Jeremy Harris

I think the easy solution is to use powder coated, or anodised, aluminium cladding, rather than uPVC. I think you could probably slip that up under the tiles and just bond it to the fascia, perhaps with screws into the soffit. It might cost a little more in materials, but would be a lot quicker to fit, which may offset the extra cost. You can get aluminium folded, with a drip rail, into an L shape, to clad the soffit as well, and make for a neat looking job that then would be maintenance free.

Run it through a thicknesser, far and away the quickest way. I planed down some of out spare, weathered, larch boards, with an electric plane, just to post a photo, either on here or on Ebuild, I think, of how it compared to oak when someone asked the question. Even using an electric plane took time, and I was only doing a small bit. You don't need to remove much to get the colour back, and it'll be much nicer working with timbers that are all consistent in size and colour after having been run through a thicknesser.

@Russell griffiths Thanks, we were chatting about this over lunch in the pub today and have come to much the same conclusions. Luckily we have a tree nursery within a very short drive, Landford Trees (http://www.landford-trees.co.uk/) and several more within an hour's drive. We also have a chap in the village who should be able to give me a hand to plant them, so with luck it shouldn't be a major problem. The plan is to go and have a look at Landford some time in the next week or so, to get an idea of what the various species look like, then sort out some strategic placements for them, as I've worked out that we only need to block three, fairly narrow, direct sight lines, then select a mix of trees that will best fit each location. Having some shade over the part of the drive where we park the cars is another advantage of planting some trees, as long as we're careful to pick species that don't drip sap. We've already discounted bamboo, more because we have a feeling that it would just look out of place than because of it's tendency to spread. Hornbeam is certainly one of the favourites, there happened to be one right outside the pub we had lunch in and it looked ideal. I think we may opt for a multi-trunk silver birch at one end, where privacy isn't a major concern, and plan to look at a couple of different tree privets as well. We already have field maple growing in the hedge alongside the lane, along with hawthorn, blackthorn, dog rose and hazel. The hazel and field maple is already getting above the lower fence level, so I'm inclined to allow a few of the taller hedge plants to grow up to semi-fill the gaps between the trees at the top of the bank. One consequence of the tall Leylandii being cut right down is that these hedging plants not get a great deal more light, so with luck they may put on more growth than they have over the past couple of years.

It may do. The silencers I made are a mix of expansion and absorption silencers, larger chambers lined with acoustic foam to absorb the sound. They work by slowing the air flow velocity down, which allows the sound to be better absorbed by the larger exposed area of foam (technically it's converted to heat which is then dissipated, before someone mentions the law of conservation of energy...........).

In practice, slab cooling isn't a risk in the UK climate at all. We run water at 12 deg C around the slab when the system is in cooling mode, and the slab surface never, ever gets below 18 deg C. Even that cool is rare, and most of the time the slab is around 19 to 19.5 deg C in warm weather. At 18 deg C, the relative humidity would need to be well over 90% for there to be a condensation risk, and that is just never going to happen during warm weather in the UK.

I found that fan noise was the only noise we had, and it was very effectively fixed by adding silencers to the short ducts from the MVHR to the plenums. The noise was certainly more pronounced from the very short ducts than the longer ones, so there seems little doubt that the ducts themselves absorb a fair bit of sound.

Most of the noise will probably come from the point where the flow is restricted, which is one reason why HB+ put the restrictors inside the plenums, rather than down at the terminals. Our terminals are not adjustable, they are fixed, full flow, and the flow regulation is by fitting restrictor discs inside the plenums, at each duct connection point. It was a PITA to balance, because of all the running around, but it does mean there's no flow noise from the terminals, even on those runs that are throttled right down.

I agree, but then most of the window companies we got quotes from had their own installers, and the one we used, Munster Joinery, have an in-house installation team. I think the thing that amazed me more than anything else was the massive variation in price, for very similar spec windows, from different suppliers. I just couldn't get my head around why Internorm were two and half times the price, and had a 10 to 12 week lead time, the longest of any of the companies we had quotes from.

If it's free standing, then that removes a fair bit of hassle, as you can treat it pretty much like a small self-build. In that case, I think a timber frame package of some sort may well be a good option. You get a quick build, that can be watertight in less than a week with many systems, and that alone takes a fair bit of risk out of the costings, as it minimises delays to the later work.

@Ferdinand, Thanks, yes I have been thinking about some sort of lightweight screen, the issue is that it needs to be quite high to be effective, and that might well attract attention from the powers that be. As I understand it, planting a few mature trees away from your own boundary isn't a planning issue, normally. Also, looking at the angles carefully, we don't need any screening below about 1.8 to 2m, what's needed is high level screening, which is one reason I've been thinking about a row of mature trees. Bamboo may well also be an option, as it seems that there are some hardy, tall varieties that may provide all year screening, but ideally we need to go and look at some to see how well they might fit in. Another point is that, by placing mature screening trees carefully, we don't need a continuous high level hedge, and it reduces the cost, as a few expensive mature trees may well be all that's needed. I need to go out and try to measure the relative angles, but I think we could have some fairly wide gaps between screening trees and still have plenty of privacy, as the sight line "corridors" are quite narrow, being windows at each end. I feel a long session drawing up some images of how things might look is called for.............

