Ferdinand

That's a shocker; they have been a fixture of the North of Scotland for half a century. For those not familiar, they are (were) a major regional timber frame building company, with a turnover of around £200m. Devastating for Stuart Milne himself, who had delayed retirement to try and pull them through the post-Covid trading environment, and for the employees. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-67918029

For shower screens and trays, usually Amazon or Ebay - or outlets of shops or traders on Ebay. Quality is important but brand not particularly for screens, but yes for trays. The difference is huge between such and retail on shower screens. For shower panels brand first then outlet second. Large variations and quality of install is very important. You can now get good quality with no ply, and can expect a 20-25 year life if done properly. For grab handles etc Croydex are reliable. From Screwfix usually. If they get wet, textured plastic or some sort of grippy-when-wet cover - *never* chrome grab handles in a shower. For showers I go with MIRA for electric, or more generic if gas. Usually deals are around. Always shop around, and savings of 20-50% are common across the same item. For wall storage cabinets I shop around and go for ones made entirely of stainless steel. Another one with huge variation from one shop to the next. My experience with iKea is that the metallised legs on their vanity units develop rust quickly, so I am imagining the one in my bathroom two to be Corten steel, grinning and bearing it for a few more years. I do not have a current handle on taps - I am this week replacing a whb monobloc mixer which I think was a Bristan, bought from Wickes at admittedly half price, but which is leaking around the bottom after just 7 years, so a Trade Rated one from Screwfix will be going in as a replacement to avoid pfaff (rented property). If you are dedicated to a single well-advertised well-known prestige brand, you will probably get your nuts roasted on the flames generated by your bank account being burnt down. Have several quality options, then look for a deal.

That I think is very good comment. Without any commitment to supporting a practical and rational level of regulation / enforcement, everything else - all of it - is mere weasel words.

1 - The elephant in the room is existing buildings housing stock which are far bigger emitters and a far bigger question than newbuild. The Govt have stopped improvement in its tracks by cancelling eg required improvements in EPCs in rented property, and are resiling from application of the same principle to owner occupied. I think purely because they believe that that will appeal politically to Mr & Mrs Nimby and Mr & Mrs Daily Mail Reader. By comparison newbuilds are rearranging Titanic deckchairs. 2 - These proposals seem to include no improvement to newbuild wall / ceiling / floor U-values, because 'it is not cost effective'. 3 - Seem to be replacing SAP with a New Energy Model. This to me is problematic as we need to be in line with other European countries. 4 - It relies heavily on decarbonisation of electricity supply, but does outline essentially no fossil fuel heat sources in the future. 5 - I see no prospect of this happening, bearing in mind the approaching General Election this year.

You missed out SMART Goals. Which are what seem to be currently ruining football, and causing Manu U to keep losing - it never being Man U that causes Man U to lose. 🤠

TBH not sure - before I had a half round section attached to the wall with its far edge just my side of the halfway point between the windows since 2017, covering height approx 150mm to 1m, as an anchor for my mesh fence. Perhaps it has been cleaned in line with my side of that? (I can't be wrong in my call on the halfway point, can I? - It would have required one side or the other to have changed the window size.) I don't think I have a photograph showing that section, even reviewing the Little Brown Bungalow renovation thread which applies to this dwelling.

TBF it's not an inch. After very careful conversations someone has demonstrated that they cannot find the midline of a row of six bricks, and overstepped - which says either it was deliberate, or someone is being at least inattentive. The normal course of events after something like this is that more abuses will follow, unless it is nipped in the bud and *soon*, then consent will be de facto assumed for the next item, and dissent ignored. The thing that concerns me is not a boundary dispute - which it is not since it is as plain as a pikestaff - but the argument in 10 years time when the next one goes in and I want it moved back. Having said that I have long term tenants, and next door are a couple of oldsters there for the duration managed by their somewhat confrontational 5x or 6x son; it is quite possible that my Ts and the couple next door will do nothing awkward until someone dies. A "light touch" way of dealing with this would be to write a letter stating that for this fence I am giving him permission to put his fence on my land to shortcircuit future disputes; however I am not sure if that is sufficient - which is why I asked the question. Perhaps I need to say that as it is on my land it is my fence. Another one is whether this is a one-step-and-done thing, which means I can cap it off without concerns for the future. Since it is a rented property things can easily happen that impinge without me finding out for a couple of months. Still mulling. I can't let it go entirely uncommented. @saveasteading Is the correct position of the other end obvious? Eg right angles from the house? I'm not sure yet. I'll check next time I'm down there perhaps. Since it's a bungalow I can't go upstairs and take a photo. If there's a serious angle it will make me more likely to challenge.

