ProDave

How does this work then? You need a certain area of infiltration field depending on the Vp measurement of your soil from a percolation test. How can this magic plastic box with some holes in it reduce that area?

Well I don't but my sister in law does. So SWMBO went to visit her and took one of our "spare" plugs It did not fit. Of course I should have known, this is plumbing, there is no such thing as a standard plug. So HOW do I go about determining what type / size it is to get a new one. The top one is SIL's old plug. the rubber is perished and it does not seal. The bottom one is our "spare" one. you can see ours has a larger diameter "boss" and the rubber washer but is akin to a low profile tyre rather than the high profile of the top one. So what measurements do I need to take to work out which sort we need?

We had similar. I don't even know the make or type, the builder supplied them to the SE's specification. They pass over the top of the ridge beam as one piece and down to the rafters either side. They looked quite substantial metal not like most joist hangers.

What do the neighbours say? If you block the upstream fence your downstream neighbour may do the same and that would leave nowhere for any water that does get in to get out again. Any solution of trying to block it would have to be agreed with all of you. Does your garden slope much, so if it does flood how much higher would it have to get to flood the houses? We have similar where in very heavy persistant rain the farm field behind us floods (shown as such on the flood risk maps) but it has a safe path to drain into the burn sometimes crossing part of our garden, but at no time threatening the house.

To me knock down and rebuild only makes sense for really really derelict houses that are probably unmortgagable, and priced accordingly, or for a tiny house on a large plot where the buyer wants a large house and complete rebuild is usually better than a large extension to a small old house.

That plot is large for the house so has great potential. However the house is not so easy. The gable end of the house faces the road. Most houses of that type I have seen extended they continue the roof line down, in this case to the left and then put a dormer on the side to create headroom upstairs. Or build a flat roofed extension which in many cases looks awful. I am going to throw in another possibility for that plot. Taking the garage width and the extra parking alongside the garage, subject to actual measurements, that looks to me like you could fit a second house in there next to the original one. Subject to planning permission of course and any covenants or finding something under that gap like a big water main that might stop you doing it.

This is the thin end of the wedge. It highlights what to do with old houses to upgrade them and who pays. At the moment, it is only landlords being made to comply. Perhaps those that set the rules think landlords have bottomless bank balances and have worked out how to defy physics and fir more insulation than there is space, while not disrupting the lives of the tenant living there. There have been discussions, certainly in Scotland that these minimum standards will apply to home owners as well. Though quite what they will do if a private owner has an EPC worse than C and does not have the means to improve it. All it has done for me is confirm not being a LL is the correct choice, and if I were ever looking to move (unlikely) then I would expect a house worse than EPC C to be valued as a renovation project and valued lower to reflect the cost of the work needed.

We only ever had plain ordinary grass under swings etc. When I was at school the school playground had tarmac under the swings and climbing frames. You learned NOT to fall off. Just saying.

We have ONE just after the sopcock on the incoming water. What makes you think you need more than that one?

We had two, bought as buy to lets. The 1 bedroom flat had mostly short tenants rarely staying ,much beyond 6 months so with the cost of changes, void periods etc, that one made more from capital gain than rental profit. The other was a 2 bedroom terrace house that had longer term tenants so made a lot more from the rental profit than capital gain. After we sold both of those we thought we were done, but market timing meant as we built the new house the old one did not sell, so we let it. So slightly different situation but it got us out of a situation and it all worked out. The lesson from being in the rental business for nearly 20 years was don't assume a property is always a liquid asset. Selling the flat took months as the market had crashed. And likewise don't assume it will always be boom time as sometimes tenants took a while to find. It is not just a cash cow.

Different in different council areas but here in Scotland all rental properties must achieve an EPC C to get a licence. There is nothing to say that won't change in the future. It was all the other red tape and the 3 yearly renewal and sheer extra costs that made us sell. Our last property sold to the tenant so at least no eviction needed.

I have said before, sell up and retire. Being a LL is not worth it these days. Let someone else have the "fun" of upgrading that to the required standard.

And the roof tiler just stacking them on, not a nail or fixing to be seen, and walking all over the tiles he had laid. Oh and the forerunner to the hi viz jacket, the Donkey Jacket. I think I still have one in the loft.

Having watched most of it, they predicted the energy use for heating would cost £86 per year at a gas price of 1p per kWh, so that's 8,600 kWh of heating every year. Our house is using 1400kWh of electricity for heating so assuming a COP of 3 that's 4200kWh of heat per year. So half the heat they predicted and we are in a colder climate. So although it was better than what was normal then, it is poor compared to what is achievable now.

Found it now. Wonder why it is not in the obvious place iplayer?

I am trying to find this on iplayer on the firestick to watch it on a proper screen, but everything I have tried has failed to find it there. Anyone succeeded in finding it on iplay on a fiestick or a smart tv please care to share their wisdom on how they found it please?

Cables should not be supported just by the plasterboard (and temporary tape to keep them in place until PB is fixed) they are supposed to be fixed in place so they won't fall down if the plasterboard collapses. This follows incidents of firefighters getting entangled in cables after a ceiling comes down.

East Anglia?

If you have damp on the walls where the air bricks are covered, and no damp on the walls where the air bricks are exposed and clear then you have answered your question. It is very likely the walls are adequate in themselves, but the wall where the air bricks are covered the ground level is too high and bridging the DPC that is probably there. Solution, reduce the ground level and expose then clear out the air bricks. Post some pictures?

I would say the distance is decided by the longest vehicle you are likely to own. In my case that would be just over 6 metres. But we "solved" the question by just not having gates. Nobody does on our road.

Post it in the market place section on here. Also try Gumtree, seems to work better for me for large items. Ebay is better for small things that you can post. Private buyers of a 'van like that face the issue of transport and certainly up here, a lot of the people that have the necessary transport, only deliver vans sold by the dealer that owns the transport.

This annoyed me on my first build, why does nobody make door liners to fit the actual width of a real standard timber stud wall and plasterboard? On the second build they were all custom made and individually cut and planed to match the width.

I think I would stop right there. You are dismantling an existing wall with no knowledge of it's construction and no clear idea how you are going to rebuild it and if that will be structurally sound. I think you need professional advice before you go any further.

The picture above, are all those half brick ends we see cut off as you removed ne skin? If so as @Redbeard says they are the bonds. Now they are cut off your new "outer skin" won't be bonded to the inner.

Did you apply for a new dwelling, splitting the plot and retaining the old, or did you apply for a replacement dwelling. It is hard to imagine why a 3/4 acre plot would be refused an additional dwelling.