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Like @Olly P the glazed gable for us from our kitchen/dining room and the tall corner window to the side of it looking out across the canal as the boats go past. We were initially going to convert the bungalow and go up and have a balcony and I'm so pleased we changed our mind and kept the bungalow with the glazed gable. I do love our ensuite roof light which will be above the sink and toilet. I thought it would be such a dark room and it's surprisingly light. Not sure it classes as a design feature but more an unexpected surprise but due to the different levels of the bungalow and existing internal hall space we have some large hall areas. We changed this door to a window and it's such an unexpected nice space. It could have actually ended up an office space had we not already got a seperate room. @dnb I love your rounded window. My wife always wanted a round window and we were hoping for one on the flat roof but it was so expensive we couldn't afford it.

Yes, I would get a report (as long as it’s good) so you can fend off possible delays, some would walk away without a report (risk adverse).

So when the fan switch is ON the lights flash, but when the fan isolator is OFF the lights behave normally? You are getting leakage from the switched L of the timer fan circuit. If you have fan and light on a separate switch I would disconnect the timer, it's not needed.

Are you using K rend or similar if so I think it needs an expansion gap/strip every 5/6m. Reason I say that is if you would prefer to not have an expansion strip you can perhaps use a change of material eg cladding. One end of my house was a bit bland so we did timber cladding between windows for interest. Per attached. another thing you can do for interest is the gutters and downpipe which you can get in quite a range of colours. We went for galvanised and were glad we did. appreciate might not be right for you but just throwing ideas in...

We had three of these y-junctions under the slab. Was no hassle and additional no cost. We just ensured that toilets and kitchen sinks weren't on a Y-junction as per guidance I shared which seems very sensible. - Kitchen island (just in case) - UVC overflow - Water-softender + ComfoPost

there you go, altered/extended, proper join, unless there is evidence of movement it’s not a problem. Tell any buyer that!!! If you can find any history, buyers like that sort of thing.

I would love to know what happened there. the "join" ends 2/3 of the way up. Above that the bricks are bonded across properly. It's like a small building got extended to the side and over the top? How do you know it's going to be an issue in surveys if there is no sign of movement? Any attempt to cover it up would just be seen as trying to hide a fault.

Would it look odd if I put a massive vertical trellis ~1.5mx3m up that part of the wall?!

It's advisable to avoid putting both toilets or kitchen sinks on branches, anything else is OK. (according to NHBC anyway) See attachment Note also, that length of runs around the house will impact invert levels. Your original option 2 looks the simplest, but your main drain at the front of RHS of he house as drawn will need to be somewhat lower.. which may be an issue. Y-junctions-in-drains-under-buildings.pdf

That would make sense Dave as there are four of them to match my four terminals and with that notched end it looks like they are made to join up. I wonder if they to allow for a larger duct size to fit onto the unit? Will have a look tomorrow and let you know. Thanks

Yes that would be fine.

Are you sure they do not wrap around to form a loop, it looks like the notched ends would interlock together. they wouldn't match the circumference of one of the vent pipes if you did that would they?

The easiest way to achieve this might be to investigate the Grant Hybrid combined oil / ASHP though that might be an expensive sollution? You could fit a single ASHP and have a changeover scheme, that could either be manual valves or more automated. That largely depends on who is doing it and their knowledge, I doubt you will find many people who routinely combine 2 different heat sources.

Hi Fly, Certainly is possible. Plenty of hybrid setups out there. Im sure someone will be along soon who can provide some tangible advice.

Your best bet would be to look around your area for some one looking a labourer as a start. It would get you in through the door and be earning decent money and open your eyes to how hard physically it's is to do it each and every day. You could even end up driving a digger, dumper or telehandler which all pay a decent wage. The problem with starting it at your age your not going to be able to build enough bricks and blocks to cover your wage for 2-3 years and like most of us the bills will keep rolling in and need paid. It's fine when your only earning £100 a week when you're 16 and have no out goings. Different story return you have kids to pay for.

Having your own structural survey done, and having it in your back pocket wouldnt do any harm, and if it does turn out to be a nasty, you could get a quick, cheap, render job done on it, and flog it on. Best of luck with your sale. Big Jimbo

Sorry can’t concentrate on this, Nigella is on..........

Shop around but this is the kit. Mine is without the grey scraper thing: https://www.plumbworld.co.uk/cramer-fugi-professional-profiling-kit-7-1603-1261642?

I am still of the opinion that this is a “join” not a crack. Cracks don’t tend to be vertical and in a straight line with “block bonding” (blocks of three courses tying new to old walls). The bricks to the right of this “join” appear a slightly lighter colour and the courses tend not to line up till they get to the top of the join, which suddenly stops! And the brick courses then do line up!. Also the “join” suddenly stops at the bottom just below window cill level. Settlement cracks don’t do this IMO. do the deeds have any info on building work in the past?.

