Thedreamer

That all makes sense. All our plumbing is on one side and some of it runs down the walls, so the bigger batten was better for us here. But one gable end and the front is pretty much just cables, so on reflection 25mm batten would have given a little more space.

They are underwritten by Zurich which is good. I always like to see a business/logo that I know. I did the classic mistake where I need another 3-6 months as it expires in March, so probably going to be penalised for this.

Yes. The biggest unknown is typically your foundations. I had trial hole dug and was then able to work out how much concrete was going to be required. I produced a list of the materials and our QS did a review of this for £180 and then wrote to the building society confirming that the build costs were feasible within my budget. Really it was his qualification and PI insurance that I was paying for.

Honestly if that is the case, I would be just ticking the lenders box and if possible cutting down on the architect fees to just design. Getting the finance is the hard bit, it was difficult getting the lender we wanted but saved a lot over the course of the build. To me money is money it's the same if it comes from one bank or another. The surveyor will produce six certificates to the lender and charged £960 in total. I also paid him £180 to check my costings with the bank at the start. I pay £50 to the building society for another surveyor to do a valuation. This has been just once to date, but I would imagine it will be £150 in total. This is the only fee I pay for the draw down. My professional fees for inspection and providing assurance to the bank is just under £1,300.

Also 25mm battens are quite tight for the service void, might be worth checking with electrical, plumber. I looked into this at some point to save space or increase PIR but in the end decided to go with a standard batten to keep it simple.

Yes in your opening post you mentioned Protect Ultra breather membrane for VCL If your going down that route http://www.protectmembranes.com/protect-vc-foil-ultra-insulating-avcl/p/12 Yes I used TF Protect 200 on the outside. I used this in the critical air tightness areas, ceilings to cold spots. http://www.protectmembranes.com/protect-barriair-avcl/p/13 with a tape like this http://www.protectmembranes.com/protect-sealing-tapes/p/11 The tape for the insulation board I used a slightly cheaper one from my building merchant but used the protect tape which is more expensive for critical areas.

That's pretty much my walls. TF Protect 200 9mm OSB 145mm Frametherm 35 25mm Quinn therm (taped) I used breather membrane on the outside part of the OSB. The foil taped insulation can replace VCL. I used protect air barrier on the flat ceiling upstairs and above coombes. I used frametherm 32 in my floor and it's a much thicker material compared to 35, worth considering as an upgrade. Might be worth a look at my blog.

Hi @soapstar I got two years from here for £700 https://www.tradedirectinsurance.co.uk/insurance-products/self-build-insurance/ I think the surveyor and the architect both inspecting together is still to much. Are you not just paying two professionals to do one job? Building control do a few inspections during the build but won't charge, as this is covered by your building warrant fee. What are your intentions with the house, can you ever imagine selling within ten years?

You really want to hold off putting the stairs in till as late as possible. We used a joinery firm to make and install the stairs. We don't have a huge budget but decided to make an investment here. A cheap stair will get you from A to B but a good stair looks good, feels solid and is nice to touch.

Nice plans, hopefully you will do a blog here. ?

What are you wanting the QS to do?

Here is what we did. Mixture of timber and blocks.

What type of snake was it?

For the lender I went with it was one of the three below to provide assurance to them: Architect/Surveyor inspections NHBC registered builder Structural warranty I went down the Surveyor route as it seemed to be the most cheapest to tick the lender box. Circumstances vary for everybody, if you have plans to sell you might need more assurance. I think all three is way over the top.

Outlet in roof are not a good idea if you have room in the roof design. Our one sticks out of the roof so it's vents a bit higher up.

I paid £6.95 (gross) per 12.5mm sheet in the summer.

Definitely agree with this. Make contact with the local utilities crews and all these jobs will be far simpler. Our main is on the other side of a single track road. I was fortunate knew where an existing duct was, we dug down on the verge found the duct and was able to thread the pipe through, this saved on somebody opening the road and the only cost was a small fee to Highland Council for this. No point explaining that to head office, but the local road dept and Scottish water team were all happy and this saved time and money.

Interesting article here https://www.self-build.co.uk/are-wood-burning-stoves-safe/ I believe it's particulate matter that is the problem. When I drive to work I pass a old static caravan that must have a really inefficient stove or burning wet wood as the smoke is pouring out within a few meters of another property which has MVHR. I have a stove but live in very sparsely populated area with few houses around me.

A few pictures of the side of the deck might be useful, can air travel through the decking? Can you see the vents/air bricks? Also is there a gap between the decking and the wall? There are some good videos on youtube by a chap called Peter Ward, might be worth a watch.

If it's a pretty standard build and nothing fancy, why go with an architect? I paid around £2,850 for planning, building warrant and structural drawings. Our house is 138m2. Expecting the cost to be around £1350m2 prehaps a bit less. I've done jobs like fitting clips, painting etc the rest I have used individual contractors.

Very little choice in Scotland. We went with the Scottish Building Society, directly. If your planning a build with a high SAP rating, you might want to also consider Ecology. Good feedback on here from them. I briefly considered buildstore but put off by the endless list of fees.

Are you still needing to live in that location, would you not sell up and buy a plot and build? I like the house as well. I don't understand how you won't lose a lot of equity.

Have a look at the blogs. A range of projects, different methods, different budgets etc

We have L shaped restraint straps that go under the blockwork to connect to the substructure of the house. https://www.strongtie.co.uk/products/detail/restraint-strap/333 Soleplate connected to blockwork using rawl plugs. Don't know what your putting on your roof, but with us, once a few pallet of slates were on the house, visually it felt pretty secure. I'm building in the Hebrides (in a sheltered spot) but can still get weeks of windy winds.

@carlb40 I agree with the above. Originally posted back in September. After many coats and sanding they are now done (upstairs!)