@PeterStarck, Thanks, I've been pondering over laurel, mainly because it evergreen and tall plants don't seem overly expensive.

I had a similar conundrum for out downstairs WC, which was just to the right of the stack. Further right is the utility sink, then a run, with a U bend trap at the end, connected to a vertical drain that goes upstairs to the services room for the water softener, MVHR condensate drain etc. What I did was fit a branch to the base of the stack, then a very short run to a Y connector right behind the WC, then another short run of 110mm ending in an upstanding elbow, with a cap on it and a 40mm reducer, right behind the wash basin that's to the right of the WC. The waste pipe that runs across the back of the utility room, with the sink and washing machine connections, plus the run from the services area, just goes through the wall to the WC and connects to the short vertical drop where the wash basin waste is. This keeps the "black water" well clear of the "grey water", because of the upturned elbow on the end of the short length of 110mm. From your drawing, I think the same arrangement would work for you.

I've done three slate roofs, two smaller ones and one large (farmhouse) scantle slate roof. Slates that are well graded and nailed or clipped to constant pitch battens are pretty easy to fit, there's a knack to cutting them, but after wasting a dozen or so you'll be OK. A scantle slate roof is a complete PITA, though, and I'd never think about doing one again. It takes forever to sort out and plan, plus you need enough space for the pegs, and the battens will end up on a variable pitch, because of the mix of slate sizes as you go up the roof. I only mention the issue with scantle slate, as it's traditional in Cornwall and Devon and I know some conservation areas still insist on it.

My guess is that with that small an area, the fixed costs of using an architect might well push the price per m² up by a fair bit. Extensions are generally more exppensive than new builds, in terms of cost per m², for a host of reasons, and small extensions are disproportionately more expensive, again because of the fixed costs of things like building control, planning and mobilisation of stuff to the site The cost per m² also varies a lot with region, with some areas perhaps as much as 50% more than others, due largely to wide variations in labour rates. If it's a simple extension, with no complex design aspects, you could consider doing the design yourself to save cost. You may or may not need a structural engineers input, it depends on what you're planning. You may well find that an architectural technician would be better and more cost effective than an architect, as they tend to do a lot more smaller jobs like this.

They are a UK registered company now, and I'm pretty sure they were when we used them. I know we paid in pounds, to a sterling account, not Euros, and the contract when we used them was under the law of England and Wales, even though our frame was made in their Tipperary factory. It was much the same when dealing with Munster Joinery, they were based in Cork, but the contract was in pounds, paid to a UK account.

@Stones, that's my fear, that the cost will be too high! I've been looking around this morning at online suppliers, and something like pleached Hornbeam might be an affordable option, with 8ft trees at around £200 each. I need to go and have a look at them, to get an idea as to how well-grown they are first, though.

MBC Timberframe in Gloucester? We used them, and they were very good.

For us it was the cheapest option, again because of the soil conditions, plus the fact that we had already excavated down over 2m, just to get the site level. Digging out more for strip foundations would have cost more than just putting the passive slab down. As @Trw144 rightly says, it does all come down to what the ground conditions are like.

I had several prices for an insulated foundation, from suppliers like Isoquick, Kore, SuperGrund. All were around £10k to £12k approximate installed cost for 80m², back in 2013 when I was getting prices. It was very difficult to compare prices, as all were based on different provisions, so I had quotes ranging from about £6k to about £8k, but these all left out big cost elements. Some included SE fees, some didn't, none included the concrete cost, none included UFH pipes in the slab, some included the steel, some just provided a steel spec, none included labour or the ground prep and none included plant hire or waste removal. We went with MBC, because the total risk was massively reduced by having the same company supply and install the foundation and supply and erect the whole house. At a guess I'd say there was probably a 5% to 10% reduction on other costs from this, as they provided all the plant, crane, materials and did the installation, complete with UFH pipes. I don't have a cost breakdown for their quote, so don't know what the slab cost was, but would guess that it would be at the upper end of the prices I had from other suppliers, but when you take account of all the included costs they were probably cheaper.

Screwfix low expansion foam is very good, pretty sure it's really made by Soudal. Screwfix No Nonsense standard foam is not so good, in my experience, it tends to have big voids internally and varies a fair bit from one can to the next. Generally I try and stick to Soudal, as it seems to perform consistently well. This is based on having used around 50 cans of the stuff in two guns. As others have said, just leave the can on the gun, with the valve right off, and it will last for ages, certainly several months. One thing to watch is to avoid damaging the end of the gun where the nozzle fits It's coated with Teflon, like a non-stick pan, and once it gets scratched the foam sticks to it and you ended up with a jammed needle valve at the nozzle end. When this happens, the gun is really toast, as it will need very regular cleaning from then on, pretty much every time it's used, and the effort of doing this becomes more than the gun is worth. I found that taking the plastic tip off and cleaning it with acetone, and wiping the tip of the gun with a rag soaked in acetone, before putting it away keeps it working well. It's also much cheaper to buy 5L cans of acetone that buy gun cleaner, which is just acetone anyway.

