dangti6

My garage is 7.7 metres wide which would comfortably store 2 cars but not leave much room for workshop activities to the side. Go as large as you can would be my advice. What size and type of door(s) are you considering?

Do you have the sewerage plans from when you purchased the property? There's a chance the water company won't have it marked on their plans, but worth enquiring.

To quote the planning portal: 'The authority should be able to give you an idea about the likely timetable. If it cannot decide your application within eight weeks, it should obtain your written consent to extend the period. If it has not done so, you can appeal to the Secretary of State. But appeals can take several months to decide and it may be quicker to reach agreement with the LPA. You can find out more about the appeals process in the planning section of the portal website.' I would respond to his email to confirm receipt and follow on to ask what current timescale they are working to.

Goes without saying I guess, but ensure there's nothing in the photographs that can be referenced against you. Perhaps a tree that you intend to cut down for example. I fell in to that trap with some shrubs that have to be retained as a condition, and photographs I sent were added to the application showing said shrubs.

Mental isn't it. The following figures are from last year and may have changed slightly, but a friend of mine in Portsmouth was paying £0.729 per cubic metre Vs £2.0058 charged by Wessex Water. I compared that to Sussex where it was about £1.50 a cube. Brings back memories of when I was scouring local authority websites comparing my annual green bin charge. Lockdown boredom has a lot to answer for ?

It sounds like your invoice is coming out at 18% over the original quotation - worth clarifying before you present your figures so it's clear from the offset.

Is the wall 90 degrees from the other end, towards the right square from it?

You're right. They can either approve or decline. Worth a shot. Those online business card and letterhead visualisers where you pop your info in and it shows you what they would look like are bloody useful aren't they ?

I was in a similar boat. (although the planning officer did get in touch after about 6 weeks to say having now had the opportunity to view the site they had concerns with regards to the size of my proposed extension. Considered excessive in relation to the main dwelinghouse and should be reduced. 'I would be grateful to receive amended plans, showing a reduction in size'. There was no mention of how much exactly I was pushing my luck so I phoned up and essentially said the size is as I see apropriate to be worth doing, and reduction was not an option so would appeal if required) Heard nothing further and on the date of the 8th week I phoned up to say I was expecting a decision by today. They sent me a form to sign straight away to accept an extension (week or 2 weeks from memory) which I signed and the next day I received approval. The above was during covid. If I was in your shoes based on my experience above, I would wait until the 8 week mark and chase it although it may well be on their radar. I understand they have some breathing room if they don't validate the application, but if it's on the portal and the 30 day consultation period has passed then that shouldn't be the case.

Is your application live on the planning portal?

I have a TP self build account which allows access to Benchmarx, but Wickes within the same group requires 2 forms of ID to sign up annoyingly. Short of fabricating a business card and letterhead, I'm not eligible.

Thanks Ali. Initially the lipping idea does put me off, plus I personally dislike the appearance of those plywood faced doors. If I sourced a nice looking bespoke 800mm wide door, I'm unsure if my existing frame would be suitable without certification. This leans me towards going for an off the shelf 838mm door and frame Like this. Sill/threshold wise I assume I can reuse existing or replace with similar.

More head in the sand time has passed and once again I have started to look at my options for replacing this door. The existing door is 800mm wide, 1981mm tall and 45mm thick. I understand the common 'standard' size of a door size is 1981 x 762 and the next size up appears to be 1981 x 838 Even if it was possible to adapt and reuse the existing frame, which I am now since starting to doubt being possible - 38mm of width is a lot to take off an 838mm wide door. At 19mm a side that's beyond the limits of what I have seen unless I find a solid door which is probably price prohibitive. 813mm wide doors exist, but these are 2040mm tall and the same problem then moves to the material removable from the top and bottom of the door. 1981 x 813 is what I really need, but that doesn't appear to exist from what I can see. Bespoke sizes are probably mental money unless anyone knows differently. I believe my options to be as follows: 1) Buy a 762mm wide door which will be 38mm narrower than existing. Replace the frame and pack the frame out 19mm either side of my existing opening. Initial concern would be the internal decoration. Unless I used some much wider architrave to cover my sins, I would have to fill and patch the surround of the existing void. Not ideal and would rather avoid. 2) Buy an 838mm wide door. As I'd be cutting down either side I'd need to tidy up the inside and renew the architrave but there would be no void to fill. 3) Keep trawling websites in the hope I can find a reasonably priced 838mm door that will allow ~19mm from either side to be taken off. If I do find one, can I reuse my frame or if I have to replace it, am I going to have a problem with adapting a frame to an opening of 800mm wide. What would you do?

Block on flat?

They said the scalpings are a poorer grade containing clay depending where it comes from. Did say that some do cheekily class 40mm scalpings as type 1 when it's not strictly the case, having to meet a certain standard etc. In the end they managed to get me some 'type 1' for tomorrow and there was only about a quid between the two types.

Was in Wickes at the weekend and noticed that CLS was £5.50 a length. I begrudgingly paid £2.74 tail end of last year. Loft boards - £17 a pack!

Merchant currently has no bulk bags of 40mm Type 1 MOT available for delivery, but does have 20mm scalpings. Intended use - sub base for a pedestrian path which will be laid to slabs. Be 'reet won't it? ?

If you're going over it again, a top coat rolled over will cover those smooth sanded areas and blend in fine.

What pile is your roller? Might be too deep.

This is a job I’ve been putting off, but it’s one of the very last things I need to sort for sign off. I have an integral door ‘down’ in to my garage which is an old external door. To meet regs it needs to be changed for a 30 minute fire door. As it steps down in, the exterior door frame with the sill is of benefit as it offers a threshold. In an ideal world I would like to be able switch the door and retain the frame to save interior decoration. Therefore is it possible to adapt an exterior frame to take intumescent strips? There is a rebate already for a weather seal but it’s at the edge - would that rebate take a strip and meet the regs? If not is it possible to add the strips to the door itself like in commercial applications - unsure whether the door thickness in such application and frame differ to the 44mm I’d be looking at. The weather strip rebate I mention shown below

Internally I filled mine with type 1 as I was doing the sub base. Externally it became the dumping ground for left over cement initially and then type 1 whilst I was laying the sub base for a path around the building

Did the officer state they didn’t attend site or is that an assumption because they didn’t approach you? They could have seen the site from where your photographs are taken.

I enjoy HUTH. Particularly when an agent says it's been decorated to a decent standard and the camera man zooms in on the light switch which was cut in by someone using a broom. I agree though, when I see a 100 sqm block paved driveway, full replacement render and decoration throughout with kitchen and bathroom and it's cost them just several thousand and they have done none of the work themselves, my teeth start to itch. Do aspire to be on there one day though.

Overheads. There is a very very old school electrical shop near me. Chap sits in there all day every day in the dark and I never see anyone in there, yet they must sell enough in order to keep afloat. The sad reality is, he would probably be better off locking the front door and racking the place out top to bottom and moving online. Although I must state that selling online can be very much a race to the bottom. A mix of both is nice. I bought some LED lighting panels online at the best price I could find and the website was an electrical wholesaler up north. When the delivery date was missed I spoke to a very well sounding older gent from what sounded like the shop counter which was refreshing rather than a call centre. Canny guy too as the order was drop shipped direct from the manufacturer Eterna so just shows how businesses can be operated so differently today. Which will last the longest...

Wish I’d got in to a trade. It’s the opportunity to earn that appeals to me as well as reaping what you sow a lot easier than earning your employer a better living. Never too late I suppose, just a lot harder to be able to afford to live on a starting salary whilst learning when you have more outgoings than a youngster.