joe90

I knew a builder like that in Bristol, he used to price work that he didn’t want at a silly price and said if they are stupid enough to pay that price I will sub it out and make a bigger profit!

Mine was brick and block. No I was busy the whole time (apart from being in hospital and recovering fir a couple of months). Whilst the walls were going up I was roofing, wiring and finishing my large garage/workshop that the builder constructed in block and render. Ref the above, mine was a set price, apart from work I wanted to do but was ill so an agreed price was struck fir the work I could not do. I had the contingency not the builder and didn’t need it so had a large conservatory built in oak. The more I read about other builders the more it’s confirmed I had a brilliant builder.

Yes, my builder invoiced me in about 4 instalments, total bill £114,000. VAT free as he supplied materials as well for the work he did. My VAT claim is fir the materials I bought and fitted myself, Windows, kitchen etc.

No, not just to manage , doing lots myself. Add to this wiring garage, garage roof, guttering, fascia,s etc etc. It was 240 sq m

Yup, crack on (with photos as evidence).

My build came in just over £1000 sq m and out of interest I asked my builder recently what he estimated my input would have cost had I asked him to do what I did, off the top of his head he came up with a figure of £85k, two years work by me, project managing, fitting windows, (making tea) all stud work, plumbing, all skirting,doors etc and lots and lots of miscellaneous bits.

My flowscreed (if that’s the same tech name) was supposed to have no or little laitance. I scraped the floor to remove any “scum” and ripples, soaked the floor in sealer, tiled it and the tiles have come loose, not sure why, can’t bring myself to lift the tiles (fitted kitchen and skirting on top of tiles) but it’s on my “to do list in the future “.

Self employed local jack of all trades. (But good so I have heard).

I took my application (4) to appeal as our planners were very negative and i won hands down. As we are so short of houses in this country you would think (if the plot will not be too crowded) the council would welcome two lots of council tax and the houses more “affordable”.

I don’t know if I am out of touch nowadays but I got a quote to tile my conservatory, 10m x 2.3 = 23sq m. = £920 labour . Sod that, knocked it off in a couple of days. (But my knees and back hurts, better that than hurting my wallet ?)

Youre lucky if they are not chasing you fir council tax!!!, as above, ring up and ask for a bin. Around here they don’t use bins, just plastic sacks (lots of people round here use chicken/horse/dog food bags). Frankly ours will take anything as long as it’s some sort of bag.

Ours was different in that we demolished then re built. Frankly the bin men around here are great, they take all sorts and took all my domestic waste whilst living in the caravan, (but I didn’t pay council tax as I told them it was fir builders “facilities” and my wife was paying council tax and living in our other house whilst I was working away) Try just putting it out and see if they take it, I doubt they have a list of addresses to collect from! If you are “all” living there you should pay council tax at band a.

I use a 1mm Packer between door and jam when fitting the doors but that’s with painted frames but oiled doors, so maybe 1.5mm if your painting the doors as well. (I still have my readers digest home manual book from the 1980,s).

This is why after doing so many re furbs and work for other people in their houses I was keep to do a new build.

I was impressed, celcons are so easy to cut, bit different with concrete blocks here.

I think there is a minimum distance between kitchen sink and power socket?

My consumer unit is in a plant cupboard in my downstairs cloakroom, BCO didn’t query it.

For me it was the weight of glass and chunkier frames.

I really think it depends on location, we were told on here that with a large south facing conservatory we would cook in the summer and we have large bifolds into lounge and dining/kitchen but so far it’s been acceptable with large openable windows and doors, some locations are sun traps ( @JSHarris ) we are more open and usually wind washed.

Like @PeterW I went strip foundation and slab with UFH as per https://www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk/golcar-passivhaus-ground-floor-foundations/ the only thing we altered was lowering the internal DPC to floor level to avoid plaster cracking above the skirting. No SE required and BCO happy.

I only had double glazing throughout as a glazing specialist got the u value within a Knats whisker of triple (and we are in a mild location), triple glazing is quite heavy.

When I used to fit kitchens I looked at the height of the customer, if they were shortish like me I offered to lower what I could. You are limited to the appliances but if I could I would lower parts that did not have appliances, cutting the kickboard is dead easy. My grans kitchen had a lower section (with slate) for rolling pastry on.

Oh I did look into it and I talked to someone I know in the tool hire business and in his opinion to much work, and risk for a small return in this country.

I take my hat off to you, wish I could plaster large area,s like that, well done.

I would concrete if it were me, I have seen soo many lopsided ones where soft ground has given way.