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https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/give-nature-a-home-in-your-garden/garden-activities/buildabatbox/ ?

Good luck with that. I’ve got an entire feckin building dedicated to them. 3 years on and the only residents I’ve had is a wasps nest ?

One of our delights every evening is to sit in our living room looking at the bats flying a racecourse pattern around the garden, coming within inches of the window at times. I've been thinking of putting a bat box up on the gable end of the garage.

I hope you're going to vacuum under there before boarding over! ?

Cheeky bloody Northerner! ? Loads of decent hills in Sussex. Just ask the parascending fraternity around Lewes and the South Downs.

Will do when it's all got a fresh lick of paint and the pillars are infilled with flint. Way to go still like with everything I do! Might get laddo here to work out the geometry for the pillar caps so I can knock up some moulds.

No it will be fine don’t use PVA with tiles SBR is more reliable

Let me see if I can find a couple of useful thoughts. I've read the Appeal Decision, and a number of docs from the original application (not all 36), including the D&A, and the Planning Officer report. I can't find a dimensioned plan of the existing house or plot; I may have missed it. I think your Design and Access document does not address these concerns sufficiently, rather it is a list of statements - it needs a planning argument (is that in a document I missed?). It provides an argument based on your build, but does not address the planning policy concerns expressed by the Council in terms understood by the Council. I think the Appeal Report is quite short because the Inspector felt that the couple of concerns he mentioned sink it, but any future application would need to address the points in the Council report too. The Council had clear planning grounds for rejection, so the Inspector has only gone into it far enough to establish his verdict (that is normal). To be honest, I agree with them on the rejection, because the App does not make a convincing planning argument imo, and - if I have understood what happened correctly - not meeting the full procedural bat report requirements of the Natural Wales body (or whatever it is called), such as 3 occasions of survey not one, is fatal to an application. I accept that I could be wrong on that last point if it has been addressed via docs I have not read. Your application was rejected for reasons architectural, and also for some details that are actually procedural. The importance of the streetscape is in rhythm and appearance, as it is a ribbon development on a route from the community. It is not a question of being just generally acceptable; the Council want some features to be regular, repeated well, because that row of houses set the backbone of the street pattern. If you had that bungalow they then may have been adaptable; as it is they wish to keep the rhythm of the housing row. It is my view that the Council want the roofs to be quite regular, and gaps between the houses, and the windows, to be similar. These were all mentioned in the documents for the Committee, but at ground level there seems to be variety. Some gaps have a garage; but some others have a wall or tree. The Assessment also mentions dreaded bat reports; you have one but they say it has not been done quite sufficiently. And so they say bats may still exist in your vicinity. I would say that this is what a Planning Consultant should have done. That is, discovered the requirements and addressed each of them one by one. So what can you do to fulfil the demands of the committee, whilst still building a pleasant dwelling for your family? Trying to be practical, I think: 0 - You are probably stuck with the roof and house size profile on the first floor upwards, and the width of the existing house. That likely means you are stuck with the existing footprint of the house except for maybe going backwards perhaps 50% on the ground floor. The external material and fenestration needs to be essentially unchanged - even maybe consider just putting skylights on the rear not the front. Though perhaps in-roof solar panels would be good on the front. I would also put the frontage of the dwelling on the building line, since that was mentioned. Can you establish whether the Council would have *any* flexibility on footprint, is you preserve the general "face" of the house? Even 1 or 2m in width may help. 1 - You could perhaps do a full width single storey 'extension' around the back, for a kitchen diner or whatever depending on the sun and so on. 2 - I think you should consider a full footprint basement. 3 - I think you could also consider a garden room for an office or a gym or a cinema room if these are in your requirements. 4 - I think you will need to consider your treatment of the side 5 - Find a treatment of the gaps between the houses that largely conceals your rear single storey extension, eg a 2m or 2.5m wall with an archway for your drive, or evergreen bushes etc. 6 - Is it possible to get an extra storey in the loft in the existing envelope but with a basement? You may also need a basic Planning Strategy. Since the Council objections are about the size and look, I would perhaps put in an applying for a Certificate of Lawful Development for extensions up to the same size and approx appearance as your intended final version under Permitted Development. That should help poleaxe any objections to something very similar when you apply for a newbuild, as Planning should not really be concerned too much with internal layout on a house that far from its neighbours. Then do a full planning app for a newbuild in the same building envelope. That is assuming that you come up with something that is Ok for your needs that meets those terms. Ferdinand Decision 3243827.pdf 19_1187_FUL--236970.pdf Current Proposed Elevations.pdf

