Bob77

I am on fairly level ground, there is a small slope but if the air brick/vent is meant to be 600mm above ground then no chance! With a vent or air brick low down to the ground I would be worried about it getting blocked with dirt or leaves etc being blown up against the wall. (Or snow, if we ever get that stuff again!) I will ask the fireplace supplier what they suggest. Want to get it straight in my head and on the plans before the floor goes down!

This is an interesting thread. I'm planning to install an inset woodburner to replace the existing freestanding stove on what is currently an external wall. An extension will be added on the other side of that wall so there will be about 4 metres from the stove to the outside. The stove has a combustion air inlet on the underside which can either be supplied by vents inside or from external air. Although my house is nowhere near "passive" it seems like it would be wise to supply air from outside rather than having it sucking in cold air through all the gaps. So the obvious solution seems to be to put a supply pipe underneath the floor of the extension with a vent on the new external wall. However some of the comments above suggest that having what would effectively be a "U-shape" (with the inlet above ground level, then dipping down under the new floor and then rising up to the stove) could cause problems with condensation. Does this need to be taken into account?

What type of composite decking are you going for? I am planning to use some once the extension is finished, but it will be more like 20 sq metre so not quite as eyewatering. I've got a couple of dozen samples sitting outside in the garden at the moment, and have tested them with a few likely substances (oil, red wine, ketchup!) for staining. Not going to be ready for it until September/October so I've got a while to think about it. Preliminary results are that cheap composite comes in two types: fake and plastic looking, or more realistic but with a porous surface that stains easily (and I suspect would fade more easily). Mid range stuff seems pretty bombproof, looks decent and has a nice waterproof coating (but may be a little more slippery?), whereas the high-end stuff from Millboard seems like a totally different animal - thicker planks but lightweight with an almost pumice-like texture to the core, and with a much more authentic wood grain finish. However at well over £100 a square metre so it ought to be. I'm erring towards the NewTechWood Ultrashield which comes in at about £84 a sq metre – pricey but it feels like decent quality stuff and the colours are nice.

Yes, the current house has a concrete slab. I have been reading about insulation with UFH and have come up with conflicting opinions - some sites telling me that insulation should be under the slab so the UFH heats up the concrete and acts as a thermal store. Others saying don't do that, put insulation over the slab and then UFH on top of that in a thinner screed layer. Option 1 is going to be a lot more expensive but if that's the right way then I guess it's worth it. On the other hand I don't mind losing a bit of ceiling height with insulation over the top, and as the whole house is being done it shouldn't create a problem with differing levels.

Yes the whole ground floor is being dug out and insulation being added. The exact details of this are still to be fixed - I am open to any recommendations as to the standard of insulation I should be going for so I can make sure it is done properly. As you say this is the one chance to do that so I am keen to get it right!

I have a 1960s end of terrace house which currently has all-electric heating (storage heaters, with electric underfloor in kitchen and bathroom). We are about to start an extension and at the same time we are going tor an ASHP. The insulation is not bad (cavity walls are insulated and the loft has decent insulation) but let down at the moment by a 1980s sliding patio door with bad heat bridging issues and some draughty windows. Those will be replaced as part of the build and we are putting wet UFH throughout the ground floor. We wanted to upgrade from the electric heating to proper central heating and it just seemed like a backward step to be putting in a new gas system in 2022. Ideally I would be adding solar PV at the same time but I don't think the budget stretches to it on top of everything else. Maybe in a year or two.

I can't help with your question but I have also been looking at "paper composite" worktops eg Richlite, which sounds like it is much the same thing. They look really nice and I like the eco credentials, but even the marketing material says they "acquire a patina" over time, which sounds like PR speak for "soon look a bit shabby", so it would be good to hear from anyone who has used them.

Barkeeper's Friend also helps to fade those black stains - again it's the acid I think. Rub on with a gentle scourer, then leave it for a few minutes. Again though you do tend to then rub off the oil surface finish. The Danish oil leaves a sort of polymerised varnish-like surface, which ends up coming off if you rub too hard, leaving bare wood patches. Where I had a big black ring on the wood (caused by my mother-in-law leaving an empty tomato tin next to the sink 👹) I ended up sanding it back, but I could never quite get the oil finish to match the original part in that area. That was a few years ago though, and I gave up being too precious about the worktops. They are wood, they are going to get used and acquire dents and marks. Of course, if Mrs B would stop writing shopping lists with a biro on bits of paper on top of the worktop and leaving dents, it would help!

