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Evening all, Finally! A decent forum I can enjoy... Before the time of social media I was an avid forum goer, big on my underground electronic music. Rave scene jungliest movement forums were the only way I could network outside of the nightclubs. Photos from events would be posted up, pirate radios would hunt for talent and promoters would post up their flyers to try and gain momentum to get as many tickets sold before the night.... All seems a generational back in my day thing now but those were the best days, back then... Instagram, facebook and twitter changed the game and when we look back it was really only in the last decade that such trends have happened and what a change there has been! For the better.. imho no not really, negative feedback rather than positive criticism floats around freely... forums always felt more of a community to me, people sharing knowledge, wisdom and experiences to help learn and influence for the greater good, and from reading through the threads on the weekend it gave me a sense of those good old days before I had a career, before I had bills, kids & not enough time in the day! Gas engineer by trade (15 years), and now working as a supervisor for a housing association. I bought my first house when I was 20 and spent 8 years knocking it about thinking I would be a millionaire by the time It was done. It was pretty much done but we got bored of spending all our money at builder merchants so when the kids came along a few years back we bought a VW transporter, kitted it out and off we went, now we have Finley (1 and 3/4) & Penny (3 going on 30), an old dog named max, Lenny the tortoise. We just got married 2 weeks ago after being together for 14 years and now my new wife is telling me we need a bigger house.... She's right by the way! Great thing Is I've always wanted to build my own house I spent my childhood watching Grand Designs, bad thing is we may have to live in a caravan for awhile, lets hope the kids are buckled up because its going to be a bumpy ride but hey, what's life without a few challenges. And everybody who knows me knows I'm not the type to sit around watching Tv, always on the go like many of you are I sure. My brains constantly ticking over about the next 'big project' I'm working on, or at least working towards. To have our own self build we can all call home would be amazing and if we can make some memories building it well that's even better. Our plan is to snag the house we are living in and sell up by the end of the year, whilst this is happening we will be designing and obtaining planning for our plot, a bungalow that we bought last January for 170k at auction which is currently being rented out. It sits on some nice land about 1000 m2, a triangle shaped plot that is slightly sloping, its north facing with some potential views and is in prime close to centre of town position. It sits next to some green land giving a nice secluded feel about it and hop over the fence and you in some dense woodland. We hope to gain planning for a replacement dwelling by xmas and then move up their January ready to put a spade in the ground in April. Our hopes are to borrow £280k, that's £200k for the build, £40k to pay of the mortgage on the plot and £35k contingency. Ideally we want to build as big as possible but will be limited by budget. We need a 4 bed property with open plan living space, evening living room, multifunction room, bathroom, ensuite, d/s w.c, garage, workshop and a room to fit a small hair salon in. Using my skills I will be project managing, and carrying out as much as possible. I am seriously considering building in ICF with Nudura being the front runner, The fact I will be able to build the structure myself is a huge plus to me and potentially a great cost saver, the energy efficiency it will bring along with the soundproofing and sturdiness all sit well with us as a family. I am loving the way that the 1st fix and dry lineing can be installed and think it will make ease of a laborious job so I am looking forward to enrolling on a few courses in the next month of so, I also have a mate who started a concrete company last year and has the only pump and boom in the local area so I'm expecting some mates rates on the pour! Our wish list also includes a smart home using Loxone or Niko, high quality aluminium windows & some solar panels with an electrical battery pack system and a zinc looking roof or similar style, again it depends on cost but it would be great if it will all squeeze into 200k. One things for sure, I know we have our work cut out for 2 years but I know it will be worth every late evening, every cut and ache. Hopefully with some expert guidance from this forum we can make this dream come true and my kids can learn from their mum and dad how you build a future for your family. Thanks in advance Edd & Phillipa.

Way back when I cleaned windows to pay my way round my first degree. After a year or two, things were going well. I was beginning to get a lot of top-end customers; including the landed gentry from West Oxfordshire. Think of the biggest, famous estates with big open parkland: the kind of place that you can visit and get lost on the estate. We did parts of his pad, and all his family's local houses. Tucked away, out of sight, pieds a terre with interesting architecture and decor. Very very interesting. A couple of times a year, I'd pop into the estate office and get paid. One year, however, I met His Grace at his (what I called) Passion Pad. and since I needed to be paid, I asked him to pay the bill. I told him how much. He pulled a roll of £20 notes from his back pocket, counted out about half of what I'd asked for, and told me he'd owe me the rest. I won't repeat what I said. That's beside the point. The next customer was the Lord Lieutenants house. Super bloke: one of the best. He sensed instantly that I was furious. So I told him what had happened. "He's frightened you won't come back, Ian". I have recently paid two trades folk in full as soon as the job was done. Between them, they've agreed to do another few grand's worth of work. Months ago. I'm frightened they won't come back. Should'a learned my lesson from all those years ago eh?