Ferdinand

I can help here ... have been on PCCs and am a bit of a Church of England nerd. It has water and gas and a drain of some sort, so service access may be possible though it looks like a long approach. Trench Arch systems have been used for loos in churches; no idea whether that would be allowed. 2* listed including aspects of interior so you will be circumscribed, but no tower. Listing entry https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101121876-church-of-st-leonard-wetheral#.WfNoOtHTWhA You need to get to grips with the CofE independent Planning System, to understand the building history and assess your risks, and talk to the Diocese of Cumbria. You may need to talk to the Secretary of the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) and find out who the Professional Adviser for this church was. This person advises the parish and may have written the periodic reports - see next para. Then talk to that person to explore the maintenance history... it may be worth paying for a couple of hours of their time. The DAC is the body that will have granted PP for past works to the church, but if you get it you will be in the Council Planning system and dealing with English Heritage and / or Conservation Officers. You need to get copies of the last several Quinquiennial Inspection Reports, which are condition reports required every 5 years for churches, and probably have read, marked, learnt and inwardly digested them before your meeting with the architect. For how these reports and the system work explore the Churchcare website, especially these pages http://www.churchcare.co.uk/churches/guidance-advice/looking-after-your-church/quinquennial-inspections/quinquennial-inspections-the-report If you can swing it, it will be of huge benefit to talk to a former Churchwarden, who are responsible for the physical assets and administration of the parish. Be polite to people - they will all love the building and mainly be dedicated volunteers desperate to see it well-restored. They may have been round this loop several times already. The Church authorities are likely to be professional and sympathetic, as they will have explored lots of options and want to get it away. I think you can probably be quite open in your discussions, but they have a legal responsibility to maximise return as consistent with their responsibility for the building. I wonder if you get the right to impose a Chancel Tax on your neighbours :-). Ferdinand

What type of church is it? Age? Materiall? Listed ... what grade? What is listed? Who are you buying it from? What parking?

Indeed. I have updated.

[Edit - Aha having read more carefully i see that it has gone. Sorry. If nephew putting foot through asbestos cement once and no fibres are obvious I think you are okay. Sorry - trigger subject for me since asbestos got my dad.] Ferdinand

Does anyone have a build nearby that the Harrogate party could visit?

My answer to that one is that we need to develop sufficient hinterland / nouse to give us the confidence level we require. Pinning tails on donkeys is a favourite party game (for those watching) for very good reasons .

My larger Makita one only cost slightly more than that Ryobi one, and seemed to be much higher quality. I think I will stick and paint. Thanks for the comments all.

Interesting views. Largely agree. I think self-builders as a group struggle to deal with architects for a couple of reasons: 1 - Architects have a huge hinterland / experience, but are hugely *varied* but have an individual design language/style within that which is personal and often quite circumscribed. eg if I examine a Lutyens house or a Michael Hopkins house or a <name current architect> house, I know roughly what I am getting if I do not brief them otherwise. But most self-builders only build one house, and while they are struggling with the Planning and Plot swamps it is difficult to focus on finding the right architect that matches their own taste. Quite often, we do not know what is even possible. 2 - I think of the partnership as two people on a seesaw, and the self-builder needs to grow a hinteland and learn architecture-ese very quickly, to keep it in balance. That is not that the architect will seek to dominate, but just that there is an imbalance of experience and therefore power. 3 - There is then the money thing, and us not wanting to spend it. Personally, I would use artictects as another specialised consultant rather than a designer plus project manager. If I want a project manager I will hire a specialist project manager, and I am unlikely to have projects with big enough budgets to afford a full-service firm. There are some architects in larger-than-small practises and who specialise in individual clients. One prominent at the moment is George Clarke & Partners. Interestingly they only take on projects over £200k (= minimum fee = 20k-ish ?) and place a heavy emphasis on removing risk from the client. Though iirc they have a getout clause. Another interesting one is Allan Corfield ,who has modestly more staff than 5 and a growing practice, who declares stage payments based on the project cost up front in £££. http://www.houseplanninghelp.com/hph168-an-example-of-how-much-it-costs-to-hire-an-architect-with-allan-corfield/ There are also ones who deal with rather richer people. The king thing to me is those who educate the customer about the process, and are good at encouraging the customer to understand design / use of the building. Ferdinand

Will probably use this https://www.amazon.co.uk/400ml-Direct-to-Vinyl-Black/dp/B001W03PQS

So I have one of those lovely Makita tool holdalls for my cordless Powertools, How do I prevent it screamnig "I am full of Powertools, steal me"? I think I need a suitable black or grey fabric spray colour. Any suggestions?