Does aluminium do that too? I thought it was steel/iron that left black marks on oak. I have had a couple of black circles where people have left tin cans (steel) standing on a damp worktop. Anyway my experience with oak has been fairly good. I've got an 11 year old Ikea kitchen (put in myself) with Ikea oak "butcher block" worktop. I used the oil Ikea sell, which is called "Behandla" and is basically Danish oil I believe. I took the time to give it three or four good coats with 24-48 hours between each when it was new. It still looked as good as new after 5 years or so, when I was being good about reoiling every year. Then we had kids and it got neglected a bit more, but sill looks OK. The problem is when you do get an area of damage or staining (eg I found it can get a bit sticky, so you end up with print from bread bags etc transferring onto it). If you scrub it too hard to remove a stain, you end up lifting the oil off and getting an area that looks more like bare wood. I tried reoiling those bits but it never quite matches the original surface. We are extending in a few weeks and the kitchen is being enlarged and replaced. I won't go for wood in the new kitchen - I think it's fine if you are careful and treat it well but I couldn't see it standing up to family life in the new kitchen. Shame as I do really like the look and feel of it.

What about installing ASHPs as a replacement for non-gas heating systems? I currently have electric storage heaters and am looking at installing central heating with UFH when building an extension next year.

Unfortunately that's not really going to be possible, as I want to replace the heating system as part of a more significant remodelling including an extension, and I have only just starting getting drawings done for that, so it will probably be March or April before work begins.

I haven't been able to find whether it this grant will only be available for people swapping a gas boiler for a heat pump. I don't have a gas boiler, in fact I don't have central heating at all, just a combination of electric underfloor and electric storage heating, plus electric immersion water heater. Obviously this is very costly to run, but a grant would make switching to ASHP much more affordable. I suspect though that if I am not scrapping a boiler I won't be eligible?

Yes, this is another option. Any idea of the ballpark costs for a loft to bedroom conversion incorporating a bathroom? The internal dimensions of the entire footprint are about 7m x 6m. A bit of trawling the internet suggests that a dormer conversion of that size could be done for around £40k, does that sound plausible? I would still want more space downstairs but that could feasibly be done with a single storey extension to the rear, perhaps extending out to the side. Doing both might well be too expensive though. This would of course also mean that if the planners insisted on additional parking spaces one could be fitted down the side.

Thanks, that's some useful food for thought. I agree about the upstairs layout. The only access really would be to steal some from the existing bedroom 1 and create a new access through where the airing cupboard is. I have had a look at the floor plans of the house at the other end and they did something similar to this, creating a new master bedroom in the whole extension upstairs - quick sketch plan but squashed in to what I could potentially fit in the space: However their new side extension was wider (2.8m internal) whereas I wouldn't have that much width - 2.3 metres or so is no good for a double bedroom. So that wouldn't work! Something like this could be an option - creating a single bedroom at the front, which would still be bigger than the existing third bedroom, with the remainder for an ensuite shower room in the existing main bedroom. Again just a quick sketch so sizes not to be taken too literally. This would require taking out more of the existing external wall of course. I'd still need to find space for a hot water cylinder too if I got rid of the existing airing cupboard. Basically I think the problem is there might not be quite enough width to make the two storey idea worthwhile. Plus of course adding a fourth bedroom might not be possible if the local council want one parking space per bedroom, as I wouldn't get four cars out there even if I paved over every square inch! And of course the integral garage, as with most 1960s houses, is no good for a modern car so we have already converted most of that, leaving just enough space for bike storage etc. @ProDave the extension at the other end of the terrace also comes forward of the building line, although as the road curves it is maybe less obvious than it would be at my end. I'm hoping that with the precedent set there they would have less grounds to complain, although I suppose they could argue that things have changed since 1984 when that extension was granted! @pdf27 Interesting info about heat pumps - that is something I had been considering. If I did go down that route, is it worth combining solar PV (or solar thermal?) with a heat pump? Presumably the main demand for the heat pump would coincide with the lowest input from PV, but then a heat pump would use even a modest amount of solar generated power more efficiently than using it in other ways?

