DundeeDancer

I've been using "Sweet Home 3D", it's free and very easy, very quick to use. I've created a 3D plan of my 3 bedroom apartment within 4 hours. Did think about using LibreCAD but after 10 minutes and not being able to draw a line I reverted back to Sweet Home.

I am at the design stage of renovating a 2nd floor, 3 bedroom apartment and I'm considering installing a water based underfloor heating system. Thinking a good option would be to take up the floating chipboard floor and take away the old radiators from the apartment. Then place down on top of the solid concrete floor, insulation boards the ones that have the pipe channels pre-cut. Seemingly this approach means the tiles can be applied directly on top of the insulation board with only a 5mm or so of tile adhesive layer. So the system is lightweight compared to other screed methods which normally need around 40mm of screed. Example links to a system I like the look of is given below:- http://www.theunderfloorheatingstore.com/insulation-boards/water/25mm-solid-floor-panels http://www.theunderfloorheatingstore.com/water-underfloor-heating/prowarm-water-heating-systems/prowarm-multiple-room-water-underfloor-heating-kit Wondering if anyone on the hub has experience of using similar products and what have their experiences been like? Have the systems been fairly easy to control the room temperature to a constant level? I stayed in a B&B with underfloor heating this February past and even though I set the room control to be -2 of the normal setting, which was 20c, the room still managed to rocket up to nearly 25c at midnight, wasn't easy trying to get to sleep! Has anyone used these lightweight systems in a very insulated building and has the system operated OK or does it have a tendency to overheat rooms? (I intend to make the apartment very energy efficient to near passive standards) Can these lightweight UFH systems be directly connected to a normal gas combi-boiler or was there a need to have a buffer hot water store? Thanks in advance for any advice. Best wishes, DD.

You've hit the nail on the head there! If the developers had angled the building 45 degrees clockwise then everyone would have got the nice view. Now the only properties that can get the view is my top flat and possible the one below me if we go to the trouble of installing an extra window. If only the developers had the vision in the first place.

In Scotland, there is no freehold and leasehold distinction. What you buy is 100% yours and you can say everything is ‘freehold’ in Scotland. So I don't need to worry about leasehold issues. The land where scaffold would go would be part of the developments shared garden, so that should be fine also.

The friendly solicitor who is no expert but wasn’t charging me for my little questions commented that the judgement would hang on “preservation of amenity” i.e. maintaining the beauty of the building, so that is going to come down to a person’s/judges opinion. So unless you’ve been down this path before it’s a hard one to call.

The “us” would have been Wimpey Homes Holdings Ltd but they don’t own anything on the development any more so they would not get involved now, so a friendly solicitor has advised me but he’s no expert in planning law. So the “us” would fall to the judge at the Lands Tribunal Court, I believe. There are 6 apartments in the block, 3 one side a stair in the middle and three the other side. The flat I own is top left and the flat directly below has given consent to proceed. It’s the ground floor flats that are objecting the strongest. From the point that it would affect the look of the building but it’s the side wall where I would like to install the new opening where all the overflow pipes and boiler exhausts come out, not the nicer front or back of the building. I’ve tried a couple of friendly letters explaining that the window will be of the exact dimensions of the one beside it and should make the building look more friendlier from that angle because some warm light will occasionally come from that bleak looking side of the building on dark nights. Also any issues with the new window will always be my responsibility. No luck though the objectors are not budging, so the options I seem to have are:- 1. Don’t install the new window and give up on the dream of a lovely new view. 2. Apply to the Lands Tribunal Court for a waiver of the title condition would cost me roughly £3,000 if using an experienced solicitor or I could try making a mess of it myself for £500. 3. Tell the objectors that I’m just going ahead with the window installation and my solicitor details are xxxx and if they strongly wish to object then they should seek interim interdict which would probably cost them in the region of £5,000 and let the high stake poker game begin. Although I would be a little upset if the objectors won and I had to put the wall back the way it was along with paying my court costs and there court costs so totalling £15,000 to £20,000 would be a little sore to lose! I’m starting to lean towards option 3 as what are the chances of people objecting that strongly to a bland window but the wife is leaning towards option 1 Thanks, DD.

We are trying to be adventurous and install a new window into the lounge of a apartment we own to give nice views out to the nearby hills. Our architect submitted plans to the planning department and it has been deemed as 'permitted development' on the certificate of lawfulness. We had concerns when it comes to the title deed document though, in clause 3 given below it seems to as we need consent for alterations from the conterminous proprietors. Therefore asked for consent from the co-owners of which there is 5 others in the block. The said houses shall be used solely as private dwellinghouses and for no other purpose whatsoever and none of the said houses shall ever in any way be subdivided or occupied by more than one family at a time and no additional buildings of any description shall be erected on said plots of ground without the written consent of us or our foresaids and (where necessary) of the Building Bye-Law and Planning Authorities and no alterations or additions shall be made on or to the buildings erected or to be erected without the written consent of conterminous proprietors and (where necessary) of the Building Bye-Law and Planning Authorities, but should the consent of the conterminous proprietors in our option be unreasonably withheld or delayed the proposed alteration or addition shall be considered by us whose decision shall be final and binding on the respective disponees; One owner gave written consent but 3 others refused consent on the grounds that the window would look odd in the position desired and suggested we just shouldn't bother. In my opinion and the opinion of the planners who have seen the designs the window would look fine where it is, it's the same size and level as the kitchen window which will be 10 feet away. So I still want to put the new window in but a little worried that if I don't have the consent of the other owners they might start legal proceedings against us but with legal fees what they are they would they raise proceedings against us to stop or reverse the installation the new window? And even if if they tried, as I have already gained "Permitted Development" status for the plans, would the other owners really have a legal case? I'm thinking on contacting a law firm but the initial consultation is estimated to cost £600, so thought I'd see what people here had to say first. Many thanks DD.