Ferdinand

If it is a specialist tile shop used by the Trade, then you are probably safe asking the storekeeper what his tradesmen use and for their recommendations. As a rule of thumb, the powderered stuff in bags that sets in a chemical reaction is 10x better than the stuff that comes in tubs from DIY sheds - especially for moist areas. If you are buying to use not store, then they may let you take a bag extra and return if not used. Think about your sinks. Waterproofing agents and so on are b****y difficult to remove afterwards (being waterproof ) - so do not wash anything in even a poor sink. A couple of years later I still have a couple of globs of turquoise PrimePlus screed pre-treatment in my utility room sink which I cannot get off short of sanding or using something like a pickerawl. Use disposable containers. You have a paddle mixer, I trust - either one of those things that goes on your drill or a cheapie bought from LiDL etc. They need a surprising amount of torque. And remember to switch the drill to "slow" :-) . F

I think DPP is 2 years if it is an extension of an OPP. Not 100% sure. Where's Caliwag when you need him? F

Further comments. Make bedroom 1 triple aspect. Sitting room could be a good playroom with a glass or part-glass (or electro-glass) soundproof (?) wall to the kitchen. Take the terrace into the sun lounge, or perhaps make it a winter garden. We have roughly that arrangement for our lounge / conservatory / kitchen with two lots of doors in our conservatory, and when we added it (in the plans but the previous owners ran out of financial upside in the recession) it was transformative. Our forum maven @recoveringacademic is building a winter garden, so you can look on his blog. Ferdinand

Hi again, @Ed_MK It is fine to post a portion of a document (or somebody else's material) for criticism and review under Copyright Law. This has been a slightly involved thread. I think what we are all saying is explore the detail and take care, as these are potentially shark-infested waters (so to speak), and it can be easy to get bitten by some element of officialdom making an erroneous assumption as they may be out of sync with what has changed (or not). Let me make a note on terminology, ownership, and rights for future browsers - you seem to be quite well up on it yourself perhaps having learnt from your experience (!), and know how to find answers if not yet what all the answers may potentially be. This is long but I hope helpful. It is based on my experience so may not be totally complete. This is about England but should be more or less valid in the other UK countries. "Adopted Highway Land" as I called it is land over which the Highways Authority (perhaps as the County Highways Department) holds rights. They do not need to own the land, and in may be rights that were put in place eg half a century to allow for widening a road or even a motorway. In the case I mentioned above, the owners of the gardens had assumed that land between their fences and the surfaced pavement was part of their gardens and had forgotten that it had been designated Highway Land back in the 1970s or before. "Adopted Road" is a road which the Council has accepted meets the required standards, and has taken on as a public road to maintain. "A Classified Road" is (I think) one with an alphanumerical designation eg B612 ot A12. An Unclassified Road is one without an alphanumerical designation. Whether a road is classified can have effects on what the Council can and cannot stop you doing. One example is that a Councll Planner informed me that they could not stop me installing a gateway / opening onto an unclassified road, but that I may need Planning Permission for a dropped kerb which must meet accepted official specifications (defined by I think the District Council - presumably part of the regs for "adopted" roads). (Aside: that opens a fascinating opportunity where people have a garden level with the road but no verge on an unclassified road ... can they just create a new driveway? Interesting rurally but also where the front of a house is on (say) Railway Cuttings or a noisy main road, and the back is on a nice little unclassified lane. Can a self-creared driveway - and persuading whom it may concern to change the address - give a value uplift?). The points for you I think are: 1 - Your road adoption, and possibly land ownership etc has changed, and that people may get the wrong end of the right (or wrong) stick, and apply regulations to you that may not apply in the circumstances - because they are confused. You may need to inform them of what is the correct situation. Or your argument about what is the correct situation may persuade them to do what you want. 2 - There may (or may not) be opportunities for you to make creative use of this ambiguity to achieve what you want to achieve. 3 - There is a difference between ownership of land, and the existence of rights over it (at which point we get into Rights of Way, Easements and different types of Wayleaves). The ownership of the subsoil may be unbundled from the ownership of the surface - see the parallel with ownership of mineral rights etc. In the case I mentioned the developer was within "highway Land", and so had no need to negotiate expensive agreements with the frontagers to purchase 3 feet of land to widen the road. 4 - The Council can restrict how you do your development and what you do in the future via Planning Permission, subject to Planning Law, but there are things which they may neglect to restrict (but would have if they had thought about it) that you may be able to do in the future. Ferdinand Examples of possible ambiguity maps from Norfolk County council who have a useful online service in this area. Highway Boundaries and features: Eaton Street, Crindleford, Norfolk is an example just picked off the map. Map of Highway Land - Rights are, I think, over the green shaded area. General View from Google Detail from Google So where is the boundary of Highway Land, and who owns what? Are the various boundaries at 1, 2, 3, or 4? I can see how the householder could come to regard up to say 2 as part of their garden, even if wrong.They may even own up to 2, but the Highways Dept have the right to turn it into a wider road. It could be anything, and in fact the householder could well own right up to the middle of the road, but with rights for the road to exist on that part of the land. Looking at the next one along, that fence could be a creative garden extension, where the extra bit of verge may even have been claimed under Adverse Possession. through exclusion of others for a number of years. But adverse possession affects ownership not Highway Rights for a wider road or pavement to be added later. Solution In fact, if you look at a slightly different map and photo, the highway land stops a couple of houses along. We still cannot tell who owns what, however, without checking the Land Registry. But it shows how easy it is to be confused without doing the homework. I would like to see that Highway Land and the wide verge used as part of a safely segregated cycle track.

