Faz

Trench it and make sure they do a half arsed job on the compaction right in from of their drive - get a deckchair and the popcorn ready for when the massive rut appears in 2 years time. I have been lucky with neighbors - just 1 crazy old bat living opposite who we had occasion to invite her to get f*cked before we had even started on site....

Hope you have got the beer chilling!

Walls come down 'accidentally' - lol - coz that is where this thing is going!

Refurbs cost far more than new build at the best of times - the fact that they are practically giving this away would alert me to the fact that it could actually have a negative value. It is lovely but approach with eyes wide open.

We had a crusher in last month for a couple of days - cost £300 in hire. Ended up with a pile of 6F2 nearly as high as the house!

There is a CIL exemption for selfbuilders so this seems like a tartan tax mate. Another 'nothing to see here' north of the boarder nonsense it seems. However, the little oligarchy Councils down south aren't much better - I went for a Permitted Development 88 unit scheme in Bromley that got called in by a Councillor in the face of Officer recommendation and went to Committee - I just recall one c*nt Councillor saying 'but where is OUR money!' - suffice to say it was refused and granted on appeal. You just have to take a view on the 'bribe' vs costs of appeal and delay. £800 is the kind of number you just have to take a view on in the scheme of things.

Every SE I have ever used has massively over engineered the project - they always keep in mind that they are sticking their PI on the line with each design. If you have a decent building inspector it may be sensible to dig out a section and get them to inspect and to tell you what they consider appropriate. If you are sat in decent firm clay I can't imagine they would be expecting a massive depth.

I am using SEH Interiors for mine (Silestone). They are in Wetherby but are a national installer.

Used R10 tiles in an 88 flat scheme, same tiles (we had loads left over in another 4 penthouses and the same again in the houses I am doing now (still have a 4 foot stack to get through. Absolute nightmare to clean especially in hard water areas (you wash them down then the salt gets into the roughness). Will be glad to see the back of them in a few years time. Suffice to say, I am not using them up in my house!

I am building on the Fen and have a bit of a wind issue - the only thing that kept anything on the reveals was epoxy resin adhesive and screws.

Indeed - side and top for FD30 doors. Smoke only comes in under the bottom of the door when it is all to late anyway! Remember you need to get FD30 frames in addition to the doors.

1 bag of cement to 12 shovels of sand mate.

As above - it hasn't got to come up like you are going to eat your dinner off it.

Used it on my 3 - looks great with the red bricks (and the buff tbh). Only negative experience is that it is a bit more prone to salting - especially if laying across the winter. Got salt lines where the rain splashed up from the lifts.

Have you tried British Gas? I heard they were still connecting people. Can't really blame the energy companies tbh - the Government's price cap was insanity and has directly led to this nonsense.

Is it an existing issue bud or a what if? Must be fairly extreme if existing tbh. Haven't looked into how they work but I imagine that the particulate sensors would offer on or off which basically shuts down your whole system - I wouldn't have thought this the ideal solution.

Can't say things are great at Spurs atm but you Gooners must be tearing your hair out. £140m spend - but on what? I do sometimes go to AFTV for a laugh and they pull few punches!

My brickie has the misfortune to be a West Ham fan so there are crossed hammers all over the place the prick. I am a Spurs fan...... Going to be some shite flying between us come this weekend! There are also a large number of abusive messages written in the basest language possible between the trades, me and pretty much everyone on them walls. I imaging in the years to come my Mrs will see me stare at a patch of wall and smile and think I am going mad!

And power is on. Feels like a milestone after having to elevate it to the MD of EDF!.

I can take a pic of mine tomorrow if you want - got 2 massive extract ducts popping out of the anonymous side of the building. Massive things!

I have always gone down the Approved Inspector route - wraps up the warranty visits and BC at the same time and is away from potential Local Authority political pressure. In 2016 a Bromley Councillor tried to get their building control department to 'shut us down' after some NIMBY moaning - I imagine he was fairly disappointed when they told him they weren't instructed....

My best advice is to properly interrogate suppliers on lead times - many are pushing these out. Some tell you in advance (which gives you an opportunity to plan) some don't. Windows, kitchens, appliances, bricks, blocks, cement etc etc - all a nightmare. Even deliveries from the merch which used to be 24 - 48 hours max can take 2 weeks. Get the gear to site well in advance of when you think you are going to need it provided there is somewhere to stash it - and that is a whole other problem especially on a single house site. I suppose you are not having to leave a path for a forks through it though.

Just look at how many working age tossers are off in their lycra outfits blocking the roads at 10.30 in the morning. 'Working from home?' - yeah right.

The thing that worries me is that this attitude is here to stay. Have you noticed that language has moved of from the 'it's COVID innit' comment to 'due to the current situation'. I can almost guarantee that you are going to be hearing 'due to the current situation' in 10 years time.....

Well, after my email to the EDF Managing Director yesterday and his note to the Director of Metering a cascade of shite has clearly rolled down throughout that entire organisation clearly landing on the head of whoever was causing me problems - install date improved from 19 November to Friday this week. Happy days.