Ferdinand

Anything except sorting the wall properly is a sticky-plaster, and asking for dry-rot. As it is, he may already be requiring an upgrade under building regs.

Yes - perceptive comments. I reckon a completely gutted bathroom there, and doing things with plumbing and walls would be the best part of 10k installed by my bathroom man, depending on finishes etc. If I start retiling the shower area etc it could be another £1250-1500, which I would rather keep in my pocket. If I cannot hang on to the shower screens, which should be possible by turning the RHS one through 90 degrees, that could be another £500-1000. I am hoping to get something attractive and stylish with a 5-6k spend including labour, which also has to cover gutting the subfloor, new Electric UFH, and a new tiled floor. The current shower area has an Electric shower at the LHS, and a gas rainfall one at the RHS. The plan is to repurpose the RHS to be a supply for the bath, and leave the other exactly where it is. I do not want to go cutting into walls right round the bathroom. Moving the loo is impossible, as the soil pipe goes straight towards the outside form there backwards. But much of this will not be clear until the floor is up.

Thanks for the 2nd go. Yes there would be space in the window. Generally I like a mirror over the sink. However, that would mean quite a bit of extra plumbing and general moving-around, which I aim to avoid if I can. I may play with the possibilty in Sweet Home 3D. In my ideal result, I would not disturb the existing walls too much at all. Whether that is possible, and how far ..? When I have gathered my thoughts I will have a conversation will the fitter about everything when he comes to do the downstairs bathroom first. Thatbone is less complex as it is basically a bath to shower swap. This one is due to be done in the summer; the other in April or May. Cheers ferdinand

As a potential buyer, I would be OK with a non-signed off PP as it can be "Lawful Development Certificate"-d and is basically a paperwork thing; a non-signed off Building Regs completion would give me the willies - especially on a self-build, as it is about the quality. And I would probably put you through more hoops than Building Control. By the time it was done you would feel like a performing sealion. The concern would not be an indemnity policy, but rather that I would need to be satisfied that it was not going to go wrong in some fundamental way. (Bonus para: One way of thinking about that is that for a buyer it leaves you with a newish house that has the "unknown" risks associated with an older house, reintroduced. You do not know what is there, and what might not be sound. That is assuming that BC completion is a decent measure of "sound") So, more acceptable for a forever house, but your children might get annoyed later. Ferdinand

My bathroom needs a refurbishment because a whole line of tiles has cracked, I think due to moisture-induced movement in the subfloor. In my last article, I posted some photos of the current arrangement, and possible ideas. This is just thinking out loud about a couple of possible layouts. As ever all comments are most welcome. Here is the current layout, which shows the plan but does not include the full set of posh bits (eg shower here is a wetroom area with showers both ends): and 3d-view Here are my two ways to incorporate a bath, and replace the wetroom area. Personally my preference is for a location in the window, though perhaps with no door to the shower. Whilst I think this is stylish, the other option below is more practical. IMO this option would need something of a more solid barrier to separate bath and loo. 2 - Bath in Window Area / Reduce Shower Size This option uses a double ended bath as shown. 3 - Bath in Alcove / Reduced Shower Size This has more intimacy, and would probably want a single ended bath, due to the alcove. The alcove into the hipped roof: And a photo of the dormer window alcove, which is 1.5m wide.

Does this mean that the drink-taken has worn off? /beergoggles

Welcome. IMO Facebook does not really preserve things, so get to know us for a few days then perhaps start one here. BTW there are a few blogs here that may be useful .. including the Scooby Cottage Renovation of a cottage renovation, though that is in an English Town. Mine is more general - God is in the Details. There are plenty of others. I am unanimous that yours should be called "Here be Dragons". But you may disagree. You really can't spend too much time doing homework in advance ... given that mistakes on paper or in your head are the least expensive. Ferdinand

Why not start your newel post in the basement, and have it spanning 1.5 or 2 floors .. or run it right through to the ceiling?

