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Snap , with RAL 7016 Window Frames and Sweet Chestnut cladding

So it's a warm roof. Needs to be ripped off then. I don't care what others say. The GRP bodger has used cut edges of glass on your trims, instead of fraying them. And, i can see the glass through the gel coat. This GRP roof was not done by a pro. It was prob done by his lads who did'nt have much of a clue. Unless your builder is a total muppet, he knew your roof had not been constructed properly. (No firing pieces) However, he hoped it would be ok, and carried on regardless. He has been caught out. (Thankfully) Make him do it properly. The bodge he is proposing will cause you untold problems in the future when he and his g-tee is long gone. Anybody in the future who comes to put your roof right is going to tell you that to do it properly is going to be roof off job. That is going to cost you a fortune, and a crap load of stress. You have the chance to avoid all that. Up to you, but without question, you have not got what you are paying for. Get it ripped off, and done right now. Or, live to regret it.

I think that could bit could be an issue as you'd be trying to push (or pull) four 75mm pipe's worth of air through one. The increased volume of air through that pipe would likely result in noise not only from air speed but back pressure also. I stand to be corrected but I would imagine it'd only really work with a large diameter pipe to feed the downstairs distribution box, just as would be the case in a conventional setup.

I ordered this one https://www.shopclima.it/en/panasonic-paw-fc-d15-aquarea-compact-fan-coil-with-left-side-connection-1-5-kw.html It's clearly just a systemair unit: https://shop.systemair.com/en/scc202plg2/p402066 (haven't worked out exactly which model number) - they didn't even bother reprinting the MI with Panasonic branding, says Systemair all over it

Snap , with RAL 7016 Window Frames and Sweet Chestnut cladding Red looks amazing. Really like the double doors. @HerbJ are your windows/frames anthracite 7016 or black?

Thanks @puntloos that link is really helpful and does as you say suggest that there’s going to be a further transition, but looks as though duty will still apply but on the UKGT tariff which is generally more favourable but just as incomprehensible! Still don’t feel like chancing it so am going to try and get any big ticket items I need for my build in the country before the deadline if I can.

Not an option unfortunately, whatever solution is needed it needs to happen. We have managed to negotiate an extra month in our temporary accommodation until the end of November already but we have to be back in the house then (and we will probably murder one another if we both have to carry on working from home in the static).....

No it's not. It's a bodge. might be ok for a few years, But...................................................

You may as well incorporate dormers. You will need a scaffold temporary roof. The trusses will be big and heavy.

To be honest after reading what you said even without any opinion of the architect the solution he is proposing doesn't sound good.

8 meters even at 45 degree pitch won't give you a huge room. In my opinion you would be better off considering adding perhaps a half storey in timber and then a pitch at a shallower degree. This would give you the footprint that you have downstairs, with eaves at perhaps 1.2 plus metres. Much more usable space.

very nice! now I'm sure we made the right choice seeing yours. just got to build the bloody thing now.

I am going to contact the architects now. They are also local too. @Big Jimbo I don't know your answer to your questions but these are valid points and the exact things I wanted to know. It's going to create a huge spanner in the works getting the roof off but if the secondary roof is going to create issues I'd rather delays. And yes it's a warm roof

I tend to agree with @Big Jimbo as above, contact your architect and get his views. You are paying good money and want a good job, if your architect insists on a rebuild (I hope) you can tell the builder that as it will be your architect that carries the can for a faulty design you have to do it his way (might keep you on good terms with the builder!!!!) and insist on a GRP man that has insurance and offers a guarantee.

What a very nice bunch of people on here. The paid builder built a roof and did'nt bother to create any fall with firing pieces. This is'nt DIY. This is a paid local professional builder. Has he never done a roof before ? None of this is canalsides fault. He has admitted that he knew it was a crap job, but instead of adressing it, he has carried on with the build ! So how is he now going to fit the firing pieces that he did'nt bother to fit ? Is he going to glass them on to the existing roof finish ? Is he going to screw them down through the glass roof into the joists below ? (He is going to need bloody long screws) If that is a warm roof, he is now going to create an unventilated void above it that condensation will love. If he does screw the firing pieces down, there goes the waterproof layer of the existing crap grp roof. Those new firing pieces in the unventilated space are going to get seriously damp, and rot. What he is proposing is going to leave you with nothing that will ever be any better than a bodge job. And a bodge job that you will have paid for. I'm afraid to say it's time to put his hands up. Stick a tin hat on top of those sections of your property, rip that rotton roof off, and do the job properly. In my opinion anythink else is just a total bodge job, and not what you are paying for. Regardless of what you end up doing, tell me you are not seriously going to let the same GRP specialist !!!!!! that has done such a rubbish job anywhere near your property.

