AliG

Quite a few times I have heard or seen people talking about how many downlights they have in a room and the numbers seem excessive. We have two bedrooms at over 4m square with 4x GU10 downlights. At its widest our kitchen is almost 10m across and it has 6 downlights across its width. If it was a 10x10 square I would estimate 36 x 500 lumen downlights would be fine depending on the brightness required. I used an on line lumens calculator to make sure I was in the right ballpark. I cannot find the one I used at the time and they seem to vary wildly on the amount of light they will tell you is required. I also used standard GU10s with the smart functions (Fibaro) built into the switches, this cost around £100 per switch, £50 for the switch and £50 to wire it up.

There is a button inside that says "maintenance". You just push it for 5 seconds and it resets the counter. Once you open it up there is a row of lights that show if there are any issues with different parts of the system.

Impatience and beeping got to me and I just drilled the lock. All fixed now. It probably doesn't need a lock at all, but a new lock is a lot cheaper than the spare keys.

Hi, We have a Velux kfc210 smoke control unit, it opens a window automatically in the event of fire. It has started to beep and the manual says it needs to be inspected/reset every 15 months. But I have realised that no one gave me they key. Frankly I have no idea why such things need locks on them, it is a pain and I am tempted just to break the lock. But before doing this does anyone know if there is a generic key that I can buy, I did find the keys on line for almost £20(£24 with shipping) I am not even sure that these are the right key, they are listed for a different product but they look right. https://www.loftsolutions.co.uk/shop/velux-spares/velux-smoke-vent-spares/velux-kfx-100-keys Thanks

I’m not sure I just picked this up from comments made on the story in newspapers. He may have refinanced with Funding Circle or it may have been them all along. Certainly it would be a pretty small and unusual investment for a hedge fund.

I have a 5.1.2 system with ceiling mounted Atoms speakers. It works well. Atmos definitely sounds better than Dolby Surround but unless you use 4K blu rays there is surprisingly little content available. Sky only has Atmos on a small percentage of 4K movies plus sports.

I don't think that all the self build magazines and on line calculators seem to quote prices in the £11-1400/sq are metre range. I reckon from reading people's stories here that a well built house is usually coming in somewhere in the 1500-2000 per square metre range. Lower prices tend to involve doing more work your self, unusual designs as on Grand Designs can easily come in the 2-3000/sq metre range. Now that we are finished I am around £1900/sq metre to build the house, this included a pool and all interior finishes, built in furniture, floors etc. Landscaping was about another £100 per sq metre and fees about another £100 per square metre. According to an on line calculator I just inserted the figures into I should have been £1460 a square metre. For my parents' place I am just going to assume £2000 a square metre and be pleased if it is less than this.

We did that but the isolated corner is actually accessed from the cupboard next to it. I too hate corners in the kitchen but couldn't lose that one.

I think that if you move the entrance to the stairs to the fridge there should be enough room to get a landing that the stairs to the bedroom connect onto. You cannot just fix it by having one stair level and a drop down to the other two, that is not safe and would not pass regs. I know it is better than it is at the moment, but it simply would not be accepted. If you are going to fix it, you may as well do it properly. The regs are here - http://b. for work on an existing building that did not comply with the applicable requirements of the Building Regulations: (i) the work itself must comply with the applicable requirements of the Building Regulations (ii) the building must be no more unsatisfactory in relation to the requirements than before the work was carried out. They do say for work on an existing building that did not comply with the applicable requirements of the Building Regulations: (i) the work itself must comply with the applicable requirements of the Building Regulations (ii) the building must be no more unsatisfactory in relation to the requirements than before the work was carried out And I think you do have leeway to not fully meet the regs on an existing building, but I don't think they would let you away with a step that had different drops at each end. A stair case shaped something like this starting where the fridge is should work with a small landing at the top and then steps to the bedrooms from the landing. You would probably have to raise the bottom of the cupboard that is close to the bottom of the stairs. Strictly speaking that is also against the regs as the door opens across the stairs, but would probably be OK as it is already in existence.

