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@Telleportello welcome ! I've found this forum full of rich insights, so do ask lots of questions throughout... Every build has challenges (we had our structural engineer unreachable for months at a time, planning objections, and have had to contend with some significant supply chain delays also..) One thing I'd recommend you do sooner, rather than later, is share your floor plans in this forum for feedback.. That's something I wish I'd done earlier in our build. Good luck !

Hi all, I'd quite like to install wired Nest Protects in our new build, I've just hit one snag... We need a heat sensor in the kitchen, and I understand that it needs to be connected to a central alerting system... So.. I'm wondering what people think of the following: - Custom modifying a single Nest Protect unit to disable the built in smoke sensor, such that it becomes a 'dumb' heat sensor. I've got a buddy who is handy with electrics.. That way, I get a nice interconnected fire alarm system, with dedicated heat sensor in the kitchen. And save myself the expense of a more enterprise-y fire alarm system. Thoughts ?

I think you should shrink the first floor hallway to accommodate a larger master bedroom, I'm not sure you need to waste all that space on a first floor landing... I.e. drop that bottom wall of the bedroom down to the staircase

A bargain at £48 / page !

We paid £1,050 for a trial pit in London. Pit was specifically to expose neighbours foundations and check their depth, so was dug carefully with hand tools, and then filled in. There was the need to cut neighbour services, and reconnect them, as part of the dig. We did this once equipment was on-site, during construction, rather than separately.

Hi all, Can anyone please guide me on what is a reasonable range for window fitting costs? In London, so I expect that we'll be on the more expensive end of the range. Thank you in advance

Hi all, I'm looking for the best buy for a high quality aluminium sliding door for a 2.5m wide opening, 830mm wide panes, 3-track, 2.5m height. I was originally looking at the Cortizo Cor-Vision, but I'm wondering if there are better products out there for the money ? Many thanks in advance

Any tips or advice for external window and doors procurement? Planning to have it done supply and fit. Any tips gratefully received. Thank you in advance

We challenged our council band successfully, here is how we did it: 1) We scoured for sold comparables using propertydata.co.uk (Evaluate > Comparables). £14 for a 1 month subscription 2) We used Zoopla to check specifics of the property (bedrooms, bathrooms) to see if it was a suitable one for our challenge (it took some trial + error, but we eventually narrowed down to a few good examples) 3) Through trial + error we found 7 examples of properties within a 2 mile radius of our house that had sold for more than we bought our house for (implying a higher valuation was likely in 1991), that had a lower council tax band. We also ensured that they met the following criteria: a) Same type of house (i.e. detached) b) Internal Area in sq meters equal to or higher than ours c) Number of bedrooms equal to or higher than ours d) Number of bathrooms equal to or higher than ours e) Parking equal to or better than ours f) Plot size equal to or better than ours It was actually very straightforward, and by presenting the data clearly in a table (see below), it was easy to make the case that our house was misbanded.. I hope this helps. Good luck

Perhaps I should do a reddit-style AMA 😅

I work for one of the energy suppliers and have had success lately getting 3-phase meters installed in a typical 2.5 - 3 weeks. Feel free to PM me if you'd like some help with this.

Hi all, I'm planning to use 4x Velux 150cm x 150cm I'm planning on using for flat roofs on our project.. I'm currently planning their triple glazing, combined with the anti-heat blind (MSU5070) to reduce solar gain as needed. I'm just wondering whether the better option is to upgrade the glazing, to one of the special glazings (to reduce solar gain), and do away with the blinds. Any thoughts/feedback on this ? Thank you in advance !

Thanks, appreciate this feedback

@joe90, @Ferdinand, @Kelvin, @NSS, @Onoff, @Temp: Ok, so an update on this one: I realised since posting this that we've actually excavated closer to 1.8m at the back of the site, due to the slope (will measure it tomorrow, hopefully under the key 2m threshold). This retaining wall is 1 meter from their boundary, and they do have an out-house of sorts at the end of their garden, likely within 3m from our retaining wall. However, this work was conducted 6 months back.. Before anyone asks, the concrete block wall is reinforced with vertical steel bars, a horizontal steel mesh, and a heel and toe. We've also got drainage behind it. Planner has reached out to me, and I've offered them a site visit (I figure this will serve us better than photos), and I'd like the chance to address any concerns. I think probably sensible to also have our planning consultant attend the site visit so we can best address any concerns. It would be interesting to understand the neighbour's actual concerns - but as far as I can tell - they just seem to be 'one of those'. They objected to our rear dormer on the basis it impacted their privacy, despite it being 60 metres away from their house... I.e. I think @joe90 has got the right idea.. Any other ideas gratefully received

