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OK so finishing up my kitchen plan at the mo. Costs are as ever a focus, and as much as I'll likely just be going to Howdens for the cabinets, doors, and standard worktops, I also need a 2m breakfast bar in something hardwood. I'm not convinced Howden's product is brilliant in price (or maybe even quality?). Do the collective have any local recommendations for a 2m x 950 x 40mm butchers block? I see a couple of the GB suppliers are happy to courier and for almost reasonable money but would be worried that it's unlikely to arrive in good shape...

Hello, I recently joined BuildHub and think it is a great idea. My wife and I have planning permission to build a family home in Northern Ireland. I am a bit out of my depth at the moment with where to go next. The site came with planning permission and now I have to get an Architect on board. I have asked for a few quotes and there are 'traditional' contracts or 'design and build' contracts. Would anybody have any experience / advice on these? I intend to appoint a Project Manager to oversee the works, would anybody know a rough rate for a Project Manager? Appreciate any help I can get. Paddy

My home (which I had just started to renovate) was flooded Aug 20, and I was forced to move out and opt to demolish and rebuild instead. I requested exemption from rates at the time, but was (finally, due to COVID!) contacted by LPS this week to say I was responsible until demolition (after planning, still outstanding) had begun. Reason, I have a structurally sound (or structurally repairable) building, even if financially unviable. Has anyone experience, knowledge or advice - I could do with the breather?

Hi I'm Aine, I'm looking to build in Co. Down, Northern Ireland. I'm a total newbie with no experience of self building but enough determination to get me through, all being well. Planning have asked for a flood risk assessment for the site. Does anyone know any reputable qualified individuals in NI that I could go to?

I am building in Northern Ireland and I am probably going to be buying my windows from a company in the republic of Ireland and wondered if the VAT on the quote would apply. It's for supply and Fit and I wanted to have an idea on this before final negotiations as I don't want him doing me a "deal" that he had to do anyway....

Just received a letter from the LPS today stating they would be having a surveyor out on Wednesday to measure and photograph the house for valuation purposes. As the house is incomplete and uninhabitable, do I cancel or put off the visit? Does the visit trigger anything in rates terms or is it purely for their records? Or is it an even better idea to let them survey it now unfinished, and with no garage yet built?...

I posted last month about being let down for the 5th time by a builder and wanted some advice on a foundation for the garage foundations. Some great advice was given and I was also given the number of a builder who had down their foundations who worked with H2 garages. I won't name names as it was kind of the person on here to pass me their name. However they came out, promised to do the job in 3 weeks (and contact them when I had moved the relevant hardcore to the area ( I still needed to break some rock which they said they would do) ). I contacted them a week before they should have been onsite saying all was ready (except breaking stone) and got this reply after ignoring a text sent two days previous. By the e By the extra work I meant the stones had to be broken down which they said they would do anyways. What is a kick in the teeth is how he convinces himself that he is not letting me down by telling me he may or may not be available at the end of August even though he has already let me down OK rant over. So does anyone know of a good builder who can do garage foundations and won't let me down? Thanks in advance

Hi All, we are keen to settle in NI in the Enniskillen area and are looking to buy a building site with PP in the region of £60k to build a bungalow on. Any help with details on how to trace an owner of land and pointers on where to start will be greatly appreciated.

In a rare bout of sanity a Northern Ireland Judge has ruled that paying pellet burning RHI claimants far more that the cost of the fuel (aka Cash for Ash) is not a good idea - Apparently overpaying by £700 Million over the next 20 years is against the public interest. Somewhat bizarrely it's only against the public interest this year - Next years the same lawyers will all be paid to come back and argue whether or not overpaying by £665 Million over 19 years is a good idea. The politician behind the scheme (a Mrs A. Foster) is currently pursuing other "money no object " initiatives. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-42443043 Maybe the judge could be persuaded to get on a ferry and take a look at the latest Hinkley-C master plan.

Not going to let the minor issue of a change in forum derail this thread......so before we were interrupted....... I have gone ahead with building the garage - single story, block build with a pitched roof facing due south. Build is due to start in the next week or so. We are to have a 4Kw in-roof PV array and are looking for suppliers. We have talked to Solamatix and are looking for other recommendations for in-roof installers -any ideas ? We need to get a move on before the ROC payments drop again in October

This is just a note of something I came across on Martin Goodall's Planning Law blog, related ot this piece: http://planninglawblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/extending-life-of-planning-permissions.html Planning Permissions usually have a condition to require development to start within 3 years (used to usually be 5, may soon be changed to be 2). In England, up until 2009, the usual way to extend the life of a PP was to apply to vary this condition. But when a temporary right was granted to extend the lives of PPs in order to allow projects to be extended during the UK recession, a provision was made in planning law expressly ruling out the extension of life of a PP by varying a condition. See the above blog for the reference. So when the temporary extension mechanism was withdrawn, neither that nor the "vary the condition" method were available in England. In this blog Martin Goodall noted that the provision banning the use of an application to vary the time condition had not been made live in Wales. Questions which would be of interest to BuildHubbers: 1 - Has this been brought into force in Wales yet? 2 - Can an application be made to vary the time condition in Scotland? 3 - Can an application be made to vary the time condition in Northern Ireland? Does anyone know? Ferdinand

Hi All, Let me begin by saying a big Thank you to all the contributors in this forum (and the old eBuild) for the wealth of information & invaluable advice provided. I have spent the last 4-5 months reading a lot of the threads and have found they can go 2 ways; they either confirm my thoughts or convince me that I need to do more research on each given topic. I have no previous experience of building and as a first (and hopefully last) time self-builder (I use that term loosely as I will most likely be using a main contractor), I am finding the whole process absolutely mind-boggling and fascinating. We received planning permission in August 2016, but have since changed those plans to the extent that we had to re-apply at the start of December 2016. We are hoping to receive planning permission within the next 2 weeks. If granted, we will be building a 196.5sqM, 2 storey detached house in Newcastle, Co. Down, Northern Ireland. At this stage the build is likely to include the following; (this may change following input from this forum) Block built cavity wall (external 100mm block, 200mm cavity, internal 100mm) Full fill cavity insulation with grey beads & glue Air Source Heat Pump Zoned UFH throughout MVHR Aiming for maximum U-values of 0.15 for Walls & Roof Triple glazed windows Sealed small wood burning stove LED lights throughout I look forward to participating and hopefully contributing in the coming months. JohnW

Hello all, I'm Neil and together with Judy (wife, site manager, accountant) I am about halfway through a Passive(ish) spec build on the Ards Peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. Looking forward to reconnecting with the "Norn Iron" selfbuild crowd.