Ferdinand

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

You could of course pay the BM directly.

Others will comment on the 20% upfront. You need to keep it sufficiently in step that the money reflects the work that has been done, and the builder does not have large amounts of your money in excess at any time ==> problems if he goes bust. But equally, you should not rely on large amounts of his money to be funding your working capital. You also need some sort of retention for leverage if mistakes get made. It also depends if eg you are buying materials. If so, then the Builder's risk is reduced. Settling bills promptly carries huge kudos. You may want to read the "Saving Money" thread. Significant savings are possible - I reckon I have essentially paid for the labour on the current approx 25k project by the money saved by buying materials well. And I also have the air miles for a Business Class return to Japan :-). Ferdinand

Quick question. I need to put a vent tile into the roof at the Little Brown Bungalow. Is there much difference in eg performance or wind noise between the "raised cover" type, and the flush type. They are Double Roman tiles. I want to put it there, link in the extraction duct, and leave it alone for 20 years eg Between this and this and this. A B C Cheers. Ferdinand

OT, but this interests me. How did that happen? Thermal performance is not a Planning matter, AIUI.

Welcome and interesting plan. You are at a general stage, but my comments. Looks like a good practical general design. 1 - Need to access bins without going into the rain? 2 - Where is your workshop? 3 - It looks seriously short of shed-space / outside storage. I doubt whether 2 bike spaces is enough (policy minimum?) - if you intend to have the option of being a cyclo-family then you will need space for things like enough bikes for everyone, tag-alongs and trailers, and maintenance space. And potentially velo-mobiles if the country comes to its senses on infrastructure. What about the lawnmower and the garden tools? What it comes down to is that you may want 150-200 sqft of shed-type space. What about extending the 'car port' block back behind the line of the house? I might be inclined to build that such that it could be a study or studio in future. 4 - Get that valley right. Enough width to walk along it for roof maintenance without wobbling, and for 2 people to squeeze past ("you have a look at this end"). My preference is to separate walking surface from drainage surface by building up the walking surface but making it dismountable, to protect the former. That landing rooflight is your valley access, I assume? Move it so that it is not over the stairs (so can just lean a ladder through it), and make sure that it is suitably hinged (top or side hung opening outwards, I think, or mid hinge and large - need space for egress for future materials) and big enough for comfortable use when you get to be a fat man aged 76. Make sure the bottom structural edge is above the maximum depth of water / snow you can ever get in the valley, to save your seals, but low enough to climb back in easily with one step onto the ladder. There is something to be said for a notch or bar just below the rooflight edge to lean / hook your ladder on to if you prefer not to have it sticking out above the roof when using. And have storage space on the landing for an ideally sized ladder / telescopic ladder and your window pole. Had an old house with 5-6 different bits of valley / platform that had no access whatsoever before we installed it. You may be up there 3-5 times a year; make it easy. 5 - Do you think you will have enough bedrooms (and convertible bedrooms), eg if you have 5 kids? Try an exercise vs the bedroom gender mixing regs (under Overcrowding iirc) if they are eg M11, F12, M15, F15 and M16. 6 - There look to be interesting games to be played with cathedral ceilings upstairs. Provision for storage / sleeping mezzanine above the bunkroom and /or bedrooms? 7 - Intriguing that 2 parking spaces may be enough, and that reversing out is OK. Best of luck. Ferdinand

I spent some time chatting to the Valspar people at B&Q yesterday; that can be sprayed. Slight care needed as they have different 'contract' paint for new plaster, and another one for going over existing paint. F