ToughButterCup

Here's how our architect approached the issue.

That's not an Oooopsss..... That's an "Oh F F sake " Its multiple feckooops like this that gave birth to my signature line

It looks to me -now- that a couple of hundred quid will sort this out: maybe a bit more but not much. The key thing is - yet again - communication. In any contractual relationship (in any sector, not just building) it's almost the single hardest thing to get right. And it is the hardest thing where a friendship group or family relations are concerned. I really feel for you @jamesmonk83. Thanks for posting about your job: with luck, a good few people will learn from your experience. Ian

Red flag number one: a (skilled) friend and a nice guy. But the word 'professional ' doesn't apply here. If it were a professional relationship, you wouldn't be asking us what to do next. Red flag number two: you say you supplied him with a print out of examples : to me that's a 'mood board', not a design with dimensions and guidance Red flag number three : come back and correct. Pay it and keep a friend. Don't and lose one. Reasonable. Yes, and no. Perhaps too relaxed would be a better descriptor. In the absence of an exact design - signed off by you - he's well within his rights to ask for more pay. Leave as is and learn , or pay and learn. You are not alone: it's a very common process.

OK. I'll start a thread with the basics of Due Diligence, and then everyone can chip in to add their own bits of wisdom. Then I'll summarise it into a checklist and ask the Mods to pin it when done. Ian I've got loads of niggles to sort on the house yet, like MVHR, Part P, and finishing of the 'that'll-have-to-do-for-now' list Quite apart from mending two new hips. But hey I put my own socks on for the first time this morning. Nurse is only visiting once a week now. And before you release too many testosterone molecules @SteamyTea , think Divine Comedy, National Express '... of a small country...'

All ours are like that: the answer to the question immediately above is that they are stocked in our nearest BM(s), and nope, its the way they come off the delivery lorry. Don't worry, me coat's already on ... have a good Easter.

I'm late to this wake. I'm very sorry for you @Pete Coleman. I have the opposite experience of Jamie Anderson: he helped me out greatly when our wall collapsed (because of another builder's negligence). He sometimes rings up for a chat...... I'll give him a ring. Ian

What constitute a 'start'? Find out what that really means locally. Different LPAs have different understandings. It could be as little as erect a small brick shed for your temporary electricity meter. Ask local builders what actually happens. I would not take anything any BCO says at face value. Nothing. Especially not on something with so much expenditure hanging on the outcome of discussions. You need to find independent substantiation for what your BCO has told you. (Full disclosure, I have recently been having an argument with our BCO - failure to keep discussion notes, inappropriate communication and unwarranted threats of legal action) In any case you have 3 full years in which to show 'commencement': July 2025. (July 2022 + 3 years)

Finger-tip '... feel... ' : sell and move on. Why? It is much more common for ab initio self builders to have had a good hard look at the issue of self-building in its entirety - Self Due Diligence as it were, BEFORE they post here. Self-building challenges everyone who commits to the process: spend a few minutes reading and tales of woe that abound here. Never mind Sleepless in Seattle, sleeplessness is very common (see @Kelvin above). But then so is Optimism Bias. Supporting and following through on that optimism is *king hard work.

I think you're right. Foxes probably do kill quite a lot of rats. I don't shoot them because I haven't got a weapon powerful enough for a clean kill.

Farmers do control the distribution of feed. But they can't control the efficiency - or lack of it - with which pigs consume their feed. Some feed is inevitably left over. And rats clean up the leftovers, other omnivores do the same until there's none left. Seen as a whole, the process is very efficient. Same with our chicken feed: inevitably they leave some, and that (a few grammes maybe) is hoovered up by rats, wild birds and others - including our sheep dog. No, a gun isn't - on its own - the answer to efficient vermin control. But a gun, some judiciously laid poison, the local owls, our resident tomcat, other rats ( who eat their dead brethren), and on ocassion our local buzzards do make the problem manageable. Its wonderful to hear and see the difference made to rat activity when an owl decides to hunt on our patch and hoots to announce his or her presence. I sometimes wish they were completely silent killers.

When you live next to a pig farm, there's not a lot you can do about food left over and lying around the place. Rats will always accumulate there. And as for banning guns, well I admire the sentiment but not the practicality. It would be brilliant if you could suggest away of suppressing vermin on a farm without one.

Rats are worthy opponents. They'll give you an evenings good shooting practice if you use an air rifle with an image intensifier. Either that or find yourself somebody with a Patterdale terrier or six...

That looks very nice indeed. I like the way that the curves contrast with the straight lines in the rest of the bathroom. Rather than do something as creative as you have, I just went out and bought one. SWMBO really likes it, but I don't like it very much because of its infrared switch. You have to wave your hand in front of it before the damn thing lights up. I know it's a first world problem, but it seems to manage to switch itself off just as quickly as it switches itself on - one hand movement can cause it to both switch on and off. As I say, a first world problem.

You say '... planning to object ...' Typical neighbourly fuss about nowt. Check your local council rules about the issue: but I bet you this is nothing to lose any sleep about at all.

Adapt this to you window dimensions: DIY cost of concrete wood and a bit of effort £500 Grow any climbing / shading plant on it.

Yes, the edges of Spring. At long last. Time to save up for the next price hike. 😔

Just toughen up Mr Bishop. Get in that cold shower.... Nobody will hear the 😱

There's a fine balance to be held between legitimate concern for your own property and intrusive concern. Your neighbour's security, connected boilers, circuits which may or may not be connected (isolated or connected at the CU) damp in their house, the time it might take to get things back to normal could all be considered entirely your neighbour's concern. It's in nobody's interest to cause damage to a neighbours house. Acrow props often cause people to wince when first seen in place. Reading between the lines, I 'feel' all is not well between you and your neighbour : you report that you have talked , but don't report the result of the conversation. If I'm right, then a bit of jovial banter and joke about the cost of cement or the price of fish is what's needed. I do hope so.

Might you be able to post those here: be careful to annonomise sensitive content - faces / house numbers ...?

Ships in the night. I met her years later - not a hint of a sniffle

Talk.

Beers, cheers, smiles, sleep.

In haste: just checking that you have read this thread

Thats a shame. My friend swam in a water-filled quarry on the Malvern Hills. Maybe it was the purity of the water that counts?