If you go inroof the SIP roof panels will sit in the web and you can insulate the flange underneath? If you batten out the whole underside of the roof that will give you a 38mm service cavity, in this 38mm space where the steel flange is you can cover it with insulation. Use 40mm of aerogel insulation and you will have it well covered then? I have a steel.goalpost arrangement exposed to my cavity, I covered it in the aerogel stuff, not cheap but its a solution that makes the best of the issue?‍♂️

Have parts of the house been built at different dates perhaps? Looks like 'historical settlement'. A report to that effect should help to fend off any questions if it comes up.

Great point. Yes, as an ace in the hole. Last time, buyers didn't raise it. Its not obvious, (as obvious as it looks in the pic!) Its a massive wall. Its definitely more likely a lender's issue than it is a buyer's issue.

Where I could we used folded over cavity batt as we had a pack on site but didn’t bother with gables etc as the cement board closed them off. Got a few million beads blowing around the soffits too ...

Its an old house, the movement hasn't happened in our tenure. Far from it. What happened when we bought it? I'm not risk averse and we had a basic survey carried out. So you think get a structural engineer report to squash any concerns from buyers or from lenders or both?

This is what I want... It's for over our dining table. The white with the brass inside and the cost not something I'd even contemplate! I didn't want black or chrome. https://www.tomdixon.net/eu/catalog/product/view/_ignore_category/1/id/1817/s/beat-white-range-round-pendant-system

Is it a knock off then not a proper Cramer kit ..? Internal recess will hardly be seen when full of bottles of various ladies potions ...

Seriously even the speed you move at doing jobs, as long as you keep it simple and don’t go for some stupid-recessed-half-cut-lunatic-idea- laser-cut-sliding-glass-door-shower-shelf, and just go for a 3 sided rectangle of multi panel using the correct corner profiles and a standard tray, you could have that done in a weekend. You’ve even got access from the back so fitting the shower is a doddle, you can fit all the panels then drill the holes for the valve etc. Overboard the rest of the room with taper edge MR board and job done.

I'm just keeping quiet. There are others who know more about tiling.

think of it as a skip (that you don’t have to pay fir!).

Remember you're not alone! I did my silicone then took it all out and redid with the Fugi kit: Pockets were a pita to do. Still not happy with bits (quite a few actually).

just take the scaff board up if it tight

You have probably excluded yourself from the housewarming party list there.

Try it and see

Good plan. That greatly reduces the top chord cold bridge as well.

have to agree..... life is just to short to get bogged down in “ if but maybe “ Not that I would do anything as naughty as not ticking all the right boxes..... grabs his coat and leaves quickly.

Particle board is bad for blunting blades , I find de Walt or frued blades work quite well, they are more expensive but you get what you pay fir. Ebay often have price reductions on blades.

Minisun make something similar for about £30, or if you want to splash out search for Laconde ...

Or keep the insulation airtight for that matter.

Thankfully not. Have stayed in too many hotels, for too many years.

telling ya, welded contacts. Mine- now piped to the TS and both manifolds- was happily pulsing 40-55c yesterday. On test with no flow in the circuit, pumps off, valves closed; no overshoot.

Filter is a definite possibility then if it runs for a period of time- minutes or more- before locking out. The pump will happily suck the contents of the pipe until it reaches a vacuum it can't exceed. After lockout fuel seeps through the blocked filter and you get another pipeful to play with...

I'm on the lookout for a 4/5ah battery for the LXT series so if I see any deals I will shout. Likewise if you find any please ?

Good point, I missed that. Definitely a dodgy stat. Before condemning it completely I'd probably pull it out and pop the cover off to check for welded contacts or (more satisfyingly) whack the terminal box end off something hard and refit/re-try...

The ones suggested above do. You can set them to come on, and stay on, when the light level drops. They recharge themselves the following day. My idea of fit and forget.

47 ?

D'you mean 40mm or 35mm...(47mm even)?

I used insulated plasterboard on my external walls It’s quite uncommon to do this on a new build I’ve plastered thousands of new builds and haven’t been asked to do this As you say you can simply widen the cavity Sealing around the sockets is pretty much the same as normal I used 40 mil back boxes that left only PB showing on the inside of the box

Put a mat under the wheels of the office chair.

I'm just trying to get hold of some drainage items (comes to about £700 total before delivery costs), and I'm asking for a small discount, but there seems to be no willingness to budge. Have you been successful with any haggling (not just drainage)? If so, what tips can you share with the forum?

Be really really nice or really really horrible . Works for me ! Discount king !