ToughButterCup

Then builders ... should have ... been able to guess when the rises were to be due? To make a cooking analogy (dubious idea, but lets try).... : the price of cooking oil goes up because of lack of supply. Because the supply issue depends in part on the availability of HGV drivers - and cooks know this, then cooks should put up their prices in anticipation..... ? Really? Logical Fallacy: worth reading about.

Blame isn't the issue. The OP asks (in the light of current circumstances) when they occur - and not before - how should such increased cost be fairly apportioned? Halving the increase seems to me to be reasonable.

Just like seasickness. It's never going to end is it....But it does. 4 years ago we said we'd be going mad if we hadn't finished by now. We're not mad - yet. 4 years ago we didn't know which fookoops were waiting just out of sight. 4 years ago we were really down in the dumps. Just like you. Self building is a test, one in which you (almost) can't say sod this for a game and walk off into the sunset. So the only alternative is to learn to enjoy the moment. I have still got to work hard at that every single day. Many days I don't manage it. But when I do, I finish the day with a grin. And so will you. Go outside, look at what you have achieved and give yourself a pat on the back.

None here either.... I'll just nip out and get some.....

Simples! Ask the manufacturer. I have no idea whether ours is - maybe I should.

Welcome. You are among friends here: unqualified but interested and bearing the scars of a good few years' building experience between us. Yes, you are where you are. I'd venture to say that every single person posting (rather than lurking) knows exactly what you mean. Your post begs many questions. Help us with a bit more detail. Can you post the plans, and a site plan please? Can you give us more of an idea of what you mean by '... left with a hole in the ground.....' (photos) Exactly where are you in the Planning Permssion cycle ? '... get through planning as speedily as possible....' Please tell us you haven't started building without Planning Permission. As written , it sounds as if you may have (temporary accomodation... living on site ... hole in the ground... ) Now's the time for a calm, detailed look at the situation. We'll help you do that. Ian

Ask the planning officer for a list of things that are important to the decision that will be made. Simply asking for '... some photos... ' is lazy to the point of rudeness. You need a proper brief. And to claim that a site visit is now not necessary unless deemed necessary points either to over-work, or trying to get the customer to do their work for them .

Not in keeping with the street scene as a valid reason for refusal, eh......... ? Hmmmm, well have a look at this First our old house and below, the house we've built in what was the garden of the house photographed above ... on the same street 25 meters away. You can just see the back view of the house above A valid reason for refusal? No. Here's the very first google hit I found for the search string ' ... not in keeping with the street scene ...' @RichyC : tinker with the design a bit, listen between the lines - you will get there. Ian downloaded and converted to a photo from https://democracy.derby.gov.uk/CMIS5/Document.ashx?czJKcaeAi5tUFL1DTL2UE4zNRBcoShgo=6sfcDwW%2FB6oXuOm7JmS4CE7cM6rThhSZgYE5EyQIUAhfOYL5qXs2bQ%3D%3D&mCTIbCubSFfXsDGW9IXnlg%3D%3D=hFflUdN3100%3D&kCx1AnS9%2FpWZQ40DXFvdEw%3D%3D=hFflUdN3100%3D&uJovDxwdjMPoYv%2BAJvYtyA%3D%3D=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&FgPlIEJYlotS%2BYGoBi5olA%3D%3D=NHdURQburHA%3D&d9Qjj0ag1Pd993jsyOJqFvmyB7X0CSQK=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&WGewmoAfeNR9xqBux0r1Q8Za60lavYmz=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&WGewmoAfeNQ16B2MHuCpMRKZMwaG1PaO=ctNJFf55vVA%3D 16/08/2021

Our design is about as far from the local street scene as you can get. Think chocolate box 16th Century cottages right next to ours: a sharp Scandy design. The key thing - for us - was the micropolitics. In this case we knew (through our architect) of the LPA planner's preferences. And he (the planner) has a weak spot for passivhaus design and sustainability. So, without promising that we would work to that standard, we promised to aim for it. All the informal local feedback we had was about the passivhaus design - and the built in sustainability. A SUDS design for example that had a water garden built in to the roof discharge, leading to a small attenuation pond , its overflow goes into a pond set on the existing spring line. I'm not arguing that that's the route you should take; merely to look for the planner's triggers. And then use them. And you can get a hint of those by reading his (hers) Delegated Reports. Worth the effort every time.

