joe90

We just had a visit from the council tax people to see how far we had got, I told her that we had just moved from a parkhome up the road ( paid council tax there) and were now living in our caravan next to the build and been told I could transfer the council tax from one caravan to another, I had done this by Email on Saturday when we moved. She asked me what needed to be completed and I said fitted kitchen, sewage treatment plant, heating for a minimum to make it habitable. She noticed that we had furniture in the lounge and even though it was obviously stored ( everything piled up) I explained it was only stored furniture but she said they classed furniture in a house showed it was used and only gave me four weeks before a valuation officer would be sent to assess our build and bill us council tax. I explained that I was struggling to do the work myself and could not complete the work in four weeks. I know Jeremy had problems and I plan to not get the treatment plant signed off till it suits me. My understanding is that without a treatment plant or kitchen or heating a build could not be “ fit for habitation”. any advise would be welcome as frankly we don’t mind taking our time over completion and living in the caravan for the summer.

Great heads up, never thought of this, will see if our local council do it. ( mind you I have a ways to go before thinking of growing veg?)

When I wanted to buy one they were not cheap, even ones full of holes were valuable scrap?

I brilliant thread, all credit to you. I too used a stair box kit but did the landing and hand rails myself and I am well chuffed with the result. I built a straight staircase years ago so know how hard it can be. Keep up the photos and narrative.

My Kingspan ASHP has no mention of anti vibration pads, should I get some before I bolt it down to the pad?

Ah, well done Dave, could you link to what you have purchased as I would Like to do the same.

Well we had a fault recently, the extension phone sockets developed noise on the line but only when the router was powered up. It was me, not the ISP that worked out the extension wiring was not filtered so I had to supply a filter for the other two phones in the house. In my day ( a few decades ago) the master socket filtered the extension wiring and the router would only work in the master socket. The tinternet was where I discovered the solution, so beware.

I went with John Lewis for phone and broadband ( they use Plusnet) much cheaper than BT and much faster ( and I used to work for BT ?)

Have you had a quote for DCV ?

I bought my MVHR unit for £350 on Ebay, yes the duct can be a bit pricey but I made my own manifold/silencer from ply and my own room vents from cheap bits available at half the MVHR price. I also wanted my MVHR to be run like central heating ( sensors to measure RH and CO and only run when required) but the cost annually is so low and gives permenantly heat recovery, add to that the CO sensors are expensive . There is a reason why most people instal it in “ good” new builds. ( p.s. mine is block and brick as will be very airtight ?with no expensive membranes or tapes ).

Can you say which cordless vacs you bought and would you recommend them?. Our carpet supplier/fitter recommended a Henry but we fancy cordless and like you, one on each floor.

Yes our last house which we rent out has the same mold problem, double glazing was installed before we bought it but with no trickle vents!!!. I told them they needed to open windows daily but they don’t appear too.

Well Dave, have you made a decision yet?. I find the trouble is the more you look the more you find and the more difficult the decision!?

My builder roofed ours in slate but used slate clips rather than nails and it looks great and looked quicker than nails

Good point, my missus tends to keep buying till the fridge is full then we end up throwing some away ? there is only the two of us mostly.

My builder went with a liquid screed rather than concrete and the floor is very flat, just needed a slight scrape to removed bubbles which was easy when it was still slightly soft, and it was all done in a couple of hours not days.

There is an upside to doing a new build ?

Well we are choosing our kitchen and come across o local company that makes them and they have a very good reputation, I told them I am building a dresser and farmhouse table ( eventually) and they offered to spray them to match the kitchen ?. Throughout the build we have used local tradespeople and been very impressed. We had a plan done by one of the big companies and they simply did not listen to our requirements and were quite indifferent.

Spooky Dave, I am in the same position and also saw the curry’s advert. SWMBO wants a water/ice dispenser but I bet it will hardly ever be used. I have heard from people that the non plumbing type with dispenser is a pain as it’s always empty when you want to use it,. The Haier one is also good but reviews question its noise, someone on this forum ( like me) hates background noise (unless it’s music ). The price difference for a water/ice dispenser is huge in my opinion.

Oh I am sooo glad I like kiss.

When chasing cables into blockwork only plastic capping is used under plaster so why not the same under foam/plasterboard/skim?

Is this not why blocks should be rendered ( like my garage) to prevent weather ingress. Yes I am a fan of Tony,s build and that is one of the reasons I have gone block and brick with full wet plaster airtight inner.

Peter, that’s exactly what I have installed in both bathrooms. Regarding posh hidden stuff, my son had one and when it went faulty, leaked he was quoted £400 odd just for a new valve, twice what he paid for the original shower on Ebay. Mine, you can get replacement units anywhere and it’s all accessible .?

Well I know people who hate rainfall heads and I like “ normal “ ones so I installed dual ones where you can switch from one to the other. Everybody is then happy ( I hope!).

Well i built brick and block, 1, I wanted a brick outside skin thatnneeds no maintenance as render needs painting and or can lead to cracking. 2, I have not reduced floor space I simply built my house with the rooms the size I required then added walls with cavities. 3, with good bricklayers I got air tight walls with wet plaster, (attention to detail at joins and no expensive tapes that may or may not last. ). 4, solid walls that I can hang anything on. Perhaps I am lucky that I had a good builder but they are out there you just need to do your homework ( and book them early as good ones are always very busy).