Mr Punter

I bet they say the same for you!

If you are only in for an extra £2.5k then you need to decide if it is worth it. Perhaps a developer would be willing to take a punt? Some areas of land are best left as they are or everywhere will be built on. For a single dwelling it may be quite expensive.

I think you may be OK digging again as long as all the wall goes on the new footing. You may need to have steel dowels where it joins the existing. Not sure why they dug it there. You should be there to supervise and agree setting out on site and with the digger operator.

Looking back I see we paid another architect £37,900 for detail design of a project of 1180m2, so £32 per metre. That project was also quite complicated.

I prefer Egger Protect to Caber

I think this is just a distressed look. The tiles themselves will not mark like this. If you look very closely you will find identical tiles elsewhere on the floor. They often only produce a few variations.

One thing with the automatic locking function is there is no snib feature, so I take a key with me whenever I go out.

Yes, it is just the compression on the door seals that open it. I have a motorised lock which I like because it gives multi point locking. It throws the bolts in the door. If you have an electric door keep you could fit a door closer.

Maybe an escape window in each gable would work? Since you are adding EWI there will be scaffold anyway. The downstairs layout is quite busy but I can see that you have to work with what is there.

That looks nice and easy to swap out if it fails. Just trim back some of those angled wood things I guess and out she slips!

Sounds OK to me. Maybe get a couple of other quotes? I have a quote of £6,350 for detailed design for 3 flats which works out at £36 per metre.

Agreed with the PVC doors. You just sort of bounce off them. You could probably get a posh one in grey.

If the stone has a lot of small powdery fines these can turn to slurry when wet but the larger stone should hold together well. If your underlying soil is shrinkable clay it can change a lot depending on moisture content but should be fine when your paving is down.

There is nothing that says you need the same brand of windows / doors throughout, so maybe get the corner openers from one firm and the others elsewhere.

They do Futura+ which is outward opening timber inside, PUR insulation and aluminium outside. They also do Futura+i which is inward opening / tilt turn with aluminium inside, PUR insulation and aluminium outside. They are not really alu clad, more composite windows, like Velfac.

Yes it is legal for them to request this and it is pretty good value. I would just agree to this in writing. Sewer requisition is very expensive. We had a neighbour that wanted to connect into a sewer on our land. We refused as it may have hindered future development for us. In the end they had to excavate in the road for 80 metres and connect further down.

I love it. Is the whole thing raised off the ground?

From the picture I thought it was pre patinated zinc.

I use a cordless recip saw to modify. You can round off any sharp bits of the cut with a lump hammer.

That is a great looking house. The cladding looks looks an expensive mix. Are you pleased with the Trespa?

I have some Ideal Combi windows. The sound attenuation seems very good. I think the glass does most of the job. Triple glazed.

I don't want to say I told you so...

I am applying for a consent this week where the LA are due to introduce CIL October 5th. Does anyone have Robert Jenrick's mobile as I may need to give him a bell in case the LA look like they will not decide in time?

And your next door neighbour? Forget Leicester, time to lock down Cornwall. Are you sure you are not an asymptomatic super-spreader?

Are we seriously thinking that having a door butting onto the steps is OK in any way? Surely top of steps opening out would be better. If the door is not a building control requirement you can do what you like. At least with the steps you seem to have lots of going. You may be able to take a bit off the front of the bottom step so a new additional step would not protrude into the room so much.