Could you do it like this and maybe even have it step in a couple of hundred mm?

The RHS have a massive volume that details all sorts of plants in the order of size, shape, flowering season etc etc. https://shop.rhs.org.uk/books/plants-shrubs-trees/plant-groups/rhs-encyclopedia-of-plants-flowers

Gosh, with mine it was inside the house so no need for insulation. We used pumice from base plate, via two bends like yours, hauntched with weak Mortor and up the right hand side just like yours. Our bottom lintel was oak (although it only holds up brickwork to first floor. In first floor isokern surrounded by blockwork supported on lintels like yours and back filled with vermiculite. So very similar but slightly different due to being internal only. (We did no calculations and BC did not question it.

Our apple tree is just about ready to be picked. It has grew like a weed this year for some strange reason so will need trimmed back in the winter.

Phone call time? Or Yellow Pages?

I feel for you. I have come to understand professionals' reluctance to take over someone else's work... It's a bit like being handed blocks of JavaScript written by someone else and being asked to sort the 'issue' out. Q. What's the issue? A. It doesn't work. It takes longer to unpick the error than to rewrite it ab initio. Might something analogous be happening here? PS. Some interesting reading in your OP for me this evening. Thanks. Can't understand it yet, but....

@A_L that’s interesting thanks, especially what you say about not being able to do DHW. I was sure I’ve seen some split Daikin units (Altherma?) that do both heating and DHW.

I'm writing a big post about all my chimney and flue design journey which has been a bit involved to say the least

I installed my adapter afterwards but was a bit of a pig to fit . Not sure which diag above you used, mine is like the top one, concrete bottom block has male protrusion and stainless adapter glued up to it. Problem is our stove did not allow the metal flue to go down into the stove to be pulled back up to the adapter so had to slide the stove in with pipe at an angle till it was vertical (bad description!!,,) if your metal stove pipe goes inside the adapter then you won’t have this problem.

Grey/Green here - they tend to look one or the other depending on time of day/angle etc. White inside as we plan on using oak internally and the wood look of the windows wouldnt match.

Who ..??? If this is a private supply and there are no easements etc, then they are without any rights !! I take it they are concerned that you’ve realised this and you have a right to use the supply but everyone above you could be affected so are now trying to fix a legal issue that is pre-existing ...

We have gone for anthracite 7016 outside with Internorm but white inside purely because I wanted something neutral. Having anything more bespoke colour wise was a lot more money with Internorm. Anthracite may go 'out of fashion' but you could say the same thing about kitchens, wooden cladding, tiling....

Taking a step back, and reflecting on my own very similar experience, is your main concern the (lack of) fall or the quality of finish? I am a but more relaxed about less-than-perfect falls with modern materials, not least given that when I started doing loads of research about the issues - not from forum discussions but in standards documents, manufacturers literature etc - it really was more about the consequences of the extra loading of standing water, freezing causing safety issues etc thus not particularly significant for most domestic situations. As some one (in here I think) told me; a roof with a hole in it will leak whether there's a fall or not. If it's the quality issue then that can surely be resolved without replacing or building over the roof from what I've read from others on here that know about GRP. For what it's worth our building inspector's opinion was not to rip the roof off and start again. I don't think we discussed building over though unfortunately. Just wanted to chuck that in given what I went through as the situations are uncannily similar. (Same roofer perhaps?! ) Do also be mindful that when you post up 'shoddy' work on the Internet it really gets ripped apart and you end up feeling like you've got the world's worst house and are the world's worst customer for letting it happen. Reality is there are probably thousands of these 'shoddy' roofs around that have simply never been offered up for critique. Remember: I see them all the time on the TV and soon so will you...

The reason that air is not used is for safety. Air expands, water/oil does not.

I used Aqua Panel. 6mm and 12mm thick. Cuts made using a cheap circular saw with a TCT blade, carbide grit edged jigsaw blades and Starrett cutters. It's good stuff but brittle. Studwork has to be dead level or it'll hairline crack. Not a major deal as it's full of interwoven strands and the subsequent tanking / tile adhesive sticks / seals any cracks

This is VERY GOOD advice. Ours are at 600mm - OK but way better with 400mm. Use the pozi joists 600 spec with a 400mm gap. You should be fine with that.

Get whoever in the house has biggest appetite for cake to walk around while the other watches from below to see if the chip board is moving out the joist is flexing. Once this is figured out then a solution should be fairly easy.

