saveasteading

But that passes cash handling and risk to the erector. They will decline your suggestion, or charge a fair amount for this onus. What woild they charge? 20%? Wait for the VAT say I.

Well done that SE. If you position a dpm against the outer face, then backfill with gravel, that should just about do it. A perforated pipe in the gravel to a more distant outfall would help. Painting the brick in blackjack too. What's the wall buildup? Double skin for a very posh garage, and some grey cavity fill for a cosy garage.

A good job it wasn't expensive resin then as it would be wrecked. To get it level, hook under the grid where it is low and jiggle it gently up to level. A nail bar or claw hammer etc. Gravel will migrate under it, so needs to be replaced. Repeat for 10 years. About the drainage, are you aware of the porosity or soakaway rules for new drives? Currently you have satisfied them.

They don't need to be, unless you got pedestrian grade. I've put in hundreds of m2. They wear and chip over years but are good for cars. And they solve your water concern. And they satisfy building regs for paved drives. Not a fan of resin bound except they can look nice on patios. Whatever surface, the strength depends on what is under it.

That looks good. The rain should disappear through the gravel. Nicely sized jaggy gravel too. Make sure it is just above the grids or the plastic will chip off.

It surprised me how cheap the setup was for timber kits. The only technology was a computer driven machine which printed part marks and cutting points onto the timbers. They were then taken to a big bench and nailed to similarly marked osb sheets. Then felt pen to show the part number. All this in a cheap old industrial unit. 6 workers doing an easy thing. Meanwhile in a nicer office, quite a few clever techy and sales types and possibly a very busy accounts office watching the cash. Theoretically I reckon we could have kept taking away several panels and paying them a few thousand, and bringing in some more timber, in real time.

Can you steer the majority of the water away? It doesn't always need a fancy drain, just a sleeping policeman on an angle. Tarmac/ stone / whatever. Could be a dip rather than a bump, or even a dip followed by a bump, for extremes. It then needs somewhere to go of course. Thus the water reaching the garage is vastly reduced and the ramp and/ or threshold should cope.

OK. Somebody said similar above, or elsewhere, but I can't find it again. It was basically a question of understanding the supplier's risk position, and finding a compromise. Firstly, their accounts were reasonably solid compared to most in their business. They were pushing through a couple of units a day for a big housing contractor so were used to slow payment OR a special agreement. Their payment structure was very front loaded, with little left for site works. Total about £200k. So we just talked about a balance of risk. Yes we would pay for design when it was done. Yes to a deposit, but just in time for materials purchase, not with order. Delivery in 3 stages, a week apart, so 3 payments, made same day by transfer. Erection in 4 weeks. Paid at 2 weeks, without any delay. Ditto at 4 and 6 weeks. A small retention. Thus they were being paid very promptly and at very small risk. We were exposed to a smallish risk at any one time Our client was paying fortnightly and after 7 days, so again reduced exposure. Everyone was happy as the exposure was shared and minimised. But presumably they had checked us out too. Plus we were very hands on at design, working together on innovation, so perhaps some bond formed. Mostly they knew we only wanted reduced exposure, and would pay quickly. Would this work for a one-off self build? It will be down to the charm of the self builder. There must be some balance. Paying quickly changes everything.

I do tend to say to be very careful, and the risks are huge. And no, I probably wouldn't buy a digger. I've seen too many expensive breakdowns and write-offs. Factor in the fun and the control it provides and then, maybe. Also if you are remote and the availability and transport costs are an issue. Maybe pay a bit more for an ex-hire with some guarantee? But from a small groundworker, never. On our project we hired a mini digger and a dumper. On and off as requires. Then JCB with driver for the big jobs.

Unfortunately not. Nearly everything is payment in arrears, sometimes very much so, with a large retention %. Suppliers are at risk, unless they can pass that risk up the line. Then at the end, the main contractors especially and sometimes the end clients, try to avoid any further payment at all. Surveyors try to cheat each other. Lawyers do well. I had a client once who told me, mid project, that he never pays a bill unless he still needs that supplier. True enough he brought in surveyors and lawyers to find an excuse to not pay the retention. Fortunately we had otherwise got the money from him earlier. Was he cross? Bust now of course. Another cancelled £100k cheque' on delivery after taking a delivery. It isn't "grown up" in a good way. I can say more on how we managed the risk on a timber frame once, if anyone wants to know.

