Temp

Sounds like you need to move the gutters outboard a bit? Sketch drawing might help.

That's unlikely to work these days if the land is registered. Previously you just had to fence it off for 10 years and then claim ownership. A few years ago the rules changed so that when you try and claim (it after 10 years) the Land Registry will write to the registered owner. That owner then has 2 years to object, otherwise its yours. Problem is most people will object when they get that letter. The land Registry have also started to enforce the rules more strictly. If you leave the right of way open they will say you haven't met the rule requiring it to be fenced off "to the exclusion of all others". They may also do that if you leave a gate unlocked or can't prove the gate was always locked.

I think an "area of common parts" is usually shared with other owners, for example the passage way in a block of flats. I think you would need permission from all the other owners to remove it from their deeds. One possibility might be to mention to them that its overgrown and needs clearing to prevent rats. Hint that they may have to share the cost of this unless they give up their right. In practice I don't think it's easy to force them to pay for maintenance so they might see through this approach.

Three small samples arrived Saturday and I gave them a torture test of ketchup, vinegar and wet copper coins for three days. They survived a lot better than our travertine would. Surprisingly the whitest "Ice" version seemed to withstand staining the best. Sure there were marks, particularly under the coins which were green around the edges, but cleaning with a bathroom cleaner removed them easily enough.

Laser?... https://www.lasermaster.co.uk See the submit a drawing link. I entered 500mm x 150mm 3mm SS and quantity of four and an oval shape and it said £84 total. Not sure what set up costs would be for a custom design.

Can you get a right angled SDS drive? And would that fit between the joists?

They refer to approved cabinets and trunking in here but they are all single supply as far as I can see. https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/internet/asset/3b7f1ee6-1fc8-461a-a5d5-a4909a64895B/UKPowerNetworks_Site%2BInformation%2BPack_V2Dec2017_FINAL.pdf I think at the very least they will have to tell you if they are providing one fat cable or 6 smaller cables! Can you find someone building another block of flats and see what they are doing?

Looking here... https://www.gov.uk/guidance/general-binding-rules-small-sewage-discharge-to-the-ground and https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/397173/ssd-general-binding-rules.pdf and https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/367016/ssd-reform-further-info-201410.pdf ..it does look like an upgrade to a drainage field/mound is required even for systems built before 2014. Drainage mounds can be quite large. If you find a water course to discharge into you would also need to change to treatment plants instead of septic tanks. In the latter document it says who is responsible on page 8... So again well worth checking the title deeds. One problem I can see is that the owner of the field may not be obliged to agree to any changes. So perhaps keep him sweet. Likewise the owners of the other three houses as there could be a bill heading their way. I think you should also contact the water co to see if they have any plans to connect this group of houses to mains sewers. The village near us was done recently but that's about 25 houses.

We have a bit of a mixed system. Everything to the left of the Thermal store is downstairs. The Store and manifolds are upstairs. The manifolds are located between the two bathrooms which are close together. So I think any extra pipe due to the use of a manifold approach was minimal. It's a mix of copper and plastic. Mostly 28mm copper before the manifolds and plastic in various sizes after. The manifolds were "home made" from 28mm copper fittings. The diagram is simplified (I've not shown the boiler loop, isolating valves and the Thermal Store is much more complicated). The water softener is just a place holder with bypass as we haven't needed one. One of our showers is a high flow rate with body jets. Works well.

With some cad packages you can import an image and trace over it on another layer, then hide or delete the image. However the problem really is that this means you are scaling or measuring from the drawing and that's not recommend. You should used measured dimensions to create the drawing. One possibility is for you to measure the house and mark up dimensions onto the pdf so they can recreate the cad drawing accurately - in effect doing the survey for them - but don't expect them to accept liability for errors later.

Site workers are allowed to live on site without needing planning permission but see my reply in this thread for more. As I recall they can even live on land next door to the site.

I wouldn't worry too much about occupying before getting the certificate. The planners are unlikely to take any action if they can see you are working towards getting one.

PS: Back in the days of the Morris 1300 my dad claimed to get 47,000 miles on a set of tyres. Oh and he would tow a caravan with it. Scary.

I got about 27,000 miles out of the fronts on my Ford smax and 31,000 out of the rears. Rears would have lasted longer but was getting assymetric wear due to a tracking issue. They were Bridgestones.

As long as it's close to the conventional shape most seats will work. We have one that's slightly square but even that can be made to take a BnQ seat.

More here with a list of other schemes... https://www.dgcos.org.uk/news/competent-person-schemes

Yes. Replacement windows are "notifiable" as is some other building work that effects the insulation properties of the building. You can DIY the window and make a building control application yourself (fee payable) but a valid option is to use a member of a "competent person" scheme of which Fensa is one example. They will ensure the work meets the regs and notify the Building Control Office at the council (also for a fee but some may hide the fee in the bill). Something similar applies to some but not all electrical work.

This web site... https://www.wte-ltd.co.uk/septic_tank_general_binding_rules_2020.html ..suggests it might only be septic tanks that discharge directly to a water course that have to be replaced by a sewerage treatment plant. Check out the title deeds for all properties concerned to see if there is anything mentioned about a right to discharge. These can be obtained from the (real) Land Registry web site for a few £ each. You may have to set up an account but they send them by email in a few mins usually. Make sure you visit the real one as some of the fakes look better than the real one!

We went for a freestanding Boat Bath from BC Designs. They have this built in double ended bath but I've no idea if its the same quality as the freestanding bath we have. It's a lot cheaper. https://bcdesigns.co.uk/baths/lambert-double-ended-bath/

I would consider something like a false ceiling. Eg don't fix the plasterboard to the underside of the floor joists, instead use separate joists to support it. Perhaps two layers of plasterboard. No lights penetrating the plasterboard?

We have a glass shower screen that sits in an aluminium channel stuck to the tray with silicone. I was expecting the builder to drill and screw the channel to the stone tray but he said silicone would be strong enough and he was right. 11-12 years later its still stuck down well despite people grabbing the edge of the glass to support themselves. If it can do this I think it would easily stop a hob moving about.

That _might_ be sufficient to count as having started but, as others have suggested, ask the council if they consider work has started and therefore the PP is still valid. What do the houses either side look like? Planers like to maintain uniformity where it exists. If all other houses are massive places of similar design then they may not like the idea of one much smaller house.

While I was getting my tyres fitted the phone rang several time with people who had a Groupon code. The receptionist kept telling them they must bring some sort of security number with them. I havent investigated but it must be a significant discount as there were at least three callers asking about it in the short time I was waiting.

What @ProDave said. If someone "supplies and fits" (eg provides materials and labour) both must be supplied at the lower of the two rates. If it's a new house labour is zero rated so the materials must be zero rated to you as well. This is in VAT 708. If the brickie charges you VAT on materials and you pay it in error you cannot reclaim the VAT from HMRC. If the brickie is VAT registered he can reclaim the VAT from HMRC so won't be out of pocket. If your builder is not VAT registered you should buy the materials yourself from the builders merchant and in that case you can reclaim the VAT. You need a VAT invoice in your name.

Our first mortgage was £37,000 but nearly ruined us when interest rates peaked over 15% in the late 1980s. When rates came down we didn't reduce our repayments by the full amount to try and build up a safety margin.