I have considered it but this is a very expensive part of the world to buy in. To trade up to the additional space I reckon I would be looking at paying at least £150k extra, maybe more once moving costs are factored in. A very bog standard four-bed semi can easily be £500k+ at this end of Hampshire. The mid-terrace next door to me (3-bed with a small rear extension) sold for £325k a year ago. The extended four-bed at the other end of the terrace sold for £450k four years ago. But the main reason for wanting to stay put is that I currently have a private mortgage agreement with family (having bought the house from them). If I moved I would have to go to a commercial lender with all that entails (and no guarantee of getting a loan, because a decent amount of my income comes from freelance work). Obviously I am keeping my options open but it seems to me that I could get more space for the same money by extending than by moving, unless of course I sold up and moved to a cheaper part of the country - which I would like to do one day but probably not while the kids are at school.

Hello, I'm looking for some advice on extending my end-of-terrace house in Hampshire. It's the only one in the terrace of six houses that hasn't been extended, and is on a corner plot with a fairly narrow bit of north-facing land to the side. See plan - it's no 48. Ideally I would like to add a two-storey extension on the side to allow a larger kitchen and additional living space downstairs, and a fourth bedroom plus an ensuite to the existing main bedroom (bedroom 1 on plan) upstairs, plus a single storey extension along the rear similar to what the neighbouring properties have. The house at the other end of the terrace was extended to the side and rear a long time ago (planning granted 1984), originally as a self-contained granny annexe which has subsequently been incorporated into the main house. So there is a precedent for a two-storey side extension here. The ground floor has been extended up to the front building line but the upper floor has a setback - see photo attached. Unfortunately I don't have quite as much space to play with as the house at the other end did. The distance from the external house wall to the inside of the boundary wall is 3.6 metres at the front of the house, and 3.8 metres at the rear. Obviously I would like to use as much of this space as I can but I assume I would not be allowed to build closer than 1 metre to the boundary? That would mean adding a 2.6 metre wide extension which would mean maybe 2.3 metres of usable internal space, assuming the existing external wall is still in place. Assuming I would have to set back the upper story to mirror the house at the other end of the terrace that would be more space lost. View of current situation: Existing floorplans are attached. North is towards the top left corner of the plans. There's an open fireplace at the north end of the lounge (currently with a woodburner) and the chimney then rises diagonally, which is what the thick part of the wall indicates on the plan. Apart from any advice on the best way to use the space and what sort of budget I might need, I am looking for thoughts on heating. The house is currently heated solely by electricity (apart from the woodburner), with a combination of storage heaters, electric radiators and electric underfloor heating in the kitchen and bathroom. Heating costs are very high for the size of the house. There is a mains gas supply but it has never been connected and used. I would like to do something greener than gas heating but not if the cost would be astronomical. I gather the RHI scheme could offset some of the upfront costs if I installed a renewable source of heating but I don't know whether this would be feasible with a 1960s house that is not terribly well insulated? Downstairs: Upstairs:

Hi all, I have just registered and been browsing the forum - looks like plenty of useful info to be had here. I am in the early stages of planning an extension to my three-bed end of terrace house which is rapidly running out of space with two growing kids. Budget and planners permitting, I am looking at a two-storey side extension (to add a fourth bedroom and an ensuite to our existing bedroom upstairs, and enlarge the kitchen and add a second room downstairs), plus a single storey extension to the rear. I am also interested in finding out about heating systems. Although there is a gas supply here it has never been connected and the current heating is a an all-electric mishmash that has been added over the years, with storage heaters and electric underfloor heating, and costs a fortune considering the size of the house. The cheapest thing would probably be to connect the gas and put in a traditional central heating system, but I would like to do something a bit greener if the initial outlay was not prohibitive. Anyway I will post up some floor plans soon to get some ideas.