Can I ask for opinions on this one? A neighbour living in the other half of a pair of semi-detahced bungalows that I rent to a long term tenant wanted to install a post and panel fence, for 'security'. He had an attempted break in because he had a big hedge at the front leaving the garden unsurveilled and no gate on his side-path. i.e. nothing to do with the fence, but hey-ho. I removed some overgrown bushes which had grown across the boundary, where I also had a low wire fence. My comments to the neighbour before their operations were to explain that my fence was on my side because that is what is required, and to make sure that their new fence was on *their* side. Fence having been installed and inspected I find that their efwitted plank of a fence man has (photos below): 1 - Put a concrete post right up against the house wall bridging the damp proof course, which is just ignorant and amateurish - disgraceful for a so-called professional. (My technique here would be to a) leave a 5" hedgehog width gap to protect the wall, or b) attach a wooden post to the wall starting above the DPC.) 2 - Put it exactly where my fence used to be i.e. against my wall in my garden. Seriously - what sort of steaming idiot cannot see where the boundary is in a pair of semis? My questions: a) How to tackle this? Clearly it could turn into a big problem if left to lie. b) Is that damp-proof course bridge a serious issue on the outside of a cavity wall? Technically of course I can require him to move it, or on failure so to do can have it done myself, send him an invoice and pursue via small claims if unpaid. But what is a sensible answer here?

Welcome. We are mad. It helps.

In my experience Building Control themselves are quite approachable - if you have concerns they may be able to clarify.

If you have teenage children who like over-long showers, and a sufficiently Machiavellian mindset, is this an opportunity for lifetime indoctrination to short showers? Just asking .... 😇.

I think this thread highlights well the importance of homework - including asking questions that we think may be naive here. It also highlights the importance of our ASHP market developing, and the industry continuing to grow.

A couple of reasons - one simply that laths come in 5m lengths and is inexpensive, so there was enough! And I decided since it was a rental it would make sense to protect the celotex everywhere rather than just by the door. I was referring to this one below, but I think I misunderstood slightly in that it does not save depth over a single 18mm thickness; what it does is make it monolithic.

Does the @JohnMo idea give you depth to make your 20mm of insulation a bit thicker? When I wanted to insulate above a (wooden, suspended) floor for a renovation for a tenanted property back in 2017-18 I did somethjng similar. I couldn't go down (but could do some underfloor insulation), and I was replacing doors without redoing door lintels etc. My height limitation was that modern doors are not as trimmable as might be assumed. The best trimming margin I could find was ~60mm combined off top and bottom. *Watch this point* . My layering was 25mm insulation board, slip membrane to stop allow movement / stop squeaks, 18mm OSB (gaps of ~6mm between sheet edges iirc), then underlay and carpet. I could have used Click Laminate (ie QuickStep as I always use) instead of carpet. 2 extra tricks I put in: 1 - I dealt with my carpet edges by using quadrant siliconed onto the skirting not nailed or glued - can take off with a Stanley knife. 2 - I did 1 because I left an insulated well 300mm wide around the inside walls where I ran all my wiring for sockets and plumbing for radiators (which were also put on the inside walls) to reduce penetrations and keep everything inside the insulated envelope, and it all needed to be accessible. I framed out my 25mm insulation using 25x38mm roofing laths - leaving the channels round the edge, and cut the OSB to match the framing, so that could just be lifted to get at wiring and plumbing I can't honestly remember if I screwed the OSB to the laths or just left it floating with the sheet edges aligned to the frame. One alternative to the "monolithic floating floor" is to frame out at the size of your laminate and put a thick strong laminate directly onto the frame; that will save a bit more height. There is a thread about it here, which also covers other aspects - not all of which I did. The insulated floor worked and the (mid-high end) underlay and carpet still looks as good as new (change of tenant last August and they love it).

If it is a rented property, are there limitations on what and how you can attach things to the door? Can you use something like Aerogel blanket (ie Spacetherm or similar) for your layer on the door face and then one of the suggestion above as a cover? Aerogel blanket is available in self-adhesive form, I believe - if you look around.

One middle way is to ask the seller to provide a statement via their solicitor that the work referred to was in place when they arrived. It would be strongest as a notarised Statement of Truth, but even a query from your solicitor to their solicitor, with a written answer, should have weight. If their solicitor has already said that, there is no reason it cannot be via an email or letter exchange. That avoids pfaff with indemnity policies, and may feel less confrontational to the seller. But TBF it is currently a sellers market, so there may be opportunity for you to insist on an Indemnity Policy. If you insist that will put it up their agenda if they want you as a buyer. An indemnity policy is usually inexpensive, so even if you chose to buy one it would be a tiny fraction of the cost of the house. It is your call.