Basically what @Carrerahill said. The only thing I would add is that you could probably fit two more steps into the turn shown in the first picture, but the horizontal offset is as big an issue as the height difference. You need to be able to pull the main stairs back so that there is a landing outside the new bedroom then you would 2/3 steps up from that into each bedroom. Even if you cut a third step down from the bedroom you will need the stairs to move back by at least three treads and possibly four. To do this you will likely need to bring the first tread back into the room at the bottom plus add more treads on the turn, is there room at the bottom to do this? I also need to bring in building standards and safety. This was either done pre building regs or ignoring building regs. I would think new work requires a building warrant, although someone could correct me. I hope you don't let visitors use these stairs, they look quite dangerous and I would be quite concerned re legal liability they create. There is no way an insurance company would pay out if anything happened as they are clearly unsafe.

I would be worried that you would devalue the cottage by putting plastic fascias on it. IT is not what someone buying a period property will be looking for. Is it in any kind of conservation area? If so I would think this needs planning permission and wouldn't get it.

The Devon house story is featured in the Daily Mail today. The comments are as smugly mean as you might expect, but two points came out of them. 1. Apparently he borrowed £2.5m from small investors in Funding Circle in 2016 to progress the build and according to commenters has defaulted on this. I have not found any more information on this, but it seems strange to lend this without security. 2. Was it a dream house or was it actually a property development? Considering the numerous comments on the show about how much the finished house would be worth, how much the smaller house was worth and the borrowing on what appears to be commercial terms, is this really an overambitious property development? It may be that is what it became when the money ran out, but I can't help but feel it was maybe done with a profit motive not a dream home motive. Edit: So I found someone on Funding Circle saying that they have so far invested £3m and have not seen a penny back yet, property development loans do not amortise, they are interest only until the development is sold or refinanced, although apparently the normal term is 12 months. I do not believe it has defaulted and I suspect that it is secured on the property. Funding Circle were projecting a 30% return from the project, but are reviewing this. If this is true and the house was to eventually be finished the owner will have paid out I reckon over £1.5m in interest. Funnily enough Funding Circle stopped doing property development loans last year and no longer publish their default rates.

TBF there have been two divorces this series, but I don't remember there being any before, maybe one. There was that one last year where the GF mysteriously disappeared. Considering the divorce rate that's not bad.

Put as many hall light switches in as you can and make sure you put can control the lights from the other floor. Put extra bedroom light switches next to the beds. Use PIR sensors in bathrooms, utility rooms etc and don't bother with switches in these rooms. Put a supply to the front door for the bell. Do you actually have a full electrical plan? You should try and think as much as possible everywhere you may want a TV, lamp etc so you don't have cables all over the place. I would put at least one cat 6 cable everywhere you want a TV, 2 if you want to use satellite boxes. You then need a central point that you wire in your broadband, TV etc to and distribute it around the house. I spend more time on the electrical plan than almost anything else in the house and still made mistakes.

This was one of the saddest episodes of Grand Designs that I have ever seen. When you pay for professional advice, I really do think they need to take some responsibility. There was no way that house was ever being built for £1.8m. Also he said that the budget included £250k of professional fees, so was the budget actually £1.55m. When the architect was standing there saying how much he loved the curves I just kept thinking that curves are way more expensive to build. I hope his fee was fixed! The owner also needs to take personal responsibility. Basically he couldn't afford the house. If he couldn't borrow that much money it was presumably because he was trying to borrow more than 3-4x his income. I also wonder that his income hasn't been steadily falling over time. I think using all your savings and borrowing up to the hilt to build a house on an expensive and uncertain site is crazy. You just do not have the room to manoeuvre if things go wrong. I can understand how easy it is to get carried away though. I am not sure why you would want an outdoor pool in such an exposed location. I really am enjoying this series of Grand Designs as the people are actually building houses. A few series back it was trying too hard to be different, a particular low point for me was the guy doing some kind of boat conversion.

I hate the idea of putting switches in my lovely clean glass splashback so I had the switches put in the carcus of the cabinets at each end of the row (the sides of the ovens above). This also makes the switches a lot less obvious when looking at the kitchen and makes the splashback easier to install. In general, unless they had to be in a specific place, I tried to install switches in rooms where they could not be seen, e.g. on the far side of a chimney breast seen when you enter the room. Our isolators are all in the back of a larder cupboard in the main kitchen, but in other places they are too high up to reach without a step/stool. The big multigrid switches or even worse heavy duty hob/oven switches that we used to have are something I would rather not have on display. As mentioned using the main board is probably easier to use anyway, the ovens etc are clearly marked, but this is a good point for my parents' house if/when we get permission.

