Roundtuit

A great initiative. Just one thought, from someone without the benefit of 'normal' colour perception (and there are more of us than you might think!) is that lights tinged red and green wouldn't get a place in the house.

Rectorseal... hmm... depends what you have planned for the weekend, but I imagine it will be right up your alley ?

Howdens really pi$$ me off. I opened a trade account easy enough as a self-builder, but dicking around trying to get their best prices was never worth the effort. With the exception of a load of skirting and architrave I bought on offer, I spent my kitchen/utility/internal door/wardrobe budget elsewhere. They could have had it all. W@nker$. However.... branches vary, so negotiate hard and good luck!

Of course. I should have guessed it would be you.... ??

I imagine that it would look like a shed made out of pallets, as does everything made out of pallets ?

Just guessing, but maybe older structures with poor insulation allow enough heat loss to keep moisture moving in the right direction. Isn't there some calculation to be done to take wall build-up and dew point into account?

Ventaxia kinetic sentinel B I think. The in-built humidity sensor exceeds my expectations; you only need the shower on for a few minutes for it to kick in, then it just drops off when it's ready. We put in the boost switches in case we needed to 'clear the air' (and, from memory, to help satisfy Building Regs) but in reality, they're never used.

Our unit has a humidity sensor and it does the job really well when showering. It's also proportional, so ramps up and down as necessary. The only reason I'd use the boost switch would be after a curry and Guinness night, but even that hasn't been necessary. Too much information...?

We put 3 boost switches (ventaxia momentary boost switches) on our system, one outside each bathroom/loo, and never use them tbh. To be sure it activates the boost, you have to hold it pressed for a couple of seconds, and then airflow returns to normal after a set period. Sorry, can't help with the cable spec.

Wow, quite a big question! Congrats on getting planning through; that's a big hurdle sorted. I suspect your architects didn't want to change anything drastically to avoid a fresh planning application. Rather than look at individual materials, perhaps find some images of styles of house that appeal, and then consider how that would fit with your location?

Not my area of expertise, but I'd double-check that. I don't think you can pay 5% VAT and claim it back.

As above, make sure it's capped properly and vented top and bottom. Maybe consider taking the chimney down below roof level if its not used, or dry-lining the affected area?

Clearly, but it needs an SE to assess the risk and propose a solution. Personally, I'd be wary of touching it until its been looked at. If you attempt to add props and anything goes wrong it could perhaps be seen as an attempt to repair and complicate any insurance claim. Good idea to protect the ceiling with ply.

I'd advise getting a structural engineer to have a look as a first step, and don't touch it until you've had a professional opinion. It's obviously an old house, and I'd guess the weather coming down the chimney over time has weakened the lime mortar, and the loose bricks are pretty much only holding their own weight up at the moment. You might get away with stitching the crack with helical bars and carefully repointing a bit at a time starting from the bottom to get some integrity back into the stack.

As above: 'No Mow May' will be shortly followed by 'My Lawn Looks $h!t June'. I'm all for creating wildlife habitat and I'm trying to do my bit, but it isn't going to be the lawn I'm afraid.

I think I'd just put some 1.2m stock netting tight up against the hedge. I don't think anyone could reasonably argue that it needed permission, and it would stop animals escaping.

Interesting question! Don't know the answer, but have experience of 'Listed' neighbours. What height is the proposed fence, and what height/type is the hedge?

Might be worth a look at Hoskins bricks if you want something 'old' looking; we used Old Farmhouse Blend.

We had to make up a 1m2 brick panel with our chosen bricks and mortar to satisfy the Conservation Officer; worth doing if you've any doubts.

Sounds a bit savage. I did ours with an electric rotary sander (hired for £50 from the screeders). It's not a particularly quick job, so I wouldn't want to be working with the noise and fumes of a petrol engine tbh.

I'm sure your insurers would rather you gave up some land as it costs them nothing, but I can't see what there is to negotiate about. Sounds like your neighbour bought his property happily, based on the physical boundaries he could see and accepted as true. Now he wants a bit of your garden, because he's being a tw@t. I'd keep it cool and calm (on the outside..!) but as already said, I wouldn't concede a millimetre and make that absolutely clear via a solicitors letter.

I know what you mean. I'm currently battling to get grass seed down to create a maintainable 'blank canvas' before actually deciding how to proceed with the garden proper. Over the last month I've put some fencing up to deter the Muntjac a bit, put 150 mixed native hedge plants in, and a few young trees (birch, rowan and walnut). Pond liner arrived today, so that's this weekend sorted....

You're not making lime mortar. Lime mortar has no cement in it. What you are proposing is adding lime to a standard opc/sand mix, which acts as a plasticiser to make the mix more workable and lightens the colour up a bit. I think 4:1 is unnecessarily strong tbh, but we are where we are. I'd probably go 6:1, get it done and move on ?

Land is land; we describe it by its current use, but that's just a temporary convenience. Where most of us live was once 'agricultural', or 'woodland' or something other than housing. I wouldn't want an industrial unit built opposite me, but to object you need to find valid planning reasons surely? I can only really speak for fresh produce, but we only import what we can't grow economically viably in the UK. I imagine the laws of economics apply to other agricultural outputs too.

Sounds good to me! If you want proper authentic though, start with Retsina before progressing to Ouzo. I think an 'amateur' render job and a couple of coats of masonry paint should fit the bill. Someone else will be better able to advise on the mix, but not too strong, and with admix to make it creamy perhaps?