If the ground floor ceiling is not fitted you should be able to pin down the source of the creeks. In addition to prior advice I would investigate the joist ends and see if one joist is floating and not taking any weight. Retrofitting a few thin shims could sort this. In my previous house a copper water pipe was the source of creeks because this had been jammed against a joist. I would not contemplate putting the ceiling up with unresolved floor creaks.

One thing I heard is that at least for the first 6 months, the UK is waiving all import fees from countries, so while there might be export fees, presumably if you manage to get some orders in before July you could still have good value?

Not a stupid question. if you are paying the builder for labour and materials then he should zero rate everything to you. So if your build consisted of £50k labour and £100k ex VAT materials, you would pay him £100k. He would pay £120k for the materials (£100k plus 20% VAT) and then he would reclaim the £20k on his VAT return. if you purchase the materials for him, you would pay the £120k out but then reclaim it at the end. In that instance you would reclaim the £20k. If it’s supply and fit by a VAT registered trader they MUST zero rate the whole invoice otherwise it cannot be reclaimed.

There are too many potential complexities here for me to even try and answer - never mind the COVID regs changes. eg "His 12 month tenancy ended" depends on the tenancy type - if it is an AST (the default) then it would not have ended but evolved into a rolling Statutory Periodic Tenancy., unless it was brought to an end through normal process. But the only way the tenancy could end at present would be by mutual agreement, since COVID restricts notice you could give unless certain circs, and he did not (I assume) give notice ... that does not seem to be the case as he continues in occupation. Just him being there will count as a change of mind on anything he said before anyway iirc. If that is the case and the tenancy has ended, then you have to either enforce (which COVID stops you doing for now unless various exceptions) or accept rent (which will create a new tenancy with god-knows-what terms unless he signs something). If you do nothing it could later be argued that you consented by letting it persist. The pragmatic way might be an exchange of letters continuing the existing tenancy, and you would at least have a defined situation. You need to decide what to do about him lying about your position to the other tenants. One way is to write to them when you know where you are telling them what the situation is. It may be important to communicate your non-consent to what he has done, either explicitly or by doind something else. I would recommend going to a specialist LL forum, or even better joining an LL organisation and asking the helpline. NRLA currently have what I think is an offer of 12 months membership for £75. https://www.nrla.org.uk/join If you evict him without following the prescribed processes it could be criminal. I have no idea what liability you would have if the other tenants chucked him out. HTH slightly. @pocster may have things to add. F

He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, if it’s a new build it’s zero rated if you have a set of plans that’s proof you have consent to build a new house, job done just asked the wife who’s sitting next to me, she’s an accountant.

I have little idea what that number actually means in practical terms - in relation to 15bn of extra trade every year. Except that it is supposed to look small, perhaps by parties who are not happy that we are signing trade deals. Or media after easy headlines.

Not very clear but.. https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-construction/vconst02250

You usually need to provide a copy of your planning permission to show that you're eligible for the appropriate scheme and then send a link to the HMRC website. This link is pretty simple and is what I sent to any wavering contractors. https://www.gov.uk/vat-builders

So there are only two possibilities here. Just follow the money 1) BM is supplying goods to you (you pay the bill, your name, and address is on invoice). These will have VAT applied which you can reclaim at end of build. The installer also invoices you for their work and this is zero rated. i.e. you have a direct commercial relationship with two parties, two payments, two invoices etc. 2) BM supplies goods to installer who brings them to site and does the install. You will received one invoice and make one payment only to the installer. This whole invoice needs to be zero rated for VAT. If merchant charges VAT to installer then it's the installer's responsibility to either get that zero rated or claim of their own VAT bill. Clear?

Life will go on. We won't suddenly have the entire UK population out of work and the pound valueless on intetnational money markets. It may take a little time to settle but there are also other suppliers than in the EU. We have recently started sourcing some raw materials for work from Mexico rather than Germany. Nothing to do with brexit, everything to do with better prices and better service , even with import duties and higher transport costs.

I am of the opinion that all this doom and gloom if we leave is not correct. Not one prediction by the “experts” after the vote two years ago have come true. I liked the channel 4 Brexit debate last night.

Erm , I did try to be ‘knowledgeable’ Now you’ve shown me up ! . In theory the install completes Monday - perhaps I’ll know by then ????.

...which in case you were still wondering 'so what?' means that it therefore stores energy (when compressed) which can be dangerous if something suddenly gives. Shouldn't be an issue with low pressure plumbing testing though I wouldn't have thought. (I have visions now of an AAV blowing a hole in the roof and landing in next door's garden...)