Duncan Clench

Oh, and when we were house hunting a few years back she rejected one really nice place out in the sticks because she thought that foxes would kill our cats. We didn't have any cats. We still don't.

My wife once reversed out of our driveway and straight into the side of our other car. The car she was driving had parking sensors and her explanation was that she was pretty sure that there was nothing behind her and that the frenzied beeping was, in fact, an error on the car's part.

50%? Good luck with the rest of it mate. I'm just about to spend the last of the budget now. I think we're ok. Schedule is tight, but doable. Here's the timeline: 19th - Carpet upstairs and kitchen appliance deliveries 22nd - screed for extension and self-levelling compound over 25th - kitchen units in and bifolds installed 2nd October - Underfloor heating 5th - Kitchen Worktop 6th to 8th - Flooring downstairs ...all the while the little snagging jobs are being done, and the driveway. It's nuts.

Kickstart! http://youtu.be/sFlmEznsr2w

I don't think I've mentioned this. By far my favourite beer (closely followed by Sam Adams)

Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas. Nothing like their other stuff.

I've got the Sonos one and it's really good. Soundbars are just not surround, so don't get your hopes up, but it is a good option for a neater set-up and for smaller lounges. The obvious plusses with the Sonos one is that you can play all of your music library, Spotify, the radio and tunes from your phone, as well as the TV. The obviously minus is the cost of it at about £600!

Our place was condemned by a spark who came to put in a few new sockets (no earth int he building and some seriously iffy wiring which I saw first hand). I know the guy, so I know he's not on the take - but that's another expense out of left-field. It's not a clean job either. Well, not in our case because we're moving light fittings around. They're currently behind the door when you open them which is apparently from when the doors used to be hung the other way round in bedrooms so if you walked in on someone in the buff you wouldn't see them immediately. Chuck another £2,000 on? Yeah, why not. Overall though, it's going well and pretty much to schedule and, dare I say it, budget. We're being pretty strict in that if an unexpected cost comes up (like the above) we'll look to make savings elsewhere. Loving the flowery wallpaper mate!!

Mine is a nightmare at making decisions. We got this place a year ago, and I wanted to start work immediately. Nope; she wanted to live in it while. A year on and we're finally doing it.

...that's £50 a day I should add. £50 for six weeks would be harsh.

I'm paying my nephew £50 to be a labourer during the holidays. It's working out quite well to be honest, apart from the fact that he's desperately unfit and can only manage to lift one breeze-block at a time. They're working him like buggery though, which is hilarious to watch. Spent a day off yesterday gutting 2 rooms. Removing plaster board from the ceiling is a shite job. Dust and other stuff in your eyes, hair, and down your shirt. Found a very old pack of B&H though. No health warning or anything on there. Every cloud and that.

Just found out today that the bifold order hadn't gone to the manufacturers yet, so my meticulously planned schedule is fucked-up by a week because of some stupid twat in the office not getting through their to-do list which involved sending a contract. Not a bid deal in the grand scheme of things, but when you're at the latter stages of a monu-fucking-mental building project where you're trying to schedule the plasterers, kitchen fitting, decorating, re-wire, plumbing and the actual building work going on, you don't need it.

Or theatre 'thae-atta'.

Yeah I'd say you shouldn't pay an up-front fee for mortgage advice, so just go elsewhere. Just make sure you get a whole-of-market advisor. As someone said above, the offer should be valid until you get the house, and if you tell your advisor the situation they should make sure they only look for offers that will last 6 months.

I'm sure you're all dying for an update. Here's the outside now, with the 6m RSJ in place: ...and this is the lounge, which will become the kitchen. That chimney is being taken out today, and there's a 5m RSJ going in above it. 3 week countdown to being wether-tight and plaster-boarded.

Do you offer advice in other fields, or just specialise in employment?

Got a mate who's a classic for that. Always says I should have called him before I bought something; and then when I actually do, surprise-surprise, he can't sort anything out.

You're not wrong there. Shifted about 30 of these on Monday and my body still hurts.

I've got a colleague who uses the office phrases all the time. Does my fucking head in so I don't talk to him if I can avoid it. "Touch base" seems to be his favourite at the moment. This is the type of person who spreads his workload out to last all day, even when everyone knows he's just dicking about on the internet... then he'll say "What time are you leaving today? Got a load of payments that I need to have authorised by close of play". 1 - Stop fucking around and do it now. I'm leaving at the same time as usual to pick my daughter up from nursery. 2 - Close of play. Fuck you. This isn't play, it's work. And you're shit at it, by the way.

Literally doesn't mean literally any more I'm afraid. It was misused so regularly they changed the definition. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23729570

I know what you mean. I love it though. Been to lots of houses with nothing else, including the in-laws, and there's definitely no need for rads.

We applied for planning for a small extension and it was during that application that issues with the other one came up. So the money is being diverted to this rebuild, which is within the allowances. 4m out, width of existing and 3m high. I think we're getting 8 visits from building control in total. Foundations were signed off on Friday and filled with concrete on Monday.

Ah right. I've got it in the bathroom but don't think I'll bother for the bedrooms. My hope is to put it throughout the downstairs and I think the overlay system is the most cost effective as it's quite a big area.

Isn't that quite costly to run though? I'm currently thinking I'll use overlay underfloor heating, which you don't need to have on 24/7 (unlike the 'wet' version). Takes about 20 mins to heat up according to my research.

Yeah let's see it. Sounds like a hell of a project to take on by yourself.