Bozza

I can send you 2.82m of 4x2. I’ve no money left.

£2.74 per m round here

Will be building a timber frame workshop/outbuilding and was after a quantity of 4x2. Took a punt at this in a local auction. After fees, delivery etc each length is costing me £8.50 each, so £1.77 per m. Not being in the trade I don’t have access to trade discounts etc but seems an ok deal for me as joe public. it’s more than I need but can always flog my leftovers on FB. Just wondering what the builders merchants etc are charging for 4x2 just now and whether it was worth it...?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/cementone-roof-repair-compound-grey-1kg/10990 I used above successfully. It has fibres in it. Would agree you’d need to try to hammer split back to close it, if you can, otherwise roofing flash and or similar just don’t leave a hollow fir water to pool. if it doesn’t work it’s only like £16 and you can use it for future repairs. Easier & cheaper than replacing if it does work. use a disposable cheap paint brush. Zero chance of cleaning it afterwards.

I have done some research into screwpiles, due to a planning requirement to build near trees. For a smaller garden building I would consider DIY installation, but probably not for a dwelling / extension. I would consider professionally installed screwpiles though. If I recall they’re about £50 each installed something like that.

If a lightweight curtain / voile (assuming for privacy being half way down ) have you thought about No Nails pads, or similar. Effectively glue the centre support bracket on. I think you can get removable pads too that obviously wouldn’t create a mess afterwards, if it didn’t create sufficient support.

Anyone thinking about installing a boiling water tap, Costco are doing a Reginox one for £215. I installed this exact same product and it’s brilliant. Obviously lot cheaper than a some of them (which I couldn’t justify in the budget). Very easy to fit too.

If you have a separate bathroom, and rarely use baths & are shower people, ditch the bath and have a more spacious en-suite. Will allow you to put the loo away from internal wall which is a must. Try not to have the shower entrance behind the door. if dressing room will contain dressing table/ hairdryer etc consider a door. which is exactly what we did. per attached.

When I did my original designs for my own build I used PowerPoint create to scale elevations using shapes (rectangles and triangles). I cut and pasted images of cladding, render etc to “fill” these shapes. Swapped them around to see different looks etc. What I ended up with was a remarkably accurate and £free representation of what we eventually build. as you have your elevations drawn just cut & paste into a PP screen then overlay with shapes. Delete the original image and you’ll end up with something to scale. You can also cut and paste your windows, doors etc. to answer your question though yes if I were you as it’s a big house I would use other materials to compliment the brick. Especially on the plainer elevations. Perhaps the garage elevations in cladding?

Welcome. If you are looking at old steadings for conversion to a dwelling, the foundations often consist of big stones. As a result folk who try to over renovate them often come a cropper. I bought an old 19th century built granite cottage which seemed ok structurally but I applied to demo & rebuild. When I demolished the cottage I was amazed at how easy it came down. Had I not got pp to demo, and had tried to renovate / extend it, it would have cost a fortune no doubt, especially if I was trying to bring it up to modern standards. I felt bad/guilty about demoing an old cottage but if I hadn’t overcome my own emotions on that I would have been very stressed and broke by now. And probably homeless. So point being unless money is no object be aware that what may appear a simple steading reno might be not so straightforward. I have linked a local architect who does amazing modernisations of traditional steading etc where I am. May be some inspiration for you. https://www.akenyonarchitects.com She shows that you can combine keeping a traditional structure with contemporary architecture / standards. Presumably if you have plenty of cash & contingency. If your budget in not finite one way to “saveasteading” would be to save the old building as use as a garage/office/party room, and pop a tasteful new build next to it. Another way is to incorporate an existing wall or whatever into a new structure. I think they call it a box in a box or something. Architect above does that. I had nearly bought a steading to reno (using above architect) but opted for the nearby cottage demo & rebuild. With hindsight it was a near miss, the steading.

3g has a 3 in it. 2g has a 2 in it. 3 is bigger than 2. but seriously it was a nominal increase £400 if I recall to go from 2g to 3g. I have a couple of 2g Fakro roof windows in the house. I do note a difference in particular in respects of sound and condensation.

As part of the quote they’ll have supplied a site plan. Can you attach it to your post. So I can compare it against mine. I had my supply carried between two poles, and replaced it with a trenched underground supply. SSE prices were very reasonable TBH. It was nowhere near £10k. But would need to see exactly what the work involves to make that comparison.

