Ferdinand

@Hecateh Consider the opportunity to make sure your design allows room for a suitable access cul de sac that will not disturb the new or old bungalow, so that you can give access to the next 2 or 3 gardens at some point in the future. ANd the ones that face you back to back. An access route for 3 similar bungalows may be worth nearly as much as your whole plot with pp. It needs to be able to cater for access by fire engines and potentially dust carts etc. That town centre location looks to me to have potential for backlands development at some stage.

16x16mm hardwood quadrant 60p / metre. My local timber merchant Ron Currys have a decent amount (it says 30+ bundles) of this they are selling off at £15 for a bundle of 10 x 2.4m lengths ie 24m. https://roncurrie.co.uk/timber/planed-decorative/decorative-mouldings/dark-hardwood-16mm-quadrant-mould-decorative-trim-moulding-2.4m-bead-wood-timber I had one bundle and this is a piccy. They say it is probably stained meranti wood. Probably of interest to people near Notts / Derbys or driving up the M1 or A38 past M1 J28, as it will be expensive to courier. .

Of course she'll be interested! Mine is - she says "That's interesting, dear" in exactly the same tone used to discuss earwigs and spiders with the very young Ferdinand.

Worth a note that you can usually import and export blog posts between platforms en masse, but there may be a few nips and tucks needed. So eg you could start on say Wordpress.com and move self-hosted. But you are obviously well-organised so may want to plan in advance.

For this purpose I would suggest free Wordpress i.e. Wordpress.com. Second best would be Blogger. I think the differing policies on allowing ads - WP No Blogger Yes - do not matter here since you will make about thruppenceer year. I would stick with a free one for this project because it will stay up in the future as a record for you and your family without a continuing need to pay some money every year. If you were to want eg redoctobersdacha.com as a domain while you are actually building then you can have that while still using the free Wordpress, and you would pay £3 per month, and you would get free support and Wordpress advertising removed. Then after the domain falls away you would I think still keep the free Wordpress site address. https://wordpress.com/pricing/ Construction blogs are technically simple, so you do not need the extra facilities of standalone Wordpress imo. When you post an article get into the habit of posting to an update thread on Bh to let us know. Ferdinand

Roughly how much of the Screwfix adhesive (decided to change rather than risk other for the sake if a few ££) would you estimate I should get in @JSHarris. I have about 70m of 94mm skirtinG to fit. Cheers F

I suppose the cat was a living demonstration of the principle of staying active.

There are a couple of excellent blog posts about this. The one I remember was @Stones, which includes some cost information.

I need to choose threshold strips in doorways for transitions between laminate to carpet, and laminate to vinyl. The laminate is 10mm - 2mm underlay plus 8mm tile. The vinyl will probably be 4mm, and the carpet 7-10mm including underlay. I am looking at these from Tile RIte, respectively, rather than simple Z-strips, to give me some adjustment: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017DLKJ2M/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017DLKNIC/ For this application I am not keen on wooden strips - I have managed to break two at home by tripping over them and this will be in a tenanted property. I do not think we have covered topic this so far. Any comments would be welcome. Ferdinand

@HerbJ @JSHarris @Onoff @vivienz @mikalscad The ones we have talked to all attach to the stairs, too. So thanks for all the comments - if mum needs one it will be a stairlift for simplicity. We would have one high enough up the range to not look institutional and have extra convenience as needed. We would consider a leased stairlift. However, the Doctor has now advised her not to have one, as it risks increasing deterioration as going up the stairs is good for you while you can. So all the useful thoughts have been read, marked, learned, and inwardly digested for the future. Thanks all. The stairs are now slightly easier since the cat has just popped his clogs (aged 18 and 3/4), so the anti-cat-upstairs stair gate has been removed. Cheers Ferdinand

Yep. That is the plan - this is adhesive with which the MDF skirting boards will be attached, and we have decorators caulk separately. The whole house has been skimmed so fit should be fairly good. Does anyone have any knowledge of serious issues with this adhesive as an adhesive? The skirting is pre-primed MDF; the wall is spray painted plaster (aqueous based paint). Cheers Ferdinand

Should be OK on that ... has been skimmed. But I have some caulk already.

There can be value in preparing a concise brief for the valuer (depending on how personal the service is), highlighting what you have done and perhaps a couple of local comparables closer to your type of changes than more obvious local comparables. This thread - though aimed at LLs - may have some relevant tips. https://www.property118.com/low-re-valuation-refurb-project/ Also, it is a black art and +/-10% is probably not unusual. Extracted from the thread above (TMW = The Mortgage Works):

I am trying this Instant Nails adhesive from Toolstation at ..er .. £1 a tube, which seems ridiculously cheap. https://www.toolstation.com/shop/Adhesives+%26+Sealants/d180/Grab+Adhesive/sd3199/Instant+Nails+Solvent+Free+Grab+Adhesive+310ml/p51064 A couple of the reviews recommend it for skirting, and it generaly reviews well at 4* or 5*.

Or she may want a hill... Welcome, @MarkA.

I talked to F2F eighteen months or so ago, and they were very personal from that side too. An investment is linked to a particular building or project and you know what it is. Catching up, they do make loans nationwide, and ... given that they offer investeors 5.5 or 6.5%, they seem to be getting their margin from fees. Ferdinand

I am interested in how the loan worked .. I thought they were all business. Did they accept the plot with pp as security?

