ProDave

Read up on "safe zones" Cables can run vertically or horizontally from an accessory in the safe zone that it creates, or in the corner or ceiling safe zone. The 50mm deep thing is different and determines if rcd protection is needed or not. I prefer to leave a gap in the service void battens at 450mm and 1150mm from FFL but I have yet to find a joiner kind enough to do that so I usually have to drill the battens. Protector plates are a good idea if you think the guy fitting the plasterboard is so stupid he has never heard about safe zones or cannot see a cable and make an effort to avoid it. Since I am doing all my own plasterbording I have not used them.

We used Kerto beams instead. Smaller than Glulams for a given strength and span. But even then we had to go for a larger size than the SE specified as that was all that was available without a silly premium. Our one 12 metre long ridge beam arrived all on it's own on an an artic.

Mass building is a different game to self building. Yes you want to build cheap for maximum profit. You also have the economy of scale on your side. But building cheap is NOT building good. It's at best building adequate. Most people accept it simply because most people don't know better. It amazes me when someone buys an old house with an EPC F and then complain about the heating bills. Why don't they do a bit of research about the biggest purchase in their life, yet they would not buy anything other than an A+++ refrigerator? If you think an epc of C is good for a new house, think again. I am aiming for an A and that should be where the mass builders are aiming now? I have a suspicion that eventually people will wake up to the EPC and it's implications, and as a resuilt older poor houses will become worth less. That is starting already as in Scotland you can no longer rent out a house with an EPC F so instantly those are no longer of interest to landlords so reduced demand. Most self builders do so because they want something better than a mass builder's average house and self build is the only way to lavish the care and attention needed. In this argument neither side is going to be changed. The mass builder will carry on churning out cheap adequate houses and the mass public will keep buying them, and the self builder will still strive for something a lot better.

Neighbours can be funny things and often won't do simple things to help themselves. I came home one day, to find the party fence between my garden and next door missing and a skip in next doors front garden. The skip lorry had cracked my concrete drive in the process. I made a lot of fuss about that resulting in the contractor doing the job next door digging up and re laying my cracked concrete drive, and fitting a shiny new fence to replace what he had taken down. Unbelievable how he could have done that and thought nobody would mind. From the other side, I was doing a lot of work to my semi detached that I knew would be a noise issue for the house next door. So I made a simple request, that they inform me if they are going out any time so I can do the noisy work while they are out. They went balistic along the lines of "why should we have o go out......." That's when I gave up trying to be nice.

You will need to be able to read and understand the manual to set it up, things like heat compensation curves, setting the flow demand temperatures. Better still would be for YOU to read and understand it, so you can fine tune the system and make it work as efiiciently as possible. I would personally hate to have a system where I only know how to turn it on and off and nothing more about it.

I paid somewhat less than half that to BUY my own. Time it was up was not a constrain then. But not every builder will be happy with that arrangement. Mine is Kwikstage, possibly the most popular of the system scaffold types. Cuplock is anther popular one.

I can see yours being the first "knock down and rebuild" where you knock it all down except for your shiny new bathroom, and rebuild around that......

We did when we built our first house, as there was a chance we might sell it within 10 years, That has now lapsed so proved to be a waste of money. This time around we found the costs had doubled so we decided not to bother.

Hi and welcome to the forum. I might suggest having your email address on a public forum is not a great idea and will lead to it being harvested by robots and you receiving a lot of spam email.

This one is half the price and free posting and looks the same https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flip-Plug-Bath-Waste-Grating-Brass-Body-Solid-Tail-35mm/261613538788?hash=item3ce961cde4:g:Ep4AAOSwDk5ULQq5 Still need an overflow and a means to connect it. Never seen the overflow fitting sold on it's own, I have only ever seen them as a kit with the waste. I guess I could buy something like this, throw away the waste and use the flip over one instead? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MCalpine-FJ10WC-75mm-Seal-Bath-Trap-with-Center-Pin-Waste-and-Flexible-Overflow/272919390661?epid=15008871263&hash=item3f8b4369c5:g:amYAAOSwyYFaAcfA

@Nickfromwales That's the sort of thing I want. Now find a supplier that does small orders at a sensible price, or a big name supplier I can pick one up in Inverness...... Oh and it needs to include an overflow and connection for that

^^^ Should there not be a charge of "wasting parlaiments time" for that?

Starting to think about fitting the bath. It's a free standing bath enclosed all round by it's own bath surround, which basically means it is a real PITA if you need to get at anything under the bath. So the plan is to avoid where possible anything that can "go wrong" under the bath, so first thing, pop up wastes are off the list. So we want a reliable sturdy bath waste fitting that does not have mechanical linkages (hence ruling out a pop up) The choices seem to be what are known "click" wastes. Something like this https://www.screwfix.com/p/sprung-bath-waste/47707 or this https://www.screwfix.com/p/mcalpine-clicker-waste-bath-trap-chrome-effect-70mm/50504 Any personal recommendations, i.e something that is not going to fall to bits? or if it does can be serviced from above? No SWMBO won't accept a plug on a chain.

