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The secret for multiple services crossing the same road is get ONE of them to install their service, preferably water as that goes deeper. Then while the road is open, drop in ducts (with draw strings) for the other services, black for electricity, grey for telecoms. Then you can get the other services connected on the basis a duct under the road is already waiting for them. This is exactly what we did.

I have had several pints with him and he is very, very sound. He took a 60 mile detour once just to drop off an unused tub of waterproofer at my build and would not take a penny for it, ditto some 16mm pex connectors that he posted out. Also the time he spent building and sharing SAP models, calcs, etc on this forum were significant. He often admitted that he found it difficult to read emotion into online conversations so sometimes came across as aloof, which was unintentional.

The second option, with the trim, looks better to me. Although, thinking about it, won’t you want something visual to show where the step is, otherwise people will keep tripping up it? maybe something like this?

this is excellent news and i was wondering for a long time what happened there- but thats live, we move on once building is done and then come back to this forum once the next project is in line ... This is still the best resource of knowledge BY FAR....

Thanks again all I think this point is important. I have no intention of legal action against the Church. Keeping positive neighbourly relations is a priority for me Perhaps the way forward is a polite letter to the Church explaining my perspective. I am of course thankful that I've managed to prevent a large bill for a whole new system. A reasonable solution might be to keep 2/3 the costs i've incurred as credit for future maintenance liabilities.

For everyone who has been asking, I gave Jeremy a call yesterday. The good news is he has recovered from his injury and having to take rather unpleasant medication alongside that. On the Buildhub front, Jeremy was undertaking a lot of the day to day background admin work of the forum prior to his injury. Having been away from it, he has been less inclined to get back involved and has various other interests which occupy his time. His missing blog is simply down to the EU domain being shut down. Unfortunately, that's where his back up was hosted as well so what's here on Buildhub is it, unless he can dig out a hard back up copy (which he thinks he has). That's all there is. Hopefully he will return at some point in the future.

He posted me a box of lights and fittings he had spare for free at his expense when I was new to the forum some 5 years ago I used them and the lights still shine at the hut One of the good guys he's is, in my camp

Ok so I have no idea the last time someone checked a flow for Part G... and I just fit tap restrictors and the same with showers at the heads. Someone comes along and removes them a week later, what do I do..? ??‍♂️

If it’s an OS map that you think has been edited, might be worth letting OS know. They are very protective of their assets.

Haha... I wonder how many of us are doing exactly this!

I bet it’s still finished before @pocster ,s place ?.

Very nice, Well done ?

now, after 2.5t of walling Cotswolds stone and 6x days of manual labour in pissing rain, this is what I built. (I.built.a.wall.Me.a.middle.age.admin.woman.zero.experience). ?

Electrician came today and he is going to wire them up instead as there is going to be a light switch moved so it's an easy job apparently!

Why take the easy option, you could dig the clay and make them yourself ?

Write a review here. Seems like they read these. https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.howdens.com?page=58

I agree with others.. Work tops - If the supply and installation was all on one invoice then I agree with others that it should have been zero rated to you. If the supply and installation are separate invoices from different companies then the supply should be standard rated and the installation zero rated. You could reclaim the VAT on the supply. The kitchen work tops you will have to explain to HMRC why the joiners name is on the invoice.

Nah, his kids would see sense and sell it as a plot for someone to flatten like 90% of the other places up there.

yeah I think it can make it look quite professional, rather than average.

So, the over engineered MVHR pre filters are ready to go, along with the over engineered attenuators. I still need to tape and paint the wall before I fit it all properly but it’s gone together well so here’s hoping it all works ??

+1 to the nosing. Make it a contrast.

The part of planning that validate applications have little or no time or on the ground local knowledge unless they happen to live round the corner and even then... I'm sure they take a site location plan as gospel unless someone local complains. So the onus is on you or neighbours to point this out. Probably called democracy but .... Local councillors can be really helpful with this kind of thing, except maybe they're thick as thieves with the perpetrator - it is the time of backhanders. As @PeterW said the council solicitors are on the hook if it's wrong. So an anonymous email/letter should work. From experience don't bother calling the case officer.... Simon

Send the map you have received and the map you have obtained correctly with a note to the Council Solicitor by recorded delivery stating you believe a fraudulent application has been made but due to the sensitivity of the subject you do not wish your name to be made public nor communicated to the planning department. They have a legal duty of care to then respond and investigate - they also cannot divulge your details as the legal department in a council is accountable for privacy and data protection. Good luck ..!!

I am going through this at the moment, water and electric on the other side of busy road. Both utilities said they would collaborate to avoid closing the road twice but I have to pay both for the road closure and dig in advance. They promised some refund if they don’t need to do all the works; road closure cost in full but only part of the excavation cost, depending on what they need to do. I will trust them and hope for a fair deal in the end. Water supplier will probably do the road crossing due to depth required. I am treating this a challenge to get two utilities to work together and if I save some money, that will be a bonus!

