Alan Ambrose

It could just be that they've got other things on their mind and your building work isn't exactly top of their agenda. Suggest you politely corner them and see if you can find out what's going on.

>>> we have a series of 3 boxes for emergency access, all hidden. The first one gives a hint to the 2nd one etc. You need to know us to be able to understand the hints. <<< If it was me, I would forget the answer after box 1.

>>> heat miser on the Ufh ... you can switch it back on your phone. You can do that with Heatmiser also if you have the hub thingy.

>>> My plan is that the lockbox will be the final “envelope” in a series of envelopes. Some of which are lockable, others are hidden. Presumably razor wire and machine gun guard posts are the 1st line?

I have been doing a little research on appeals. Let me note some data here, for anyone else on BH to find: Overall national averages for speed of LPA appeal decisions. We're looking at the 1st category "Planning appeals by written representations" - so around 27 weeks atm. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/performance-update-july-2023 LPA performance at appeal. % appeals 'allowed' (i.e. appellant won / LPA lost) by LPA district. We're looking at s78 appeals here. Quite a big range. Note that anything over 10% is considered ripe for 'special measures'. https://appealfinder.co.uk/Local-planning-authority-success-rates.p19.html Named inspector performance at appeal. i.e. what % does each inspector allow. A big range here also. https://appealfinder.co.uk/planning_inspectorate_appeals_search.p15.html Central Government limits for 'special measures'. The limits for when an LPA goes into 'special measures'. We're looking at 'non-major' developments here. The current limits are <70% LPA decisions completed within 8 weeks (or agreed time). And/or >10% decisions overturned on appeal. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1112048/Improving_planning_performance_2022_WEB.pdf

Looks like you're getting the hang of it then . Or maybe the LPA has figured that you were not going to give up...

>>> Been to A&E several time after doing a quick job and getting stuff in my eyes. I find angle grinders to be scary enough that I usually wear a full face shield. My concern is thin disks shattering. This kind of thing: https://www.screwfix.com/p/site-face-shield-clear/6540D?kpid=6540D&cm_mmc=Google-_-Datafeed-_-Safety and Workwear Fairly comfortable.

Yeah, saw that - was quite impressed with their enthusiasm. Also, a kind of low tech build that didn't need much in the way of special skills.

OK so, that sounds a bit like a 50/50 split. Oh to live in a place that takes 8 weeks. The longest here that I've seen (and I have not been looking much) is 54 weeks for something very ordinary and bound to get PP.

Coming back to this - perhaps you need some specific support for the cylinder as the joists will do about 125 Kg/m^2 and the cylinder weight will be concentrated on say a m^2, assuming it sits, say, on a m^2 bit of thick ply. I've recently twigged that there is a bit of fire risk with PV inverters, and a bit extra with batteries - so that and the weight of the (future) batteries may need to be considered too.

Yeah, if it doesn't have any power, probably not. Would help to know where the connections go...

Some kind of zone diverter valve maybe? Like: https://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-27901sx-3-port-motorised-valve-22mm-22mm-compression/7091G

>>> Which flavour of Rockwool? Prawn cocktail for me.

It seem to be a policy at my LPA. I'm interested in other's experience and other LPA's. Tia, Alan

Hmmm, I wonder what this might imply besides the need to fix it? + did some odd load, a tree perhaps, hit the roof, is there other damage? + if not, is the roof built so weakly that it's falling apart? + did their SE, if there was one, make a mistake? + maybe there wasn't an SE, just a builder who made some not very good guesses? In any event, I think you need to ask the seller for a full report by a respected SE, with costings to repair. Also, to take a full look at the house to see whether there's anything else serious there. Alternatively, you could just walk.

