Ferdinand

??? Warm spring in Escocia?

That looks partly like a summer/winter imbalance, and that they are trying to claw back on the basis of 6 months of difference. it looks like a bit of a jump. You may have done all of this next but. I would cross check your actual usage against what they are charging, and decide how long you want to take for it to come back into line. In my experience these payments are negotiable with evidence. You could try for 125 or 130. My payment with a different supplier has just hoicked from 87 to 117, but I owe them £250 after a heavy winter so I cannot really complain, and I only changed last year. I am in the MSE Energy Club to monitor for cheaper tariffs, but I tend to go for large suppliers and fixed 2-3 year tariffs. Others will know more about Bulb. Ferdinand

Welcome Sam. I put a Ten things To Do on my blog in the blog area recently, that may be useful but addresses energy rather than aesthetics, heavy renovation, and redesign. If you were able at some stage to blog here about some of the principles of lighting design, I think that would be really helpful. Ferdinand

I think that demolish and replace is a good option. I think that like cable systems being unreliable at the connections, there are loads of complications at the joint between the old and new in all the different spheres .. electric, leakage etc. And new build has huge tax and simplicity advantages. Ferdinand

there is a lot of value in having a very secure store early on, as it lets you get a lot of things in advance that people might just be giving away. You also have somewhere to store your gibbons (*) and maybe digger, and eg scaffold etc. It could save you from moving some stuff twice. Pros and cons based on whether you save more by having the store or economy of scale. There are often opportunities to get things free. Ferdinand * £&5)=*#*)7 iPad. = gubbins.

As your proposed basement is on the end of a terrace in London, I think you do want some planning advice on the local attitudes and policies. that probably wants to come from a local Planning Consultant or Architect who has been involved in similar. Or perhaps from pre-planning advice from the Council (££). It will not bind them. But may tell you their attitude. I would take probably split it into paid for advice up front on a time basis as orientation, consider whether I needed a pro for the design and planning stages - I would treat those together with a bonus payment for getting planning, and then consider the build. In London I would not want to be left without access to an immediate expert, depending slightly on whether I was paying for expensive infrastructure like scaffold on pavement licenses etc. Ferdinand

Fit whatever was going to be your Plan B for when the boiler breaks (even electric panels or fan heaters(?) ), and get completed with that, then do it afterwards. F

Welcome. We all have opinions. Your job (echoing Mr Bosch above) is to learn enough in your situation that you can me a decision in which you have confidence. On that one, read the contract to see what your rights are. When I talked about removing some of those, essentially I would have had to buy out the next 15 years' cashflow to put them in the same position as if the contract had continued. Hopefully there may be an "out" if you are demolishing. That is one to sort out in advance if you can, as any changes you want to implement may well take months to agree then months to implement (Land Registty and Deeds will be involved). I would lay odds that you will end up either buying it out, or keeping it on. My call would be to build a materials store / workshop as large as you can under Permitted Development in a position where you will be able to keep it as a long term feature of your house, and move them to that roof. Ferdinand

I would say either can work. In a range cooker you may get more bang for the buck if it does what you want. F

Final notes: If you want to play around with this footprint more it will need to be things like moving your central corridor off-centre .. even right against a wall, thinking about a single flight staircase against one outside wall, perhaps move the door to the end etc. Personally, I would strongly recommend getting some input from an architect .. perhaps only one or two days, to give you a different angle. This footprint seems to me to be ‘fragile’, in the sense that the division between “excellent” and “difficult to live in” is quite narrow. As it is a 250k build, 500-1000 on getting it to be as good as you can will be a good investment. Best of luck. F

OK. Try these for size. The best I can do without impinging on client time this week. Here is your original. Here the one with what I said above. In particular: - The lounge is now 6m x 6m, with the dining bit bitten out of one corner. Enough space to play with. - Kitchen turned into a C plan. Plenty of storage with an island the same size as a normal kitchen table = 1200 x 900. I would make the island suitable for 4 or 6 x bar stools for more formal dining ( @jackdoes this kind of thing). I have used the "sit in the 'corridor'" trick; if you are sitting on the stool you do not need the circulation space. There is still 600mm to walk past anyway when the stools are out. I would also make it a surface suitable for major cooking sessions. - Hob on peninsula unit for social cooking. Peninsula 900 wide so space for 4x breakfast bar should you need. under 300mm overhang. Keep 4 stools there, and 2 under island. Sink round corner for fridge -> worktop -> sink -> worktop -> cookers layout. - Store has gone. I cannot see the point of having secure paper files in the same space as a huge water tank and umpteen water pipes. The water gubbins can be in the utility, the secure cabinet is under the stairs in the middle of the house. - All the other spaces are functionally the same size, so no losses there. - Put the utility room and hall door where you like. - The angled wall with the full height mirror is important for making the entrance interesting - so you get a glance out of the big window. - I have flipped the stairs so that the understairs can be in the porch for bikes and gubbins. Also improves space in lounge. Secure store is under stairs - I would make it 750 deep with bifolds, to fit a filing cab or custom unit inside. - The layout around the porch and hall is still a little clunky - needs some playing with. - Windows need reorganising. And a blank for anyone else to play with. Just a few more things to say later. Ferdinand

