Ferdinand

@BenF After a little more reflection, some more detailed comments. It would be useful to know: 1 - Do you have PP or can you still mess change it easily? 2 - Are you in a regulated area eg conservation or eg listed? 3 - What standard are you planning to build to? If it is anything like well insulated you will have thermal and solar gain issues with all those south-facing windows and skylights, never mind the aggravating factor of having the proportions of a bent narrowboat broadside on to the sun with essentially a glass wall on that side . 4 - Skylights? Personally I think those skylights look not-very-attractive and a bit scattergun. 5 - Is the back straight on to the street? 6 - Are your slates reclaimable? Hopefully your architect is already talking about solutions. She seems to have quite attractive pricing at about 6-8% of project cost (based on her website). Possibly Clare Nash is one to consider for others here. My thoughts. 3, You need to think about shading and brises soleil. And the low height makes that quite demanding. Technical solutions such as anti-solar film are available, but I would also consider something like an orangery / veranda / winter garden / arcade (see eg Italy or Spain) along part or all of it. Were that to be combined with a partial screening wall further out in the courtyard (no reason why it needs to be totally solid, or straight on plan) you would get a courtyard garden sun trap hidden from overlooking where you could cavort in private to your hearts' content, while keeping rooms private. You may need to move the entrance in the courtyard wall more away from the house. That would also help with overheating in the autumn / spring. For the veranda I would consider a roof made of solar panels at a shallow angle which cannot be seen from the ground, or with eg a 150mm high edge parapet. Thermal modelling will be important. 4 - I think those roof windows would be better on the North side, so that quite-deep rooms had lighting both sides. Roof windows give much more light than wall windows. You may be able to drop the slit windows entirely. You also would not have to look at them from your garden, and the solar panels could be tidier. This rental of mine uses a similar principle backing on to a public path: It is discussed in this blog entry. The rooms are approx 4.5m deep and the back-side roof windows are transformative. 5 - If it does back straight onto the street, and you choose the wrong finish, Gorbag the Graffiti Artist will potentially have a ball, and Lobelia the Licensing Officer could make you pay loadsamoney for scaffolding licenses to repair/maintain it. 3ft of your land outside there would make all the difference. Tactically you could maintain it while the Council were not looking. More effectively you could leave it like it is now and perhaps just repoint, or finish in powerwash-off anti graffiti paint. 6 - Reuse if possible. Assume you are planning this. Ferdinand

Welcome. It seems to have the right orientation. Is solar planned? You will certainly get fit going to bed .

I meant the spray gun part, and empty of paint. SO the only thing that is not done is the full half hour cleaning routine,

@daiking Unless there is a show stopper I would go with something as close as possible to the right place already. They will presumably be LEDs so no significant load from the lights, though you may want to consider an external socket on the patio wall too ? I am not sure what stance a lecky would take wrt to certification with a cable he has not seen installed underground, without appropriate evidence or supervising the install. Could the correct type of isolation via a master switch internally or water-certified external junction box put it outside the scope? One way I deal with Ts wanting external power is to supply a proper outside double socket by a professional electrician with an internal master switch, FCU or separate circuit from the CU, and leave them to do what they will outside. PS Plan B Fit a duct / drawstring and let the electrician pull his cable through. F

TRusting that your sister is not called Theresa. As the bishop said to the wrong actress of the twins ...

I think ours is left in a bucket of water overnight and is fine. Would not leave it for several days, but the amount of masking means that I would block-schedule it anyway.

Real men do not pee in showers. They might use a chamberpot, though.

How is it possible sensibly to test a fake result, short of the Council employing a person to dig another hole? And how would it be enforced short of expensive inspections and/or compulsory sample drilling? And how would simple bribery be prevented? And it would have to pay for itself. Ferdinand

There is a good thread here with a lot of experience I have standardised on spraying but am still in search of an ideal paint for the finish coats for refurbs. We have not yet achieved the speed quoted above but it os certainly very quick. The thread describes my experience and others. I would be interested in the comments of a pro like @Glynn - especially on kit. Perhaps a thread merge? F

Agree with RA approach. But I might do a short and blunt summary first.

Think ar least slightly about potential complications that may happen later on a sublet supply.if eg you sell one house and not the other. In your circs I would do it though. Effectively you are borrowing the splitting cost from yourself in x years time, as the purchaser in 20xx will deduct it from the price. Ferdinand

That is the proof that Trump is also an adjective.

