Temp

Any room in the loft?

Opinions do differ on this. Some insist that it's not a problem if the wall is vapor permeable or if the permeability increases as you move from inside to out. In my view it's hard to know if the walls are vapour permeable and it's better to add a vapour barrier before plasterboarding. Do you have any plans for ventilation? When you seal up an old house you inevitably reduce draughts that might have been helping to keep the house dry. I think this is more an issue for houses with solid walls and no DPC etc. When we built our house we opted for an MVHR system and I think the constant air flow they deliver does work better than trickle vents in Windows even ignoring the heat recovery part.

I think I'd check that the insulation in the cavity isnt causing any damp to transfer across. What can happen is that insulating on the inside "moves" the internal brickwork towards the cold side. Then, if warm humid air created in your house can get through the new insulation, water can potentially condense on the now colder surface. That air can get through to new insulation via electrical sockets or any other holes, perhaps at floor or ceiling. So I think careful attention to sealing gaps is important. I think this is another reason to check the insulation in the cavity wall hasn't all slumped leaving uninsulated areas.

I think this level of detail Warrants getting a planning consultant involved. I would find someone local and give him all of the above with a request for an opinion and a quote to handle an appeal.

You can hire Cable Avoidance Tools (CAT) quite reasonably to trace a cable run. https://brandonhirestation.com/cable-avoidance-tool-hire Electric cables can be easier to deal with than sewers.

Had a proper Thai massage this week. Did wonders for my back.

@MrPotts Is it possible to fit smaller jets to reduce boiler power? Not sure about gas boilers but that helped my oil boiler.

Pump over requires water to be drawn down the feed from the header and back up the overflow to the header. This needs either a pressure or temperature difference between these two pipes. So I would be looking at connecting them both to the same T in the CH loop (if that's allowed) to keep the temperature and pressure the same (at least at that point). Perhaps run them up to the tank adjacent to each other wrapped in same insulation to try and keep them the same temperature as much as possible.

Sorry if I missed anything but I think pump over introduces oxygen into the water increasing corrosion. Much like a bubbler in a fish tank.

Planning Permission and Building Control Approval are two different things... Planning Permission I know an extension to the side between your house and the footpath (a highway) needs Planning Permission but I don't think an outbuilding in the same place does. At least not according to my read of this (Section E refers to outbuildings).. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/permitted-development-rights-for-householders-technical-guidance/permitted-development-rights-for-householders-technical-guidance#class-e-buildings-etc If it did need Planning Permission then after 4 years you should be able to get a Certificate on the grounds that Enforcement action can no longer be taken. Be prepared to prove when it was finished (receipts, aerial photos?) Building Control Approval As its over 15sqm and within 1m of the boundary (and possibly for other reasons) I think Building Control Approval was required. Previously Building Control only had 2 (?) years to take action. However I believe on 1 October 2023 this time limit was extended to 10 years in England and Wales. What would I do.. I think I would Let sleeping dogs lie. When/if asked you need to answer truthfully but that need not mean loss of a sale. I would answer something like: The purchaser should make their own checks but I believe the outbuilding complies with Permitted Development rules (Section E Outbuildings). Building Control Approval was not applied for. Depending on what paperwork you have for the electrics mention that.

Has anyone seen lever locks designed to replace interior door latches without needing surgery to the doors? I know lockable knobs exist (with a key in the centre) but all the lever locks seem to need a separate keyhole and the mechanism changed to add a bolt? PS I mean lockable from outside with a key not a privacy latch.

Given no cracks in the foundations I think that's the most likely theory. Do the cracks even go down to the foundations? Another possibility might be issues with the mortar. Laying bricks when too cold? Does it seem hard or can it be raked out too easily? Not sure what to recommend. I suppose you could remove cracked bricks and replace.

You can judge how secure a lock is by the length of the video. Very few of his videos are more than 3-5 min. Any time he gets out a wave rake you know it's really bad.

When choosing a lock its worth checking what the Lock Picking Lawyer on YouTube thinks of it. Or your house might be as secure as this...

Sadly all too believable. I reckon they hope to be long gone before problems show up. Anyone considering having a driveway or paving done should seek advice here. The Paving Expert web site is also good (see the index).

We have B+B first floor. Layout has all bathrooms along one side of the house. Pipes from shower trays run in the insulation and screed for the UFH. No plynths needed. Low but not ultra low profile traps needed. (Some ultra low traps don't meet building regs). One down pipe/stack is in a downstairs cupboard, another in the corner of a utility room.

We have a lot of trees and I think some leaf fall rots in the gutters before being washed through the leaf trap when there is a heavy downpour. I have to vacuum out the gutters twice a year with a wet vac but it's impossible to get all the "compost" out of them.

Yes. There is a manhole big enough to climb in but that might be dangerous (lack of oxygen or too much CO2 etc). I can see me hiring a cespit company to pump it out at some point.

We have an underground rainwater harvesting tank with a leaf filter on the input. It's been in use since 2007 and has accumulated about 1 ft of sludge in the bottom. We only use it for gardening and car washing but the water does have a brown tint to it.

We needed two beams because a single central beam would bear on a window and the design of the window made that difficult. Afraid I can't recall how deep the beam are.

We have a large room and the SE specified two steel beams to reduce the span of the concrete beams. Only issue was the steel beams are a bit taller which could have caused issues with the UFH upstairs. PS This was a B&B first floor.

Perhaps an extra layer of 70mm insulation on top of the 155mm beam area?

Do you have any equity in an existing property you could borrow against to buy the land?

I'm sure there are wood burning stoves on legs that are designed to draw external air in at the bottom/rear so perhaps you could drill through the slab at the back? Try Clearview stoves.

Thanks for all the replies. Been a bit busy elsewhere this week. Looks like swapping the RCBOs to C20s is working so soft starts might not be needed. The building and it's normal usage pattern wouldn't be suitable for a heat pump. It's a solid wall uninsulated church hall that gets about 3-4 hours use a week depending on bookings. I'm not a fan of IR heaters but in this case they seem to be a good option. There is also an original fireplace that gets used frequently for the longer sessions. Great to huddle around after poker night. The wiring all looks pretty neat and tidy with modern CU etc. I think the electrician might be giving mates rates so he's good but fits the hall in when he can.