CalvinHobbes

Thanks for that ToughButterCup, it's staying in front of me.🤣

I have started getting prices and there is quite a lot of variation. Please can you tell me some good phrases to use? At the moment I have been saying 'yikes, that's too much - can you reduce it?' I need more gravitas or something.

Hows it going now? Thinking of changing.

Just ringing round for quotes and I see eco joists on the plans. I know I am allowed to use equivalents so just trying to get terminology right. May I look at posi joists?

Digger on site so guessing will restart soon. Stupid question from a greenie: how are bison slabs positioned? Site is sloping, I see we have a retaining wall to be put in the middle. Thank heavens we have a great groundsman.

They determined shallow foundations will be ok, soil good. Because its a sloping site it turns out finished floor level will be 1.4 above ground at the front end. So we will need bison slabs for the front half. We have quite a lots of bricks from the demo to lose. Yes some are being used for the entrance , we will get some broken stone to put on top so it isn't a mud bath. Groundsman suggested we could put some under the front of the building. Question is. I am still concerned there could be the fungus from the dry rot in the brick (no wood)and it will work its way up over 10+ years. I would love to save money but is it too risky?

Spoke to accountant, he said if they have worked in UK before they are likely registered. I know to check they have their own insurance as well to work in North.

I agree, I thought an 8 tonne would have done it but thats what the guy has and we have the rubble from the 2 cottages to move as well, going to put it in the corner (where the garage was planned - we are just doing the 2 houses, red on the plan is where the cottages were) till the end when it might be needed plus the surveyor will be out as well as the engineer . The surveyor wants levels as near as poss so was hoping it would be done quicker with the bigger digger. Hoping to goodness we get away with the shallow foundations. The goundsman thinks the ground looks good so cross fingers.

Have to ensure engineer is present to tell digger driver where to do the test holes so he can provide a foundation layout. Architect thinks they will be shallow foundations but I guess it depends where the hard ground is.Hoping it's a quick turnaround because the digger can't sit for long (3 days max). Also surveyor has to show up too while he is there to mark it out including levels. The sloping site is definitely more of a challenge. Still, pleased it's happening and I have confidence in them.

My father insisted. He has now passed. I think we will push the boat out and go for it. So Baskil is looking likely.

If you had someone in the US I would be tempted to get them to post on some of these... https://www.wyze.com/

Hello, in the North. Have been recommended people from over the border. Its a new build and we will source products needed. Wondering about vat. Do they have to be vat registered in the North? New Build is zero-rated, which means that a VAT registered builder or subcontractor must zero-rate their work and not charge VAT on any labour-only or supply and fix contracts.

We had a meeting with architect too and I asked was there anyway we could save money. The plans were for a zinc roof which came down partially at sides. I explained we were thinking of trocal, he said instead go for coated metal and we could paint the sides the same colour but keep the ends metal. I guess that means in the future we could get solar panels if it was metal?

Thanks, deffo that's good advice. Block and block.

So pleased, I think we have a guy who will do groundwork and help us manage the build with a good reputation. He appreciates our need to save money and said we could save a lot by making sure it's airtight ourselves. Presumably that means with the parge coat I read here? So when and how do we do that? Will they build both walls at once? If do you just do outsides?

Yikes, thanks for the heads up.

Just getting quotes for each stage, groundwork, superstructure , roof, windows, plaster package, electrics, plumbing etc and hoping it's ok. Changing from zinc probably to trocal and aluclad to upvc. Needs must.

Yes £2 a month it gives me 3gb which seems to be enough but I have 100 extra gb on the my sky app so I can put more in if needed. The busier the site the more data presumably will use and its only passing cars for the next 3 weeks.

So went to see a self build on Sunday, they had 2 labradors and had opted to put in a hot tap outside to wash them. Plumber who installed it said he didn't know why more people didn't do it? Thoughts?

Right, worried now about using a Polish Supplier. Our quotes for rationel came in at nearly 40k which is way too much. Waiting for a few others. I asked qs could I increase the u value and to 1.2 or 1.3 if really stuck, would it be OK since it means huge savings? He said yes but to get in touch with whoever did our saps and see what it would do. He didn't make out it would be a biggie. He thinks its ok if we use the trocal too if we have to.

Very good. Good on ye. We hope to restart in next few weeks. QS sat us down tonight and explained why we needed the foundation drawings from the engineer. You probably know this but it means you can keep an eye so that the digger driver uses the exact right bucket and don't get lazy re changing it. Otherwise you pay for more concrete than you need which is £85 or whatever per cubic which means cost uncertainty (at which point he actually shuddered). He also said about getting the surveyor to come back twice and mark up exactly where the outside blocks go. (Sorry my terminology isn't great).

Rather pleased with this. I just put a cheap sky sim in (£2) and its great. I had to recharge during the very cold but now its running great.

And explained in our climate it works better than air source, which is better suited to warmer climes. Is this true? I thought GT was more expensive to run too. Internal temp was 20.

Thanks, I think NI has some sort of different status re EU and negotiations appear to be firming up some sort of special status.

We need quite a few. I have read comments in other threads about getting the fabricators to fit. No all seem to anyway. I appreciate they need to be certified and the brickies need to build to plan and the measurements for the beams need triple checked as well.