PipM

I had a chap come over today to boroscope the walls of our mid 70’s house to see the state of any cavity wall insulation. He confirmed that we do have existing blown mineral fibre insulation but it’s quite patchy and at quite a low density (seems to tally with the boroscope images he showed me but what do I know). He’s quoted £1200 to top it up (roughly 80m2 at 65mm depth) Having done some research I’m none the wiser as whether to go ahead or not. Is it going to potentially cause problems ? Am I going to see any appreciable difference for my £1200 ? Any thoughts ? Thanks.

That tape is a silver duct tape type product. Below is a video. I’ll get it tested asap but now I’m paranoid as I’ve disturbed it a bit. Thoughts ? IMG_5037.mov

Hi, not sure what forum to put this in. I’m wanting to replace out loft insulation. We have the old original 1975 warm air ducting up there that I was going to just remove. It is wrapped in plastic and has a yellow fibreglass like insulation in it (see photos). Could this be asbestos ? The second photo shows a patch where the plastic sheet is torn and you can see the yellow insulation underneath. Any thoughts ?

Hi. Complete amateur/DIYer here. My 1970s brick built detached house is bloody freezing and costing a fortune in heating. We have attic floor insulation (although I’m sure it could be improved) but the interior of the roof has nothing and it’s bloody drafts up there (see pic). What would happen if I fitted some foam insulation/board and fibre glass between the rafters, leaving an air gap between the insulation and felting ? Is this a quick and cheap way to keep heat in or will I be doing more harm than good ? TIA

Hi The difference in price between a private building control inspector and the local authority guy for our extension project is a few hundred quid. Not a lot in the grand scheme of things but still. Is having a private company come out worth the extra spend ? Thanks.

Hi all Just after some second opinions please. We have been quoted £672 (£216 plan checking and £456 inspection) for Building Control for our 2 storey over garage extension, nothing fancy, all very straightforward. Is this figure roughly in the ball park of what you would expect ? Thanks Pip

Hi all I have just applied for planning permission for an over garage extension. There existing garage will be knocked down, new foundations dug and double story extension built creating 2 new rooms upstairs (bedroom, with ensuite and walk in wardrobe). I've never undertaken any project like this before so no doubt I'll be on here regularly looking for advice. I've attached the architects plans if anyone wants to comment on them. My back of the fag packet budget is £80k, though I hope to get some change from that. I'm reasonably handy so some things I'll look do do myself like bathroom installation, decorating etc but for the most part I'm going to get a contractor in to manage the build. I know this isn't the cheapest route but I don't have the experience or time to do it my self. One thing I could do with some advice on is the soil drainage for the new en-suite. It won't be practical to join on to the existing soil stack as it's on the other side of the house so we'll have to put in a new one, drop it down through the garage and out under the back patio to join the existing sewer. Any idea how much this would cost ? Lets say around 7 meters of drainage would need to be dug (under my brand new patio......d'oh !!) I'll also need to draw up a Party Wall Agreement with the neighbours. I'm assuming this is a few hundred ££ tops ? Any thoughts on my budget or any thing else I should consider ? Many thanks