MikeSharp01

I had a look and they have a good explanation - from their point of view naturally, of the new Scottish regs. https://www.aico.co.uk/scottish-legislation/

hard ask?

Me too - fun isn't it. Do you mean furrings! Firing seem like the right thing to do with the person that fitted the shower tray but ....

Yep - PHE is not the same as PHE

People like us - the putative self righteous self builders and their chums who may think of ourselves as somewhat better than most would never seek to live in such a place. Pride cometh before the fall.

I think you can sum it up in the lyrics of this 1962 song, apocryphal or what! "Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky tacky,1 Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes all the same. There's a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one, And they're all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same. And the people in the houses All went to the university, Where they were put in boxes And they came out all the same, And there's doctors and lawyers, And business executives, And they're all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same. And they all play on the golf course And drink their martinis dry, And they all have pretty children And the children go to school, And the children go to summer camp And then to the university, Where they are put in boxes And they come out all the same. And the boys go into business And marry and raise a family In boxes made of ticky tacky And they all look just the same. There's a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one, And they're all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same." (Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1962 Schroder Music Company,) Sad face! Infinite sameness - what statisticians would call 'regression to the mean' and mean is the word.

Why would you spend money on so much bling and not have integrated appliances in the kitchen - gives the impression of fur coat and no ..............

Looks good and, given nobody is getting any younger, with a bedroom and en-suite downstairs for when knees won't cope with the stairs - we have done the same thing, our other concession is a straight & wide stair to make fitting a stair lift simpler. Here at millstone manor we extended to n bedrooms but have found that we rattle around in it now the kids are gone so the reading room is a sound idea. For the purposes of planning and ratable value might be worth adjusting the plans to show the reading room is NOT a bedroom!

Thanks all, have been on other things today but have passed the above on and apparently the wires to the immersions were both fried. He has asked for the EICR and the flat we think was built about 15 years ago.

Welcome to THE forum for people like us!

Our son and his girl friend have just moved into a rented flat in Manchester and they have a heap of problems with it even though its only a few years old. Firstly - the hot water is supplied by a tank with two immersion heaters down low at the bottom of the tank but neither appears to be heating up even though the lights are on on the wall switches from which they seem to be controlled. There appears to be no timer in the circuit anywhere - which I found odd, the pulse rate of the main meter does not change as you turn these immersions on and off and there is no hot water! Secondly, and perhaps more worrying is the CU which is not labelled and appears not to have any leakage trip devices and as it is not labelled it is hard to work out what the contactor does: See pics below: Any thoughts - what am I missing here?

No (Even at 41 m2) Do each loop as one continuous run but if you must have connectors then definitely make them accessible. As there will be a height and therefore pressure difference it might be worth having an extra pump for the upper circuit but it may be possible to balance it using the manifold flow adjusters. Depends on height difference, pump pressure / flow and adjustment range. A big pump should do it but might be noisy! You can get some pumps with two separate impellers which might be a way forward. This is not a big problem as it will transfer the heat up and out into the room anyway. Sounds like head height will be your controlling factor on the options but don't forget that getting the pipes down low may well mean channeling the joists to get the pipes between compartments. However for the old part this feels like the best option to me but I am 6'4"!. What is below the bottom of the joists - a gap, the soil immediately or what? Others will be better able to help on the tiling to boards.

Welcome to THE forum for people like us!

Welcome to THE forum for people like us!

Try not to start a war, cos if you decide you need to get out, sell, you are often asked how are relationships with the neighbours and you are not allowed to tell fibs.

cripes!

If you have the spare cash, why not put in a planning permission for a shed on your side of the fence a. You would dominate their shed as you have higher ground and b. you could expect a visit from the planning officer who would then spot the challenge. Also why not write to your local Councillor about the tardy response of the planners. @Bitpipe said it - fight fire with fire.

Concrete edge beams?

Brilliant: Is that 0.28 m3/hm2 ?

Listed walls, being quite old, may not to have ventilation blocks / slots but if there are any at the bottom then you may want to allow air out at the top somehow - how was the top finished before you built on it this may give you a hint as to what needs to be done? If no low vents then you may be able to rely on the breathability of the bricks - what is the inner side build up of this wall as this may have some impact again if changing from previous construction?

Did you chat this through with an architect as it looks like the space could be better used. Do you actually need 4 bedrooms or would three with one master ensuite and a family bathroom be a better option?

You could talk to the planners about the green wall before going to appeal so you give them the option to "look again" before committing to appeal which will cost them a heap of time and money. You have 320mm backset to play with and the green wall can sit quite comfortably just adjusting out the slope.

Its for a soil pipe by the looks of it not the foundations.

600 is too wide for one soil pipe and a small bucket can do wider trenches quite easily. You will find you first bite is wider at the surface than it is at the bottom and by the time you have cleaned it up to the required width it will be fine. You don't need 420mm for a 110mm soil pipe you just need to remember to go a bit deeper so you can put a pea shingle base in to get it flat then back fill with pea shingle around and above the pipe a little way before restoring the soil. a 450 trench will use more pea shingle than a 350 mm one.

If you can make it work structurally you could set the wall above about 2.4m back 300mm or so to accommodate the living wall this would reduce the overhang of foliage over the footpath and create quite an impressive feature with environmental and sight line benefits I would not slope the bottom as you have but that might work also but with the back set. This would increase costs but, as you would not need to use brick above this line on this face, you won't see them so they need not be there, might not cause onerous structural issues. PS I would also take it to full height.