The provision of a self-contained unit is not allowed under PD even if it’s a change of use. The only way I see it working would be to claim lawful use (as a self contained unit) for a min. period of 4 years. This would need to be supported by substantial evidence and usually in the way of tenants’ agreements. Assume you’re not within 400m of a SPA?

this side of the Pond and no, not expensive. Not terribly high spec either tho...

A new gas connection is often subsidised. It cost me £1500 for a pre-demo disconnection and £300 for the reconnection from a different part of the frontage. The disconnection took two of them all of 30 mins, the reconnection was a full half day with a crew of 4. So if they do it and leave the pit open.... you can perhaps cover with steel plates until it gets reinstated.

I am also interested in this and am at the stage of just paying UKPN/Openreach/Water utilities for the new connections. my road closure for UKPN is nearly £2.5k as it's a single track road. Openreach also charge for road closure and I'm waiting on costs from the water company. I am going to do my best to try and get them to all come during the same road closure period so I will hopefully only have to pay for it once! I guess I will then go back to the companies and ask for the refund. but I am fully expecting it to be a major ball ache. I guess it'll be just one of many trials and tribulations of our self-build.

Our connection was made in a connection pit about 1 metre square. Within the grass verge but right adjacent to the single track road.

So you’ve rather complicated it for yourself having the work invoiced to your builder. I think you will get away with reclaiming the VAT on the supply of the kitchen as noted above but a 3rd party has ordered the supply and fit of the worktops so that muddies the water a bit. It’s still worth another go however as the work on a new build should have been zero rated. I assume you’ve simply spoken to someone in the shop? Forget them, and contact head office with an email explaining that supply and fit work on a new build property should be zero rated and point them at VAT Notice 708 Section 11. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buildings-and-construction-vat-notice-708#section11 If you can’t find a contact write a comment on their Facebook page (you’ll probably have to randomly comment on one of their posts as others have done) and you should get a response from them. Failing that write to the CEO Andrew Livingston.

I'm just going through this, it's quite a palaver and there are companies you can pay to co-ordinate it. My quote for electricity is £8.7k, water £3.5K, both from over the road and both had to be paid in advance (No gas available). They acknowledged they could share a trench and road closure, but it's on a refund basis which they won't disclose or promise the amount. Water needs to go deepest, but initially the electricity people said they were going to dig, until I pointed this out, so double check everything.

But what was put in the roof was both not enough plus was put in wrong with gaps everywhere. Heat rises and your ceiling insulation was plain crap. If it's all escaping out the roof it won't matter how long you run your heating or how big the rad is, the room won't get warm enough. All the insulation is doing is being Tom thumb holding back the water only your ceiling is Tom new born baby wee finger. It's just not capable of doing it. All the insulation is doing is slowing the rate at which it will leave your house. There is always going to be some leakage your just getting it down as low as you can. You need to roll more out end of. 300mm min depth. You can lie across the insulation it won't compress enough to burst through the ceiling. Buy some cheap ass clay pots and cut a notch out of the lip with a grinder or hacksaw if you don't have one for the cable going to your downlights. Silicone around the edge of the pot and fill in the notch so it's sealed to the plasterboard. This will stop cold air leakingn in plus heat escaping. You just need to get this done as soon as before the really cold months come or before we all lose the will to live and go out licking shop door handles in the hope of getting covid. It's not a big job just a messy one. Buy enough rolls to finsh the 100 mm between the joists and then another 200min above that. Go online and look at the coverage in each pack and use the room measurements to figure out what you need to finish it off. Stop stressing about what the builder did and didn't do it's not getting you anywhere. Realistically he's been paid so if you ask him to come back and fix it he's going to tell you where to go. So go to your builders yard/homebase/b&q and buy what you need to buy and get the job done. Finger out and get it sorted for this weekend.

I've looked through your posted topics and from an "in progress" thread it looks like you extension downstairs has a small hallway separating the new downstairs room and the wall of the old house. While the upstairs room abuts directly to the old stone wall of the cottage. Is this correct? If so, and those that may understand these principles better than me, could the cold 4ft thick cottage wall be acting as a giant heatsink, or even a "coldsink"? It's a big old thick bit of stone that is taking a lot of energy to heat up while constantly being re-cooled from the outside and coldness moves along its mass from outside to inside. This is then acting as a giant cold radiator in your room. You're not getting this downstairs as you have that small hallway separating the new room and the old stone wall, here you have 4 newly highly insulated walls there and only 3 upstairs. My house, a 1950s semi with cavity wall insulation, I can feel a very small change of temperature from the corner of an internal and external wall to the middle of the internal wall, it's colder towards the exterior wall. Infact my kitchen, which is like your extension has three external walls, the shared internal wall is colder to the touch than an internal wall say in the lounge. If my theory is correct, and happy to be corrected, I would be looking at what the insulation is against the old cottage wall and if this is sufficient. Even if a damp barrier was installed, and even though it may not show physical signs of damp, stones are great for drawing it out the atmosphere and passing it along to each other (and dampness I found always make the air feel colder.). An internal cavity up here may even be the way forward, or you may just need time to allow what was a cold external wall (thats had hundreds of years to get that cold) to heat up to become a warmish internal wall.

