Temp

Personally I'd go for a 25mm meter and I'd want all the pipework from the main to the house in similar. It wouldn't be hard to persuade me to install a 32mm pipe but then we prefer quite high flow rate showers. Our internal plumbing is 28mm copper to manifolds then 22mm branches to the showers and 15mm via pressure reducers to basins. Since moving in 12 years ago we've also noticed the mains pressure reduce. We get a lot of burst water mains in the area, typically 1-2 a year (possibly due the use of asbestos cement pipes and clay soil) and it seems every time that happens the water co nudge the water pressure down a little bit.

When I was looking for a builder I went to see a house being built near a canal in the east of England. It was a difficult plot but the but the architect had got PP for a modern contemporary "upside down" flat roof house. The living room upstairs had a large feature window with a stunning view down a long straight section of the canal. However the owner however had clearly wanted something more thatched cottage like and was fitting out the interior accordingly. The mixture of modern minimalist house and glazing with country cottage floral decor has never clashed more horribly.

May seem obvious but make sure the stage payments you agree with the builder are consistent with and ideally later than any loan stage payments. It's also customary to retain 5% of the overall bill for snagging and our architect suggested this should be subtracted from each stage payment rather than the last one if you see what I mean.

Our carpenter used oak veneered MDF. Looks identical to the rest of the staircase.

Machine made can look a bit flat/uniform/modern where as hand made are slightly twisted so they give the roof a more textured look when laid. Sadly the company we used went bust.

Our (otherwise) frameless shower glass has a chrome channel at the bottom where the glass sits meets the tray. The channel was fixed to the tray with clear CT1/silicone and more was used in the channel to bed and seal the glass into it. Virtually all of the sealer that squeezed out was wiped off. There is no obvious fillet of sealer anywhere. Been fine for 12+ years.

I guess I should have got that from your user name. It been a long week.

Windows are normaly lower so you can see out when sitting down. If it was me I'd put a wide patio door in there to max the view over lake.

Remember to take/mix bricks from all pallets at the same time in case the colour varies from one pallet to the next.

Make the whole wall one soldier brick longer?

I used a grindstone wheel in a drill to open up some holes in a brick wall for some new lights. Worked better than i expected.

If this is a semi detached house beware because I've read some BCO are asking you to get a written agreement from the other house that they wont do work that undermines your use of gallows brackets (eg that they wont do the same).

I bet he says that's up to your SE !

Where are the inlet vents for the passive stack going? How about specifying a room sealed stove that burns air from outside the house via a duct?

Ha just spotted it's the same company.

How about a more contemporary design. These from Denmark so check standards. https://idealcombi.com/windows/contemporary-windows/

Building regs for outbuildings here.. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/43/outbuildings/2 Planning permission here.. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/43/outbuildings

Anyone here got a mortgage from the Ecology Building Soc? Perhaps you could explain to @Abbi how their LTV and stage payments work. LTV upto 80%? When you get say 25% of the way through the build do they send a valuer and pay you 80% of 25%?

There are some 800*400 concrete paving slabs but quite rare I think. https://www.minsterpaving.co.uk/products/standlake-smooth/

Google can find a few others offering custom/bespoke trays but I haven't looked to see how many are in the UK.

Made to measure.. https://www.versital.co.uk/bathroom-products-2/bespoke-shower-trays/ No idea of cost. Oops just seen they start at £650.

Just a caution.. I'm not sure how frost resistant aerated blocks are. I mean do they spall if they soak up water that then freezes? Dense blocks might be safer?

And as far as building control are concerned you can go upto 30sqm under certain conditions... If the floor area of the building is between 15 square metres and 30 square metres, you will not normally be required to apply for building regulations approval providing that the building contains NO sleeping accommodation and is either at least one metre from any boundary or it is constructed substantially of non-combustible materials.

Just had a look on the Door Stop web site and I quite like some of their their doors.

I very much doubt their specific doors, the ones sold to you, are police approved. Most likely they mean the police recommend doors made to certain standards. The ASA have this to say on the subject.. https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/official-endorsements.html "Rules 3.50 and 3.51 state that marketing communications must not claim that the marketer or their products have been approved, endorsed or authorised by a public or private body if they have not and must not claim to be a signatory to a code of conduct if they are not. Marketers should therefore not imply that their product or service is endorsed, supported or approved by an official or government body unless, of course, it is. " "...the ASA considered that an ad for a windows and conservatories fitter was misleading, because it claimed “Police Approved”