Ferdinand

As discussed upthread, I have a Wagner Project Pro 119 machine. New is 700-750 £££ If still in production. Probably lowish end of pro range vs the upper end of DIY range cited above. it it is described as suitable for independent professionals. Power 720W. Pressure to 200 Bar. The 15m pipe is worth its weight. IMO key things are practising - allow a day to get to grips initially .. on eg a shed or garage, paint choice, and not reusing containers ever after they have dried. Each time it gets bunged up with gloopy paint or crunchy bits you lose 30-60 minutes. Overall you will spend more time prepping than painting, but it is still 5x quicker. On paint choice, I have used Leyland Trade and Valspar successfully, and also paint from professional decorating companies who do major paint jobs themselves, making sure that it is the same stuff they use. I have tried Dulux once, and it was too claggy for my machine, despite Wickes claims that it was OK. Was something in the formulation. Total disaster that bunged it all up and we ended up using rollers and 3 extra days painting.. TEST WITH A SMALL 5L pot first. Never Dulux again for me with this machine. NEVER. JSH has a more DIY machine that may be a little less demanding. NEVER put new paint into an old container that has dried paint in it. Your nozzle is about 0.2mm and it will block. Even of you use a bucket get cheap ones and switch to a new one as soon as any has dried on the old one. Ideally open a new 10l paint container and use it completely each time. If you have a half left, start anew nex5 time and leave the other for brushes and rollers. On an example of how fast these things can paint we did about 4 coats on a 30m by 7m average height wall within a 24 hour period from a staff tower, starting from the raw breeze locks. This was doing up a 7000sqft industrial unit in one weekend. But you will come to your own policies. Ferdinand

1 - I meant the tiles for the main floor - but I take your point. When I did a couple of student houses a few years ago, I used a commercial wetroom product for the main bathroom floor just to be thorough, tanked into a deep 1700 x 800 shower tray for the shower. That has lasted 7 years so far, but we get very sensible students. 2 - Horses for courses, as discussed on the thread. 3 - The guy has been doing stuff for us since the early 1990s. For me putting the knobs elsewhere would have involved serious chopping into walls, which I have avoided. 4 - Will consider that. At present there is usually someone here. And there's another: Time for water to run warm. (Mine is only about 6m pipe run from the boiler) F

Last call on this furniture. Piaggo Zip currently at £350. Drives and rides 1:45 to go. https://www.bidspotter.co.uk/en-gb/auction-catalogues/william-george-auctions/catalogue-id-wi412608/lot-5e2c5af3-b5b9-4b26-8757-aa5400a7a38a 1 x 1 X STROPICCIO VASE Currently at £80. 1:50 to go. You know you want to.

Congratulations. Or "oops".

Returning as promised to @ragg987's checklist. My assessment of what I have done is in red. bathroom door next to the bedroom - Yes. bathroom door opens outwards so cannot be blocked shut by a fallen body. No, but 2m clear inside as next to stairs lengthways on. toilet next to bathroom door No large toilet flush plate https://www.designerbathroomconcepts.com/geberit-bolero-dual-flush-plate-gloss-chrome.html Normal dual button flush. large comfortable pan and seat Yes. non-fiddly toilet roll holder Yes. space for wheelchair when needed Yes. sink fixed to wall with clear space underneath to permit wheelchair or seated use Vanity unit as desired. generous walk-in shower flush to floor https://www.bette.de/en/produkte/duschwannen/detail?p=Floor Yes. Not flush. Room to raise floor or fit false floor + ramp for wheelchair accessibility when reqd. wall-mounted grab bars all along shower wall and just outside Croydex straight and angled Yes. ABS plastic fluted - screwfix unbranded. fixed overhead and hand-held shower heads Yes. easy to use shower and sink controls - large knobs or handles Yes. thermostatic mixers on sink and shower to prevent scalding Yes. Also 56C temp set at boiler hinged seat in shower (really nice and strong, no sharp edges, needed noggins in studwall) https://www.sam.de/produkt/0043120010-sam-freeway-badausstattungen/?lang=en Yes. fully sealed floor area to minimise issues when water get everywhere Yes. low-level sensor night lighting https://www.slv.com/en-uk/luminaires-lamps/frame-led-230v-curve-led-indoor-wandeinbauleuchte-2700k-1000574.html na but sockets well placed if required plenty of general light and specific fixed light over sink Yes. wall mounted stuff to keep floor clear, including toilet brushholder Still thinking about. We have since had to supplement due to knee surgery and have added grab bars around the toilet - free-standing / frame type - as issued by the NHS free-standing stool in shower - issued by NHS In reality, the bathroom does not look specifically adapted (apart from grab-bars in shower) and will serve well for able-bodied people, for instance if we wanted to rent it out in the future. This should help with niche rental markets. Extra bits not on the checklist: Textured non-slip tiles on the floor, if using tiles not wetroom. Vertical grab bar to hold whilst showering. Positioning of shower seat in line with rainfall shower head. Consider grab bar positioned low where person can potentially lift themselves back up if they slip. Keep enough tiles to be able to switch it back later, or to show future buyers of house that it can be reversed. Long coachscrews for shower seat; at least 75mm into loadbearing wall (add 25mm for tiles + dot-dab). Consider risk of heavy visitors or family damaging shower seat by "plonking" onto it. If there is a privacy bolt, make it one that can be undone from outside in an emergency. Educate your fitter as to which way to turn knob on shower to test shower wand rather than drench himself with the rainfall. Consider shower room alarm. I'll do an after the fact article on the blog. Ferdinand

