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Ah well Nick no injury was caused and my wife has stopped crying so everything s OK. I have removed the defected (see pic below) area and will start again tomorrow.

Definately mine and yes, I am 'queen' of the garden. he occasionally cuts the grass but thats about it. Here's the view from the patio - strategically placed trees hide all the neighbouring windows so its quite secluded.

Pretty sure that's what we have in our utility room. Seems fine - they use Blum hardware, which is proving solid so far. One minor shortcut they use (at least on the handle-less doors we have) is to cut for hinges on both sides of the door, then blank off the unused ones. Not the neatest solution, but hey, it's a utility room!

This is just planning nonsense. I would press ahead with the application and make it know to your planning officer if they refuse it then you will appeal. Ask them to show you the written planning policy that prevents you having a brick garage.

Hey, feel free to put the entire cost on the card. Alternatively:

I would argue that these are not "replacement windows" in the traditional sense, but are rectification work against the original build, so should be in scope of the zero-rated VAT regime. Especially as you are not claiming zero-VAT twice having been refunded for the original faulty works, plus are still in build stage (for VAT purposes). I can understand your supplier not wanting to get stung down the line and wanting to charge VAT now. I think this is the key point to address. Perhaps a call to HMRC to explain the circumstance and ask them their view. If they refuse to put it in writing then make a note of the date, time and person you spoke to plus advise given.

Out fishing this morning, a rising tide, light breeze assisting my cast - 12 cracking Mackrel the result. We even had a brief period (30 seconds literally) when the water next to the pier was 'boiling' with fish, as a small shoal of Mackrel came in and fed on whitebait. A single cast out (3 hooked) before the boiling ceased and the Mackrel disappeared! An amazing sight seeing the Mackrel hunting their prey. Mackrel fillets with lemon & garlic mayo on a roll for lunch , a freezer stocked up with fillets and a healthy store of bait for next time.

Stop it. This is all making me worse. I've been trying for years to stop putting things in straight lines and keeping symmetry. My other half is always having a go at me about it.

I am doing all of the interior woodwork on our house, and I've invested maybe £500 in basic tools: a new chop saw, table saw, router, planer / thicknesser, multitool and a refresh of squares, rules, etc.. All budget items from Titan or Erbauer ranges from Screwfix. OK, if I was a professional making my living from this, then the equivalent might have been 4-5× this price, but for what am I doing this stuff is 90% as good as the best and 400% better than what I had. For example, my new Erbauer chopsaw was half the cost of my old worn-out one that was 15 years-old and is just SO much better. £500 pays for a couple of days chippie time and this kit has saved me far more than that. Moral: if you are going to do a job yourself then you need to be properly tooled up to do it. OK, spend £100 on the Chinese or east European tool that might have a few flaws and wear out in a couple of years rather than the £400 trade best-in-class equivalent, but you'll probably be using it on only one house, so what the heck. Don't try to do without the tools that you need to do the job. It's false economy.

+1. Ask more here, BEFORE, and get wise answers, Confucius say........ Comparing a renovation to a new build may be a bit misleading. A new build can be planned, but a renovation can often be Russian roulette. Agreed that a new build may stray off track, but the comparison is night and day IMO. I'm renovating a lean-to bathroom at the mo, and have gone from a dozen rubble sacks to filling a 4 yard skip. Yay. Oh, and there's more to go. if your renovating to sell then ask a few local estate agents about relocating the bathroom and see what the consensus is. . Don't provide anything more than the buyers will expect, unless your getting double the difference in return. If your spending £4k on the bathroom 'shift' then you need an £8k return. Pointless endeavour otherwise tbh.