This is a fun one... We were granted planning for demolition + rebuild, and as part of that agreed levels for our rear garden that showed a patio in line with FFL, and then 8 steps up to the back of the garden In the final event, we excavated a bit more, so just 3 steps up to the back garden (so an extra ~90cm of height has been excavated from the rear part of the garden, and a taller retaining wall has been put in place around the garden) A lovely neighbour has kindly reported us to the council for the levels in our rear garden not matching planning (i.e. being 90cm lower). This picture shows what we have actually done: Our planner has advised we can be fairly relaxed in terms of enforcement because lowering the garden doesn't cause detriment/harm to anyone. But - I wanted to ask the wizards here for any advice on this. Should I be worried ? Any suggestions for points that should be made to the planners to secure a favourable outcome from the upcoming investigation. Any feedback appreciated. Many thanks in advance

I just got it yesterday. I asked the builder to match it - which he agreed to... But we'll see where we get to over the next few days..! P.s. I also thought it looked really good !

Flemish bond.

Architect has provided the attached example - what do you think ?

Can I ask how much each of these lintels cost please ?

Hi all - thank you for the really thoughtful & clear feedback. Further comments as follows: Firstly, there is clearly a balance of opinions here between 'Architect is being ridiculous' and 'Work not matching the drawings'. This is really helpful, it shows me this is a bit of a grey area. To be fair to the builder, there are 10 arches required in total, and he has done 1 of the smaller ones and shown it to me for feedback. So he hasn't created a huge problem here or wasted a load of time and effort. To answer another question, I'm on site every day, I've found this to be crucial I like the creative idea of taking a diamond disk to it, but I can see with a bit of photoshop that it isn't going to work. Given these are a key feature for our house, I'll follow the builders advice and do the custom-cut bricks, and share pictures with this thread afterwards once we have the first arch. Thank you all for the feedback, honestly, this has been very helpful 👏

(1) Our working drawing shows the following detail above the windows: Annotation pointing to the brick lintel above the arch reads: "PROVIDE A 215mm DEEP FLAT GAUGED BRICK ARCH ABOVE ALL WINDOWS AS SHOWN ON ELEVATIONS" (2) Architect advised us that brick slipped lintels or hand cut bricks would both be appropriate, and we relayed to the builder. 3) Builder actually built the following:) - The mortar joints measure 40mm to 45mm in places at the top of the arch 4) We advised that we expected even joints at top and bottom of the arch. Architect has advised us that what the builder has built does not match the drawings. 5) The builder says that the above is acceptable in their view (i.e. matches drawings), and will charge extra to change to ones with evenly spaced mortar joints at top and bottom of the brick arch. Please can you advise me - is this reasonable - or are we paying twice for the same work ? Many thanks in advance.

Hi team, Our builder has proposed the below aircrete blocks for internal concrete walls on our first floor level. Any comments/feedback ? I have no idea if this would be a downgrade on concrete blocks ? I'm particularly interested in the sound deadening qualities & thermal performance, but any other feedback/suggestions welcome ? Many thanks in advance

Sometimes it's okay to break a rule here and there

A combination of planning considerations and a desire to deliberately break the symmetry. But I hear you !

Roof measures 10m x 14.5m, but lots of rooflights + dormers + angled bits. Flat roof area measures 4.7m x 9.3m (subtract 1.5m x 1.5m and 1m x 1m rooflights) = ~40m2 flat roof Location: London We have a 3-phase power supply to the house. Should I be looking at solar panels ? If so - I suspect we want to use the flat roof only (for best visuals), and so want quite an efficient product, any recommendations ? Should we fit the panels now (while scaffolding is up), or better to wait a year, is the tech improving/costs coming down ? Or solar roof? E.g. Solecco ? I'm guestimating our electricity usage to be 7000kwh - 8000kwh / year. Our roof structure should start to go up in around 8-10 weeks time. Any advice or considerations gratefully received, thank you in advance.