Episodes
Sustainability expert & advocate, Dr. Joe Jack Williams discusses Zero caron homes, building with timber, his collaboration with a Japanese forestry company and plans to lobby the Government with regards to Zero Carbon houses and sustainable building methods
Mark Millar is joined by Architect, Laura Jane Clark to discuss her experiences, ideas, Her own Georgian home renovation and other notable projects
As we come into the final month of 2024, Mark Millar invites a range of guests to join him and discuss what 2025 might have in store if you're planning to build. Guests include: Paddy O'Hart (selfbuildconsultancy.co.uk), John Newcomb, CEO of the Builder's Merchants Federation & Katy Ashcroft from the National Self Build & Renovation Centre
Mark Millar invites artist, designer & decorator Claire Noble to join him and give you a guide to colour choices, design options and mural creation for the walls of your self build, new home or existing property
Mark Millar invites some champions of wood and timber framed construction to join him and discuss the benefits of using timber in your building practices. Andrew Waugh from Waugh Thistleton Architects talks about the possibilities and sustainability with regards to timber frame structures and Carpenter/Builder, Garvin Morey (Sterlingdale) discusses a notable build he completed with wood at the center of his building methods
Mark Millar is joined by Achitectural Technologist, Angela Rossi so that Mark can ask her about her approach to design and about her building ideas
Mark Millar is joined by guests so that he can get both expert advice and the experience of the self builder with regards to running out of money on self build projects. Guests include: Tom McSherry from Buildstore, QS Tim Phillips & Charlotte Gowers
Mark Millar is joined by industry expert and TV personality, Roger Bisby to discuss product knowledge. Mark has found that this is one aspect of construction that can trip up self builders, particularly those with little to no trade experience. Mark asks Roger a range of questions from where and who to get advice from to specific product knowledge, warranties and more.
Mark Millar is joined by Dan Roberts, Technical Manager at Kensa to discuss the history of heat pumps, stretching back 25 years and is joined by Kimbo Betty. Kimbo is well known for his work training installers in plumbing & heating and has been at the forefront of training in renewables. Kimbo discusses some of the naunces of how heat pumps work and his experiences training people to install them
Mark Millar has invited two previous guests with self build experience to join him and explain what they felt were the hardest aspects of self build to get right. There's insight, tips and advice on how to approach your self build project from those that have been there and done it. Guests include: Nicky Marcus & Lucy Hutchings
Mark Millar has invited John Ryan from Symterra (symterra.co.uk) to join him and give an overview on current building regs and compliance
Mark Millar has invited accomplished Carpenter, well known on social media and for his show on Fix Radio, Robin Clevett to join him and discuss his building ideas. Mark runs a range of domestic building options past Robin to get his thoughts on them and he also discussing the house building market and construction industry as a whole with Robin
Mark Millar is joined by Mick from MTB Construction, who has had first hand experiences working at some bad new build sites to discuss his experiences. Mark then talks with Kelly Cartwright from Core Recruiter about how they bring tradespeople onto new build sites and the issue of rogue recruiters
Dr Joe Jack Williams, Sustainability advocate and expert, who has done some great work here in the UK around sustainable building practices, joins Mark Millar for a discussion. Mark asks Joe about how we would bring sustainable practices into focus when building houses, what different materials and ideas you could use in self building. There's also discussion about sustainability, retrofitting, building methods and listed buildings
Mark Millar takes the oppertunity without any guests joining him, to answer some frequently asked questions about his thoughts on self build, experiences in the trade, the UK house building market, his media work and much more
Todd Glister, host of the Heating & Plumbing Show talks about getting into self build at the age of 26 and his second ongoing build. Andrew Smith, Chief Customer Officer at Addland - joins us to explain how the 'help to build' scheme is a great tool/starting point to finance self build projects for young people
What materials should we and shouldn’t we be using? What isn't fit for purpose and should be avoided for your self build projects? Guests include: John Cooper from New Home Quality Control, Award Winning plumbing & heating engineer - Chartered Institute member, Jimmy Hendry & Well known domestic based electrical contractor Nick Bundy
Martin Matheson joins Mark Millar to discuss how he created The Sheiling in Loch Lundie during Covid. Martin talks about the plans for the build, the building process and the end results of all of the hard work and skill put into the project
Harvey Fremlin from The National Self Build & Renovation Centre joins Mark Millar to discuss all the current self build trends, the marketplace, retrofitting, new technology and why it makes so much sense to self build if you have the means and demand quality
Mark Millar talks to Architect Julian Owen about how to get started with self building. Julian has literally written the book on the subject with his book Design and Build Your Own Home
Mark Millar is joined by The VAT Man, Andrew Jones to discuss how you should approach claiming back VAT on your self build projects and renovations. Andrew explain what is and isn't VAT exempt, Who should and shouldn't be charging you VAT, how to seperate out purchases so that you can claim VAT back on them, how to deal with HMRC after the build is complete and more
Robin Callister (Urbanist Architecture) joins Mark Millar in the studio to discuss extensions, renovations and how you can create plans and designs that are most likely to obtain planning permission
Mark Millar is joined by guests to discuss how you can create private pubs, pub sheds and bars in your back garden. Mark looks at everything from how the professionals approach it, Award winning pub sheds and sustainably created bars costing only £300!
Mark Millar talks to Architect and Self Build Author, Julian Owen about how we can approach creating an interesting or useful space in your basement. They also discuss adding a basement to an existing property, limitations, creative ideas for basement spaces and what the planning and building process is like for the wide range of things that are possible for your basement
Mark Millar gives the lowdown on how to get a domestic property re-roofed, when to get work done, how much time, money and effort this might cost and more
Mark Millar is joined by Paul Mallion, a Passivhaus Designer & Chartered Suveyor who explains the concept & building requirements of the passivhaus standard (https://conker.cc). Paul also discusses his work on a notable domestic project for Charlotte Gowers, who also joins the show to discuss what the project has been like from her and her partner Wayne Taylor's perspective. You can follow Charlotte's journey on her Instagram - @maytree_passivehouse.
Mark Millar looks at HMOs as well as turning a commercial or domestic space into multiple seperate flats. Mark looks at the approach to converting and managing HMOs and also how you go about the design phase
Mark Millar takes a first look at barn conversions and starts with the architecture, design and floor layout. Jenny McIntee (www.jennymcintee.co.uk) an Architect with decades of experience, who has created some amazing barn conversion designs, joins Mark to explain what considerations go into creating a plan and what is possible when converting a barn into a living space
Mark Millar looks at options available to self builders with regards to swimming pools. Mark talks to fellow Fix Radio presenter, Robin Clevett about his own experiences building an indoor pool in his garden room. Ben Bonsor from Orbro Pools gives you options and ideas for outdoor and indoor pools, and Mark gets some rules, regulations and maintanance information from SPATA
Mark Millar is joined by two guests to discuss how day to day life changed as they took on a self build project. Lucy Hutchings, who runs shegrowsveg.com - talks about how her self build experience was an emotional rollercoaster with a successful outcome. Claire Faulkner - @thatcotswoldclaire on Instagram, who is 4 years into her ongoing self build experience, talks about the life upheaval and change of living circumstance as well as the continued stress throughout the different phases of the project.