A couple of weeks ago, 1 tonne, bagged, for £37 inc VAT locally , delivered stacked as required Recently, 3.5 tonnes delivered loose, £162.70 inc VAT ( with a 10% discount: upscaled to your order makes £488 ish.... ) Hmmmm, not the best price then . ?

Heres the West Lancs answer to that problem.... (not joking) While you are away on holiday, a very nice man with oversize tool comes to your site at 6am. on Sunday morning. Tree drops. He leaves. You return. You need proper tree surgeon to clear up. The official wheels grind. In absentia you are found Bang to Rights. A year later you make an offer to pay the fine at £10 per century Meanwhile back at the ranch, you are enjoying limitless ablution rights a price that doesn't make you feel ever so slightly better go lightly.

That family was the perfect customer : super polite, thoughtful, appreciative, perceptive.... ' Ahhh, well its not just the window cleaning we appreciate, with you we don't have to worry about security...' That was true, as was the following exchange during the post Christmas clean ... with a wink to her husband, a RN frigate captain, I said, "I see maam, we've both been passed over in the New Years Honors List ... again..." " Nay, nort quite, Ian, nort quite"... In with both feet again eh lad? I could have checked the list I suppose. Without prompting Mrs X would just have continued smiling quietly. "A GCMG for my husband ... better than my OBE by some margin, what? " I beamed , delighted but also puzzled; what the Hell was a GCMG? Reading my reaction, "God Calls Me God", she said helpfully. "But His authority does not extend to this hice, I can assure you. " Husband and I both winced and got on with it.

The other thing that doesn't help is the way one board in 40 has a significant bend in the last 300 mm. I've learned to inspect each board carefully now: I run a sanding pad along each board to get rid of the splinters on the edges, otherwise my hand starts to look like a hedgehog. Twists in a board aren't a problem: but I really didn't expect short curves to exist at the end of otherwise straight boards.

God, Dave. I'd be mighty mighty piddled off ... Just like Jezza used to say, on every build there's always one Oh-f-f-s

Put it on a plinth (concrete or very heavy ply ) so that you can; drain the pump completely and easily load and unload the damn thing without too much bending read the display more easily pull the machine out to get access to perished / kinked supply and waste lines shove the washing basket in the gap under the machine while its washing if its tucked away behind a pair of doors, use hinges that open wide (180 degrees?)

Yes. Nothing. Yes. Use the stress you feel to plan every last detail of your house. If you are anything like most of us here ( well, there's a couple of exceptions to that rule) you're going to make annoyingly expensive changes in design - now's the time to reduce that cost by planning.

Looking through the Internet for window restraints boggles the mind: there are so many available. The window concerned is at floor level, and so particularly prone to little fingers practising defenstration skills. Does anyone have a recommendation?

I'm wincing. How well do you get on with the neighbour?

I bought Kwik Stage, and am now at the point of re-selling some of it at about 90% of what I paid for it. On a DIY max build, the buisiness case for it is compelling. The only question is how much to retain. Steep learning curve at first ... I now mix it with normal scaff and clips to do little tweeks that make the jobs a bit easier (arthritic) and safer still.

I don't need mine any more. Yours for the postage ....?

? ... how about on the ceiling then......?

This is just a thought: instead of glass, how about a mirror? A big one. Mounted on battens. In a previous life I cleaned windows to pay my way round university. A really posh (super-posh) customer had me clean her bathroom mirror each time I came round: floor to ceiling (2.5 ish high) at least 3 meters long. Took me half an hour to clean properly (shoes off stand in the bath job). Hell it looked good. Doubled the size of the room. And NO, @pocster, I didn't crack it......?

Does anyone kow of a company that does a wide range of architectural fixings, please? I need to attach our juliet balcony to the house wall somehow. And I have spent half a day on Tinternet getting nowhere.....

My first thought was .... water. OSB3 therefore, or similar. Soffit board is commonly much thinner than 18mm, I understand

Hello. You are most welcome. Ahhhhhh, the imagineering phase of a build. Something to wallow in, enjoy, chat through with mates - mull over in a traffic jam or waiting for train. Brilliant time. I look forward to the first post you write about the topographical survey and the geophysical survey. (£2500 for us : 8 cores and lab analysis)