Jilly

Well done, keep going! We've just made the extension properly watertight and I was ridiculously happy!

Re the gas, I had to submit a Landlords/Homeowners Safety cert. Re the water usage, I paid an on line Co £75 which was a waste of money, as I think there are free online calculators which looked the same. It ticked the box any way. If you have the mortgage in place and keep paying and you aren't asking for more money, I'm surprised if that would be an issue. Not everybody bothers with a warranty. Have you sorted out normal house insurance yet? I got mine sorted before the BC certs were finalised.

Can you list what is outstanding? I called Building Control when we were near and they seemed as keen to sign off as we were. People might be able to give pointers. Was the mortgage conditional on the warranty? Can you pin them down to specifics? I assume it's a structural warranty and the structural elements were finished and signed off a while ago? I would go with the firing off letters to Radio 4, your MP and the ombudsman. The threat of adverse publicity might make them back down. I'm assuming you might only need a month or two's extension?

OMG nothing to offer but sympathy and commiserations, you poor things.

Thank you!

Got back there just within the editing window!

We had this recently, I couldn't sleep. I could hear Kevin McCloud muttering about it! I only have timber roof joists not timber frame, so I feel your pain. The builder kept assuring me that it is ok, tanalised timber is often stored outside and will be resistant, and it would dry out ok once the roof covering is finished, and that does indeed seem to be happening. Builder said we could hire scaffolding and cover every thing at great expense, so I got over myself and had to trust him.

My planning permission says I have to have a plain door (Conservation Area, pita to change anything) on the stable conversion extension. However, my problem is that the room is very dark and so I have come up with the idea of a 4 way stable door, with glass on the upper and lower inner parts so that we can let light/heat in (south facing) and effectively a shutter arrangement on the outside to comply with planning and for weather extremes and visits from the planners. The carpentry firm has said that the inner leaf will have to open inwards though, which is a pain, as I want cupboards near the door. Can anyone suggest some hinge solution to get over this? (I think this is the stumbling block). Or anything else?!

I used a local firm as the posh ones look lovely, but if there's a problem, I decided it's easier to get a local person back to have a look (and I had to have 2 glazing units replaced). Go to showrooms with the spec and get quotes.

I'm not sure if this really answers your question or not, but I've got a portable battery pack thing, it was about £50. You could charge that on economy 7 tarrif and then use it to power the heater in the daytime? It's a very useful bit of kit and has other uses besides the plug socket: a torch, tyre inflation, jump starter. You'd have to keep an eye on your bills or the smart meter to see if it made much difference.

I can see why you have been seduced/sold by the description of the polymer lifting your house back up the required spot in a matter of days. Sounds easy. Can it overshoot and effectively cause heave? Underpinning is tried and trusted. I've bought a house which has had it done and we had to take over the same insurance policy. If they've had their insurers out, find out why aren't they making a claim? The excess is usually only about £1K. I have a friend who bought a house with an expensive subsiding conservatory and they were able to take over the policy, continue with claim process and got a nice new conservatory eventually. It took a while tho' as I believe they had to reduce the adjacent trees to see if the (ground) settlement resolved. Is something like this an option?

It's quite difficult to view both elevations together, to really see the difference, in any case. In times past it was very common to have expensive posh stuff at the front. To my eye its more about the size of the glass panes. The sashes at the front look very correct and in keeping, whilst the modern extension bits look modern as they should. The transition areas which you are worried about look fine to me as the architect has drawn them. Am I right in thinking you couldn't get those same proportions without altering the brickwork anyway? Plain glass without bars would definitely look wrong imo, but that may not be what you meant. Lovely house BTW

Only commiserations and empathy to offer. I used Kooltherm K103 under my UF heating because were short of space and it seems very efficient. I know what you mean about the builder building your house within his comfort levels rather than your future comfort! . All that teeth sucking...

Just to help you understand the process: We commissioned an SE to give a solution with instructions/diagrams etc (which are submitted to Building Control for them to check) and then the builder/other carries it out and it's inspected by BC and signed off. We had an SE visit initially and at points where we needed some advice. If you don't like/agree/want to carry out that suggestion, you could ask for another solution, or even (rarely) ask another SE for a second opinion to find a different remedy. This removes the danger commissioning a company (who are not unbiased and independent) to do work which you or they have diagnosed. However, they might have their own engineers to do the drawings which you would give to BC. PS you need different house insurance whilst you do remedial works, you might even have to keep the original householder's insurance co as other co's may not want to take it on.

Anecdotally I've heard variable reports about the sonic things working, so it may just depend on the animal. Anything which affects a fox will affect your dog too. Foxes leave very distinctive smell, whereas cat shit smells, well, shitty. Uncastrated tom cat pee is also very distinctive, so if it is that, your local Cat's Protection might put a trap out to catch the cat and castrate it which stops the smell (and the kittens, obviously). Also, if your problem is feline, some people swear by putting lion poop in the garden, which you can buy (!) In the countryside we yokels keep foxes out of a chicken run with very high fences, preferably with a roof and dug in at the bottom, so not much chance of keeping a determined fox out of a suburban garden. UK is in flockdown due to Avian Influenza so foxes might be hungrier than normal...

We live in a small place. Please suggest your space saving solutions to me and the pros and cons.

I would sit tight and try to clarify the exact problem and see if you can rectify it cheaply first and prove you are or will make it within PD rights. A retrospective planning application just means you put in a planning application but put it in brackets to indicate it has already been built. Look for other examples on your council website or pay heaps for a planning consultant. If you have a visit from an enforcement officer you will get a feel for if it will pass or be refused. This will take many weeks. You can then check the Appeals process. It all depends how much the building cost/is important to you and how much hassle you can tolerate.

We had 3 phase put into a kiosk at the edge of our property ahead of time, which the electrician connected into when we are ready. We only used 1 phase for the house and have the other two ready for unspecified use in the future.

Very difficult to say as we can't see what work is involved or the area you live in. Get some quotes from recommended people, because there can be a big variation. If you supply the materials you can make savings but workmen won't guarantee the bits. You have to take a view.

I've used a lot of Bedec satin barn paint and love it. It's acrylic, so probably not as breathable as the manufacturer makes out and it is very dense, with good coverage, so it doesn't show the grain per se, if you are looking more for a stain/oil type finish.

I would dry the books out in the house and then put them in thick plastic sealed boxes to store in the shed because as you've noticed, the ones in cardboard will get damp and mouldy. However, Radian thinks that won't work.

You haven't mentioned the roof, but if it's corrugated, how about replacing some/all the panels with corrugated perspex? It makes a shed quite light and airy in the daytime and makes no difference at night. It could even give a bit of solar drying for your logs.

What is your view on this, an off grid family who produce their own methane from waste food etc, just sufficient for their own use: https://www.facebook.com/246638455855096/posts/as-well-as-biogas-for-the-kitchen-biff-the-biodigester-also-produces-mineral-ric/929685204217081/

There's a Passive House retrofit open day in Norfolk this weekend, shows you exactly what can be done with an ugly old bungalow: https://www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/UserFiles/File/Events/2022/11.11 iPH Open Days_Winter Edition/Booking forms/2022 UK Passivhaus Open Days_The Willows_v2.pdf

Or how about starting with a refurbishment before going the whole hog? You will gain a lot of DIY skills whilst living in the house which you could use on your self build later if you get the bug?