Ferdinand

Good to see it wrapped up. When is the House Party? Burp. A detail that interest me: Does a Council have the power to do this? What were they goung to cancel - the equivalent of an (in England) Building Regulations Approval or the Planning Permission? I am not sure whether in England a Council has the power to cancel. I thought a Building Warrant was like Building Regs, but how can they cancel something that has already been acted on? I can see that they could deny completion, but not how they could cancel the whole thing. Ferdinand

Stockholm Syndrome .

Good. It may feel that all the background work you have done has been time ill-spent. No so, as 1 - It is learning, and 2 - Contingency planning is worthwhile - it could have been different. Glad to hear the news. Ferdinand

Aha .. I had it down as the other. People spend less time in bathrooms than kitchens, so perhaps that is more acceptable? Half of my point is that extra noise may be acceptable to some people eg me and my handyman who did a lot of finishing type work while it was on trickle. Brst of luck.

I think the best encouragement I can point out is that when you needed to build the Maginot Line for your foundations it actually ended up costing quite a few k less than initially predicted. Iirc. I tend to think that your priority needs to be .. as you have intimated ... to be wind and watertight plus other bits, then to pause and focus on the next stages. Ferdinand

Based on your number of £4.2k and an approx area of 23sqm I make that around £180 per sqm fitted ex VAT. That is not a bad number if you get the VAT back. Last year I posted details of the replacement 2G windows for the Little Brown Bungalow in a thread here: Mine me was very similar, but a replacement including fitting, not new and came in at £170 per sqm for 19 sqm. Differences: Mine was more bigger windows, and no sliding door. Repacement not new. Mine was white frame at u value of perhaps 1.5. Assume yours is similar. Grained finish adds 25-50% to material cost. Yours as an upstairs patio door. presumably scaffolding doesn’t as already there. Details in my quote are extended windowsills for possible EWI later (will not happen .. costs fortune), keyed alike for doors, anti-bump anti-snap locks on all doors (necessary in Yorkshire which is the home of the door snappers). Mine includes disposal of old widows etc, which is presumably a cost loading. If you can deal with the VAT issue, get the details as you want them, and the company are OK to deal with, then your quote seems good to me. I will PM you the people I used, who are near M1J28 so may be more in reach than Timbuctoo or Chelmsford. Pay at attention to the finish of the hinges and handles .. white or gold will wear more easily than silver imo.. Presumably you can ask for a little lollipop in order to clinch the order - maybe details as desired and 3.8k to 4K as the price. But perhaps if you change the details afterwards it will add to the cost. Read that thread and run your detailed requirement through these people which will give a check. Mine was 25% below the lowest they quoted in their range of prices. https://www.doubleglazingontheweb.co.uk/ May be worth talking to your local Eurocell as they are a nearly local supplier, based in Derbyshire. Ditto Synseal, but I do not have testimonials for the latter ... @Grosey used Eurocell iirc. Ferdinand

As to ways of reducing the noise level if it is unacceptable, I can think of 1 - Install a sound deadening material on the side of the cupboard, and possible the wall at the back to reduce reflection of noise, and airflow would be via top and bottom. On the side of the cupboard something like a trim strip on the edge would hide the material, though it is in the corner so not noticeable. 2 - You could also add a blanking panel across the front of the gap, either level with the cupboard - even a door that just looked like a narrow cupboard with hinges and a handle, or a panel just fastened on with spring clips and two cupboard handles on the outside so it can just be lifted off, or even a panel using perforated mdf like a radiator cover.corner could be like. A mini anechoic Get the right stuff and that corner could be almost a mini anechoic chamber. Do you have any of that pyramid moulded type packing foam do use with say double sided tape to experiment? Personally I think a trimmed down if necessary cupboard door plus appropriate sound absorbing material behind it would be the most elegant / effective. HTH Ferdinand

I have several of the Low-Carbon Tempras installed and I have not had any complaints about noise over several years, and when I hear them in 6l/s mode I do not hear anything I consider unacceptable. The only differences I can see is that yours is SELV the low voltage option and seems to be installed facing the end of a cupboard, but that should not make a difference surely since the airflow is not direct? Unless that tight corner is acting a# a noise reflected / amplifier. But noise is unavoidably a very subjective thing. Ferdinand

@Vijay One point we have not explored is whether the site is owned personally or as a limited company. If it is a limited company he could be doing it to close it and walk away as soon as possible, so he can get his last lot of money out. Ferdinand

Thank-you for the rapid replies to this question. To reply to comments: I have raised this and it is confirmed that we have the right stuff. 12mm thick, ribbed on one side, dimpled on the other, and has been down for 3 years at the existing gym already. Indeed, quite like horse matting. @Barney12 Yep .. like horse matting. 8x4 sheets would weigh (I reckon, having carried some in the move) approximately 20-25kg each. We must have moved about 60 of them. One issue is that the underside is ribbed, which moves me towards cartridge glue using beads of glue, rather than paint-on. One nice thing about a gym is the muscly volunteers who are around. The weights are made of a rubbery material themselves (haven't enquired exactly what, but they bounce to an extent), and we have had a "don't drop barbels unless a a safety need" practice, since we have been upstairs. I am told that a raw concrete floor would be OK practically, but we take care of our kit and having a matted floor means we keep the lifetime guarantee on the kit. Looking further, that I looks like a small qty of leftovers or post-date, which would be fine except for the small numbers. I have found the same product at just over £7.00 a tube here with free delivery. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004R24U76/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A23QNSXGYIM2TJ&psc=1 I am not a true Amazon Offers nerd, and I am not quite sure how I found it, though it may have been via this "offer listing" (whatever that is in the Amazon ecosystem): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B004R24U76 I do think Evo-Stik have a range confusion problem. Far too many similar sounding glues. Perhaps they are in a livery change - the same product seems to be both black and silver. I couldn't possibly comment. Is this on the option list in your development with the smooooooth kitchens in the other thread? Wine cellar or dungeon - take your pick? Thanks. For this particular application the tub and paint option seems to be working out more expensive, because we would be wasting some glue due to the ribbed underside of the mats, even at 50% or 25-33% coverage. Looks like we are going to end up with three to five lengthwise beads per mat. I have a sample of this arriving this morning which will be tested on our test-mat. Criteria is that it should stick quickly, must not move but should be peelable-off without too much palaver. If this works the cost will be something around £3.00 and a bit per cartridge. Will update with the results of the test. Ferdinand