I think that technically a porch probably sticks out and a vestibule sticks in. We can probably get an official view from an architect for £200+VAT.

A vestibule is a small hallway before the main hallway, in Scotland we tend to only call a porch something added onto a house after it is built.

I think the 10mm pipe to the basin is the simplest solution for fast hot water. We have a recirculating system, but you still have to wait a few seconds at each shower etc for the water in the 15mm feeds to get from the main circuit to a fitting. I looked into the instant hot water heater and then started to think where would I hide them, they will need an electricity supply etc. As pointed out the only benefit of warm water for hand washing is comfort. Water has to be over 60C to kill bacteria which would burn your hands. Maybe I have come across a great simple way to benefit the environment. Wash basins should only have cold supply. Thus we would save in fittings, pipework and energy. Personally I never use anything other than the cold tap in a basin, no matter what solution you are looking to use the water will likely not be warm unless people run it for a while.

Personally I think it is not worth the hassle. The overhang in front of the door will stop almost any light getting into the window and that would go even more so for glass above the door from the porch to the hall. It would also not look quite right, looking at your pictures, the porch with the black double doors may have a window above, but there is no over hang. I think people can naturally tell when something isn't right and it would seem odd to have an extra window obscured by an overhang. I think the quadrilateral window may also look very odd from inside where there is no obvious reason for it being that shape. I think this window would provide no useful light and really wouldn't do it. I suspect that you are thinking about this as you want more light into the hall. By far the best way to do that would be a glass front door and vestibule door. Looking at your drawings, one looks solid and one looks glass, I would go with the glass if this is your issue.

Getting back on topic, Kwik-Fit have 10% off two or more Michelin tyres plus a free Amazon Echo Show 5(Which I was going to buy anyway) valued at £79.99 today plus 2.6% back on Quidco. So I finally ordered my Crossclimates. TBH the guys at the local Kwik-Fit have been very good at fixing punctures recently, I would rather deal with them than Costco who are very unhelpful tyre wise.

In Scotland the 4th most prescribed drug is Paracetamol and the 8th is Aspirin. I know that some people need to get Paracetamol prescribed because of the limit on buying them over the counter. On our last holiday in the USA we bought a tub of 500 for $5.59. This is the growth in prescriptions in Scotland, it has been rising at around 2% per person per year. According to this https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/prescriptions-dispensed-in-the-community/prescriptions-dispensed-in-the-community-england---2007---2017 Prescriptions per head of population has grown at 2.9% CAGR over the same period in England. The total number of prescriptions grew 39% compared to around 28% in Scotland. So doing away with charges has not affected growth in Scotland apparently. However, cost per patient in Scotland is around £250 compared to £166 in England so much higher. The prescription bill in England is 7x higher for 10x the population. The number of prescriptions per head is actually slightly lower in Scotland.

There is a general feeling that the SNP just introduced free prescriptions to wind up the English. 90% of prescriptions are free in England and the maximum you pay with a prepayment certificate if you have lots of prescriptions is £104 a year. Yet people bring this up every time prescriptions are mentioned. Similarly people in England now seem to think that social care is free in Scotland. It is not, what the government will cover is the personal and nursing part of care. This is apparently up to £174 per week for personal care and £78 for nursing care. This is better than England but still would probably only cover around 20% of nursing home costs. Most of the cost of nursing homes is accommodation costs. So you might end up paying around £30,000 a year instead of £40,000 a year.

Complan Original is £4.50 in Tesco and on Amazon. That is equivalent to around £0.60 per serving, but it is a tub that you have to measure it out from rather than pre measured portions. You could also ask if there are any alternatives that she can take. Looking on Google, it looks like Horlicks has very similar nutritional value to Complan, except for Vitamin K and Iron, but is way cheaper.

I had to Google that, I didn't know what they were. It appears that they are quite a specialised product so I wouldn't be surprised that they are expensive. Your alternative is probably to change the style of doors. We have Rationel windows and where we have large openings we have side lights plus French doors. This allows a maximum opening of 2.2m in a larger glass wall. Not the same as slide and turn or bifold but I decided it was a lot cheaper and less likely to break.