Spinny

From memory - Approaching 3 years ago I paid around 12k + VAT for around 50sqm flat roof - VCL layer like you, 150mm PIR, different brand of single ply membrane - adhered like you rather than mechanically fixed. It was new build so nothing to strip off. Dressed to 3 rooflights plus 1 aperture, main house wall and with 3 rainwater outlets and, with membrane applied to line an internal gutter around the perimeter, 5 external corners, 2 internal corners. 15 year guarantee, membrane life in excess of 30 years. Down south. Add inflation, strip off/repair work, and factoring smaller area = higher cost rate then similar ball park I guess ?

You either played pro basketball, or you are employing persons of small stature to work on your site. ;0}

I have often found door hinge screws can work loose over time and you notice when the door starts catching on the frame. Then you tighten them up but they work loose again until the hole gets mashed up and it becomes a running battle. Is there an answer to this ? - Using 3 hinges ? - using longer screws ? - using special screws ? - using ball bearing hinges ?

You don't say how big the patio is ? You could perhaps put a slot drain somewhere within the length of the patio and then have a fall each way into this drain. For example a slot drain in the middle of the patio would produce an overall fall of zero.

My temporary, temporary cover while waiting for the roofer to return to dress a vent pipe opening.

Not sure what they have installed there - it doesn't seem to have a properly sealed edge on the top side - almost looks like a part finished double glazed window pane. Did they say which company supplied it - I guess not ? Maybe get a new one from a rooflight company with a matching insulated upstand to fit your opening size. You can get opening ones at greater cost of course. Pay by credit card just in case. As a temporary measure you could seal it with some heavy polythene taped around the glass window and then around onto the roof on the outside. You would just need to check what tapes will adhere but then also be removeable without leaving a residue on the roof afterwards. Tapes can come loose and need replacing over time, depends whether you want to overwinter and fit a new one next spring or replace before winter cometh. Or fix some multiwall polycarbonate sheet over the top and seal the edge with tape or a removeable mastic. I guess if you will get a new rooflight you could even screw into the perimeter of the existing 'rooflight' knowing you will be binning it later. https://www.diy.com/departments/ariel-clear-polycarbonate-multiwall-roofing-sheet-l-1-22m-w-1220mm-t-4mm/35461_BQ.prd I used proplex as a temporary capping/fascia on my roof but found it had to be well screwed down to survive winter winds.

I will make the worktop deeper to around 650mm. I am conscious this encroaches on floor space in the room, and makes it increasingly more difficult to reach over 650mm of worktop plus another 200mm of window reveal to reach the window handle and then push open the window. Generally what I am finding is that you can plan your dimensions at the architect/design stage - but when you get to build everyone wants you to give up space. 1. Nothing is ever built 1mm larger than plan, but is often built 20-100mm smaller than plan. 2. then trades want to 'dot & dab' and board everything with 15mm of mortar on every wall 3. lintels get misaligned and protrude 8mm 3. Window installers want to allow 6-8mm on every side 4. Other installers want to allow 30mm packers at each end 5. Chippies want to 'batten things out' and don't want to rip things to size etc etc. Before you know it square feet leach away, books won't fit on bookshelves, etc etc. It is a constant battle to limit the impacts.

Presumably needs an air admittance valve added in somewhere ? That looks amazingly neat and trim with grommets etc you must have a tidy plumber. For the washing machine hose I am thinking to put a fixed drainage pipe in the washer bay, to run across behind the dryer, and into the undersink cabinet to the sink drainage pipework. Then the drain hose could attach to that directly behind the washer leaving the flexible hose slack for pulling out. I am going to put a socket behind each appliance running to a grid/FCU under the sink. I have other pipework going onto the same wall to pass through the wall and supply the u/stairs toilet basin taps and waste. So I think there is too much going on in that area to rely on pulling wires, plugs or hoses through two bays. And of course you cannot pull anything except by sliding the washer forward and using the fixings into the machine to pull the wires/hoses across. Bound to get snagged up and end up turning a 5-10 minute slide the machine out to check a possible leak into 2+ hours of messing about disconnecting and pulling the dryer out too to hand feed stuff through etc. with much cursing when(if) I get to 70 years old.

Not keen on this for the washing machine because it then means if you need to pull the washing machine out you have to take the plug out first under the sink, then somehow fish the plug back from under the sink to behind the washer before you can pull it out - bearing in mind you have no access behind the dryer or behind the washer. So you end up having to pull the dryer out first just to get the plug across to pull the washer out. Increasingly not the case as they seem to keep increasing the drum size to increase capacity by both - extending the drum backwards as far as possible - and extending the drum forwards by pushing the front loading door forward so it sticks out well beyond the supposed 60cm machine size. Marketing madness. Areas with a recess seem inconsistently positioned and often taken by the manufacturer to run a hose or site their own connections. It is a maddening thing.

Still wooden head scratching on this one. Came up with this proposal, but now I find some manufacturers put the water inlet in the top corner where I thought to put the washer unswitched socket. Is there any 'safe zone'/'unfouled' area anywhere behind a washing machine that the manufacturers respect where you can site a socket and plug ? Without chasing into the single course brick wall, will have 25mm surface box (half covered with 12mm wet plaster, then a cover plate and plug seems to add another 30mm. This then totals 13+30 = 43mm mm clearance from the plaster line required - machine is 600mm - so the minimum would seem to be say 650mm deep worktop. And only that if I can find a socket position that doesn't foul with the drain hose or the inlet hose or the top cover, or the back of the drum.

