patp

We were under the impression that the BCO would not sign off our project until the landscaping had all been completed. Our, private, BCO has just told us that he is not bothered about a few flowers! What have others found? I wonder if they like the big builders to leave their sites in a neat and tidy fashion?

Do they fly in from outside though? It was my impression that they are imported in to the house in clothing and/or textiles.

Some say that the flea control house spray that you use for cat and dog fleas works too.

Moth traps. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clothes-Moth-Pheromone-traps-pack/dp/B00757S4Z4. We have used these with quite a bit of success in that we trapped a lot of moths. The pheromone is supposed to just attract the clothes moths. They will, if you ask, identify the moth that you trap and send to them. We just put the traps all over the house in dark places. We have wool loft insulation, wool carpets, wool duvets................ you get the drift that I am a big fan of wool

We heard directly from the horses mouth when the council visited our site that our Fifth Wheel Caravan was ok but a static caravan would not have been. I think there is precedence for people claiming a static as a separate domestic property and going for a demolish and rebuild planning application after a set number or years.

Welcome aboard!

Hello and welcome

Why is it going to committee when the planning department are in favour? Sorry if I have missed something. The ones I have followed around here, including my own, only went to committee if the local councillor (not the general public) had asked for that to happen. Be aware that the people who sit on planning committees are just ordinary people. The local councillors have some of them in their pockets and they all do each other "favours" which can be reciprocated at some time in the future. Do remember that you can take it to appeal at central government. It costs but mostly they seem to approve these small applications. As has been said the neighbours are all expected to complain but they must have a valid planning complaint. Our neighbours complained about our application but it was still approved. If you don't feel able to speak at the meeting see if you can find someone to do it for you. One of our architects spoke at ours. Just a calm, sensible, statement pointing out all the pros and addressing, if possible, the objections.

Just had Octopus answer my email in just five minutes I asked if the invoice they sent me was a negative or positive balance as it did not have either a + or - attached to it. Pleased to hear straight back that it is a positive balance

Try Farmers Union insurance. They get a very good ?Which rating and they take a more personal approach. The only thing I didn't like about them was the time it took, on the phone, with a very nice but oh so chatty, representative.

We project managed our build. We made a point of asking each contractor (once we were happy with their work) to recommend trades people for the next stage.

Exciting times!

Your district councillor should be the one to take up your case. As above the parish council have no teeth ( I used to sit on ours).

We had an awful time trying to get a meter fitted from anyone in Dec 21. They all said they were no longer installing meters. One of them whispered down the phone to try Octopus so I did. They prevaricated until I phoned to say that husband had just been diagnosed with bowel cancer and we were living, in December, in a caravan. They arrived the next working day with a single phase meter having been told that we were 3 phase. Took it away and came back the next day with the right one

What is it with window companies?! Having read all the disaster stories on here we chose to go with a local joinery company for our hardwood windows. Visited them in their workshops and liked their passion and the quality of the work that we saw. They did not get one thing right Made some the wrong sizes even after making the formers in the right size! A run of hall windows has one with a different handed opening. The window beading on some is as rough as a bear's ar*e. The glazing has mastic residue all over it. No fire escape hinges in the bedrooms which they did rectify. Due to all sorts of personal issues during the build we had to let it go but did not pay, nor were we asked to pay, the final invoice. Do these issues rankle? Yes. Is health and well being too important to get embroiled in wrangles? Again yes, so we live with it and no one, except our, excellent, carpenters notice.

Nothing specific just the thought of the bco visiting at all Long time since my work was assessed!

My anxiety levels have just ratcheted up a notch

We have managed three complete renovations plus one new build. You have no idea what you will find during a renovation. All sorts of unseen problems crop up and add significantly to the stress and the cost. Bungalows are particularly fraught with problems due to extensions blocking light from existing rooms. As above I would knock it down and build the home that you need. In the back of my head I have a feeling that there is no law against knocking your own house down. You would of course need planning consent to build a replacement but if you start out with a modest rebuild and add in some extras as you go along it might be easier to get it past the planners?

Ah that could be a problem. The trees may have been smaller or the rules may have changed. Although it seems very unfair that you should be denied what the neighbours already have, highways will not see it like that. All you can do is measure up and hope that you have sufficient visibility splay to get it past them. It boils your P.... when you see people reversing out of their driveways all the time anyway!

Ooh I like the look of that. Hope you can make it work.

Find out what visibility splay is required by Highways on the road. Measure your visibility splay on the proposed new exit. If it conforms then you will have a good case. If the planners object then do make sure a human being comes out from Highways to measure the visibility splay. We had all sorts of problems because the, desk bound (working from home?!) planner told us that our proposed exit did not meet the criteria. After lengthy arguments we asked for a site visit and voila we got our proposed exit approved.

Sorry to hear about you awful incident. If you google red dye self defence spray you will find a pocket sized can of harmless red dye. It is legal because it is harmless but it scares the attacker into thinking they are bleeding when they try to wipe it out of their eyes. It then gives you enough time to get away. Some friends were told, by police, that the best deterrent is a dog but second best is a "Beware of the Dog" sign.

Our architect advised us that it is the neighbours who police planning nowadays and to not worry too much about changing things like windows, doors, roof tiles etc. We moved the site a couple of metres North and the garage was relocated to avoid the sewer run. Lots of other material changes were made, during the build, to the doors, windows, bricks and roof tiles to name just few. When I asked him if we needed to get these passed retrospectively he asked how long we planned to live in it. We have been building it for three years and have no plans to move. His reply was that, once four years have passed, you are likely to get away with it. We are not visible from the road and none of our neighbours took much interest in the details of our build.

Are we wasting our time when middle America still drives gas guzzling cars, still use their tumble driers on hot sunny days (the neighbours would complain if I hang washing outside - only trailer trash do that), put the heating on and then clear off to Florida for the winter to avoid the sub zero climate they live in, nip outside to start the gas guzzler half an hour before a journey so that the air con has made the car comfortable even though it is parked in the communal garage that is also heated and air cooled!

Following this as our landscapers start on August 21st (so excited!). Could the edge of the patio be made very smooth so that you could overspill with chairs/sofas etc if necessary. In other words have the lawn meet the patio rather than a flower border? You could always dig a border if the space turned out to be adequate in the end.