I'm Andy Mac and I make videos about property maintenance, renovation, woodworking, DIY and much more - a warm welcome wherever you are in the world! Whether you're in the trades or just handy with a hammer hopefully you'll find these videos useful and entertaining.
IMPORTANT: YOUR SAFETY IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY! Power tools are dangerous and should be treated with respect. Losing focus for a split second can cost you dearly. If you're under 18 you should have supervision from a parent or guardian at all times.
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Your new build videos from a few years back were super helpful helping me chose a new build ,based on your fair and balanced view of the pros/cons. In general, pur new build has been a good house. When we purchased ours in 2021, the prices of houses were inflating at a massive rate, and the new build actually presented better value for money at the time we purchased, even based on proper calculations of the m2 of the property, factoring in optional extras. etc, as the new build prices were somewhat fixed and weren't subject to market forces as quickly. The house itself we're happy with, but my main piece of advice for anyone considering a new build is just really have a look deeply onto the plans of the plot you are considering buying, and think about the frontage, access, etc. We focused too much on the house itself, room sizes, if they were suitable for our needs etc, and didn't realise that the property was on a narrow shared driveway (on the plans, it looks like a small cul-de-sac, but after measuring the plan I realised how small it actually was .. with no foot path... ) with several houses which is pretty awful to live with. It might not bother some, just my 2 pence. Snagging wise, the only real significant issue we've had resolved is both the front and back doors got replaced as they were installed poorly. I've noticed many of the other houses nearby having similar work done. My understanding is that the developer purchased "off the shelf" size doors but the apetures they will fit in in the houses were not accurately built, so whoever installed the doors just smashed them into place, bending and packing the frames to fit as best they could. Not particularly a huge deal but incredibly annoying and wasteful of time and materials. Also on the topic of council tax, I managed to successfully challenge our council tax band, based on the size of nearby, similar sized properties on an earlier phase of the estate being a band lower. I did have to go to the national valuation office, and prepare for a tribunal, however - fortunately the case was discontinued in my favour, before I actually had to present any evidence.
New builds in my eyes are very bad news. They put up so quick and no one cares. It’s always someone else’s problem on the site so the problems just get left. Can’t beat a proper fully brick built house.
Couldn't the HQ of sage be used as an greenery/aquarium store seeing the amount of glass ? A little bit of retro fitting. and ofcourse given the building away for free
mortgage ompanies are trungin a blidn eye cos they get more on the new build cos of shiny new thing. and the equity help to buy scheames are getign peopel in then they cant get out unless they take the actual value of the house as a cut.
i managed to get my old 40 year old house reduced. from d to c, as the houses on the street half were c and i was d for the same exact style of house. contested it and there wasnt even an argument. got 2 yearsw backpay and i hope the previous owner got 30 years of overpaid given back
please tell me when you saw the electrics you instantly raised an nhbc callout, and called a court hearing or somthign similar leglay binding on the electrician who had signed of such serious faults. all on the electrician, and if he sasy not his problemt ehn the house builder because at that point it most definitly is there fault bcause their inspector is signing of unsafe for life issues.
They look like over priced prison cell’s to me. Half the neighbor’s being illiterate poo flingers. The only peace you get is when their queuing for their medication’s. CT phone home!
I bought my 5 bed ex pub that was built in the early 1700s in 1988 at the ripe old age of 19. I worked hard, didnt have much fun and paid my 30 year mortgage off in 7 years. When I say 5 bedroom... I have 5 generous rooms, the smallest is 14ft x 14ft. Its not a small house. Its a handmans nightmare... Nothing is quick or simple.(Its not a listed building) The walls are 24 inches of solid stone inc the internal walls. The front door is around 150 years old and 9 inches of solid oak Nothing is flat, square, plumb or level. The back garden is HUGE... 25m wide x 75m long. Front garden 3m x 25m I have old stables and coach house in the back (Garage space for 2 generous cars... I can open the doors and walk around the cars) Im now almost 55. I have no need to move house. I bought once and stayed put. I hate new builds... Tiny boxes made from the cheapest materials they can get away with.
You will own nothing and be happy. Banking laws have been changed since 1994 in the USA and later in the EU, so banks can take your assets if they crash. If Rishi signs us in to the WHO's pandemic treaty, even your own body will not have any personal sovereignty. I'm thinking the banks crashed with the lockdowns but they haven't told us yet, much like they haven't told us we are at war with Russia, but they are waiting for Rishi to move as he doesn't want to be a war PM.
Those problems with the electrical connections would make me very uncomfortable. I am currently working on a re wire where a building of flats is being completely refurbished as a lose connection in one of the fuse boards caused a fire to rip through all the floors. If I wasn’t an electrician I would be paying one I trusted to test the property properly and not just falsify the test results as has probably been done in the case of your new build. Someone who is not aware of how to properly terminate cables into circuit breakers and ensure that they are properly connected shouldn’t be completing a consumer unit install, this is a serious disregard for people’s safety.
Holy moly. The electrics section on a new build in this video are shocking. No pun intended. I can’t believe that was signed off after inspection! I do think that with the Gov so called pledges to build more homes, that corners are cut and the quality of said homes is questionable with some developers! Especially when you see the speed at which these new estates are going up!
Looking at modern built houses, way too few people care about the outsides, whereas in most countries, outside is where you'll be spending most of your free time for the better part of the year.
As an electrician it's imperative that you give a cable a little pull after connecting it to avoid the problem you had. So dangerous, can't believe a properly qualified electrician would do this !
Your wearing incorrect gloves but more worryingly you're not wearing any respiratory gear. That cement dust contains cilica which is more deadly that asbestos.
Great video! I need to cut drawer fronts for my kitchen in the same height as my old ones. Being a beginner doing research I feel like a table saw, no matter how inferior to track saw, is the best for that specific job. Cutting repeated same size boards. Am I thinking right?
I use picture hooks all of the time, and they're a quality piece of equipment. They come in single, double, and triple pins, and they can hold a lot more weight than you think. A good way of testing this is to bang one into the wall and then try to pry it off. Even with pliers, it can be really hard to pull off. Agreed, they can be hard to get into a solid wall, but if you're hanging something that isn't particularly heavy, the picture hooks are really good.
The 1920s house will still be standing in 100 years , the new build won't . Honestly who would ever ever buy a new build . Guarantees are useless . I'm surprised new builds even sell . People must buy them and say yes when a broken transit turns up and says , for ya want ya driveway tarmacing .... Takes the phrase 'Workmanship' and buried it in a sewer ....
