Roundtuit

There could be any number of reasons why your section has moved a bit, but at the end of the day , it's a garden wall, so unless it becomes so unstable as to present a risk to you or the public, then I'd just 'wallpaper'. The only real 100% fix would be to take it all down, put in fresh 'belt and braces' foundations to prevent future movement, and re-build. Based on the photos, I suspect most people won't judge it as actually needing repair.

You're going to be in sooo much trouble...

As above; looks like the quality of the wall and foundation isn't the best and there's been a bit of settlement. I don't think you can reasonably pin it on the hedge. There are garden walls like this everywhere; as @joe90 said, just point it up for now.

Can you move the thermostat to the new top room perhaps, then turn the radiators down anywhere that is getting too warm? As your controls are a bit limited, it might just be a case of playing around to 'balance' the system to suit maybe.

OK. I hesitate to ask, but is the room with the thermostat in nice and warm?

I'd get it checked definitely. I suspect there is some sort of lintel in there, but the whole thing looks odd tbh; leaving the old window arches in and making up the height with an infill window isn't the tidiest of jobs...

@zoothorn I'm sure you must have mentioned it somewhere, but can you remind me where the thermostats are please; one in each room? TRV's?

Maybe to keep a dog in or something?

All looks OK to me; not sure what the concern is really. The hedge looks pretty bare for the first 6 ft anyway. Trimming up anything overhanging the boundary on their side is seems fair and surely doesn't affect the view from your side, and measuring height from ground level immediately adjacent to the fence seems reasonable.

Have parts of the house been built at different dates perhaps? Looks like 'historical settlement'. A report to that effect should help to fend off any questions if it comes up.

Easy then! This worked for me: a wide, stiff scraper or similar (I think I used a scraper and a brick bolster, but proper plastic paddles are available), a bit of timber to protect the ali that you lever against, start where you can find a bit of flex in the trim (i.e mid-way between clips) and work towards a clip. Once you've popped the first couple of clips off, the rest are easier. Some of my clips broke a leg off as they were 'glued' in with paint but were all re-usable; if you needed new ones they look like they only cost pence.

I took some trim off mine off by prising it off with a wide scraper. It's attached by little plastic clips pinned in to the timber, but that doesn't release the 'glass bead'. I suspect it's going to be destructive...

Could it just be that every time you have something done to try to fix the system (eg change the pump), that air has got in again?

@Ben100 Any updates pls?

Won't the intake vent just pull in the smoke into the loft?

The world's your oyster! Plain timber finishing just above the middle step skirting, or get creative, stick a decorative moulding on it (a bullseye maybe). Just needs to look neat ?

I don't think so. Doesn't seem to be based on valid planning reasons, just a neighbour with too much time on their hands...

Looks like lime plaster.

Well... it's raining again here, so can only work on other people's jobs! I drew on a door lining top and bottom; the one labelled 'door lining' wasn't intended for your door, just something to run the skirting to, otherwise you have an awkward junction where the skirting on the bottom step needs to meet up with the skirting from the middle step. Or... you could just not bother with skirting and carpet up to the edge. It's only there to protect the bottom of the plaster, so if you're careful when vacuuming you'll be fine!

More likely rising damp, assuming 'lower ground is at least partially below ground level. I'd have a poke about with a screwdriver and see if anything falls off easily; it's difficult to say, but it looks like the plaster may have blown, or if the skirting has been there a while it might soft. If it is damp, I'd get a specialist to have a look at it; the solution is likely to be a bit messy (hack off plaster and tank maybe?), so you only want to do it once. More pictures would be interesting.

Nice work! I think I'd also put a door lining (can just be a bit of skirting with the moulding cut off) in at the bottom and put architrave on in the lower room, so you'll have something to run the skirting up to and can terminate it neatly. Something like this:

I think the concrete ring beam is the way forward; what size do you reckon? Will 20cm x 20cm do it? Straight on to soil? Any reinforcement required? Cheers

I've offered to give someone a hand putting up a greenhouse that they've inherited. I think it's about 17ft x 8ft, and they were planning to just level the garden, lay some slabs on sand and bolt down the frame to that. I'm not keen on that idea, as a) slabs laid on sand is never a good idea (I can foresee movement and cracked glass...) and b) to do it properely with slabs (effectively build a patio to put it on) is a big job for a greenhouse that size. It's only the perimeter that needs to be solid and it doesn't need to be pretty, so I'm looking for suitable, cost-effective alternative. Could I knock up some shuttering and cast a concrete plinth? Dig it out a bit and lay blocks on compacted Type 1? Any thoughts please?

I don't think there's any reason you can't move in then. We moved in as soon as physically possible, and then finished the things required for a completion certificate over the following 9 months (inc ramp...). We registered with the council for tax purposes (needed the wheely bins) when we moved in with no problem.

Great question! I don't know the answer, but having built through two winters, I can say that wet, cold weather generally slows things down and makes the job miserable.... site like a swamp, mud on everything, roofers can't work due to frost, brickies can't work due to frost, screed takes weeks to dry, plastering takes weeks to dry, reduced daylight hours etc etc. All do-able though, just be aware that it may be a bit more frustrating than doing it in summer. Don't know what your chosen build method is, but maybe there's the opportunity to get the foundations in sooner rather than later, then do the above ground stuff when the weather is on the uphill curve?