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Hello Loz. Sorry to hear about you dilemma. Your starting point here is to take another step backwards and understand what the implications are in terms of what happens to the declared strength of the timber when you rip a bit off the top / bottom / sides along the length. Typical structural timber for extensions and the like comes in grades.. you'll often see it stamped C16 or C24. When it is produced each length is put through a stress grading machine which applies a force. Sensors measure how much the timber bends or if it just snaps. If it comes out the end of the machine with the correct reading it gets a stamp to say what grade it is. Now timber has knots / wane / the grain weaves about and so on. You could say have a piece of timber with two knots near the centre but good grain top and bottom which passes the grading. Cut 40mm off the top and now the knots are in the high stress zone for bending so the timber can fail. In summary if you rip a bit lengthways of a stamped piece of timber the grading is no longer valid. You can notch it but there are rules which apply to where and how much you can notch timbers. Point this out to the SE / BC officer and see if they will still pass the joists given that the stress grading is probably invalid.

You can only try. They are very busy, but sometimes once you get a dialogue going they can be more helpful.

OK, now we're getting somewhere. Change the windows to a normal size. You'll regret living in a house with no natural light. This will help to fix the "austere and characterless elevations" For the chimney you have a strong argument that the government wants to ban stoves/fires etc and so houses shouldn't have chimneys. They also harm airtightness. I have two which are totally fake! Unless catslides are a feature of the area he doesn't have much of an argument. Why not change to the one you are suggesting, I think he maybe just wants it to have character not a specific design. Then maybe look to varying the outer finish in a modern way such as a mix of render and wood, something that you like that provides some variation. I suspect the windows and the creation of the large expanses of wall are the main problem. The planner will also like if you show willing.

I don't like planners being so specific about design generally, especially looking at the other houses in the street. But, I don't understand what you are thinking with the redesign and planners do have some responsibility to try and achieve good design. Are you really proposing those tiny little windows, it would be awful and dark inside. BC may also have an issue with the lack of light and ventilation and it would impact the SAP score.

Your measured energy usage is excellent. Even the most diligently put together computer programmes are full of assumptions so could be looked at as rough estimators. I remember you fitted a stove in your house which are unfortunately poor performers when it comes to airtightness. in this case 0.5ACH all by itself. https://www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk/cumberworth-radical-retrofit-airtightness-test-wood-burning-stove/ Did you have any leaks here during the test? Also your gains from lighting it are hard to measure. Once you reach an ACH of less than 2 the gains are small in any case. IMO is your SAP is good enough I'd just file and forget and enjoy your nice house.

Ok so what is the exact span as 450mm which is not a block but near enough with a bit of wiggle, a 170x45 will span 3.83m with a 0.25 dead load. However as the SEng specced the 44x195 at 400 centres and you are paying for that, then you are within your rights to ask for that.

In an upside down house you really want to have a big, generous, stair, with a low pitch too

Yes we do have a stove. In theory it is room sealed, i.e. combustion air ducted from outside. But when the blower was on, the roof penetration for the stove flue was one place where a small draught was just detectable. That and one of the velux windows had a leak in the corner, not between the frame and the building, but between the frame and the window, i,e, it was not sealing perfectly. Yes I am happy with the EPC and it and the air test will be submitted to BC for completion and then just filed.

i don’ t have a thermal camera unfortunately. It’s a weird one for sure.

Perhaps incidental heating contributes enough to skew the result. In a perfect 'passive house' it would contribute 100% and give COP of infinity

From the planners reply it feels like they’re proper against changes, it did go to committee originally. “austere and characterless elevations.”

This is the neighbouring house: these are on the same road

Going from 3 core to 4 is pennies. I’d do that just to give you options. I’d Earth the SWA and use a core for dedicated Earth to fittings. I’m a bit OCD so take that with a pinch of salt.

That’s horrendous- doubling them up is a solution- but they haven’t glued the chipboard to the joists either. Make sure the new joists have egger glue on top. I’d have a good look at the rest of their work...