Two identical ovens. If you have two, I would say that they should be complementary eg one gets really really hot for pizzas. And is the fridge sticking out?

I have watched this in the background this PM. 1 - They did not seem to say much about ventilation. 2 - I thought it was built to the boundaries, yet at the end McCloud seemed to be sitting in the landscaping. I missed the detail of that. 3 - I think the interior decor was quite impressive. Ferdinand

I do not think they are public. Hope I am wrong.

Not our caravan. We bought somebody else's self-build, and the address was still on the Bin Rota. There are detailed threads elsewhere on the forum.

On the address, the Council had the address here as "The Caravan, xx xxxxxxxx Lane ..". I think once you are assessed as Band A Council Tax, you have an address. F

I might be on for that. Who else?

Do you happen to like polished things? They are not going "over budget"; they are building to the necessary specification but the materials were too overpriced. For self-builders, until the point of destitution suely money is a dependent variable?

I think service connections early plus a semi-permanent loo, and a creative way of accessing water, are indicated, since we need no water connection later to confound the Council Tax Inspector later . F

@Visti On the workshop etc, my concept could be to turn the gate by the back of the house through 90 degrees, and provision for a "garage" sized room beyond that (at least 3x6m if you can manage - ideally longer) corresponding to the full width of the driveway so the roof can continue. Could be a garage or studio or whatever, even starting out as just a roof on posts. You could treat the area in front as a "kitchen garden" or play area. On the Overcrowding, it is very unlikely to be applied to Owner-Occupied soon, but it is a useful tool for a quick assessment. OTOH look at how regulated children in cars are now, and before long the 'poorest' housing will be concentrated somewhat more in the OO sector (Rental is being vigorously addressed now), and someone may try something. I can see somewhere like Denmark or Sweden imposing requirements, and then it could end up here on a more bumph-y EPC. On "Details" here, I mean what you put in at Design Stage to help useability later especially stuff that is cannot be retrofitted. eg Roof angle will affect the valley. Or if you decide to maintain the outer roofs via the valley, then making something strong enough to be a base point for a harness might be good, or if the other side making sure that your car port roof can be walked on and perhaps having something that will make sure that ladders up there are stable etc. Offsetting the roof light on the landing would be a classic, or a shallow ladder cupboard behind a panel to prevent you having to troll a ladder upstairs every time etc. One of the nicest ones I saw recently was where someone had used a sash window mechanism to create a pull-downable ladder to their mezzanine that stored vertically so used less space. Logic says you need the workshop first, to build things in for the build. F

Cum vita brevis sit, nolite tempus perdere. (Think that is self-translating).

I think one discussion about cash *should* be tolerated. "Cash job?" "Not on your nelly!". I do sometimes pay in cash, but run a system of signed time sheets and I explain explicitly at the outset that it will go through the books.

Reflecting further, I think I would give some careful thought as to how to maintain the veranda / car port roofs, the walls above them, and the outside roof slopes. I feel that the easy way to maintain the outside roofs *may* be from the central valley via a pair of roof ladders, and that you definitely need all or parts of the lower flattish roofs that can be worked on and from. What details are necessary? F

Set of 11 (eleven) Oak Veneer 5 horizontal panel Howden's doors on ebay. Current bid £41. 3 days to go. Chester. Perhaps a steal for the right person. Standard size, so if I had a lockup I'd have these. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11-Howdens-Oak-veneer-Doors/272897675260?hash=item3f89f80ffc:g:oXYAAOSwNkJZ7Nth

The Harold Lloyd approach - A Pair of Glasses and a Smile. Whisky in the pair of glasses if necessary. (tempted to whip that over to off topic for a caption competition) F

Yes - October is Howden's sale month. My 2.2k Howdens kitchen will be finished tomorrow (I think), and I will post piccies. The worktop is going to cost @PeterW £10, 'cos it's beautifully square. Ferdinand