Mr Blobby

So just to finish this off.... At the start of the year the M and E tender package was really late (and still is wrong) and I was explicit in my requirement to build in May. The QS insisted I wait until the M and E was ready. No suggestion of excluding the M and E to tender to watertight instead. Which would have been perfect. When I told the architect in April to exclude the M and E from the tender he said the QS didn't want to do two tenders so we should continue to delay the tender and build. (ie serve the QS interests over mine) When I insisted in May the tenders go out, the QS insisted on inserting M and E that was wrong so the responses would be pretty useless. When I insisted again to request quotes to watertight the architect said the builders wouldnt like that. When I said a watertight approach would be best because I wouldnt accept 30% mark ups on M and E from builders for inflation the QS said a phased approach is not possible and builders are entitled to price in inflation risk. Just before the tenders came back I asked the QS in a zoom meeting with he and architect how much he thought the build would cost me and if he would give me the estimeate he promised in the engagement email. He refused and after some prodding he totally lost his shit. The architect is suspiscousy supportive of the QS 🤔 When the tenders came back the prices were ridiculous as expected with the M and E way overpriced and the specification wrong anyway. So a completely useless exercise. I asked the QS if he was going to provide some guidance on the wether the tenders were reasonable and offered good value. He said no. He said I should accept the lowest offer without scrutiny or question, which is conveniently from his local builder that he introduced to the tendering process. A builder that became available after the delay the QS created. So, the QS gave no cost quidance or estimate. He caused six months of delay. The tenders went out with incorrect M and E specification instead of build to watertight. His only guidance is to accept the lowest offer from his preferred bidder. He put no price to anything. He provided no value at all, just advised me to accept the lowest tender without any cost analysis or estimate of builder's profit margin. ... and that pile of zero value shit and months of delay to my build cost me £3,750. My advice is don't get a QS. Mine was a charlatan. A waste of money that has delayed my build start from May to August.

Yes, they have this detail already.

Good point. Will do.

Do you mean 'you would not use check reveals' I can see how the guide rails wither side of the window would need to be at the width of the blind wich is likely the width of the window? So we think the blind box would go in the outer leaf, which would need to be 140 block to match the (modulo P) blind box depth. The outer leaf would be constructed higher than the inner leaf to accomodate the blind box height. Like this: So the wndow formers on the South/west windows with external blinds would be different heights for inner/outer leaf of course. AFAICS check reveals wouldn't work at the sides because the blinds require the full width of the window?

I'd really like check reveals. Architect is less enthusiastic. Not sure if check reveals would work with external blinds 🤔. Anyone done this?

What about cavity closers to make the formers like this... https://www.eurocell.co.uk/data/downloads/eurocell cavalok brochure_lr.pdf Good idea or oversold crap?

Not internorm then! I'd assumed that the former would be some kind of temporary window frame to build around, is that about right?

Good point. I think here in Northern Ireland choices are limited. We also want external blinds so easiest to order with windows I think. I'm open to suggestions. Anyone have Gaulhofer aluclad upvc with external blinds? Or are the Gaulhofer external blinds available only with the timber framed windows? Are these window formers really a thing?

I'm told that Internorm have a 6 month lead time for aluclad upvc and that I should order windows now before building my block house even starts. But what about sizing the windows? How is that done if there's no house to measure? My architect tells me that formers are used to create a dummy reveal for the bricklayer's to build against to get the window sizing correct. I've not seen this before, is this correct, and anyone got any pictures? (have told architect not to assume that internorm are the only horse in the race)

Just checked Balloo. There's a 3t limit on the holiday offer so that's £308 for the week. Which would normally be £531. update... Balloo can't deliver tomorow. boo 😒 That's a good price but this is not a 6 day job is it? Darling wife wants a trip away.

Are you suggesting I drive the digger myself? That would be entertaining 🤪

I think you're right. A local grave digger dug the NIE trench for me. I'll try and get him back on site. Hopefully nobody's died this week and he'll have some free time.

Which is what I would like to do. but this is my concern too, if some of the hardcore base is on rock with some of the hardcore base on clay soil then would there be catastrophic soil heave on part of the foundation. Not an engineer so may be worryaing about nothing I fear this is probably the only way to be sure but the ground is mixture of hard clay and stones, not easy to dig at all. May need to get a digger in. To get an idea of the layout, here it is with some topo levels. The site is pretty flat, dropping away at the back of the single-storey garage, where it may be less likely to be on rock but also far less load on the foundation. If that makes any difference 🤔

So what's the choreography here? Can't place order with KORE until SE has been on site. (theres about 450 drop at one corner of build) SE won't come out until excavation has started Can't start excavating foundation until the KORE slab is ordered I'm stuck in a loop...

