shuff27

My chippies made a sturdy temp staircase out of scrap timber (mainly left over from the timber frame package) for £200 & installed it shortly after the plasterers had finished the final skim coat. The design more or less mirrored what I wanted for my permanent staircase, albeit with narrower treads. They came back about a week before we moved in to remove the temp 2 flights of stairs & install the permanent ones. I kept the same half landing as it was already in the correct position (laid vinyl click flooring on the board, same as on the GF) & they attached a hardwood fascia to the pine. Where the temp stringers were removed there were just a few small areas of bare plaster to paint. My staircase is made from ash by a local joinery, with glass balustrades - I didn't want oak (too common!) so I visited their workshop to look at various hardwood samples. I've left the ash untreated as I prefer that look & don't have young kids or pets to worry about.

I had a similar situation although the 2nd property was to sell not let. My solution was set up a VAT registered limited company to build the 2nd one so I could reclaim the VAT on materials & other expenses. The 1st property was for us to live in so usual self build rules applied. It was a bit complicated to keep all the invoices etc separate but not a major issue. I did employ a good accountant & HMRC were fine with the arrangement. In building terms I did the groundworks & foundations simultaneously (making sure the contractors invoiced for 2 separate jobs - 1 zero rated to me & 1 with VAT to my company). Then I completed my self build & moved in before completing the 2nd property (which went under offer before 2nd fix had been done).

If you applied for CIL exemption you need to include the Final Certificate at the final stage of the exemption process (Form 7, Part 2).

I don't agree with your last point. My wife is from SE Asia so naturally does plenty of wok cooking - no problem on an induction hob, according to her, with a large flat bottomed wok from IKEA.

Will be interested to hear about this - I probably (until I remember something else!) just have to buy interior paint & stone chippings for the drive before I submit mine. I've already re-formatted my spreadsheet to the new HMRC template.

Yes for sanitary fittings but not for kitchen/laundry appliances if they're what the OP is buying.

Another possibility if it's happening regularly - Legionella boost setting for the ASHP? I've recently changed from Agile to Cosy for the heating use months - my ASHP was set by the installer to heat DHW from 3am to 4am so I changed that to an hour later to suit the Cosy tariff. But I was still getting a power spike once a week at 3am - I eventually realised that the Ecodan FTC6 controller had been set up to do the Legionella boost then.

We're also next to fields but find neighbour's BBQs more of an issue. Our Zender can switch ventilation mode from 'balanced' (i.e. normal supply & extract operation) to extract only via the app - this mitigates the issue effectively. It runs automatically on a timer (1 hour by default) so you won't be deprived of fresh air if you forget to switch it back! I'm guessing that other MVHR brands would have the same facility.

I bought my bricks from Jewson. They have a dedicated brick rep who covers the Midlands - he was very helpful & happy to deal with a self builder. I was sourcing materials during lockdown when UK factories weren't producing. He eventually found me some beautiful bricks from Belgium at a great price - my brickies said they were better quality than most UK bricks they'd ever laid.

Just finished mine last week - slabs on full bed of concrete ballast laid on thick layer of wacked type 1. Ramp slope is approx 10 degrees, I believe the permitted range is 7-15 degs. There's about a 5mm gap between the slabs & door cill to allow for drainage although the oak porch canopy keeps it virtually dry in any case. The slab path is 900mm wide & extends for 8m along the front elevation, so long enough to park parallel & get out of the car straight on to the path - final driveway finish will be 20mm stone chippings, i.e. not wheelchair compatible. Apart from the air tightness test this should be the final element before BCO completion sign off - probably a common situation for us self builders.

Hopefully BG will actually turn up for the installation, in my case they didn't despite their online support lying to me that the engineer was on the way. £30 compo & switched to Octopus to do it.

Seconded. No aerial nor landline for me & don't miss either - fortunately my village got FTTP while I was during construction stage. Getting Gigaclear to acknowledge that my house exists (their computer said no) was a painful process but all sorted now.

Once Octopus gave me the meter installation date I called their contractor to ensure they knew I needed a 3 phase meter. Apparently not all their installers are qualified to fit 3 phase meters so they allocated me one who is - he did a really neat job.

Why is that problematic? I have 3 phase & Octopus arranged for their contractor to fit the appropriate meter. I'm on the Agile tariff atm which suits my consumption pattern (no gas & EV). May change tariff in winter once ASHP heating is needed.

I'm in a Western Power area so got 3-phase supply installed as standard last year. The only elec suppliers willing to install meters at the time were EDF & British Gas but neither would install a 3-phase meter so I got a single phase dumb meter. BG offered the earliest appointment so I went with them. Since I recently bought a used EV I need a smart meter to use off peak tariffs so next week BG are returning to install a 3-phase smart meter. I'll then switch to one of the Octopus tariffs - will probably start a new thread about which one will best suit me as an ASHP user.