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So I'm not sure I've done the right thing. We took humidity readings 6 days ago and I was surprised to see it was only 60% plus or minus 1% on each the three floors of the house, so pretty much target humidity, or maybe a few percentage points over. I went back later in the day, when they were painting and humidity had risen to 63%. So I left the dehumidifiers running for 6 days. Yesterday morning they were showing 39% to 41% and I slightly panicked as I thought this was too low. Given the machines are costing me quite a bit to hire I told my builder to send them back, thinking they would be returned in the next few days. But actually within a couple of hours the hire company had already come to pick them up. Today I checked again and the humidity has risen from the 41% recorded yesterday morning to about 49%. I'm wondering if I was a bit premature in returning the machines. Probably should have just switched them off for a few days to check. The oak flooring is being laid, so let's just hope it doesn't rise to higher than 56% or so over the next few days...

I really don’t think this would happen. You are far more likely to strengthen your position if you get on and build. If you do nothing, there is less prejudice involved in overturning the permission and si that becomes an easier thing for the court to order.

A freedom of information request could be counterproductive. You are not in dispute with the LA. You are in dispute with your neighbour. You don't want to gather documents from the LA which may assist your neighbour. If he wants to go to the trouble of getting information from the LA, then that's up to him, but strategically I would be minded to do nothing, other than: (i) consider whether to appeal this odd Order; and (ii) consider whether you should file an acknowledgement of service.

On costs, although the general principle is that the loser pays the winner's reasonable costs, the Court can depart from that rule and has a very a very wide discretion to take into account all of the circumstances of the case, including: The extent to which a party has been successful in the proceedings (Civil Procedure Rule 44.2(4)(b)) . Moreover, as i explain below, there is probably an important exception here to the general rule. The conduct of the parties, including any failure to follow the relevant Pre-Action Protocol and the pursuit or defence of issues that were unsustainable or should have been conceded (Civil Procedure Rule 44.2(4)(a) and (5)). The list of Pre-Action Protocols is here: https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol I think, but am not absolutely sure, that the relevant Pre-Action Protocol is likely to be the one for Judicial Review, though worth checking with a lawyer in this field. That can be found here: https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol/prot_jrv. Read through it and check if your neighbour has complied with it. It's likely he hasn't. You could scare him by pointing this out, although I'm not sure it will make all that much difference as I think there is an exception in judicial review proceedings which is that as an interested party, you are only entitled to your costs of filing an acknowledgement of service (paragraphs 7.4-7.5, PD 54A).

Thoughts on this:

I've just had another look at this, focusing on the legislative basis upon which the appeal is brought, which is section 288 of Town and Country Planning Act 1990. That is an incredibly narrow basis upon which to appeal. I have pasted it below: 288Proceedings for questioning the validity of other orders, decisions and directions. (1)If any person— (a)is aggrieved by any order to which this section applies and wishes to question the validity of that order on the grounds— (i)that the order is not within the powers of this Act, or (ii)that any of the relevant requirements have not been complied with in relation to that order; or (b)is aggrieved by any action on the part of the Secretary of State [F1or the Welsh Ministers] to which this section applies and wishes to question the validity of that action on the grounds— (i)that the action is not within the powers of this Act, or (ii)that any of the relevant requirements have not been complied with in relation to that action, he may make an application to the High Court under this section. I think there is virtually no chance he will win, but I don't know the facts. Maybe you bribed the Planning Authority. Or maybe you blackmailed them. Or maybe they were drunk.

yeah, it's porcelain. We have a large free standing bath going in, so was going to try and test some colourers on that area. Anyone recommend any brands?

Well according to the order you posted, he is "acting in person" which means he isn't incurring any fees (probably).

This Order looks weird to me. The CPR provision that has been quoted is this one: https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part08/practice-direction-8c-alternative-procedure-for-statutory-review-of-certain-planning-matters#Anchor4 Para 4.1 of that says the claim form just needs to be served on the relevant authority. So I agree with the bit of the order which says " the defendants are the minister of the appropriate government department and the authority directly concerned with the decision". I also agree with the bit that says there is no provision for "interested parties" to be joined. I do not agree with the conclusion that the correct defendant includes @oxo. I would be minded to appeal this order immediately, as being named a defendant in a matter that cannot be brought against you seems ultra vires the legislation. In the first instance you could make your application for permission to appeal by email to the Judge/Master that made this order. If that is rejected, you'd need to apply to the relevant appellate court.

Surely the appeal is not against @oxo. The "appeal" will be a judicial review of the Council's decision. So the appeal will be brought by Oxo's neighbour against the Council. Oxo won't have locus to make any intervention in the appeal and so shouldn't incur any costs.

I need a door restrictor for an internal timber door that is a solid core and so fairly heavy. I want to restrict the opening to about 100 degrees, though it would be good to be able to adjust this so that it opens exactly to the spot we want. This is to avoid the door hitting a toilet. Ideally I want something fairly discrete, but if it is seen it should be in brass. Alternatively, I would consider a set of hinges that does this for us, but not sure if they are as effective as a door restrictor.

