Bonner

These are overheads which have to be distributed across all paid jobs. It is one of the costs of doing business. Different business but it costs us about £12k to submit a bid for a £1M project and we only win 20-25%. Overheads are part of the gross margin in price calculations.

+1 always get at least three quotes for a job like this. This guy may not be really interested and pricing himself out (doesn’t make him a robber though). Find someone who wants the job and you should get a better price.

What about fibre cement under cloak strip used on roof verges? No idea if it meets the regs but must be fire proof. Standard is 3mm.

Not a stupid question at all since everyone has a slightly different understanding! It is a largely arbitrary figure but sometimes useful for comparison. Of course the only way to compare ‘apples with apples’ is if everyone adopts the same methodology. In my ‘sums’ I have separated the land cost, utilities and professional fees from the cost of building the house. Simply because these are driven external influences outside my control. Clearly all these costs need to be summed up to compare with the market price of houses in your area.

Welcome you are in the right place! Look at traditional masonry build to keep costs down, although slow it is still the most cost effective option for many projects. Not sure about your budget, how much are plots in your area?

AFAIK the standard is 920/940 - 150 plinth, 750 cupboards and 20-40mm worktop. This is what we have now and the kitchen we have ordered. Unless you are vertically challenged, any less will feel wrong so get it changed. It should not take more than a day to put right, maybe new plinths needed.

Remember righty tighty, lefty loosey

Have they done a survey? My first quote came in similar to that, after a survey they added another £1200 for the road crossing. Connection cost is normally just tie to a main within 3m. Road crossing or other works would appear as another line on the quote.

The critical dimension will be rafter or truss spacing, as long as you are not changing that or moving any purlins, no problem.

There is a shortage of everything at the moment. The rush to catch RHI along with surging gas prices has increased demand for heat pumps. It seems that self builders will probably qualify for the boiler replacement scheme, according the the draft legislation.

Haynes Self Build Manual is not a bad place to start. Then start researching details on here and other on line resources.

The application was for a Temporary Building Supply through Anglian Water ‘Development Services’ department Connections@anglianwater.co.uk

Not standard practice, our temporary building supply is full flow and pressure. And not been billed for it since connection nearly a year ago ?

I got a new supply from Anglian after much faffing about. The people in the office are mostly planners/administrators, I found the technicians very helpful once you get them on site. As mentioned, report it as a fault or even better, a suspect leak ...

I always carry one of those for little emergencies ?

Another channel fitted the the wall first. Clearly a different system

With great difficulty! In mine, the frame was pre-fitted to the screen and it would take a lot of force to remove it, probably damaging the channel or shattering the glass. Why do the you think this is the problem? When I had a leak, I found that the installer had sealed the inside of the channel which you shouldn’t do. The idea is that the frame needs to drain into the shower because it can fill with water no matter how well you try to seal it.

You could try sticking acoustic foam on the inside of the cupboard doors, overlapping the gap. If it works make something more permanent or, if you are like me, leave it until you have finished everything else.....

It is a thin layer of concrete which will probably crack but not really a problem. Just make sure the new concrete is keyed into the existing and the steel plate is free to expand and contract. Suggest you sit the plate on a thin bed of mortar as well to ensure it is fully supported.

Just to clarify, the regulation is still in draft so I am waiting before deciding which way to go ...

I am chasing the RHI but will very likely miss the deadline. The boiler upgrade scheme is not as generous overall (RHI calculated payment for me would be £11,000 over 7 years) but I will take the MCS route if self builders qualify. If not, I will self install once things calm down. The relevant bit was mentioned earlier in this thread before we expanded the topic ? 7. A property meets the requirements in this regulation where— (a) any building that forms part of that property was built principally with the use of the labour or resources of the first owner (including where the resource was a loan which the first owner was liable to repay), and (b) the property has not, while the building was built or at any subsequent time been owned wholly or partly by a person who is not an individual.

My structural engineer was going to do a PCC for mine but he disappeared. CMLC have taken over from wall plate without additional cost. Hopefully their warranty will enable mortgage lending if needed in the future but I have no expectation of a payout from a claim.

We have been competing for our brickies all year. No incentive would pull them off their developer’s job, which I understand. Fortunately the masonry is all done now but I fear the same with other trades.

Estimators online at around £180, has proven quite accurate. You do need a set of drawings first though.

I have got a quote from Grant for a similar system, how is yours working now? Any problems? Is the volumizer a form of buffer?