Ferdinand

No probs. Just probing the potential gaps in the OP. Have spent too much time providing too many not quite the right answers to slightly the wrong questions :-). In this case pointing out a possible circumstance. Wotsit Thingamabob and his Unknown Unknowns have a lot to answer for. (*) F xx * would remember but the 12 bottles from Laithwaites arrived today and they are now minus 2/3 of a bottle of rather nice rather potent red. And there is nobody here except me and the paperwork. The paperwork is now slightly tipsy. Allegedly. Anyway, there are two of them so they must be.

I'm just beginning to think about a substantial (ish) project at my real home for 1-2 years time, which may also involve a certain amount of garden remodelling. That would be a rearrangement of rooms and a loggia / car port across the front, new gates and a few other bits. I am exploring some of the pros and cons of a secondhand Total Station. This is not something I know that much about, though I have helped with surveys in the past - holding the staff for dad etc, or done small ones and the trig calculations, and am used to commissioning them. 1 - Is it Leica Leica Leica, or are there credible alternatives? 2 - If I want one which does GPS so can be used by one person, what budget am I looking at for something that will last for say 5-10 years? (All very approximately) Cheers Ferdinand

If you are on an Outline PP you can extend the deadline by making an application for Detailed.

Welcome. We like photos. 4 months? So 4 months too late for Grand Designs ?.

My clematis trellis was decaying, so I added a supplementary frame like a 2m post and rail horse fence, and it is still standing a few years later.

Some of it ... ???

Welcome. Hmm. If you are out of your depth you: a) Learn to swim b) Get some flotation device c) Return to the shallow end or d) er .. oggle cockle oggle cockle oggle cockle... (He said helpfully ?.) Ferdinand

I asked this a year ago, and @SteamyTea kindly supplied the calculation method for heat loss of warm air in continually running trickle-fans. It turned out that for me my ufh heating system and level of heat demand is such that it tipped it over into making the heating system insufficient, so I switched my fans back to traditional "one with the lights in the bathroom and a 20 minute timer afterwards". It is a bungalow to dormer bungalow self build project doe by the previous occupier - better than regs when done but insufficient insulation for this latest ventilation intervention. You could switch your Dmev fans for trickle/boost HR units which would recover 80-90% of the heat lost. Here: The numbers were approx £25-30 per year on the gas heating bill for each DMev fan running at 6 l/s. But you need to read the thread. And since mine is a recent comprehensive (3 walls and a hole in the ground) self-build reno, it *should* be reasonably airtight. In other circs the loss of heat through wall leakage etc could be more than the fans. If you really wanted to you could also calculate the extra cost to heat up the extra water vapour in the more humid air ?. For me comfort was the determinant rather than the extra charge as I was nursing my mum (who passed away last November), and I wanted the house as warm as possible. I may reevaluate in due course. I have at least one where I could install a Heat Recovery unit, whilst the other is in the ceiling of bathroom 2. And I agree with Tony that working on improving airtightness is important - I always make my tradesman pay real attention to detail. Ferdinand

Useful book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-find-buy-building-plot/dp/1911346148/ The best way to mitigate risk is to buy one that already exists or has the required PP. You can come off alright via other means, but you are gambling with risk and potentially playing the game of Planning Poker.

On the plus side it closes off a financial black hole for council tax payers in Nottingham.

You need to work out what they require. For ground investigations, there is Phase I and Phase II. I is desk based and scoping, on the basis of which you may have to do II which is drilling test holes and maybe testing for methane etc. I will be hundreds. II will be thousands. Ferdinand

Welcome. I did this piece some time ago about easy steps. I also did this thread on another site about my standard Buy to let reno, which is usually targeted at reducing energy bills by 50% or so for new tenants. It really needs a moderate edit and posting on my blog here. https://www.propertytribes.com/understanding-epc-certificates-t-127645323.html Personally I would think carefully about 1960s due to asbestos issues, or check carefully. HTH. F

I'd do it with gravel or even river pebbles, so it can be replaced next time and will stay drained. Unless you are desperate for the path width. You could also do some planting there. The other use I have made of a gap like that is to put all the spare bricks I have left from the build. So they are out of the way but available for the next project.

