Temp

Can be an issue with the land registry if both parts are in the same name. Something about covenants not being enforceable against yourself? I forget the details.

That's good because I think if it had to be "incidental to the main house" a bathroom isn't allowed. I'm reasonably sure Part M won't apply as its ancillary to the main house not a new dwelling. If you decide to ask Building Control I would emphasise that.

Is there a planning condition requiring it to be "incidental" or "ancillary" to the main house? If so which?

What's needed is a big enough bore overflow from the butt back into the drain. No need for diverting switches.

Building Control decides if you should connect.... Approved Document Part H sets a hierarchy in requirement H3 and H4... 1. Discharge rainwater to the ground via a soakaway or infiltration system (preferred). 2. If that’s not possible, discharge to a watercourse. 3. Only if neither is feasible, discharge to a sewer (surface water first, and combined only as a last resort). So you may have to show Building Control that soakaways arent possible or don't work on the site if you want to connect The Water Company decides if you may connect, eg have a legal right of connection. Edit: I checked Southern Water as I know they have combined sewers and their Web site says.. "We have no legal powers to prevent new connections from being made to existing combined sewers." although that's not quite what you asked... See the FAQ "What is a combined sewer" https://www.southernwater.co.uk/faqs/

You could appeal the condition as unnecessary but that would probably cost more.

Tip with solvent weld is to use enough solvent. If you are mean with it then it grabs too quickly. If reasonably generous you have time to rotate the pipe to the angle you want.

It certainly sounds like his infill has caused your wall to become a retaining wall and fail. However if he's not admitting liability you would probably have to go to court to get him to remove the infill and reinstate your wall. Could be difficult to prove your case unless you have photos of his side from before he infilled. Check out the Party Wall Act. It covers a lot of things but might not help unless his foundations for the new wall are deeper than those of your house (or possibly your wall?) Some councils say Building Control Approval is needed for a retaining wall over 1.5m high. Possibly because it's considered an engineering operation? Not sure about the need for planning permission. Normally heights are measured from the highest ground next to the building so that may allow him a wall 2m on his side and unlimited on yours. If you decided to complain to the planners you would have to argue he has raised the ground level on his side so the 2m rule should apply to the original ground height. It's 1m next to a highwayrather than 2m. One site says that if "you build a retaining wall within 3.7m of a street, the Highways Act 1980 requires you to seek approval from the local authority".

I probably wouldnt use washing up liquid as it will probably stay in there. Try heating the seal in bath of hot water? You could try fitting the seal in the channel then inserting the glass. Go careful with the glass as simply standing toughened glass on tiles can cause it to shatter.

Look in the loft or drill a hole through one leaf and the insulation. You can feel when the drill hits the other leaf. If you can measure the total wall thickness it's likely (but not guaranteed) to be about 200mm less than that. eg each leaf is 100mm.

Won't make much difference. Bolts are generally made to a higher standard than threaded rod but threaded rod might work out cheaper?

Some downlights only have two springs 180 apart.

It will be a nightmare. Some self builders will have made a loss. Many will have difficulty proving the build cost. Why keep builders invoices if there was no VAT to reclaim?

Our builder had a permanent staff of two people. Officially one was a foreman and the other a chippie but in reality they did almost everything from digging foundations to tiling the roof. Other trades (bricklayers, plasterers, electrician) were subcontractors.

Sometimes you need some big washers or temporary plates to stop the heads and nuts can pulling into wood while tightening them enough to get the dog/spike washer embedded.

If the land owner will let you I would investigate this further. I think 1km of 50mm pipe would be about £4000.

In a previous house they were climbing up inside rainwater down pipes into the gutters then into the loft via the eaves. Fixing metal leaf guards to the top of all the down pipes fixed the problem. Rat man told us they mark trails so if you kill one in the house another soon follows his trail to find the same way in..

My son sections and inspects welds for a living. Took one look at the photo and said the bit done on site looks horrible and should be redone. He suspected some might even come off if you run a hammer down it.

I've seen pink SBR used before render/plaster but it's not that bright red.

So this is the joist that is now 7" from the wall? If this was a normal joist (eg one of a dozen similar joists crossing a room) then yes I would cut a 7x3 to fill the gap and extend into the wall. Then either sister josts both sides or use metal joist repair plates extending perhaps 2 feet either side of the joint. However I hesitate to suggest this in your case as the floor structure looks somewhat unconventional. Is this joist is supporting a wall separating the stairwell from the landing?

ChatGPT is pretty clever. If you don't like a long complicated answer you can just ask it for a shorter or simpler explanation. I frequently ask it to reduce answers to a simple list.

Sadly its depressingly low at just 0.7 bar at your property boundary.

Building Control Approval would also be required.

My understanding.. Unfortunately if your builder isn't registered for VAT there isn't a way for you or him to reclaim the VAT paid on materials. Nor to any subcontractors... So if your builder hires a VAT registered subcontractor, like an electrician, the electricians bill and any materials he supplies will be at 20% (to your builder). However if you were to hire the VAT registered electrician directly he can 5% rate everything to you that he supplies. This is because the 5% rule only applies to labor and materials supplied to the "final customer" by the person/company doing the renovation. If it had been empty for 10 years, and the builder was VAT registered, you could also claim the 5% back charged by the builder AND the 20% you paid on any materials using the self build reclaim scheme. Unfortunately I'm pretty certain this doesn't apply to properties only empty for 2 years.