Ferdinand

I'm happy recommending Guides I have found useful, but always treat them with a smidge of scepticism, and sometimes substitute products. If you are starting from scratch there is somethnig to be said for visiting your Wickes and getting a complete set of printed ones. If the Guides were dodgy from big stores, their reputation would be damaged imo.

Found it. Determined boundary - Practice Guide 40. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/boundary-agreements-and-determined-boundaries/practice-guide-40-land-registry-plans-supplement-4-boundary-agreements-and-determined-boundaries Land Reg. eg It looks to be where Charles and Di lived after the split. Apparently GPS is not used.

This LR blog post (and the 686 comments) may be useful: http://blog.landregistry.gov.uk/boundary-questions-answered/ as may this video (and the other five parts) I think you should put an interesting covenant on it, just for the LOLs. "No peacocks, parrots, penguins or ptarmigans may be kept on this land". Ferdinand

The thing you may want is called a "determined boundary" that you can register. A normal boundary relies on "boundary features" to decide the line on the ground. Ferdinand

Like it. How did you embed the video?

The best place to start imo is with a conversation with the Land Registry helpline. They are always helpful to me. You could also visit their office. My local one has free parking spaces they tend to keep quiet about. Rather than bother with "50mm from the face of the fence" (someone will move the fence at some time :-o ), you could go for a measured boundary done via GPS, which will then say exactly where it is. There will be no consent problems if you own both sides. I take it you are fully in touch with building plot (or not) potential. Large walls are rather nice compared to some fences, but cost about 5x as much as a closeboard fence - but if you are there forever... Ferdinand

How wonderful to see officials wanting things done the correct way, and being willing to stand up to "ends justify the means" Councillors making category errors. That is important because it is very very difficult stopping Councils who are doing things unlawfully without laying out 10-50k in the High Court. If this was done over here in the area of rental law, a lot of the inappropriate things shoehorned into Landlord Licensing for the sake of it would be out, and many tenants thousands of tenants would be saved a couple of hundred a year in futile bureaucracy cost. Ferdinand

I mentoned Peter Aldington. I have a blog article about him - Houses are For Living - brought over from Ebuild. There is also a video conversation, here, but the embed below may vanish in a year or two. The first words are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNV1_EKo7Tg Ferdinand

This thread is for examples of architects who can be looked up, or houses that can be studied or visited, to give ideas, details or simply provocation. The aim is to help us self-builders who haven't designed or seen a wide range of houses gain different views or insights. My top recommendations are: 1 - Go on the London Open House weekend, or equivalent regional events. The next one is due on September 17-18th, when hundreds of normally closed buildings, including domestic, will be open. Even Grand Designs Gin Palaces can have ideas that can be used in ordinary homes, and London has many innovatiev ideas because bnuilding is so difficult. My most enjoyable OH day was spent touring 4 different types of Council House built by Camden in the 1970s. 2 - Go and visit lots of houses with estate agents. Be a Nosey Parker. 3 - Look into ideas of not-quite-famous architects. For example I like Peter Aldington, who is known to many but not to me until recently, who designed modern houses from the 1960s that were also pleasant / practical to live in. For me that is the most important feature. 4- Keep a Notebook of Ideas, which could be a notebook or something like an annotated photo gallery on your phone. Ferdinand

I was thinking of those two old men from the Muppets, but that is Wenlock and Mandeville or Statler and Waldorf or something. It is actually Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Projects tend to be 9 months in duration. Or possibly something else involving Oil and Gas.

It would probably have suffered a little like overdone melba toast. I think they use planks not featehredge. Ferdinand

No commnet :-)

Perhaps a fair description would be "allowing people passively to mug themselves" !

Welcome. Is this something covered by Spons? I have always found the Wickes How To Guides useful in specific topic areas: http://www.wickes.co.uk/how-to-guides I suspect we need a Checklist of Reference Sources. You can find our existing checklists via the Tag: http://forum.buildhub.org.uk/ipb/tags/checklist/ I have never used one, but there are cost-estimating services out there. that some have found useful. You could probably also benefit from our thread of savings ideas: Ferdinand

Would this be an application where scorching the cladding would have worked? Ferdinand

That looks like a good plan. Do you have detailed or outline? Depending where you are, and considering the current uncertainty, and depending on the expiry date of your PP, and whether it is detailed or outline, you may want to get Full PP then lock it in by starting development, then take a look around as market conditions may have changed significantly in 3 or 6 month's time. Having given that warning, those look like the type of houses which will rent out economically in most places. Jeremy's incentive scheme looks good, but since an architect could expect 10% or so (that's a guess) I would incentivise them with 20-30% of the saving not 50%. Ferdinand

What is a diving rod? Do you need to wear a diving suit? Or is it the (maybe) obvious divining rod typo? Ferdinand

Nice one. As ever: Detail. Detail. Detail. Detail. Detail. F

Chimney sweep brush?

Bits of this don't quite fit the title, but the sub sub sub forum said it was lonely. I have a small detached property on a largish plot (650sqm) with a long term tenant (5 yrs +). T has asked for a "utility" room, which really means somewhere for stuff for pets, second fridge, garden sink etc. I'm fairly happy to spend on it within reason. The T may well be there for another decade. However, the ultimate logical use for the house will be an extension from 2 bed, 1 recept, to upscale 3/4 bed 2 recept, as that is what the plot will take. Would cost perhaps 60-80k at current prices, and I would more than get it back on sale, but it would be crazy to do that as it would be a terrible rental return and not relevant to the current tenant. A - Going for full PP for a finished plan, and putting the foundations in to lock it in, and either building part of it designed to be a suitable room, or putting eg a leanto garage on the slab with an external grade door from the existing. B - Putting in a single garage for now, then removing later if I extend in a decade or so, with an external door from the existing. The garage could either be a simple concrete sectional leanto, or something insulated and heated. C - Build on a single story extension. That feels like 12-20k by the time it is done. To my eye A looks too complicated, as I do not feel a great need to lock in the PP now. So I think that this is a KISS project, and probably a single garage is the option - ideally one that can be reused elsewhere later. Does anyone have any views on the options. Any recommendation for garage builders? Ferdinand

Does anyone know what happened to the Jet Stream route in 1997-8 for a comparison? I don't know where to find it. This is a Very Strong El Nino year, which forces the northern Jet Stream south, and 1997-8 was the last such. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/tropics/enso_impacts.html http://ggweather.com/enso/oni.htm Ferdinand

I would have thuoght that a good plan would be: For a renovation to get the best angles on prices and timings. Buying a house at the end of the season may save 5-10%, since they may not want to be stuck for 6 more months. Buy in autumn. Renovate over rwinter. Move in or sell your existing house or the new one in spring. For a newbuild I am not so sure. Speculating Have it weathertight by late September. Internal fit and finish over wniter. Landscaping in Jan/Feb. Plant plants in Feb/Mar. But we can't control things like Planning Delays and Services. Questions: Are tradesmen cheaper in winter? What about materials? Does productivity fall when working more by artificial light? Ferdinand

At gloaming, on a night when the neighbours are out, with no wind. Then it works.

The Rangemaster looks quite new - clock and controls look identical to our 2 year old Kitchener 90. t could be worth spondulics if recent. I would move boilers from bedrooms on principle.

Referring to my extra pics, that illuminated shelf (with a separate lightswitch) would work quite well as a light for nighttime. The strip light in the mirror is good, but looks expensive. The previous people in my own house installed something similar Thinking back to the top post with the reflected wallpaper, it would work very well opposite a large window or some plants. Ferdinand