Omnibuswoman

The basic rule is that stamp duty on a second property is the higher rate. I don’t believe HMRC distinguishes between the primary property being BTL or lived in. The rule is: single property owned = lower rate, add another property = higher rate. If you sold your BTL within a certain period of time (I don’t know the exact duration but it is less than 2 years I think) then you can revert to the lower rate on the second property.

Thanks peeps. I’ll have a chat with HWMBO about leaving the ceiling as-is and fitting low profile lights instead. Looking at the extra cost of plasterboard etc it seems wasteful to make it any fancier than it needs to be, especially with prices going the way they are. I can’t see anything wrong with the idea of painting the rafters and making a feature out of them. ☺️

Just returning to this topic after several weeks of mulling it over… The first thing that occurred to me is that the building will not be heated, so in theory there will be no warm air to condense on the underside of the roof ply… in which case, is it worth insulating at all (like a standard shed)… We could just fit plasterboard to the underside of the joists (having first drilled a 50mm hole through each noggin to allow side to side airflow from vented soffits). In this case, it would be neither a warm roof nor a cold roof, but just a ‘same temperature as room’ roof. Am I missing something obvious??! m

Hi peeps, further advice needed on workshop build, this time on the roof insulation. We’ve built a cold roof design - EDPM on top, 18mm marine ply, joists/noggins. No ceiling finish up yet. We’re planning to put on a plasterboard ceiling with recessed LED lights, but need to work out the best way to insulate between the plasterboard and the ply. Do I need to leave a ventilation gap between the ply roof and the insulation? Then another gap between that and the ceiling? How will the electric cables through the joists affect any insulation decision? Might insulated plasterboard be a better option? All suggestions most welcome! Thanks! M

ahhh the good old days when you could assault and insult children eh? 😆

Maybe it was my mum he was interested in 🤣

Szivesen!

Hungary has a relatively small pot of common names, so it is common to have people with the same name in a group of friends. It makes me wonder what taking the register is like in school 😂 And they have ‘name day’ on which your name is celebrated like a birthday. Today is Gábor and Karina day. I speak basic Hungarian, although have forgotten a great deal of it now. It is quite a challenging one to speak well. I’ve never progressed beyond sounding like a toddler 🤣

Nagyon kemény munka azt Magyars!!

i used to work in a drug rehab unit. One of my clients was an ex dustbin man (a job that fitted nicely around his addiction apparently). I remember him speaking about the amount of money they would get at Xmas from different businesses and householders. Thousands of pounds in tips. I was quite shocked that they would get tips for doing what they’re paid for! But as you say, this was more a financial recognition for looking the other way when a mattress or other waste was taken away unofficially.

I did wonder that too! I’m pretty friendly and happy to pass the time of day for a few mins. If I were a driver I’d want the excuse to have a stretch and a change of scenery for a moment. But my instinct was telling me that it was more than that, and then my mum mentioned when he left that she thought he had been waiting for a tip. That’s what I had thought but hadn’t wanted to say.

Oh that’s great. I thought I might be committing some awful faux pas of builders’ etiquette!! The one that hacked me off was the equipment hire chap who dropped off the genie lifting gear at the bottom of the drive, leaving us to haul it almost 100m up an uneven incline unaided, and still seemed to be expecting something. He was the one who told me repeatedly about the generosity of his other customers. IMHO he’s already being paid to do the thing he just did, and was uncomfortable that I couldn’t get rid of him.

I’ve noticed that delivery drivers tend to want to hang around for a “chat” after delivering goods - one even stopped for 10 mins to wax lyrical about how generous one of his customers had been giving him a case of beer… It occurred to me that I have no idea whether or how much to tip a delivery driver. I am not someone who keeps cash or beers lying around, so I need to know whether to stockpile a stash of something to tip with. Any thoughts?? Thanks! Morgan

I can't imagine doing without a freezer, Tea. We use ours every day. We were planning to have two in the new house!