Oooer. I think I am keeping clear until after your 4th beer. (But it looks OK to me. Friday problem at Building Control?) It happens I just submitted representations against a planning appeal - deadline is midnight today. If you want a good night's sleep I can send you my document to read. F

A useful little checklist I cam across on my local COuncil website for people planning to object to a Planning Application, or trying to make a Planning Application bulletproof. What Is A Planning Consideration? Should you wish to comment on a current planning application, the following lists shows other considerations that will and will not normally be taken into account when considering a planning application Material Planning Considerations - what is normally taken into account? Relevant policies Overshadowing/Loss of light Overlooking/Loss of privacy Scale/Size Design/Appearance/Materials/Layout Dominance Highway/Pedestrian safety issues Traffic generation Site history Noise/Disturbance/Smells Local character Conservation (historic buildings) Loss of important open spaces Drainage issues Wildlife (particularly protected species such as bats or newts) Landscaping and trees Loss of important physical features Potential conditions Non-material Panning Considerations - What is not normally taken into account? Impact on property values Private property issues such as boundary dispute, access rights, damage caused to your property by a third property Matters covered by other legislation such as Licensing or Building Regulations The perceived morals/future intentions of developers Loss of a view Competition (ie new competitor business starting up) The above lists are by no means exhaustive but give an overview of the types of issues that would normally or not normally be considered. Link: https://www.ashfield.gov.uk/residents/planning-and-building-control/planning/what-is-a-planning-consideration/ Yay Newts! Ferdinand

Still check the trimming margins. If you over trim the door may come to bits, and you would have to trim some more and remake the door bottom from the first bit you cut off .. removing a slice. If the bit where you weakened the last bit of door structure is too thin a slice, then the recreation is tricky. I got overenthusiastic on the Little Brown Bungalow with high quality 20 year carpet underlay and we had to extra trim 2 doors. Fortunately they were the two with extra leeway due to opening sizes. All the others were nearly down to the quick.

Check the trimming margins do course. Some are very minimal.

If you now have time, then take time to look around after you have found out what is involved, and avoid the distress purchase. If your T is on LHA then they may qualify for a funded replacement given that your current one came over with the Visigoths (nearly). There was an RLA one with a non-means tested pot of money from one of the Green Funders available recently. No idea of the current status. There is currently a scheme with a £400 rebate on replacement boilers running. And finally look out for 10 year guarantees that are on offer from time to time at no extra cost. if you let your plumber choose his schedule at some time in the next 3 months, and get the T to agree to it being done when somebody else cancels with a phone call at say 8am or the night before, you may get a reduction in labour. The last 2 I have had installed have been a Worcester Bosch Greenstar (my default) and an Ideal Vogue. If it is all that old, then perhaps you need a powerflush or new rads (not necessarily pipework). Ferdinand

I would like to see the exact product identified and linked there .... the same chain may have others that are fine. Ferdinand

You and Yours sounds like a route, too. Or local paper. Though you could try the slooooowwww complaints route via what (used to?) be called Overview and Scrutiny.

I think I might involve the MP, now. I think I would also ask for chapter and verse on that rule and the law that permits it. Councils doing things unlawfully on the assumption that it is too difficult to stop them (or because their staff are not sufficiently knowledgeable) is routine. At present, Liverpool City Council's Landlord Registration Scheme is up sh*t creek because they are trying to require landlords to do things that are against tenancy law or beyond their powers. Many, many Councils are heading the same way by requiring LLs to sign up to regulation by Councils that will require them to supply all sorts of private info about Ts and neighbours in violation of Data Protection Law. The penalty for non-compliance is to not to be allowed to be an LL, and potentially a Civil Penalty (=fine levied by Council) of up to 30k. To take action requires High Court or Judicial Review, which is 10s of k to do, Ferdinand

@MikeSharp01 Going to disagree with you a little on this Mike. Timber Frame is significantly offsite, in that large parts of house are factory made and arrive on a lorry. And the UK timber frame share of new housing is now over 25%. Eg https://www.pbctoday.co.uk/news/planning-construction-news/timber-trends-report-tops-previous-years-growth-forecast-beyond-2018/34474/ For self build it has a majority share. Do we need to talk about types and degrees of offsite construction? Perhaps we need to think about preinstalled modules and services, where I agree we are nowhere near there yet. F

Thanks all.

I recall that there is a software package that someone used to model exposure to sunlight throughout the year, and I think fall of shadows. 1 - Can anyone give me a name of the software (or website?) and a link. 2 - And can anyone recommend a consultant who might do such a model. I need to make a submission to the Planning Inspectorate about a 30' x 30' blank gable about 6m from a kitchen window, and want to model the impact on sun and light as part of a representation on loss of amenity. Cheers Ferdinand

Obviously install the conduit before the roof gets on if you can, with a drawstring. (for future readers).

OK. Email lady with what you think she said. Or to reception with a request to forward. Put a time limit on it ("please confirm that my understanding is correct by date X"). On day X+1 email the Head of Department as has been suggested, with the account, and "requesting clarification" or "confirmation that the Valuation Office control the list, and that the Council will stop trying to charge CT on my property"). Potentially your local councillor may help with this. Or wait until the system grinds through. Ferdinand