ProDave

I would have just listed them on Air BNB and said nothing. Using a slight "adaptation" of the rule that allows you to let 2 rooms in a house as B and B without needing formal permission to so so.

Slightly related. Several years ago I wired the electric hookups for someone that had imported two American Airstream caravans to let as holiday lets. I went back there last week, and asked how it was going. It wasn't. He had made the "mistake" of asking for permission form the council, who said yes, BUT they must be made suitable for disabled access. That killled that idea and they have sat empty since.

We had a shed broken into when we were in Oxfordshire. They found 2 motorbikes in there and left empty handed. I guess they were looking for lawnmowers etc.

Today's lesson (and for all those reading as well) is TEST FOR DEAD before working on a circuit. In fact when I was an apprentice, the mantra drummed into us, was Test your tester, test circuit for dead, test your tester again. Only then do you touch it. Personally I am a huge fan of the humble neon screwdriver, something which some other electricians think are dangerous things never to be used. I don't use one as my primary means of testing for dead, but I am a fan of "don't touch anything my neon screwdriver has not touched first"

Yes. Mine is a true warm roof. 195mm rafters fully filled with insulation, no gaps. 100mm wood fibre board over the rafters acting as the sarking board and extra insulation. Breathable membrane over that, no gaps anywhere, lapped over the ridge. Counter battens down following the rafters, then horizontal tile battens over that, the counter battens ensure a gap under the tile battens. Dry vented ridge and eaves vents ensure the gap between the membrane and the tiles is ventilated.

Is this a static caravan or a touring caravan? A static usually has a normal porcelain flushing toilet like any house and is plumbed into the drains and the taps are plumbed into the mains and you just turn them on. It sounds like you are describing a touring caravan where the water is pumped from a container outside that you refill when empty. If it is a touring 'van a lot of them are built with a bonded sandwich floor of insulation material and plywood. They can fail and become saggy over time. I wonder if the dowels are a repair done to fix that?

@Stones makes a valid point. If using slate rather than tiles, we use a thinker planked sarking board and the slates nail direct to that no need for battens.

With a sarked roof, you fit a non tenting membrane direct to the sarking board, counter battens that run down following the line of each rafter, then your normal tile battens across. The insulation can then go right up to the OSB inside between the rafters. Altogether a much better roof construction. Less to go wrong (e.g with a non sarked roof, insulation pushes membrane up against tile batten, water pools and eventually leaks through membrane into insulation)

So the membrane will sag onto, or squash the insulation? I really don't like this droopy system. The Scottish system of using a solid sarking board (OSB or ply) is so much better, and I believe although not required in England, you are allowed to use that method.

Can I just tell you a cautionary tale about a steading. A guy near here bought one for "conversion." It looked okay apart from the roof, but only had an earth floor inside. When he started digging to put a concrete floor in,. he found there were no foundations at all for the walls, they were literally build on the ground and digging to lay a concrete floor would undermine the earth they were sitting on. He ended up doing a knock down and rebuild instead. I think what I am saying is some steadings are sound and suitable for conversion, some are not. Perhaps you need some form of survey?

I like that, and I can see the logic. It would also hide an imperfect wall to ceiling joint. I will have to suggest it when we get to decorating. I wonder how it would look if you also did the same at the corner?

The heat pump looks to be much closer to the house than I have seen elsewhere. Do you think that in any way affects its performance?

I suspect you are in Scotland? I would say you would need a new planning application. I suspect it would be granted. I would make an offer to buy it subject to planning being granted and get a planning application in.

We built an extension to our 1930's house under a building notice. My experience was the building control inspector was very thorough as he had to check every detail on site as there was nothing on any drawing to be approved. So there were a lot more site visits and a lot more interaction than the house I am building now. Regardless of the BC route taken, the outcome should have been the same.

I would agree with that in principle. BUT I am sure I heard somewhere, that combination of mineral wool insulation with this cladding also failed the test. If that is true what was the fuel source for that? Does mineral wool really burn?

In my case it's om the corner of the utility room. The only place sound from it can go is outside or into the garage. But good point if it's adjacent to another room.

