ToughButterCup

Christmas came early for you then eh? Triple bay workshop: if I had one SWMBO would never see me ever. (She's praying for one too 😐) I mean just imagine the sheer bliss of putting a tool down and then a few days later see it still lying there. Space for a work-surface just a bit bigger than 8 by 4 and having space to walk round it ..... gotta stop now - envy is ugly. Enjoy it. And Christmas. Ian

Oh how spectacularly that can explode in the LPAs face. As has done 25 meters away from us. 6 years later, similarly many thousands of pounds, our 'neigbours' are still defying eviction. Yet another appeal hearing happens in February next year. If you can get a caravan on site, do so. Keep it out of sight.

Get a properly qualified opinion - from a structural engineer who has no personal interest in the outcome of the survey. Do your Due Diligence thoroughly . Research engineers who have roof specialists / experience in roof surveys , find three, ask for a fee proposal from each, and an example of the kind of report they are prepared to submit for the price they charge. If work needs doing ask the SE for a specification of that work, and submit the spec. to the builder. That process, though a bit 'heavy' will potentially save you money: reduced chance of specification creep by the builder. You need evidence that the work needs to be done: photos / video / reports (dry rot for example) / dampness measures. "There's a bitta' rot 'mert, in't right-'and corner, oop top." isn't good enough. Cheap, though. At the time. Not so later. PS, the taller of the two chimneys needs a bit of work: a bit of rendering's come off. Scaff > strip back > re-render > strike scaff > clear up. Roof could be inspected at the same time : if difficult, get a teenager with a drone to video it.

Welcome. You mention rock in the vicinity. You sound as if you're not near a main sewer. So my first question for you is - foul drainage? All OK there?

And right here is the reason I keep coming back to BuildHub. Thanks very much.

Ya larn sum stoof on this board ..... So @SteamyTea, how do the larger (WD40) molecules force their way into a smaller hole previously occupied by the smaller water molecules then? "Dwahhling, does my molecule look big in this hole?" "Ermmm, ummmm , just a bit" "Well, if it does, you shouldn't be lookin' "

Have you seen the prices there? Any road oop ducks, I'll bee 'long drekly ....

Hello, welcome! Can I make a suggestion? You do absolutely nothing for a year - maybe two - while you look at what the house does - and doesn't do. How cold is it in winter .... hot in summer ... drafty is it in westerlies.... how much electricity does it take to keep resonably warm .... how shaded is the roof .... where might you put solar PV.... what does the sparky say about the wiring ... what state is the roof in .... cold roof - warm roof ? In other words gather some data about it. Then you can set priorities. If you're feeling invincible, ask @SteamyTea round for a totally biased opinion on what you might like to do first ( hint : data, data, data)

Forgot that. Saved several hundred quid, I seem to remember.

Welcome @R2021. Our build is on a gentle slope too. I had no idea how valuable a slope is on a house build - from microclimate to foul drainage, making the view from the windows 'better' and an improved potential ability for tucking stuff out-of-sight. And as for having a utility-ground floor : perfect.

Right: an online connection to BuildHub is one essential in the kit. @Gus Potter - erm, what exactly is in your NearDisasterAvoidanceKit?

A recent remark in a post by @Gus Potter made me think ... Whas' in his kit then? I'm at that stage in a build when my temporary workshop has been taken down, and I am using the 'dead' end of a shipping container. It's either freezing or dripping in there. It's very far from ideal. So I've put a bunch of tool containers on a sack truck and tucked that under the stairs. Cue wifely gentle hints about ' the mess under there ' . And me saying " Well what if there's a disaster and I need [........... ] to hand? At least @Gus Potter has a van with his disaster avoidance kit: and I haven't even got my old Landrover 90 (thank God)" Cue smoulder. Wives can do that quite well can't they..... Which tools can you justify keeping to hand to help mitigate a disaster?

Please tell me you haven't paid ...... Yes. And wait for warmer weather if possible ..... I know - probably not possible

There's a simple answer to your question. The VAT refund rules tell us what is allowed: but because those rules are both poorly drafted, and the people administering them aren't co-ordinated properly, errors of omission and commission occur. Add that to 'customers' who genuinely try it on, and you have a mess. It's people that are the problem Dave, people.

Going to give that a go this morning. I'll post the pics later. What a sad old git I've become.

