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A story with a happy ending. Vision AGI were receptive to paying for our third party costs and have paid up. Plasterer in Friday to cover the hole and then we paint. Good as new. Thanks everyone for the support and the words for the email. Phew.

tell the lazy bast*** to get his ass to the plumbers merchants and sort or you'll get someone else to finish it. Would have had words then and there if it was me, dont put up with it.

I wouldnt give it 5 years. water will get into the voids and holes and blow out when it freezes. Badly done pointing is worse than non at all. Done well it should be raked out to a depth at least 3x the width and then forced back in to fully fill the recess without any holes or voids.

OK so the easement over your land is to the existing property. If they wanted to create a new property they would have to split the title and you can’t just split an easement and grant others permission so they would have to come to you anyway. Sadly it’s now easier to ask for retrospective permission as councils don’t really kick up a fuss for this sort of thing unless there are a lot of objections. And they don’t have the legal resources to fight long appeals so tend to let stuff go - sounds wrong I know !!

Thanks I got 95% of the limestone free off marketplace and people I knew taking walls and outbuildings down etc and giving it away. We guess at least 100 tonnes I collected up before we started the build

Having gone through all this myself, my first piece of advice on this is to talk to some of this architect's previous clients. Don't decide just on your personal interaction. The architect we eventually used (see below) who we 'clicked' with turned out to be a nightmare when it came to delivering on the content of the project - e.g. the actual drawings and doing the admin stuff. He could definitely talk the talk...OMG. In addition, our architect was terrible at producng the construction drawings often trying to avoid producing the stuff by telling us that the builders will just change it all anyway so there isn't any point.. not entirely untrue but you do need an appropriate balance! Since our frustrating experience I've got to know some other local architects who run or work in medium to large practices and some who are one man/woman bands and the general flavour is that it's unusual to get one that does both the design and technical stuff well - often they'll have strengths on one side or the other. The architecture practice can balance this by passing the work on to the right person. We found it impossible to find someone who was willing to work with the existing drawings to provide the construction/technical detailing but maybe that's just a feature of where we're based. The other side of the coin is that the first designer we went for, an architectual technician, we decided more on the price and as a pragmatic choice - he was very technical but we didn't like any of his designs. This cost us a couple of grand and a good 6 months of wasted time and effort. Depending on the design of the house, the technical detailing could be a lot more than the design. Overall, I'm still happy we went for the inspiring choice, despite the frustrations we experienced Not sure if that directly helps you but hope it does provide some food for thought.

I've just managed to get a matching freestanding Hudson Reed tap and basin tap new and boxed for less than £100 which I'm collecting tomorrow from somewhere local. It will probably be far less hassle than driving round to try and sort the freestanding tap and get the missing bits for the Roper Rhodes under pressure! I'll get them taken off and try and figure it all out and sell them on eBay. The freestanding tap I haggled in with the bath so it was always going to be a punt. Quooker can sort out a washer pack for the Cube and Conbi (just need them to call them to order) and I then need one of these the plumber has said https://www.quooker.co.uk/drill-bit-set-31-024-00-9.html

People are spending a lot more time indoors this year and as it’s winter condensation is the obvious one, a good dehumidifier would be the best quick fix, if not then put a temp / humidity sensor in so that the tenant can report back on relative humidity. I except it will be high with the tenants encamped in there rooms all day and night.

Bit of bleach to rub it down helps

I ordered some of the crystal dehumidifier pots from eBay . Worth a shot . Gut instinct now tells me condensation. ?

@PeterW thats the best reply, thanks so much.. gives me alot of reassurance that. And I understand about the pants etc.. tbh Ive been getting purty damn firm, but with Vaillant, bc I'm being clearly blanked by installers so cannot get in contact. Vaillant I do give credit to, servicewise, if only the dam hardware was a quarter the standard. Its also got to be taken into account I havent paid a dime.. rather complicating things if a prob like this, meaning Im far less inclined to get my bboy pants on, compared to if Id spent 8 k. Then id have a pair of huge bboy bloomers on.

Does anyone local have a couple of electric heaters you could temporarily borrow for your lounge/bedroom to get some heat in to make you at least comfortable? Temperature is only going to continue to drop. Whilst that won’t solve your issue, it may take some of the stress away and allow you to be comfortable whilst you fight the problem.

you do have choices and legally supported ones. They have all had their chances to put this lot right and haven’t. Legally you have given them the statutory obligations to correct the issues and they have failed so you can reject this lot if you so wish. So go find your big boy pants, put them on tomorrow and start with a very firm letters to the installers, and the funding partner, giving them 14 days to : - correct the installation issues that are resulting in loss of water that could potentially be damaging your property; - resolve the lack of heating where the unit fails to perform to a satisfactory standard expected; - resolve the noise from the unit that means you cannot sleep or use the house to your enjoyment. State that if the issues are not resolved within 14 days, you will be having the installation removed and the property made good at their cost, and you will pursue the costs through the courts where appropriate. Between me, @Russell griffiths and @Nickfromwales we could have that lot out in a day or so, but our day rates (not including bacon butties and coffee) will mean that the suppliers will be weeping til Christmas ... Ironically, I would consider finding a second hand oil AGA and have that installed - yes they aren’t great on oil but they give out a fantastic low heat that is perfect for houses like yours.