Welcome. Most has already been said. I think the call I would give would be to consider where you find a job, and target potential areas partly around that. The impression I have is that Scotland is substantially easier for *doing* self-build. On the planning point, that is in your control because you can choose to make your house well within policy or walking the lines. If you walk the lines and try and do something difficult your chances of success will be lower. Perhaps consider a series of self-builds, maybe with the first being in the garden of your first house you buy based on the size of the garden; that could give you your first plot for say 15k to 30k. For the record, people who don't like the North are wrong ?.

The issue I see here is that if you get it wrong, everything else could be off all the way through and that could be costly and on your head.

Thanks for the feedback @LA3222

Welcome.

Normally you would expect 8-13% of project cost for full service. This article may be helpful. https://acarchitects.biz/self-build-architect-cost/

Welcome. IMO the key things are 1 - to have a short eg one page statement of what you want to achieve, and what you want to do yourself. There is a thread of a few of these somewhere. 2 - to keep referring back to it. 3 - to choose your consultants etc slowly and carefully. You will need time to learn; take it and use it to become a knowledgeable client. If you are starting from scratch say a year of reading around and mulling over. 4 - see their past work. They all have their own style / language, and you need it to match yours approximately. If it does, you don't have to pay them to learn a style that does. 5 - To control costs, define the scope carefully rather than browbeating about spending less. Consider where each can add value. eg architects for ideas and inspiration, architectural technicians if you really want a competent drawer of plans. There is value in engaging an architect up to the stage of getting PP, and then taking a reassessment. I had some reflections here, which may be useful. It was for a big project involving getting PP and selling with Outline PP to a developer. Ferdinand

BTW what happens if you get your dual planning permission, will you be building another one for next door? (I think you are the one waging a war of attrition on the planners to build two somethings smaller ?) (Signs off thread to go and put washing out). (For the record, it looks very nice.) F

I thought he meant the Millennium Dome (MD otherwise stands for Mandelson's a Dope *) where the teenyboppers (or aspirational or once-upon-a-time teenyboppers) go to .. er .. bop, but I see that the Excel Centre does look exactly like a larger than average shed. No links are drawn with any other sheds or not-sheds that may or may not feature in this shed-thread. (Looking forward to seeing a North Korean Agent tumbling down the roof of BJ's shed in the next JB film.) * Though of course he isn't. He was dubbed Lord Mandelbrot a lot of years ago for very good reasons.

The least expensive stage to change your mind on something or entertain alternatives ?. We need a buildhub version of the famous "design to product" tyre-on-a-tree cartoon.

I trust that is a sprung maple dance floor that opens to reveal a swimming pool beneath...

I think one issue not mentioned enough so far on the thread is Marketing Communications; it is a bugbear for people offering professional services to self-builders is finding the self-builders, and helping them find you. Routes to market are often informal, and you need to know where your customers will come from. On the project aspects, perhaps the experience of the client is - as said above - a key factor. For me I have a formal contract if it is being managed through a third party, and I would need to trust their own management arrangements. For example, this summer I have had a student house go through its 5-7 yearly makeover / market positioning refurb (nothing structural) in the 15-20k ballpark managed by the (very professional) lettings agent. They have contract paperwork, and I have a normal Letting Agent agreement with them. If I have a refurb or work (say in the 2k-20k range) done myself I would not normally have a formally written formal contract, but may have a well written letter of requirements plus a signed copy from the contractor, or it could just be on written or verbal instructions and trust, or a written quote based on whatever their terms are and being reasonable. It would be hands on management with visits at least daily. Resolving any issues by agreement and conversation would be the norm, but I would be working with either regular tradesmen, or those who have been recommended. But then the individual elements would be considerably less than 20k. The biggest would be just a few thousand eg a rewire or a cental heating or a roof. Ferdinand

Welcome. I'm on the Derbyshire / Notts border. My favourite gardening programme is Aberdeen based - and I work on the principle that anything that will grow there will probably grow here. I'd say consider being on grid but not totally dependent on it, which may not be that much less green. Ferdinand