flanagaj

That was my thought too.

We are in a Radon zone and require 'basic' protection. I contacted Visqueen to ask if they offer a design service, so I can understand the junction details. They came back an said they do offer a design service and it's £3000. I'm going to ask if they have added an extra zero by mistake 😂 I doubt they have, so I thought I'd ask what did those of you do who also found they needed Radon protection measures. I might consider an alternative supplier, if that's how they treat potential customers.

Finally! I might have had some joy. Found a brickie who has quoted me on m2 rates and his work looks very tidy too. Rates are £23/M2 blockwork and £55/M2 face brickwork. Those numbers do align much more with the estimators quote.

I have 540m2 blocks 147m2 face brickwork So my numbers are not far off yours, but your 13k is way under the estimators 20k labour figure.

White Lane Cattery 106b Elevations.pdf

Quotes are labour only and they have allowed 20 days for the job. It's a straightforward rectangle build with gable ends, face brickwork on lower ground floor and then block upstairs. The issue I have, is that if I just say "Oh well, let's just pay 10k more and get going", if that same thing happens for all trades, then I am in real trouble and we'll have to sell the house once it's built.

They use local labour rates. A brickie is not usually on more than £300/day. So I said 2 brickies and a labourer for 20 days at £800/day. That still only equates to £16000 for 20 days work. So the quotes of 30k, 42k and 60k are just a joke. Anyone would think I was hiring a legal team.

Here are the estimates that I received from Estimators. Excavation & Foundations - 7 days (2GW + 1 Labourer) Foundation Masonry - 5 days (2B + 1 Labourer) Brickworks - 15 days (2B + 1 Labourer) My theory is that if estimators can't be that far off when it comes to estimating costs for a build.

I had our plans estimated and it gave me a figure for labour up to plate height. So far, they have ranged from 10k over the estimators 20k figure, up to a staggering 45k over. I really don't know how to proceed now as we have had 4 quotes so far. It's a very simple brick and block rectangle, built using stretcher bond.

The tech architect submitted our drawings to BC as follows. I do however, want level thresholds on the entrance door, garage door and both patio sliders. That makes it difficult to not have it at DPC level or very slightly below.

Are you saying that as long as I have the correct fall on the ACO system I can have the outside levels at dpc or a few mm under it?

I understand that for the garage and doors with level threshold, you install some sort of ACO, but what about the areas of the house which are not entrances, but you want at the same level? Could you for instance run some sort of ACO drainage around the whole house so that you have the exact same level? I am trying to avoid having a 150mm step down from level threshold areas. For example, I have a path that runs down the back of the house. It has steps one end, but at the other end is our patio. If I keep this section 150mm below dpc, I will then have a 150mm step up to the patio and will create a potential pond.

In the end I've gone with the Norrsken 319A sliders. They have a fixed pane and the frame is chunky, but I'm ok with the aesthetics. I really liked the way that when you closed the door, it felt like you were closing and aircraft door. The sealing is very impressive.

I've been using Heras panels for our site entrance, but last night's storm has busted them and I lost a pair last year to wind. I'm now contemplating just buying a set of proper steel site gates and putting them. Yes. They are nearly £900, but I just need a better solution than Heras. We have nosey neighbours and I like to screen it off and am currently using the hoarding that supposedly allows the wind through, but it's definitely not that great and is probably the reason for panels snapping. Caravan life is great. It's either been Baltic or lashing down. We want to get cracking, but the weather is certainly not in our favour.

I think they just said "Oi scrote, make some more muck". There were no pleasantries back then, when I was 17