Porthole

Thank you all - much appreciated. Seems a bit wierd putting this in, but looks like it is workable and no other options. Does anyone know if it is corrugated inside or a smooth finish? (Just makes me feel better from hygiene point of view if smooth!)

Thanks Dave - when you say No - do you mean it shouldn't be used? There is no soil pipe which comes with the frame itself.

Hi Be grateful if you could tell me whether or not a flexible toilet waste pipe is ok to use? The builders have put one in as the hole in the wall is not aligned to the centre of where the loo will be. I just wondered if the inside of the pipe is also corrigated and if this will be quite hard to clean or even smell if toilet waste is caught up in the grooves? Sorry it sounds disgusting but I need to know before they cover it all up! Many thanks!!

Hi there Be really grateful for your help on this one. We are in the middle of building an extension and the builder is doing the waste pipe for the kitchen sink. The sink will be on the kitchen island and he has put the waste pipe through the wall of the extension. He has done this by punching a hole (not drilling a circular hole) through the extension blockwork low level and poking the sink waste pipe through the hole and filling the gap with foam (see photo below). The floor of the extension where the kitchen will be is block and beam. I'm not sure if this is correct. In the past, we had to build over a public sewer and had to lintel over it obtaining a build over agreement from Thames Water. Although this isn't a public sewer, I would have thought the principles would be the same. Can someone please advise, so I at least have some knowledge before confronting the builder. Many many thanks.

So do you think it isn't really worth triple if only 1.4?

Hi Just wondered if someone could advise on whether or not you would notice the difference if you had triple as opposed to double glazing. In 2 rooms on our rennovation, we have a window which is 2m wide by 1.45m high. It will be a fixed aluminium pane. The U value for double glazing is 1.6 on the entire unit and 1.4 for triple glazing. Can someone tell me if having triple glazing would be noticeably warmer/save on fuel bills. The incremental cost is around £600. Thanks Kind regards Sui

Hi there I am moving my gas meter and at the same time SGN want to renew the old gas pipe as it is steel. The way they want to do this is to put a polypipe down the old steel pipe which will run from the new connection to the road. The only issue is that the old steel pipe is bigger 1.25 inch compared with 25mm. I am concerned that the supply of gas will be less to the house which is having a 9m by 5.4m extension on the back with underfloor heating. Is this something I should worry about or not? How would I check that the gas supply is ok for the demands of the new enlarged house? Any comments gratefully received! Many many thanks - this is all a minefield for me!

Hello Thanks for your reply. The trench will all be on private land. It is part of a renovation and extension of our house and as the garage is being converted, the meters have to be moved to the side of the house. I think that sounds a good idea - was thinking of SGN to do it first so that the gas is sorted then get electricity to do their bit, as SGN are cheaper. The only thing is, that they said they may mole rather than dig, and also, UK Power Networks need a joint bay dug which is about 1m square so the trench would need to be bigger at the point. There is a layer of concrete over the drive so I am not sure how easy it would be for someone (like us) to just enlarge the hole to form a joint bay square. Did you need to get the electricity company to come out to do their requote? It's just they seem to be saying that they have given their quote already. Thanks again

Hi there Just wondered if someone could help - we are having a nightmare over moving of gas and electric meters. I am struggling over the cost of these - both my meters could be located in the same positions around the side of the house which means that the same trench could be used for both, rather than pay thousands of pounds for each trench to be dug. SGN networks seem to be able to dig the trench for less money than UK power networks so it would make sense for them to do their work first. The question is whether electric can be done afterwards? Also, I am a bit confused about how deep each service needs to lay their pipes. It sounds like the gas could go deeper so it could be 600cm for gas then 400cm for electricity. Does anyone have any direct experience of this? How hard is it to try and co-ordinate the trenches. Ideally our builder would just dig the trenches but he didn't sound too keen! The water main lead piping needs to be changed as well so I think there would be another trench for this but not quite in the same place. All very confusing, so your comments would be gratefully received!!!! THANK YOU!

thank you very much Craig Regarding the top hung for privacy - just thought when it is open, there is more privacy. do you know if the top hung are difficult to keep open? - as our windows are quite tall, thought they might tend to shut due to the weight of the windows

Hi there I am replacing a large number of windows to PVC for my property as part of a large rennovation. Just wondered what peoples' views are on side hung or top hung windows. For the bathrooms, I am thinking of top hung for greater privacy. For the other windows, some are quite tall, (146cm by 56cm) so would side hung be better, from a look point of view and durabilty? Is there a convention on which way round a single pane window should open, e.g. to the right or left, or is it just personal choice. For a side window, on a first floor, are there any security benefits of opening to the front of the house as opposed to the back of the house? Also, trying to decide what to do about trickle vents. They are quite unsightly but don't suppose there are many other options? Many thanks for any contributions!

Hello there Does anyone know much about the merits of horizontal hot water cylinders as opposed to vertical ones. We are trying to find a good place for our cylinder and it seems that the understair cupboard would be the best place, but this would only fit a horizontal cylinder in there. I have heard these are not as good as vertical ones but I do not know why. Does anyone know much about these? It sounds a trivial thing but where the plant goes does affect the whole design and layout of our downstairs so it would be really helpful if anyone can shed light on this. Many thanks!!

