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Most of our oak (eg floor, skirting stairs) was done using Osmo Hardwax Oil. Been dome 10+ years and had proved very hard wearing even in the entrance hall (family of four inc teenage rugby players). highly recommended. Have recoated the WC floor and that went down very well. We also have some indoor oak beams done with Danish oil and that has darkened slightly. Still very happy though. Has a more matt finish than the hardwax oil. Overall I prefer the finish on the Osmo but I would paint up samples with both and see which you prefer. Have some outside oak done in Danish oil. Looks great but loads of work to maintain. Needs loads of coats and recoating ideally twice a year. Once a year minimum or it will go black.

Some 10+ years ago i think our cheapest quote came from Milbank Floors/Milbank concrete products. However they were a long way from us and after transport costs a nearer supplier was a bit cheaper.

What Barney said. Normally once Building Control have issued a completion certificate the house is considered complete on that date. At least as far as the VAT man is concerned. After that you can no add new purchases to your VAT reclaim.

Normally you can service them (change the valve seals or cartridge) through the cover plate.

Tesco sell thin bleach very cheap. I dilute it 50/50 with water and put it in a Hozelock plant sprayer. Use it regularly in the shower and it stops mould forming on grout/silicon. Don't use a sprayer with brass parts or the bleach will corrode it.

Building Control When you think you are ready ask BC to make a final inspection. Our BCO wanted to.. a) witness us pressure test the drains b) check that all panes of glass were coated (he had a tester with him) c) check all safety glass was marked with the appropriate standard. d) I think he also asked for some paperwork from the electrician. Planning Make sure any planning conditions have been discharged. There is a fee for discharging conditions and to minimise that try and get all the conditions discharged in one go. Postal Address The council are responsible for allocating the formal address/house number etc. Some councils have different names for this department but try "The Address Development Team" or ask the planning department receptionist what it's called. They will send you a form on which you can enter a house name. Council Tax Well before completion the council sent us a letter from the Valuation Office (I think) stating that they thought we would be complete on some random date. We wrote back to tell them a more likely date and they accepted it. Council tax bills will arrive soon after. Telephone Get the connection process started asap as this can take awhile. We were in our house 6-8 weeks with no phone while they upgraded overhead lines. VAT Refund You have three months to submit your reclaim from the date of completion. You can only claim for things purchased prior to completion so don't forget any materials like paint that you intend to apply after moving in. Note that some things like plants and landscaping materials can only be reclaimed if they appear on a landscaping plan submitted or required as part of your planning application. Check to see is any trades have charged you VAT in error as this cannot be reclaimed from HMRC.

Just a reminder that walls have to meet Parts B (Fire) and E (Sound) and that this may affect the make up of the outer leaf.

My father always cheerfully asked "Where is my 100% discount"? Surprising how many places came back with a better price.

Have heard good things about the Swadling mixers from Matki. Have actually got one for one of our bathrooms but work on that is currently on hold. Video here has shots of the mixer around 1min 30..

Planning conditions usually state why they have been imposed so check your grant. However it would be very unusual for there to be a Planning Condition that only asks for the name of a supplier. I think that would probably be an unenforceable anyway. What is the exact wording of the condition? If you run into any problems getting a supplier approved come back for advice. Might be easy to get the condition lifted if there is one. It's more likely that Building Control want the details and they may also want to see the beam sizes justified. Can all be done by the Beam and Block supplier if you send them a drawing.

Not exempt but conversions do end up zero rated if they qualify.... New builds - Labor is zero rated to you so no need to reclaim. Materials are 20% rated to you, which you reclaim. Conversions - Labor is 5% rated to you, which you reclaim. Materials are 20% rated to you, which you reclaim. So in effect both end up zero rated. See notes at the end of the reclaim form for conversions... https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487887/VAT431C_form_and_notes.pdf Also.. https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/conversion-renovation-vat-2/

The problem is that Planning Permission doesn't trump all other legislation. Not all building work even needs planning permission but the wildlife laws still apply. If you don't want to apply for a licence I would get some barriers up. That way if the issue comes up later you can say your report found no evidence of newts on your land and you put up barriers to prevent them moving in from adjacent land and being killed during the clearance work. At least that would be some mitigation against any claim you acted negligently.

