AliMcLeod

M u s t R e s i s t . . . . Welcome @trowel

And that turning a room stat up to higher temperature will make the room heat up faster. I've given up trying to explain that to my family.

I'm sure you've done the sums, but if your QS has not provided you with any figures yet, how can you know you have enough to get the weatherproof structure up? Perhaps you just have lots of funds sitting there (including a 20-30% contingency), in which case many here will be envious Did you use a £ per m2 to estimate what it would take to get to that point?

At what temperature should conventionally sized radiators ideally be run? Looking ahead to winter weather (probably not too far off in Scotland) I'm trying to figure out the right balance for my UFH downstairs/radiators upstairs setup (our upstairs is only really used when we have visitors). We have Gas combi ( Bosch Greenstar 42CDi Classic), providing space heating and DHW. No Thermal store/water storage solution. At present, I have the boiler set to around 55C with the UFH manifold blending valve at 40C. The room stats control the UFH and they have started coming on in the morning. I suspect i'm getting some short cycling but not sure how I can avoid that with my setup.

Isn't this what Nest (and their like) are trying to achieve? Not sure they're quite yet there though.

For some, the issue is having to have the physical vent itself, rather than the loss of airtightness it causes. Most of the ones i've seen are pretty ugly, and the more discrete ones can be very expensive.

I've heard stories of people sticking the trickle vent cover on their windows at BC inspection time, with no actual vent hole in the window behind them... I'm not sure what would happen if the BC took a closer look.

@suee, a picture or drawing of the houses/road might help elicit more opinions. eg, where are the garages in relation to this road-that-might-not-be-a-road

What value is the builder adding here? It sounds like he's just sub-contracted the work, probably adding his 10-20%, and piling all the risk onto you. I'd be wary of any builder (or his subcontractors) who cannot give an estimate for 2nd fix work. But, i'd play his game for now and ask him to get the estimates for the remaining work (tiling etc) - at least then it'll give you a ballpark figure for what you need to complete the major remaining tasks. And if you share them here, people will be able to say whether they are realistic. At the moment, you're running blind. As for that approach not giving you the cheapest price - it sounds like the current approach is not doing that either...

I'd be tempted to treat today as day 1 of your build, with an existing part-built structure in place. Get your builder to give you a price to complete what needs to be completed, taking into account the advice you've received above with regards to where you can perhaps reduce the spec initially. With the build at the level of completion you've stated, I'd hope your builder should be able to give a much more accurate estimate for the remaining work. I'd even consider asking them to complete for a fixed price, but you'd have to detail everything that is included in that. Then compare the figure you get with your financial position and determine a way forward. Oh, and keep asking here - there will be very little, if anything, that someone here has not been through before. Good luck

The lack of trust in a handing over a build to trades is a prevalent theme on BH even though a fairly large percentage here have taken on many (of the non-specialised) tasks themselves. It would be interesting to here how many people have handed over the project to a main contractor and are happy with what they got with regards to costs of goods and sub-contractors and overall service and value for money. Or perhaps a separate thread?

Why? I ask because we have a tree (with a TPO so we'll need planning) that is around 25-30m high that we're wanting shaped/topped and are about to get some quotes.

I think the answer depends on where you live, but seem to recall that you are correct that Share where you live and others from that location may be able to help.

I'm no building expert, but if things are as bad as you (and M) say, then I'd not be paying him a penny for this work and be thankful for getting away with just the £170 you've paid him for materials. Tell him to take you to court if he wants any more.

Sounds like a metaphor for life! ☺️

£55 for a householder proposal (eg, extension) here. 50% of full application fee if a new build, up to max of £500. More for bigger proposals. https://www.fifedirect.org.uk/topics/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&p2sid=76853FB9-FF8B-3DB3-0739D8BB456585F4&themeid=2b482e89-1cc4-e06a-52fba69f838f4d24 I can't see why someone doing a new build would go down the 50% route unless they was a good chance a full proposal would never be approved. Would be much fairer if the pre-application cost was offset against any future full application for the same plot.

With services like checkatrade, its always safe to follow the money when trying to determine how impartial are likely to be. The service provider is their customer, not the person looking for a trade.

Looking sharp @Triple07, and with the tap centred on the window to satisfy your OCD As @ProDave says, i hope you either withheld some payment from the original fitter or got some money back from them.

I know what you're saying @JSHarris, but this and this are a bit at odds with each other I doubt many lay people would attempt to replace a boiler main board. But, it could be that the boiler could be repaired (parts and labour) for under £3-400

At £900 new, i hope someone has contacted the cowboy to cancel, or at least ask him to justify both the need for replacement and the £900 fitting cost. And why he charged a call-out fee (though I guess he could say the callout was free, it was £80 for the diagnostic check - do you know how long he was there for?) If it does turn out the boiler can be fixed with a replacement part, i'd also be contacting local trading standards.

A house near us has a similar space as the entrances to their garden (though the road past their house is a country road, it is wide enough to allows two cars to pass and it has speed bumps so they typically have to slow down anyway). What that have done is place a pot about 1/3 of the way from either end, so that there is an obvious entrance to their plot but it stops people parking parallel to the road in the space. In a previous house, we had a smaller opening which had gates and found that if the gates were open, people would use the top part of our drive as a turning point (we had gravel so could hear them) - we were at the end of the village so figured it was when people have missed where they were intending to go.

@Triple07, was this ever resolved?

+1. @mike2016, have you had a valuation done? Did the estate agent suggest you'd get a higher valuation with a new kitchen? In my experience, in anything but at the extremes (either in very poor or excellent condition), house price valuations when selling are produced based on recent comparable house prices in the same area or, if the data for that is too small, the house size based on the local market rate per m2.

I'd be tempted to just give a thorough clean, declutter, fix the floors (if they are obviously bad) and paint walls and perhaps cabinet doors. Its easy for the estate agent to suggest spending a couple of £K because its not their money and it might get them their commission a little sooner. Unless its being sold as move-in condition, people want something they can live with for a period of time before putting their own stamp on the place. Rather than spend a couple of £K, perhaps see that as a buffer amount you'd accept below any offer you currently have in mind.

Make sure you mention to any new buyers that it went to a closed auction last time and the accepted offer was above the asking price. With any luck, you might end up with a better price to compensate for this hassle/stress ?