 0730! Worth shot anyhow, fingers crossed!

For the pump company I used, virtually everyone was out on jobs during the day - might be best trying late afternoon when most pours might be done? We did three pours and I could see why I had trouble getting them - phones kept going in the middle of things and getting ignored.