Galileo

Off topic, but was this a common enough style back in the 60s? I have a strong feeling that I've seen that living room before somewhere! There was a discussion about a window or door to a first floor balcony that was awkward due to the roofline cutting through it. Should probably just drink less coffee..

We've had 3 days of scorchio 16c on the trot this week, might take off my fleece and have an ice cream!

About 10 years ago I was living in Cambridgeshire, in the middle of town, in a bungalow, large windows, facing due South, and we were in the middle of a prolonged heatwave. The place started the day cool enough but by late afternoon the internal walls were all hot to the touch and would stay that way well into the early hours of the next morning, we took to sleeping on the kitchen stone floor! The property was a rental so not much I could do with it, but being part foreign and spending a lot of time in hot places, the perfect solution like Mike above suggested was to build a stand-alone brise-soleil made from cheap Wickes timber fence posts and treated timber. The difference was immediate, the walls and window were shaded from the intense afternoon sun and the bedrooms were tolerable. Now, there was that time I worked in a portable cabin (don't want Portakabin to come after me) and came up with the great idea of blocking the downpipes up and filling the roof with water to cool it down a bit...

If all the land involved is within one ownership, this would be something to take up with your landlord. The owner of the croft, not the tenant, is the one that deals with rights of way and deeds of servitude in their title. However, from your post it would seem that like myself you're an owner-occupier of your croft, and not a tenant? I have the title deeds that explicitly state my rights to build a track over of a neighbour's park, a small section of it: If this route has always been the way the croft was accessed before the sale, and it is not mentioned explicitly in the title, then inheritable rights can still come into play. If you are now an owner-occupier than, as others have suggested, back to your solicitor, as access rights to the land is pretty key, and if not mentioned in the title deeds at all suggests someone has dropped a ball somehow. In fairness, as you will have a right of access even if not spelled out in the title as an inheritable right, that might have been presumed, but I would still suggest it a bit sloppy to not take the opportunity to place the deed of servitude explicitly in the title at that point. Without this access route to my own croft, which due to land sales had become cut off from the road over the years, was only accessible via boat, and at 200 metres (self dug) was the best part of £7k worth of stone, so well worth having a fight over an existing route.

If that were the case, then plonking a garden table with a parasol on a patio with a few potted plants down the sides would become a semi enclosed usable space. An awning over a paved patio area that was neither raised nor permanently semi enclosed would not be a verandah. Maybe if you had an awning between two fencing panels, you could call it an extension under PD?! The more I learn about planning regulations, the less I like. As with a lot of things that were started with good intentions, it's become an industry for its own perpetuation.

Perhaps a screened patio area and a wall mounted retractable awning would give you a dry space without involving the planning police?

Thanks anyway Ian, appreciate the time.

Does that apply to Scotland? We have the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order (Scotland) 1992 and this would be a class 18 "the formation, alteration or maintenance of private ways". I've read and re-read this guidance document, and I think I must just be being very dense, and |I have no idea where these otters have come from, never seen any or signs of a holt and there's no fresh water lochs or burns, I'm on the coast! I checked the NBN atlas and there's never been a sighting near my croft, but there have been in a 5 km radius, in 1979 and 1991. One thing I've found after buying my (8 acre) croft is that you can do bugger all with the land without asking someone first, found out the other day I can't even clear the field drainage without getting planning approval. <- Sorry, that's a bit ranty and off topic, I was hoping to do this work during the bank holiday weekend and the council have peed on my parade!

Scottish planning and in particular agricultural permitted development "prior notifications" are a bit of a mystery to me, and whilst not housing related, maybe someone can help! I put in a prior notification for a new private way (aka farm track) and received a reply that "The development has been noted, and the Planning Authority has determined that prior approval is required." My internet searches have not come up with much on this, other than "If the planning authority tell you that you need prior approval, they may ask you to make changes to your proposal or provide extra information. If so, please do this." with no indication of when, how or what. The letter from the council just adds "This is in respect of the design, manner of construction or route of the private way due to the proximity of the proposed development to water and the likely presence of otters in the area." It's a not a refusal, that would have been clear, so do I wait, do I need to do anything else here?

You could potentially use a few collar ties in the upper third of the rafters rather than full trusses or rafter ties and still insulate between the rafters and get a vaulted look. That article you quote does clearly show that a tie is required though if using a ridge board:

The only thing that gets plastered in Shetland are the locals, every where I've been it's T&J plasterboard. Coming from down Sooth I've only ever seen that "drywall" done before on Yank YouTube videos before moving up here, hopefully that's as far as their methods go, nothing sets me off more than Yank window reveal treatments.

I can't compete with that line up, my only brushes with celebrity are that I designed a website for Eric Knowles, chatted to Paul Young often and used to work for one of Adam Ant's band members. Got to be a certain age to even begin to think who they are!

I've a mate who does set dressing for a production company that's done a few property shows. Renting is what happens, they rent a van, go down to one of the large prop companies, in Borehamwood I think he said, stock up with furniture and pot plants and then dress the house like it was a drama set, in wafts the presenter, pack it all up and return the next day.

Take a look at this post Historic Scotland has some good reading on this: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/publications/publication/?publicationId=179c1909-3679-4486-9583-a59100fa98c1 There is a guy called Peter Ward that has a Youtube channel (and a book) talking about damp in old stone houses. Tread with caution though, his views do not align with a number of companies in the damp proof industry who he vigorously slates and I do not have the technical ability to say who is right: https://www.youtube.com/@WarmDryHome

Wonder if that renovation 24 years ago was done with any sympathy to an old stone building with for example a water permeable lime mortar etc? There seems to be a rule: air tight + stone house = damp