Declan52

Or just realise shit happens during every build. Accept it, moan and groan a bit then move on.

Land is cheap esp if you move further and further into the depths of the countryside but then you end up paying more for your services.

Did you see the name??? The biggest supplier would be Munster joinery. They are a massive company which supplies the vast majority of sites in Ireland mainly due to the price which no other window company can come close to. However they don't have the greatest of reputations. With supplying most sites here with the cheapest Windows the builders want they didn't exactly take their time fitting them which inevitably led to problems further on down the line. @JSHarris and myself both have their passive windows with Jeremys the aluclad triple glazed and mine the uPVC triple glazed. They aren't the best to deal with due to the shear volume of work they take on so your order can get lost/ forgotten about. In terms of quality the only issue I have had is being dark grey the swell in the heat so come summer time they need adjusted and then readjusted when late autumn comes. The most important aspect is the fitting. A good fitter can make poor Windows work and a bad fitter can make the best and most expensive units the biggest nightmare you could ever experience.

The biggest factor is surely location. Although my site was free, I built in my parents front garden, a site was sold next door for £30k when I started mine. Where else in the UK or even Eire would you get a decent site for that kind of money. You can still buy plots here for sub £50k which when you add up the total bill will have the biggest effect of your bill. The other factor with location is the fact that most of the materials are cheaper here in Ni as we have an abundance of sand and stone so concrete products are much cheaper and things like the sewer pipes and roof tiles are all made locally. My house is a 2500sqft chalet bungalow with actual building work started in 2012, planning was got in 2008, and it took 2 full years of blood sweat and tears to get it completed. The build cost came in at £108,000 with a vat refund of £7k. My fees including architect, building control , site insurance etc came to £4k. So total bill was £105,000. So my cost was £452 per sqm. But and as has been said above I done the vast majority of the build myself so I only paid out for labour for electrics, plumbing, plastering and some joinery work. I called in a lot of favours which included the lend of a mixer for over a year, got enough scaffolding for little money, got rid of 90t of spoil for free to a local farmer, had friends and family help out with all the labour intensive jobs like loading the roof with tiles. I ended up with a very nice warm house with all that I wanted to have in it,triple glazed windows,ufh, big chunky oak doors, quality bathrooms, Italian kitchen with neff appliances, all floored with oak flooring and porcelain tiles, hate these as they are a bar Stewart to keep clean. Our self build mortgage was up in April and when we remortgaged the house was valued at £300,000 so I am well pleased with how it has turned out. The only job left to do is tarmac the drive. I have had quotes for £5k but am still debating whether to tarmac, concrete it or do it in pavers to match the patio or just leave it and go on more holidays. At present there is loose granite chips which where around £200 for a full lorry load which was enough to cover the drive.

Yeah it's well insulated. They stop all the sun from shining in with no gaps around the edge so get no direct sunlight into the upstairs bedrooms. Mine are on the north face of my roof so it's only for the first 5ish hrs of the day the sun would be on them.

I got mine from this eBay shop. https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/cheapestblindsuk

I put some blackout blinds on my roof lights in the bedrooms upstairs and they make a massive difference. Got them from eBay and was a 2 min job to fit them.

My 350l thermal store is usually full with nice warm water but never in my day have I ever experienced cascades of warm water. I must be doing something wrong.

A hammer and a cold chisel or if you have them metal line pins. Just remember that you need to rake them out when still wet for when you need to lift them.

Lightweight thermal blocks for the inside skin on my cavity.

Do you not soak the walls to stop the quick drying out. I absolutely drenched mine with the hose before the scratch coat was applied and 5 years in I have very little cracking.

You could move the brackets up slightly to try to catch the main flow rushing off the roof. Can you get to the outlet of the box gutter to reduce its opening so there isn't as much rushing down the roof but still letting enough through do it doesn't back up. A pic of where that comes onto the roof would help.

And your last bit hits the nail on the head. It might be fine but it might not. You not paying for a might be ok job your paying to get it done right. And this guy ain't doing it right. Give no more money to him. Chances are once you confront him and say that what he has done is wrong he will climb in his van and be gone. If he has the bricks bought, doubtful, get them on your property before you say anything. Once they are on your land and you have paid for them then it's theft of he removes them. But I highly doubt he has bought the pallet and a half.

Get the pencil and tape and level out and draw your tile pattern on the wall. Take a step back and have a look. This will also give you an idea on how the last tile will look. Can you not start with the middle of the tile in the middle of the wall do you don't end up with such a tiny bit of tile at the edge. Once you have settled on your pattern position go over your lines with a black marker and this will help you keep them plumb as you go up. Don't mix too much adhesive as it goes off pretty quick. Slow and steady and keep checking your tiles are not lipping out as you go up. I would do it 1 strip at a time starting with the middle strip. Make sure it's plumb as both sides going out will be spaced of it so if the middle strip is wonky the other rows will be as well. It will help you keep the tiles from wondering off.

Could you put in a ridge board at the top then 2 separate steel beams approx 500mm further down so each will suit that particular side.

I used Tec 7 to seal up my shower and it is still looking good 5 years on. The only thing is it wouldn't get any direct sunshine which might be an issue no matter what one you end up using. What about using some putty instead.

Up and down will be fine but if the ground is soft it won't be long making a mess esp where you turn.

Are you going up and down or across the slope.

You don't waste that much as you use the bit left over from a cut to start another row. Like you do with wooden flooring so the joints are all staggered. It will be small triangle bits that you will be left with when you come to the peaks.

Can you take a pic of how it sits at the moment.

I would leave at least a 100mm of an overlap on each side. Easy to trim it back much harder to add more.

When you say an internal wall do you mean the internal wall of the cavity or an actual wall inside the building.

I have a thermal store and once all the connections where lagged it doesn't lose that much heat over a day. Although before I done all that work out was really really warm in the hotpress. Through trail and error I got to the point where my sweet spot temp of the stored water is 67 degrees. It's just a balancing act from either a few degrees hotter and my stove will be on longer so burn more fuel or a few degrees lower and it will go cooler quicker and I get nailed by the wife for her shower going cold.

When you say motar do you actually mean plaster as in the a sand cement mix for the outside of your house??? Always used this stuff https://www.uk.weber/triple-strength-medusa Or this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bostik-30812493-Cementone-Integral-Proofer/dp/B00LXM7K52

I used my architect to provide a warranty. It was the mortgage company who will want a warranty in place. At each of the stages they set out my architect would write a letter saying that the founds, wall plate,roof etc where built to the relevant regulations and they would release the money. Before you start it's good to phone your local building control council officer and introduce yourself and ask them what stages he wants to come out and inspect plus how much notice he would like. It will be the digging of your founds, might want to see the walls going up, roof on and then he will just want all the electric and plumbing certs and all along the way he will be ticking the boxes and let you know what's still to be completed to his satisfaction before he will give you the completion cert. All your doing is touching base and getting off on the right foot. Unless your going to sell in the first 10 years a nhbc type warranty is not worth the paper it's wrote on.