ProDave

Did the neighbours not complain at them having clear glass in the end of the conservatory also overlooking their garden? There is a section of hedge there, all the neighbours need to do is let it grow taller and all the overlooking problems go away.

It was very tongue in cheek. It's a 28ft static caravan. Used as temporary accomodation during the build, presently still storing building materials but will end up as the 3 main rooms used as a studio, store room and workshop, with the added bonus of still having a working WC. and we will probably leave the kitchen sink in, place.

My "garden building" measures 8M by 3M and cost £4000 but would not be described as "pretty" or to everyones liking.

You need ventilation in a house. If you want to ventilate it without letting lots of cold air in, then you need mvhr which is what most of us fit in our new builds. This gives you constant fresh air while recovering most of the heat from the exhaust air that would otherwise be wasted. Just blocking up all ventilation to stop cold getting in, is not going to help the situation. The more I know about buildings now, the more I feel the best thing we could do with a lot of the UK housing stock is flatten it and rebuild properly.

Re the bainster spindles. Building regs say "a 100mm sphere will not pass through" so the gap should be less than 100mm.

No having had it in the last house, dirty, smelly, noisy, needs a big tank, and the price is very volatile. No mains gas and my choice would be ASHP, which is just what we chose.

Are you saying there is one pump feeding into a manifold that feeds several properties? The only time I have seen this before each property had it's own pump in the break tank so all separate.

Oh I wish. I think we are on course for the entire January to average less than 0, with -16 the record one night. The weather man just told me tonight is likely to be the coldest night of the winter with "minus double digit" temperatures widespread. Definitely permafrost set in which will take a while to thaw. I think we might get up to about +4 by next week. We went for a walk by the coast here today as all the local footpaths are far too slippery for nice walking at the moment. Snow lying right down to the high tide line.

An explanation of what you are doing would help. Digging a big 1M deep hole, shoring up the sides then leaving it over winter to fill with water is unusual. Far better to pick a dryer season, dig and pour as quick as possible. As it is filling with water and not draining away, I would not be sure you are not below the water table. If so just where do you plan to drain it to? Our ground is like this and at times. Before we built I dug some 2M deep test holes for the SE and left one open over winter covered with a board and had a look down it from time to time. I could find anything from a dry 2M deep hole to water almost at the surface depending on how much rain we had recently. EDIT just seen more information in a post above. Although this may be under permitted development, the size of it means you WILL need building regulations, so I suggest you stop, get a properly designed foundation plan and notify building control. And digging 1M deep close to a boundary probably also invokes the party wall act. How close are the nearest buildings?

I am struggling with orientation, particularly as floor plans are drawn with a different orientation to site plan. But assuming site plan is drawn "north up" and I have not got confused rotating floor plans to match site plan you seem to have the living room and kitchen in the north east corner of the plot, missing the sun, and missing the views over the garden? That would be my one criticism of the architect, not keeping a consistent orientation on the plans and not marking where north is. The "non 90 degree" angle between the 2 wings will not help the budget. If you are thinking of future extension possibilities, have a think about making the layout and the building construction such that it would be easy to add a second storey to the other wing as well.

@Onoff bathroom won't be finished until at least the body dryer and UFH are working. If he gets the body dryer working first at least that can serve as some heating for the room.........

It has already been announced that it will NOT be extended in Scotland.

Mine must be a "hybrid" though I always think of it as a warm roof. Outside to in: Tiles battens counter battens breathable membrane 100mm wood fibre board 200mm rafters filled with frametherm 35 11mm OSB racking layer Air tight membrane 25mm battens Plasterboard and skim 25mm battens are just for cables, being a 45 degree sloping roof, surface mount spotlights are used. If it is a flat roof or only a slight slope and you want flush lights you will need more space. Or use flat panel LED lights that often will fit in the thickness of plasterboard.

Picture? If the staircase is disused it would have made more sense to remove it thus giving a flat space to create a bathroom.

It is the INTERNAL air tight and vapour control layer that is your friend, on the inside of all the insulation. So even if somehow a bit of mould developed somewhere withing the frame (it should not) then it cannot get into the living space.

Why would it not comply as long as the staircase meets all the regs. What concerns do you have?

That shows they are correctly torqued, not possible if you line that up. But sod that, the countersink is not deep enough. You either need smaller head screws, or get your countersink bit out and countersink the hinges a bit more.

The issue there is developer houses, built as cheap as possible, often to poor standards, and certainly with none of the measures we have been talking about like good insulation, good detailing, and things like mvhr.

That is an automatic air bleed valve that will normally bleed the air. BUT your problem appears to be the manifold is downstairs and some of the loops go upstairs. Air can form in the loops upstairs and block flow. There is a procedure using a hose to blow the air through each loop one at a time though I don't see any hose fittings on your manifold so that is not going to be easy.

(not sure why it copies as a landscape photo in a portrait frame) Most manifolds have a row of flow meters, but yours does not. Assuming the pump is running, feel each pair of pipes and see which one(s) are getting warm. Each of the actuators on the bottom has a "button" on the top. Which buttons are up and down? How many rooms does this feed? Does each room have a room thermostat if so are they all turned up high enough?

You will need to give us a bit more to go on. What type of UFH wet or electric? Pictures of manifolds and controls if wet? WHAT was replaced and by who? If they could not get it working did they say why or they don't know? Have you asked the previous owners in case something somewhere is simply not turned on?

Yes turn off the "water heater" switch and report back the changes.

Only if insulated properly and nicely air tight. I suspect this house might want some.

No mention of renewables like solar PV?

Have you started the transfer? If not I can give you a referal code that will give you £50 credit.