Not sure what the position is specifically in respect of planning, but generally, on an appeal there is no automatic stay of execution pending the appeal. That means that as long as planning rules follow the same rule that applies to general judgments, the current planning permission that you have is perfectly valid even though it is (or might be) subject to appeal. If that rule applies, you should get on and build ASAP as unless your neighbour has applied for a stay of execution pending his appeal, then there is nothing stopping you from building. If your build is largely finished it will make any appeal largely academic as it would pretty much be insane for the appeal court to overturn the planning permission and force you to tear down your build. So the first thing to check is: Has a decision letter been issued granting you your planning application? If so, then the courts have held that the issue of a decision letter is the step required to grant you permission. (R v West Oxfordshire District Council ex parte Pearce Homes Ltd [1985]) Next thing to check is whether your neighbour has actually obtained a stay of execution. If so, you would know about it as it would need to be served on you. I think this is unlikely. I wouldn't ask him/her for it, as you don't want to encourage this. Next thing to check is whether there are any other rules that might affect this, or whether the position is as the case for normal court orders, which as I say is that there is no stay of execution. Crack on!

Pretty flagrant breach of s13 of the Consumer RIghts Act 2015 imo: 13 Goods to match a sample (1) This section applies to a contract to supply goods by reference to a sample of the goods that is seen or examined by the consumer before the contract is made. (2) Every contract to which this section applies is to be treated as including a term that— (a) the goods will match the sample except to the extent that any differences between the sample and the goods are brought to the consumer’s attention before the contract is made, and (b) the goods will be free from any defect that makes their quality unsatisfactory and that would not be apparent on a reasonable examination of the sample.

Yeah, it's just odd, because paint samples are identical to paint, so why can't grout samples be identical to grout. I agree with your plastic/metal thesis, but then why do manufacturers make sample sticks in plastic (e.g. BAL sticks sold by Topps Tiles). At least the mapei sample sticks appear to be made from the actual grout.

We've had some Mapei grout installed, chosen on the basis of a Mapei sample stick. It is at least two or three shades lighter than the sample stick and has somewhat diminished the look we were going for which was to try and match the colour of the floor tile as much as possible. Tiler swears he mixed it correctly. I found some reviews online from others who have experienced the same. Is this is a common phenomenon? It appears it might have something to do with using hard water to mix it with, instead of distilled water. A common solution that has been proposed is to use something referred to as a stain pen or a grout shield. Has anyone come across this? Does it work?

@hb1982 thanks so much!

@ProDave did you ever get around to installing a cooker hood, or do you continue to just rely on the MVHR?

Sorry, but I'm really confused. How does this help find leaks? How do you feel for leaks. Are you blowing air externally to try and create negative pressure internally and then walking around the house feeling all junctions with your hand to see if any cold air is being sucked in?

Mine hasn't been installed yet, but I doubt it will perform badly. It is the most expensive appliance I have bought for the kitchen and reviews incredibly well. It's also being installed well within the recommended distance from the hob. The only issue is whether it will unbalance my MVHR by extracting directly outside.

I googled belimo and found a bunch of actuators, but I confess I’m not sure how these work. How are they different to the product @dpmiller linked to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Klimapartner-100-line-Backdraught-Extractor/dp/B011INHF5A/ref=sr_1_14?dchild=1&keywords=passive+flap&qid=1627639391&rnid=1642204031&s=diy&sr=1-14 if I installed this Klimapartner I would solve the problem of keeping the external vent closed when not in use, but I wouldn’t solve the issue of having a way to bring air into the kitchen from outside to keep the air pressure in that room balanced. Is that What the belimo actuators could do? If so how do they work?

It is fairly airtight , although not to passive standard. We have installed Tecson Vana tape at every junction between walls and windows/doors as well as specifying zero trickle vents on all windows/doors. I’m interested in the automatic make-up air damper you mention. Does that open a vent to allow air in when you turn on the extractor? Link?

I too am considering venting my hob extractor outside. I know it isn’t the technically perfect thing to do with an MVHR system, but it avoids a lot of issues for me. Our Hob is right by an external wall. I’m wondering how @dpmiller, @woodman and @Conor got on with their installs. Do you all vent outwards even though you have MVHR?

This is very similar to my experience. Our “renovavation” started 14 months ago and is still not finished. With some luck and a fair wind, we might be finished in the next 8 weeks or so. I suspect there will be plenty of snagging so it won’t be “finished” till later this year. That will make the project the best part of a year and a half and I really do think it would have been much faster to knock down and start again. I’m not sure it would have been cheaper though. Presumably the insurance requirements of knocking down a semi detached house are much higher, as well as the costs of temporary props to support the adjacent house. And then there would be more costs involved in complying with regs for a new build. Of course, I would have ended up with a warmer house, so it pruebo would have been worth it.

I don’t think this will work. Take a look at the exterior of your old house. How will all of its architectural features, window reveals, soffits etc cope with 100mm build up of insulation externally. I wanted to do this but was strongly advised against it because you ruin the look of your old house.

Yeah, I’m not expecting much responsiveness on the ground floor, but on the upper floors the floor coverings are much thinner so should be fairly responsive. I have used quite thick pipes 16mm diameter, in the screed, so hope that will help a bit. On the ground floor, I suspect we will just run it from 3am to 7am and then from 3pm to 9pm. Until I live in it I won’t know, but one of the features of the Tado is the ability to monitor air temperature and humidity and graph it, so you have historic data capture to understand how the running time of the heating corresponds to the room temperature. After a few days, the Tado can use machine learning to work out when to call for heat to achieve your desired temperature at the times that are ore-programmed. It is a really Smart system that has other features that we will use apart from just the basic thermostat.