My elderly person is about 4 ft 10 so a normal loo Is comfort height. ? We specced the height of the shower seat by matching it to the loo. I am quite impressed by those booster loo seats which clip on top; seems like a good practical answer. Have not done the detailed sums yet, but it looks like around £2500, of which half is materials and perhaps half labour, with about 250-300 of the materials being accessibility aids. Though we have retained the previous whb and storage cupboard. That does not count VAT back if I get any. F PS Our shower room is being finished this am, and so far it is 11 different wall tiles which will need replacing should we ever reverse the changes for accessibility. or we will be the shower room with the most soap dishes in the most peculiar places of any shower room in the whole world. However, the wall tiles were free from a friend and I have loads of extras.

@ragg987 Can you comment on these. Do you mean this kind of thing? (I love the 'magazine rack' - just right for 101 Things to do with a Dead Cat.)

Do I reread this correctly, you are contemplating putting a tiled floor or a concrete floor on top an existing suspended wooden floor with ufh? I think the concrete is not in the picture, unless as a shower tray support ... which I would not advise as it is a bugger to deal with when there is a leak in an inconvenient place. Can I suggest a reset with a wider requirements statement incorporating the whole bathroom? You are after something more more like ufh with spreader plates, plywood both ways to stabilise enough for tiles, maybe a lUxury Vinyl floor etc. IMO. F

Hmmm. What do you actually want to do? You say C1, but also ‘residential’. C1 is Hotel/ Guesthouse not a dwelling, which is C3. If you mean a residential institution such as an old people’s home then that is C2. There are 3 different versions of C3, and also Sui Generis (= of itself or none of the above) for larger HMOs. Clarification needed. Given this is Buildhub, I think you probably mean a single family dwelling house, which is C3(a). On your qs: 1 The Local Authority is the right place to look, but Probably ask for Business Rates, not Planning. 2 You can also obtain more information by putting the premises address into the link provided by @Mr Punter, which is the VOA who look after the Bus Rates database. The most useful bits of info will perhaps be the Description, which will give you a clue as to what they think it is, and the Local Authority Reference, which should be a key to the LA database and help you talk to them about the correct building. Though always cross-check with a second factor eg please read back the address. There is a lot more info there if you dig a little. I believe that B1 to C3 is permitted development, subject to other restrictions. So once you have your info send an enquiry to the general Planning Email address and phone again. There is a gym near us who believed their Agent, and have now discovered it is B1 and they are operating unlawfully. You DO need to get this right, or you could be in deep schtuck.. Ferdinand

This week I have been introduced to a grout colour called Jasmine, which is about the same colour as Uncooked Yorkshire Puddings, as a better colour than white or grey to use with cream or lighting tiles.

Is that not one of those places south of Watford, somewhere?

