Redoctober

Yep agree with @Tennentslager, it really does look cosy and warm. Cracking shot of the outside too. I may have missed it but what heating system are you going for? Presumably UFH is not an option with a suspended floor or is it ? [excuse my ignorance on these matters! 🤔]

WOW - would be interesting to see the arc of the Sun.

Yep, we went for a biscuit screed upstairs and have found it to be very beneficial especially as we have stone tiles in the bathrooms. But as mentioned above by @newhome it did come at a cost, which was unforeseen by us at the time - details can be found at -

For completeness I thought I would tidy this thread up with my findings at 0730hrs this morning. We were once again awoken by the "noises". Ready for them this time. I climbed the ladder to the attic space, flooded it with light and looked - nothing other than the sound of a creaking frame! I know this because the noises continued whilst I was up there. I think the weather plays its part. Although frozen outside, the sun was already having an impact on one side of the house. Whatever, I am more than satisfied there were no visitors as such upstairs which has reassured Mrs W.

For balance especially since they have been mentioned on the thread heading, I would like to bang the drum for Fleming Homes. We too looked at a number of TF providers and one thing we soon learnt was that it was nigh impossible to compare them like for like!! Flemings got the nod for many reasons - They offered various options, which as complete novices and wanting to minimize as much risk as possible, was of benefit to us. Anything from supply only, of a TF through to a near "turnkey" product. Again, for us, they maintained good channels of communication, always available on the phone and welcomed visits to the factory / office. On top of that, they are just 10 miles from our plot! Good luck researching the pro's and cons but I fear it won't be easy. Decide what you want and not only who can deliver it for you, but most importantly I suppose, who you feel you can do business with, on a personal level.

Thanks for this very informative blog. I wish you luck with your decision and look forward to this project unfolding. If the blog continues in this vein, it will be of much use to others, I'm sure.

Hi - take a look at my blog - From the photos down the bottom you should be able to see exactly what you have described above and this is the way forward. You may also be able to see the window manufacturers stub cill resting above our stone cills. Ours was a TF and as soon as it was ready, the windows went in from the inside.They protruded sufficiently to tie in with the battens which framed the opening, These battens are called fire stops which serve the same purpose as those red "socks" you will see in the photos too. I hope this helps.

I agree with the above and have had first hand experience of what @JSHarris says. One builder I contacted said he wouldn't price the job up because he heard we had already approached two others!! His loss I know but he was one of 5 we contacted. Of that 5 only 3 came back with quotes. I choose to keep the groundwork's tied in with the builder, simply to reduce the number of "parties" involved and therefore reduce the risk of a "not us mate" situation arising!

Hi @Ian - I believe it to be creaking noises - ever so subtle but all over the space, as opposed to in a particular area so to speak. This though has convinced the OH that there is something flying about bashing into the timber structures. It is a cold roof structure with 2 layers of 140mm insulation laid throughout.

Those who follow this forum know we moved in at the end of November 2018. Fast forward a few weeks and it seems that the OH is convinced that we have some "visitors" in the loft / attic space of our TF house. I can't deny there aren't noises coming from the space above but having spent a good 20 minutes in the area the other day, I couldn't find any evidence of any visitors. There is no way such guests could get in as it is fully "enveloped". But she is not convinced. I believe it is just the timber etc re-acting to the weather or settling down so to speak. Has anyone else suffered such "noises" or what are the general thoughts of the collective?

We also have a staircase and a flat landing just like @joe90 but we ordered ours through Jeldwen. They didn't supply the landing so our Joiner created one out of left over 22mm eggerboard. Along the same lines as @ProDave. The support for these cut to size boards are very similar to what is shown in the photo supplied by @joe90.

I agree with the others. Not worth the bother - Your time and effort over something like this - no contest in my eyes. https://www.slingsby.com/Access/Ladders/Single-section-ladders/BASE118062Single-section-aluminium-Ladders_BASE118062.htm?gclid=Cj0KCQiAj4biBRC-ARIsAA4WaFjfcFwsiN4hcPUbGPRzqCYJon6uNRjnF2wxj4c4PfK1yzAxv8CsDWgaAgVREALw_wcB

Ouch!! Good luck with reviewing the remaining budgets. I'm sure there are savings to be had across the board and all will come good in the end. I suppose now that you are out of the ground, you can have a bit more control over the budgets as the ground works were always going to be the unknown quantity!

I agree. I too took a "hands off" approach and used a TF company to draw up the plans which were sufficient for a tender process and then BC. Planing permission drawings, I would argue are simply not good enough for a forensic cost breakdown. Once you have detailed plans, suitable for a tender process, you could also send them off to any online estimators - I used two in our research stage and found them to be very useful and not far off the mark. Before all that though, look at Fleming Homes website - they have a calculator service which will give you a "ball park " figure if you were to go down a TF route. Sorry, forgot to add. you may find my blog of some use -

If it helps, we had our mains water enter the house to where the utility sink would be but then realised we needed a water supply to the cylinder which was some 2 metre away in the same room. To resolve this issue, a connecting piece of blue MDPE was laid across the floor and and the finished screed poured on top. The builder, plumber and heating guy, all independent of each other were happy with the arrangement. It wasn't ducted either. Not saying it was the right thing to do but that is what we have done.