Where are you, @Neversaynever, roughly?

TBH I would also think about talking to the Highways Agency and ask them for the map that shows Highways Land, which will be a green area marked on a map of the road boundaries. I have forgotten what the map is called ... Adopted Highways Land perhaps. That may be a double check as to what the Council has acquired (they may be overloaded and make a mistake). We had one consultant overlay this with several sets of deeds to prove where some things actually were, and that Highways Land was not part of a couple of gardens. The person to talk to is the County Council Highways Officer for that one. Be nice to them because you cannot compel cooperation iirc. Ferdinand

Doesn't @Construction Channel have a video about DIY underpinning? Edit: (Which is only an illustrative demonstration of the sort of work that you might want to do to reinforce your foundations were you completely mad and doing it yourself).

Welcome.

I do not think you need the sand (which will mix with the gravel layer) unless someone has specifically recommended it, and the membrane needs to be below the top gravel layer, above the base. For the quantities above, I think you need to be buying by the lorryload straight from the quarry. We can probably help with expectations on pricing. You have not mentioned edging. I have built two gravel drive areas in the last couple years - one used Harvest Gold or Grape Nuts or whatever it was called, and the other used normal 20mm at 1/3 the price, and I can hardly tell the difference. I was astonished. That may be a feasible option, if you find a supplier who you trust. Questions: Are you self-building it? Do you have access to a digger and whacker (for sub base)? Can I suggest that you post a table of materials, and estimated quantities/prices, costs of people / machinery if you are using them, and the grid system you are using, and we will see how much we can chop the price down :-). Ferdinand

Which way is North? And could we have a block and site plan, please (roads, neighbours, plot) ? I am assuming N to top, Principal Elevation tob ottom. At a canter, the playroom wing looks too much of a rabbit warren with 7 different rooms having bits of it. I think I would look at putting all that circulation space to use, and configuring that wing for easy transformation to an annexe / grannexe / teenage or twenties self-contained flatlet or the future. What about: 1 - Take utility into playroom, and make playroom full depth with French doors onto "play terrace" at the top. Also potentially a huge second lounge. 2 - Turn hall/larder into utility, with washing machines etc and storage in big cupboard along one wall such that it can still look respectable. That will get you 2m more useful wall in kitchen - use hall door. 3 - WC straight off utility. Put a shower in it for muddy dogs and children etc - and suitable for annexe. 4 - Put porch over back door outside. Put larder in the corner, accessible either directly from kitchen or via porch. 5 - Take entrance hall RHS into cloaks, and make it suitable to be a study or musicroom for whatever uses you do not know yet. Put a big built in cupboard in it for cloaks, If you wanted access for that could be via door at bottom of stairs into a walk in alcove - far enough away to allow a stair lift space (though a downstairs potential convertible flat may allow that disabled requirment to be suspended). Others. 6 - Perhaps a draught lobby on the front door, or stoop. 7 - I am never convinced by upstairs offices .. it means you have to take a hike whenever anyone arrives. They need to be near the main entrance door with a view of the visitor from your desk. 8 - Circulation to the sitting room is .. er .. circuitous, especially from the kitchen. I would perhaps put in a (lockable?) door (or doors) to the sun lounge such that sitting room / sun lounge / sitting room can be transformed into a single 75-80 sqm party space. Or maybe a camouflaged door if you want t to be a withdrawing room.. 9 - I can see that the evening terrrace might be nice with a partial canopy over the bifolds (bifolds ... aaargh! Leakity-leak), and that a morning terrace might be nice outside the kitchen for the sun at breakfast (assuming N is to the top). 10 - I think I would want a front to back limited through-view of some sort to fascinate visitors on arrival. Not sure where to put it :-). You seem thoughtful - you might enjoy a read of Jim Comrie's design notes for self-builders for varying perspectives. http://www.ebuild.co.uk/blog/5/entry-394-house-design-notesagain/ Ferdinand

What did you say the postcode was?

In this case one point to at least be aware of is that no one tries to enforce the more demanding visibility splay rules for Highways on you, as opposed to the easier ones for Streets. That may or may not be material, depending on whether there are bends in your road (yes, I know ... MK !).

Just having a side-debate with Jeremy as to how "charges for access" are legally possible. We divert sometimes. Apologies. The Milton Keynes quip is remembering how hard it is in MK to find houses there for the trees. We used to go down when my dad was building the 'ice cream cones' in Bletchley Market.