For estimating heating and energy bills, you would probably be better off with the @JSHarris heat estimation spreadsheet (which does not currently seem to be where it is normally linked from here http://www.mayfly.eu/). EPCs are not a reliable way of estimating energy costs, especially for non-typical houses. However you can get a trial set of one version of the software that will let you build a complete model. Same page for link. Ferdinand

Mine (on my accessible ablutions blog piece) has screed but no ufh under the shower, installed by the self-builder who did the house and the waster is sunk in a little but also proud. It goes through to the garage over the slab, so should I ever need level access I will build up the rest of the floor, as I did not want to start digging holes. I think another way is to leave a lower area in your slab or screed. I am sure @Nickfromwales will be along in a jiffy. Ferdinand

I don't know - there may be an answer. It could be that that is a simplistic example , or it could be that there is an intention that in the interim there be a cross-subsidy as housing prices adjust as they see their model etc. Ferdinand

This would require someone to have chosen to make a list, and no one had the time ?.

A further gable going backwards would give a *lot* of space or a very dramatic room - if that is what you need. Personally I would incline towards either a single storey roof over the garage, or the full gable, as a more balanced looking design. The single storey would match the conservatory / sunlounge better. Ferdinand

Incidentally I tweeted pretty much the whole team to ask about what happens when the market value of the property is less than the rebuild cost, which gives a negative value to the piece of land on their example calculation. (Land Rent being the the theoretical rent you pay instead of Council Tax for the site your building stands on. The theory being that there is some sort of cedible process which separates the land value from the building value.) From page 42: This is the query: @georgemonbiot, @L__Macfarlane, @guyshrubsole, @beth_stratford, what happens to land rent when the Rebuild Cost is more than the value of the House? No replies so far. eg in the North and Midlands there are significant numbers of properties where this is the case. Ferdinand "

Without applying it to Monbiot himself, deliberate misleading implies a certain degree of competence to have a clue in the first place - which is often patently not the case. As @AnonymousBosch comments, the choice between ignorant vs manipulative vs stupid is a tricky judgement to make.

@le-cerveau This is a post with a useful summary from Slough Council copied from another thread: Useful summary from Slough Council: Ferdinand

This is for @newhome. How do I claim the VAT back on eligible components of this bathroom I buy directly? I tried to get Screwfix, for example, to rebate me on the Shower Seat but it did not work. The individual does have a chronic condition, and should therefore qualify. The VAT link is here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/reliefs-from-vat-for-disabled-and-older-people-notice-7017#evidence-show-customer-eligible But how do I make it work? Ferdinand

I have ordered some of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017O89SG2/ and a Mira Premium Shower seat: https://www.screwfix.com/p/mira-wall-mounted-premium-shower-seat-grey-chrome/8104g The shower seat feel extravagant but the user will be sitting on it, so it will be the thing that most affects comfort. Ferdinand

Run the Covered Yard or Way past your architect; he will not know what one is, just like everybody else and the law. Would love to hear his perspective. When I did one I just tried to make sure it wasn’t anything that was regulated, and I have not been challenged so have not had to test my arguments. Reading a previous thread of mine, I came across the Planning Officer Serenade. Does yours love you, @Lesgrandepotato?

Not quite clear what you are planning here, but it sounds like a Covered Yard to me. Class 7a exemption from Building Regs. If it s actually a Car port open on 2 sides that would be exempt under 7b. If it is not a covered yard put 2 doors in and make it a Covered Way. AIUI a covered yard or covered way can be fully enclosed. Presumably if you make it 8m x 3.74m you also avoid PP. I would think about your glamming pod later, but make the structure strong enough and flat enough. What do you plan to do in it? If you can get a car in they are likely to argue it is a car port, which should not have too many implications. Unless it is enclosed on 3 sides ? in which case you suddenly need BR. F

Unfortunately it is a panel door, and the panel is far thinner. In theory I could screw something right across, but I would prefer to avoid more screw-holes. The best idae I have is one of those concertina racks, but I suspect I have thrown about 3 of those away in enforced tidy-outs over the years.

Degrees of Accessibility. We do not need wheelchair access - which would have required rather heavier digging into the slab, including the ufh, than we would do now. And the waste pipes are badly positioned for doing that. If push came to shove we could raise the floor 100mm in the shower / whb / loo are, and have ample space for a 1:12 ramp on the way in, or a 1:18 ramp if we reverse the door. There are also other alternatives; personally I like Ski Jumps. Thanks for the read.