markc

Good morning and welcome, if the wife doesn’t like your plans something has to change …. 🤔

Just read the title - didn’t see the sills, cills and reveals bit… *read the question before answering* and stop just looking at the pictures 🙈

I agree with @twice round the block I can’t see any weather/water break between the paving and the building. Any water can be blown up the slope and directly against the build/render. Not even a break at the door

You need an engineer, bay window one end and French doors the other end, good chance the plywood is for wind bracing and can’t just be removed.

@Coral_M your planned method is pretty good, you will probably find the bricks come out pretty easily so be careful at the sides as you don’t want to disturb the bricks you are keeping. When it comes to the last ones on the vertical, if you wiggle them a bit you should find they will come out without too much trouble, you can then finish the bond (half brick) by cutting or breaking a brick or using a full one turned 90 degrees if the spacing allows. This is a good project for a novice so have fun and feel free to ask questions

Hi, I can’t see any problem at all taking out where the ivy is, bottom left of pick looks like a low buttress so better to leave this bit. If you are looking to wall either side of the steps even better as these wing walls will assist the existing walls if tied in.

Hi, at 1m ish height difference you should not have any problems unless you are taking out butresses. Post a pic if you can.

Hi and welcome, as above - gutted properties make life so much easier

Either water damage or as we found in my wife’s house that a gap had been left in the underlay and walking on the unsupported bit caused the top to delaminate above the tongue/groove joint.

Not ideal but the connections can stand some misalignment, and if it’s not broken - don’t fix it! having said that, while you can see what’s going on, flush a couple of times to make sure the conns are not leaking. as for the knocking noise, this could be the float/fill valve getting a bit tired or catching on something and going with a jolt.

Oh Sh1t, that’s tight, def no easy solution

With these you just have to leave a bigger gap at the latch side or taper door inwards to clear during opening and closing because the pivot point stand off causes the door to move in an arc rather than pivot at the door face. Hope that makes sense.

Skirting with a taper planed into it so the door just clears

Arb surveyors like to put something down, more for ar#e covering. Dead wooding and crown reduction are the usuals ones in case anything falls off and hits someone, pruning is less often used but could be to improve access or sight lines etc.

@JORDANF97 tiles are quite unforgiving (unlike block paving, stone or concrete slabs etc.) any movement in the base will be reflected in the tile joints, a mate of mine has put porcelain tiles down and as the clay shrinks and swells the tile joints go uneven and create trip hazards - he laid on a well compacted hardcore plus mortar bed but it moves. unless you know your ground is very stable then a concrete slab would be best and then lay the tiles similar to indoor floor tiles. your build up could then be 75-100mm of well compacted hardcore (type1 or crushed concrete/brick) topped with 75-100mm concrete - no need for a sand blinding or DPM as its outside anyway. Tiles laid on adhesive as advised by tile manufacturer. working on your 3mx10m - 30sqm area hardcore - 30m @ 100mm thk is 3cubic metres or approx 5.7t concrete - 30m @ 75mm thick is just under 2.5 cubic metres (6t approx) or 3 cube at 100mm thick

What are you looking to lay as the patio, paving blocks? Slabs? Or tiles etc. this will determine the build up.

Work out volume of each material needed in cubic metres and multiply by mass - available online but roughly hardcore, 1900kgs/cubic meter sand, dry - 1600kg or 1900kgs wet cement - 1500 kgs or concrete around 2400 wet

Regardless of how they were before, you have had work done and it’s not right. Get them back.

Building regs is about details not how something looks. BCO wants to see that the regs will be adhered to, taking a wall out? - SE calcs, fire escape? - Position, size, rating etc. Stairs? - Width, angle, rise, going, handrails, etc. foundations? - geo survey, trial pits, depth, concrete spec etc. Plus insulation, electrics etc etc etc. So building regs isn’t about drawings (sections through help) and all about the details.

Another option (used many times on old walls or dot and dab etc.). Make a big hole, fill with plaster with a bit of cement added - goes off quickly and rock hard. Drill and fix into this.

When you look the tiles are almost horizontal so water will be blown up and user the top of tiles quite easily. As for the fixing I would fix fix OSB, insulation and OSB as one fix and then the sheets as a separate fix

Hi, not much experience of garden lighting but when it comes to 12/24v lighting used outside on heavy equipment I can say that names and price tags mean nothing. Red and white marker lights for example, think the ‘branded’ version are around £28ea and are garbage while the £4.50 made in China but bought from Poland are 100x better. Definitely worth trying a few depending on specific design or colour requirements etc.

Think I married her 😷

As this is an inverter supply, not a DNO head, I can’t see anything wrong with just breaking the single inverter supply. A DP switch would be “nicer” straight after the SP breaker but can’t really see it makes much difference in an off grid situation.

I never thought about cork, but looking at it again I reckon @Alan Ambrose is right. If you squash a piece does it spring back to shape? If so then yes it must be cork, the white stuff will probably be a mould growing on it.