So are we saying a manual is better than mechanical? I’m cutting 1m tiles soon and just doing the research. Some say manual leaves a rough edge whereas sawn is nice and smooth. Is this correct with the larger porcelain tile. I’ve been looking at the montolit masterpiuma 93p3.

It does compute, from Table 2 walls only have to achieve U=0.28W/m2.K but ceilings have to achieve 0.18W/m2.K. That implies 56% more thermal resistance (insulation). B regs stipulate a max U-value, as in Table 2, which insulation and thickness you use to achieve it is up to you Sorry, in that case you need to find someone who does Cold is always coming in, it is just the rate that we control with insulation

yup, been there done that, whilst fighting fir my planning permission I used my JCB to do work in my field and general work on my plot, not building related, my neighbour from hell called our planning officer out So many times that in the end I rang him EVERY MORNING to tell him what I planned that day, he stopped coming despite the calls ?

When that tips up its a great sight, actually feels like you are making some progress then.

My mate got done for being 500mm than his drawings. He got it passed as retro, but wasted a lot of time. Some neighbours can be a nightmare. Mine complains if i go out to my bins. I have had planning enforcement out 5 times in about 5 months due to my neighbour. In the end i had to write to the council and tell them that if they came out again, without doing due diligence first, i would sue them for harassment. I haven't had them out since. P.S. I hadn't done anything that was not permitted in on any of the 5 times. If it does get flagged up, it could cause you a nightmare.

The BCO isn't coming back, won't be measuring it, and the builder won't be fixing it. But you will live with a cold room unless you work out what should've been done and check what was done. If the room was warm, none of this would matter; but you've got a problem and you're currently trying to diagnose it.

The cables should either lie on the ceiling with the insulation on top, or the cables should be on top of the insulation. The cables should NOT end up in between 2 layers of insulation.

If no one has noticed it by now I would do nothing

Hi everyone, When browsing for info about our project I came across this excellent website. I am a graphic designer by trade but are planning to build/help out as much as I can on the renovation of our bungalow. I have, apart from a shed, not build anything structural. I did on a previous property some renovations and floor and bathroom tiling. I hope to pick up advice here in order to project manage it and do parts myself to keep the costs down. We bought as a young-ish family a bungalow in the South East. After long discussions what to do with it, we have finalised our plans and the architectural drawings are ready. The plan is to extend on the front and on the back and reshuffle the layout. On the front will be a new large living room/kitchen extension on steel pillars as the bungalow is on a hill. The existing kitchen becomes a bedroom with en-suite. Attached to the back we will add two bathrooms. The existing bungalow will get external insulation and the whole will be finished with shoe sugi ban style black cladding. We hope, the added insulation with UFH in the new extension area will give us enough warmth in winter to install a heatpump and in addition electric heaters in the existing rooms of the bungalow, unless we are running out of money by that time and we are in the cold. Below is a screen grab of what I tried to explain: Cheers, Bernd

Can you raise the ground? ?

Yes they are wrong. You could ask them to change the invoice to say ‘supply of’ and remove the line re fitting (if you get my drift ....).

The kitchen worktops if "supply and fit" should have been zero rated by the installer. You need to go back to them, point out this was a new build house and it should have been zero rated and for them to refund the VAT you have paid. you will not be able to claim that back any other way. Our worktop fitter did that, they would not commit to zero rating until their surveyor had been to the house to measure up and then he was happy to confirm it was indeed a new build house in the process of being built and zero rated the invoice.

I bought a few things through trade accounts of my builders and the suppliers couldn’t make the invoice out to me but I successfully claimed back the vat by pointing out which invoices these were and explaining why these were not in my name. I can’t comment on the supply and fit of your worktops .

Perhaps your kitchen supplier might change the invoice, that would be the first suggested action. You don't ask, you don't get. There is a section on the VAT reclaim form concerning where invoices are not made out in your name. Maybe somebody else here can say if this box has been that effective. On your second point. Yes if a supply and fit it should be zero rated. I would ask them to refund the difference and address it to you. I took out trade accounts everywhere so I don't see why it would be an issue for you.

Go onto Rightmove , put in sw1 postcode and steal as many ideas as you can from the hundreds of pages of listings.

I'm man enough I hope to admit I was at times less than generous towards Jeremy in private comments to other members. I like to feel I got over that. I think I took his drive, passion and tenacity as arrogance. Chuck in a bit of jealousy maybe at his breadth of knowledge. Less a case of him being "one of those people who's always right", bottom line he generally was! ? I miss him. Best Christmas pressie Buildhub could have is if he makes an appearance.

The biggest problem is running out of energy... just paint it all magnolia and we'll worry about it later.