Declan52

With such a tight budget can you not just put the combi microwave on the long finger and buy a cheap £40 job and put it in the hole where the real one will go when the bank balance is in a much healthier state. Just to get you moved in and comfortable you are already making sacrifices. You could use the money saved here to put towards the hob that the boss wants.

I had that type of beko fridge with the water dispenser for near 8 years. Never gave a min of trouble. Only got rid as it didn't fit anywhere in the new house. It's still going strong in the sister in law's.

70 mins

You taking about the chair or the roofer!!!

I just watered down my first coat. The new plaster sucks it in really quick. By the time you have finished a large ceiling or wall you could start the 2nd coat.

You will know by the colour of the skim when it's dried out enough to paint. It will be a pale pink colour with no darker spots. In the summer it won't take much more than a week or so for most walls to dry out. Your best bet is to just paint it all white and let the house sit for 18 months 2 years and let it move and shrink and crack. Fill the cracks after the 2 years and then paint it whatever colours you want.

If you are using the mitre glue make sure the two pieces go together dry first as the glue goes off really quick when the glue and activator mix.

Fair play to you. Looks more than decent.

We use them bolle type in work and they are very good. Even the prescription type for blind people like me are comfortable to wear all day.

If you bought one of these houses which wasn't actually tested and after burning through way more gas,oil etc than you should be and you got an air testing company in to do there bit and your test score was way higher than what was on your SAP would you have any come back??

Are you tied to having it look like brick or could you plaster it up or combine plaster and timber cladding. Can't remember who on here went with brick slips but they had a lot of issues with them.

Whoever you do go with get the email address of the sales rep. It's a lot easier to order the correct stuff when you are writing it down. How many times do you go to buy stuff, groceries clothes etc and forget what you really went for. It's also a good record to have so you can keep checking up on what you ordered, how much and when it was placed. And just because you said you would only use the chosen building merchants doesn't mean it's a pinky promise type deal. Always lift the phone and check just to make sure your getting the best deal and if not speak up and say how come you are charging me £9 per length of 100mm pipe but X building merchants can do it for £8 per length. It's all part of the game you have to play and in order to keep the build in budget. Its a game you need to play well and be as cheeky as you can, if you don't ask you don't get.

Depending on your soil type heavy rain and make the sides fall in on open trenches. You want them left open for the least amount of time you can. As for all the items you need on your list take your self on a nice wee drive around all the building merchants in your area and go and ask for the manager and explain your doing a self build and what kind of discount is he able to give to you if you buy the majority of the what you need from him. Be open and honest and say your also going round the others in your area and will pick whoever will do the best deal. Also don't forget as they all want your money they will be rolling out the red carpet so don't be taking how they treat you then as an indicator on how things will go in the future.

I looked into a gshp at the time and even with free access to a drilling rig I still couldn't make the sums work. It's important to note that not every borehole will be successful as nobody knows what's down there. You need a good few water strikes on the way down for the pipe to draw enough heat from the ground. You can do the slinky type installation but that requires a lot of ground to pay the pipe.

Water from a puddle will do the same and won't stink as much.

Nope put an thin coat of bonding on after the pva.

Yep it grips better and will be rougher finish so the skim sticks to it. If you put a handful in a skim mix it stops it going of as quick to give you more time to work your magic.

If he's from Ballymena gd luck. We can't even understand people from there.

Pva and a coat of bonding would be a better option. Then do the skim.

I tried it once on a small wall up stairs in my last house. Scratch coat was decent but the skim wasnt. Let's just say it wasn't long before it got boarded over and hid. It's a real skill that takes years to perfect. Plasterers just make it look easy when it's really really not.

Go to bed happy. Wake up next morning and go and have a look. Pick your heart up of the floor when you realise it should have been done by your bro in law. Go and get tools and start scraping.

How do you know for definite you need piles?? Could an insulated raft not be an option instead??

Always let your brother in law do the ceilings first. Then let him do the walls. You do the mixing for him and bring him cold beer when he's finished. 2 very important jobs.

You can still put a scratch coat on beneath it.

Deep scratch coat with plenty of Water on the blocks to give it a good amount of suction.