Mike

Thanks for the added info; I've lightened your photo which helps too see what's going on too. So part of the problem is pushing the clear polythene, or maybe the black plastic marked 'A' (or maybe you've tried both) both through the gap where I've added the arrow? Bearing in mind that the minimum overlap is 100mm, you don't need to get a large piece of DPM through that gap - an offcut of 300 x 200 - ideally a little more - would be enough, if it overlaps the DPCs by 100mm. If the partition is too tight to the external wall, then I'd carefully (without damaging the existing DPCs) take a few mm off the timber using a multitool with a long blade. You could double up the vertical timber if there is any question over the somewhat reduced strength. Having said that, if the timbers on that that internal partition are 100mm wide, it looks like the DPC beneath doesn't project enough to provide the minimum 100mm overlap? If that's the case then you will need to get a new wider DPC underneath its full length. On the external wall, I'd have preferred the DPC to have been turned up but, if it's turned down and still overlaps the DPC & other DPMs by 100mm then I'd find that acceptable, but you'd need to verify that your BCO & any 3rd party certifying insurer that may be involved takes the same view.

For the second winter in a row, my Wilis UFCH is operating manually, but by next winter it will be more sophisticated. A Shelly Pro 4PM will be capable of scheduling the days and times to switch on and off & providing remote control. Upstream of the Shelly there will eventually be a Raspberry Pi which will calculate the heat required, monitor temperatures and command the Shelly (which will become a fall-back in case the Pi is out of action). Either way, the Shelly will send control signals to a pair of 25A contactors (one for each* Willis heater) and will directly control the pump (since that draws little current). A Hager 60060 load-shedder will temporarily cut the contactor control signals if the mains supply is under heavy load, but in your case, @Antonb182, that would be the place to put a thermostat. However, note that with UFCH isn't as reactive as radiators - there's a significant time lag between heating the floor and the air reaching the set temperature that you'd need to take into account to avoid overheating. Schema + sketch below. All the this (excluding the Pi) will take up one row of my consumer unit. D4.4 & D4.5 in the schema = D21 & S1 in the sketch; not got round to updating that... *Although I could heat my place with 1 Willis heater, I've chosen to install 2. That's partly to have the option to use both to load the floor with heat during off-peak hours, but mainly so that I can switch to the second if the first should fail.

I'm not clear on exactly what you mean - or rather that at a junction of an internal wall and external wall I can't envisage a problem, which probably means I've not understood you question. However any DPM / DPC is likely to be too thick to fold into hospital corners. There are pre-formed DPC corners on the market, for a price, that may help. But the fundamental rules are that all DPM and DPC junctions must overlap by at least 100mm and be to the satisfaction of your BCO.

I agree that it looks like water splashing, mostly below DPC level so nothing to worry about. No harm adding drainage channels - it should reduce the splashing. They're just common bricks, intended to remain invisible below the ground level. The mortar was almost certainly never there in the first place, though if a tidier brickie had done it then it would be.

Maybe cladding + additional genuine Compriband between the cladding and the window?

That's an interesting question. Just went hunting and came up with this chart, showing public approval & disapproval of Government between 1957 & 1991. The only periods when more people approved of the Government than disapproved, were 1957 to 1962 (Harold Macmillan, Conservative, Keynesian economics, prosperity, "You’ve never had it so good" - until the Profumo scandal), and 1964 to 1966 (Harold Wilson, Labour, low unemployment, economic prosperity, major social reforms, "white heat of technology" - until defeated at the polls). Source: Social and Political Change in Britain (1945-1991) | ROPER CENTER

The advantage of moisture permeability is that, should any moisture get into the structure, it has an easy escape route - for example to reduce the risk of rot in timber windows. That's why I chose to use it on my current project - though I had to rip the cheap stuff out of the installers hands and give them the genuine product!

It's fine for sealing membranes to each other or to adjacent surfaces - I've used it myself - but I wouldn't use it to seal plywood joints. If you're sealing ply for airtightness then I'd use an airtightness tape. BTW it does set, but it will remain flexible - to a point - and tacky.

I'd go further and suggest that everyone should be required to vote. Reports of the benefits of doing so in Australia - such as this one from the BBC - seem, on balance, to be be positive. In particular, it means that any party that wants to get elected / stay in office has to address the concerns of all segments the population, rather than just the demographic that habitually votes.

+1. There are a lot of inferior competitors that perform much worse - it sounds like you may have one. No; it's very good but, as mentioned by @SimonD, even genuine Compriband has limits. I recall calculating that their window strip is good for wind up to around 70mph. In an exposed position, it would therefore be a good idea to have a second line of protection. Either something to shelter it from the wind - your timber cladding might be enough do that - or vertical & horizontal 'cavity trays' behind it. For airtightness, add Ilbruck FM330 form (or similar) and/or an airtightness tape internally. Sealant would block Compriband's moisture vapour permeability, so if that property was one reason for choosing Compriband you'd loose it. If that's not a concern, then a suitable mastic is OK.

Unless the developer did something stupid, the chances are that if it's been standing for a couple of hundred years, then you'd be unlucky if anything major happened in the next 7. And if it's minor, then it's not going to be quick & easy to get anything fixed under the warranty anyway. In short, it wouldn't worry me - but if you're not familiar with buildings & what to look for, think about getting a Structural Engineer's report.

+1. You need to identify the problem(s) and fix them. The IR thermometer should help to identify any gross air leaks that are in line-of-sight if you poke it through a down-lighter hole, but probably not not all of them due to the restricted vision. Yes, unfortunately this is likely to be necessary.

That poses an interesting question. It seems that it's actually France that has the higher heating requirement; the mean heating degree days (average figures for 2019-2024) are 2,080.81 for France and 1873.53 for the UK. That assumes that both datasets are population weighted - the UK certainly is and I'd be surprised if France wasn't - and also that the UK is still calculating as it did when it was an EU member.

A lot of that presumably due to the costs of the grid - a bigger country to connect, most of it away from the North Sea, and more rural areas too far away to connect (where main options are electricity, oil or propane).

Ignoring the saving on standing charges mentioned by @JohnMo - in fact ignoring standing charges all together - I just looked up the domestic rates here in France (first half of 2025, including tax): Electricity: €260/MWh Natural gas: €134 /MWh Ratio: 1.94 in favour of gas Compared to the UK (October to December 2025, North West region): Electricity: £271/MWh Natural gas: £63/MWh Ratio: 3.4 in favour of gas Which is undoubtedly a key factor in the popularity of heat pumps in France. Not to mention that gas has been banned for new developments for several years, and that replacement boilers (but not heat pumps) are hit with 20% VAT. It certainly looks that way.