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merry Christmas old friends! Just wanted to update that today we heard we won on our planning appeal against LBHF, and decision could not read as more helpful and supportive - all planners' arguments were dismissed as 'unconvincing' and both extensions can now go ahead ! Wanted to thank everybody for offering constructive and useful advice - probably would not have had the conviction to face the appeal route without you here - THANK YOU! Now on to the next challenge - to build it (without breaking the bank) ? Will be checking back in for more useful knowledge sending virtual Champagne to everyone (if it's your thing)

Agree about the markets being separate but don’t agree on quality. I do snags on new builds that the bricklaying is appalling and you can see where multiple gangs have done different parts, and their quality is also variable ! The brick gangs round here are pretty poor overall - I saw 3 packs of facing bricks laying in mud on a site a few weeks ago - mentioned it to the site manager who said in one breath there was a brick shortage, and then said they would get scooped up and put in a skip as waste … apparently one of the brickies got bored waiting for some bricks to be moved so tried with the telehandler himself ..! Flip side is I’ve got a 60 year old brickie who refuses to do the new build sites as they want quantity not quality, but his day rate is such that even when I ask for “sloping dentil finish using reclaims” he goes ‘OK’ and the finish is perfection - doesn’t cost me much more and tbh what I’m paying is what he wants and is always reasonable. When he’s on blocks he can definitely keep up with the younger ones yet will usually point all joints where others leave them flush. I think it’s horses for courses and on a self build having someone a little slower does mean you can adjust and make decisions along the way, which is good if you’re not well versed in the industry.

There is no reason why a suspended timber floor cannot be insulated properly, ours is. A solid slab is not the only way to get a well insulated floor. The original question seemed to be about access and crawl space to access services. Our previous house had nearly 2ft crawl space with access gaps through the sleeper walls so you could crawl around under the entire house, and we had 2 trap doors to get down under the floor. That house has some pipework under the floor and some cables, think building a house the "old way" Our new house has a similar void under the floor but no trap doors to get down there because we wanted a better level of air tightness. But this time there are no services down there. Obviously mains water electricity etc come up and into the building, but straight up in ducting. There is just one short run of drain pipe not under but within the depth of the floor beams to serve the utility room. That should not need access ever. There are no water pipes or cables under the floor, those are all in the service void around the walls or in the inter floor space between ground and first floor.

Cast your own? I've actually a bunch of plastic moulds here if any shapes take your fancy. Not sure if any are pitched like the one I cast though:

I’ve just bumped into my preferred bricklayer at the gym Hes about a dozen bricklayers working for him He was telling me the Major house builders are guaranteeing £250 per day per man Regardless of weather As long as they stay on site and work in and out of down pours Something self builders can’t compete with Nor do we want to

The good standard bit I take exception to. What the small guys can do is is listen to what the customer wants and do exactly that. You won't get that level of detail on a mass build. I do agree not all tradesmen are equal in quality though, I know about 4 or 5 joiners, but only one of those is good enough to work on my own home for finishing joinery.

Well done must be very satisfying after all. the frustration

Not that I can see.

I remember winning my appeal and yes a wonderful feeling, well done (now you can get on with it ?).

Excellent news @oxo That's the best Christmas present you could wish for.

when I was looking at solar thermal I did a test at home in the oven 2 containers one with water one with water and granite sand and 80c temp in oven the test was to see if I could use a large tank filled with water and rock to store a lot more heat -than water alone in same size tank-the down side was the limited heat input you could get from solar thermal -and then it also gives the heat out slower than just water -great if i had little geothermal vent to tap into or in arizona .LOL yes water heated up more and much quicker over the test period , a lot more but when i turned oven and then logged the temp drop the granite sand stayed well above ambient for along time compared to the water ,at least twice as long which is why I say concrete etc will act as a thermal store and level out temp changes in the building ,presuming its inside the insulated envelope ,which will make it also good in hot summers It also is why pass house designs often have an atrium with glass facing onto a solid wall to control big temp swings and I have seen some designs where they have holes this to me is why ICF buildings work as they slow the flow of heat in both directions all non poly systems have the insulation on the outside portion of the ICF wall for that reason and even poly types have the most of the insulation on the outside as well.

Simple answer is ‘no it is not’ it is worth insulating the floor to better than current regs and that will likely drive a slightly lower subfloor.

I used the intello for the complicated bits like the Tony Trays, where it's chief benefit seemed to be the woven mesh embeded in it made it very tough indeed, but it was expensive, so for the "simple" stuff just plain walls and roof, I used the very much cheaper Protect Barriair.

Why don't they just make a plug that you can wire your appliance to.

The only thing i would add is that normally between 1930's semi's you have a single 9" party wall between the properties. If you have managed to take out a chimney on the party wall, and have managed to not crack the plaster on the other side, then you have done very, very well. I have never managed to do it. Even taking the chimney out by hand. Cutting a steel into a 1930's semi party wall is also very hard to do without causing damage on the other side. Taking out a chimney requires Building control. As does taking out a wall and fitting a steel. (Did you have building control ? ) Obviously, without knowing the layout of your house, what walls you have removed etc, it's hard to tell if you may have cause damage to your neighbours property. It is however possible that you have......Get your structural engineer to go round to your neighbours, and take a look. He or she will soon tell you if any damage may have been caused by you. Good luck with all the work.

Why would she have a survey done ..??? Sounds odd … I’d smile and say that you’ve done nothing near that wall and carry on. And buy her some flowers and say sorry for the inconvenience of skips / dust / etc and when you’re finished she can come round for tea and see what you’ve been up to…. In reality, if yours was a knackered semi that you have improved then it’s likely you’ve increased her property value not decreased it.

We have B&B on both floors of our house. Has Insulation and screed on top and plasterboard below. Never had any blocks crack or fall down. Love it for the solid feeling.

You will have the same with other trades with the difference that most of the others aren't as weather dependent

Well done. Any chance of a mixed case of vintage Krug and Cristal?