If there's one thing about HMRC and VAT claims, it's the consistency of their inconsistence. A partial answer to @cwr above is to say that in my case, because I was stupid enough to take my HERAS down, the local Valuation Officer (works for the LA) was able to walk on site and talk to me. (I was fettlin' summat outside) . And stupidly, instead of inviting her to go away, I chatted her. Big mistake. She it was who wrote to the national Valuation Office. They in turn initiate the process of adding the property to the Valuation Register. Once that decision has been communicated to you ( -stress-the date of the letter telling you about that decision is THE Key) the clock starts running. In answer to Triassic above, yes it does. It starts the clock. Delay too long and your application might well be rejected unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Thank you very much for asking the question. I've never calibrated it, but your post made me think. I'll go and get a bit of spare PB , put a copper pipe, a live 3 core wire and a bit of 3 by 2 behind it to see exactly how accurate the instrument is. That's a simple test: can anyone suggest a way of trying to 'confuse' the instrument? Copper is metal after all - and sometimes that copper has smoke in it and sometimes it doesn't. So, while looking for electric wires should we test for metal first and then an electric field as well? I suppose I ought to test it using some thick OSB too ......

Here you are . Bosch , natch - wodja expect from me? Bought mine years ago, works well, gets nicked often by the children. Love the central hole in which to shove a marker pen so you can accurately mark the wall.

I rationalise a raptor strike as 'weeding out the weaker / older / infirm / stupid ' ones. Watched a pigeon being hit by a peregrine once : a feathered explosion .

Here you are ..... They have a very much more interesting call when they miss a strike. You can hear the irritation in it. It's based on the one in this video, but is much harsher , repeated quickly and more 'p!ssed_off'

Welcome: birdwatcher by any chance? Anyway, after a five year 'lurk', whadya think of the place? Useful innit? Trouble is there's too much information here - lots of wading to be done without any immediate (stress immediate) return on useful information. But, with five years worth of looking around you'll be aware of the inherent complexity. So - keep it simple - to start with anyway. The shorter the question - the better. The more images, the easier it is for us to help you. A video will help (see Accepted file types below). Dunno about you, but I hear more sparrow hawks than I see....

Yes I can confirm that moving in before completion does not affect your subsequent VAT claim. What does affect it it is the LA's Valuation Officer's visit to your new property. If the officer judges you to have been living in the property, then the valuation for Council Tax process starts. In short keep your HERAS up and locked even though you are living in the house.

Genau ! My wife while running a university department supervises people doing their doctorate. About 4 years in to our build she looked me straight in the eye and said .... " You know how doing a doctorate hardens you off (wer schreibt) : well this (proper) self-build has done the same to you: you've really got to stick at it. (der bleibt)" You've also got to master the detail. Every damn time. Yes, COVID and Br(shhhh)it are often put to 'good' use these days I feel. @Post and beam all power to your elbow. Really pleased to hear that story. 6 sentences for a grand indeed. In my neighbours (unlawful) application it was almost a complete report for free. Lets all three of us start an Ecology Collective: Buttercup Beam and Cando. Strapline: Ecology Reports Professionally Copied and Pasted - Self Builds a speciality

The Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 has a noble aim Give 'experts' the responsibility of operationalising the Act (to whom else would we give it ? ) means that of course ecologists see an income stream, and disappear up their collective fundaments standing on every last detail. Except, not every expert does has his head in his Botticelli. The experience from the Planning Application for the house next to mine shows that ecologists can actually be sensible: a RAMS is - here - absolutely fine. So why not for our place? My ecologist got it wrong, next door's ecologist got it right. I paid half my ecologists bill and asked him to justify why I should pay him the balance. No response. The exception proves the rule. Again.

Pleasure @MDC. Read up on all of your LPA decisions where ecology was involved. Read between the lines. Work out which ecologist the LPA uses to make the 'expert ' decisions for them. (The Planner couldn't give a stuff - they just act on the ecologists recommendation). Then look up that ecologists (expert's) work and read every single one of his / her recommendations. Work out who he / she works with. Nods and winks work on their networks as well as any other professional network. Then - if you have to - talk to a range of ecologists who could possibly work for you, and read (say) the last 6 reports they submitted. There'll be one or two that are close to your ' specification' . Try hard not to be annoyed at the amount of copy>and>pasting that goes on. Whe I retire from my retirement activity (house building) , I'm going to call myself an Ecological Technician (as in Architect, Architectural technician). Then copy and paste till my hearts content and get paid for it. Friday Night - International Party Night. Have a good one. Ian