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Before they serve an enforcement notice, the officer usually will want to come and visit. But to do that, they need to arrange access (and if they don't, put up some locked gates so that they can't get in without access). So go through the motions of arranging a date for a visit... as far in the future as you can possibly get away with. Then two days before the appointment, email the officer with some excuse to delay the appointment. Covid is your friend here. By delaying several times, you might be able to buy a couple of months.

Well technically that is correct, whether you heat the ground floor only or the other floors as well.

I think it depends on the cost of installing heating relative to the cost of the house. If it’sa £160k house, and is going to cost £4K to rip up the floor to install UfH and then another 2k to lay a new floor, that is significant and could result in a 6k reduction in the price offered. If it’s a £1.2M house, then 6k is neither here nor there. Also keep in mind that the estate agent and buyer might not think to ask. If they don’t ask you don’t need to disclose, caveat emptor and all that.

This is exactly the aim of the protocol.

@SimonD have you read the protocol?

A well written pre-action letter which complied with the protocol linked to above is intended to protect the writer’s position legally, whilst still trying to remedy the situation WITHOUT recourse to the courts. It’s all about toning the letter appropriately. You need to be firm, but fair. Stick to the facts and avoid emotive language. Explain what you think has gone wrong, give as much detail of the factual chronology, supported by documentary evidence and photos, as possible and explain what you want the reader to reasonably do to correct the position and by when. Just make sure you comply with the protocol, otherwise you won’t get the protections it affords. If you don’t comply with the protocol, and subsequently the matter ends up in court and it’s for a claim that is over the small claims threshold (which I think is £20k) but can’t remember, then legal costs can ramp up and failure to comply with the protocol can result in the court not awarding you a fair share of your legal costs, or worse still, paying the opponents’ legal costs. Of course, that doesn’t prevent you from writing an email that more or less complies with the protocol, and then if that didn’t resolve matters, writing a further one that does.

Well I’m minded to agree with you @PeterW, but there’s always the possibility somebody forks out for a Samuel Heath shower which would look stunning in any finish. Made in England, family company. But about £5k for a shower and all the parts!

I'm trying to decide whether to go for exposed or concealed shower valves and associated pipework. I've tried to list the pros and cons of each below. Welcome any thoughts/corrections: Concealed Pros More spacious showering area as pipes and valves within the wall Cleaner finish / more visual emphasis on the tiles Eliminate chance of burning yourself on hot pipe Concealed Cons If shower or parts need replacing/servicing, more work is required. At worst, might damage the tiling. Slightly tricker to fit? Exposed Pros Easier to fit Visually gives more emphasis to the shower (could be a con, depending on visual appearance of shower). Easier to replace/service Exposed cons Takes up space in showering area Could burn yourself on pipe

Agree 100% with this. Have a look at this which, assuming the property is in England and Wales, sets out the requirements for such a letter (section 7 in particular): https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol/prot_ced

@newhome do you mean more convenient in terms of the installation, or more convenient in tens of use? I thought that the unit itself didn’t need much attention once installed. An annual or biannual clean and filter replacement and that’s it, no?

I think if I’m sat on the toilet (fully clothed of course) I could look down and use my imagination to visualise if I’d fit. There really is not much of me down there to fit and I had never thought this would ever be an issue with toilets. I think I’ve just been traumatised by the very odd loo I’m having to use at the rental we are staying in whilst doing the building works.

@Bitpipe I'm thinking of installing an external motorised blind for a large rooflight - which company did you go with?

Very interesting read, thank you. How would one incorporate decrement delay insulation into the design of a loft conversion? Architect has just designed a standard loft conversion with not much thought to keeping it cool other than to say "install aircon". I rather not if I can avoid it, and prefer to use some wood fibre in the roof insulation (we have a very high roof, so easily space for some Pavatex wood fibre boards or equivalent product like Steico. I've ordered the windows for the loft (which are all west facing) to have solar control glass, so will mitigate some solar gain there, but would people recommend building up the walls with wood fibre as well. @ProDave you mentioned your walls were 100mm of wood fibre, plus Frametherm 35. Would that work in a loft conversion?

I had thought this wouldn't be valid service under the Party Wall Act as I thought best practice was to look up the owner on the land registry and address all notices to that owner, it not mattering if they are dead, as the probate process will sort that out. But to my surprise, you are right that this complies with section 15(2)(a) of the Party Wall Act: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/40/section/15

Very helpful @Onoff thank you. With the 98cm frame, is there any scope for changing the height of the flush plate by a couple of inches so that it it is a bit higher than the top of the toilet seat?

Yes, good point. Though that is a secondary issue for me as I haven't chosen wall tiles yet, so have no idea of sizes yet, and for a couple of the toilets, we are tiling with a mosaic sized tile so it won't matter either way. I want to get the mechanics of optimal flushing and comfortable position of the flush plate before worrying about tiles.

@Onoff On another thread I think you mentioned that you fitted this with a Geberit frame. Geberit make frames in three heights of 112 cm, 98 cm and 82 cm; which one did you go for? Apart from changing the location of the flush plate, will going for a taller frame result in the cistern being higher up such that the water it contains has more gravitational potential energy and therefore a stronger flush?

Been in the rental for about 3 months, which coincides with how long we've been building at my real home. Theoretically, the stress of the build could have aged me, but I noticed this issue with the toilet the day we moved in! You should never ask a lady her age. Didn't anybody tell you that @dangti6

You're just like me then. Excellent.

Although on further reflection, isn't the fact that it was an advert trying to sell air freshener enough to know that it's unlikely to be an accurate portrayal of the movement of air particles (which ironically is known as Brownian motion).

Thanks @Onoff, looks nice although the 485mm projection looks a little short - the ones I've been considering have a projection of at least 530. Why did you import from Germany? And was this before our "Independence Day" or after? If after, any issues at the border?

Quite possibly, but we're just lazy.

Sorry, another toilet question for @PeterW , @joe90 or anyone else with expertise in this area: We tend to leave the toilet seat lid up and only lower it when we want to sit on the lid to use it as a seat, not as a toilet. In our old place, this was fine, but in the rental where we are now leaving the lid up covers the flush plate. It’s a wall hung toilet, so presumably this is because it’s a small frame for the wall hung toilet and to install the flush plate higher up one needs a larger frame? If so, are all wall hung toilets compatible with both short and tall frames, or will the extra height of the cistern give the flush more gravitational potential energy which might be too much for some toilets to cope with, particularly if we go rimless, though following @PeterW’s comments above I’m wondering whether the rimless “technology” is just a gimmick.

We are installing a water softener for the showers and taps, but seemed a bit excessive to do that for the toilets as well. Wouldn’t we increase our salt costs?

So what are the pros and cons of rimless over rimmed?