canalsiderenovation

I've found some parts where it flakes off if you hit it hard. OH says when it had ivy on it when we peeled it off and she has the pressure washer on it some came off then so if we used the pressure washer the rest may come off.

Thanks all. I'm not too keen to give it a go but I'm glad it's more than likely to be empty. Perhaps if I'm feeling brave at the weekend I'll try and hit it away with a brush or something.

I tried chipping some off. It's impossible! I'll have another go.

So I'm trying to work out if we already have existing render (we will be krendering the whole existing and new extension) and if it needs taking off but to me this doesn't look like render rather just a sort of thick masonry textured paint. You can see the bricks under it. Anyone know?

@nod it wouldn't be so bad but I really, really hate wasps. Traumatic experience when I grabbed a t-shirt off the line and shoved it straight on (without a bra) and there was a wasp inside!

If that's the case I'll leave it and hope the builders will remove it when they deal with the roof.

Just been up loft to discover this.... I think it's wasps, or could it be bees? It could be from last year when we had major issues with wasps which we put down to the fruit trees. I was walking around the loft and didn't see any wasps there but did a hasty exist. If they were there last year will it be more likely they will come back again to the same nest? Any good advice on how to get rid of it?

Here you go. It may be better to rip the whole thing out and start again though I don't think there is any issues with it as such as the guy who sweeps our chimney and checked it over last year said all was fine. Think I've also found a bit of a wasps nest, though this could explain last year's wasps! Didn't see any as I walked in the loft though. Wasp advice also welcome.

I've just noticed something on our plans that may need changing. I'm attaching pics of our existing fireplace (excuse the mess) and the side which goes into the kitchen and a snapshot of the plan. We are keeping the stove and don't have any issues with its current location as such but need to sort all the brickwork out as it's just too big and spans the whole living room wall and we would prefer something more modern. The issue I'm having is that on the plans the back of the fireplace seems to back into the kitchen currently (shown on the pic) and in our new kitchen we need the wall to be flat for kitchen units/oven etc but I don't know if there is a way to do this without literally having the whole existing chimney taken our and rebuilt.

Thank you @Archer. I do think perhaps asking them both to quote for EWI would be helpful as well.

Do we need to take out any additional insurance though for work being done to our house? It seems though if we have just standard buildings and contents it is void if we are having work done.

Our buildings & contents insurance is up for renewal. We will be starting work by June/July on our bungalow (Covid and builder dependent) renovation/extension which is likely to take 6 months and living in it as long as we can but ultimately we will have to move out at some point. Do we just look for standard buildings insurance or should we be looking for more specific insurance. Can anyone point me in the direction of sites to use and if there is a comparison site as such. Cheers

I think both builders are competent. We have seen both of their work mid build, spoke to current customers and found previous customers via social media too. Both are local (within 3 miles) and have completed lots of different properties ranging from extensions to working on complete builds from scratch. Both are familiar with our architect, which isn't difficult given he also lives less than 3 miles away) so everyone is local. One is about 15 years younger so the detailed software, spreadsheets etc, to town on on the detail, younger team, quite a few trainees (the initial quote we had was done by a trainee QS has since been revised resulting in a second quote (which has come down massively but still a fair bit different). The older one I don't think has the range of office staff etc. Re the IWI, interesting re the dot and dab and the effectiveness re battons. This is the exact information that is useful to know. I need to understand which is the better system to then go back to them both and price for the same spec. I wonder if they both picked IWI as it is cheaper.....

We have a spec for the majority, though for some elements we had asked for their advice (this has been helpful as we have been able to analyse and review the finer details with the help on here however this is also where we have variation as they seem to each have different opinions on which is the better approach). E.g one proposes an overlay system to our existing internal floor for insulation as we have the ceiling height and doesn't seem keen on excavating the floors however this would only give us 75mm of insulation. The other. The other builder said he would prefer to ecvavate the floors to give us at least 100mm and potentially more (I have a separate thread on this). I'm sure you are right now and they are both internal which I think is correct now reading back the quote. Ironically the builder quoting for excavating the floors and putting at least 100mm of insulation in and doing 65mm of wall insulation is the cheaper one. The more expensive builder is the one wanting to do an overlay floor insulation of 75mm and the wall insulation of 37mm boards/softwood baton). The extra money for the more expensive builder seems to be on project management, foreman fees, administration and a very expensive welfare cabin as oppose to an improved spec....

I was under the impression the first one was external unless he means insulating internally of the external walls.....

Still comparing and analysing quotes from builders. It's made difficult in that the two we have narrowed it down to work in very different ways. One is using automated QS software so I have a huge spreadsheet to navigate with lots of jargon I don't understand the other tends to just give a narrative and price but not huge amounts of detail so I am basically trying to translate both into one document and compare everything. Not helped by the fact there is a significant price different. I think I'm clearer on floor insulation, next bit comes to our wall insulation of the existing. We know from our EPC when we purchased it there is cavity wall insulation but we have asked builders to quote for some improvement to wall insulation as we are upgrading the existing floors, triple glazed windows, new roof etc. There is lining paper on some of our existing walls and we know the plaster will need to come off. When we stripped some of the wallpaper a couple of years ago, all 2-3 layers from the 70s that were soaked in dog wee a lot of the plaster came off in chunks then so it needs replacing which both buildings have allowed for. In terms of insulation: One builder has quoted for on the existing to 'dab a 62mm insulated plasterboard on all external walls'. The other building is focusing on insulating from the internal walls. I'm copying and pasting bits from their quote which says 37.5 mm Recticel Eurothane PL insulated plasterboard in 1200 x 2400 mm sheets fixed to softwood with 3 mm gap at all joints filled flush with neat Thistle board finish plaster in one coat work and 90 mm wide jute scrim embedded at all internal and external angles and angles between walls and ceilings. Either way the who external walls need to be rendered again to match the new large extension. So should I be favouring internal or external wall insulation. Any help would be great ??

Yes, seems so. We don't meet any of the social conditions.

It's very confusing and contradictory. It appears then that if our builder is doing this work then he would only charge us 5% but there is lots of clauses, e.g. 60% rule etc.

Exactly my point! I think I'm winning the argument.

I've just had an email from one of the two builders for pricing. As part of the extension and renovation we will have asked for an improvement in floor, roof and wall insulation to the existing property as we want to make sure our house is thermally efficient to go with the ASHP and underfloor heating. One question I have is the builder has said this: We have been working on a job in the last year which is in a similar situation to yours. We have built a big extension on a farm house and thermally upgraded the existing house. On that job all of the thermal upgrade and associated costs have been done at 5% vat. The client looked into it extensively and it qualified for the reduced rate. I don’t see how your situation is any different. You would need to look into it but the costs for thermal upgrading the floor, walls & roof may be able to be done at 5%, not 20% which would be a big saving. So how do you end up only paying 5% VAT?

Hmm, one to consider. I need to work on the wall mounted tap option and how it would work with a slipper style bath. I prefer the idea of wall mounted taps anyway, better for cleaning.

That was my suggestion which was met with a ?

Me and the OH just browsing through bathroom catalogues. Freestanding baths and those floor taps is apparently what she wants. Just thinking how you would you go about fitting them floor taps in a bungalow with UFH (existing floors will be excavated up)? I've a feeling this is mega £. My friend has a fancy one but there bath is upstairs so all pipework under floorboards...

Thanks @PeterW I've gone back to the builder with this proposal.

So for the new extension area it would also be best doing: 150mm sub base 25mm EPS as blinding carried up the existing walls as expansion DPM 130mm PIR 100mm concrete with UFH And then the self levelling compound for the gluedown LVT.