lizzie

Sorry puddles are quite deep in places, on the piece of wood he used to show me he could get a finger under the middle when the two ends were flat on the floor and the wood was straight so it wasnt that.

I have no idea. MDC did slab and frame. I had floor tllers out for a quote last night and even before they had seen the water in some rooms they said the slab was not flat. They showed me with a piece of wood and they also showed me where the internal walls are off the floor at by quite a few mm one end and flush to the floor at the other. I know nothing about floors but once they pointed it out you can see it. I think it is going to take a lot of self leveller to get it flat for tiling.

I am still reading thank you......been busy on site rain pouring through roof boards. Frame was only finished by MBC on Tuesday and the rain has hardly let up since. BTW my internal floor (slab with uf heat in) is very uneven and that is shown up by the standing water not in puddles but lakes, cant tile straight on that going to be costly to get level I think. Thanks for the tips on the patio, have noted.

You are confirming my worries... I am looking at 600x600. I was told the 2mm needed a concrete base with expansion joints and then tiles laid with adhesive. How did you lay yours please

I had woried about residents! Think wet mix might be it then.

Hi has anyone used the pedestals to lay their patio. I want porcelain tiles for easy maintenance and the inside outside look and these little pedestals seem to be the laying method of choice on the tile websites. My garden man says you cant beat a wet mix whatever you are laying. I quite like the idea of air flow up to the timber frame (doing level inside/out no step) but I'm not sure if these little plastic feet are actually as wonderful as they say. Certainly seems a very easy way to lay a patio. Thanks for any input.

I have a bad back and bending down to the oven is a pain in more ways than one. I also like the easy viewing of whta us cooking. Neff have patented the s&h technology so no one else can copy it. I think mine was about £700 and is a large capacity. There are cheaper Neff ovens but basic models but not circotherm s&h.They dont do s&h on combi because it is a totally different door because of the microwave but its smaller so not like reaching around a full size. I had never heard of bake off when I got my first one! I am now on third so you can tell I am impressed but its a personal choice not all of us like the same thing. I dont have pyrolitic either because I have breathing issues and cannot tolerate the fumes. I find a good oven cleaning service a few times a year works perfectly for me.

In my new kitchen I have a full size fan oven a combi and a warming drawer. I had exactly this set up before and it works perfectly for me. The range cooker in this rental has 2 electric ovens a warming drawer and a pan drawer and 7 gas burners! The ovens are rubbish they wont take my large baking trays. Its not a small range it measures 1000 across but I think must be a really cheap range...Stoves, never heard of them. If you are getting a range check the oven cavity sizes. I have had Miele ovens in the past but I prefer Neff because of the slide and hide. Neff are very reliable but also have a great after sales service if you need an engineer. I dont like Siemens which is what all the kitchen places try and sell you because of the incentives they get.....I know some are owned by the same huge parent company but they are not just the same products with different badges they are different products. This is a very personal choice of something you live with and use every day...my appliances and my shower are the two areas I wont compromise on...OH happily leaves it to me.......actually my Nespresso coffee machine is another no compromise LOL

I went for the bora induction hob and neff slide and hide oven (with extra steamer insert) and a combi neff oven micro too (have worktop next to ovens for ease). Not cheap as Bora alone probably more than range prices you are talking but its a fab piece of kit and on the ovens once you try slide and hide doors you wonder why it wasnt invented before its brilliant. As I said I like to cook 'properly' so my set up is my perfect one. I think ovens/hobs whole cooking set up etc is very much a personal choice and not necessarily cost driven. I wouldnt have a range cooker now if you gave me one for free but I have friends who love theirs.

I agree with this. I have a range cooker in our rental house. Absolutely hate it. I learned to cook on an aga eons ago never go back there either. Superfast induction hob and two good ovens at high level is for me the perfect set up. ( I might add I never thought I would convert from gas hob electric oven set up but having tried the induction at a previous rental I am totally converted). I do like to do 'proper' cooking too!

my thoughts exactly

I have reverted to granite after having silstone and corian in my last kitchens. Nothing is maintenance free. Silestone looks like fake stone no matter what you choose and I hate the look of corian. I looked at Dekton and the like but decided against. I am going back to granite for all its drawbacks but as its a natural surface its doesnt look quite as bad as a man made surface if damage/stains occur. I'm going for honed granite not polished which will be a lot more forgiving and I will get it professionally sealed to start off with. I'm going for a gorgeous Spekva wood on my breakfast bar area.

At our last house we used paving slabs set vertically into the bank if the stream as retaining, we had the 'infinity lawn' look and I also had 'grass' bridge made by local metal workers. Steel sides approx 6 inches deep with a mesh bottom. We put soil in and topped with turf, our grass bridge dissappeared seamlessly into the infinty lawn look. It all worked like a dream. I made a water garden down in front of the slabs (could only been from the middle of the bridge or the other bank of the stream), In the end it was a stunning feature in the garden and it only took us 22 years of messing about with numerous 'solutions' (including, scaff planks and sleepers) to achieve it. The paving slabs were old ones we dug up when we replaced the patio so didnt cost us anything either.. The whole thing survived serious flooding on several occsaions. I highly recommend the paving slab route.

It cost a fortune! Hope I have not been 'done'! Fell for the blurb I'm afraid. Won't know for a few months until we get it in and operational.

I have bought a water softener from halcyon that fits on the pipe no chemicals needed. Not fitted it yet but hoping it will make some difference to the vile water we have in this area......think it is treated river water and its hard and horrible.

Thank you thats great.

omg I dont even want to think about that!

Oh that is just crazy! The north wall of our house (which is closest to the boundary wall) will be rendered so I think our clad is at least a metre off at the only corner near the wall....sounds like a phew. thank you.

its only on the west and east and most of the west is glass, my order for clading is 100sqm. There are no building close to us and the only boundary wall is one we built on the north side we are down a bridleway surrounded by field except for the north where we abut a large garden. Our plot is a corner of that large garden and the house is a fair way across it.

Hello all Does anyone know if I should have my larch cladding treated with a fire retardent product pre install? I cant find anything online to help. Thanks Liz

Thats a brilliant idea thank you!

Wow scary stuff! Thank you all! Liz

We are already months behind, lost first lot of trades due to delay, have struggled to get replacements, in a rented house and we have to be out of by end Oct already extended lease as much as we can. I have a health condition I cant live on a building site & my PM goes away for an extended holiday early November.....shall I go on! I would just like to keep an eye on the place while we have a vulnerability of about 3 weeks between starting first fix and plasterboarding and windows arriving...... If we dont use that time to start first fix we will be in trouble getting done in time for 2nd fixes (already rearranged several times) . We had originally thought we would be in by end May...yes May just gone! All v stressful.

I have electricity and there is a reasonable mobile signal in the area.