Garyf123

Hi! I know this topic has been covered many times but can’t quite find what I am looking for! I have just purchased a 1850’s brick built end terrace house. It has front and back walls with approx 4” cavity and end wall is solid (double brick thickness I think). I am fitting wet UFH to living room, dining room, kitchen and office. The kitchen and office are Extentions and have solid floors with vents into cavity’s. The living and dining rooms have suspended timber floors so I have been underneath and filled the joists with mineral wool and covered the bottom of the joists with breathable membrane. Whilst under the floor, I noticed there was no obvious means of ventilation! The previous owner found some damage to a section of joists near the rear of house and cut out/replaced with new treated timbers and new section of floor board but did not add any ventilation! The rear of the house has the Extentions so no way of adding vents there. The front of the house has one double brick vent but just into cavity. I have core drilled a 120mm hole through both courses as low as I can (the ground level falls away from house) and installed a length of soil pipe into my joist void and insulation and elbowed it down into the floor void and fitted a grill on end. I am now stuck as I cannot provide correct cross ventilation because of rear Extentions and the end wall has the joist tight up to it so cannot core drilled through. My idea is to take a brick out through both courses(solid wall)at skirting board level, then fit a telescopic vent through from outside, exiting in inside above floor and sending it down through floorboard, insulation and membrane into floor void and sealing up again by making a small insulated box to cover telescopic vent ( it’s in small recess at side of fireplace and can be easily hidden by plant, cupboard etc. not ideal but I am working on any ventilation is better than no ventilation! Any thoughts please? Gary.

Hi, Looking for some advice please! The railway cottage we are trying to buy, has a portion of garden and a garage in the physical boundary but outside the legal boundary. It has been like this for at least 25 years. The land, i believe is unregistered but possibly/probably owned by Network Rail. The sellers solicitor has provided an indemnity policy but when i looked at the exclusions, it stated that "this policy excludes claims made by or on behalf of Network Rail/National rail" This to me seems like either a mistake or a total rip-off as they are charging £450.00 for it. The only issue that is going to occur is with Network Rail so why issue policy excluding this? As a side note, can adverse possession be claimed if the previous owners (2 then us) total 25 years or does it have to be 12 years from when we purchase? Many thanks in advance, Gary.

Brilliant, thank you!

Thank you!

Hi, Elderly neighbors heating/hot water went off yesterday with HD fault on boiler and E1 fault on Grundfos Alpha pump. I removed pump and impeller was totally seized (only 2 years old). I managed to free it off and replaced it and all was well for about 4 hours when temperature started dropping and E1 appeared on pump again. I called local merchant for a replacement but they do not stock the Alphas as all the tradesmen who buy from them will not use them and go for the older mechanical models! Can anybody confirm which pump (old style) will be a straight swap as i believe the distance between the flanges is 130mm? Many thanks in advance, Gary.

Brilliant, thank you. At least i have some figures to work with now!

The parish council organise the maintenance and emptying of unit so there should be a paper trail. My concern is trying to determine what the maximum financial cost would be to us if the worst case scenario happened and complete replacement was needed. No so much worried about the shared element as the parish picks up the costs and hands out individual invoices to residents.

Hi, Thank you all for taking the time out to reply! Could I just ask for your opinions on the following comments from the local parish council regarding the compliance status? Good morning Gary The septic tank at Railway Cottages complies with the general binding rules on the following points: Existing discharges started before 1 January 2015 therefore the additional rules do not apply, only the ’rules that apply to all discharges’. Only rules 2,4,5,7,9,10,11,12,13 and 14 apply. Rule 3: The discharge is only domestic waste (the system is self evidently connected to residential properties) Rules 4 & 5 The septic tank does not drain to a water course or cause pollution of surface or groundwater. There is no water course in the vicinity and the Parish Council had the whole system inspected by camera in 2011, which shows the drainage route beneath land next to the railway embankment, ending deep beneath the railway embankment. Rule 7: There is no drainage into any groundwater source at all, much less a groundwater source protection zone 1. Rule 9: The system was installed before 1983 therefore is not required to meet any British Standard Rule 10: the system has been meeting the needs of the properties it serves in excess of 100 years. If this was not the case, it would have been improved. Rule 11: Residents have evidence of maintenance of the septic tank Rule 12: The system is emptied every 2 years and has been for many years. As this is a necessity to keep the system working properly for everyone, it is self evident that it is undertaken Rule 13: You were made aware of the sewage system Rule 14: Not applicable The general binding rules do not state that either an inspection or a permit or other paperwork is required to confirm that the system complies with the general binding rules, indeed it is plainly stated 'you will not need a permit if you meet all of the general binding rules that apply to you'. All the assertions made above can be evidenced but there is no requirement to do so. The test to calculate the average daily discharge will be done as soon as it is possible to do so; I don't have a timescale at the moment but it won't be at the same time as the emptying of the tank.

Hi. Looking for some advice please. We are trying to purchase a Railway cottage which is about 125 years old. It is 1 of 7 cottages and has a shared septic tank (original brick unit). The tank is located on nearby recreation ground which is owned by the parish council who also own 2 of the cottages. We are trying to get evidence of it being compliant which is proving very difficult as the parish will not let a third party organize an inspection due to inconvenience to residents! They are saying that they think it is compliant on all of the general binding rules with the exception of the flow rate/cubic capacity of the unit. They are willing to get tests done but not until the middle of next year due to weather and damage to the playing fields bringing plant over it. This obviously does not help me as my buyer will pull out if he has to wait that long. I am willing to still proceed with the purchase if i can get a rough idea of the cost if non-compliant knowing that i will be in for a share of the cost of replacement if deemed too small or whatever. My question is, can anybody give a very rough ballpark figure for a worst case scenario involving total replacement? as i said, there are 5 x 2 bedroom cottages and 2 cottages that have been converted to changing rooms/shower block for local sports teams. I am just trying to work out my total financial risk if i go ahead. Many thanks in advance. Gary.