joe90

I always found grand designs to be lacking in actual detail regarding their builds, focussing more on what goes wrong (to make good TV.)

This caught my eye. "The combination of a high-temperature heat pump as hot as a gas boiler,

I just looked and screwfix only sell in grey,black,brown colours 🤷‍♂️

Or sued for the cost of remedial work required to meet regs.

It says it is compatible for lead 👍, however being OCD I would use grey to blend with the lead and the stone.

So are you building with blocks?. I too put a garage on a 150mm slab with steel mesh but it was timber, not masonry.

45°. Wow, every day is a school day

Why? I got loads of quotes but only one site address 🤷‍♂️

Sorry steamy I only have an iPad which does not have those “things”, I am sure people know what I mean 🤷‍♂️

Perhaps I am getting lazy in my old age but do you need to park close to that wall?, my immediate thought was to slope the ground at 45’ (do you still have your digger?) use the stone as a rockery on the slope 🤷‍♂️

Yes ring around, i sourced my bricks, 11,000 of them, cheaper direct from the manufacturer and way cheaper than any BM. Even my bricky was surprised how cheap I got them.

I second that, my only comment was an architect is not always required, I designed my build because I knew exactly what I wanted, been in the building game years and when finished it did exactly what I wanted BUT I am in the minority, most people need guidance on what is achievable and that is where an architect is valuable (as long as you get a good one 🤷‍♂️).

The Little I know about party wall agreements asking for building control approval is an obvious starting point for both parties, can you post the “various statements from your builder” that you think is ott.

With the house I mentioned above it was funny that the owners told me a condition of their mortgage was to have soffit vents installed, those little round ones every few feet, however when I stripped the roof the wall extended right up to the back of the bitumen felt so the eaves vents did no good at all, I had to remove the top row on bricks around the whole building.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-london-66745332

Rubbish. Well, I designed my “box” myself, fair enough I have been around the building game for a while but I knew what I wanted. I was always getting compliments on its appearance and it did exactly what I wanted 🤷‍♂️

so why an architect?, if you don’t know what you want then fair enough employ one for suggestions.

It’s called piece of mind, well done 👍

I too went to great lengths to measure accurately where soil pipes should go, and found it was not quiet right, I bought numerous pan connectors (they can all be different by small amounts) so I would definitely drill oversize and give yourself wriggle room.

I really can’t imagine emulsion doing a great job, I could only see a thick latex type paint doing a proper job of air tightness but saying that sand cement slurry is cheap and easy to do.

Yes I concur with an asbestos survey first off but think like others this is white mild from a damp atmosphere, a few years ago I worked on a bungalow that had similar, not as bad, but complete lack of ventilation and a leaky roof. I stripped the roof, created eaves vents, ridge vents and fitted breathable felt and re tiled, no further problem.

With my appeal it went down well with the inspector that rather than have dormers I designed a double hip roof (no gables) to reduce the mass of the build.

I think, particularly on this forum, it depends if you are doing it for the money or wanting a house of your dreams. I have renovated houses all my life but hankered for building my own, my design, my input and very comfortable. Luckily I was able to achieve this when I retired using the money from my previous renovations. I found a new build soo much easier and gratifying than renovating, yes more rules to adhere too but because of my yearning for an energy efficient build I built in excess of the “rules” anyway. Luckily I was not constrained (much) on budget but my sense of achievement will last me the rest of my life and cannot be taken away from me.

Actually I wish I had studied this stuff when I was younger (I am way to old now), I believe I have an inherent gut feeling about what will hold and what will break (and I tend to over engineer a bit). I just can’t prove with numbers what I believe. I have a fascination in all things S.E. I did actually think I could make my own I beams when I did my build but I had way too much to do besides that otherwise I would be like @Pocster and never finish 🤷‍♂️🤣