Pendicle

We are doing our soft demo currently, we knew Jackdaws had been nesting in the roof eaves as pointed out by the bat woman. We managed to block up the holes before nesting season phew. We knew they had been nesting for a number of years according to our neighbour but was still shocked by the amount of twigs that we found in the eaves once we removed the plaster board in the attic.

@junglejim we are currently demolishing a bungalow with basement and attic, we have asbestos although low grade and I used to work for licensed asbestos removal company so familiar with rules. I have written method statements and risk assessments for asbestos and demolition via www.haspod.com it’s basically has template which enables you to edit and save, think is £6 per document they also have documents on CDM. I write method statements and risk assessments for event work so felt comfortable writing them from scratch but it helped to follow a template so nothing was missed as had not worked on a building site for some decades.

HID coverts ernest wright scissors, he has just got an email that his kitchen scissors are now ready, it’s been a year on the waiting list, he is so excited. He has the imperfect 2017 version which are used daily. We had a family joke when I was a kid where my dad would buy my mum a new pair of dress making scissors every Christmas as he would have used her scissors for varies inappropriate uses during the year, cutting carpet, Lino, rope, opening a tin of paint and other things a promised not to tell my mum. We like scissors, we also like things that are made well, we like fine craftsmanship and these also has a lovely back story. Although a long waiting list and are not cheap. HID thinks they are worth it, but I’m I worth a new pair of dress making scissors for Christmas? Let’s hope Santa thinks so. https://www.ernestwright.co.uk/history/

Went on the Catnic standing seam metal roof course today, highly recommend if you are considering using this product and installing yourself, you get to play with the product and then shown details for different roof designs and layouts. The instructor was brilliant and was able show our roof design and get advice on installing, think it is the same instructor @Pete had and he is about to retire but still gave us his phone number if we have any further questions or need advise, he even gave us his holiday dates when he is not available, we also got his replacement phone number who was assisting him during the course. We have not demolished our house yet so won’t need a roof anytime soon, but me and HID were free and desperate to start work on the house and didn’t know if we will be available later in the build and wanted to check it was doable by ourselves. The answer to that is yes and I’m really looking forward to doing it, one day…

Hi @JLB I’m in Scotland but our planning decision date expired with 1 consultation missing. The consultation deadline had passed 4 weeks earlier I think. We contacted the planning officer who said the tree officer was on long term sick leave which had added to the delay, she added we were proposing removing lots of trees. We had been in good discussions with tree officer prior to planning and he had recommended the arborist we used for tree survey, none of the trees were being removed because of the development only 3 trees being removed ( we have over 30) and all due to disease and on health and safety grounds. We asked them to reply within 14 days. We got planning verbally in 10 and in writing in 21 days after planning decision date. The dates set for planning are a desirability or aim my architect told us, although you can go to appeal if they miss a deadline. Once the planning approved date expires, I would get in touch with planning officer and ask why, be reasonable but ask when they might have a decision or give them a deadline. They should have asked for extension in my case. I understand how frustrating it is, I was checking my planning doc on the portal daily but I would wait till the planning decision has lapsed then get in touch as the consultant may respond in this time. They are often understaffed but a reasonable and straight and unemotional response keeping to facts of the case I think help in most situations. Wishing you the best and keep us updated.

Hi @AppleDown we are paying £8600 for stage 3 detail design development including drawings for warrant (Scotland)SAP and integration of structural engineers design, some items listed at this stage, I can do but informed it comes as a package so I cannot take elements out.

Have you tried this https://marble.com/articles/how-to-remove-rust-from-marble

I used this on my bath to get a rust mark out successfully https://www.protilertools.co.uk/product/lithofin-rust-ex-non-acidic-rust-stain-remover-500ml

I have used epoxy putty to repair wooden props or furniture pieces, it’s good for jobs where a resin is too fluid for the job and I can’t mask up so the resin would leak before drying. I have been able to screw into once dry but my theatre props and furniture are only being used for a limited amount of time so have not tested in a permanent situation. Although can’t see why it wouldn’t.

Great Aunt Flo would have stuffed a stocking with the contents of an old pillow and used as a draught excluder at the bottom of the door, I would then have come along and added some eyes, nose, ears and tail and given it a name.

We had 6 bore holes 6m and 2 trial pits with gas monitoring and soil samples, desk top and final report came to little over 6k. Paid final invoice this week, we are also having a basement.

Moving electrics out of house to box took months to arrange in our case, so something to organise so it does not delay demolition, if you have not already.

@bastion is this the bookmark thread you had lost

☺️https://www.selfmade.com/en-gb/p/prym-snap-button-w-cape-15mm-silver-10pc-669344/45053 like this, you can get heavy duty ones for heavy fabric and leather with pliers

You could get no sew fabric Velcro if the tape fail. You could ask your local retoucheur if they would just sew one side of Velcro to the back of curtains along the top (loop side) and then use the stick on tape Velcro (hook side) to your space blanket. It would be more secure and you could still add more stick on Velcro at the sides. Regarding insulation lining, as I kid I would help my great aunt to hand sew thick blankets between curtains and lining before winter and unpick them in spring, she then discovered silver popper kits and would popper them into lining so they didn’t show on the fronts.

