Post and beam

Thanks, Its more the dressing or cladding of the outside that i am looking for practical advice on. Of course a suitable external cladding would also help with shielding from the direct sunlight and therefore heat.

Most of our house contents have been in a storage container for a year. They have survived with virtually no issues and i am thinking of buying one as a man cave/ shed. But just like the storage one i rent, they are stupid hot in the summer. Has anyone else got one and how have you insulated it. And or, dressed the outside to disguise it a little. Can you drill the outer skin without problems for example. I should explain that i am looking at buying a double skin 'one trip' container from Felixtowe docks. They are stupid cheap at the moment.

I am 65 and know that i am not in the best of condition. I have lost weight in the past years build, especially outdoors when it was very cold. But my knees are shot and back is very immobile. This has not improved. Yes i am wiped out the next day and no it has not got any easier

Thanks for that link dude, very useful.

As i am about to order £4k worth of carpets i wonder if they are claimable on the new build concession. They are fixed down after all.

No fire doors in the house anywhere. If i configured the house internally as open plan there would be nowhere to hang doors from which makes the thing even more pointless.

I got told this morning by east herts BC that all internal door, skirting and architraves need to be in place before we can move in! If true, i doubt it and hope not, then i have an issue. I expect the decorative stuff to take a year to get finished. I dont have another years rent left in the kitty

I was told today by the warranty providers inspector that all internal doors need to be in place before i can move in. I really want and need to move out of our crappy rental house at £1500/month and move into the new build. It is not 'finished' but is very nearly livable. The minimum number of doors i thought we need to have in place is 3. Bathroom, downstairs wc and our bedroom. We have no skirting or acrchitraves and not much in the way of decorated walls. By this weekend we will have all 2nd fix electrics in place. The plumbing already is finished. I believe there is a process by which the building control office will allow you to move in short of final sign off. i have e mailed them for a determination. What have you done along these lines? i guess its not unusual to do this? Thanks in advance as always guys keith

Yes I bought a 12 x 8 wooden shed and assembled it myself. It will be the wifes potting shed when we are done. At the start of our build i was chatting with the frame erector guys and said that if it survived it would be the wifes shed. Their reply ' of course it will survive, nobody will use it' They just sit in their vans'. And guess what, that is exactly what has happened. Never seen a single contractor in there, I put in a cheap B&Q Cupboard, worktop and sink, a jackson boiler a large table with 4 garden chairs. Even got them a 2kw oil/ electric radiator.

I got an e mail this morning that Potton homes, who supplied my SIPs frame have shut up shop and are out of business.

Update: Their grant submission has been accepted. Pretty quick and easy for them one they actually sent in the necessary documents. Funny old thing.

Great. I am thinking Persian rug rather than a shag pile thing

Rather than a carpet of the required low TOG , i wonder if anyone has used a rug over a laminate floor and been happy with the heat from the UFH. Real world experience is valuable of course and may not mirror what i imagine we would all expect.

No longer possible due to lack of honesty, as previously stated. I was specifically invited to do just this by Ofgem, as previously stated. No, wont be doing this. Just making sure that Ofgem get what they need. As specifically invited to do just this by Ofgem. I told one of their directors exactly this. Still getting hassled by the 'twat' for £7500 though.

True, It is or will be. But they are currently hassling me for £7.5k because they screwed up. I am trying to help them to not be such twats. One particular member of their staff in particular to be fair. Due to the lack of honesty and transparency from the installer i want to sit on the sideline and interject as i see fit. I reserve that right.

Well in the way that i meant the phrase yes you can. I meant supplement whatever the installers present as evidence with documents myself such that i know that Ofgem are getting what they require. Of course whatever i submit would go via the installers in the first instance as well.But i have lost so much faith in them and have no confidence in their abiltity to do their admin that i need to know that things are on track. I was specifically told by Ofgem yesterday that once i have a new ID i can contact them as often as i want/need.

As it happens multiple applications are apparently commonplace. I was told by the delightful woman from Ofgem that the most she had encountered was 8 before the grant was allowed. Who knew? So if my installers cannot get their act together soon i will do 2 things # submit by myself # name them in as many places as i can

No this is not correct. I spoke to Ofgem today. It was they that told me the application has timed out due to no response from the installers to the request for more information. So no they have not had their money. I do not intend to give them £7500 because their incentive then disapperas to get the money for me. As of now it is in their interest to successfully get the grant paid. It will be a lot easier than taking me to court, which is what they are going to have to do otherwise.

I had a conversation with one of their directors this afternoon. He politely said that we need to resolve the payment issue first. And resolve the grant in due course. I told him in no uncertain terms that i was not going to pay a penny until they do what they said they would do. Not prepared to name them yet but if this continues to go south i will, and detail all of the other problems i have had with their guys on site. See the pictures for example, taped up choc blok data cables to the heat pump. braid screen is not part of the 'repair' either.

Not going to happen when they promised to handle the application and appear to have failed to meet their obligations. I am prepared to go to court over this one.

I just spoke to Ofgem about my application and was informed that there is no longer a live application on the system, it timed out on 24th July. This partly due to no response to requests for more information from the heat pump installers. To say i was upset is to understate the thing just a little bit.

Of course. But, £7500 would go a very long way to a total replacement of the heat pump and or cylinder should a major problem arise.

The people that installed my ASHP have so far failed to get the grant. I believe i have provided all the evidence of a new build that was asked for. Now i am being invoiced for £7500 because it has not ( yet) been granted. I am reluctant to pay this as all the incentive to chase this payment will disappear once the company have their money. This is especially troubling as i have no contact with the body responsible. Partly because said company said they would handle this. I do not intend to be out of pocket for the shortcomings of this crowd. So my question is, what evidence have other successful claimants found satisfied the grant body. Thanks in advance guys

Update guys: our stairs have been installed today. £600 for cash. I am very happy with the result. Couple of little screw holes to fill & sand before paint and a tad more glue on one or 2 spindles but a good day overall.

Depends on your definition. The 2 runs of steps are pre formed. Everything else is is a well number kit form No. My wife and i will be doing that. Happy enough to do so . Fitting of internal doors will be my son and i. He is not a chippy but very competent working with wood. We did consider doing this ourselves but bottled out. Skirtings and Architraves will be me.