Owning your own home

Thats just down the road from my parents house. You can get a full house for sub 200k in Norwich, to hell with all these new builds/renovations.

Mrs BMX folks bought a nice place on the other side of the city for 160K.

My old man suggested bits of damp-proof membrane between the bearers and joists too. That's what I'm doing for my shed when it gets ordered later this week.

Wow! Shaza, you're moving fast on that shed!

I'm going to have to get massive hints (I was going to say tips but euph and all) from you

following from my previous bellyaching: insurance.

The other freeholder and i (us) have separate insurance policies as our freehold clearly states that we are responsible for separate aspects of the structure (we're upstairs, he's downstairs). am i correct in understanding that this will be acceptable should we need to make a claim on the OTHER freeholders insurance for any potential structural work or will we get nobbled for having what is effectively 2 insurance policies on the same property?

i've not read the details of our respective policies and doubt i'd be able to understand it if i did - was just wondering if anyone had any similar experiences.

Anyone know any good building companies that can take on a decent sized project? My entire block of flats needs reroofing and I need to get some quotes. Other folks have had some at 40+k which strikes me as a bit much.

You can get a bloody loft conversion for less than that. Actually that reminds me - I think if you are getting re-roofed it's worth going the whole hog and getting the loft conversion done anyway - it's not that much extra money for adding quite a lot of value.

Can you do loft conversions in flats?

Went for a second viewing with the intention of putting in a significantly higher offer, we shall be running the fuck away. The original estate agent wasn't around so we got his college, and thank fuck she was there and actually had some answers.

After assuring me there was central heating (I know I should have checked properly the first time but I'm new to this) turns out there isn't anything. After I asked if any major works had been done recently or were due to happen soon he told me he didn't know. Then when I turn up this morning there's fucking scaffolding going up. After asking him why it's cash buy only and being told it was because the vendor wanted a quick sale, turns out the whole block is concrete and is totally un-mortgageable (I was fooled by some brick cladding on the front).

Fucking cunts.

Lessons learned though and no money lost, the search continues...

Your surveyor would have got that anyway.

Yes but would have also cost several hundred pounds.

@6pt has informed me my documents have arrived!

I hope there are no more hiccups!

Place we visited yesterday is a 2 bed semi with a biggish walled garden and substantial hard standing in the front which could be joined up as one large space. The house is also set further back from the street than the neighbours (and also down a hill) so there's potential for a ground floor extension that wouldn't block any sea views. There's also an existing (albeit dilapidated) conservatory to one side.

The garden is completely overgrown and the hard standing has been used as a dump: all sorts of rotten furniture etc piled up. There's also a lot of crap inside the building which was previously tenanted and in a bit of disrepair. There's mould on several spots which the estate agent claims is largely condensation from poor ventilation. Without a survey there's no way of knowing. It's double glazed but not the type with vents built in - there are instead those little wall mounted things nearby.

The kitchen to back garden door is kicked in and boarded over with chipboard. The electrics probably need redoing (it's metered for starters). The boiler is new at least. There's a gas fire which needs to come out. New kitchen and bathroom. We'd want to re-do the floors (rip out the shit and put in wood). Basically a fuck load of work.

We're told if we put in an offer 10 grand below the asking price (which is already 20 or 30 lower than comparable 'nice' houses in the area) we'd get it.

Still even if it was structurally sound at that price I don't know what our cash flow would be like after paying for it and we'd want a fair bit of work done before we even moved.

Accepting paypal donations.

So vertically, it goes: concrete, bearers, joists, floor boards?

Are bearers and joists required?

I think joists come ready attached to the floorboards.

They did with mine, in two halves of the shed floor.

The joists will be part of the floor panel (buying sectional).

You could just throw the shed onto bare earth but you would drastically shorten the lifespan. There are a number of things you can do to prolong the life. Each one with it's own benefits and the different combinations/extremes come with differing diminishing returns.

Level foundation - I went for a professional concrete base so I know it will be level, solid and long lasting. This is important because an uneven base will put strain on isolated parts of the structure which will fail more quickly

Dry Foundation - Stops moisture coming up from beneath and damaging the floor, walls and shed contents. My concrete base is 4" above the surrounding earth and the additional bearers will hold it up even off that. I may also run strips of damp course membrane between the bearers and floor joists as suggested previously. Raising the shed up will also allow air to circulate, letting any damp bits dry out.

Weather protection - pressure treated and slow grown timber is more expensive initially but will far outlast dip treated cheap wood. Also, repeat treatments of cheaper wood may prove to be a false economy. For the roof, the main panels will be tongue&groove like the walls covered with felt. I will wait to see how long the stock felt lasts.

Security - I will be fitting solar powered PIR lights and the door has a proper locking latch & handle. Windows are toughened glass and lockable. Concrete floor also provides the option for some kind of ground anchor. Go for for the thickest wall and frame material you can afford.

What area is the roof roughly? It's a buoyant market out there at the minute. In my experience prices are definitely rising since May and decent contractors can afford to be choosy about what work they take on.

Out of curiosity, who are you buying from and what are the material dimensions you've gone for?

Shedstore
From memory, the walls are 12mm thick T&G and the frame material is all 34mm x 34mm

Yes, but not under permitted development. Planning permission is required.

When I bought, my solicitor described it as unusual that I would own and be responsible for the roof. However if I do get the opportunity to convert it, presumably that's one less thing in the way.

Hmmm.. around 1200 square foot maybe? I think?

I was planning on putting a pressure treated frame, 40 x 90 mm section, down onto an existing base and chipboard panels on top of that? Is that sensible?

So long as the chipboard isn't likely to stay wet, it should be fine.

cool, cheers, I was thinking of some kind of insulation, so it should be pretty dry underneath.

So with insurance for me as the last quote expired and the new one is £15/20 more per month at about £53. The insurance company (Hiscox) is the same one I've been using for last 2 years for contents (£22 pm) and now wanted to add buildings; is that a fair price? Or should I look somewhere else? We will have basic household goods but my main concern is bikes and building. Hiscox had a great policy for bikes at and away from home.

The freeholder handles buildings insurance in a block of flats, right?