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Wow - time goes fast! I guess I'll say that again....and again! We submitted the revised planning app - free as within a year - and that was approved with no comments. The revised design removed a couple of windows which has pleased the neighbours. Engineer co has been working with the architect so we have made a lot of progress in design terms while we did the planning app so had building regs design approval ahead of revised planning approval! In prep for the demolition I (with my helpful neighbour and his digger) sorted the services which included stripping out the front garden and some trees (these ones without TPOs!). We managed to have a lot of the house re-used by people building near by - internal doors, UPVC patio doors, kitchens and bathrooms - trading for some labour later. Plus my neighbour fancied the 20+m of balustrade - he's got the digger so that + some of his time and experience is a good trade! We have a pump station serving the lower 2 floors, sadly the location needs to change but the pumps and control system will all be reused so need to get the pumps out - pretty sure the tank will be wrecked coming out but that if that's all we need to replace that will be a good result. Demo firm engaged and they are fantastic (so far anyway) who have stripped out the inside while I worked frantically to get the pre-commencement conditions satisfied. My helpful (seriously) planning officer confirmed by email that we could do trenches for services, strip out internals etc without being classed as having "commenced". this week we had a meeting with the tree police to inspect our tree protection measures and check the working arrangements - I prepared a nice report for them and that went well so we can officially crack on with the demo. Time lapse camera installed on neighbour's roof (Brinno - seems a great product). Currently harassing engineer to provide reinforcement detail for floor so I can get quotes in for steel and ground works. Next week the demo then will be underway and I'll be trying to finalise the drainage design + spec for the floor slabs... Oh - CIL rules changed so our liability would have tripled! But all sorted now and next form for them will be after we finish.

Why make it so complicated? Willis heaters go in, paralleled up in qty to match max heat demand + 50%, on a recirculating loop ( or through a small low loss header for a very small dwelling ), and just let the dwelling suckle heat from that loop as it wants. Call for heat kicks in the heaters, and they go off or into 'satisfied state' until the recirculated water temperature drop low enough for the willis stat to kick back in. Done a few like this recently where there was no gas, no room ( or desire ) for an ASHP, and low / infrequent demand. Works really well. Keep it simple here Heating; Electric panel radiators are cheap as chips, and will heat the place almost instantly / on demand, and are very well suited if infrequent use is typical. Something as small as ~2kW units ( x2 for even spread of heat if more of a spread of heat is necessary ) which will kick in / out thermostatically as required. I'd buy the ones that have separate wall mounted wifi room stats / timers for ease of control & to prevent overheating the space aka economic running. These can run off 13a plugs with no special needs for a big electricity supply. Forget UFH unless you go for an ASHP, but that would seriously have to be justified by the usage of the dwelling mandating such a complex and costly setup? What is it's intended long-term use? Hot water; Fit a size 6 Uniq ( Sunamp ) and you'll only need a 3kW electric supply to get high pressure DHW on a 22mm supply That will tee off to do basin / sink / shower from one source and no need for a discharge pipe and G3 annual inspection. Note: the Sunamp isn't a hot water tank it's an instant water heater / thermal store, so no actual 'stored water' to speak of. Next to no losses in comparison to an UVC, and a far, far more simplified installation with prob half the space or less taken up. It'll go into a kitchen unit as its only ~580mm deep x ~370mm wide x ~650mm high. Near zero maintenance too, as its only requires a single tiny expansion vessel that can be checked in minutes ( by anyone who's competent to do so ). Electric boilers, and even worse electric combi's are very electricity hungry. If you had an electric boiler and a big electric shower you'd need a big electricity supply to match. Fit a big electric shower and it'll also be massively dependant on cold mains pressure / flow rate. It will suffer to a point that it's useless if anything is running off the same cold mains supply ( in the main building ) at the same time, and you'll end up running it on it's lowest setting most of the time just to get a decent stable temperature out of it. God help you if someone goes to use the kitchen sink whilst you're in the shower!!! The only way to combat that issue is with a 100-200L cold mains accumulator, which is a BIG vessel to try and integrate into somewhere where space is already tight.

Forgot to update you with the finished result. Very happy!!!

that works both ways --they can,t make you put a tree back up --only make you plant another one do what you need now would be my view and course of action if no TPO in force

It's not 'burnt' and it's not exactly 'wood' but we've used a wood/plastic composite cladding from Envirobuild. It's not far off being black and, we think, looks pretty sharp. It's also a good 'wood' imposter.