That's a good, question, @Ralph. And it is a good time to ask it. But in the end you have to define "reasonable" yourselves. My suggestion to answer it would be to consider: 1 - What have you done in the past month that will take place in your new lounge? Write a list. The variety of activity is important here, not the frequency. What, for example, will happen if one of you wants a 5000 piece jigsaw out for a fortnight, or somewhere to work from home? 2 - Especially consider when you have done several things at the same time. 3 - Then do the "cut out cardboard furniture and arrange" thing, considering the things on your list, or ideally take it to lots of friends' places with different sized lounges, AirBnBs, or whatever, and play house. 4 - Then sit down with a bottle and think. (Or you can get Sarah Beeny and her magic LCD floor, but they are expensive - both Sarah Beeny and the floor). Sticking my neck out, IMO it is especially important that spaces exist within the house where a couple can be separate when required, without feeling pushed out. Ferdinand

I've been playing with this plan, and it could imo be greatly improved by questioning a couple of the more fundamental design decisions. How constrained are you to 6m on width? Is that a genuine hard constraint (eg is your plot 7m wide?)? Let me try and explain. I know what I mean, but we think in different styles. Your plan is 6m x 12m inside, and that is a sod of a slightly awkward shape to work with for a modern design without getting quirky. That is the classic proportions for a small play-school house - a door and 4 windows, entered from the middle of the long side, with a hall in the middle and room each side, with a kitchen and staircase and other bits where they fit round that. But, you are trying to get a modern "wide at the back" style layout into it sideways. So you have ended up with service rooms that feel relatively large, and a lounge-diner that you are concerned may be cramped. And the symptom is that it feels too tight for a island, and you are here for a reassurance check. (It is good to be checking.) It is all made more difficult because you have divided your plan into 2 even narrower spaces by having a de facto corridor 1.2m wide all the way down the middle - so *all* of your spaces, except for one, are automatically limited to being 2.4m (8 feet) deep. And that is a heck of a limitation, and imposes a grid feel, from the start. That is why, I suggest, your utility feels long and narrow, rather than square. The long and narrow feel of the whole plan is exasperated by the lengthways island. Not, I think, the impression it needs in the current layout. Classically in garden design, for example, you would divide a long, thin garden into garden-rooms across the plot - not put a straight path down the middle. Same issue. You feel as if you can't fit an island in, because it won't fit without heavily compromising everything else ! But the underlying issue is not the size of the island or lounge; imo it is the limitations imposed on those by the basic size and layout of the floorplan. Essentially as I see you are trying to get a Oliver Hardy into Stan Laurel’s trousers, and the best solution is either to change the trousers, or change the person. Or something will chafe. For a specific example, 6m (lounge) is not wide enough for 2 equal activity zones; it is one space. And if there are 2 people you will always need the possibility (otherwise you will end up with a repurposed spare bedroom or a garden room or lose your upstairs snug to an office/hobby). eg If you have a TV end or a study end, that will need at least 2m (eg small Ikea 2 seat sofa), and your other half of the room then becomes cramped as a relaxing area. How to get around it? If it is a genuine hard constraint, then it can be worked with, but I think the easiest way to improve the liveability of the plan would be to make it say 7m or 8m x 10m, rather than 6m x 12m , or perhaps wider in part. Everything would then become a bit more relaxed to plan. And you would have more space for an island and a more generous (and flexible) lounge. Can you, for example, make it wider (if only in part) by building up to a boundary? Otherwise we are imo into playing with disrupting that central corridor to give you more practical spaces, and thinking carefully about the lounge. Which can all be done, but I needed to ask the fundamental questions first. And finding ways to create spaces deeper than 2.4m. hat is normal for a refurbed house, but new ones are better with the constraint designed out. Sorry. Around here questions often turn into cans of worms . They sometimes even turn out to be useful cans of worms. (If you confirm that 6m x 12m is a hard constraint, I will add a few notes later). Ferdinand

Welcome.