Did you get references beforehand ?

My project was same as yours. As soon as the roof was off the old cottage I sent photos to the Assessor who deregistered the property as no longer eligible for council tax. Council tax liability ended that day. Built replacement house. Assessor reassessed and entered new build onto list at new assessed rate. New council tax bill issued. Simples. advantages - no council tax bill liability until new build was habitable. 18 months x ££££s saved. disadvantages - unable to have bins emptied or do recycling runs.

If you’re budget is £1500 per sq m that sounds doable TBH. But don't forget projects cost is plot+build cost+other costs. It’s the other costs people often don’t allow for.

In terms of keeping costs down with basic spec then upgrading later that could be a false economy. As what you put in now spec wise is 20% cheaper during a new build, than anything you upgrade later, which would be liable for VAT. going up on a build is cheaper than going out. Going from bungalow to 1.5 won’t be much more. You’re probably talking £1200-£1500 per sq m turnkey. I built this 1.5 house, with a 1.4m combe height upstairs. Highish spec slate roof etc, for that.

1. 3G windows - Rationel 2. UFH 3. Natural slate roof 4. Good quality interior door handles/doors 5. Tiled recess in shower 5. Kitchen from DIY kitchens, including quartz worktop 6. Porcelensa tiles 7. Boiling tap (Costco) 8. ASHP 9. Utility room with raised washer/dryer 10. Multifunctional rooms 11. Galvanised Lindap gutters/downpipes 12. 4g router as opposed to BT phoneline 13. Oak staircase 14. Tarmac driveway not chuckkies.

3 months. Mine has been extended for a further 3 months as I need to upgrade mechanical ventilation (house too airtight). This cannot be done at the moment due to Covid restrictions & works within an occupied house.

Self monitoring alarms offer best value, I have heard good things about Ring, but cannot comment personally. If anyone reading this is considering an alarm system from a company that “connects to the police” that’s untrue. Only the PM & Queen, etc have such alarms. The monitored alarms go to an alarm company, who then might call the police. You can do that yourself with one that rings your own mobile. And save yourself £stacks. Some of the self monitored systems can work off 4g. Bear in mind if system communicates only via landline, phone lines can be cut especially if it’s a professional job. Don’t rely just on an alarm for security. Good lighting, locks, gravel under windows, good neighbours, aggressive shrubbery all play their part. Try not to shoot burglars though, unfortunately that’s not allowed.

Welcome & good luck

I’m a +1 for rationel 3G. Yes they do supply only, certainly mine were, and installed by my main contractor. I got quotes for downgrading to 2g and it wasnt much of a saving perhaps £400 in total. So went for 3G & so glad we did. in terms of sound insulation yes they’re very good, I recall they do an acoustic glazing option too but we didn’t go for that as rural. in real life scenario, we had a joiner outside one of the windows yesterday on his circular saw. You could hear the saw but it was a dull rumble as opposed to what it would normally sound like. One of our elevations is about 5 metres from a rural road. You can hear traffic but definitely the 3G reduces the sound. These are not scientific results but do they eliminate noise? No. Do they reduce noise? Yes definitely.

Have you considered swapping shower and bath. You have a natural recess there for a big shower. Most people shower more than they bath. I think this would make your bathroom feel bigger as obviously a bath is low level. if you extend your cavity wall this would create a natural recess for your vanity unit. Would be much more neater and streamlined which appears to be the look you’re after. Also consider a shower neuk in your cavity wall. Have shower controls at entry point. have attached what I mean. contact a bathroom supplier they’ll help you do a design as part of a quote.

Ok so that’s definitely expensive.

The front elevation could be made to look amazing by the use of materials colour etc. Especially important with a squarish building. I’ve attached a picture of a squarish house where the use of cladding colour etc make it stand out from being plain. Would agree the front elevation looks like a block of flats due to repeated use of same size windows. have you though about having one staircase in the far corner and a series of open plan floors (factory loft apartment style). With clever design in terms of placing services windows etc, you could easily subdivide each floor if you needed to create a series smaller rooms for whatever reason, in the future, or do you currently need 6 separate smaller rooms. you could have an amazing property there.