Yes When using matting always do the levelling before the matting goes down

Decided to finally connect the AAV pipework . Wasn’t brave enough ( stupid enough ) to use floplast , so tiger seal to give me time . Couldn’t get the coupler in so cut it and tiger sealed it in .

You can use tile adhesive But let it set before you put your 5 mil adhesive down for your Ditra Ardex for the ply

No, don't really notice it, TBH, other than the house feeling a lot cooler. 18°C doesn't really feel cold, just pleasantly cool. We have lots of travertine flooring, and my wife tends to walk around in bare feet in summer, when the cooling is on, just because the cool floor feels more pleasant. Leaving aside the very high cost of using a GSHP (killed the idea for us, as it was massively more expensive than an ASHP), why bother with the heat pump at all? The ground will sit at around 8°C all year around, so just laying a pipe array in the ground, connected to another pipe array in the cool room, with a small circulating pump, would keep the cool room at a pretty constant temperature all year around. If a thermostat was added to turn the circulating pump on and off then the temperature of the cool room could be adjusted to be whatever you wanted, as long as it was a bit above 8°C.

No, she was out.

I think the Appeal System in Wales stops at that point, unless a Minister intervenes or you take them to the High Court. I think you are into a new application to meet the Council concerns, or a change of plot. F

What were you doing up this way???

This stopped me coupling.

We had two planning applications refused by the LPA and then went to appeal which was also refused. We took all of the Planning Inspectorates comments into account with our third application which was also refused by the LPA. We then, with support from our local councillor, took the application to the Planning Committee which supported us unanimously and overturned the refusal. There were lots of compromises made to get the approval, but we still like the design.

+1 to using anaerobic sealant. I discovered the Screwfix Liquid PTFE, a few years ago. Works exactly like Loctite sealant, even smells the same, and gives a guaranteed watertight seal every time. My only gripe is that the bottle is a PITA to use, as the stuff is a bit too thick to pour, so you end up having to really squish the bottle to get the stuff out: https://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-ptfe-liquid-50g/5321j

@OnoffHave you actually validated your laser is plumb and level ..??? Best way to check is a plumb line as it never lies ...

+1. Amazing on brass threads. Add a smear of Jet-Lube at the same time. https://www.diy.com/departments/jet-lube-jointing-compound-300-g/191085_BQ.prd Bullet proof, Tape just doesn’t do the job well enough.

Think I'm going to have to try that on a fitting that I left dripping for the last year. The water is really hard here and usually weeping joins eventually stop after a while, bit it didn't in this case. Great for dealing with dogey plumbing. Not so great for the kettle or when you want to close the stop cock in a rush.

Most here started out not knowing much. This place is a bit like a self-build university, where we all learn from each other.

Should go down a treat in China . . .

yup..... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/362882511273

Don't underestimate yourself mate!

No, effing CT 1, have you learnt nothing.

Is this the other one you did @Onoff ?

Not as much as the person that uses it. I think it is a total rebuild, mending is not an option. I hope some plumbing is involved.

hard to see properly butt the horizontal looks pretty good. Are you sure the reveals not just running out? Maybe take the wall down, remake the opening and then refit the door? ?

@joe90 and that's another thing, the planners have said if I do compromise and take off the front "bay" and stone they will grant me permission, BUT will also aim to take my PD rights off me aswell so I can't.

Thanks @PeterW, love it. Nice and simple. Perfect for my addled brain. And I can still get that in time for the weekend! Plan is a go! @Russdl hah! We did some walls ourselves but I did snap after 300m2 of DIY (tacking that is) before I called in the pros! I am not sure I'd call that a success of the fermacell DIY-ability but it'll get me in sometime this year I hope! Now to pick what shade of white to go for the ceiling... Off-milk, split meringue or millionares cocaine.