I am going to take the dimensions of the footprint overall as a hard limit. I am inclined to question all those small spaces at the rhs. In essence it is a plan of 2 halves ...ignoring the stairs, 4.5m x 6m on the rhs is services and circulation. 8.1m by 6m on the lhs is living, where you want to spend your time. ie you are living in less than two thirds of your downstairs. I would try and create some space from the right before crunching about on the left. You want the space where you are going to spend your time. I would say aim to transfer 10% of the space ie 1-1.2m to your living space, which will give you a lot more to work with within your existing footprint. Take a 1m slice out of the I think that by losing the store, and allowing the space to go to the utility and bathroom whilst making them taller and narrower on plan, you can gain space for your kitchen-lounge whilst keeping the bath and utility almost the same size. There is also an opportunity to gain perceived space by having some doors at the rhs at 45 degrees. I will need to sketch that, as I find it hard to explain. On perception of space, I would also consider reversing the staircase, so that the volume above the lower stairs is in the lounge volume rather than hidden. That will add a perceived 1m at eye height. Questions: Hiw big does your lounge area actually need to be? what will you be doing in it? Is it one space or two spaces functionally? Please can we see a site plan, with a north arrow? Why does your porch need to be 7ft wide? Does that have to be a downstairs bathroom? (I have one of those, and it is about to be turned into a shower so an elderly parent can move downstairs). A shower room could be smaller. A sliding or outward opening door would let you shrink it further whilst keeping circulation space. I would also look at a slider for the utility. Is that store really necessary? Have you stacked your washer and dryer in the utility to save a unit space? Why does that outside door to the utility have to be so wide? How is outside light going to get into the hall / corridor? For the question you actually asked ?, I would agree with Dave wrt having the dining area at the top, or combine it with the island in a 2 level arrangement as some have here. Or, once you have your extra 1m in your living area, consider a mini L shape on the LH end, and have the dining area there. If you can comment on the various qs, I will do a sketch to try and tease out my thoughts tomorrow. Ferdinand

Excellent focusing question - thanks. It is more exploring whether there is an opportunity for me at this point, rather than trying to solve a problem. It is really - can I reduce my bills further at this point, in a way which is at least marginally justifiable on the numbers (I am always happy to take a slight hit for energy economy)? (Bills have just gone back up again as I am now running heating more for a parent who is heading towards mid-80s. When we moved in in 2013 I knocked them down by a 35-40% by various usual means, but got a small shock over the last 2 quarters as extra usage has taken them part way back again.) I do not think batteries are anywhee near viable for me yet - especially as I do not get eg power cuts and so on, and I am wedded to diesel for my car for some years (towing) - just having bought a new one. For now, it would be a 24 hr capacity (ish) heat store linked to the hot water only, with the water preheating done via a heat exchanger. That is it would have at least one coil plus an immersion heater or two, and the mixing valve, boiling prevention gubbins and the rest. Reflecting, I think I would be happy to lay out perhaps £1000 for the type of saving I mentioned including the Immersun equivalent, and I do not think that will happen unless a suitable Heat Store comes up for a couple of hundred. So I think it is probably futureproof and wait until one is taken out by a Sunamp Enthusiast, and have it on the "ebay swoop" or "returned to seller" list, and provision where necessary. I will also take a look at Shower Waste HR devices, but these may be tight for my setting, and still seem to be seriously overpriced. I also need to provision for a buffer tank, which does not currently I think exist in my ufh system, unless it is in hiding. Cheers all. Ferdinand

Indeed 10kWp of solar and 5500kWh of energy. I am doing bathrooms, so I am thinking about what else would be appropriate at the same time. It may be that I in fact do nothing now about from a little provisioning. Ferdinand

I am looking at adding a Heatstore and an Immersion type device whilst I am redoing my two bathrooms this summer. The position is: Currently I have a big solar array (10kWh, generating approx 550 kWh per year due to E/W alignment and a measure of shading) No Immersion diverter as I have no convenient heat sink. Big combi boiler (Worcester Bosch Classic Range - the biggest model). Not relevant, but modulates down to 35C. The boiler is quite new - 2-3 years. Combined UFH/radiator downstairs/upstairs heating driven from the combi. But no buffer tank in the heating system. 2 x elecric shower, 1 x shower, bath etc driven off the gas. No problems on space in the Consumer Unit etc. Most of the plumbing is in the right places, and I do not plan t be digging too many holes in walls apart from the bathrooms. Current bills are more or less £1000-1200 a year - half gas, half electric. Showers are used everyday, bath several times a week. Mainly use the gas powered shower. I am thinking about: Adding a heatstore and immersion or i-Boost, to make better use of the solar. Putting in provision for a buffer in the ufh, which willrequire inserting a couples of pipe runs in one of the bathroom refurbs. I can see that in the future I may wish to replace the boiler with a ASHP - space is available for that. Questions: Can I use a heat store in a straightforward way in this arrangement? eg can one be used to preheat water to the combi like a Sunamp? I am aware that a Divert-device will be about £500 installed, and should potentially give me £150-200 of electricity a year (perhaps), which would replace perhaps £60-75 of gas. What bill am I facing for a potential heat store? I estimate I would want one that would do 1-2 days usage. There are currently 2 here but it is potentially a house with 3-4 or a family. Am I missing any tricks? Really I am trying to think about what can usefully be done at the same time as bathrooms. All comments will be gratefully received, as thus is not an area where I have good gut-feel? (Potentially I can move some solar to the South to get better performance, but that requires me to get a car-port past the authorities - which will not happen any time very soon) Cheers Ferdinand

