Ferdinand

You are on Buildhub, therefore...

In the past steel doors from AJ Doors have been recommended as being secure and reasonable for both internal and external doors in garages, as have Lathams. A J seem to have folded into Latham. Lathams: https://www.lathamssteeldoors.co.uk/ You want a powder coated one. F

Welcome Roger - ask away.

Probably to avoid being heckled by Billy Connolly making "sssssssss" noises as he talks about his bowels !!

I like it. Mucho admirationo. How do you manage your keys? I use these: https://www.toolstation.com/key-tags/p44638 and these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Uniclife-Covers-Assorted-Colors-Identifier/dp/B072N7S8GD and one of these: https://www.toolstation.com/sterling-key-cabinet/p56674 In the spirit of zeroing in on the detail, is this the one with the map wall? And I love the nod to the Auld Alliance with Rene Artois: "it’s tome for a new chainsaw". ? My IPad still does that by default. Excellent stuff.

It is more "when were the plots secured". The McCloud programme was mooted in 2015, and perhaps they were offered good prices to make sure it started strongly, and to make sure they got the TV coverage.

Interesting, Taylor Wimpy are the only construction company I have seen try to engage online via social media with those ranting on about hedge netting and how evil developers are. There may be others. F

Welcome to the club. Can you give us a rough area where you are? Say County or nearest town. My top tip is to give yourself headspace to make sure it is right, even if that takes more elapsed time - most self-builders only do it once so you have to get it right first, rather than learning from your mistakes. Ferdinand

Email sent to sales@gravenhill.co.uk, which is their only obvious email. F (In case anyone is despairing, I am not THAT much of a nerd to know this off the top of my head. I think it came up in consecutive search results in the Google snippets, while I was tracing up the spec of the chappie's Thermal Roof product from The Street programme, and then checking that against the required Specifications for Gravenhill.)

Just for interest, a brief extract i came across from the Design Code at Gravenhill: https://www.self-build.co.uk/graven-hill-plot-passport-explained/ That line highlighted in red seems to me to be encouraging solar gain, rather than limiting it - as is more the need in well insulated houses. AIUI the solar gain factor (ie amount of energy from sunlight that gets through to the inside) should be below 0.5 in a highly insulated house. eg from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_gain However, this is not my specialism and the difference may be marginal. Ferdinand

They call this an "integrated soap dish", which I would call "shelf in the side of the bowl to keep the wet, messy, things off the floor". The hand basin which I like turns out to be called a Mila (the current B&Q range seems to be named after a team of Balkan Gymnasts). https://www.diy.com/departments/cooke-lewis-mila-single-bowl-countertop-basin/1677739_BQ.prd I would be after the 800mm wide version for around £100.

Cheers. My go-to for the last few years has been the current half price offer inside the door at Wickes for porcelain tiles, or my local good Trade Supplier Tile Town near M1 J28.. That has been reduced slightly to 40%, but you can still get a further 20% off that from the Trade account and the payment side. Ferdinand

I am now happy that Roku and the very limited Freeview I can get meet my needs, so I will be cancelling the Virgin bb / phone / TV service from next month, and preparing to move to one of the Phone / BB twin services where there is more choice. Thanks, all.

Does this Street have a name and a postcode? Planning docs might be interesting... Update: It has a set of Lat and Long. This is on Google Maps, showing the location. I think the sharpest point for me, as ever in self-build, is the blunt amount of money that is required. Even here, with plots that seem to be a chunk less than the later ones, they are still needing to raise £400k, which means perhaps more towards £500k for later plots. And that a single retired teacher, who has a long career in an ordinary - albeit professional / public sector (ie pension not at risk) - job, could do it. I do wonder about people more my way who do not have the property value appreciation. It's the old equation in self-build with a slightly different context. Ferdinand

Good KISS.

I think the way to think about it is that you are taking on a project where getting your PP is only one phase, so you have a strategic planning stage for your whole project before you get into subprojects such as getting PP.

Do you mean the self-builders or the contractors, there?

I believe it is Thermoroof. https://thermohouse.co.uk/thermoroof/ Unlike Durisol, they managed to smuggle the brand name into the programme. "I can't wait for my Thermoroof". Eventually a list of suppliers should appear on the C4 website.