The top of the fascia board needs to be raised a bit because the bottom tile is not sitting on top of another tile. So if it's flush, the bottom tile will droop. Best way is to mock it up, put the bottom two tile battens on, sit the bottom 2 rows of tiles on, then offer up a bit of fascia board complete with a strip of the over fascia vent on, and adjust it's height until all the tiles sit at the same angle. That then gives you how high your fascia needs to be in relation to the rafters. Some styles even like to kick up the bottom row of tiles slightly but personally I don't like that.

Glider pilots and sailors. Sailing on Monday, wind coming off the land (not the normal prevailing direction) Contrary to what most people would think, the wind was stronger, the closer in to the shore you got, very strong at the bottom of the cliff A mile out and there was hardly any wind at all.

That's not especially small. My first house 1 bedroom starter home rabbit hutch, was only 12ft wide. They build a whole estate nearly 100 houses like that. The 2 bedroom ones were just as narrow, just a bit deeper. But on a practical note. Looking at the picture, the left hand property appears to have windows overlooking the alleyway. Can you just block up someone's windows without their permission? I like the split level layout that in effect makes the whole middle of the house a stairwell.

Mine I put so the edge of a straight coupler was just touching the wall tight into the corner. My builder advised me this was too close. I ignored him. The theory is once I have battened my walls for the service void and then plasterboarded, the boxing in at the corner for the stack pipe will be a lot less bulky as in effect the back of the stack pipe is set 30mm in from the face of the wall already.

In the electrical industry, when something goes wrong one of the first places anyone looks is the "Manufacturers instructions" In this case the MI were clear, does not need propping. That is the end of it. I would be perusing the manufacturer for the cost of the damaged blocks and the labour to rebuild the collapsed section of wall. Until you have that satisfaction, make as much publicity as you can on the internet about how that particular product, when used according to the MI, failed. And make sure the manufacturer is linked to that bad publicity so they know about it.

I would say so. Check the condition of the boards. When I bought my first lot, I then stored it (badly) for nearly 2 years, then found half my boards were rotten, so I had to buy a whole load more. My "test" was to support both ends of a board on a concrete block so just a few inches off the grounf and then jump up and down on the middle of the board. If it didn't break, I used it. If it did break then it was only a few inches to drop and no harm done.

I sold a batch just slightly less than that amount (only 30 boards and only 10 base jacks) for £1100 last year don't forget to get some diagonal braces as well.

I lived for 18 months in a park home in my youth. We then spent 18 months is a static van on out last build, and have been in just a few months this time. So I think I know all the problems. The basic issue is the walls are so thin, the insulation levels are dire. When it gets cold, you WILL get condensation, lots of it. A dehumidifier will help but I can't tollerate the noise of that all the time so we ration it's uses. The biggest source of moisture is the occupants just breathing, cooking, and showering. If the wardrobes are on an outside wall, forget any notion of keeping clothes in them, unless you like damp mouldy clothes. We keep most of ours in the adjacent touring caravan. Although it's just as cold, with nobody breathing, cooking or washing in it, it doesn't suffer from condensation as there's no moisture to condense. To remain comfortable you have to keep throwing heat into them. Grit your teeth and just console yourself that your big electricity bill is less than the rent you were paying. you need an electric convector heater with a thermostat in every room. I also fitted extra insulation under the floor. Only a few panels had any. I could not work out if it was built with insulation under the floor and most of it fell out, or whether it wa built with none and someone gave up after insulating a bit. I also fitted a lot more lagging on the pipes to stand a chance of surviving a winter without freezing. And ye I have paneled in the gap around the bottom. as ours is remaining I have done a reasonable job, and put doors in to access the large storage area.

Another +1 for needing a second pair of hands. You can't build a house with just one. I have been doing my damnest to achieve that for over a year now. I have only go this far thanks to SWMBO not being afraid to lift, carry, hold stuff when I need it She is pretty handy at erecting and dismantling kwikstage as well. Current job plasterboarding, just cannot be done alone. Occasionally when I need a stronger / more skilled assistant, I have a couple of friends I can call on as well. But don't underestimate the task alone, it will take a long time. There are days when you really wish you could go and do something else, so you really do need to make time off the job as well. (myself just back on the job after 2 days off playing on boats)