Lovely word. >tegula, tegulae declension: 1st declension gender: feminine roof-tile http://latin-dictionary.net/definition/36839/tegula-tegulae

Agree with that. Same here except for particular locations. It is about finding garden plots.

Calling me barmy is a compliment. Barmy is a word well used around painting ceilings.

You are on Buildhub, therefore...

In the past steel doors from AJ Doors have been recommended as being secure and reasonable for both internal and external doors in garages, as have Lathams. A J seem to have folded into Latham. Lathams: https://www.lathamssteeldoors.co.uk/ You want a powder coated one. F

Welcome Roger - ask away.

Probably to avoid being heckled by Billy Connolly making "sssssssss" noises as he talks about his bowels !!

I like it. Mucho admirationo. How do you manage your keys? I use these: https://www.toolstation.com/key-tags/p44638 and these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Uniclife-Covers-Assorted-Colors-Identifier/dp/B072N7S8GD and one of these: https://www.toolstation.com/sterling-key-cabinet/p56674 In the spirit of zeroing in on the detail, is this the one with the map wall? And I love the nod to the Auld Alliance with Rene Artois: "it’s tome for a new chainsaw". ? My IPad still does that by default. Excellent stuff.

It is more "when were the plots secured". The McCloud programme was mooted in 2015, and perhaps they were offered good prices to make sure it started strongly, and to make sure they got the TV coverage.

Interesting, Taylor Wimpy are the only construction company I have seen try to engage online via social media with those ranting on about hedge netting and how evil developers are. There may be others. F

Welcome to the club. Can you give us a rough area where you are? Say County or nearest town. My top tip is to give yourself headspace to make sure it is right, even if that takes more elapsed time - most self-builders only do it once so you have to get it right first, rather than learning from your mistakes. Ferdinand

Email sent to sales@gravenhill.co.uk, which is their only obvious email. F (In case anyone is despairing, I am not THAT much of a nerd to know this off the top of my head. I think it came up in consecutive search results in the Google snippets, while I was tracing up the spec of the chappie's Thermal Roof product from The Street programme, and then checking that against the required Specifications for Gravenhill.)

Just for interest, a brief extract i came across from the Design Code at Gravenhill: https://www.self-build.co.uk/graven-hill-plot-passport-explained/ That line highlighted in red seems to me to be encouraging solar gain, rather than limiting it - as is more the need in well insulated houses. AIUI the solar gain factor (ie amount of energy from sunlight that gets through to the inside) should be below 0.5 in a highly insulated house. eg from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_gain However, this is not my specialism and the difference may be marginal. Ferdinand

They call this an "integrated soap dish", which I would call "shelf in the side of the bowl to keep the wet, messy, things off the floor". The hand basin which I like turns out to be called a Mila (the current B&Q range seems to be named after a team of Balkan Gymnasts). https://www.diy.com/departments/cooke-lewis-mila-single-bowl-countertop-basin/1677739_BQ.prd I would be after the 800mm wide version for around £100.

Cheers. My go-to for the last few years has been the current half price offer inside the door at Wickes for porcelain tiles, or my local good Trade Supplier Tile Town near M1 J28.. That has been reduced slightly to 40%, but you can still get a further 20% off that from the Trade account and the payment side. Ferdinand

I am now happy that Roku and the very limited Freeview I can get meet my needs, so I will be cancelling the Virgin bb / phone / TV service from next month, and preparing to move to one of the Phone / BB twin services where there is more choice. Thanks, all.

Does this Street have a name and a postcode? Planning docs might be interesting... Update: It has a set of Lat and Long. This is on Google Maps, showing the location. I think the sharpest point for me, as ever in self-build, is the blunt amount of money that is required. Even here, with plots that seem to be a chunk less than the later ones, they are still needing to raise £400k, which means perhaps more towards £500k for later plots. And that a single retired teacher, who has a long career in an ordinary - albeit professional / public sector (ie pension not at risk) - job, could do it. I do wonder about people more my way who do not have the property value appreciation. It's the old equation in self-build with a slightly different context. Ferdinand