For ease of installation you could hang the posi's by the top cord directly onto the steel. No need for any timber packing then. Top chords are 35mm deep. That will give a void top and bottom. This is what I did and its worked well. My posi's were 195mm, steel was only 162mm. This means the steel is below the bottom of the joist by 2mm which will require a bit of work come plasterboarding time but I think that is easier than packing the steel and 60+ hangers. I wouldn't worry about people telling you need a professional to spec this. My 'professionals' weren't paid enough to think about this level of detail.

South would be preferable as you will be forever cleaning filters otherwise.

If you don’t ask you won’t know!, if you offered to “sympathetically” repair the wall at your expense and in the process lower just the last bit to aid visibility everyone is a winner, if they refuse you have lost nothing, at least you know where you stand. Edit to add, if you offered to do this work on their wall to aid existing visibility (before applying for planning permission) they may be more responsive.

Yes, quite right, we will be removing two small trees that are within the footprint of the dwelling. Just to be clear, there are no other trees on my plot. The big chestnut tree is just across the fence.

flow switch needs about 1.5 litres per minute to trigger a combi - it’s a flow switch not a pressure switch.

Then fell what you want before getting the council involved.

I was going off point 6 ... details not submitted ... plus the fact of Approval, and thinking that that left Reserved Matters for those items. I guess that that it could be that there are conditions we have not seen. Though I think the same points about timings probably apply if Detailed is in place. F

Secondary heat Ex is pumped, so no pump = no hot water too

IMO the convert to resi for 18 months is a red herring for reasons you state. If you want some revenue before the project I would say rent it out to someone for storage or storage + admin office, which the Council have probably acknowledged as an existing use by granting you Outline on that assumption. That will bring maybe 5-10k in Enfield for no trouble on your part. I would worry more about the Outline Permission expiring, if the chap still has that stuff to do. If the PP runs down to 6-12 months left, it is arguably worth less. Have your Detailed Application ready. You probably need to speed him up. Ferdinand

How big is the studio and how often will it be used ..?? Also, how well insulated is it ..? I would go with a small under sink unit feeding kitchen sink and basin in the bathroom, and a decent 10kw electric shower. For heating I would swap to a split air con unit that can do both heating and cooling, and an electric towel rail in the shower room to keep that warm. If you stay away from cold tiles and go with a vinyl/Lino type product for the bathroom too, then tile heating wouldn’t be required.

Buildhub loan one out primarily for people doing UFH runs. I made mine:

Not a criticism but I'm guessing you didn't use a decoiler? Pipe having it's own natural lay etc (like cable).

I fitted downlights in my soffits and clipped the cable to the rafters.

+1 In addition to planning permission I suspect there will be a lot of other issues just to make it habitable and legal for renting out.. New water, gas and electric supplies and meters needed. Electric circuits need separating from existing house and connecting to new meter and Consumer Unit. Heating system ? New boiler required? New sewer connection (existing WC uses sewer connection of existing house) Possibly other things to meet building regs such as... Exterior doors (fire regs). Sound proofing of wall between new and existing house. EPC (needed for renting)

Your right Russell, just wish people would do what they promise and crack on.

We did the same Peter. He/she has been sleeping in the house for several weeks, after initially adding leaves to the hay we'd provided. Last night we had a our first frost of the year and for ten minutes (just before 3.30am) he was in and out every 30 seconds or so with mouthfuls of leaves.

For anyone considering electric heating, you should look at Air Source Heat Pumps rather than resistance heating. For every KW of electricity they use, you get between 3 and 4 KW of heat.

You might be right. Forget leading or trailing, does it say suitable for LED?

I would get them to remove it as it would be un-enforcable. give the tossers something to do.

Good point. You never know,it might be filled up with hard core. Or another sub genre of rave music:))

Best get it cut down asap, or find another plot.

I don't think you realise just how restricted a badly designed, 48 square metre, 2 bed, terraced house can be. Even windows get in the way.

Ours is an extra wide one bedroom model which makes space for a bath plus a separate shower cubical. It is too nice hence a lowered incentive to complete the self build.

It’s kind of like pubic hair . It’s all a bit of a mess but no one sees it so you don’t straighten it all out .

Welcome to THE forum. Just in case there is any confusion / concern you dont need to lay the bricks upside down just because you are on the otherside of the world?. (We are mostly NOT flat earthers here.)

Actually that's got to be a "bitch" doing it on your own?

"begging" to be covered by a suspended ceiling? ?

I think it was more like thermal moss ?

you got any herons?--they love ducklings