Yes, Its seems to be totally forgotten by most builders and designers with everyone hell bent on achieving one u value or another. U-Values are long forgotten when the roof is full of fungus and the timbers are rotten. I was almost going to point it out but i think 3 of my last 4 replies are on similar topics so the tune is wearing thin.

That opens a minefield of "statistics" Floor area is 158 square metres. I believe they have included in that the unheated "plant room" above the garage that is included in the air tight envelope of the house. The calculated heating energy usage of 6295kWh calculates to 41.95 kW per m2 My measured heating energy use of 1712kWh calculates to 10.83kWh per m2 but that is electricity in to the ASHP so at a COP of 3 would be 32kWh of heat per m2 So some way short of PH but still a "low energy" house.

My assumption was the conservatory had a solid wall on the boundary. If it was glass they wouldn't apply the 45 degree rule, but I think that glass is unlikely against the boundary.

Sounds like a recipe for a creaking floor.

Is it just this room? If so I'd fix it properly. If there is no head height issue downstairs I'd knock the bricks off replace with deeper joists resting on the steel. At other end of the room there are ways to fix joists to a wall without having to cut new pockets. For example bolt a timber to the wall using resin anchors and the use joist hangers. I'm thinking two days work. Knocking out the noggins and sistering the joists will also work fine but its like crashing a car. The insurance co might do a good job of making the damage go away but I can't unknow its happened.

Do not use a breathable membrane under lead, it will sweat and damage the lead. Get a non breathable membrane like a1 protect and run a strip down, install the lead and then put your regular breathable membrane on top of the lead to the desired overhang.

How would you end the membrane without the overlaps in the valleys ..? I allow overlap both ways plus put a piece all the way down the valley so in some places it is 3 layers.

I am doing the same - glass clamp down and then fixed through the roofing. What you do is use a rubber / bitumen sealer washer around each fixing which is then compressed as the bolt is secured. Done it in the past and it is fairly bombproof -

I think this worry stems from not compacting the hardcore properly. Pouring a concrete sub slab reduces the risk of the floor sinking over time. Nothing serious happens just cracked tiles by doorways etc. If I could assure that the hardcore was to be laid in thin layers and diligently compacted I would happily skip the subfloor. Your BC and SE don't have the time to check these things so tend to go with the solution that is more tolerant of poor workmanship. As an alternative you could do a hardcore base (properly compacted), insulation, 100mm reinforced screed with mesh tied into perimeter walls. Tie the UFH pipes to the mesh before you pour. powerfloat to finish. By the way you don't really need any concrete in a floor if it's done properly.

Apple trees are not that thirsty. Unless you are on highly shrinkable clay you will be fine.

I often wonder why we have concrete when it is just a ground bearing floor, not carrying any building loads. If the ground is good and solid, surely hardcore and well compacted type 1 would be sufficient. Certainly better than brick on earth, which was traditional years ago.

Are the joists resting on a steel beam at the other end? If so is this not set at the wrong height and can it be easily changed? If the steel is at the correct height, I struggle to see how this happened if everything is built correctly square.

Any floor designer will be able to calculate the deflection of the floor you paid for and the greater deflection of the floor as installed. These are unambiguous numbers that a matey gaggle of the builder, BCO and SE cannot ignore.

Sorry but that’s just wrong ..!! They need to take the joists out and start again at their cost. Spacing and size are incorrect - the lot needs fixing as it is non compliant. The quicker way is to get the BCO to agree to a wall plate at the right height using resin bolts and then use timber hangers on the wall plate. The saving grace may be that the cut down joists may fit across the space if the layout allows - it looks slightly less than 4m.

Get building control to look at it. If BC says no the builders won't be able to argue with him and they will have to correct it at their expense.

So, have they ripped the 200mm joists down to 170mm along their entire length?! And at 440mm centres instead of 400mm? I'd be checking with the SE if that's OK... But my gut would be saying it needs to come down and done properly as per the spec. Goes without saying, don't pay any more until it's sorted.

