Jilly

Ha! Top tip! My architect's technician didn't do this and submitted the wrong plans...

Yup, I've had to pay everyone on a day rate which is scary, but I trust the people involved (more or less!!).

They often have a few caveats like 'can't lift carpet to look at all floor timbers' or 'can't get in to inspect all of the roof'. They should be able to give you a structural opinion though and whether underpinning is likely to be needed. This is to some extent the 'joy' of renovating an old place and the risk you take (and also why some builders cont/won't give a fixed price). When you start stripping down an old house you sometimes find all manner of horrors. Demolition and rebuild is a far more certain affair (foundation system notwithstanding)to price up, hence the developers interest. Investigate the planning situation on this option tho' as occasionally the council don't want demolition and rebuild, and so extending under permitted development is all you can do, so one part of the building is old and has some compromises.

By floor, do you mean after the screed or after the tiles went down? We waited until the screed was dry (quite a dry mix was used also).

My builder stapled the thin sheet of plastic up the walls then trimmed it off neatly afterwards.

I'm new to the dark art of plumbing and am at the point where we need to switch on the UFH. I've read we need to increase the heat 5 degrees a week to stop the screed cracking, but find that the mainifold says 'minimum' which presumably is 30 degrees which presumably is the lowest it can go. How many hours a day should I start with? Or should I programme the room stats to say 15 degrees? Back ground: we have a new Worcester LPG boiler. A compromised choice. Also the plumber has put room thermostats in each zone but I will have to figure out how we are going to live as my parter loves heat and might put a fan heater on for quick heat and so inadvertently turn off the UFH. Would an infra red heater cook him and not the room?!

It must be very difficult trying to a high pressure job and and a build with tricky builder. It definitely takes its toll on your mental health if you aren't careful, I hope you are feeling better. I think it's because its for your home and so every tiny decision seems important. If you were building to sell on, any old door/tap/loo/tile would do within reason. We're nearly ready to move in to the part finished building and I reckon I will be about £80k over budget eventually...Ahem and I haven't even got a job, so have had to rely on borrowing from family members. Reading between the lines, a lot of us are overoptimistic the first time. I'll be a lot more prepared next time, if I ever build anything else again.

A local glazing company would supply double glazing casements if you give them measurements. How you use them is up to you, I suppose, but if everyone is saying you need a frame and you are an amateur by admission, I would be inclined to take note and modify your design.

I've had to book a plumber on £275/day, so I can't give him the other work he would like, such as the kitchen fitting and tiling. He was the only plumber who could/would help solve my conversion problems so I've accepted paying more than I would like, as I know he has spent time researching/thinking about things for me.

Get a few quotes

Do tell.

I've been the professional worrier. But also decorating, labouring, cleaning up, digging

I've bought some dark grey riven slate tiles and they are going down nicely, but they are going to be hard to eep clean. Im' reading stuff which says they should be sealed before grouting as the coloured grout can bleed later. Is this right? The builder can't see the point in sealing twice.

They might have bought some fancy headed paper ... and swallowed a legal dictionary

Could it be a bluff? I got sent a letter threatening an injuction, but it was to force me to sign a Covenant.

Ouch, both are a bit expensive at the moment. I'm badly running over budget. The hob is to be on the wall which has a sloping vaulted ceiling with a cold roof and linear eaves ventilation. There is a very deep soffit and so a hole through the wall vent would send the warm humid air straight up into the eaves. A longer chimney /vent gives me a Conservation area/article 4 directive issue. Up through the vaulted ceiling and a tile vent is a big pain because I didn't think of it earlier... Do they do dehumidifying extractor fans...?

Just resurrecting this thread. I've just realised that a kitchen extractor is likely to send its extracted air up into the cold roof via the eaves, due to the overhang ? on the wall I have chosen for the hob, so would quite like to not have one and rely on a dehumidifier (or window (no MVHR here). Does anyone know of a cheap vented hob, as this might be a workaround? But they are so expensive...As its a conversion might I get more leniency from BC? Any other ideas?

It was quite a dry mix, not at all sloppy. It was probably thinnest in the bathroom, about 40mm

So does it matter that damp is trapped in the screed forever more...

The screed seems dry now (it was onto an old uneven concrete floor so ranges from 40mm to 75mm in places. It probably needs a bit longer. I am thinking about chancing it and not using a decoupling membrane and tiling the bathroom floor as I feel comfortable with the risk of cracking there as it's small and we can get on with the bathroom installation. which will really move things on. However, if it's a wet messy business and we use flexible waterproof adhesive and grout, will the floor now not be able to dry out? Will this happen whatever?

My plumber has just installed our Wunda kit to do just that as well , ie towel rail and hot water. The electrics aren't joined up yet mind you, so can't test it!

Wow, that was lucky!

Welcome and well done with the foundations. What is the backstory with that? Did you negotiate with your structural engineer or get a second opinion?

Sorry, I just meant the SuDS stuff

But I'm worried I'll fail my surface water drainage tests....