Ferdinand

No but he was very good at tunnels ?.

Is your middle name Thorin?

Right. Have lunch taken. There are a number of potential ways to skin this cat. You will also need comments from others on the individual merits, but I can lay out some approaches. Feel free to ask any questions. As it is such a big question I have not defined everything to a T. First, however: 1 - You are likely to need to reconsider partially the aesthetic of your house, if you want it to look like your changes were "intended". 2 - This could swallow a decent chunk of your contingency. To do it well you are going to be looking at up to £30-60 per sqm of wall. But you save on the render ?. 3 - Inexpensive is possible, but to get it to look (as I say) intended, it will be a fair amount of work. 4 - In my opinion, you are going to want some design advice from a pro of some sort on this. 5 - You may want different approaches on the 2 facades - the one photographed looks easier than the other. 6 - Consider alternative shapes of drainpipes eg 61mm square or alu or copper. 7 - You will need to do some careful thinking and sketching, perhaps samples. 8 - I think you want a mix, and you need to do some really careful playing with piccies and models to get it right. 9 - You may need to reconsider your roof thresholds and window surrounds. Now get some gin. If you are sitting comfortably, let us begin with the problem statement: House designed and built to ready-for-external-finish stage with a number of mansard windows in 2 facades, which contain a side-to-side "through gutter" in the framework of each window. The problem is that a design for the overall guttering has not been considered, and now appears to require drainpipes between each pair of windows, which will disturb the desired appearance. How can water drainage from roof to ground be implemented without so many obvious downpipes? There are different approaches - eg you could camouflage your downpipes, cover them, make them look intended, or find another route for the water. It is an advantage that your wall finish is not .. er .. finished. 1 - The simplest of all - make the downpipes the same colour as the render. Will be better, but not much imo. 2 - Cancel the downpipes. a - Let the water run down the surface of the wall. I have never seen this, though it is perhaps possible eg if you clad with a vertically textured material such as black corrugated oriented up and down. Equally you could try and detail an appropriate render eg with vertical channels for your water. It is quite common to do details where water will concentrate on concrete surfaces - eg vertical striations down from the end of windowsills on a concrete wall, which will disguise staining. b - Do a traditional "secret" or "hidden" gutter joining up all the built in gutters across the windows, and a drainpipe at the end. That is a gutter on top of the wall with flashing underneath, or behind a slightly taller wall, with some adjustment to the bottom one or two rows of tiles and the structure. May be possible to retrofit, but to me looks a tough project to do and a long-term nightmare to maintain. 3 - Hide the downpipes a - Clad the wall with a suitable material say 3-4 inches out, so the pipes can go behind it. That could be wood cladding (vertical or horizontal orientation), tile hung, or any other. Even brick slips. b - Put them in and grow evergreen climbers, with over the whole wall or over sections. c - Create some feature sections on the wall to hide them or make them look OK. (Example of cladding - dimensions right and the drainpipes can be behind). 4 - Make the downpipes look intended. a - Can be done with cladding, eg vertical format edge-on-then-flat 4x2s (that will give a "finned" feel with gaps between fins where your piped can go), perhaps black or metal pipes with scorched larch (https://shousugiban.co.uk/range/charred-larch-cladding/) or similar. Or an artificial material. The texture / pattern will disguise downpipes. b - Decorative as ButterCup says above. Or you could try that simply with bold copper etc pipes and lay them out to look attractive. c - You could even go for metal slats at right angles to the wall, as used on offices sometimes as sun-shades. 5 - Veranda / brieze soleil a - Put in a one or two storey veranda to hide most of the run. Perhaps something you can sit under. Would be a nice addition to those French Doors. b - Make one of those wooden brieze soleil things and hide them behind it. 6 - Put PV or solar thermal panels on it and put the pipes behind them. My take. Ferdinand

No, there isn't. BH (or at least my bit of it) is "husk-off". Though I admit I have just come from debating Ursula VDL with certain Brussels based journos who seem to view themselves as (very) amateur press officers for the institution of the EU, and are trying to blame everything on anybody else - specifically us. So it has been robust ?. And that may have stuck to me. Yes, ve can vork it through. F

OK. Help me understand. This is a nearly finished self-build with a glitch in the design? Am I correct that the horizontal black lie at the bottom of the roof is a gutter than runs in front of the half-high window frame section? Or is it 2 separate windows with the upper set back? If it is a newbuild, who made the design cockup? Not properly considering drainpipes counts as a cockup. (There may be comeback on an architect, depending.) And am I correct that the entire wall is rough stonework - not just a decorative section? Do you have a photo? Of both problem elevations? I understand that this is both elevations of the house. I have thoughts, but could you just comment on the Qs. Cheers Ferdinand

I suppose it beats hanging from scaffolding by your underpants...