When it pours down with rain the water has to go somewhere and the patio should have a small slope or fall on it so that the water runs off in one direction - either to take the water into a surface drain with a grill or slot on it, or to take the water off to the adjacent ground where it can soak away. Typically the slope will carry the water away from the house to help protect the foundations. You could try putting a hose onto the patio to see where water runs off, or use a ball or something. Possibly the slope is taking the water to discharge over the patio edge at /above the wall. Then if the patio grouting is poor and permeable the water is going to soakaway just behind and above the wall causing the problem.

Maybe consider which way the drainage runs on the patio - is it draining down a slight slope towards the top of the rendered wall ? It clearly looks worse in line with the grout lines. Possibly put some sort of waterproof cover over the patio in the winter ? Possibly drill a hole or three in the render to then measure or assess the level of dampness behind the render/wall and compare with the dampness of the ground at a similar depth elsewhere in the garden. Is it 'filling up' with water behind the wall in the winter with no way to escape.

Have you got an insulated upstand on the rooflight ?

I think some companies were badly affected by Covid and incurred debts, then higher interest rates and inflation hit, labour costs have escalated. Bankruptcies were running at 1200 a month pre-covid and now at over 2000 a month.

Thanks Kelvin, good comment. Tried ebay without luck. Just stumbled on theusedkitchencompany.com Spouse in tears again. Our rooflight company also went into liquidation - I had to hire a van and negotiate with the liquidator to rescue our rooflight that time. Dog died last week. Counted 6 magpies in the garden yesterday though. Gonna have to try a section 75 credit card claim.

It is a bespoke slot for a standalone unit. Took some working out as we basically wanted to get a standalone model (due to the astonishing price premium of integrated) but then arrange to have the front of the doors flush with the kitchen doors, creating a special knook to allow the door to open. Width is 79/80cm - we were tight for space for the layout we wanted. Manufacturer has now gone to 90cm wide - couldn't know this at the time. (PS Why do kitchens keep getting bigger while houses keep getting smaller ?)

We ordered two kitchen appliances, paid in full, and they were held by the supplier pending kitchen readiness. Just discovered the supplier has been put into administration, all 'stock' seemingly sold months ago - no communication to us whatsoever. What is more the fridge-freezer we bought has been discontinued. What is more the kitchen we have bought is designed for the dimensions of the fridge freezer - the new models have different dimensions which will not fit. Anybody know of any sources of ex-demo or nearly new/customer return/secondhand appliances where I might desperately try to find one of the discontinued models ?

Thinking of using surface mounted plastic back boxes but then having them plastered in. So say a 25mm back box with half covered by plaster and half protruding from the wall. Any issue with doing this ? (Will be out of sight under a worktop and avoid cutting into a single skin brick wall)

Oh yes, bring me more problems to worry about. Why is this building malarkey such a PITA. We haven't even chosen top coat paint yet - far too many other issues to resolve. https://youtu.be/VoP1E9J4jpg?feature=shared

Attach some more photos - seem to have over compressed the earlier ones. I note on the external corner one side is fine, the other side if affected (see photo). Suggestion is that external corners are affected by which way the plasterboard is running/whether there is a cut end ? Spoke briefly to plasterer. He said yes he had had this happen before and said it would need to be sanded down gently and re-misted. It was because he sometimes used a bit of PVA in corners and drip marks also likely PVA from doing the ceiling second rather than first.

After allowing our new plaster to dry out thoroughly we have mist coated using watered down trade emulsion. One coat watered down to 50/50 then a second coat watered down to 70/30. Mostly fine but... As the photos show we have some areas where very little paint seems to have taken - notably in corners where the roller wouldn't reach and a brush had to be used. I noticed myself when trying to paint these corner areas with a brush (spouse did most of it) that the paint didn't seem to want to stay on the wall, almost as though it was being repelled, trying to brush more on only seemed to brush out remove paint already applied. We also have some areas where there are visible splash marks showing - something maybe splashed on the wall when the ceiling was plastered ? PVA ? What should we do ? Do we need to sand these areas and re-mist ?

Yes, but there would seem to be nothing to secure it underneath on the door side. One side would be supported by the cut down celcon block but the part over the cavity would be unsupported. At the moment the plastic cavity closer flexes (as they do), but it does rest onto the celcon block one side and then onto the outer concrete block leaf underneath the door threshold.

I see 6mm fibre cement board is claimed to be equivalent to 24mm ply for strength and stability. Could the thermal bridging be limited by stopping it short and inserting a strip of insulation between the edge and the door frame ?

That the area was not movement free and so 6-8mm of leveller onto the cavity closer/DPM would be liable to cracking up. Suggestion was to stop the flooring short of the reveal and insert and fix a metal/alu plate into the reveal as the finished floor. (This would look like the botch it is - so not really acceptable to me)

So you are saying I should cut off and remove the cavity closer ? (At the moment that is the only thing that actually bridges right across the cavity - one side trapped under the door threshold). With the cavity closer gone, how would I secure the XPS backer board on the door side of the cavity ?