Ferdinand

Welcome.

I am planning a small wall for my bin store at the Little Brown Bungalow. I do not really want something completely solid to allow a draught through to keep any smells moving (though brick with header gaps or spaced out soldiers would be one way), so I have been looking at a Bradstone product called Screenwall - which are the traditional performated 290x290 concrete blocks with which we are all familiar. As new, these are eyewateringly expensive at about £50 per sqm, and I am after alternatives. That is more than double the cost of blue engineering bricks. I could go secondhand or surplus as I only need about 45, but I am also trying to think laterally. One interesting option might be porotherm blocks either the 100mm version or the big ones on their side. Does anyone have any good ideas or experiences? I want something brick or concrete or similar, rather than fence panels. Cheers Ferdinand

Agree there. I see three lessons. 1 It took a generation. Fast gives Legoland and no chance for community. I actually think that Right to Buy has helped create mixed communities in Council Estates, which is excellent .. as are social homes in private developments. 2 It was arms length, with the Milton Keynes Dev Corp. The authorities set it up then broadly butted out. Contrast with our area, where the Council have just abolished their successful ALMO and taken social Housing back into political control. 3 It has not kept up with the times. The cycle path network is now 50 years out of date in multiple ways: https://aseasyasridingabike.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/they-built-it-and-they-didnt-come-the-lesson-of-milton-keynes/ MK was designed as a car city with cycling addons, and the cycling share is down to 3%. That cannot be reversed easily.

That illustrates the change - it used to be 2.5x plus 1x for 95%. My first mortgage in 1989 was at 3.5x Net salary. F

Perhaps in marginal developments on marginal sites. Remember that Walter Segal lived in Highgate with most of his projects in London.

For not much more (+£100) than a Bosch ceramic or Hotpoint induction you can get yourself a Neff induction with free set of correct pans. Here it is still at £350. https://www.thewrightbuy.co.uk/neff-t36fb41x0g-60cm-built-in-low-consumption-plug-in-induction-hob-free-pan-set?gclid=COzU6aLUn9QCFYU_GwodqD4I6w#fo_c=166&fo_k=2d8cee218f54a4797ca745455dcec7b7&fo_s=gplauk How is your budget ? Ferdinand

Hmmmm. Letter to the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/31/public-interest-in-housing-and-parks-should-trump-private-profits For me this is an example of someone with a very specific London perspective on a London problem wanting to put their local sticky plaster on the whole country, and perhaps being deliberately provocative! +I do not believe the "sitting on 600k Planning Permissions" comment - that is standard misinformation / sh*tstirring in the definition of "sitting on". 600k is a 3 year pipleline at current rates of approx 190k new dwellings per year for PPs that only last 3 years. There are many which are far further out on developments which will take perhaps a decade to build. eg The Westminster Council Chelsea Barracks Planning Brief was dated 2006. Outline PP was 2011. Completion due 2018. https://www.westminster.gov.uk/chelsea-barracks There are several more interesting letters on the page. Ferdinand

Woohoo hey! When and where is the party? Ferdinand

Yep. Like Martin and his blog, but not his BREXIT articles (:-* , which are a bit too metropolitan for me. Ferdinand

That is quite interesting. £20 per sqm for 6" insulated panels, even at weights of perhaps 200kg+ each. Assuming you can move them and handle them could be a good idea. Put it on a suitable support and just cut off the lengths you need for your next building with the mother of all circular saws. What would you cut these with? Adding it up, the SiPs for the 8x12 I discuss above, leaving the gap for the door, are £940 at £20 per sqm. = Perimeter is 12ft + 8ft + 8ft + 7ft (5ft door gap) Plus 12ft length for roof + 12ft for Floor All x 8ft = (35 + 24) x 8 = 590 sqft = 59 sqm ==> £1180 for the panels before any wastage etc and wooden framework required etc. It is true that the panels are better, but the price just for the raw secondhand panels is the same as the whole kit. Very tempted by one of those kits. Look to be incredibly tightly priced. Ferdinand

The different time vs cost balances are interesting. For me quick assembly would be quite important quick.build - ideally just a 2-3 days - as I would be paying someone and effectlively being the 'mate', and that would tip the balance towards the SiPs version. F

Another brick in the wall... Difficult to judge until the end, but brick acid is to hand. F

Completing the Construction can be an expected requirement for a sale, though you can buy your purchaser an indemnity policy. If this is your Decline and Die In house, then that would not be your problem.

