ProDave

Probably not, but it just looked like something was missing without them.

Scaffold gone, here it is, the balcony frame completed. Just the decking boards and handrail to add.

Bedrooms only. Bathrooms and landings don't even need to have a window, let alone a means of escape window.

the RDSAP used for existing properties make lots of assumptions and guesses and are pretty meaningless. But even my new build with a full as build SAP, with all the information on U values of walls, floors, roof, actual Uw window values, exact details of heating system, and actual air tightness test, the full SAP estimated the energy usage at 3 times what it actually uses.

5 is pretty poor. Get an actual air tightness test done and if you get a substantially lower score that will give you the extra points you need. Otherwise the heat recovery unit mentioned above.

Already the case in Scotland. At last, the property market might start to value properties with a poor EPC lower than those with a good EPC to reflect either the work they need upgrading, or the extra heating costs. At a very minimum anyone looking for a property to let will either be looking for a EPC C or above or if lower will only buy if it is cheap enough to pay for the upgrades needed.

This sort of bath is normally connected with a flexi waste pipe. You stand the bath on blocks a few inches above the floor, connect the flexi waste then remove the blocks and sit the bath on the floor. Use a top access click clack waste fitting.

To claim adverse possession, he has to have exclusive use. You mention a gate. Keep using the gate to access your dustbin.

The immediate thing to me is there is only space for ONE car. Do you have more than one? Where do you park the other? I would want 2 spaces in front of the house if that was the only place. Sod the planters. It looks like you have side access so the bike shed would be in the back garden.

I love the "sump plug access" option.

Yes, at marine prices, which would make custom glass panels look good value for money. The frame diagonal tensioning wire will be under the deck boards so not very visible so it just has to work, not look pretty.

A bit more done today, the first chance I have had to do anything on my own house since our break last week. I now have the diagonal bracing wires as discussed before to stiffen the structure, and the final end joists fitted including bolting through the posts. So it is now a solid, self supporting structure. The bracing wire is not as expected. As soon as we got back I ordered a set of the balustrade wire as discussed above to try it out as the bracing wire. Only to find what I had ordered was coming from China and would take at least 3 weeks to get here. Amazon do not make it as clear as ebay that what you are ordering is outside the UK. So what I have used is galvanised aerial lashing wire and hooks, what you normally see strapped round a chimney holding an aerial bracket in place. I had some spare so this saved me waiting for the other stuff. I will be taking the scaffold down soon and doing the remainder working from the balcony structure itself, mainly to stop my ageing boards sitting out in the rain any longer than they have to and get them back into dry storage.

So try 100 centres or 150 centres in the joisted bit? Room temperature + 9 degrees? I doubt my floor is ever hotter than room temp +2

You should design it so all areas give the same output at the same temperature. Coarse "adjustment" being different pipe spacing on different floor make ups, and fine adjustment being adjusting the flow rates through each loop. So if they are saying the solid screeded floors need a lower temperature, compensate by widening the spacing in those and run them at the same temperature. But since you want the lowest temperature you can get it would be better instead to have closer spaced pipes in the pug mix sections and run those at the lower temperature.

I am a happy user of a standard Conder ASP6 the gravity outlet version. I know they do a pumped outlet version as we might have used it until they allowed us to discharge to the burn. I think the consensus of this forum is any of the air blower types of treatment plant are good and we have satisfied users or most makes on here. To some extent the decision will be swayed by availability and delivery options, particularly if you are in a remote location. Mine was bought through Travis Perkins which had the advantage of delivery on their wagon with a hiab to unload it. Whatever you fit, as you have high water table issues, make sure you concrete the treatment plant into the ground.

That's why I asked. If they are fronts, then it must mean the screen drops down in front of the doors, which must mean you also have a blackout blind over the windows as well? Not very good if someone needs to leave the room?

Are they rear speakers?

A floppy lever means that valve is energised and the actuator is holding it in the open position. A stiff lever means the valve is closed, either waiting for it to be energised to open, or for you to push the lever to manually open it. So when you did that test, it was demanding heating.

No music. Was I the only one imagining the Benny Hill theme? You appeared to pour concrete into flooded trenches leaving the concrete with a layer of water on top?

My thoughts on the photo. Wrong material, you don't want smooth and shiny, you want rough and grippy, probably coarse tarmac, or concrete with a tamped finish but that might be tricky on that slope, it would have to be pretty dry when laid. I would not want to park on a slope like that, you either have to reverse down, or probably worse is reverse up the steep slope not being sure that is coming because you are down in a dip. Does it lead to a flat area with room to park 2 cars and turn? If not and that is your only parking I would want it a LOT less sleep which means the retaining wall and a flatter raised drive.

You must have a predictable family routine? 2 good showers will empty our tank, and HW has to be available any time of day because "they" will shower at any time of day that pleases them which is of course not always the same, so "sorry there is not hot water as it is before 3PM" would not cut the mustard here. I have mine timed to come on at 11AM, on the basis there will be enough hot water from yesterday for one shower, and if someone has that early shower I manually turn the DHW on earlier. Random showering times are at odds with trying to be efficient and cost effective.

This listed cottage sold for £50K at auction. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-63410107 It was a collapsed wreck, the council were spending £1400 per month to keep it covered in scaffold and plastic sheet. What a complete waste of time and money. It sold for a low price because it is listed and the buyer will now have to rebuild it with all that entails. Am i the only one that things it would have been far better to de list it, and grant outline planning for a replacement dwelling? It would have sold for more and been a far better prospect without the burden of having to restore a crumbling wreck back to how it was?

It is probably an electrician you want to check your system out, not a plumber. There are a number of ways to wire a heating system,buy typically the programmer an room thermostats will call for heat to the manifold control box, that little grey box that the UFH actuators connect to. When one or more of the UFH zones have been activated, that box will tell the motorised valve for the heating to open, and the feedback contacts from that will call for heat from the ASHP. But there can be a LOT of variations on that, many are heat pump specific. You you need an electrician capable of working out how it is wired (assuming there is little or no documentation) and then working out if all the bits are actually working properly.

The one thing missing is an automatic bypass valve that would need to go between the ASHP flow and return in the garage before the two motorised valves. I would be very wary of a plumber diagnosing an expensive PCB in a heat pump as the fault. That sounds too much like fault finding by substitution at the customers expense.

My first thought is do you really want a house that big? Not only is it big, but has some awkward shapes and is not "optimum" design in terms of build cost per square metre. If the planners want 1.5 storey / room in roof, then there is not much choice other than dormers, but I do much prefer dormers like the house you pictured above where the dormer roof slopes down to the main roof without those horrible vertical side cheeks that most people fit to dormers that are awkward to build and hard to detail insulation properly. Or what we opted for was big "gable end" dormers like above the garage on your picture above. Detail that with a roof hung from a big ridge beam, and you can pretty much get the whole of the upstairs space unencumbered by trusses etc and make good use of the space and have vaulted ceilings right up to the ridge.