Alan Ambrose

What kind of construction is it presently? The first person I would look for is an SE with barn experience, especially if some of the structure is dodgy. Then figure out how you add your required amount of insulation to the frame re roof, walls, floor. We have a barn conversion atm and love it.

The OP, I think, is talking about Bedec Barn Paint (the brand) rather than generic ‘barn paint’ - which is any old paint you paint a barn with 😀 I guess.

You may be able to see on google street view (the dated images) when they were removed. Also you might be able to gauge the size/age of tree from the stump diameter. I have a couple to go also, and I think it’ll take a sizeable digger to remove them.

We used black Barn Paint on our barn conversion (on the softwood cladding) a year or so ago. I think the cladding was still in its ‘straight from factory’ finish. I tested a few paints on patches to see how I liked them beforehand - including Osmo and others. I liked Barn Paint the best. It”s nicely thick, like cream, and covers very well and v easy to brush. One of the others I tried (the Osmo I think) was stupidly thin and didn’t cover. I also used the black on the outside of a bought in softwood log cabin, with white Barn Paint on the softwood window frames. No prep, two coats on bare wood - I can’t remember whether we did the 1st coat as watered down ‘primer coat’. Actually the first coat was a thin clear preserver, I’ll check which one as I have the half used cans. I used the black more recently on some hardwood door cills which were about 5 years old and had been baking in the sun (again in their original coating which was clear) with good prep including proper sanding and filling of the weathered surface. One coat, didn’t prime. That is not so good now, with some flaking and I’ll have to do them again in the next week or so. Whether that’s due to the fact that the hardwood is less absorbent, the wood is more oily, the barn paint didn’t like the original finish although it was well prepped, or movement in the wood itself in the sun - I’m not sure. I don’t have any idea whether it’s good on metal. Suggest apply a bit and see how it feels.

Sorry, finger trouble - added the rest in an edit.

@garrymartin @Indy Just to add - my two parallel appeals had final comments in March too (actually 19th). For anyone reading along - the current appeal stats are here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/appeals-average-timescales-for-arranging-inquiries-and-hearings The stats are misleadingly quoted and refer to the Validation date to Decision date. My Submissions from Submission date to Validation date took 10 & 12 weeks and a neighbour's 15 weeks! So, the quoted timescales need 10-15 weeks added to them. There's clearly some stats management going on by the inspectorate using the validation delay to massage the data - which should be outlawed so that real stats are reported. A letter to our MPs when they all get back to work? The validation process was nonsense and I sent back some drawings with the 'missing items' noted in bold red text and some 'missing drawings' with just a page reference to the required drawings in the already submitted file. Hopefully there will be a number of pleased BH members soon...

Well welcome, put up an couple of photos of your plot just to make us envious . What kind of construction?

Yeah I would like a Suffolk GE recommendation too if you don’t mind.

Do you have the option of submitting another qs number from an independent third party? I guess the mortgage co are just trying to do a sanity check, and your special circumstances make you look ‘different’. And institutions find it hard to do ‘different’.

It will be if we ever get PP .

Present place is in Witnesham IP6, plot is North Green, IP17.

What bit of Suffolk are you in? @G and J , @LSB and me are all in the area. I know one other couple doing a barn conversion also.

Yeah should be zero or thereabouts assuming there’s no dwelling there already. Presently agricultural or residential curtilage? Can’t remember whether it makes any difference though. There are so few land sales that most solicitors don’t know the right sdlt treatment. Also they should be doing the appropriate searches and inquiries for land sales (more comprehensive) not residential. Double check that they’ve covered access, visibility splays, all utilities, drainage, contamination, flood risk, CIL, nearness to aonb, article 4 etc etc etc. This has PP now? For something you want to build?

Yeah I think there’s a bunch of responsibility to be pushed back on the seller. If they can’t be arsed to sort out a warranty such that prospective buyers can get mortgages, then they’ll need to accept some of the cost. Suggest v delicate negotiating describing how hard you’re trying to make the situation work and the potential costs to you (and later buyers for the next 7 years) of the sellers not providing a warranty. An easy calc would be 2% premium you’re seeing x 5 years (say) x your mortgage principal.

Welcome. That sounds an interesting problem - the ‘everyone should use heat pumps’ brigade seem to have ignored some common use cases e.g. not having much outside space.

An easy way to estimate the u-value fairly accurately is to use the thickness of insulation only and ignore the rest of the stack-up. That’s one number. The other bits often won’t contribute much and will mostly net out with the inevitable thermal bridges. By all means when you’re getting close to knowing the full wall/roof build up put in ubakhus or similar. Until then I wouldn’t waste my time.

If you must bodge, then maybe some pointed posts knocked in at 45 degrees in the plane of the fence and bolted to the existing posts. Shouldn’t look too ugly if you attend to the detail. But I’m with @ProDave - consider a full replacement, hedge clip the brambles so you can get at the other side, use best quality matetials and think about the ‘rot at base of post problem’. All so it lasts 30 years this time.

Ask politely for a pointer to which reg this is ‘so you can be sure you’re following the regs exactly’?

We have our fridge/freezer in a kitchen unit type cupboard. Think that’s fairly standard. It has vents at the bottom, maybe at the top - I don’t remember looking This kind of thing: https://www.diy-kitchens.com/kitchen-units/appliance-housings/integrated-fridge-freezer/

Would a telehandler solve your lifting problem? Also, I believe that DNOs (UKPN?) will put up temporary protection to guard against a risk building near/under an overhead line.

What they mean - like a lot of insurers - (guess what) is that they would rather not fulfil their contract with you by paying out on their legal service. Yes, you don’t have a financial loss yet, but you have (fairly deliberate) property damage to the value of whatever you are quoted to put the job right. Part of your argument is that it will be cheaper to fix the problem now than fix the problem later along with the cost of the inevitable water damage. Supposing someone had carelessly backed into your car. Yeah, you don’t have any financial loss. Duh, well except for the cost of fixing the damage.

I think that’s really a misunderstanding by your LPA. In practice, will you light those areas at night in an objectionable way? Send them a detail spec of a unit (maybe with a drawing showing the lighting) and ask them whether that will meet their requirement? Otherwise external blinds are fairly easy, but since the LPA can’t insist you use them, a bit of a waste of time.

Or push another mortgage broker or two - some can’t be bothered, some actually have some proper relationships with the more specialised lenders. The whole indemnity thing is getting silly IMO - no surprise that the lenders are happy to spend other people’s money to cover their own arses.

Little difference to theoretical u-value as it’s assumed that the cavity between the cladding and SIP is ventilated at outside temperature. Try ubakus.de if you want to play around with different set-ups. Some cladding suppliers recommend 50 rather than 25mm to get max ventilation, but I’ve always read this as ‘would be nice’ and probably depends a lot on your local environment (wind, rain etc) a lot. W coast of Scotland, probably 50mm, some sheltered place in Suffolk, probably 25mm. Of course, horizontal cladding will save you 25mm too.

Maybe the SE if there was one.