Crikey! That's a long time to be without power. Hope your freezer contents are ok

Mods/admins, please can someone remove the docs I have posted as I have not properly edited. I'll post some screenshots instead. Thanks!

Thanks all. Ok first thing, floor plans are attached. @ETC There won't be a condensing boiler - we will have an ASHP outside the utility room feeding the hot water tank inside the utility room cupboard. Both bathrooms are on top of each other. We will have a stack pipe inside the house in the same area. @Mr Punter The rainwater system will be separate - the roof will drain to a water garden, and from there down to a pond in the south westernmost corner of the garden. @ProDave We haven't had a percolation test done yet, but we know that drainage is likely to be slow - the ground is Kate Brook Slate. My parents, across the valley, had a klargester installed about 10 years ago in the same ground, and my dad said that the percolation test was a nightmare. He filled up the hole, and 3 hours later it was still full! The local company from who we obtained a quote for this work offered a working assumption of 42m soakaway length, based on the size of the house/tank that we will need and their knowledge of the ground in this area, but said that this was subject to a percolation test being done to finalise the calculation. We own the land to the East of the red boundary line (south of the crossed out garden), and will be able to extend the soakaway into that area. I have also asked South West Water to contact me to quote for connecting to the main sewer. It goes straight down the road at the bottom of the drive, so it is possible we might be able to connect to it without enormous cost, but our SE previously said that she thought that we would be bound by the nearest manhole which is 20-30m down the road, i.e. £20k-30k cost for that. I took her word for that, but realised today that I should check with SWW to be certain that a WTP is the way to go.

I need more friends like this guy!!

We are going to install a waste treatment tank as we are almost 100m from the main sewer connection point and told it will cost £££ to connect. I've read the Binding Regulations and have checked the rules re distance from house etc. However, I have become stuck on the design of the trenching/pipework system from the house to the tank, and the drainage field. We had a quote from a local company for this, but they whacked it up by over £2k between July and January, without any persuasive explanation, so I am now considering the feasibility of getting the installation done ourselves with the help of a local chap with a digger. I'm struggling to work out where to start. Do I first need to work out where the pipe will exit from under the slab? As it is a passive house the drains will come out from under the slab, I guess meet up in a sensible location, and from there flow to the tank. Attached is a copy of the site plan with my initial thoughts. Is anyone here able to help me to work this out please?? Or is this one of those things where I am better off just paying a professional to sort it out? Many thanks, M Plan of sewerage system.pdf

There’s no scream face emoji so I had to choose the sad face one to convey my concern about @SteamyTea Hope you’re ok Tea. My mum said there are several trees down near them in West Devon.

I’ve been thinking about you guys down there and wondering how you were doing. Glad it’s not too bad so far. I’ve definitely been influenced by the horror stories of Storm Arwen and people up north being without power for days or in some cases weeks. The water supply here went down a month ago for the best part of a week, despite SWW’s best efforts. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-60098358?fbclid=IwAR1_s1xOMHEd6UBFR3ZcqB-r4mVqaFmrbiiAHUEPMwgkU53bLlcymOwYHk4 (Out of interest, the woman in the picture is our least favourite neighbour - she left her broomstick at home for the BBC interview) I guess I’m anticipating a greater frequency of severe storms heading our way in the coming decades and the increased likelihood of damage and supply issues. We will keep an open mind for now, but interested to see if the battery saves Mike some ££. Stay safe! M

Given the likelihood of power cuts in severe storms, the increased risk of severe storms over time, and the fact that our passive house will be electric only, we have started thinking about installing a battery to use as backup in the event of a power cut. We’ve not planned to fit any solar panels (the cost v savings don’t justify this) but may do if it becomes economic. Following your thread with interest.

@ProDave I’m wondering if you had a reply to your enquiry to BBA?

I don’t have any sage advice unfortunately but I wonder if there are any structural engineers that specialise in ICF that could give you the benefit of their experience? I’m happy to ask our SE if she knows anyone with relevant expertise if you’d like? m