SteeVeeDee

Ideally I'd buy the windows in but they've got really expensive over the last few years. The machinery will be used for all the other joinery and cabinets so will be well used. I'll sell them afterwards.

I'd prefer to be demolishing and building new but the house has a mortgage. I won't be able to do the work within a tight timescale that would be acceptable to the lender, if at all. We could wait ten years and pay the house off before demolishing but then I'll have had to do significant amounts of like-for-like repairs without major improvements by then. If money was no object then I'd be doing it differently.

As long as the guage and overlap work out then cut them to suit. Ideally you'd re-hole but that can be frustrating and you lose a few due to inexperience.

Hi Dunc, Looking good there. I'm glad you went with a kit rather than SIPs. Is the ground floor going to be a slab or is that the solum oversite? How is the build going? Steve

Hi, 1950s detached with 1.5 acre garden bought from probate that needs substantial repairs. The house has had only two owners since it was built and neither has been particularly keen on maintenance. For example, a missing roof tile just got an animal feed bag put under it and the valley rafter foot and wall plate under it is now rotten. The roof covering needs replaced, the rafters and ceiling ties are very undersized, the purlins aren't strutted very well, and so on, and so on. The plumbing and electrics are original, the oil boiler is from the 90s, the insulation is only in the loft, and I've no idea where the surface water drainage goes (despite trying to trace it). Makes sense to demo an existing single storey extension and garages, build new double storey extension to double-ish current size, refurb what's left back to bare walls, new roof structure. Going to be a lot of work but I'm a qualified carpenter and experienced builder contractor so I'll be doing a fair amount of the work myself to save money and ensure quality. I'm aware that I'm not an expert in everything so grateful for any advice received, particularly design, mechanical/heating/cooling, services, etc. No longer working on the tools as part of a lifestyle and career change which is also an unusual feeling since I've been working in my family business since I was very young, and I'm paying instead of billing. I'm planning to buy some second hand machinery to make the windows, doors, cabinets, and joinery so am keeping an eye out for those. I'm a qualified joiner but have never worked full time in a workshop. We had one when I was a young man but I spent more time fitting onsite than making in the workshop. I'm confident in my abilities but to be brutally honest I hadn't planned to be coming off the tools, to then stay on them and not get paid for it. Realistically I don't think we'll get started for two years. My wife is very impatient but I'm a realist. We have engaged an architect and had some very preliminary drawings but there will be quite a lot of work to get those correct I suspect. Lets see how it goes. Steve

I'll be decommissioning my septic system and running in to a mixed system sewer at a manhole on the edge of my property. I've only ever used plastic drainage in the past but tempted to use clay since it's my own home and we're not moving again, unless its when we get very old and downsize. The actual pipework price looks to be around 60-70% more expensive when the lengths of 1.6m are considered. However, any fittings are extremely expensive. I've still got a few weeks to mull it over. I've got a natural tendency to gold plate my work and so double bluffing myself which is irritating.

I've never thought that SIPs were a good idea. Cheap and fast rarely equates to good.