Temp

Welcome to the forum. Inserting a physical DPC.. If you hire someone to do the job I believe they should only charge you 5% VAT which you reclaim on VAT431C at the end. Make sure they know the VAT rate should get 5% before you accept their quote. Best get the quote to say Inc VAT at 5%. If they question this refer them to VAT708. Come back for more advice.

They work by passing both live and neutrals through a transformer of sorts. They way its wound means the field created by each winding should cancel out the other when they are the same. When they are different they don't cancel and the field produced trips the breaker. I think sending the current the wrong way on one would make it trip all the time because the field would add rather than subtract from each other.

Got a picture?

Efflorescence. Usually harmless. Salt coming out of the bricks or mortal. Can sometimes indicate that area is wetter than others for some reason - eg the gutter overflow others mentioned. Might just be recent heavy wind blowing rain into that corner. We have it on our house in a few areas below the damp proof course. Generally it's best left alone. It should eventually stop but can take many years to dissapear. Some people advise to use or not use a pressure washer - they can push more water into the brick and make it reappear worse. Others suggest various products to put on it. A stiff brush can be used but beware of marking up the bricks. A broom might be OK but not a really aggressive wire brush. I would leave it alone unless it really bothers you.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/31/homes-poor-energy-ratings-faulty-modelling-ucl/

When I was looking at tile levelling systems a few months ago I found this vid on exactly this problem with bowed tiles. He shows how the levelling system bends them flat.

When you sit on it the forces push the bottom of the frame down and backwards. The top of the frame gets pulled away from the wall. So i braced the bottom 2x4 against the wall with some timber running front to back. Just screwed the frame down into the 2x4 with coach screws I think. We had a bit more space in the cavity than you. At the top we have timber fixed to the block wall with quite a few fasteners. Then "bolts" made from studding act as stand offs for the frame. These bolts were put through recessed holes in the timber before it was fixed to the wall. Then we used nuts to set the distance from the wall to back of frame and more to secure the frame. So 4 nuts on each "bolt" if that makes sense. Either side of the frame we have vertical 2x4 With screws through the frame into that. This 2x4 had to be notched to clear our 110 pipe which runs left right.

Not bad results with either the special stuff or regular plaster..

Has he specified a material? Or diameter? If they need to be stainless steel perhaps.. https://www.screwfix.com/p/ultra-screw-pz-double-countersunk-multipurpose-screws-5-x-100mm-100-pack/26281 But you might need to pilot drill holes as stainless steel is easy to shear the heads off.

You thought yours was bad.. https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/amp/connection_dates_branded_unacceptable_as_octopus_offered_2036_date_for_sola

Welcome to the forum. Have you got a drawing of what it will look like when all done. Would the dormer needing PP overlook neighbours? Has anyone done similar in your area? Many of us have our own horror stories regarding planning permission. I'm tempted to say keep calm and carry on. Wait until you get a decision. If its declined then perhaps have a rethink.

I think OB1 Adhesive is probably OK. It claims to be solvent free. There are several versions of 785. I think 785+ is an acetoxy type, 785n is Neutral. Pretty sure lots of people have used both on trays.. For some reason I can't post a link but there are people on the diynot.com form that say... Some people say the neutral n version sticks better.

Congratulations! A year to find a plot and another to get planning permission for what you want. He might be walking before you can start building 🙂

Leave the gaps. I think any filler will look bad and probably crack out due to flexing.

Just fix something inside across the door to prevent someone opening it and falling out. Bit of 4x2 wrapped in warning tape? Tell him the balcony is on back order.

Either.. Dig out and paint the inside with a liquid tanking medium as used for basements right to the bottom. Then eventually the wall should dry out enough to allow paint to survive. Or.. Build another wall around it with a cavity between. Bottom course in engineering bricks with empty perps for drainage and a DPC on top. Put paving slabs or similar on top of the wall to cover the cavity?

Perhaps try a good old fashioned plunger first. Run the shower to get the pipe full then plunge away. Use the plunger to push down and suck back the water. Surprising how much gunk can be sucked back into the tray with a plunger. The tricky bit us getting a good seal between plunger and tray. Sometimes a ring of dishcloth can help.

Some of these agents really suck. We rented a house while building our own. When we moved in the agent told us the shower was going to be re-tiled. The man they sent made a total mess of it. I called the agent when he was half way through and told them if it was my house I'd throw him out the work was so bad. They told me to just let him carry on. The tiler didn't even know how to plan a tile layout. He ended up needing to cut a tapered 10mm wide strips of tiles the full height of the room. Near impossible to cut such narrow strips so he gave up and filled the missing strip with adhesive ! Felt sorry for the owner who was in the armed force.

We have a beam and block first floor with UFH. In some rooms we went for 200mm wide 21mm thick Engineered Oak flooring with no screed. The UFH system we choose for this uses a foiled insulation with grooves for pipes. This was laid on a layer of PIR. Both the UFH and PIR was laid between "battens" that are the same depth to support the Engineered Oak floor. It works but our flow temperatures are probably higher than you are aiming for.

I wonder if the correct/any flashing has been used? What does it look like on the outside?

That's pretty much the starting point for 95% of plots. There are a few places where they have deliberately allowed a mixture of modern styles but a log cabin might even look out of place there. The normal advice is to find a plot and then see what you can build rather than setting out with any particular style of house in mind. Otherwise you will likely spend a long time looking for plots.

Brings a whole new meaning to the slicer setting "wall thickness".

Unfortunately these companies either have their own staff or contracts with specific local "preferred trades". My guess is the regular heating enginer isnt on their list. It might be worth pretending you don't know how to isolate the boiler and water is still leaking. I'd email the landlords office, not to complain but to let them know you are worried about the water leak damaging their house/kitchen etc Mention you called the new maintenance company yesterday but they still haven't sent anyone yet. At least then you have something in writing.

It could be the right way to go if you need a machine to lift a big steel beam into place. The foundation trenches would get in the way if done first.

We have 80mm of PIR then UFH in screed and a mix of stone, wood and tiles on top. If building again I would try for more like 120mm of insulation. More if height isn't an issue.