Mr Punter

It is not acceptable. He may have some defence if the tiles are banana like, as I understand is quite common with the planks and it would also explain why they have been laid with a very small bond. Take 2 tiles and place them back-to-back, then face-to-face to see how flat they are.

Groceries up, bins down. Also I use it for tools and materials if I am working on upper floors. It is surprising how much stuff you need even when doing a fairly simple job.

For cold drinking water I prefer straight from the mains or chilled. No filtering or softening. I understand that drinking hard water can prevent hardening of the arteries.

You can easily record the parties, the loan amount and the terms (repayment date etc) in writing and both sign as a DIY agreement although I would not do this for a very large sum. You need to consider what happens should one party renege, die, divorce, go bankrupt, become mentally ill etc. I think the planning consent / plot subdivision / whole property bit makes it a lot more complicated and if you want this included, get it drawn up by a lawyer.

1. My cladding will be vented, with an insect mesh at the bottom, but doe's it also need to be vented at the top ? Yes 2. What about around any windows ? Do i need to close off the gap formed by the battens on which the cladding is hung, for fire etc . Battens all round windows to close the cavity but leave the vertical battens for the render board short at the top and the bottom so the air can flow round the window 3. Would you run strips of DPM down the battens before hanging the cladding ? It will not hurt. Staple it on. 4. As the cladding is rot proof, would it not be ok to just to have the vent at the bottom edge, to allow for any condensation formed to get out ? Top and bottom. 5. The battens would be treated, so would the DPM strips be considered over the top ? Not that hard to do so you may as well.

There is no point in having a party wall award if you own both properties. If you wanted to you could add rights and easements when you sell part. Party Wall agreement involves the owner wanting to do work (Building Owner) giving notice to the affected neighbours (Adjoining Owner) of the work they intend to carry out and which bits of the Party Wall Act will apply. This can just be agreed by the Adjoining Owner. If not agreed it is deemed in dispute and one or more surveyors - paid by the Building Owner, will draw up an award stating how the work will be carried out, access for works and the existing condition of the AO building. The Award does not go with the land reg - it is between the 2 parties only.

It needs to be motorised and controlled. The pulley type lifts are only good for 1 storey and this one travels 3 storeys. Also it has a load capacity of 50kg.

Here is ours. The motor is housed above hence the access door. As with all lifts they take up a fair amount of space v. their capacity.

I have used stranded speaker cable for this as it is flexible and was spare. Also it is white so doesn't stand out if exposed. I would be interested to know what is "proper" though...

What happens if you need to double flush (or even triple flush!) a stubborn lurker? Surely it will get poached?

I would get a demolition asbestos survey.

Whirlpool used to do a lot of Ikea stuff.

This varies a great deal so get 3 firms to price it. Any asbestos? That must be dealt with by specialists prior to demolition.

Our dumb waiter serves ground and third floor. Kitchen is third floor. Cost was £8k plus VAT stainless steel car and door. In a 2 storey house I would put the washing machine in the same floor as the bedrooms and if pos have an outside drying space there too. It is a bit silly lugging clothes up and down stairs to clean them. We have bedrooms on levels 1 and 2 and wash machine and inside and outside drying areas on level 2.

In no particular order: The front door canopy is far too small to provide shelter. The WC will need an outward door for part M which will clash with front door. The WC window seem enormous. Waste of energy. Stairs need a rethink. Not keen on the office door being under the stairs and clashing with the other door. wtf is "SECRET" all about?!! It may be difficult to mount the consumer units on the pocket walls. Maybe put them somewhere less focal. Why have a dumb waiter? I have one but I have a four storey house with the kitchen on the top floor. Loads of wasted space in the "ADD'L UTILITY" I assume the garage is bikes / motorbikes / bins? Make sure you have enough storage in the kitchen. There is a large amount of glazing which may be an issue for privacy, comfort, heat loss, solar gain and cost. I think the upstairs needs another en-suite shower.

You need to fill the mixer. Is your estimate out by time or volume?

The Wago connectors I mentioned earlier are nice because you just use one terminal for each wire and you don't need a screwdriver to tighten. I am not fond of the choc bloc type that you have used, especially with more than one wire in a terminal.

Between 1:6 and 1:9 will be fine. Make sure you dig down the trench to remove any soft material. Backfill with type 1 and thoroughly consolidate. If the sub base is not wide and solid the concrete will not hold up.

Yes I have applied for revised consent on a few schemes. Maybe you could talk to the planners or the conservation officer to get a feel for what would be acceptable.

Why not? I installed one. Pretty straightforward.

A lot of the gas duct is useless. Best bet is duct with pipe pre-installed.

Explain to him what you just said to us and offer him what you feel comfortable with. You don't need to fall out over this.

It sounds like they are from Royston Vasey.

Can you not get the gas pipe laid in with the rest of the services? Gas can be a real pain as as soon as there is any scaffold they will not work. Doing it later will make a right mess. No drainage shown so I guess that goes elsewhere? It may be best to run the intercom in a separate duct than the power for the gates. You need to run a duct across the drive as well for power to the other gate. Allow for a socket by the gate post / control box.

My architect asks for a bonus on receipt of planning. It means he doesn't submit anything silly and ask me to pay for amendments but it is not so high that he is out of pocket for an unsuccessful application. Probably nearer 5-10% than 25%. If a big redesign is needed I would expect to be paying extra for that. How much extra money does he want? What do you think would be fair?