What Peter said. If it's not connected to the CH output they are typically connected to the primary side of the DHW system in the return from the HW cylinder to the boiler. If you connect it to the secondary side of the H/W cylinder (eg the same water that comes out of the hot tap) then I think you need a special type of towel rad made of inert materials like stainless steel not iron as that water cannot be dosed with anti corrosion agents/Fernox. http://www.featureradiators.co.uk/Articles/Radiators for Secondary Return Hot water Systems.htm

PS One reason towel rads can get very hot is because they are sometimes connected to the boiler HW system rather than the CH system. This is (was) done so that they come on at bath time and in summer when you don't have the CH running. Not an issue if you plumb it in on it's own circuit.

We managed to get a good deal on a towel horse like this because it was a 2nd... Ours is on it's own loop from the TS and has a pipe stat and time clock so we can control when it's on and the temperature. You can also get them with a rad in the middle but they can be expensive..

When travellers moved onto a site a few miles from us they brought in lorry after lorry load of hardcore raising part of the site several feet. The planners told someone living next to the site that they could take no action as there was no evidence of the original level. This is worth a look.. http://planninglawblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/earth-moving-for-garden-landscaping.html Note the very few cases of enforcement he was able to cite. In addition to the 300mm rule there are rules on paving front gardens (anti run-off measures) but you've probably seen those.

I was advised by several companies not to put rugs on wood over UFH but have done so without problem and ours does run quite hot.

I think I would consider erecting newt barriers asap to ensure they cannot migrate onto your plot. Then you would have your report showing no newts and a barrier to prevent new ones arriving. If there are no newts then no laws broken. Edit: Just read that email again... Perhaps safer to get another report done before erecting barriers and starting work?

Mine came with brackets for the wall and an aluminium channel for the tray. The channel was fixed to the tray with silicone. The channel was also part filled with silicone and glass inserted. Excess silicon removed. Very little silicone is visible, no large beads to speak of. Ten years later all still stuck solid.

All wood moves with temperature and humidity changes. The wider the boards the more risk there is that solid boards will suffer from cupping or other movement. The problem is quantifying the risk. Each manufacturer has their own recommended maximum width but it's a lot narrower for solid than engineered wood. If you like narrow boards fine but I think wider boards look better. We opted for Engineered wood and have boards that are 200mm wide over UFH. Personally I think they look great and we've had lots of positive comments. People usually assume it's a solid wood floor unless I tell them. I went to several self build and DIY shows and picked up a lot of samples of ready treated engineered oak boards. I discovered many that looked ok at the show looked odd back home in natural light (one or two were positively orange and not like natural oak at all) so I strongly recommend you shop around before you buy.

If the garden room is a separate building then you are right. See para 17 on page 8 of the reclaim form... https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487894/VAT431NB_form_and_notes.pdf If the garden room is attached to the house then it might depend on how each room is labeled on the plans. Labelling it as an annex might be a mistake. Likewise rooms that aren't normally included in a house (such as a workshop) might be refused. If you employ a builder to build the house and garden room then it's very likely the builder will just zero rate the lot. I'm not clear if he should/shouldn't but try VAT notice 708.

So ideally you would want the replacement house to be more than twice the size of the burnt house (footprint of 100sqm vs 42sqm). Hard to know if the planners will be happy with that. It might be worth the risk but make sure the numbers make sense if they only allow a modest increase in size. If the burnt house hadn't been extended they might allow you to replace it with something equivalent to what the existing owner could have added using permitted development. That might be a side extension equal to half the width of the original house. That might get you to another 3*7 or 6*3.5m ... call it another 22sqm on the footprint for a total of 42+22=62sqm footprint or 124sqm floor area (assuming a two storey house).

Can you live with a house that's similar to the surrounding houses in size and style? Would you want bigger?

Perhaps consider hiring a project manager? Sure it will cost you but they might also save you money by bringing the project in earlier and should take a whole bunch of stress off you.

I like Nicks dispenser idea. Had a similar issue with a basin. Ended up using the unwanted tap hole for a plug release button. Perhaps fit a retractable shower head/wand. There are several types..