To @Onoff Do your own homework, you lazy booger. It's everso easy to find. Yours is not accessible. It includes all those recesses and dolphins, which offend taste and dazzle the eyes into blindness.

I honestly don't know how I'd call it in a new development. I use a PIV, sometimes with one or two HR trickle fans, to make sure that when renovating leaky old houses to be more airtight there is a degree of resilience against tenants who choose damp lifestyles. Obvs as good as possible fabric - on insulation and leakiness - is the start. If MVHR is a no go (after checking what it would if put in at design stage) then I think I would provision design and wiring for PIV and HR trickle fan. Probably it makes sense to put the fans in loo / bathroom anyway as something is needed, and leaving a gap under the doors to ensure circulation. And then take a view. F

I thought that was the last one. How many Mother-in-Laws has he got?

Look at a previous one to check robustness. Post spacing not specified.

Welcome. Here, off-topic is on-topic, as we help you find all the things you hadn't thought about.

Oh yes. It's sharp if you play games with big-boys. When we were negotiating with housing developers on a land sale, one tried to have a clause making us responsible for costs if their project failed.

If you get Blackthorn you can make sloe gin....

Potentially Myrtle. Grown by my Gran on the Beach Road in Prestatyn. Or look for shiny or narrow leaves which will let less nasty in. What about Holly? Or Holm Oak is a good one which is hedgable. Or maybe things like Cotoneaster.

Are tthere ways in which you can provide alternative parking spaces or garages? eg by buying a bit of land close by, or leasing spaces or something? Purely on house value and budget, it might be worth it. Might involve a bit of mouth-stuffing with gold.

"Three fingers" for gin. And a wide glass. Better get back on topic.

I feel nitpicked. I provided measurements in both units. I even provided a third interpretation measured in "average houses". Just for that I shall use "football pitches", "Wales", and "The Mall, Washington" next time.

Do you actually mean 9000 square feet there? ie 10 average sized houses?

Gentry? Fergie? Or does she not know?

@OP. If you intend to collect waifs and strays of the car world like Terry you will need about 4 garages. One for a tractor. Two for the two halves of the other car. And one to rebuild it in. Then the real car can live on the drive.

It sounds a sod of a thing to deal with. The problem is that Leylandii are horrible. But if you take them out the ground will be barren. I'd have a think if a 3m apex roof shed would help after taking out, or perhaps have a look at Hornbeam or Evergreen Oak, both of which can make big including-winter hedges. Or consider making the private-activity part of your garden the closer bit and have a barrier part way up, and accept that the bottom bit (make it veggies or something) will be overlooked. Is it possible their 2nd floor windows are to rooms which are not used much?

Dewalt has two gods. The pro and the consumer. Did you choose the right one, grasshopper?

As you are getting on, make sure that the stairs are shallow in gradient. Say 35 degrees rather than the 42 allowed. My mum reckoned this gave her about 5-10 years extra where she could comfortably cope with walking upstairs.

Absolutely. We are not at all confrontational. I'm sharpening my pitchfork as we speak ?. If you drop a note to the mods, a blog can be created for you. Renovation blogs will be good alongside the new build blogs. Remember that it is important to PROVE what you have done to the EPC surveyor, otherswise they have to make all sorts of pessimistic assumptions. F

If you are adjusting forever (why?) then I would say adjustable patio feet would be easier. If it is for initially, then perhaps just level up the pads as per tradition. My shed is on adjustable feet because the ground continually adjusts itself - infill. If you don't need it it is a crazy idea . In that case there are all those cats-eyes on the motorway that need counting. F