torre

We also used estimators online. I thought they were good value at £200 for a single detached property. You get costs broken down various ways - materials, labour, what you'll need when, broken down by build stage that you can view online. All the information can be downloaded as a spreadsheet so you can tweak it later too. Yes, 'sanity check' is probably a good way to put it.

This sort of approach, embedding something to fix into, may work better than the cut troughs and help you rely less on the strength of any adhesive. You mentioned the tiles are already down - what about using a circular tile cutter to get a neat cut out and then gluing in, say, a same sized circular steel plate to fix into?

This certainly sounds like fire protection - do you have any bedrooms with window openings too small to escape from? They're nice doors but would be an expensive mistake if something fire rated is required. If you don't need fire protection, I know Jeldwen also do some glazed room dividers (though we actually ended up doing pocket doors, in a smaller opening)

When you say 'plot' I assume at those prices you mean land without planning permission? I'd expect a plot with outline permission to cost several times more than that, so bear in mind that without planning permission, the price reflects the risk/likelihood of obtaining permission at all and you'll also need to factor in the time and effort you'll need to invest in attempting to get permission to build at all. Also, don't underestimate what neighbours and planners may object to - it's unlikely your home will look like the rest of the street scene, so even assuming you get permission to build at all, you'll have another battle to get what you want. For many reasons, not least because they buy a problem site - if you want to complete a build in a reasonable timescale you may need to consider allocating a much larger proportion of your budget to buy a plot with planning permission. Good luck with your project, but I wouldn't get too wedded to a particular design until you're sure of the site you're building on and your remaining budget at that point.

It's not totally clear but I assume you mean 'less than' 6m from your home? In which case the Party Wall Act may well apply but if what you're seeking is to force them to stop piling (by injunction) you'll definitely need to get qualified legal advice first. Take the earlier advice and document both the piling process and the condition of your own property with photos and videos. I'd also put your concerns in writing to the developers, mentioning the PWA and asking them to either clarify why it does not apply or voluntarily cease works until your property can be surveyed - both by recorded post to their offices and by hand to the site manager. They may fob you off, but if you've raised issues early and documented that, then your position will be much stronger in the worst case of discovering damage later. You could also ask for a copy of their seismometer recording. Your aim is to emphasise the risk to them of continuing unchecked and the likelihood you'll take action as a result.

We used the cheaper end hollow PVC panels and on their own I think they'd have felt a bit too flimsy straight onto the stud even narrowly spaced. Higher end solid core panels would probably feel fine. We screwed 10mm insulated tile backer boards to the studs and then used adhesive between that an the hollow panels. Those boards are light, insulated and another layer of waterproofing, esp at corners and around the tray, but would be pricey if we hadn't had tile backer spare.

If you'd specified this as a habitable room from the outset, the planners would probably have raised overlooking concerns and asked you to amend the plans accordingly. It does sound like at least some of your architect, builder, and self already had another use in mind, so one has to wonder why this wasn't specified as a habitable room? Look at it from your neighbour's perspective - when you applied for planning did they expect someone looking out over their property from a meter away for 10 hours a day? We all grumble about planners and hope to be treated fairly and that's what this sounds like - the planners let you build a metre from your neighbour and now they may allow your neighbour to do the same. Imagine if your neighbour had built the same extension first? I don't think you'd want to have your own plans refused.

Could you mirror your proposed new layout so you enter through what is currently the cloakroom door? Then the toilet and its plumbing just turns through 90 degrees in the same corner as now.

Agree with @Mr Punter . Just engage positively and promptly unless something seems entirely unreasonable. All you'll achieve arguing over BC approval etc is paying more fees, as the surveyor will bill you by the hour to explain why the information is required. It may not feel like it, but you're still ahead by having agreed to use the same surveyor - even if you'd appointed your own, it sounds like the neighbour would still have appointed this surveyor; then you'd have been paying for two, and potentially a third if they cannot agree. Hopefully the surveyor has already given you some idea of the approximate likely cost of an award, along with their hourly rate.

I like a lot about this layout. I'd be tempted to push the main hall wider and also allow yourself a generous 1000mm staircase,losing the bullnose stair that interrupts the hall flow a bit. I'd consider making more room on the landing by pushing the wall with the master's ensuite back ~750. That does away with the awkward doorway corridor into the master bedroom and gives more space for say, a console table and better people flow on the landing. These are spaces you pass through a lot. You could think about entering the master bedroom via the dressing room - landing door into the dressing room and then double doors from dressing room so you enter the bedroom looking out towards the bifolds / french doors with a juliet balcony. Bifolds are shown as 4+0, you might find 3+1 with a traffic door more practical. I like the lounge/kitchen swap idea to sit looking out to the rear, it'll probably enhance the view through from front to back as you enter the house - lower furniture, no sink & taps.

Are you sure this is the only non-compliance? I expect all the other doors needed upgrading to fire doors -if that's been done then it's a bit surprising that none of your designer, BC or builder (or you) picked up on the lack of any door or fire protection to the open plan area. Agree with others that regardless of blame, you need to focus on the most pragmatic solution - very likely a door downstairs. I don't believe a mist system alone would be complaint, there's a pretty good guide available from Building Control Alliance (see option 2b) that suggests you'd also need a door on the first floor protecting the stairway. You could then ask your designer to cover, say, half the cost of reasonable remedial work like adding a fire door (they're not the only ones to blame here). Small claims is your only cost effective avenue if not; it's not worth legal fees and any liability will be small, not a payout for a fire suppression system.

Measured/design AP50 = 0.3000 (17) in the report, but a simple explanation would be it's a mistype and should be 3 (the pessimistic end of their original range). Definitely something to query with the builder.

As @JohnMo can you hold them to achieving this figure? What's changed in the design to improve airtightness so that it exceeds passivhaus standard? If this figure is over optimistic just to pass the SAP as-designed stage then once built, if you only achieve 1.5 your actual ventilation heat losses will be 5 times as much, hurting your SAP rating and your pocket! Useful guide to good airtightness practice here Heating efficiency of 219% will be taken from the Product Characteristic Database - just look up your heat pump model (anecdotally, the fairly standard Mitsubishi Ecodan we intend to fit has a figure of 267% so there are more efficient units out there) The full SAP procedure guide is a bit overwhelming but covers the calculations in excruciating detail. I'm no expert but managed to dig out specific details that impacted our report. All the similar-but-different sections take much of the same base information and then apply it separately to figure out different parts of the assessment - carbon emissions, energy costs etc. For example, a gas boiler is worse than ASHP for emissions but still good for running costs. The section you're probably most interested in is 'Calculation of Energy Rating' (starts page 15 of yours) as that determines the A/B/C rating that is the only thing most buyers will care about. Your space heating cost will rise a lot if you miss that airtightness figure. Are you installing any renewables? Solar or WWHRS? If so I'd expect those to show up as a negative figure, reducing energy costs, under 'Energy saving/generation technologies' on page 18

Love a free standing bath but unless you widen the ensuite it will look squeezed in, not luxurious. A bit bigger bedroom will give more freedom for furniture layout too. See rough layout below. Here's an example (not mine sadly!) of the sort of ensuite I think you could achieve with a bit more space.