Tom

I'd say Internorm are more composite than merely "aluminium clad". There is lot of external material there until you actually get to the wooden element. We looked at Nordan and that really was just clad it seems - some very thin pieces of aluminium laid flat on the wood. The Internorm was very solid and seemed in a different league. A bit like calling all wood flooring "laminate", like lots of people do.

Taping the PIR means you can make holes all over it (as long as they dont pierce the foil on the reverse) and it will still function as a vcl, no need for anything behind it.

I'd swap bedroom 2 and the office - less chance of hearing your guests snore.

Wouldn't taping the joints of the PIR form a VCL in itself?

*insert quip about home automation and daylight robbery here. Thanks all. I'll see what they say, would want to make sure I put in whatever cabling I need so if I suddenly get an epiphany and want to switch on the toaster when I'm at the in-laws then I can.

Right, I'm going to see someone tomorrow local to me who specialises in home automation. Looks like they deal with Lutron products. I know NOTHING about home automation, and tbh am none the wiser really having read the posts in this forum. I can just about cope with a dimmer switch. I'm not sure really what I'm after but hoping I will be convinced of it's worth tomorrow. I guess I want to make sure I put in whatever cabling I need at this stage, to give me good options later. Does anyone have any views on Lutron products? Future proof? Are there any pertinent questions I should ask? Thanks all

I'm hoping 6 weeks. Once the floors are poured they are on to the Nudura walls. Which is supposedly their forte. Lol.

Builders back on site today. Putting in the rebar mesh ready for the pour of the floors. What a sh*t show. They started to stack it all up ignoring the flying ends etc, so in some areas there was a risk of the concrete cover being too thin - and even some rebar sticking out. Oh, and they managed to tear the DPM in about a dozen places - which I have just gone round repairing (resulting in me gashing my thumb quite deeply). That's of course not counting the DPM that was laid too low along one entire wall so it won't even reach the top of the slab. FFS. Not a good day! Need some positives here. Lasagne now, so there is that I guess...

Thanks both 👍

Yep, gonna pay monthly rather than weekly - and withold the last until I'm - and whoever I bring in to do the roof - are satisfied.

I feel I shouldn't do anything while I'm still feeling so livid, Steamy. I'll see what the next few months bring, who knows they might actually hurry up and want to get it done and on to easier jobs - so might work out better in the end. I'm more than willing to give impartial, candid advice to anyone looking at doing a Nudura build in the south west any time soon!

So I need a water treatment system for our borehole water - which are much cheaper in the states. I can buy one through eBay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112506683908?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20201210111314%26meid%3D392f242fe5b34ae6a3fe24db85b5a1d5%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D112506667078%26itm%3D112506683908%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv9PairwiseWithPLXWeb&_trksid=p2047675.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A112506683908392f242fe5b34ae6a3fe24db85b5a1d5|enc%3AAQAGAAACAK0l6ZcXn1Nff0PwyrujJdRi1WQkXspBwrA7EEu5GTTIGIOpNnFrIzj7j8v0hUj1hTlncb4lneImdJ3bq8XBX4zGfjOwMJfkgt9%2BpL9nE%2F94uyoyFQclTZmHxdY7K7usfBzn8DqVH9%2FrYdeVEbCkimUnVvqYoJko5X%2BbiTyuDj4DLWXW9dyjSc9ggDA%2FfyaF2EvkAJi7452WQL6OynDfhs3BbLBCuNm1Zt%2B9Kvtxhbun9a%2Ffa0CgEiQLMgwVD1KrCE6Tz3sWhJYdCsZNoVA%2BgzgCn%2FfakA%2FJuyxbQWyGQoo9AxrsQ0jUscddqdK8oSx8eSMyI%2Fn%2FHBpaeg1kFYATHzOa5DqIrc7c7Izr4zuFAQXyICMrQ7%2BOHbj8iD12cmDFb0siXo5%2B9KCH%2BuswefptkF5UHII3orhYciJy20EhdeVOMdkLSoc6l6TWFrFHycBwlwbSRHJn0w%2BBd8ip83OGi0Zgh%2BElSo1C%2BNsGqVyNWtVszBGw6ayafcj%2BkhmWD90egAFePPZHyRr6Mj1klVo%2FeYOPmbRSFzxzspXaHvpstGPygKrUs2D7mvtxuQiRsmPqa6SayrbSj4DiXur5Z8%2BikgWJ5Hr9%2BF6sZVTfNCsYiH%2BEqeVjLiw3Y3UmZ2ws6Se%2BhkiGxyM3el20GNq0WQNFBaNV7Ppr74aDnYC4UY4aoIx7|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2047675 But it says there are import charges of 200quid or so. Is any of this reclaimable?

Yep, bought our blocks from Tim - and our builder is one of the ones on his list. Same here! I'm going to pay them monthly, and withold the last month until it's all done to an acceptable standard.

Sure, but the thing is they haven't quoted - I'm paying by the hour: however difficult or long it takes I'm paying them come rain or shine! No risk to them, all the risk on me. So, update: no one turned up yesterday. Got a message to call one of them in the morning but got no answer. Finally a call from them this morning: "we're leaving your build, mate". He tried to throw all sorts of excuses at me but at the end of the day it's a complicated, difficult build - yes, taking more time (which I'm paying for) but it actually involves some brainpower. Easier to jump ship and build a box with 4 equal sides - which is what the've done. I called the more senior of the two, and after some negotiation they have agreed to come back and finish the nudura walls and the floors - but of course fit this in around the garage they are now building. Oh, and 10% on everything going forward (only concrete really) - but they want this backdated to cover the stuff I bought before too (1.5k approx). We have no option really. We need it done. We can't wait for another Nudura specialist to become available (yes, it's a one day course I know, but that doesn't mean you can actually build a house after watching a few PowerPoint presentations). This level of unprofessionalism I find staggering, but I guess not paricularly unheard of. I will not be leaving a good review on Tripadvisor.

Might think along these lines, though any fixed price is definitely going to be at a premium, especially if they feel they have some room to make up if they have not made enough up until now. Could suggest paying the 10% at the end - then this puts me in a good position come snagging etc