joe90

My builder has just quoted me a figure of £1200 per sq m for a completed build.

I talked to my building inspector about soakaways and pointed out that a big hole in clay was a pond !!! I created a French drain to a ditch and he agreed it was ok. This was for the garage, I hope he has the same attitude about the house !.

Which tank did you use Peter?

I spent 1k£ on a planning consultant when we went to committee after a refusal and it was the biggest waste of money so far, I have done two appeals to the Secretary of State myself and they are not difficult.

Well, you all know the two year fight I have had to replace a dwelling with a "typical" Devon cottage in Devon in over an acre of our own land. It was called into committee and when they visited site nearly all of them said " what is wrong with their proposal, it fits very well with the surroundings." At the planning meeting they had all changed their tune and would not even look at me, they had been got at and told to refuse it ( I am reliably informed by a local farmer) they want a bungalow or room in roof. Roll on the 15th September when my appeal to the Secretary of State gets decided ( even the planner who was against it told me I would probably win on appeal !!!!)

I propose to heat a tank of warm water and UFH using off peak electricity and maybe top the tank to hot using same off peak just before off peak stops ( 5 or 6 am?)

What I don't get is if the build is inspected by building control surely that proves it was built properly/ as designed etc etc.

I am on the Cornish border, quite far

Just spoke to my architect and mentioned using my builder and he replied " he is wonderful" " never heard a bad word about him". With regard insurance I questioned Dave's comment above with the builder and he says his " contractors policy" for a new build covers all aspects of site insurance and I only need to consider loss insurance ( fire or theft of my personal stuff or building as far as it is built). He has done many new builds in the area and the " owner" has never had to take out liability insurance.

I can understand that but we are lucky that we have the money to build and don't need a mortgage, just spoken to our architect who says they can issue a certificate or I could get an indemnity insurance like JSH says above. After all it will have passed building regs !!!!!!!!!!

I am engaging a builder on my self build as he has a huge reputation locally, been around for years and no one has a bad word to say about him or the company. He has been very good at getting my workshop built. He questioned my status of " self builder" and pointed out that as such it's my responsibility to claim the VAT back ( Jeremy knows how this is ) , organise site insurance and he doubts I will get materials cheaper than him. He makes no mark up on materials as a matter of principle, if I want to order stuff on his account ( extra to the build price and not in the quote ( e.g. fence posts) he charges 5% and will probably be cheaper still than I could source. He will charge no VAT at all as he has software ( sage?) that does all this for him and automatically. He is willing for me to do what I want on site, e.g. woodwork ( which is my love) and will not cost this in his quote. it appears to me that it's better to let him be the main contractor so leaving me with less hassle but still able to work on site doing the things I want. please discuss John. P.S. I may not respond quickly as tinternet not available on site.

Thanks guys for your comments, if I take time to answer it's because I have no tinter-net connection on site, it requires a visit to the pub :). Any other views gratefully received.

Dear all, after my two year fight with planners ( which is not over yet as I have an appeal to the Secretary of State ) I am getting the building regs drawings done and after a conversation with the building inspector ( a very nice chap, with an open mind about modern methods etc) has asked if I was getting a NHBC certificate as someone he knows who did a self build but didn't get a certificate as he planned to live there for " ever" dropped dead and his wife wanted to move but was unable to sell because there was no warranty on the house, she eventually sold for cash for a very reduced price. NHBC costs are high in my opinion and it has been said on forums that they are " not worth the paper they are written on" but are there other avenues that anyone can recommend as this kind of " insurance" seems sensible. thanks, john

Using an ASHP to get water to 40' and boosting for "hot " water is exactly what I plan to do. I did wonder if it was possible to get the ASHP to recognise when it was just about to run a defrost cycle and get it to stop itself, that way you could get the ASHP to get the max temp out of it without ruining the COP.

I am about to buy electrical stuff for my workshop and was going to use screwfix but CPC are much cheaper, is Marbo stuff Any good ? I am looking at metal clad sockets and switches in particular.

Yes, the mobile stuff is good and should be on another thread thanks, Jeremy, thanks for your info will source shortly.

The thin bit is about 5 mm and it's supposed to be fitted before screwing the roofing down but I forgot so just inserted the big bits individually !

I have just fitted box profile roofing to my garage which needs no ventilation like a house, the roofing came with fillers which are solid black foam stuff so would not give ventilation but stops rodents ( bats in my case sssshhhhhhh) from entering. I don't know of a material to use but guess rolled up chicken wire would do, bit like a Brillo pad. I bought mine from cladco and they were very helpful.

Hi all, my workshop is nearly complete and you may remember that I asked about lighting on the last forum and the consensus was LED ribbons. Well my next question is how much light do I need?. The space is 7 meters by 9 meters with 3 meters height to rafters. I thought about 5 meter LED ribbons on every other rafter ( 500mm spacing 7 meters long ) or every third rafter. The benches ( one for woodwork and one for engineering ) will have their own direct lighting over them). I know these ribbons require DC input at each end. Any help would be appreciated and in particular any good suppliers or recommended kit ( good protected transformers to reduce RF interference). I have no broadband on site and ST visited me and kindly worked out how I could use my phone as a mobile hot spot to give me a signal to use my iPad on site but I have found that the only way to get a decent signal is to sit on my van roof and it is still slower than wi fi.!!!. So access to this forum will be sketchy when on site ( I have come home for a few days to rest . ) when the workshop is finished I will post a picture. Nice to be back guys.

As some of you may remember I am copying the Golcar insulated foundations and they specify xps insulation because the lambda value is better when damp. This is something I really need to get my head around as I am about to get my foundations dug!!!

Well guys , so nice to see you all again , it's been like my right arm's been cut off!!!. I am off to Devon in the morning to get on with my workshop. Beware I will be hitting you all with questions now I have my planning permission ( well sort of)