ToughButterCup

I have worked with Hilliard Tanner in Ireland for four years: slab, Durisol, steels, louvres. He has been on site exactly the same number of times as the other SEs with whom we have worked. 0 , Zero.

I could not agree more. And to top Russ' story, a drainage engineer - who came to advise us about our drainage - mentioned that his next meeting that day was to go and mediate on a site where the owner had built despite advice that the drainage -foul and surface water - would be a problem. It would interest me a great deal to analyse how and why some folk decide to proceed despite lots of well-found evidence that they should not do so.

Then plan to spend £150,000, and no more. It doesn't matter who thinks you are mad. It's the measure of your ambition that matters. This is not the time for grandiose 'big pictures' . It is the time for realism, based on evidence. If the ambition matches 75% of your budget, then you will have the last laugh Identify the size of the problem: pay for a thorough survey done by a really reputable company. A really reputable one. Identify what I call The Knitting: stuff that has to happen before (say) the mezzanine. Plan. Network. Stress realism in relation to the money you have. Accept that some expenditure headings might well have to wait for a while. Stick to The Knitting. I bet @Ferdinand will have some good ideas..... Ferdi? Welcome - by the way

Well, Mr Griffiths, at least Old Farts can find photgraphs and steal them efficiently.

We also did as @Redoctober did. Before I forget, be sure to check where the supplier wants the meter to be placed. How to put this.... our plumber pointed out a simple anomaly in the Water Boards design, and suggested we take advantage of that. I refused . ?

Welcome. Keep hold of that enthusiasm. Reminds me of the Good Old days when we started 4 years ago - God only knows I'd be glad of some of that Vim and Vigour today.

Just a quick heads up from bitter Durisol experience. If you under order, or smash too many blocks, or otherwise find that you've insufficient, getting another load delivered is not the same as popping down to the BM for some more. It's (was) a trip down to Crumlin in a hired wagon for us. And just in case you have to, make sure its a flat bed wagon. The blocks aren't heavy - but 500 blocks is a lot of handballing when a material handler could have had access to a flatbed. I lost my fingerprints for about a week - even with gloves. Fairly fit upper-body strength now though...... The point you make about Green Life could be very important.

... for us perceived speed of build (on the part of the builder) was problematic. It fostered a lack of accuracy. I don't wish to imply that that might be the case for you Jake. That initial build inaccuracy has only just been corrected by a magician plasterer. My own lack of confidence played a significant role too. Now, I would check every single course of blocks for line and level. Neither would I allow a pour without appropriate shuttering. It's always the same : Devil in the Detail, or as @Ferdinand has it, God's in the Detail. (That Ferdi, he must be Shockin' Holy)

Low running costs appear to be of marginal concern to almost all buyers - two estate agents have told us that. And, I have often heard others who build locally, that houses built to the minimum current specification are very cheap to run. So, the logic goes, why bother with a U value that's as low as passivhaus. As for MVHR ? Ya wot? Whassat? The need to explain it to all but a few says all you need to know. I can count the number of visitors to our build who knew about MVHR on one of my hands (of which two fingers have been amputated)

An estate agent, asked to value our current house , offered an opinion (but not a valuation) on the house I'm building in what used to be our orchard. We are building in Durisol. In his estimation build method, while a consideration for some, is not a strong determinant of price. Why? Because you can't see the build method.

You mentioned that you want the edges of the ply to be visible. I like that style a lot. I follow Scott Brown on YooChube - he uses a good deal of ply. Here's a list of all the videos he's made about using ply. He goes into detail about how to line up the edges of the boards. As usual, the Devil ( or God) is in the detail. There's some nice stuff. I really like the edge highlight - SWMBO doesn't . Sum ya win, sum ya lose.

'spread' of what? Or might you have meant mean 'space' (spellchecker?). A quick sketch would help us help you......

You have my genuinely deep sympathy. I used to have nightmares about this issue. If you are in Lancashire, I'll come and give you a hand sorting it out....

' At's cock-on lad ... is a common phrase oop 'eer (West Lancs) lad. But I haven't' heard it used by younger trades people. Maybe the phrase dates the speaker? Welcome.

https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/search/?q="Connection Cost"&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy&search_and_or=or

https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/search/?q="Connection Cost"&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy&search_and_or=or

Yes. Be persistent. Determinedly persistent. As above, rule nothing out. Who can you talk to? Network, with the emphasis on work. Someone somewhere at sometime has faced a challenge similar to yours. Find that person. Make your own luck.

Its an ill wind that blows nobody any good: Covid-19 has brought a flurry of building activity and trades folk to our door looking for work. Everyone is welcome. On site the other day: plumber, tiler, chippy, BCO, plasterer - all working in their own safe areas. And everyone (except the BCO) either whistling or singing loudly. The chippy was first to notice it ............... The plasterer's singing. It was worse than Billy Connelly p i s s e d out of his skull. Its was so bad that, like moths to a flame, one by one, we all gathered indoors to listen. Shhhh, shhh, shhhaaaa dup.....: we tried to stop ourselves laughing Phones out, recorders ON , we listened and recorded in communal horror. The volume of his singing was deafening. Maybe he's partly deaf? Chippy: Eh Dave (plasterer) That plaster comes from Finland dunnit.... Plasterer face to the wall bobbing and weaving like a goodun: Aye, 'appen - good stuff Carlite Finish - didn' know it was Finnish though - Four of us clutching our withers in suppressed laughter - plasterer facing the wall has no idea he has an audience. Plasterer ..........la la la, whatcha goin to do abart it whatcha gonna do --- lal la la da da.. whatcha gonna do - do bbeee dobe dooo boop bee doop? Chippy : You can tell trades who work on their own can'tcha Dave? Singin's fekkin awful Plasterer turns round, sees his audience : shocked look on his face - four of us phones held high recording the caterwalling. Do Carling Finish Plaster reeely cum from Finland then? Yeah mate we all reply. YOU BAR STEWARDS.........

If the map has no legend, then it's probably an unofficial (abstracted from some source) document. If thats the case, then who knows what some dimwit did with a program like Adobe Acrobat? I agree that those lines might be pipes: but wonder whether it might be a sloppily drawn cattlegrid?

Indeed. And a lesson I have had to learn the hard way. The answer to the problem is - in part - flexibility. A dash of quick, creative thinking on site helps a lot too.

Spindles also needed perhaps?

Have you gone through the Due Diligence Process? Have you asked to see the architects terms and conditions?

That price tells me a lot. It's a common price point. In my experience its code for ... 'ok but' . The but varies. Buy a digger anyway. The thing about diggers is that they turn so many site tasks into a fifteen minute hold-on-a-moment-while-we do something that would otherwise take so much much more effort. We spent about £13000 on a good one. Loved and cherished it, over-maintained it. 2 months into a four year stay with us SWMBO called it : 'The Best Thing We've Bought' another BH member bought it. Just before Lockdown. The cost to us? The over-maintenance. And the VAT. The utility? Several thousands in saved hire fees, and many more thousands in saved aggro, hundreds of small two man jobs turned into - just a mo while I sort this -. Have a read

Hmmm, must confess to wondering if insect mesh is worth it in our case. We will have a few hundred meters of 10mm gap. I have no idea what damage insects can do to an ICF wall. They'd need hard heads to get into the concrete....

That leaning left wall... relaxing to look at, that. But illustrates the principle that as @Ferdinand says, God is the bloody details. He puts it more politely .