Hi just wondered if anyone can tell me how long a builder should normally guarantee a new roof? Would this be different if part of whole renovation project? Thank you

Hello Just trying to position the hot water tank and it would be ideal in an understairs cupboard. Does the shape actually matter? A thinner one is more likely to fit in our cupboard if horizontal. (cupboard is circa 80cm deep and 170cm tallest place by 170cm wide in widest place. Our builder said that you need 1m by 1m space but that is do big. We have a family of 4 and 4 bathrooms. Thanks!!

Hi Just wondered if anyone can help. Am looking at getting 2 large rooflights 3m by 1m for our flat roof extension. The prices for supply and installation vary quite a bit from £7.6k to £3.9k. Just wondered if anyone can enlighten me as to why there is such a range of pricing. Would a cheaper option be a false economy? I'm not really sure what to look out for. Also, any recommendations for glazing companies in Surrey? Many thanks !!!

The opening is 7.5m. Steel still being specified but I think 203 or 250.

Sorry ignore the images above - for some reason I couldn't delete - this image is much clearer. Thanks

Hello I've just been given detailing from our architect of the flat roof extension structure (first draft before structural elements) and I had some questions. If anyone can help then we'd be very grateful. It's not a great image but hopefully you can get the gist of what is there. I've had to query a few things recently with the architect so thought it would be helpful to get some views from others for peace of mind. The structural input is not there yet, just the architectural details. Guttering - is a gutter at the end of the extension above the sliding doors a good idea? Just wondered if maybe a better structure might be if the rainwater ran to the sides rather than to the front of the extension? Although I guess this would result in 2 down pipes for the surface water and maybe 2 soak aways? Does the detailing around the steel beam at the end of the extension look sensible? Would sliding doors just be screwed into the steel beam? Membrane for flat roof - GRP has been specified- does anyone know if this is a good option? I know there are various different types e.g. EDPM? Any one better than the other? The build up of the warm deck roof appears to be: - Membrane - OSB (18mm) - insulation (210mm) - vapour membrane - ply (22 mm) - joist - plasterboard and skim (12.5mm plus skim) Do these elements sound sensible? We were trying to keep the roof thickness quite small to be within permitted development but seems to be quite thick. Any advice much appreciated, as always.

Many thanks for your replies - v helpful to just know some indicative figures and I'm glad it isn't thousands. Impressive brick hut llangollen! I've a surveyor booked in now for electrics and gas was indicated on the online quote to be around £750

Hi there We've had some quotes from builders which do not include moving gas and electricity meters but the builders have indicated that it could cost thousands to move them which has scared me a bit! I'm trying to obtain quotes from the electricity and gas networks but wondered where these meters would best be sited. Our gas meter is currently on the back wall of the house which faces the garden (which will be knocked down to create an open plan space), and the electricity meter is in the garage which will be converted to living space. Was thinking the new meters could be situated on the side wall of the house in a lockable box but really didn't know any better. Comments from anyone who has done this would be much appreciated! Also, who should carry this out? I assume it is just the network operator as that is what I have been told by my energy supplier but I have heard that other people sometimes do this. Thanks again!!!

Sorry for the delayed response - been busy period. Many thanks for these responses - really interesting and helpful. Much appreciated!!!

Hello - I am hoping someone can help me with this one. We are embarking building a flat roof extension but different builders, architect and structural engineer all seem to have different views on the detail of the build up on a warm deck flat roof and how the joists should sit. It is very confusing and we seem to be going round in circles alot. We wish to build a 6m deep and 9m wide extension at the back of our house. There will be an opening of 7.5m for 3 sliding doors to the garden and a large steel beam sitting above the doors. Joists in the extension running perpendicular to the sliding doors will be attached to the large steel beam. Does the top of these joists need to be flush with the top of the steel beam and the OSB deck sit on top of both the top of the steel beam? Alternatively, could the bottom of the steel beam sit flush with the bottom of the joists and the OSB deck just sit on top of the joists, but the steel beam would still be insulated in some way. The steel beam is likely to be around 250mm and the perpendicular joists will be smaller than this, at around 150mm. The structural engineer is insistent that the top of the joists should be flush with the top of the steel beam so that the deck can sit nicely on top of both to reduce the risk of issues in the future. This seems sensible but our architect didn't mentioned this before and it could impact on the height of the extension which is a problem as we are building under permitted development where the eaves height is critical (needs to be 3 metres). Also, we have a much simpler question, but does anyone know whether it should be 100mm or 120mm celotex on a warm deck flat roof - or is that just our choice? Thank you - hoping we can get some clarity for those who have a lot more experience than us and put us out of our misery!!!!

By the way, on a different note, we are in Elmbridge so if anyone has had experience of getting a higher eves height on a flat roof via planning permission, then would be grateful if you could share your experiences.

Maybe but we do like the modern look of a flat roof extension. I think 4m might be quite close to the window sills on the first floor - would need to check. Thanks for the suggestion.

Hello - we are starting out on a new extension and currently at the planning stage. We would like to go for permitted development due to speed but the maximum eves height is 3 metres. It seems that this would result in a ceiling height in the extension which is lower that than of the existing house (existing house ceiling height = 2570mm). We are trying to keep ceiling height high (due to tall family members!) and consistent with the existing house. Also, as the extension is quite deep (6 metres), our preference is for a higher ceiling in the extension to avoid a "tunnel effect" when looking out to the garden. Please can I ask if anyone has any suggestions on reducing the thickness of the flat roof of the extension? I suspect it would be down to high performing thinner insulation but wondered if anyone has practical experience in this matter. Our house is cold and so we don't really want to compromise on the insulating properties. Any comments gratefully received as we are very new to this. Thank you!!