Ferdinand

Suggest sitting down and thinking about what you want in your finished conservatory, based on what you want to do in it. Then working back and deciding what needs to go in at which stage.

Looks good. Borg have visited in pic 4. Then a good result. There's always an upside. You can identify the gluttons by their our inability to exit after being fed.

The joists are 8" in depth and stand around 4ft between each other. Not reallly too sure on the fall of the roof (25degrees at a guess) and its a lean to from the main house. Are the gaps left by the roofing shape not enough for ventilation? No I don't think they would be OK because then the flat half of your roof gets no ventilation and you could end up with condensation in your insulation or between your layers. It *could* be alright but better to be as safe as possible etc. Also depends on whether you roof ridges are parallel or orthogonal to the roof ridges. With 8" depth that's not a risk I see you need to take. My opinion is that I would perhaps work with say 100mm or rockwool or similar, stapled to be about 15mm up the side of the joist, which would give you a gap above of approx 80mm. Then you have space to allow ventilation above. The other driver for a larger air gap as I suggested is that the smallest soffit vents I know are 50mm, and structural strength of the perimeter beam needs to be maintained sufficiently. Cladding over the bottom of the joists is far easier than between beams. You have not mentioned that it is a leanto - mine is and my airflow along between joists was towards the wall. I resolved that by leaving a 50mm gap between the tin and the wall, then flashing over with a wider grade of Ubiflex left ventilated at the ends. Depending on which way your joists (and ventilation) run you need to think about the roof / wall join and satisfy yourself that it will work. F

There are too many potential complexities here for me to even try and answer - never mind the COVID regs changes. eg "His 12 month tenancy ended" depends on the tenancy type - if it is an AST (the default) then it would not have ended but evolved into a rolling Statutory Periodic Tenancy., unless it was brought to an end through normal process. But the only way the tenancy could end at present would be by mutual agreement, since COVID restricts notice you could give unless certain circs, and he did not (I assume) give notice ... that does not seem to be the case as he continues in occupation. Just him being there will count as a change of mind on anything he said before anyway iirc. If that is the case and the tenancy has ended, then you have to either enforce (which COVID stops you doing for now unless various exceptions) or accept rent (which will create a new tenancy with god-knows-what terms unless he signs something). If you do nothing it could later be argued that you consented by letting it persist. The pragmatic way might be an exchange of letters continuing the existing tenancy, and you would at least have a defined situation. You need to decide what to do about him lying about your position to the other tenants. One way is to write to them when you know where you are telling them what the situation is. It may be important to communicate your non-consent to what he has done, either explicitly or by doind something else. I would recommend going to a specialist LL forum, or even better joining an LL organisation and asking the helpline. NRLA currently have what I think is an offer of 12 months membership for £75. https://www.nrla.org.uk/join If you evict him without following the prescribed processes it could be criminal. I have no idea what liability you would have if the other tenants chucked him out. HTH slightly. @pocster may have things to add. F

So it is quite happy to sit there under the thunderbox with no lid on the bucket for a couple of months, and the smell protection provided the liquid / solid separation, a handful of sawdust, the toilet lid and the fan (in the case of your posh one)? And if you were composting it would be about 10 buckets in total. Thanks

Cheers.

A question about the compost loo, if I may @Tennentslager.. How often do you need to change the bucket, and do you have dozens of buckets composting? Is it one per weekend staying there say? The application I am debating elsewhere is whether a compost loo is suitable for an allotment, and I thought of this system. I guess the issue will be whether enough compost can be generated to be worthwhile, and whether one or two allotment-holders generate enough poo to fill a bucket quicker than it gets too smelley to be pleasant. Any comments would be most welcome. Cheers Ferdinand

The internet would be so boring if no one used underscores in filenames.

If you're going for 2 x 2m there may be space to make that a shower room, as well. ?

We'll have a competition ... you have been warned. It could be Boaty McBoatface. I'd go for King Canute (newt, innit?).

