Temp

I checked the reclaim form and it says.. "Has Planning Permission been granted for your new build? To obtain a VAT refund you must provide evidence that the works are lawful and send us a copy of the planning permission" So you might get away with a letter from the council stating "Planning Permission is not required for the additional shower/wc" and you reminding them that it was done prior to completion. However HMRC were really pedantic they could say that although PP isn't required _now_ it was when the house was completed. You would hope they would see sense.

Get that metal detector/magnet going to see if that narrows it down to either a or b... a) Middle bowed out - no screws in the middle? b) Joints bowed in - no studs or screws near the cracks? If you have one of those USB cameras it would be interesting to look down into the wall from above. Most cement boards have some sort of marking on them at least on one side.

That effectively means you don't have PDR until the house is complete.

Work on the inside of your house is covered by Permitted Development Rights (PDR) but I think you only get PDR when a house is complete. If I'm correct then technically your house wasn't built "exactly as approved". The planners will take a pragmatic approach - they won't take enforcement action because it would be a waste of time and money. They know you could have added the shower/toiler after completion under PDR. The HMRC are being picky and unfair but they could well be legally correct. You should have completed the house "as approved" and then added the shower/WC. As they see it the house was either built "not as approved" (eg unlawful) or you added the shower/toiler after completion (which isn't claimable). I'm not sure of the way out of this one. You could try asking the planners to confirm that the house was "built as approved" but they might be reluctant to do that. If they aren't very co-operative you might have to try for a retrospective certificate of lawful development. You would get a certificate but I'm not sure if they would agree to it being retrospective. It depends when you get PDR. Depending on the outcome you would then resubmit the VAT reclaim or modify it to remove the shower/WC and resubmit it. Beware the time limit! It might take too long to get a certificate. Others should consider not claiming for anything that's not on the approved plans.

Those on the border will be allowed to have a mixed installation.

I suspect they didn't screw the Hardi to the middle/all the studs. Got a metal detector/stud finder (eg to look for the screws)?

That's pretty strange. Our bathroom was clad in travertine over Hardi backer board with no issues. I'm wondering if your joints weren't done on studs? Is it the centre of a sheet bowing out or the edge bowing in? Edit: Looking at that last picture it looks like the centre of sheets bowing outwards. Were they screwed to all the studs or just along joints?

Is the problem that the concrete beam is curved?

Came across this by accident. How to dig a trench on difficult ground using compressed air. I've no idea if you can hire one in the UK.

Try and take some photos before he puts the pipe in! (Edit: Looks like you have done that.) We were advised to write a letter to a neighbour and send it recorded delivery, keeping a copy etc. This is because once someone has been formally made aware that their actions could cause damage, if they go ahead anyway, they become liable for additional damages for negligence. Otherwise they are just liable for damages for repairs and/or nuisance. I would point out in the letter that.. * Land owners upstream have riparian rights to discharge water into the burn. * You are writing to make him aware that the existing 1m diameter pipe at property X has proved inadequate and caused local flooding on at least X occasions in recent years. * You believe that his proposed use of a 1m diameter pipe will also be inadequate and may cause flooding and flood damage to your property for which a court is likely to find he is liable. * Now that he has been made aware (that a 1m diameter pipe is likely to be inadequate and cause flood damage to your property) if he proceeds to install or retain a 1m diameter pipe and it does causes flood damage it is likely he will be additionally liable for damages for negligence.

When we submitted our drawings prior to starting work the BCO asked us how we were going to comply with Part E (sound transmission). He said he was mainly concerned about our first floor which is beam and block, insulation and UFH in screed. Started talking about needing sound tests because apparently there wasn't an existing "robust design detail" for a B&B floor with UFH on top. To my surprise he was right. He had me calling every beam & Block company I could find to see if one of them had any kind of test certificate that might help me avoid a sound test. Not only are they an unwanted cost but there is always a risk you might fail. Anyway when we started building a different BCO came out to site and we never heard any more about it.

Great view, shame about the railway line?

Good point.

Not sure about that but you can get inline double pole switches like this.. https://boatlamps.co.uk/products/in-line-water-resistant-double-pole-switch Just check the cable diameter will be ok.

With heating oil you can ring around and haggle over the price. With LPG the gas company retains ownership of the tank and only they can fill it for the first two years (typically). After that you can switch supplier but ownership of the tank has to be transferred to the new supplier or a new tank fitted. Oil is about 5.0 to 5.4 p/kwh, LPG 6.30 p/kwh so LPG is currently about 16% more expensive. Oil is currently about same cost as mains gas according to.. http://www.nottenergy.com/energy_cost_comparison/

I believe this problem usually happen with indoor lighting because LIVE runs from the fitting down to the switch and back up to the fitting as SWITCHED LIVE. Therefore you have both sides of the switch in the same cable for some distance. Coupling between these two wires allows energy to bypass the switch. Typically this is enough energy to make LED glow dimly or for CFL to flicker on occasionally but it's not enough to light up a halogen or similar. It's not so obvious how it's happening with your outdoor set up but you could try switching the neutral as well.

Should be the plan with the conveyance. Was it moved in your favour or not?

I think the stove will dictate the position of the duct so better check carefully. This site has a handy filter that allows you to list stoves that have a direct air supply together with diameter of pipe required. Click and scroll down... http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/direct-air-supply-stoves.html

Interesting. I've never heard of the LR coming to check property boundaries. They specifically say that the LR cannot help resolve boundary disputes. Aside: If you google the land registry you get pages of links to companies that provide indirect access to the land registry data for increased fees. So many that it can be hard to find real Land Registry web site! This now appears to be at.. https://www.gov.uk/topic/land-registration/searches-fees-forms or the rather unfriendly/less polished pages.. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry https://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk/www/wps/myportal/My_Home

+1 on wet mats. They are more of a problem than towels.

Fabric conditioner helps make them fluffy but also stops them drying you.

We installed a towel rad but this winter I "forgot" to turn it on. Nobody has complained. If you shower once a day towels seem to dry fast enough with MVHR. Only issue is if you change your routine or for some reason shower twice in one day then your towel might still be slightly damp. Make sure you install a big enough rail so the air can circulate. There are four of us and sometimes the kids towels end up on top of ours which obviously slows down drying.

Many native hedge plants have thorns. If you will have to cut it yourself might be worth carefully selecting the varieties.

For a wind farm near us there were several hundred letters of objections from people living within 1 km and several hundred pre-printed post cards in support collected by the developer in a town 20km away. Some of the folks who submitted post cards lived hundreds of miles away.