I was just looking at the density of topsoil yesterday - a glamorous life eh? It's about 1.4T / m^3. Google says a sedum roof should have 70-200mm of topsoil - so 1.4 * 7% = 100 Kg / m^2 and 1.4 * 20% = 280 Kg / m^2. So, yeah - 100-280 Kg per m^2. Putting it another way, 120 Kg per m^2 is about 85mm of topsoil. My present roof (pitched tile) presents a load of ~1.6 Kn/m^2 i.e. ~160Kg/m^2. I appreciate yours is flat and probably more lightweight construction - tiles are heavy (I see they're about 1/3rd of the loading). So yeah, an extra 120Kg/m^2 sounds like it would make a sizeable difference.

https://www.engadget.com/scientists-strengthen-concrete-by-30-percent-with-used-coffee-grounds-221643441.html That should save some money then

>>> Tea, medals. Nice idea re the medals - you have campaign ribbons and all? I just finished 70 m^2 of ecogrid 30 for pedestrian use. Fairly pleased although it's not cheap. The company that sells it was dodgy over delivery though. Paid for 'next day' and it turned up on day 3/4 (I forget). Asked them to sort less than 7.5T truck as we live on a narrow lane. Arrived in a van after the truck decided he couldn't be bothered (we get 7.5s regularly). Had to unload an entire van full by hand rather than with a hiab. A kind of couldn't-be-ar5ed attitude.

>>> Does vaulted mean following the roof pitch (like a tent) right? Yeah.

I wonder whether the XPS will go down exactly flat - I'm not sure I think it will. Maybe a thin layer of ply to bridge point loads and smooth? I have something like that in my workshop - actually 'horizontal timber framing' with insulation between and ply over. Can't remember how I came up with that - probably to support the edges of the ply sheets. I was expecting some fairly heavy localised loads for machine tools. Be aware that 'self-leveller' doesn't - it needs some skilled help. Apologies if you already know this.

As if it wasn't hard enough to get all this stuff moving. You have our sympathies. Sometimes par for the course it seems. Maybe a polite round robin letter to the local neighbours informing them of progress etc but also mentioning the damage and asking them to contact you directly if they have any problems. There's nothing like bright light to make little buggy things crawl back under their stone. I have one neighbour who's already tried a couple of tricks and we have not even finished planning yet.

Wow: "Made of high-quality, satin-finish real glass" !!! I quite like the idea of the sensors and monitoring but I'm hoping to find a solution at a fraction of the cost. We stayed in a place recently with fancy light switches and lots of buttons. I'm a luddite, but I just found them annoying.

Yeah, our present barn conversion is naturally vaulted in the sitting room and a few other bits and I love escaping the tyranny of the 2.4m ceiling. Oversize is what makes the posh houses in Kensington look classy imho.

>>> is there any point in engaging additional architectural input if all that is left is 'only practical detail' If you're happy with the plans you have, not much. If you have doubts, or harbour a nagging suspicion that something could be improved you could probably negotiate to pay a few hours work for one or more reviews by anybody that you think has the expertise. Perhaps something you've seen in a magazine and/or locally that you like - you may be able to track down the architects / interior designers. Not everyone will go for that approach, but some might - as it could lead to a bigger chunk of work. It's fairly painless for them - they get paid for a few hours to see some plans / talk to some potential new clients / give their thoughts / no commitment or liability either way.

Well firstly congrats - it sounds a lovely site. My theory is that the architect used to 'get planning' puts in the most conservative thing he or she can think of to obtain the landowner's 'planning valuation bounty' with minimum risk. Then often as not, the buyer needs to do the whole planning loop again with the design they want. However, the first loop has broken the ice with the planners regarding size, style etc, so that's a benefit. It's curious to have a structural guy who deals with planners - usually building control is their liaison point and they come in after the architect has obtained planning - which is effectively only 'look and feel'. Not to suggest that the structural person doesn't add great value by taking the architect's ideas and making a detailed building design from them. Occasionally (if the architect has been a bit fanciful) that might mean applying a dollop of common or engineering sense which might involve changing the look and feel a bit and thus some negotiation with the planners. e.g. 'it's great that one side of the building is 100% glass, but that won't really fly for these reasons...' You probably knew that. Maybe your structural guy is branching out or maybe the existing buildings effectively define the architectural style so much that what's left seems like 'only practical detail'. Perhaps ask your structural guy and a couple of local architects to take a look at their portfolios - see if there's some work you admire or that fits with the thing you have in mind?