Ferdinand

For amenity value, it would be remove the willow and keep the oaks, as the willow ha a short lifetime and the oaks should last hundreds of years. Is there a survey indicating remaining lifespan? Also weeping willows have a habit of growing sideways substantially. F

Via a not very expensive CO2 meter, which is reporting values up to the 000s in the kitchen. Reduction is slow ie hours - but quicker when ventilation applied, such as an open window or a cooker hood on max. Humidity has been normal. I have RH meters in the room as routine. It reads roughly that - 440. Will try it outside. It is one of these, which is cheap so I mogjht be inclined to get a better one before I commit to spending money. However, ventilation is arguably inadequate anyway - there is no kitchen extractor other than the cooker hood: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09MJ8KPZK F

Yes - but it's not one with the hall and landing stacked in the same space. Staircase runs off at right angles to the hall.

I, and my regular tiler for decades, have always used a regional supplier called Tiletown, who are based in the Midlands with an online presence. But I have always valued being able to go in to the place and ask lots of questions. So I would suggest look for a trade supplier you can talk too candidly. So I suggest go for who to ask, as well as a brand. Find your tiler by local recommendation from clients for past good work, and then take their advice once you are confident in the person. F

In the quotes above we also have no clarity with the definition of curtilage This 2021 version links to a definition on the Scot Gov website. Curtilage curtilage is not defined in the 1997 Act or 1992 Order but it is accepted to mean land which is used for the comfortable enjoyment of a building and which serves the purpose of that building in some necessary or reasonably useful way. It need not be marked off or enclosed in any way. Normally the curtilage would relate to the property boundary of the dwellinghouse. The 2020 version - rejected by the Chief Planner for the other point - is different. I think the second one was a summary written by someone who did not have enough knowledge on this point, too. So we should use the first, although that is itself ambiguous in its use of 'private space', which puts a small time bomb under regulations which we have (at least in England and my LPA) about required private amenity space * for a dwelling. It looks to me as though using that definition one could argue that private amenity space can be in public view, with a fair shot at winning. Ferdinand * I used that to stop one of my tenant harrassing neighbour from recasting his bungalow as a row of 3 flats when he was moneygrubbing.

The roof is actually quite strong - it is 2-ply chipcutter polyprop across 6x2" joists, and can be walked on with care (I always do them robustly). The plan is to put a couple of 8x4 sheets on it, which seems OK. I hadn't considered acros - that would be a good idea if we need to do that. That chimney pot will come down in bits. It is perhaps less difficult to access than it looks - the front to back outside dimension of the house is 3.8m, so the roof is *really* small. Thanks all. Ferdinand

I need to improve my ventilation, and I am thinking about options. My house is a 2010 extended-upwards-sideways-and-backwards bungalow with three bedrooms and a bathroom in the warm roof - and I only have a limited number of remaining triangular roof spaces to play with. The house is reasonably well insulated, but was not targeted for near passive renovation or similar standards. One driver is checking C02 levels, which in a couple of places go up quite high, and do not come back down again swiftly (==> more ventilation should be considered). I do perhaps have room for the MVHR unit in the garage or planned to be extended utility, but also have limited spaces in which to put the ductwork etc. downstairs. Clearly an MVHR needs balancing etc, but how much benefit will I lose by not installing one in all rooms, if I can get to say 2/3 of the house? Perhaps an alternative is to adapt a strategy of a PIV upstairs, and constant HR low volume ventilation downstairs. I'm going to need to spend some time thinking about this, so I'll welcome any thoughts from anyone who has not quite been able to do a full MVHR, or has installed one in an older house. Cheers Ferdinand

Just after a sanity check on a price and job proposal. Meet my chimney which has been dropping bits of mortar for a few months. I need to have a chimney reduced to just below the protruding course and above the flashing, and capped / ventilated as per usual. As you can see access is a little awkward, and will ideally need to be done from a roof ladder, since scaff would require the leanto roof to be dismantled or finessed. I couldn't easily find a roofer willing to do such a repair job. I do have a a pro-handyman who has just done a good job removing ivy growth from a roof (so I have reasonable confidence) offering to do the job in one day with one colleague for £450. He confirms he has the proper insurance. I'd expect a bit of incidental expenses on top, but does anyone have any comments. Is this a decent price. The chimney is low at approx 20ft height. Any comments would be welcome. Cheers Ferdinand

PIVs usually have an minimum inlet temperature at which they cut out to prevent making the house much colder. Likely to be something like 5C. Alternatively, some have a heating element in the airflow that can be switched on. I presume that may also be triggerable on the temperature, but I have not checked any models. F

That sounds like an argument for *precisely* why they will use complex electronic control. :🙂 Now having read the spec, the max power usage of this Combi Microwave is listed as 3.25 kW, which is a lot.

Does anyone have experience of one of the Bosch "Built-in microwave oven with hot air". Does the hot air make a difference eg does it do air frying? eg https://www.bosch-home.co.uk/product-list/CMA585GS0B#/Tabs=section-technical-overview/ Ferdinand

Looks good. Now to hope no one hops over the rope anyway.

Someone's gonna be busy ... 😁

Where have you put the bell? Like the look of that.

Looks tricky to get a ladder up there to treat it by the pool.

Our Jeremy thought about this didn't he? He decided that if he popped his clogs unexpectedly there was no way in the universe that anyone else would understand his house, so his wife would be beached. So he wrote a manual.

Hmm. Presumably a poor man's Air Fryer requires a hot air paint stripper and Henry's Bucket with a hole in it.

Wishing you all the best.

Welcome. Ten minutes from the beach is wise in Norfolk ! If you are insulating heavily and airitght-ing, you *must* think carefully about ventilation, or you could end up with too much damp. What are your plans? When did you get PP, and do you have to / have you met the June 2022 Building Regs changes? Ferdinand

Haha. I just did a @jack. Have been running the gas for 30 minutes in a couple of radiators to slight-boost the bathrooms first thing, manually - then I run the heat pump for a couple of hours to generally boost the house when the solar comes on line. Left it on for 24 hours by mistake 😁.Time to set the timer. I make mine a ~ Midlands pint at about £3 plus a bit, whilst I made Jack's a Southerner pint at about £6. (Working on gas @ 80p per m3, which is about right, and lecky at 33p per kWh.

Very few food mles, then. Or are those for the customers?

What's a Donkey Kebeb? For information, I have a horse striploin in the freezer awaiting my attention.

Ob obscuring. You may also probably want sticky film on to obscure. Your call whether to remove later. I used this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00RDVE71W/ Still OK 5 years later. F

I would STRONGLY recommend against Lleylandii. Those are thugs that end up 60-70ft high without constant hacking. It is a good arboretum tree, but a poor estate hedge. There are far better options for coniferous hedges available. There are some in the appropriate sections of this page: https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/hedges/choosing But some BHers will have experience. Also, ask at your local garden centre. F

OP has stated that they will be built many years apart. But yes - everything needs to be very carefully thought through.