For @Roger440 stuck down or just escaped from the rabbithole (!), here is the Octopus Smart Tariffs page, with this graphic suggesting who should consider what options. It may (or may not) help. I don't really agree with the last line, as I value stability and am risk-averse at present. I sympathesise with your desire for a KISS. I waited for a whole year's figures on Outgoing Agile before deciding that Outgoing Fixed would pay me more - 15p per unit exported rather than about 11p; another small step on my quest for zero net energy bills. https://octopus.energy/octopus-smart-tariffs/ (I am on Outgoing Fixed for my exports - which pays me 15p per exported unit on top of my FIT payments, as I have FIT solar PV but no battery. And on Octopus Fixed October 2023 version for my incoming electric.)

At the moment it all seems marginal - with differences on normal tariffs of well under 10%. I made my call last autumn and did the Octopus 12m Fix, which gives me rates of 26.76 p/kWh electric, and 6.76 p/kWh gas until next autumn, with stiff exit penalties. Plus the Octopus Loyalty Bonus reduces those by about £2 per fuel per month (=£48 per year), which seems to have been adopted by many other suppliers now. Giving me rates quoted on my bill of 25.49p for electric and 6.44p for gas overall. I think. Current Octopus rates are now at 28.26p and 6.61p before loyalty bonus. These are due to increase by ~5% from January I think. But I will lose out relatively in the summer period when the OFGEM Cap is forecast to come down - which is when I use very little energy. I think it will be to my benefit by £100-£200 over the year; nice but only a small lollipop. The other bonus I get is cover against the market being upturned.

Thanks for posting the information - it highlights for me how different it all is for different people / living arrangements. Mine are on a separate thread somewhere, but are completely different as I am running low background gas ufh and playing around with a biggish portable A2A unit with a view to maybe installing first as an alternative to gas, then mainstay, then replacement. Larger 4-bed house but no one here except me and the last bit of the Christmas turkey (which is actually gammon). My gas ufh is not very responsive, so I may start with A2A downstairs when I do for responsiveness. Upstairs is gas rads on a separate circuit. Apparently the time to have them fitted is winter when demand is low. And well done on your reduction. I'd suggest keeping a careful eye on the annexe - a 2kW direct panel can run up a lot of electric if used fairly constantly. There are through the wall heat pump based heat / cool / dehumidify A2A units designed for apartments which may be appropriate. Solar in the future? 😉 (I can't get my head around the room sizes either, nor spot an obvious unit crossover that could generate the numbers. The plans are a great help.)

Is this the @Pocster garden? And is the stuff previously nicked and thrown back over the fence in disgust? 🤠

ProDave as the new Roger Dudding, who made much of his (couple of hundred) millions from lockup garages, as well as from his business making ticket dispensing queueing machines, as used everywhere. Also a well-known car collector. I first heard of him in Rich Lists in the early 1990s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodger_Dudding

Depending on how much you have to raise in capital and/or income, are there options such as taking in a lodger or two, which would be tax free for the first £7500 of income? OTOH if your plan was always to sell the big house, then it may be time to think about that and downsize at this point. My only comment would be that it may be good to look at bungalows, of which I am a huge fan. Wishing you all the best.

Are you sure that that is correct? I thought that there was a right to continue living in the shared dwelling without being able to be forced to sell it to let the Council access funds to pay for care. On that basis when my mum and I moved house a few years ago such that I could be her carer, she lifetime-gifted me half of the house. * There are lots of ins and outs though, and each situation is different, as are ways of managing it - so I'm raising not trying to lay down an answer, and specific advice may be needed. Ferdinand * ironically she died 6.5 years later, so there was some tax to pay on the gift.

No. 89.97%.

(Useful comments from @joth around context. Thanks.) As it happens my kitchen-bathroom man turned up with an invoice this morning, for replacement of the door gear in a uPVC door he installed in a tenants house back in 2017 or so. Door gear is the gubbins (minus the lock) that engages the locking multipoints. His comment was around what work is actually regulated. We chatted on whether, for example, connection of an electric hob or like for like replacement or an electric shower is restricted to electricians. It's quite funny - he turned up looking a bit hipster-like with a growth of beard and hair on top. It turns out that his daughter is doing a hairdressing module on her course at Sheffield University, and is required to demonstrate that at the end she has the skills to cut hair and shave a beard. Inevitably, dad is the chosen victim 😁 . The joys of being a parent.