Andeh

aaaaachoo with extra AAAAHHHH??

Thanks John, very similar to our visions. What brand of stone slip is that? Also, your wood cladding.... Western red Cedar? Osmo oiled?

Very impressive unit that, looks great! Do you have a build thread for your main house? I'm intregued by the slim slither of it shown in your photo, especially the external brick cladding. Thanks

Apologies!! Should have read the thread better, I thought it was an extension being discussed. In which case ignore my previous post... £3k is a very reasonable assumption, and VAT no issue with new build on vast majority of stuff.

I would tread carefully on that £3000psqm, depending on location I would not get to comfy with it, especially if going for a high spec /passive house standards. VAT needs considering, and extensions can reveal hidden costs. Materials, labour etc are also still high. It's a good starting point to consider though.

Standard JCT contract work on interim valuations which are then invoiced to the client, ie payment in arrears. Of course these can be amended, but it is not the norm for builders to need upfront payment.... Because their entire industry works on credit for the above reason. Walk into any builders merchants and ask for their credit terms, all will discuss, run credit checks and assess financial situation. Good builders generally will have no issues, bad builders won't generally get the credit... Hence a good way of vetting builders (to help OP) in advance. Advising a new starter to self building that paying up front is normal or encouraged is frankly dangerous, there are no shortage of horror stories on this forum where people have lost money due to builders/Companies taking money and then losing interest in the job. Most problem builds end up with the question 'I hope you haven't paid him' for this very reason....

No, because most reputable builders have at least 30 days credit on those materials. Maybe on delivery but never at point of order... If a builder insists on payment ahead of/at point of ordering I would be concerned as to WHY he can't get credit...

Be sure they accept payment end of each month, and need no deposit or advance payments... Good builders will have large credit allowances at their merchants so don't even pay up front themselves!

3 Phase as we installed a few car chargers, ASHP, Hobb, multiple A/C units and a lot of electric circuits internal & external! We blew through the single phase allowance very quickly. DNO have given us a quote & are proving very user friendly (National Grid)...just EDF who continue to be a bunch of utter morons. I will update as we progress!

Expanding foam? Whats the void made up of, any pics?

We had to have 4 of them, and were only told when half the wall was built!! A frustrating situation, as they needed bolting to the foundation.... below block and beam!! Ours were 4.5m tall cavity walls, utterly ridiculously over engineered when the internal walls T Off this wall and are also block built... Brickies on site ment we couldn't argue the toss due to loss of time whist we did, so had to suck it up.

Much more long standing damage if he does you a favour, feels you've been ungrateful ... and tells the whole town! Pay the monies, accept it and move on

+1 to PV, it's the future! Especially if looking at ASHP.

Once filled & painted, it would look MUCH better. The job isn't finished yet! An extra day of work, for a family friend...AND keeping a good guy on side....class it as an investment into reducing stress & keeping friends!

Ask for the cost to install 3 phase vs single phase!

We are with EDF, after previously supplier went under. We knocked down a bungalow with single phase, and are nearing the end of building a replacement bungalow, and are trying to get the single phase meter upgraded to 3 phase. DNO and builder aligned and all looking good, however I rang EDF to inform them and after an hour on hold, and 3 departments I was transferred to someone who was very happy to discuss and plan it, until they explained the gas and power meter appointment would be on Friday. I queried this and she had no idea of 3 phase vs smart meter...she disappeared for another 10 mins before she came back and said the appointments team would call me to book in the "phase 3" meter install. They have no phone number for me to call, I have to wait for them to call me. I knew EDF are a bunch of morons at the best if time... But for 3 depts and no one to know what to do has me fed up, as yet more time invested to baby sit this bloody build. Anyone have any experiences here or with EDF? Have I been fobbed off, or is there an actual chance they will call back and book in the swap??

Just a bump as we are rapidly needing to make a decision for our door here. Just welcome any feed back from people in the routes they went down?

Hmm, not liking the sound of this. So avoid a smart meter or else take a hit?

Try gumtree or facebook first, then consider it an investment I to a useful contact. Farmers are always useful people to know!!

Echo the above, we are tiling where appliances will go, but not elsewhere under units. There is no other way of changing the kitchen layout design, so am easy £300 odd saved!

Wait for it all to be dry then empty a litre of strong bleach down it, and leave for 24 hours, sometimes that can help.

Thanks, so they would want to install a connecting box on the external wall, that we spur into? They wouldn't fit that main spir onto an internal wall, from your experience with that chat?

Thanks, builder is a bit twitched on installing something that obviously looks like it will be ripped out in day 2 of moving in, having installed the wall already. Have to admit, when we settled on the wall several months ago I wasn't thinking it through at the time. Could a bannister simply be screwed through the stairs stringer into the block work behind? Rendering wall no longer required? Or even screwed through the tiles on the floor of steps, and grout/paint pen filled afterwards? This would factually speaking give a bannister, but building control arnt stupid... Would they smell a rat, and demand more 'permenance' ?

Hopefully this helps demonstrate... You can see the stun wall we have installed, but it needs to go up an extra block and the more we look at it, the more of an eye sore it appears. This looks much more naff, vs not having it and opening up more of the kitchen as you walk up.... (we are plaster boarding as we speak,hence sudden need to double check it)