Sorry, missed these replies for some reason (too much forum activity, perhaps!). @ThePoplars, I love the idea of the "fedge". I don't think it would be OK for the main screening fence/hedge/whatever, but it would look great around the edge of the lawn. We were thinking of getting some woven in place hazel hurdles as a fence around that area, to allow it to follow the curve of the low stone wall, but a "fedge" planted just behind the wall would work very well, and could follow the curve. Willow would do well in that area, too, as that area of the lawn is consistently wetter than the rest, as rain water tends to run down towards the low wall. @Onoff, I've never seen that artificial, expanding hedging. Not sure that SWMBO would accept it, or camo net, - we're currently having a bit of a "debate" about the acceptability of different solutions........... Bamboo is an option, one of the very tall varieties, perhaps, but I'm not sure what it would look like in winter. The stems might be enough to provide screening, I need to go and have a look at some to get a better idea. The big advantage of bamboo is that it would grow quickly, and probably spread all along the top of the bank, and as well as providing screening its roots would probably help stabilise the soil. Another option we're thinking of is to plant some mature trees. It would mean taking the fence down to get access to plant them, but luckily I used big screws to fix the rails, so I can easily remove them to get a mini digger in. Cost might be an issue, and we'd need to pick species that don't grow above about 4 to 5m, to prevent them from getting high enough to shade the solar panels. We'd also need species that would provide some screening in winter. I don't much like the idea of conifers, and whatever we plant ideally needs to have a short trunk, with spreading branches above car roof level. Low level screening isn't really an issue, as the lane has virtually no foot traffic at al, and it's barely single track, so anyone in a car can't see the house from the lane, except out of a sun roof, they are too close to the bank. I think we could probably get away with five, perhaps six, strategically placed mature trees, the big questions is the choice of species and the cost. At a stretch we could go to around £1500 for trees and planting; any suggestions for suitable varieties would be welcome. The top of the bank soil pH is neutral to slightly alkaline, pretty poor, as it's mainly stiff alluvial clay, plus some blue gault waste from the borehole, and the weeds that grow on it are the typical weeds seen on poor waste ground. It is always moist, though. I'm pretty sure that we'd need to add some compost/nutrients to the holes dug for any trees.

A tip for anyone thinking of fitting a Freesat dish is to ignore the dish size guidance that is on many websites, with marked zones for each size. Just get the very biggest dish you can afford/fit. This is what I've done, both times, and the result is an extremely strong signal, and no interference from rain or snow. A neighbour had one of the small, square'ish, dishes fitted and had a fair few interference problems, but these went away when he fitted a dish that's just a bit smaller than ours. A bigger dish is also slightly easier to align, I found, as despite the slightly narrower beam width, if it's off by a degree or so it has enough gain to pull in a good signal.

Inverters do a loop impedance check, as a part of the anti-islanding shutdown that's required to comply with the regs. The check is usually done by one of two methods, the most common being to periodically force the output current waveform to increase and use that to measure the effective impedance of the loop, the other way is to periodically switch a capacitor across the supply loop and measure changes in source impedance that way (not that common, I believe). Ours displays the loop impedance as a part of the cyclic display of data on the front. My guess is that the loop impedance has to be quite high for that alone to cause the inverter to shutdown, and it's not the primary anti-islanding protection method, voltage, phase and harmonic detection are usually the front line defence mechanisms.

We paid around the same, £260 + VAT for a standard 8 cu yd skip. We were lucky in that there's a skip hire place in the next village over, around 3 miles away, and I think that may have reduced the price slightly. Their pricing was based on distance, they had a map with a series of concentric circles with different price zones.

I spent around £300 on a new high gain antenna, 12ft mast, masthead amplifier, low loss double screened cable etc when the digital switch over happened, to try and get terrestrial digital TV. Some of our neighbours did the same. None of us succeeded in getting a decent signal, the slightest bit of interference, from a passing car or motorcycle usually, would cause the set to lock up and freeze for ten seconds or more. It was completely unwatchable, as often the lock ups would be every 30 seconds or less apart. I ended up binning the whole lot and buying a dish and Freesat box. Best thing I've ever done, as the picture quality is consistently better than Freeview (higher bit rate, I think) and there is never any interference at all. The dish and 4 way LNB was around £40, from ebay, and took around an hour to set up and get pointed in the right direction. It's been up for several years now, and seems reliable enough. At the new house I didn't even think about terrestrial TV at all, and just fitted a similar Freesat dish to the side of the house. That seems to work every bit as well as the one at the old house.