You will need proof that they are adequate, which would be a surveyors report plus probably digging test pits to demonstrate it to the BSO. If you are having a pre-pack Timber FRame 1st storey added that should perhaps come as part of the feasibility study / assessment. Ferdinand

In general they would get access by prescription after 20 years use. I think cases mentioned will be either when permission has been given and is withdrawn, or in the case of Common Land. eg This one where the National Trust were the owner of the land, and people had not checked their deeds and facts sufficiently well when buying. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/3319695/Going-home-Thatll-be-8000-please-.-.-..html To me it seems a bit strange people with 400k or so homes having had hundreds of percent value uplift complaining about a 2% charge to regularise their access. I can see they would be cross, however the charge is a relative fleabite. F

In MK you could remove 4762 trees and no one could tell the difference... @JSHarris Hope I am not nitpicking, but how did they buy land which wasn't owned by anyone? Who was the counterparty? Was the enforcement just a scam?

That roof batten looks pricey. Does itwhat type is it? My current price for 25x50 in the posh coloured versions are 48p plus VAT per m run, 38p for the general purpose. It will only probably save £15-20 mind, if that. Ferdinand

Check it carefully. Our sale was delayed by a couple of months because the purchaser's solicitor refused to believe that we had a right to drive over our verge, despite having been there and doing it for 35+ years. The problem lay with the lane having been realigned by a few m away from the house in 196x to accommodate the M1 build and the MoT taking certain powers and potentially retaining certain rights, and providing documentary proof 4x years later. Eventually they accepted that we had the right by long use. F

I would strongly recommend deciding what you will be doing with trees, and *implementing* it before you apply for PP, but after you have dealt with potential show stoppers around drainage etc. If you have a TO who is getting hung up on technical definitions of hedgerow bushes the size of a finger, then you need to limit their scope pronto by removing some things. AIUI these tiny trees only come into play when dealing with woodland TPOs as one particular judge made some peculiar decisions about tiny saplings being an essential part of the wood's future and therefore must all be controlled by the LPA. It is not clear whether the owners of consuming goats or sheep or beetles should be prosecuted. The rules may have changed, and I could be mistaken. A hedge with 3 or 4 larger trees is probably going to be a better quality long term hedge than something much higher, both from ease of maintenance and growing things next to it points of view. You want some sun to get through it imo; this is not Mirkwood. For hawthorn I would say get it traditionally laid, but telling the layers what height of hedge you want for the hedge itself, and leaving a few small trees for birds and the white/pink blossom. What colour do they flower? See if the hedge layer will adopt you as a oppo for a day or two; it is a fantastic skill to appreciate. Ferdinand

I would modify that slightly to be "as much information as you think you will *need* to provide to let the Council make their decision". It will say "built in accordance with drawings x, y and z, reports p, q, r and s, and conditions on the decision notice". It is up to you what is on drawings x, y and z and partly in reports p through s depending how you brief your advisers. There are tradeoffs. If it is not in your PP your Council cannot hold you to it - eg someone here had trouble when the manufacturer changed the design of the front door from the one shown on the elevation to their new design, and the Council planner chose to pick at that particular nit. Or if something marginal (eg specification of expensive landscape feature) *is* in the PP you are likely to be able to be able to include it in the part of your expenditure for which VAT can be reclaimed. They cannot be disturbed by things they do not know, and it is ambiguous what you have to tell them in many areas. The house I am living in at present squeaks up to the boundaries on both sides. Examining the plans I cannot see boundaries clearly indicated. On one side there is only an unlabelled line which appears to be the far side of next-door's drive. Was he misdirecting the Council? But it is all a judgement call and situation dependent, and you are wearing the wig and gown. Best of skill and best of luck . Ferdinand

Welcome. Site levels is not a thing I would skimp on -- since it is the foundation of everything else anda survey is not really very expensive, at perhaps £400-£700. In your case I would have a survey done of the whole thing, including the existing, relevant points on the road etc, since that will hardly cost any more and you will need to know how your drainage trenches etc relate to the existing garden. You want to get a copy of the full digital model so you can give it to all your other professionals, and to make sure there is no restriction on your use of your model. Surely we are now also at the point where such models can be 3d-printed ecoomically? Has anyone done this? Ferdinand

Welcome, but probably one of our Skye or H+I self-builders will be best placed to answer this questions.

If I were going for a cabinet or traditional larder (ie relying on chunky walls), I think I would want it outside the thermal envelope, possibly as part of a 'porch' or 'utility' area covering the back door, and also use the space as a bike store, possibly a cool room for shaggy dogs, wine store etc. Another example of how it all needs to be thought about in advance. Ferdinand

Personally I like the invisible cat . Do you know how I can turn mine into one? Welcome.

I always meet the pet first in its own previous home (which gives an opportunity to inspect the home and owner discreetly), then usually set it up such that the dog tenant is responsible for the decorating - so if the hound eats the wallpaper there is no pained conversation about replacement costs. If a T stays for 5 years, the Deposit Schemes have depreciated items such as carpets and decorating to a notional zero anyway for the purpose of arbitration so you won't get anything back for those items anyway even if you went full bureaucrat on the tenant. Ferdinand