Should have got Hilliard Tanner to sort this out... sleep walked into the architect directing his SE to do the work without me knowing. Oh well.

So now that the demolition is done (and from having issues getting earth rods in) its pretty clear that our site sits on a layer of rock about 400 below the surface. Before the groundworks tidy up the site and excavate down for the KORE slab, however, the amount of rock and soil condition is hidden from view and largely guesswork. And there's my dilemma. I think. Do I need to get a ground survey done now to see what I'm dealing with, or press on with the ground works and excavation for the KORE slab, breaking the rock out to go down the depth required for the 500 hardcore? Generally speaking, is it a problem to have a KORE slab on (hardcore then) rock? My architect insists I don't need any sort of ground survey and neither does the SE need to come visit the site until after ground works is under way. Am I worrying about this too much?

Which size, they all seem to be 15mm on the small end. So would I need something like this too... https://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-compression-adapting-male-coupler-15mm-x/69358#product_additional_details_container

So after demoloishing the old house I have a half-inch copper pipe in the gorund that I would like to rig to a temporary stand pipe. Nothing fancy that has to be signed off by the water company, just a plastic pipe to a bib tap. Being totally clueless about pipe sizes and fittings, what do I need to connect the half inch copper pipe to a few metres of plastic pipe (so that I can bury it to the boundary) and then a bib tap for the other end of the plastic pipe. So I need the connector, the plastic pipe, and a bibtap. Which products do I need to do this?

Why grout in place with cement slurry? Is it conductive? Does it make a big difference?

Thanks for this, an obvious (now that you have told me) way to avoid a crappy hockey stick and meter box in the cavity. After speaking with NIE, they said no to an external meter box which I was surprised about. And of course they don't allow kiosks. So the plan is (and NIE's standard advice it seems!) to build an extra leaf of block on the side of the house and outside the insulated foundation at about 1500 wide by 1500 high and about 400 deep. The permali box will be recessed into this.

It's an interesting question. Fixed rate mortgage lending has increased over the last year because people expect interest rates to rise so they are borrowing more to get the best deals before they are gone. Over the same period, credit card debt is being paid down. Apparrently these two things rarely happen simultaneosly and is a bad omen. The conclusion is that this temporary increase in mortgage lending has the effect of artificially inflating house prices but that lending will come to an abrupt stop once those 5yr 1.75% deals come to an end. That is the when the experts predict the housing markiet will likely crash. Will it? Maybe. I don't want inflation baked into my contractors tenders that may not be there in 6 months. If I only I had a crystal ball. Whatever happens to the housing market stagflation is here and is not going to get any better.

We are planning to use Kilshall Sill supports. This allows for smaller sills in the cavity, properly supported without any thermal bridge. https://killeshal.com/window-sill-supports-providing-thermal-isolation/

Should have explained, personal circumstances are ok. We rent a house round the corner from the site and have done so for many years so no rush to completeion of build. Also I'm lucky enough to only work part time so I can be on site every day quite easily. Its interesting what you say about control, and I think that's important. When previously I had an MC (only one prev. build experience) I felt like I was standing in front of a train that was going full steam ahead to final destination and deaf to anything I had to say. I ended up threatening to sue builder and architect to get them off site. Turned out I was vindicated, the architect was suspended a couple of months later for misconduct (signing off builders work not done) and had been under invetigation for a few years, all of which I knew nothing about, despite calling RIBA with concerns. (ARB are conveniently seperate to RIBA who can claim ignorance of any misconduct... lesson here... if you have architect concerns contact ARB not RIBA) I guess my previous experience of being ripped off by a crooked architect and builder has left me with trust issues to give an MC full control while I stand back, especially for passive build, right through to completion. Once the contract is signed, it's out of my hands I guess. brrrr. I think I will need an easy termination clause 🤔

Yes that's what I think. And yes he is a member of RICS.

With interest rates rising and clouds of recession on the horizon I'm naturally reluctant to fix a price for the whole build in mega-inflationary times just before the money-go-round stops and we fall off an economic cliff. Or maybe the forecasts are wrong and we don't have a recession, but they are the forecasts. Anyhow, crystal ball to one side, and without having sight of the tender responses yet, but expecting some big inflation margin built-in, I am naturally attracted to having a main contractor to watertight as phase 1. And then re-tender for phase 2 (or get the trades myself) when things become a little clearer and the crystal ball can go away and pricing will be more accurate. My QS and Architect think I've totally lost my marbles to want to phase the build like this. Have I? Is it a recipe for disaster to tender for the Main Contractor to get up to watertight only? (house is block cavity passive build)