Herbie

Thank you for this. However, I've made an executive decision to put a door on the shower!:) lol

Hey everyone, apologies firstly as I was trying to find a more specific sub forum but didn't know where to post it. Basically the other half wants half decorative style wood panelling in our bathroom but I'm mindful on the fact that it will essentially be a wet room and the panelling will butt right up to the shower tiling. We have no shower screen. My hesitation is that sooner or later the paint will give in and the mdf will soak up the moisture. What methods/materials are available to stop this? I was thinking of a composite panelling much like hardie plank but can't find anything suitable. The PVC options I've seen online don't really do anything in a traditional style. Advice welcome please. Thank you.

Thanks for the reply. So I just wait until the property is signed off by BC, then I can work under PD? Is there a time delay in there at all?

Hey guys, I've left this question with my architect but he's been insanely slow coming back to me. We are doing a self-build project and when we put down the foundations for the cart lodge/garage, we also put in footings for a room off the back (terrible ground, whilst we were digging out and putting in foundations we figured we would future proof and tie the foundations together). I want to know if I can build the office under permitted development? Its obviously not on the original plans as it has been more of an after thought. Cheers for any advice!

Ours is a touch over 2k if that helps. We needed it to satisfy the lender.

Cheers! Yeah I think a waste treatment plant will be best - I just can't justify 20k+ on doing a mains connection, it's extortionate. Going to ring around a few local firms, to see what solution they recommend. I have checked the general binding rules and it looks like we would fall in line with them, so just a check with building control then.

Hey everyone, hope you're all well! Finally we have commenced work on our new build, but one thing I'm struggling to justify at the moment is mains sewage - f**k me is it expensive! We have a mains sewer 4m down in the road, but you're talking 10's of thousands to connect the property to it - I think it is just too much to justify, so I think we will probably go with a septic tank? Anyone had this 'problem' before and what did you do? We also have a small stream that our plot backs on to, are there options here as to how I can use this stream to carry any waste - maybe a treatment plant? Maybe we can do something with biomass? Sounds a bit grim ha. Thanks a lot guys in advance.

Hey, we're soon to start our self-build on Herts/Essex border. We have planning permission, but lining everything up at the moment. I don't have much advice I can give right now aside from making sure you have plenty of booze stocked up.

Hi Temp, yes we have full planning with 9 conditions (parking, where the gate must be for the drive due to visibility down the road, biodiversity which is just a couple of bird and bat boxes and others like building regs, must start within 3 years and must be built according to the plans we submitted). Surprisingly, we didn't need to send off samples or get materials approved. They don't appear to fall under our conditions.

Hi there - we had a soil investigation done with 2x boreholes and a depth of 10m on each borehole which cost us £1400. As it turned out, due to the clay we need piles and the structural engineer charged us £1200 and there are around 30 piles specified. ^ to give you an idea of cost.

Okay great, well road needs to be closed for electrics and telecoms (no idea what BT or whoever provide the telecoms charge for road crossing) - I think water will be okay as think it runs our side of the verge (waiting for Affinity to come back to confirm a price). I know lining up services to do it under one opening notice will never happen, so plan is to put in grey telecoms duct when we get the power supply on so hopefully they won't need to dig the road up (again).

This forum has been great, super quick reply. Appreciated. I'll contact Thames Water with some follow up questions, see how much info they will give me before I have to pay the fee.

Hey everyone, was just filling out CIL forms, but when I checked out our local authority's website, it appears they haven't adopted CIL. Is there anything else I need to be aware of, like noticing the council when I start work?

Sorry, bit of a newbie question here. We have a main sewer in the road that we will eventually want to connect to. I've spoken with Thames Water who advised it's £330 for the privilege of being able to connect to their sewer but they don't do the connection, I guess we do. How is this normally done? Can it be thrust bored at all? Thanks in advance.

We had 3 or 4 quotes and these guys were the cheapest and came recommended via a friend, plus their quote was more comprehensive. It's apparently because it is soft clay so needs to be piled. I'm meeting the MD on site next week so hopefully get more clarity out of them. Maybe I'll save the money somewhere else down the line... or not haha.

Hey I know how you feel, time flies right! The only thing that worries me about embedding the UFH is if something goes wrong and it needs to be fixed/changed. Seems like a lot of work if it is in the raft. Maybe me overthinking it though. Are you mains gas or going eco?

Ah right, any reason you went with that type of design at all? We are going to look at some windows tomorrow. I think we can do that on current lockdown leniencies...?

Hey mate. Well the quote we had and will likely go for is for 30, 300mm open bore piles to go down up to 10m. Not sure if that's screw piles? It's because the ground is soft clay with high plasticity and we will need to level the land somewhat. Do you know what foundations you're putting down after the piles at all? I've not even looked at quotes for this. The piling alone is close to 40k. Certainly eye-watering but if it has to be done, then it has to be done. At least you know your house won't go anywhere. Meeting the pilers on site next week, so ill see if he has a better idea to reduce the cost.

Hey all,we are doing a self build in Essex. Stress levels are already high haha. We are all ready to go, just getting quotes and working out the best way to tackle it. We are going with timber frame in a dormer style. Unfortunately we need piling done which is expensive. Engineer has also put piling in for the double garage and store lodge which surprised me. If anyone has any good trades for around this neck of the woods let me know. We haven't made any agreements with trades yet. We were meant to be going with a building contractor who were going to be doing everything but they aren't taking any work on at the moment as this would definitely have been our ideal route. Will take a look around the forums. Cheers.