lizzie

I love tap water when I go home (Wales) what comes out of the tap here is cleaned up river water and its vile. Im not a fan of flavoured or sparkling OH likes plain sparkling.

It seems that was not enough for us @jack we were advised against. We are very exposed on the top of a ridge. Shame because I liked the horizontal very much, the vertical matches my cladding which is also vertical so keeps a theme. With some things I do wonder if contractors told me things were not suitable because they wanted an easier life LOL

@puntloos I dont like the expensive filters plus they dont get everything. Its not flushed through in the same way as mains tap volumes. I just dont like the way it lies in the pipes. I have seen some horrors lurking in ones in rental properties. You cant get in and clean it all thoroughly. I’m a bit paranoid about bugs sorry.

Lovely post some pics. I would have liked this type of fencing but with the howling gales we get here it was safer to go with vertical hit and miss let the wind through. Do paint first if you can.....mine is still not all painted, its like the Forth bridge!

Sodastream do a machine to turn tap water into sparkling water....got one from Amazon quite cheap.....a lot cheaper than the expensive tap LOL Prefer flat water myself but not tap. I like Evian. I hate fridges with water and ice makers too. Amazing how different we all are for drinks.

I had a boiling water tap previously. I did not fit one in this kitchen. I didnt much like the qooker I had (although my sister loves hers). I have plenty of hot water (big tank and only two of us) for whatever is needed and for hot drinks we rarely use a kettle more than once a day as I drink coffee and use a machine for that so for me the boiling water tap was an expensive white elephant.

In my utility room I used Howdens units. I wanted a waterproof top not just a standard laminate but granite was overkill. I found a product called Zenith. It is completely waterproof wont lift like laminate and is scratch proof and pretty bomb proof I think. I had a 12.5mm thick one so nice and modern and slim. I had it to look like my oak in the kitchen so it reflected the style of my kitchen without the same cost on natural materials. Zenith comes in all sorts of colours and styles. I had a piece 3065 x 650 x 12.5mm for £190 plus vat. Matching up stands 4065 x 95 x 12.5mm £40 plus vat. So got the lot for £230 plus vat (and delivery if you need it). It looks amazing and is so durable. I would use it in a main kitchen without hesitation. I got mine from www.solidsurfacekitchens.co.uk

Are those electric or manual?

@Siochair I have a very modern house and sadly shutters would not look right. Thanks for the suggestion thiugh. Its like a lot of issues I have now, I did ask questions at the time and was assured all was ok....I doubted but deferred to the so called experts!

@Temp dont think the Land Registry can influence an overage time, as I understand it they register the details of what has been agreed between the parties thats all. We put overage of 40 years on some land we recently sold. Thats long enough to see us out and not unreasonable.

Think I’m moving to Oz! Like it there so no hardship LOL. Ref the wiring we had lengthy discussions with several blind suppliers and my electrician and carpenter. It would be possible to do only two windows without major upheaval (out of 7 on the same view side) and the benefit of doing two would be limited and it would look odd with just those done and the others left. I have looked at awnings too, again for me limited value and definitely spoiling the exterior as it would be a mish mash due to shape of my building plus I have a very windy location and the winds come up quickly so would need to be vigilant. I had auto wind sensors on my awnings in France but again have the power issue here so they would have to be manual. Will keep searching and hoping on blinds and meantime keeping everything crossed that the film I had put on last autumn will help, only time will tell on that.

@Nick I had quotes from several UK suppliers but all needed electric motors and it is just too difficult to get power to them for me. I could not find a supplier who could do manual blinds or remote rechargeable bluetooth etc where a power supply was not needed direct to the blind

I too would be interested as none of the Uk suppliers I found could retrofit without electric supply for blinds and that was impossible for me without dismantling half the house cladding.

@edsr this is not a diy job talk to a lawyer with the relevant experience (not one that just does house sales and purchase) overages are becoming the norm these days. It should not be impossible to find a way around it with a will on both sides.....of course if it is the original vendor proposing the overage in this fashion the change is something they need to agree and if they wont do something that you find acceptable then you have to go and find some other land. The vendor holds the cards, always another purchaser waiting for land its red hot everywhere at the mo.

Thanks @Mr Punter I used them for my downpipes. I will give them a call they are not too far from me.

Thank you....that was what I hoped for but need to see if I can find someone to do it as a whole job or if I have to find a builder to fit it and I order it.

Not sure if I am in the right section so please feel free to move. For reasons I wont go into here I ended up without my powder coated aluminium fascias. I have painted timber which looks ok for now but I need to get the ones I planned done. It niggles me every day and of course there is the maintenance issue. The weather is fierce I can already see they could do with a paint again this summer despite having bucketloads of dulux weather shield put on last summer. If I have to spend thousands on decorators to repaint them I might as well put it towards getting the ones I always planned to have. Does anyone know if there are companies that do supply and fit or will I have to try and find a builder to fit. No vat back now either!

we did all that...... I was still worried though. And yes on issues although they are with the fitting not the windows themselves. Windows and payment of large sums probably one of the most worrying elements of the build given the reputation of window companies (not the manufacturers but the the.middle men you buy through)

Its the usual way of doing it - payment via installers - and the credit card thing is again the usual answer. Our window people would not take a credit card at all and so I had to pay them by ordinary bank transfer or find another installer. Large amount of money on Internorms. I must admit I was worried about it the whole time until we got the windows delivered some 5 months later.

We used a Danish oil on our white oak boards. Ours are unobtrusive and I dont really notice them as they are all low level.

I have just listened to the item on this on radio 4 1pm news.....makes you shudder and shudder again. Those poor people worried about their houses and the spokesperson from the developers trying to say it was only he odd house here and there......they need shooting. I understand that building inspectors only check sample numbers of houses on these big new developments...they need to check them all its shocking the terrible standard of these new builds.....not as if they are cheap either!

Just reading this on BBC news website. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48113301

I am not going to engage in further debate I will just say I am very happy with my Halcyon.

yes of course?and I have a worktop next to the oven at the side. I wouldn't do this arrangement in all kitchens but it is perfect in my linear space...and yes I do cook they are not decorative ovens as a look inside would show LOL

My island which incorporates a seating area similar to @jack is 5.2m end to end. I have split the surfaces to delineate eating and working. I have honed granite on the working end (where the hob is) and river washed oak on the seating end. I have my sink back against the wall slightly offset of the hob so its not cramped if two are there. Usual ovens, fridges, dishwasher bins etc are on the sink wall. Very happy with my island and kitchen as a whole