My first build worked a bit like this, only I didn't use an architect, I used a local company of builders to "build me a shell" They chose the timber frame supplier, and window supplier. I was happy with the timber frame but would have preferred better windows. This time it has been all our own decisions. Surely today, you would have everything detailed? You will need that for a SAP assesment so you must know the thickness of the frame, what insulation is going in it and what quality of windows you will be using? If not, then you should. I am afraid I am not the best person to comment on architects practices. Back when we did that first house I approached architects and did not like what I found with respect to their high fees. Their fees seemed to be based on a percentage of the estimated build cost, and as if that was not bad enough, their estimated build cost was twice what it actually cost us to build it.

For the entrance hall, which will include the utility, we will almost certainly have similar slate tiles to the old house that proved to be completely bomb proof. Now matter how many times someone stomps mud in, they just scrub up nicely and look like they will last forever. In the living rooms some form of wood, with the understanding it must be UFH friendly which probably rules out Oak. This does mean a transition somewhere so careful consideration of the sub floor to ensure a step free transition,

So how does the meter know how many £ per unit to charge and how much daily standing charge, if you have changed to a different tariff with a new supplier who does not "do" smart meters so presumably cannot set the variables in the meter? At best a guestimate based on your old tariff with your old supplier? Another reason not to have one.....

To make it easy, can you read and type into the thread what the monthly readings were? And why are there two readings each month?

As a current caravan dweller I would not say it is a "low point" there are plenty of other low points but living in the caravan is not one of them. Even I am surprised that I said that. Last time around we bought the absolute cheapest wreck possible and it was very cold and the walls ran with condensation. This time around, we spent more on getting something a lot newer, in really quite good condition and a far better layout (it was the uncommon layout of this 'van that attracted us to it) The best upgrade we did to it was fit a wood burning stove. We are now hopefuly past the worst of a colder than average Highland winter. It has not frozen up. The stove keeps it comfortable and no issues with condensation except on the single glazing. For us resale value was not an issue as it is remaining as a workshop and studio when the house is finished. You would never buy any similar sized "garden outbuilding" for what we paid for this 'van, let alone one with a flushing toilet and some level of insulation. So not only is it providing our temporary home, it will become a very useful annex to the house.

Well going from the first few replies I have "solved" it. I had a rummage in the old garage amongst the rubbish stuff waiting to be upcycled and found a bit left over from an old shower riser. It was the same OD as a bit of 40mm pipe, and a snug fit inside a straight coupler. It seemed to melt ok with solvent weld cement. So that upcycled bit of plastic is now solvent welded into one side of a straight coupler, and the other end solvent welded to my now dead bit of pipe.

The housing market here went into recesion in 2008 and has never really recovered, just stagnated since, particularly for the large detached houses. When I started plot hunting a few years ago, there were lots of plots for sale as there are usually here, but none were selling. In spite of not selling, nobody dropped their prices. Before we found our plot (not actually for sale) I had looked at another, over priced. I offered what I thought was a realistic price (A bit more than we ended up paying for our eventual plot) and it was declined. 4 years later that plot is still for sale at the same price. My plumber friend bought a plot (that we had rejected as too close to a busy road) that had been on the market at least 4 years. Up here you will do really well if you self build and the house ends up worth what it cost you. Apart from 3 of us locally that have or are self building, you don't see much self building going on around here. Wind back to 2003 when we first moved here., part built houses with owners living in a static caravan were a common sight wherever you went. That just highlights how much lower demand there is for people to want to live here just now.

Yes I am looking at the DIY options. I need to have a ferret around the garage at the old house.

Looked at that option, but it runs too tight to a joist to fit the bulk of that type of fitting. I really do need a stop end that's no bigger than a 40mm solvent weld straight coupler.

Change of bathroom layout means change of drainage. I have a run of 40mm solvent weld waste that is now redundant. I can't remove it from the boss adaptor without cutting a hole in a floor board panel. So simple solution I thought, I will cap it off with a solvent weld stop end. Unless someone tells me different, nobody sells one.

Then definitely contest it. Make an appointment to meet the valuation officer on site and ask him to explain exactly how he believes it is habitable and taxable in it's current form. You should not pay waste water charges if you have a treatment plant.

Just one question. In order for them to have sent you a council tax bill, they must have valued it and assigned a council tax band to the property. What banding have they given it and is that banding reasonable? While I fully agree you should not be paying council tax now, if by chance it has been put in an unusually low band, I would just accept it and pay on the basis the long term saving is worth the short term pain. However if it's in the correct banding I would definitely fight it.