Buzz

As above just tick the sole trader box , I set up an account this way . Rep had been to visit my home more than once and knows full well I not in the trade but he has sold me doors ,door handles , skirting,architraves, utility and he hopes a kitchen. Good prices on most things and free coffee and biscuits.

From Google a handy guide for all bonds. More bricks and cuts per m2 more money and materials. TIS-A4-Brickwork-Bonds-and-net-Quantities-2021.pdf

https://www.drench.co.uk/p/harbour-frameless-10mm-wetroom-panel-pv We fitted these 2 small brackets on the wall and one across the top .

Try this calculator to get the estimated u value. It will be a lot lower than you think. i would have the uninsulated part done while your upside down because if you don't do it now you never will . https://uvaluecalculator.ecotherm.co.uk/calculator/floors/ground floor/solid concrete - insulation below slab/0.3/120/

sustained my first build injury yesterday when I slipped down my trailer and cracked two ribs. @Kelvin I bet they hurt this morning, hope you have a accident free day today

Looking sharp, love the look of the roof tiles.

Just pin the board on with 125mm screws and a penny washers 2/3 per board then 200mm screws through the batons, I did 400 centers (I think). So much easier if you can follow the rafters as it holds the ends tight.

Do you need a drainage connection? Ours has caused us so much grief and has delayed us from moving in.

You will need to contact your water supplier and electric supplier at the same time , they will both send you a quote for the works and the road closure / traffic management, you will need to pay upfront for both road closures /traffic management, once your local authority agrees a date for the works they may insist they collaborate with each other to save local distribution, you will then get back one of the road closure / traffic management fees . Our water and electric shared a road closure but nothing else. Anglian water spent 2 days digging a trench across the road and reinstating followed by uk power network moving 4m across and spent 2 days digging a trench and reinstating.

We did something similar to @Becksidefor our vaulted room .

As others have said above my builders just used whatever was leftover at the end of the day, watered it down chucked it on the floor and brushed it across the blocks (FOC). Many months later I needed to move a soil pipe only a couple of blocks across from where it was originally placed , ended up having to destroy the blocks with a kango and lump hammer to get them out .

Been laying 600 x 900 20mm porcelain for the patio and paths , wouldn't want to lay anything larger on my own. Not to bad carrying to where your working but once down flat lifting to manoeuvre very difficult due to the weight.

@Amateur bob the way I see it is you have 3 decisions to make in harmony with each other, 1, have a house designed that you like and want to commit to. 2, have a house designed that you can afford to build 3, have a house designed that will get through planning. There will most likely need be some give and take to tick all 3 off the list . Number 3, I cannot offer any additional advice other than the above comments regarding planning portal approvals and driving around to see what else is being built is where I would start . Number 2 , your budget for 180m2 seems modest but realistic and I personally don't think you are limited to just a box shape either just don't go to mad and you should be fine. Numder 1 , for this i would put 2 and 3 to the back of your mind and start here, find a style that you love, get you architect to take that style and design 180m2 version for your needs and suits the plot you intend to build on , then you can get it priced and make adjustments if needed to bring the costs in line with budget then send to planning and make any amendments they recommend or insist on to get approval. When we first started this process the large bungalow designs found here https://scotframe.co.uk/selfbuild/rural-homes-collection/ were our starring point for the first sketches.

More important is what do you think of it ? For the record its not my cup of tea, don't get the large windows on the front of the house but maybe that's because I'm in the middle of a village not on a farm ☺️

I wish i knew this from the start , started the process of getting sewers connected back in June fingers crossed they will be on in 12 weeks, just need highways to approve the 5 day road closure . we will be moving in the day after they go live.

HI @Amateur bobAgree with the comments from @Bozza, with careful financial planning of each stage 270k should be ample to get a 180m2 building finished but you will need to be realistic as to what can be achieved on a modest budget. You will still be able to build to a high standard when it comes to insulation and air tightness as the cost of adding extra at this stage is small in the grand scheme of things and will be money well spent , you will unlikely be visiting Tom Howley for a kitchen, Porcelanosa for the bathrooms, buying £100m2 + tiles , bespoke handmade staircases , 40K on windows , 10K+ for a front door etc. But you can still build to a good standard by using what the trade use , Howdens ,Travis, MKM or who is local to you ,at least you can go in a look at what is on offer and choose the best available for you budget. But one of the 1st things i would look into is how much it will cost to get connected to all the services as this could be anything from 5K to 50k or worse and as this will need to come out of you budget it may influence your final design.

Far to many variables to even ball park a cost , i have no idea on the price of metal roofs, sandstone cladding or the ground you will be building on . then there is how will you chose to build, architect design and build ? architect design through to planning then appoint your own main contractor to complete the whole build ? project manage it yourself stage by stage trade by trade and diy what you can and or have time for ?

No ,one of the early sketches that was rejected .

Here is one that we had done. Sketch Scheme.pdf

Not got around to fitting the covers yet.

This is what I ended up doing , the void is lower than it needed to be but looked right for the room.

No , when I was in the showroom I did ask about a price on a couple of doors in there and was told they can't tell me how much anything costs but they could give me a number or 2 of local fitters who if I told them what door it was would give me a price to supply and fit.

I personally do not have an issue with the way Howden wish to do business, the frustration steams from the rep visiting site 3 times to promote their products and despite me telling him I am self building and not in the trade he insisted I could buy from them , after the 1st visit to the depot it was very clear I could not have an account the second time he popped in he insisted the depot was wrong and I should be allowed to open an account , again the answer was no but I took the reps card with me and told them to have a word with him as he is not really being truthful with his sales pitch he did pop back in and came wandering through to find me , he took one look and I think the penny dropped i just said leave the books on the side (life's too short).

Thanks Dave, not going for glass in any of the doors and had seen XL, good to hear you would recommend them. On the subject of Howdens is it worth trying to get prices from them as i have not been able to get any joy from our local branch regarding having an account and would only consider them if quality and prices were much better than elsewhere (they are so difficult to deal with).

Need to order our oak internal doors, TBH both of us are getting choice fatigue as we near the end of the build and could do with some advice from those who have brought oak doors. We will require 28 internal doors and have a budget of around £100 per door excluding handles etc. Quite happy with the vertical pattern called Suffolk/Mexicana or other depending on retailer or the horizontal ladder style various names. Most of the online retailers seem to sell the same brands, XL, JB, LPD and others and advice on what brands to buy or avoid for our budget would be greatly appreciated. Also, finished doors seem to be 30% more but is that good value or not considering i will have 28 to finish, how long would you expect to spend on each door to finish it to a good standard. Thanks in advance.