Brilliant . It is all part of the process. You explore all the exciting things and then you end up knowing what you actually want. Would you show him the Grand Design with the huge top hinged glass door that opened upwards like Blofeld's lair to form an extended roof over the terrace? That is a very good phrase to describe a good relationship. F

@Grosey Thanks fur the details. I came a bit of a cropper price wise on my rads and boiler and did well on the electrics. With the Little Brown Bungalow I decided to put in a floor on top of the existing to give me extra insulation in addition to 100mm between the joists, and left voids to run all the services round the edges of the rooms under the floor. That has created slight complications with needing doors that can be trimmed more than the usual 15mm or so, but has made it easier for the electrician and gas man. The electrician was on a day rate, which worked out well; I had agreed a fixed price for the plumber (idiot me) ... who suggested running pipes across the middle of several rooms given the extra floor. Good idea and it saved pipes and time, but I was not the one who got the financial benefit, though I did get the benefit of the quicker fit out. Lesson learned for next time. I think the two together could potentially save several days and a fair amount of materials, which may justify the extra floor even without the heat savings. I think an extra storage area is a big potential benefit as you get to buy stuff early you see by chance. I went out and bought a shed for that purpose, and the bungalow is still cluttered. Good to see that the various suggestions on the Jack and Jill worked. Do you have a link to those hitech looking showers? Cheers Ferdinand

I think that a few lessons that i can pick up from this in achieving a lower build cost - but please correct me where I am wrong. 1 - I think you have targeted a spec at well-above-average, but not quite as ambitious as some here (ie Very good performance, but not 'the full passive'). I wonder how much is added by the "last mile"? Was there a big saving from going 2G not 3G? (Guessing - 25k) What was the spec of your walls / roof / floor? 2 - The build method is quite traditional - block and render / clad, and block and beam floors. Easier to find builders and quotes? 3 - There is an absence of specialist envro-hardware - eg solar panels. I think you seem to have just left out a whole lot of things of things that weren't strictly necessary. 4 - Careful use of relatively inexpensive materials that look very classy - the Howden's doors are brilliant, and aren't those tiles in the ensuites the Wickes 'slate' and 'grey mist' special offer ones I have been looking at all summer without needing any at present? I can only see one thing that you have obviously spent a lot of money on in addition to the kitchen, and that is the flooring. 5 - Do you have good contacts to get those labour rates for specialists? My labour for a 75-ish point rewire on a 65sqm bungalow came to about £1200. And we made it easy for him because everything was exposed with very little chasing. 6 - Very impressed with those Eurocell doors. I will remember that. The cladding also looks like quite a find that I for one was not properly aware of. Questions: What did you do with your Jack-and-Jill bathroom in the end? What is that driveside retaining wall made from? Looks interesting. I would be interested to know how close you could be to the fabled "build two, sell one, become mortgage free" ideal were you to pursue House 2.

Oak (eg Geneva "Cottage Oak" doors) and other Veneer Doors from £50, including FD30s (best offer may be pre-finished Jerez Walnut - claimed normal price is £384). Sale general link: https://www.todd-doors.co.uk/clearance (Update: checked and this really is end of line. There is one Jerez Walnut door left and just a few of the Cottage Oak.) Ferdinand

Very very good - you seem to have hit a sweet spot with nearly everything (more detailed comment tomorrow). I love the anti-gravity dog and beer (last 2 pics click-thru) .

I have never found these policies especially useful, as I usually expect to do the background work properly and buy from the best place first time round. I have always viewed them as only really useful if: 1 - I did not do my research properly, and discovered my mistake after the fact. 2 - It lets me leverage a benefit such as being able to inspect the purchase in a local store, or need it *now*. An example here would be Halfords who price match their website in their shops, and against other competing websites - at least for cycling products, or 3 - If there is some minor detail different that requires me to buy from a particular place. Having said that I have just had my first success at this game (in addition to Halfords), when my door supplier, who has a liberal price-match policy, has just price matched a 10% cheaper price offer from Travis-Perkins for a nearly similar door and also the free delivery, and refunded £80. Nice night at the theatre coming soon :-). Has anyone had any benefit from such policies? (Note: agree that negotiating on the basis of "that price over there" is akey tool pre-purchase expecially for big-ticket items). Ferdinand

Good :-). I thought it better to ask, just in case. Another night-owl person.

I hope I am not talking out of turn here, but I wouldn't do 533+533, depending slightly on where the doors are. I have a pair of doors at that size ANAD (as near as ...) from my kitchen into the conservatory - installed by the previous owner; everytime I want to carry a tray or a big basket of shopping or eg a tile cutter or similar through I am reminded that they are exactly the wrong size, and I have to hold the thing by its end or do a tricky Ali-shuffle, or open both doors which is a PITA. If I am about right 1.066m is a bit wide for a conventional door unless it has tank-like mountings. The other way into my conservatory has a pair of 900mm DG upvc doors, which are wide and heavy enough that I am a little concerned for the longer term. They are fitted with *four* hinges each. Unless there is a good reason for 2 x 533mm doors (eg if it is a vista / occasional alternative 'processional way' for parties, or they are fitted with flippy-flappy Wild-West centre weighted saloon door hinges), perhaps consider an asymmetric pair of doors, or even a side panel? If my numbers are right a 610mm plus a 457mm pair, or a 685mm plus a 381mm would fit with your propsed door linings, and are standard sizes - although you are still committing to twice the budget. Personally I would be tempted by an 838mm door plus a (possibly hinged and top/bottom bolted) side panel, which might create an oppportunity for some shallow storage, run of bookshelves etc. Ferdinand