I think we need an independent witness to this claim. And why has this photo not been published?

I would be looking for a price of about £4-5 ie a bit less than half B&Q, but If it is an alternative I need a sample test quickly.

Cheers. Everbuild Technical Dept suggest normal Stixall General Purpose.

Link? I looked.

Planning Conditions will last until they are fulfilled, varied by another planning application, or potentially until they are ignored for decades. I am just about to get my neighbour to repair his wall under a PC from 2000.

Yes, but there all sorts of principles of law which are assumed in any contract and determine how it is interpreted. These apply regardless.

I need a recommendation for a glue to stick down rubber flooring in a gym. It needs to be high quality as it is a commercial gym. We have done tests, which suggest that a suitable glue is this one, which is in B&Q: https://www.diy.com/departments/evo-stik-serious-stuff-solvent-free-grab-adhesive-0-29l/212376_BQ.prd B&Q have a price of £9.63 per 290mm tube. Since we are looking at about 80 tubes by our estimate, savings are worthwhile. Can anyone suggest either 1 - A more competitive source for Evo Stik Serious Stuff Solvent Free Adhesive or 2 - An equivalent product that is as good and better value. Thanks Ferdinand

The technique is probably to do it on bonfire night if there may be neighbour complications and you have to wait for it to dry. Just don’t let it get rained on in the autumn . Ferdinand

Shred + compost for a year or two?

I.G.Noramus here. What is a profile post, please?

I am annoyed this morning. Once again my washing-up water - the first hot water I have used in the kitchen today - is running warm then cold then hot. And the cold water is running warm then cold. This probably means that the last people, who renovated the house, did not insulate the water pipes where they pass through the zone where there is underfloor heating, and the water standing in the pipes has heated up. A small annoyance due to lack of sweat applied to the detail. But one that is noticeable and about which I can do nothing practically. Boo !

Worth a read - an object lesson in grounding nebulous parts of Planning Law and how it develops under our traditions. It is to do with the application of Paragraph 55, which is designed to allow exceptionally high quality houses to be built in the countryside where otherwise it would not have been allowed. Para 55 used to be known as the Selwyn-Gummer clause because it was introduced by John Selwyn-Gummer back in 1997. Gummer was, and presumably is, a bit of a romantic with regard for gorgeousness in ritual, and for some things Victorian, a Tractarian with a reverence for Tradition and a habit of flounce, and didn’t want the tradition of the country house to die. I agree with him on this, and think that the small numbers of isolated houses built since justify it by their quality. Blair slightly limited the clause by making eco-friendliness more of a requirement. Under 100 houses have been permitted by this method in 20 years afaik, but nimbies sometimes hate the very idea. An Introduction to paragraph 55 is here. As I see it, the decision is about the interpretation of language used in one area of planning law to inform decisions in another area of planning law, which may soften the rigidity of Community Boundaries as applied in certain Planning decisions in similar-but-different exceptional developments eg of three houses. F

Hi. @Vijay As others have said, advice from a relevant solicitor or barrister would be the way if the numbers involved justify it. IANAL, however ... The seller obviously has no obligation to complete the road until 3 months after the last house is completed. Questions are 1 - whether you have a reasonable expectation that the road would continue to be suitable for purpose in letting you complete your house 2 - and if so whether the developer has forfeited any right to claim damages by his being fully aware what the road is going to be used for. if he builds it regardless then perhaps he should do it such that it cannot be damaged by construction traffic that he knows damned well will be using it. Whether this would fall under a ‘fit for purpose’ test or some aspect of Contract Law is beyond my ken. 3 - has he potentially estopped himself from claiming damages by an expectation / implied promise he may have given you that it would be possible for you to complete your house. Suspect it may not meet the test for an explicit promise. As for where for advice. I think I would frame a general question to Planning Aid in an email, and I might even send a short email to Martin Goodall of the eponymous Planning Law blog to ask if it is something he would be able to advise on professionally, and whether it is worthwhile Pursuing. @Vijay, One thing I think it is definitely worth doing is to write to the developer with proof of receipt informing him that by completing his road now it is possible that the construction traffic he knows you will need to drive over it has potential to cause damage, and perhaps that you will consider such damage to be his responsibility therefore. You may not use it, but it gives you a fact on the ground to refer back to just in case you get "but you never told me". Ferdinand

Is there a cost saving opportunity in not using K18 insulated pb? Can it be treated as 2 elements? Would perhaps be cheaper but more interesting to do.

Do you need to keep them as spares for your own gate? Or for a Network Rail Proof one?