Jilly

https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2002/mad-bad-and-dangerous-the-cult-of-lord-byron

It’s pretty difficult to keep out determined foxes, think of trouble hen keepers have. You need 6’ fences with a roof and wire in the ground too, or electric fencing to defeat them. You could try the teabags, but don’t hold your breath (see what I did there?). Failing that, get busy with dog poop bags, set up an infra red camera and embrace them. They are very entertaining.

That should work in your favour for getting something you like through, if there’s no strict street scene to adhere to.

This is a spot which gets wet, I’m careful but have teenagers visiting soon…

I want to use some silicone (black or grey) to 'grout' slate tiles as I need it to be removable. Any tips?

I feel for you, I've had a lot of those retrospective moments too. I had a design SAP done early on after reading about them and it turns out conversions don't even need one (when I did mine at any rate). Go figure, but that doesn't help you. Developers often put a PV on the roof without even connecting it up to get the SAP calc correct.

Gravel should be ok if the sub-base is compacted properly and is quite soft in appearance (to me) but I guess not, if you like the clean sterile look. I can think of better ways to spend £27k...

Can anyone recommend plastic roof sheets for a shed which won't become brittle and disintegrate in no time, please? I'd like to get some natural light in. It currently has the bitumen corrugated stuff, some of which is which is damaged, and the shed is very dark. It seems difficult to get the corrugations to match. I also have some sheets of spare metal to edge it with. Any suggestions/experiences please?

Worth asking the question as my friend has an en-suite like this, the door doesn’t come off

AirBnB instead?

Repainting the inside is amusing too, In an en-suite, you‘ll have to sit tight whilst it dries, and you can’t get to the deep inside bit

If they are good, I’d suck it up, as others said, you still might possibly need them back at some point, especially if you can afford it. How about meeting half way?

The sleepless night/ mental health aspect of this has come up before. 3am in particular does something funny to our brains. Once you’ve established you’ve taken an inadvertent risk, but there is no other action you can take, find ways to mentally move on quickly and stop your brain obsessing. Trying to compartmentalise/ have a ‘cross that bridge if we come to it’ philosophy can help. I find the technique of shrinking a worry into a tiny black and white though helps. I read Ranulph Fiennes’s autobiography recently describing how he has vertigo and to get up the North face of Eiger he had to strictly stop his mind running away on its own. Amazing.

I think it looks nice...those details don't pip my OCD in the greater scheme of things. When we have little quirks I kind of like them, as they remind me of the build process and the hands that made them.

External wall insulation might be an option?

Do you own the land? Could you live in a static and wait it out to keep your buyer? Part build to get what you want gradually?

If the neighbour is objecting and can’t afford a new boundary fence, could you offer to replace it to help appease them?

Lovely! It’s looks very smart.

The planners don't look at the deeds. Building control look at the evidence of the boundary, but again, no one but you and your neighbour would scrutinise your deeds. I might have missed something, but I can't understand how your neighbour can put a fence up and stop you opening your window...

It might be worth looking at the deeds to see if your boundary is actually 1 m away from the wall...

The issue is that building work is never straight forward, you have to accept some give and take, and that there’s more than one way to do things. Not being on site is a major disadvantage you’ve given yourself as there are loads of minor questions each day, which he is taking a view on because you aren’t there, and things are now catching up. It’s course correction, which after a while compounds and worsens. The same thing will happen when your mates take over, so make sure the communication is good, preferably by being on site. Everyone has to make a living, I suspect doing the roof himself has let him recover from mid quoting the price of the tiles.

Get more advice on building 1m from the boundary, I was under the impression you have to do this. It will solve your problems: maintenance, guttering, let alone trying to construct the thing without stepping on to the other side.

You are cushioned from the interest rates and build delays by living on site.

Lots of things with the council planning depts don’t make sense. I’m pretty sure I got a ‘comment of works’ acknowledgement.

Stay in a static over the summer, part build so liveable, is another option to keep costs down