Oops
I have been a bit hasty summing up.
Before the build if someone had said what is your greatest passion I would have said windsurfing but through building a house and reading here my new big love is renewable energy and energy efficient construction. I can never look at housing in the same way, I find myself analysing every build I see and would now consider changing jobs. Something else I missed out is I realise we did not have the pressures that many of you have but it does not need to take as long as I took. I am not one of those human dynamo's you sometimes see on TV programs were they work 16 hours a day 7 days a week until it's done. I worked fairly normal hours and if the wind came up I would just go windsurfing but I have to admit the brain would almost never switch off from the build. Building almost all elements inside is lunacy if you want to get the job done quickly note the utility room which was done in a week because I did not over complicate things.
I also meant to add a list of some of the suppliers. This has been cleared with admin.
I used the regular builders merchants at the start but as time went on I found myself using specialist as they were normally cheaper. Also I found having to haggle with the builders merchant such a pain, yes I had a trade account but you had to watch them like a hawk. Here is one example Jewsons quoted me 25% discount for all the drainage pipe after some more ringing around City Drainage in Launceston gave me 50% on the connections and 80% discount on the fittings this was the same Osma pipe and we used a lot of it. I did find the balance of trying to beat them down on price but not falling out with them quite difficult.
Bond Timber are very good for all the constructional timber. Some of the local merchants buy it from them.
Timber source in Dorset supplied all my hard wood.
B&Q are good for some things. The birch ply came from them and their cement and plaster was cheep, also it is fresh, dry and stored indoors.
Screwfix and Toolstation are both excellent for hardware but sometimes the big bulky things are as cheap from the big DIY store.
Encon and Shefield insulation are good for insulation it is also worth checking out Second's and Co.
I used Brewers Paint for finishes.
Safeguard Chemicals and Delta Membranes for the wall tanking.
For overground plumbing I have used Stenlakes in Launceston for the big stuff (lime cylinder and pump etc.) and Thompsons in Tavistock for most of the rest.
Efficient lighting in Plymouth are very good for lighting if you go in they will probably beat their online price.
Beacon Electrical in Plymouth undercut every online price for the cooker and hob, I would have paid a bit more as they are local.
These are only my own experiences and things may have changed since then.
Sometimes I think I spent too long on the phone trying to get a bargain instead of just going to the local shop and paying £10 more.
Beau
PS I found two more pictures on my desktop so here they are
