Alan Ambrose

This needs replacing. Curiously is doesn't appear to use a thermistor for floor temperature sensing. Anyone seen that before - I haven't? The floor must be self-regulating temperature-wise?

>>> If you submitted an application through the Planning Portal and all required particulars were provided along with the correct fee then the council has to deem the validation date as the date they receive the application, not a date 1 or 2 weeks later when they have processed and registered the application. Is that an actual rule defined somewhere or a convention which might vary between LPAs? I just received this nonsense: Unfortunately your application is incomplete and cannot be registered as a valid planning application. To complete the application, please submit the following: 1) Please can you confirm you are happy with the change in description, from:- Change of dwelling design for xxxxxx and yyyyy- single storey design. Resubmission of zzzzz following Inspector's material approval of both the design and impact on the LB. This is a self build. to:- Construction of 1 no. single storey dwelling (revised design) There are some rules somewhere re application titles? On related subjects: Do LPAs generally receive all the docs from the Planning Portal and load them onto their own systems, or are they using a direct view onto the Portal's database? I see LPA's have similar but not identical web interfaces for applicants and local residents? Are they generally using one or two standard systems, have written them in-house, or or a view onto the Portal's database? And, do applicant's generally use the Portal's 'amend application' functionality or just send new docs to the LPA directly? BTW I see "TerraQuest Solutions Limited" run the Portal. It produced a £5.6m profit in its last accounts and is owned by "Mason Bidco Limited" which is owned by "MASON MIDCO LIMITED" that is owned by "Mason Holdco Limited" that is owned by "Mason Topco Limited" which has "0 active persons with significant control". These guys seem to regularly pop up all along the way: https://apsecapital.com/#team

Well who knows. As I said, I guess small numbers of data points don't make a stat. My neighbour's v. straightforward and unopposed application took 53 weeks. Perhaps it's related to the case officer, situation (these are in a small hamlet) etc. Or just random. I guess, given the measuring stat's focus on 8 weeks, there's an LPA incentive to either get it done by then, or ... don't worry how long it takes, as they've missed the stat anyway. I guess there's a little additional incentive to get it done by (I think) 26 weeks, as that's when the refund kicks in.

>>> More buying advice available if you want. Yes please. Do you have a go to manufacturer? It's not easy to tell which are good quality onlne.

Yeah, I'm not a great fan of AI instead of human input. I think it's going to turn a lot of stuff (with some focused knowledge domain problems as an exception) into sometimes-hallucinating mush. >>> the council has to deem the validation date as the date they receive the application Thanks, I didn't know that. Is it possible the LPA raises some dumb validation queries e.g. 'there isn't a red line denoting the boundary' - 'here it is - see under the big red circle with the big red arrow pointing to it' (I've had that before) - and count from there? I'm suspicious as my LPA is in the bottom 20 nationwide i.e. a few points off 'special measures'. They might then have a strong incentive to manipulate their stats. I believe the inspectorate OTOH does mislead with their stats - 3 standard appeals I've tracked (2 mine, 1 my neighbour's) took 4 months before they reached 'validation'. If you read the small print, you'll see the inspectorate calculate their .gov stats from 'validation' until decision. Of course, 3 data points don't make a statistic - you would need an analysis of all or most of the inspectorate's data.

Yes, but the question is how long the LPA leaves it in limbo, with the clock ‘not ticking’.

Actually, you might check it out on hardwood yourself - thinking about it, I painted some oak dowels black and they’re flaking a bit. The softwood is good tho.

I have direct experience of the planning inspectorate using very long 'validation' timescales e.g. 4 months. I suspect this is to manipulate the .gov stats. Is anybody having difficulties in the time for applications moving from the 'planning portal' to LPA systems? I have one at 1.5 weeks so far.