Agreed. We have two separate living areas and I occasionally think it would be nice to have another! Depends who's living there, of course. We have two very different teenagers who rarely spend time together. The main thing that jumps out at me is the size of the master bedroom. We have a big bedroom at around 4600 square. Having lived with it for a few years now, I know that if I ever build another house, knocking 600-800 off both dimensions would make very little difference in terms of space and comfort. Yours looks to be roughly another metre or so bigger in one dimension and maybe roughly the same in the other. This feels like massively wasted space to me. You could set up the window end of the bedroom as a proper "parents' retreat" type of thing, with sofas, TV etc, which would use up the extra space and perhaps offers you another private sitting area.

I would go 300 litre TS with solar coil, put a pair of immersions in so you can dump the excess PV in there too. The TS can then balance the oil boiler into the rads etc

I would say get a Telford Stainless steel UVC with a standard and solar input coil. Nothing to stop you using the PV and the ST at the same time.

Trouble is the builders opinion will count for nothing If he won’t move on this You will probably have to do it Or as I said earlier Spend a couple of hundred on a SE BC like there bits of paper

Ingress of water will be your worst issue, so test everything and then flood the junction boxes with resin to mummify everything for life. Smother the exposed outer of the SWA with dense silicone grease or possibly Vaseline before pushing the shrouds on. YouTube videos will give you the remainder of the info you need to get this done.

Picking up pace again now all the lintels are here

7n only usually used on 3 storey. SE knows best but you can ask the question

Used Howdens for over 20 years without a major problem. Damaged bits always replaced. Sometimes a few bits a couple of days late. There not perfect but neither am I. Quite happy with the team on the island.

Yep bear in mind this guy is supposed to be a professional, has had the company for years according to my internet research and is well known, although I don't think we are his only unhappy customer!

A few random things I didn't realise before I bought my first cameras You can save bandwidth, CPU, storage etc by dropping the megapixels - do you really need 4k resolution for every camera? The focal length of the lens is important. Wide angle lenses cover lots of area, but resolution is poorer because the lens is covering a wider area Couple of useful pages (and more) are here https://www.cctv42.co.uk/help-advice/buying-guides/camera-buying-guide/hd-1080p-lens-comparison/ https://www.cctv42.co.uk/help-advice/buying-guides/camera-buying-guide/3mp-4mp-4k-resolution/ Blue iris is great The array of hikvision products is maddening Make sure you remove any cameras before any clumsy oafs with sledgehammers start demolishing things, because the vision of clumsy oafs is based on movement toward the kettle, not the presence of expensive cameras Don't mount cameras up too high otherwise all you'll get is the tops of dodgy blokes heads

If you request temporary disconnection it can be anywhere accessible on your premises, but if you want to make a permanent disconnection they'll insist it's on public land so they don't have any potentially live/leaks under the no longer serviced private plot

Yes, I did this a few years ago, they can terminate the live pipe where ever you want.

It is very site specific. In my case condition 1 of the planning permission said the entrance from the highway onto the plot must be formed before construction commences. As soon as I notified the planners that I had created the entrance, they conformed that the development had started, this was before I broke ground on the actual build.

Deepfakes playing on screens visible through the window? Childish but amusing and saves you the need to walking around in the buff. ? Back in the real world those willows look ace. Trellis with creepers is also relatively quick and the trellis itself might break up the view enough to give sufficient privacy even in winter.

To help @Dan1983 out slightly you couldn't point out what bits you can see that are potentially unsafe.

This depends on how much floor build up you have or floor to ceiling height you have spare. Also what floor is this on and what floor surface will you be finishing with? Need a bit more detail on this. Regards R

No - your neighbor is a nutter! There are no structural implications of flaked bricks from a screw. Better to drill and plug in future though.

Don’t be bloody ridiculous

This is the one I used https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/pro-Clima-Tescon-Vana-Klebeband-6-cm/261428419557?epid=1806367413&hash=item3cde591be5:g:m3IAAOxyeR9TKgJ7:rk:2:pf:0