I would contact planning department and get an informed idea if they think you can achieve planning. Ours were very helpful before we bought our plot/house and gave good indication of what they would and would not except which then informed us on how much to offer on the plot/house and our end design. Making a call to planners won’t restrict you from clearing site but could save you money and time in long run and speculative purchase could become a real opportunity.

Hi, is your stairs closed treads? If they are could you push the cloakroom along a bit so it utilises the space under the stairs, that way you may be able to fit a door from the hall to the lounge/kitchen at the end. Just a thought.

@ProDaveWhen I looked into it the accountant explained, The gain is :what you sell property minus what you originally bought property for ( 20 years ago) minus all the improvement costs ( in our case kitchen/bathroom/roof/ floor/ rewriting/boiler) Also there are some costs that you can’t claim as rental expense as seen as improvement like new kitchen but you can add to CGT expenses - so if you need to do work to improve house before selling you can minus off sum minus a sum relating to the % of how many years you actually lived in it (13yrs)versus renting it ( so far 7 years) Minus allowance (was 12k now 6k April 24 3k) that is per person so if owned jointly can double it. Then CGT is based on income, higher 28% lower 18% - there are sites which has calculators but kept getting different amounts so once we sell will also have to pay accountants to work it out.

Many thanks @Mr Punter The previous owner run down the 8 month period before selling so will be paying till demolition. As the garage will be in the front garden it will still require planning permission although we plan on green wall/roof and new hedge so it will not be seen. Our architects view is to cut down a lime tree older than me with TPO, as this will give us better access to position garage on west side which will still give us a view. I don’t feel comfortable removing trees for cars although PV is going to be an issue with this tree. HID (him in doors) thinks we should forget about a garage, but I have a vintage car that I will then need to loose.

Our architect is pushing to go for full planning application. We want to demolish an uninhabitable single skin, water damaged house and replace on same footprint a little higher. As we are on a slope the houses next to us are at different heights so don’t think this will be an issue and planning department were positive when first approached about a self build. We would like to put a garage in front of principle elevation but to the far east of the plot which could be rejected, so I had envisaged going to pre planning first to establish if it was worth taking this layout to full planning permission. We have been going around and around trying to resolve the garage issue it’s a difficult sloped/made up ground/restricted site with TPOs on trees to the south front garden. Natural place for garage is to the west of plot but this would block best views from house to wooded area next door and reduce light in the house. If we take the current design to full planning permission and they reject garage position will they reject the whole design or could they say no to garage yes to house. We are currently paying full council tax and we understand we need to demolish house before February or we will have to wait till next October.

https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax Im in Scotland and we were advised it was treated the same banding as purchase of house when we were looking, we got lucky and purchased uninhabitable house and paid 0 stamp duty but was told to keep an amount handy incase it was challenged later.

Reading with interest, we are demolishing house with no garage, planners are happy for building new house on same footprint and not in conservation area. Obvious place to put garage is opposite driveway gate, next to house but would block best view from the house to the woodland on the west side. 3 trees with TPOs in front garden, are also proving an issue regards turning cars within foot print. Architects answer is to ask to remove a lime tree with TPO and push garage forward to allow window from house with clear view behind garage. Tree survey says it is best tree on site out of 30, I also don’t feel comfortable removing a tree older than me and neighbours have already asked that we don’t remove trees. My only solution is to site the garage to the east within cartilage of front garden to left of actual dwelling in front of house line ( will need to consider root protection for garage) Also move the house back 1m so car can pass tree with ease, create landing zone to turn cars safely and provide additional parking. We are on a road with no parking. It will enable us to put car charging point near plant room and may provide roof space on garage for PV as the lime shades the house roof (south facing front garden) would also replace existing shabby hedge to hide garage from road. Wondering if to apply for house PP before applying separately for garage PP, I would then try move house further to west so there was not enough room to build garage. Cunning or stupid!

Those white magic sponge works great on scuff marks on white walls as well at trainers

We used diamond white Matt dulux on my stairwell walls with 2 small children and their mates accessing the play room, highly recommend and it is matt. I ended up using elsewhere in our old house as easy to wipe clean.

We contacted planning office before we put in an offer on our site, inhabitable house on acre of land, lots of trees plus site next to wooded area. Told we would need ecology survey, due to house being empty for over a year and the amount of trees on and near site. Asbestos survey due to being built 1960s. Tree survey due to 4 trees having a TPO who would advise root protection. Ecology desk top survey and visit survey was done within 6 weeks and can be done at anytime of the year, but 2nd dawn dusk survey has to happen between may and July, we booked ours in January and the earliest they could do was end of june. Planning had also advised that demolition should happen between oct-feb, we are in Scotland, the ecology surveyor said the same thing. There is a website that you can use interactivity where you put your postcode in and they tell you if bats have been in your area. I will look for it and post, no bats in our case but we had Jackdaws. Regards utilities do not underestimate how long this takes and a shambles of service. We have moved electrics to box at boundary you would not believe the amount of calls, effort and time this took although our experience is very familiar to those here. Still have not managed to get water moved. We have also found it hard to get quotes for some surveys from ground investigation to tree survey with lots of chasing a top tip is to ask those who are working for you as the bat woman gave us a tree survey contact and put in a good word which meant he called and was able to fit us in. The tree protection officer gave us 3 contacts but only one replied and said they were not free for 3 months.