That was my first thought, I have seen similar before, one customer had mold growing in corners (coldest part of wall) and admitted his wife dried all the washing indoors and would not open the windows cus it was cold!

It’s not cheap when you factor paid labour into it but it’s very cheap when you do it yourself. I went on the Beco course a few years back and that was like Lego - dead easy and fun but not cheap.

Another vote for D4 glue and a couple of screws to hold in place and then whack 4 or so nice big ring shank nails each side. Think I went though about 1500 paslode ring shanks on the last roof I did - it’s not going anywhere ..!!

Ring trading standards in the morning. Get them on it - what scheme paid for this install ..? Wasn’t it some Welsh Gov funded thing as they will take a keen interest in this not being right.

Hmmm... like @joe90 said - that is the floor retainer not the connectors. They look very odd and very custom. Any brand identifiers on it ..?? Roper tap will have a connector that ends with a 1/2” BSP threaded fitting - from memory they have one long and one short stud. Looks like a Wessex tap, ring Ropers (01225 303 900) and they will give you the part number for the tails.

If the new room has never been up to a decent temperature since winter set in then it won’t matter how well insulated you are TBH. Insulation will help avoid the heat in the room being lost but it can’t replace heat that the room isn’t given. You need to get your room up to an acceptable temperature before you can say that the room isn’t fit for purpose. To do that you will need a cheap thermometer to see how cold (or warm) the room is to start with.

One RING final 32A 2.5mm serving all the kitchen sockets. Double pole isolator above worktop to feed spured socket to each of Dishwasher, Tumble dryer, Fridge freezer and boiler. One lighting circuit 6A 1mm to feed all ceiling and under unit lights. Radial 32A 6mm to hob via above worktop isolator Radial 32A 6mm to oven via above worktop isolator. Check with your chosen electrician that he really is happy for you to pull the cables for him to connect, he will no doubt want to agree cable routing with him and tell you the rules. Don't forget if a new water or gas service entered the extension to include a 10mm earth bonding cable.

I hope I can provide useful experience and comment to Buildhub.However I am the first to admit that my ideas for building projects are frequently overtaken by the reality of my abilities and confidence. Hoping this will change. I would really like to make changes to my 1930s house to make it more fit for a Zero carbon Britain. James Waters

What’s that reason? Cost? Availability of materials? Not enough experienced labour? Changing business model? Unknown buyer perception? Environmental impact? Completely different to the self-builder, who has a completely different set of needs/requirements.

theres a reason zero large housebuilders use it.

I think they have to ‘disable’ it if it’s unsafe, to make sure tenants can’t just turn it back on again as soon as they have left. ... I think there’s some labelling they are supposed to do like ‘condemned’. May be worth a quick investigation as to the correct practice is and add it to your complaint. I’ll ask my F-I-L who is a gas engineer.

BC charges are based on build value once you get over a certain size, over here. I had to throw together a breakdown that matched our proposed cost to "prove" that I wasn't doing them out of profit...

What has building control got to do with cost? +1, to the above. I find problems between builder and customer are usually over “assumptions “. When I used to quote fir work as a builder, it was very specific, no ambiguity, “I supply this, you supply that, I do this”. I believe you will also get a “gut feeling “ about a good builder/contractor when you sit face to face to discuss your project.

again, I said this a long time ago, all purchased items BY LAW must be fit fir purpose. However, because I designed and installed my own system I have no come back on anyone else but you do and as @Declan52 says above you have to prove it. Those things I posted about are dead cheap.

Get your thyroid checked?

Yes did consider the Cabrio, but the cost and having a room in the roof design means we achieve the same idea. You get the same views with the windows shut! ? The West Coast of the Highlands has quite mild temperatures. Probably more wind and the rain than most.

@Olly P a random question. You see on the corners where the walls meet, do people use the same stones as the rest, but a mason would chisel the stone to make them more block like in shape, or do you have to buy special 'block' stones to match the existing stone work? Just always wondered! As others have said, that stone work looks great.

Because you can see it's shallow. Dig a bit out as it's so green, and come back and tell us how deep it is. IMO it should be atleast 30mm. I bet it's no deeper tha 10mm in places. If he had raked it out properly, he would not have finished it so badly.