I think you'll need a sum put aside by the vendor (or knocked off the price) for the two issues. Or delay until the vendor has fixed both. >>> Does anybody know how much water there could be between zero bar and 1 bar in a 4 bedroom central heating system? Water isn't compressible much: ... 4×10−5 per unit atmospheric pressure i.e. bar. So if your heating system has say 8 off 10l radiators, then that's 80 x 4 x 10^-5 x 1 ~= 3ml i.e. a small teaspoon worth. i.e. quite a small leak, say one that you might see dripping v slowly or detect slight wetness on a pipe. I might go around checking all the valves, pipes, bleed nipples and see whether any are at all damp. Of course, if the water is hot, it'll evaporate reasonably fast. If you like, you could get a plumber to pressure test the system in sections until they find the culprit.

An old mate of mine designed radio & TV studios most of his working life. He said - 'there's no substitute for mass'. I'm thinking sand... I might also check out the sound booths that wind instrument players can practice in.

Bedec black barn paint. Like painting with yogurt. On softwood if you like (can come ready with basic stain/paint from factory) or hardwood if you want longer life (the wood, not you unfortunately). Then there's a bunch of grilled wood options - search the forum.

>>> I feel strongly about the Grenfell situation Yeah agree, Peter Apps's book is good btw. I'm not convinced that the CDM regs will stop Grenfell-style shenanigans though.

@DevilDamo - so does that mean GL (a)?

Yeah, agree with that.

Besides the window detailing, which are the other areas which are not resolved to your satisfaction?

I don’t know what area or price range you’re looking in, but I’m finding (based on a small number of data points) crazy money slopping around in the capital, lazy agents and mediocre properties at high prices. There is a real sense that agents can get anything sold in a week. Buyers are often prepared to put down big cash quickly without knowing the most basic information about the property they’re buying. Not that you can’t make your economics work, but you’ll need to be both clever and careful.

Haven't used it yet, but I believe there’s a specific high strength grout for filling smallish gaps below RSJs. Maybe this kind of thing: https://www.sealantsandtoolsdirect.co.uk/sika-sikagrout-111-gp-flowable-anchoring-bedding-grout-compound-527763?language=en-gb&currency=GBP&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADx-2OKUoquVV-r9mmQBVO6w7J6RI&gclid=EAIaIQobChMInuTWivy6iQMVy4dQBh0brCu2EAQYASABEgK5zPD_BwE

As they’ve done quite a neat job so far, yes I would be around and be prepared to interfere - but I wonder whether they’re just going to insert some new posts without disturbing anything. Is that possible?

Did you decide your new route yet? I imagine that the remaining private BC companies are incentivised to find the least painful route for your transfer to them.

>>> those new uv mats google says: greatly enhances play in the dark ooo, errr?

>>> I don’t think it does….. <<< OK take this real life example - not a million miles from what I want to do. Imagine an extension with ridge and eaves as below. Question is, am I measuring the 'ground level' as GL (a) or GL (b)? The difference is about 3 bricks i.e. ~0.25m / a foot. No so much, but by the time we get some decent insulation in, we would like to get the max height we can.

Ah that muddies the water … that implies something more subtle - not the highest ground around the building, but the highest ground next to the building where you’re putting whatever you’re planning to put there Seems to me that contradicts the eaves diagram, although I can see why. I’ll do a bit more careful measuring up.

OK. We're not on much of a slope - but there's 80cm between one end and the other.

Ah interesting, did his view stand up? I think I have mostly convinced myself that it should be the highest bit of ground near the house. From here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d77afc8e5274a27cdb2c9e9/190910_Tech_Guide_for_publishing.pdf “Height” - references to height (for example, the heights of the eaves on a house extension) is the height measured from ground level. (Note, ground level is the surface of the ground immediately adjacent to the building in question, and would not include any addition laid on top of the ground such as decking. Where ground level is not uniform (for example if the ground is sloping), then the ground level is the highest part of the surface of the ground next to the building.) And:

>>> yes 8 homes & 7 retaining walls. Then maybe some of the neighbours have decided this issuse before?