I am afraid that probably depends. They are certainly LESS invasive, but I suspect that they can return to part of their savage nature like dogs presented with a flock of geese. I would probably put in a suitable barrier anyway if a small bamboo empire was a concern. It will not be instant, though it will be quick for a hedge. I love the concept of Voyeur Trees overlooking your site ... very Tolkien ?. A complaint to the Council would be interesting on that one. F

interesting all. I find that Wickes are a little less competitive, having withdrawn a few their bulk buys eg 3 for 2 on paint rarer. Ferdinand

It can be complicated and there are more elephant traps waiting for you than in Dumbo. Potentially you could be exempt by doing them in sequence x years apart, but you would need to be bulletproof, and there are probably bigger savings to be made from Taxes and stuff rather than merely avoiding CIL and VAT on the build cost. A couple here have done it iirc, and may be able to advise. You also have to think about Tax on the other one, depending what you choose to do with it, and with the one you are living in, what vehicle eg company etc to use for the build, and how to manage the different aspects. You also need to manage the value uplift when you get PP, and whether to split the development one off before or afterwards. My feeling would be to keep the self-build as separate as possible, and consider the other one separately. Then you need to think what kind of vehicle is suitable if any, and how you will get the money out. EG if you injected the site into a Ltd you could potentially get the value of whatever you put in as a withdrawal, 320k out tax free for pensions (4 years back allowances for 2 people into a SiP if you have put nothing in for some time), and the rest at 10% tax under entrepreneur’s allowance, for example. My suggestions 1 - Work out your objectives .. the what not the how. 2 - Take seriously good advice on the how. 3 - KISS as far as possible. There are now rules in place that will catch lots of contrived ideas - playing smoke and mirrors will bite you in the bum. 4 - The cardinal sin you MUST avoid is to start before you have a complete roadmap. 5 - But once you start execute your roadmap quickly, as tax systems change with the seasons. Just my opinion... Ferdinand

I was down at B&Q this PM looking at showers and bathroom items. For example, the tiles seem noticeably more reasonable than in the past, with a fair selection in the range £10-18 per sqm. I was also quite taken with a vanity mounted wide whb, which has a recessed shelf inside the bowl outline for soap, bottles etc. I have not seen that before. Does anyone else have any views / experience? Ferdinand

This now says 37% off with WEEKEND37. And I need a bumper to get the Corsa ready for sale...

The best summary I have seen is the Oxford Mail https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17550473.meet-the-ten-self-build-stars-of-tvs-grand-designs/ But the national media soap-opera headlines are fun: Telegraph "Grand Designs: the Street, episode 1 review: a gripping construction of neighbourly disputes, passive aggression and lunatic ambition" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2019/04/04/grand-designs-street-episode-1-review-gripping-construction/ Mail Couple and their single neighbour who planned to help each other build their dream homes end up falling out after VERY heated rows on Grand Designs: The Street https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6885293/Warring-neighbours-fall-dream-self-build-project-branding-petty-ridiculous.html Express (SEO in advance for Episode 2) Couple blow £300K on a home made of hemp on Grand Designs: The Street https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/property/1109749/Grand-Designs-the-street-kevin-mccloud-channel-4 Standard https://www.standard.co.uk/stayingin/tvfilm/grand-designs-the-street-solidly-built-rigidly-structured-welcome-to-the-dream-home-of-diy-a4109786.html Grand Designs The Street: Solidly built, rigidly structured... welcome to the dream home of DIY entertainment And so on... Ferdinand

This post is a record of the initial Estimated Prices, and stated final cost of the 10 self-builders featured in the Grand Designs - The Street, about 10 of the first houses built at the Gravenhill Self-Build development site at Bicester. Watching the first episode, the 10 property street is starting to remind me of the Homeworld 1981 / Future Home 2000 exhibition, which is now Coleshill Place, Milton Keynes. The featured picture is of that exhibition site as it is now taken from Google Earth - looking embedded and conventional. No 1, The Street - Budget for plot + build £275,000. Out-turn quoted - £335,000. A couple in their 60s. No 2, The Street - Budget for plot + build £275,000. Out-turn quoted - £400,000 approx. A single lady in her 70s. This house had cantilevers fail and the roof split at the ridge-beam, requiring £20k + of recovery work.