This is the simplest version of what I did. You need to consider the depth you have and that you are happy with the strength of the front and back beams. 1 - Leave a generous ventilation gap below the tin - 75mm-100mm 2 - Drill 50mm holes into the ventilation space between each pair of joists through the beam at both ends. Insert 50mm soffit vents to keep insects out. 3 - Insulate using rolls of rockwool staple gunned between the joists. Can be pulled apart horizontally if needed. 4 - Electrical wiring as required for lights etc just on the side of the joists. 5 - Clad across the joists using whatever you want to use. You need to think about fire risk if any and perhaps a cladding with a vapour barrier depending on your assessment of humidity. 9mm ply and gloss paint might be suitable. I made it more sophisticated with a vapour barrier above the cladding to keep humid air from below out of the insulation, and a 50mm ventilation space by having a further soffit stood-off 25mm which allowed 25mm ventilation holes and a separated insect mesh on the vertical slot. I used 100mm of rockwool. Critique welcome, but mine is still intact some years later. Ferdinand

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I did something similar but I need a bit more information. How far apart and how deep are those joists and what is the angle of fall on the roof? And is the roof completely waterproof? And is it standalone or lean to?

I'll have 10% of that as well.

Wimbledon Green ! (Or Soylent Green)

There is no such thing as a stupid question here ? . Welcome. You'll need imo to do all the basic structure first if you want the best outcome - because it needs to be all of a piece. Also doing work with a thumper can't be good for your new walls. You also need to know what you are doing with things such as insulation and services in the floor - eg underfloor heating or electric wiring, and have your whole thing planned otherwise you could miss something in the process. So that is stuff like wiring for lighting and other stuff you might want. I have done a couple of conservatories, including adapting a secondhand one back in 2012/13 as a sun lounge, and project managing my own more recently. An important thing in mine was to have tolerance in my structure to adjust some things slightly to allow tolerances for where the conservatory it didn't quite line up as it was supposed to do eg if your existing walls are not quite square. And also to consider how you will manage sun and heat economcally. Do you need any regulatory approval for the way you are doing it eg Building Regs? Some of the more experienced builders on here may be less cautious than me. Ferdinand

Coming back on topic, is "off black" a version of dark grey, or does it mean a really dark shade of any colour? Would (eg) British Racing Green qualify?

They sold their honey, And p*ssed the money on a beautiful pee-green float. That is I think an "Exclusive" colour that cost a few hundred extra on the MAMIL ("Sportline") version of the car. I'd say the aesthetic works on the Mediterranean Coast of Germany, without seeing it in the metal - which I have not done. It would get lost in the underwatered (very) giant hosta. In the full range 11 out of 15 are white, blue, grey or black. Like windows. And two of the others look like grey or black as well ? . Mine's petrol blue, which is darker than that looks on my screen. (At this point, half of BH turns out to have something that colour.)

Slightly surprised you didn't get done for that, absent explicit confirmation from the insurance company that it was valid.

That's 200ml of commission for me then. Good.

Let me add one further note. I see that the commercial property market is in freefall at present - 14% down on 2019. So if you are one of the few groups with the confidence to buy with a known long term use, it could be a significant opportunity if something comes up. Worth - as you say - a monitoring brief. All the best. Ferdinand

Reflecting a little, I cannot see why it would not be feasible. But I wonder about rapid timescales being possible - I suspect it will take as long as the COVID vaccine ie perhaps 12 months - and whether other options may be more achievable in a short timescale. eg Exclusive longer term rental rather than eg a school hall on Sunday (or whatever you do now), buy a disused church or hall and renovate etc. There will be numbers of empty buildings soon - eg numbers of gyms are closing permanently including Councils closing the entire service, and some of those are in portal frame or other industrial buildings. Access to these would be via normal property letting companies. Note that you may have much more flexibility following the changes to Use Classes on September 1st. Check with your Council or Consultant on this. Ferdinand

(* Apparently Acacia Avenue, Tunbridge Wells was the address given by Mr and Mrs James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service) (Goes back to sleep)

On 4, I don't see why you couldn't use eg a maiden name. Or even have a friend apply as agent. Planning permission is linked to the site not the name. I've no idea about the legalities of a pure pseudonym, but I think would be OK. ("Applicant for Demolition of Castle: Sir Oliver Cromwell, 48 Acacia Avenue, Tunbridge Wells.").

The last one will be - a - Sound projection and echoes etc. b - Keeping external noise out. c - Keeping internal noise in if they are the type to have a microphone on the drums. d - Making people who can't sing sound better. ? And welcome to the OP. F