Personally I would just build the sheds you want now, provided they are not ridiculously prominent or painted germoline pink with cartoons of Homer Simpson mooning at the neighbour, document it, and just leave them there. Given your size of plot, I would expect to get away with it and afaics they would have no basis for enforcement anyway. I would still do the same even if appealing on a point of principle.

What is stopping you adding your new sheds now under the PD rights for the existing dwelling, and then just not demolishing them when you remove the old ones? I am not sure when the removal of PD rights takes effect, but it cannot be before development starts. I guess it will be at the point you demolish. One problem might be if you have something like 'all existing sheds to be demolished' in your PP? What does it say?

A further comment would not be appropriate. Had 150 blue bricks in the Corsa this morning, mind, and at present I do not have a 4m sized trailer secure storage facility.

Personally I would not in theory be that sympathetic to the owners of such a horse . Not sure if I could follow through in practise. Thanks for all the help on this thread. In the end I went for 8 bulk bags at about £30 each delivered, so I can control exactly where they go and avoid paying anyone to shovel 8 tons around. Still need the Audi Allroad and the big trailer. Ferdinand

The larder in my previous Cottage was about 8ft by 4ft, and had three steps inside the room to be a semi-cellar. Or put a big rockery or one of those sheet waterfalls on the outside. F

I used .7 with a coating for a sun lounge roof for a Tenant which seems extremely good several years later. For cladding I would probably go for the same in expectation of a 20 year life to match the building, unless it was going to be at least half cheaper than the .7 to have the .5 . Even that might be a false economy. It would also need some thought to make it dismantle-able and remantle-able.

I am inclined to think that they have a big machine they need to run at 100%. Spoke to the chap this morning while doing the post, and they have not yet put up prices due to recent rises. Approx. 10% rise coming. What orientation would your cladding be? H or V?

OK. A SIPs version. A basic structure to be practical and inexpensive. Obviously there are elephant traps in some places, and other suppliers. 1 - Basic building. A SiPs kit from Simply SIPS, which gives an insulated 8x12' kiosk faced with OSB3, with a 5ft wide doorway for £1199. 97mm SiPs with U value of 0.3, 2 - Doorway. I will pay between about £600 and £900 for a custom made and fitted PVCu door and glass side panel to a pair of French doors for that gap, including locks and fitting, with a U-value of 1,5 or so. Call it £700. 3 - Base. Possibly slabs or fence posts or a concrete slab, Cost not very much unless serious groundworks required. Allow £10-250. 4 - Cladding. What does it need? I know that I will pay around £7 per sqm for plastic shiplap-style cladding in white. It comes in 5m x 300mm lengths for £10 which are tricky to carry in a small car. The cabin will look very white from the outside, but be easy to clean. Call it £200 for the cladding, £40 for the laths, £60 for the membrane. Plastisol coated corrugated may be an alternative for cladding. 5 - Roof. It comes with a 1:40 fall towards the back. They recommend EDPM. Say £150 including adhesive etc. 6 - Summary Adding up I make that just over £2500 before work starts on the interior and services, if the base is concrete. A different approach to @Crofter for something reasonably insulated, with new materials, and which could relatively easily be dismantled. Ferdinand

I am wanting to explore ideas.

Inspired by this thread from @mrfish, Can we have a thought experiment as to just what it costs to build an insulated garden office with reasonable facilites? (Also because I still need something like this). I wamt to think through cost-effective options and see if I have not though about any aspects. My £3k number is because more-or-less this is what it costs to buy a secondhand insulated, wired, site office of this size and spend £400 shipping it in. My specification is for: 1 - 8 x 12 ft insulated garden room, capable of being practically used all year round. 2 - 2 x double electrical socket, water, lighting and drainage. 3 - Building base. 4 - I want to be able to dismantle it and rebuild (eg every few years). This is perhaps a personal requiremnt for me. I am excluding items difficult to compare: 1 - Labour to build and fit out, because most of us could do this ourselves. 2 - Supply connections, as they could all be different depending on the circumstances. Ferdinand

Welcome. My strong view on this would be to put a walk-in fixed screen shower on the former bath footprint, to future-proof the house. It will only cost a few hundred.

That has not been my usual experience here. Perhaps I get big ones from quarries. F