For a reason or reasons unknown to me I am about to pen a short piece about cats. I think it is mainly because @AnonymousBosch posted a picture of his supervisory cat, here. Now, that cat is a lot of things, and whilst allegedly Jellicle (ie black and white), is not so. It is clearly a Rum-Tum-Tugger - particularly given a penchant for using 'playbites' as a slightly abrupt management tool. It is also the fault of whoever did not tell me about the statue of Hodge, the supervisory cat that used to own Dr Samuel Johnson, when I was living in the City of London back in the late 1990s. As reported by Boswell: 'I recollect [Hodge] one day scrambling up Dr. Johnson's breast, apparently with much satisfaction, while my friend smiling and half-whistling, rubbed down his back, and pulled him by the tail; and when I observed he was a fine cat, saying, "Why yes, Sir, but I have had cats whom I liked better than this;" and then as if perceiving Hodge to be out of countenance, adding, "but he is a very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed."' I need to record somewhere that a statue of Hodge now exists in Gough Square, outside Dr Johnson's House - just around the corner from where Cafe Opera used to exist in Fleet Street. Cafe Opera was just what it says - reasonable Italian Food whilst being serenaded by Opera singers earning a crust on the side. (Credit Mrs Woffington, who's current blog, which seems unfortunately to have stopped in 2010, is here. I will assume she found a congenial Latin teacher who now occupies her interest). The oysters, upon which Dr Johnson used to feed Hodge, are a sign (in 2019 anyway) of a very supervisory cat. Whilst I'm jabbering about this area, I recommend that anyone wanting to get some amazing ideas for Garden Design take a tour around the two dozen pocket-parks in the City of London. These are genuinely delightful, complexly small designs, and deserve a profile as high as the collection of City Churches by Wren. Greyfriars Bobby, never mind Paddington Bear, eat your heart out.

Welcome. I am sure that this has been done before - I recall a conversation about one, which may have been here and buried, or another forum. I would be concerned why noone else seems to have done one or even a small extension in the block. May point to lease or freeholder issues. I would also be concerned as to what was underneath the garden. If there is anything going through the middle of it then you have a problem opportunity to innovate. I cannot see anything that has been done in the street, but adjacent streets seem to have that type of extension - especially backing off properties on the main road. Nice green area. I think it would be wise to keep *some* garden - perhaps a semi-basement bit with a roof garden on top for part of it. As you seem to back onto commercials it may be possible, and could give spectacular light into the remainder. "Outside space" is not as good as garden, but it is far better in Lunnon than "no outside space". Ferdinand

If you are drawing lines between bits you do and bits the builder does, you need to be very sure indeed that nothing falls in between - as you are then taking responsibility for ensuring that all bases are covered.

Camel? I suppose the other solution could be radiators. [Update: What about a herd of dehydrated elephants: They are good for pushing things through conduits. Why not this?]

Bit close together for dowsing, perhaps. But I would love a video of you trying to persuade SWMBO of the method' efficacy, whilst perambulating around your toft brandishing a hazel twiglet. >the best way to fix penetrated ufh pipes ? You dig a bigger hole than the one you just made, and apply posh elastoplast. There was an example on Grand Designs: the Street in one of the episodes. It was, apparently, (metaphorically not literally) harrowing. F

I am not sure what the room is for, but you could - if you have to - suspend the staircase from the ceiling beams. Perhaps a bit drastic. Or you could potentially sit it on the floor, held firm from other sides, with some sort of pads beneath. That would avoid digging or drilling holes. Ferdinand

I would run a few tests if it is into the Duracell matrix. I have successfully fixed wallplates for a leanto conservatory with Thunderbolts. Walking on the roof for access was fine. If it is fenceposts in sockets into the slab, I would make post holes instead - they will wobble otherwise. Also, prices on these type of fixings are *very* variable - cast a wide net. Ferdinand