AnnaKH

Three years living in Llantwit Major and this is about the extent of my Welsh!

Thanks @Nickfromwales, that’s great. Diolch!

Thanks for this advice, it’s really helpful. We will have a plumber fitting it. My main concern is that I don’t want to create extra work and cost just to go with this new bath I’ve decided I like - is the work you’re describing quite straightforward for a professional? Thanks

Ok, please excuse my terrible sketch and zero understanding of plumbing! The screed floor is already laid so it would need to be an exposed pipe underneath the bath running to the waste pipe in the corner. Would that work? I don't mind the pipe being exposed. My concern is whether there’s enough clearance for the pipe to be at the required gradient - the space under the bath is 147mm and the ‘drain pipe’ in the corner is about 930mm from the bath hole (I measured it out). The tiles for the floor are about 15mm. For the taps, I'd quite like a boxed-in area (see very bad sketch) which the taps could sit on (that way I get a ledge as well). Could the hot and cold pipes run horizontally into the boxed in area, then connect to the taps? Total width of the wall is 1800mm, so once it’s tiled, there will be a gap of about 40mm on either side. I take the previous point about squashing in a nice bath to a small space, but I’m happy with that look. Thanks for any advice!

Thanks @Temp, that sounds similar to what I’m planning. Do you know how much clearance from the floor to the underside of the bath you had, and how far away the drain hole (?) was? I think this is my main worry as there’s a specific gradient for building control.

Thanks @Nickfromwales, I’ve sent you a message with some details and questions!

Hi, I'm looking for advice on whether I can fit a freestanding bath in our new house. The first fix plumbing has already been done, and I don't want to undo anything, so if the freestanding bath isn't possible, I'll go for a built in bath. If anyone can advise, please let me know and I'll message you some images. Thanks

Hi, I'm comparing quotes for wet dash render on our new build in the north of Scotland. Can anyone give me a sense of what I should expect to pay for wet dash render on a two bedroom house (approx 160 square meter surface area including windows)? Thanks, Anna

Hi, I’m looking for advice on what type of render to go for. We’re building a timber frame house with block and render. The house is in a coastal, exposed site very near a sea loch and a few miles from the sea. I had thought that a silicone render would be best, however I’ve heard bad things about mould and the porosity of it. Can anyone advise what type of render will be most effective in withstanding the elements? Thanks

Hi, I'm looking for information on putting in a polished concrete or microcement floor in our build. Does anyone have any suggestions of trades in Scotland who specialise in installing polished concrete or microcement floors? Thanks, Anna

Hi, I'm looking for advice on PCCs for a self-build loan. We require PCCs for loan stages to be released, however we also want to get a structural warranty. As we're in Scotland, the building control will be done by the council, so we might end up having three sets of inspections - one for building control, one for the loan stages, and one for the structural warranty. Is there a way of combining any of these? Or are there structural warranty providers who can use the certification from the loan and building control rather than sending out their own people? We've had a quote from Protek, but the majority of the cost is sending someone out to do the inspections, and the inspections won't match all the stages of our loan so we'll have to pay extra for desktop certificates for these stages. Any advice would be welcome! Thanks

Hi, I need to put together a schedule of works for our finance application and I wondered if anyone has a schedule they could share with me in excel which I could use as a template? I've found a few templates online but it would useful to see what any self-builders on this forum have used. Thanks!

Hi there, Looking for advice from anyone that has encountered applying for a self-build mortgage whilst on a fixed term employment contract? Also, does anyone have experience of applying for a mortgage whilst moving to a new job? I'm interested to know how long a lender might need me to have been with a new employer. Thanks, Anna

Can anyone offer advice on where to look for insurance for hired plant and machinery? We’re hiring machinery which a skilled operator will be using (not ourselves!). Not sure where to look for this type of cover. Thanks

Thanks everyone for your input. We've since decided to go with block and render - mostly due to issues already raised in the chat, such as if we sold in the future, and wanting to keep our finance options as wide as possible. Now I need to research how to get beautiful, crisp render that won't get knackered by the wind coming off the sea!