kantryla

@Conor @Paene Finitur thank you both very much for your replies - interesting. Need to look at my future shopping list now to see what I can bring forward quickly.

Hi all - just finalising our VAT reclaim and have some queries wondered if the collective could help us with 1) As all new homes must have fibre connection - should Openreach have zero rated their connection? As they didn't can I reclaim that? 2) I know kitchen appliances cannot be VAT reclaimed but what about the extraction ducting, we have a Bora hob extracting externally - all ducting effectively in the fabric of the house now? 3) Network equipment, we have 4 wired in POE access points, and a POE switch - cannot see nay advice on network equipement - I'm assuming no but thought I'd ask 4) Weed matting and teram that lay under shingle area around house? Also when does the 3 month clock start ticking, from date of moving in, or date of Building Control certificate - I'd assumed the latter which in our case was 1 month after we moved in, but I just read somewhere else its from move in date Finally can I still reclaim VAT on building materials (MDF, CLS, etc) until I put the claim in - or does that stop at the above date Thanks

Thanks you all for your responses, @markc, @JamesP looks like scissor lift and tele handler is the way to go thanks. I'm going to see if there's any money in it first but will use this as my plan b. @WillI'll drop you a note if we take it down. @Onoff yes very much got planning permission, it was Class Q, but after a protracted planning application we managed to get fullk planning permission to demolish and build something new in its place. Just going through tender process now with builders.

Hi all, looking for some advice. We have bought a 27m x 10m x 4m timber framed steel roofed cattle shed that we need to take down to make way for a new self build. We have some big quotes north of 10k and 6 weeks effort to demolish. Actually I should say disassemble as I want to try and reuse as much of the timber in other project as I can. I've never demolished anything before so the answers are probably going to be don't be stupid, but looking at ways of saving money here, so perhaps there's something I can do to reduce the cost. My thinking is that I could remove the cladding from the outside that should be pretty simple, and remove the steel roof, they're in 5.5m by 1m (or so) sheets and are all screwed down. Again I think I should be able to remove these by hand and a scaffold tower, unscrewing and lowering the sheets down. That would just leave the timber frame. My first question is - if I remove the cladding and roof - will the timber frame stay up, or does it rely on the cladding for rigidity? The frame looks like a giant meccano set with galvanised connectors bolted holding all of the timber together. The timbers are huge in the roof 5.5m by 300m by 100mm so pretty heavy I'm sure. Also not sure how they fit together as they all seem to be totally interlocked together. I'm wondering if using a telehandler and straps and then unbolting one at a time and lower would work? But as they're all interlocked together not sure how you'd go about lifting them out. Any thoughts on how to tackle this? Also I know people buy second hand steel portal building but is there any market for timeber framed ones, all of vertical timber frame is set in the concrete based so assume it would need to be chain sawed and therefore significantly lower if reassembled - but do you think there'd be interest and where might be the best place to advertise it? Thanks

Hi there, I'm just finalising the purchase of a plot of land with a 1980's timber framed agricultural barn on it. it has Class Q permitted development rights on it. The barn is still in current use and is in good repair. I suspect it will be 6 to 12 months before we can start the conversion, so I think we need site insurance (public liability) as a minimum. I think I read somewhere that Class Q is with the existing structure therefore if anything happens to that structure the permission lapses (eg fire, collapse etc) even before build starts. So I think that means we need to insure the existing barn for complete rebuild back to its current state. If thats the case would we be better getting agricultural type insurance - like small holding or will standard self build products be enough? Thanks in advance