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Framex certainly cheaper! Decent product? Have they a decent rep? Thx

Thinking of buying a Ludow kitchen from Magnet. The range has a 'solid wood finish' which I actually think looks slightly plasticky and cheap (see picture). The doors are apparently solid wood. Very happy to go with Magnet but would it be easy to sand down this finish and re paint with a posh paint? Anyone recommend a service in London that does this? Or got any hints and tips? Much appreciated. N

The look fantastic! Where'd you get em?

Currently doing a project where main feature will be 3 x sliding panels of glazing from kitchen into garden. Needed for 4590 x 2555mm space. 20mm profiles and industrial style 'faux' spacers inside the units so they look like crittall. Thermally broken. Had a quote from places like Maxlight (see ref image) but v expensive. Anyone know of a cheaper option for similar product? Can they be made in Poland for example? Any good experiences/recommendations appreciated. N

Thanks for this. Hard to see the wood for the trees! Retrofitting for these scenarios is odd. Looking at timber sashes with various U values etc and then building control insist on a dirty great trickle vent in window units. Hard to see how insulated and breathable go hand in hand??!!

Would one of these do the trick? https://rts.vents.co.uk/blog/product-details/aac125hp-rytons-super-acoustic-controllable-lookryt-aircore/

We've had to remove some old internal render on external masonry walls. Less than 50% of each room but I'm trying to keep as much room space as possible while making sure the new internal walls behave themselves from an insulation point of view. I read I might need an air gap (25mm?) between the masonry wall (solid Victorian construction @230mm thick) and any insulated plasterboard to protect from moisture (and avoid condensation). The masonry wall itself is in good condition and I can't see any evidence of water damage etc. So can we just dob and dab something like Kingspan K118 onto these walls and the space between the dot and dab serves as an air gap? Or should we install something like a Gyplynr baton system and mount something like Gyproc Thermaline PIR onto this to achieve a new wall thermal rating around u0.3? Any thoughts or advise much appreciated.

Anyone have experience of Titan Aluminium https://www.titanaluminium.co.uk/titan-edge ?

This reply to an email enquiry. And they’re not answering the phone. Seems rather odd they’ve not updated their website - you’d not know from the website.

Thanks for this but I'm looking for a roof lantern rather than walk over glass.

I need 3 roof lights 2000 x 1000 mm and really liked the Sunsquare products. But looks like they’ve gone into administration. Any recommendations for a similar product (sleek, architectural, edge to edge glass vibes). Thx (https://www.sunsquare.co.uk/skylights-and-rooflights/skyview/?_its=JTdCJTIydmlkJTIyJTNBJTIyZTBjMzExNWUtMTUwMy00ZWNlLWE4ZTgtYWQ5ZDlmMWI0ODJiJTIyJTJDJTIyc3RhdGUlMjIlM0ElMjJybHR%2BMTY3ODczNjkzOH5sYW5kfjJfNjM2OThfZGlyZWN0XzYxMGFkZjQ4ODNjYjQ5Y2I0ZmNiY2ZlYWU4MDI3MzZkJTIyJTJDJTIyc2l0ZUlkJTIyJTNBMTk4ODYlN0Q%3D)

Yes - he says just write a few lines outlining the enclosure and he'll add it to the party wall agreement. He's basically leaving me to it and will then check the wording (hopefully). Was just wondering if anyone had the wording in lieu of my surveyor not offering it to me. Thx

No - won't be leaving the brick exposed our side. Does this make a difference? Thx

We're renovating a Victorian semi. The neighbours recently built a single story rear extension into the garden and we're now doing exactly the same. If both builds had happened at the same time, the party wall would have gone straight over the boundary line. But they built first and have agreed to us 'enclosing' their wall (I now pay 50% of this wall) and we will build off this wall for our single storey rear extension (which will be an exact mirror of theirs). Party wall agreement already exists for the rest of the building and the surveyor says I can just add this additional enclosure notice to the existing agreement. Says it's just a page including a picture of the wall in question (attached), quoting the amount paid to enclose on the wall and getting all the relevant signatures to show agreement. Has anyone experience of this addition and the wording needed? Any enclosure notice templates I could work from? Any help much appreciated.

Neighbours and I make up a Victorian semi build @ 1895 in SE London. They've recently renovated theirs and extended kitchen/living area into the garden. Their builder poured a 200mm concrete slab with 8mm mesh top and bottom into the excavated space (see picture). We're now doing the same kitchen/living area extension (see side elevation drawing) but on digging inspection hole at the internal party wall can see how woefully under specced the existing corbelled foundations are (see picture). Apparently concrete pours on top of London clay can be an issue. We want to create/maintain good ceiling height in the new kitchen living area and wondered if anyone had success when foundations this bad. Obvs architect and structural engineer involved but wondered if anyone had successfully overcome something similar. Many thanks.