So we have walls! Yay!
The Beco system is incredibly easy to use and we actually had most of it up on a weekend (not filled with concrete!). The bits that took longer were where the walls were going to link to the existing building.
We'd been meaning to get our electric supplier to move our mains cable to the left about half a metre so that it was no longer outside; which we needed to do before getting the walls poured.
We left it a bit late to contact them and had to wait a few weeks. It wasn't too expensive; a couple of hundred quid I think.
We finally got a date they would be coming and then booked our final concrete pour for the very next day.
And it actually all went according to plan!
At 7.00am on Friday just gone, the concrete pump started for a final time.
By 8.30 it was all done!
To reiterate: we have walls! Yay!
With the wallform system, you can do what you want! Render it, clad it, brick slips, actual bricks...Whatever you like and you'll never know what's underneath.
We are going to be getting a brick wall all the way around up to window height with a top like this:
Then vertical wooden cladding. It's going to look fabulous and not stand out so much like it does now just being white!
Next job is to start on the roof rafters!
In other news; I've discovered we may be able to claim our VAT back! Not on everything, but most of the materials. I was flicking through a self build magazine and one article caught my eye about claiming back VAT.
I google'd it and then thought it wasn't applicable as it seemed to be for new builds or conversions. Then I found another bit on the government website that mentioned homes that have not been lived in for a decade or more are also eligible....which is us! The problem now is trying to find some proof...
This house wasn't the permanent residence of the previous occupants but they seemed to continue paying council tax and electric and all that all the time they weren't coming here. So if anyone has any bright ideas let me know! We have some time as after we are finished we have 3 months to submit our Vat claim!