It looks untidy as others have already mentioned. My concern is with the holes and voids. if water can get in, it will! Pointing is meant to prevent water getting into the brick/stonework.

I am sure @joe90 has the best intentions and is actually trying to help..... and as an ex outdoors man I expect he knows what cold is..... i KNOW what cold is and I also know that it’s easily fixed with warm clothes and a short sharp burst of exercise and some food to recharge the body’s battery. If this does not work then your sick and need to do the appropriate to get better. Taking measurements of the temperature in various rooms and telling us what heating you are actually putting on and fir how long will help people give good advise...... if you have a wide open door into a cold house with no heating on overnight in your room or the main house and it’s a baltic outside then it’s obvious why it’s cold.

I think it all looks a bit crap from the photos. I don't think they have raked out enough of the old. That new pointing looks very shallow. I would'nt be surprised to see that fall off within 5 years, and look no better than when you started.

Zoothorn. You're not ill are you fella ? Have you been mixing with undesirable people ?

@Thorfun , as it says in the document - I have given it a go - I should add that I never had to do a basement when I was actively doing SAP! If we look at the table we can see that the change in U-values is rapidly declining with depth, particularly at higher R values, therefore I think you can ignore not having values for your depth and use those for 2.5m The first plot shows the U values in the 2.5m column plotted against 'raw' R values in the 1st column. I think it would be difficult to give an accurate U value for a 'raw' R value of 7 from this In the second plot I have calculated R values from the U values in the 2.5m column and plotted these against the 'raw' R values in the first column. Assuming this is a straight line (y=mx + c) then a 'raw' R of seven converts to about 11.61 or a corrected U value of about 0.09

If its still green ask him if he could tidy up if he's still there. Wont be a problem to rake out and will be more on the ball with the other reveals

I believe, equestrian buildings are hard to get consent to convert but agricultural is easier. Dont quote me on that, but I’m sure I’ve read it that way.

Fill in the form, quote all three conditions, attach the report, pay the fee and send it in.

this sticks very well onto blocks and can then be rendered over https://www.ecomerchant.co.uk/pro-clima-contega-solido-sl.html

I hate all aerated blocks and won’t use them, they crack far to easily. I prefer medium density recycled aggregate blocks 3.5N are. Ok 7N also available. nice to lay, nice to fix into - practically perfect in every way

Primer, prime the area and then the self adhesve tapes will stick. No primer, tapes will peel (even with a mastic).

The PV doesnt produce that much in the colder months, we put everything into the DHW tank and some days it cant bring that to up to a decent temp if its low cloud on little sun. As for Oil usages I suggest it will be 900 - 1200 L depending on the Winder Temps. Im exploring the option, A there is an RHI incentive B Borris's Carbon Plan. Thanks, FLY

Hi Heather WE are just buying a piece of land in East Sussex (Kent side) with PP. My advice, well this is how we found ours, was making friends with local estate agents. We were tipped off by a local owner rather than a big chain. hope that helps

This is what I used. You put the split tape on your window/door frame then peel the back of the tape and run a good bead along the block and push the tape into the glue. Do not and I can't stress this enough get it in your hair. It's a scissors job to get it out. https://passivehousesystems.co.uk/product/gerband-fortax-6400-airtight-sealant/

I used a mastic to glue membrane to the blocks. Wouldn't replace tape in all situations though

Each tape manufacturer generally has their own 'airtight primer' e.g. https://proclima.com/products/bonding-agents/primer/tescon-primer-rp

about 10 years for us and 2 previous attempts at purchasing something falling through but now we're about 2 or 3 months away from breaking ground! Welcome Heather!! stick with it and I'm sure something will come up eventually.

Welcome Heather. The answer to your question is available at two levels: national and local. The National framework is available for you to examine with very little effort . Have a look through some of the resources in this google search. They should be read with caution, perhaps even respectful skepticism. Ya never know who's writing wot on 'tinternet - or why. Hmmmm - applies to this post too. '... absolute no-go ... ' I bet you can find applications which have succeeded in AONBs. It'd be useful to research those that have succeeded because ..... In relation to the area of interest for you , the answer is harder to find, but it only takes a bit of effort. Look at the websites of the Local Planning Authorities. Search for planning applications that match the idea that you have. See who has been refused PP, and who hasn't, and work through why the applications were accepted or rejected. The answer to your question is inevitably highly influenced by local considerations. Network - ask as many local folk as you can and listen to the answers. I think , like us, you may well be in for the long haul. Only took us 30 years or so. Stick with us and we'll help as far as we can. Best of luck Ian

That is why I ran lots of iterations of PHPP in order to design a house that didn't need an expensive central heating system.