Stage 9: Finishing

Now that your timber frame 'shell' is complete, services can start almost immediately.

It is advised to complete the structure as you see fit (all projects are different), but a typical order of events may be:

• First-fix joinery, including external doors and windows
• Felt, batten and tile roof
• Cladding the structure: brickwork, timber or render
• Wind & Watertighting; Vents, Fascias, Soffits etc
• First-fix electrical
• First-fix plumbing & heating
• Fitting of insulation to ceilings (and walls, if not factory-fitted with timber frame)
• Plasterboard ceilings and walls
• Second-fix carpentry
• Second-fix electrical
• Second-fix plumbing & heating

You should be allowing around 8-10 weeks to complete the above, but this will depend on your project variables. During this time, it is also the ideal opportunity to complete your:

• Hard landscaping (i.e. driveways, disabled pathways, garden structures, bin stores, paving, walls, fencing etc), and
• Soft landscaping (i.e. turfing, seeding, planting, soil movement etc)
• Don't forget that you can claim back the VAT on most materials purchased for hard landscaping within the garden of a new house or conversion
• It is also possible to reclaim the VAT on some soft landscaping, so long as they were included or required within the planning consent.

Now, you are ready to consider:

• Painting, decorating
• Clean out
• Moving in!