Good luck with your new 'union of self builders'. I don't fancy administering that with beginners joining and experts leaving all the time. You have a point, that one supplier could sell this security where others cannot, but I estimate their price increasing 5%, maybe 10% for taking the Escrow option. Once they have the market, there won't be any need for tight pricing. I don't know the cost of these systems. Is that percentage significant on a typical foundation system for example? On a superstructure it's a lot of money.

Interesting but perhaps academic. 2 million acres of open ponds, in a warm climate. Thinks...that's...a lot of shallow, level, warm ground, and a lot of water. But if it takes that to cancel out the emissions, let's do double that and pile up the surplus lime. And hang on, my brain's not working properly and I'm sure I used to know this. Lime is roasted, using energy and forcing out CO2. When we hydrate it back to a hard lump, aren't we taking back carbon? Or is that just 50 years later when it is crushed and exposed to air? Anyway, my policy in design was always simple. Design well and use less stuff. Accept fly ash in the mix even if it isn't much cheaper. Don't overspecify the concrete mix. No waste allowed: have a ready use for excess concrete, offcuts etc. Half and faulty bricks collected and used. No skips on site...or they get filled with stuff you bought. In other words, what you would do if you were paying for it yourself , must be applied whatever the job size. If the whole construction industry did that..?

Probably but don't publicise it or you might need a quarry licence.

A hardcore crop?

That's the reality. Self build is not for making a profit. In the SE the land value is so high that the build cost seems less important. Where land is cheaper, it is better value to buy a nice house.

It is an option if you can cut a straight enough slot. Where it meets the door or wall, you need mastic because the wind will blow water to the end.

In case your designer ignores buildability. That adds costs, especially steel.

NO. A local, general builder. It will cost you 20% more than splitting it up, but you don't have to manage it, just pay.

Agreed. Well worth it. Fix your own timber handrails to the sides and the open edge.

A very good, fairly big, contractor can look at your project at planning stage and say..allow about £x. Probably +/- 10%. It can take 10 minutes or an hour. But they will be reluctant to do so unless they think you may use them. Big BUT....they won't know your site or any specific challenges, and you must allow for that. That seems to be one of your options, so you don't seem to be a hands-on. Therefore speak to a few and see what they say. Or pay an estimating company to do it. They don't need full designs, but it will be rather approximate. Other than that, take the advice elsewhere on BH to allow £2,000/ft2. Less for simple and diy, more for complex and professional build. Main contractor £3,000???? Others may know better.

That is quite expensive to administer. Sometimes the lender insists on an independent party inspecting the materials at the factory, again at cost. It is an option but seems to be resisted and I think Kelvin is right....it needs financial stability right through the process, and too many UK suppliers don't have it. PLUS, there are legal complexities. If a UK client doesn't pay, the contractor or supplier cannot recover the materials once fixed, but I understand they can in most of Europe....which encourages the client to pay what is due. OP: @Surfiejimwe don't think you will find insurance or be able to use a credit card.

In many cases it was once our money, being spent by corporations (banks, universities, public buildings) on a monument to themselves.

I've met them. Technicians cut and pasting the maximum number of standard boxes into the available space. Planners and locals can comment ( free design checks) on design errors such as no ambulance access or bin spaces, or that tree they hadn't noticed etc. I don't think the soul was there to be destroyed. I think the fee may have been very low.

It was summarised in 3 newspaper articles. I further summarise. He's very good, but we are all nearly all Philistines. A very few clients appreciate how good he is and are prepared to spend the money. Simple and efficient is bad. Fiddly and complex is good. Money .....ahhh I don't remember that being mentioned as his concern.

Not soft enough to seal over the inevitable undulations in the concrete. As a retro-solution, buy very soft, self adhesive draughts strip and apply underneath. Light leakage under the seal will show if it is a local or general gap, and the size of gap.