Thorfun

If I may add my 2 cents. I started by reading Mark Brinkley’s book (it was before I knew this forum existed but would still recommend it as a great overall picture on building a house). you will overrun. And you will be over budget! Ask me how I know. 😉 read the blogs on here. They are a great source of information from folk who have or are doing it! we built a basement (see my blog for details) as have many others on here. It’s a great way to get extra space when planning won’t allow it above ground. But, they’re not cheap. It seems strange to me that the existing bungalow has a basement but you want to fill it in and dig another one! Seems like an expensive idea to me. I wonder if you could put a lid on the current basement and somehow connect it to the new bungalow’s location? Kind of like a secret bunker. If the lid opened you could have a thunderbirds base! I also +1 on the comments to use someone experienced to get you to watertight and then do the rest yourself. The way we’ve approached our build was just like that. Anything structural we left to the professionals. And anything visible we left to the professionals, eg plastering, cladding etc. we’ve done all the insulation, membrane, battening, plumbing, painting etc. saved money but it definitely slows things down and it can easily get you down with how long it takes and the lack of perceived progress. But it is very rewarding! And because of that sense of reward I have to disagree with @Bozza and fully encourage you to have a go and not just pay someone to do it all. You might be able to earn money to pay someone on your downtime but you’ll miss out on so much. good luck with it all.

I assume the ‘from’ price is for the 2’3” door?

Amazing! Thank you. I will Google a similar door later and compare the results.

Thanks. To start with I need 2x FD30 fire doors for between the house and garage. And the door frame to go with them. If I could get a price on something pretty generic I can compare with online retailers. architraves and skirting will come later as I’m not sure what size the wife wants.

We will need a utility room at some point so will definitely take a look. but doors are more important! 😂

Thanks @saveasteading but I’m not interested in kitchens as we already have one now installed. I’m interested in doors, skirting, architrave and other joinery bits.

thanks @Kelvin. kind of says it all really! any idea about individual doors or skirting etc?

greetings. i'm considering opening a trade account at Howdens (if they'll accept it that is) but i'm wondering if their prices are cheaper than you can buy elsewhere online? Howdens don't display their prices on the website so i can't do a comparison without opening an account. i'd rather not bother with the faff of opening the account if they aren't actually cheaper. has anyone who has an account done this research or can check prices on doors, architrave, skirting, door frames etc and post them so i can compare?

The Velux ones can be fitted at 2 levels of upstand so you can make them more flush but you need to get the flashing kit to suit.

Velux are the popular choice for a reason. They’re simple to fit and do the job! Just like Eclisse with pocket doors. Personally I wouldn’t use any other but I’m no expert and haven’t even finished my build yet. 😂

not sure whether to laugh or cry at this one! well done for just doing it though. that happens a lot.

evening all. can I ask what terminal blocks people used for the larger cables (not Cat6)? I'm struggling to Google what I would need as nothing seems to match up visually with the photos of people's setups.

I win! ours was delivered last week and fitting should be finished next week.

it's been a while since I posted about something I learnt but I thought I'd post this in case anyone else can learn from it! if using 12mm tile backer board then your timbers need to be at 300mm centres! I only just found this out after I'd bought the boards. if I'd known it sooner I'd have built the walls/added noggins earlier in the process or simply gone for 20mm backer board which can handle 600mm centres as I've spent half the day today fitting extra noggins in a shower area and I still have 2 more bathrooms to do. 😢 and I'm talking about the XPS stuff (Marmox/Jackoboard/Wediboard etc) not Hardie backerboard.

and you'll probably get half it's cost back if/when you sell it after you've finished with it. i always prefer to buy than hire if i can.

i'm going to heed @Nickfromwales's advice here and go brass. it also just feels right to be threading a brass thread into a brass socket. going in to plastic just feels wrong!

hey. thanks for the info. I've made a decision and I am using copper push fit wall plate elbows. only time will tell if it's the right thing to do! I'm gutted I can't find/Wavin don't sell the brass Hep2o wall plates any more as that would've been my preferred route. I'm sure it'll be fine. 🤞

nope. not even in those places. have ordered a Pegler Tectite push-fit version

can't seem to find the brass versions anywhere anymore. 🤷‍♂️

@Nickfromwales have you used these plastic bibs from hep2o? https://www.cityplumbing.co.uk/p/hep2o-wall-plate-elbow-black-15mm-x-12-inch-pushfit-hx615w/p/616913 I always thought that screwing brass into plastic was a recipe for disaster? it makes me wonder if these are 'special' plastics for Wavin to move to plastic over brass? I presume Wavin must be pretty confident in the product to still give it a 50 year guarantee

we bought one of these. https://store.creality.com/uk/products/ender-3-s1-plus-3d-printer?utm_source=googleads&gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxaX-hMLpgQMVGMftCh2BkQkfEAAYASAAEgJSrPD_BwE. was very easy to setup and use. I chose that one as I didn't want to bother with upgrading parts and this one came with some of those upgraded parts already included. oh....and because I'm not a cheapskate and didn't want to buy the cheapest thing out there like some! 🤣

thank you! just what I needed to read. unlike you though I think I'm going to go with the push-fit copper bib as I don't want to use compression and I'm not ready to buy in to soldering. I will go shopping tomorrow and get this done. I will also pick up some of that liquid thread seal if it's idiot proof then I'll be in better stead than using Loctite 55. I'll also make sure the bib ends flush with the ceiling plasterboard so the skim will then leave it a few mm back as suggested by @Russell griffiths in that thread. then I'll just need to mock up something to protect it all from the plasterers!

oh wait. you mean this bit of rubber, right? sorry. it's been a long day

what rubber?!

do i undo and take off the Loctite 55 tape? don't want @joe90 to accuse me of being a bodge again. 🤣