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Roof was renewed in the 70's to a cement tile in an all-round poor quality job, now needs doing sympathetically, & back to slate (though possibly with some IN ROOF solar on back elevations). 1. Its a cold roof, see pic 1, showing SE & NE elevations. A main issue is - to up-grade its thermal element extra insulation on interior side of (original) attic room of greater than 40-50mm would be impractical due to already restricted room height & width, see pic 2. So, I'd 'try' adding insulation above rafters, complemented by the PIR between rafters, (& then makes it a hybrid roof, as Redbeard reminded me on here). So I see raising roof height (by say 50mm) basically being essential, to get to regs, & being 'engineered' by way of a counter-batten etc; but its also necessary my roof 'integrates' with my neighbour to the left side (using a bonding gutter of some comprehensive design I guess, though my B.C. officer says such a bonding gutter, & perhaps additional lead flashing(s), no big deal!) I'm still going to struggle to get to a 0.16 U-value however much insulation I can get in/up there but see little other option. (Redbeard also mentions a 2-thirds above/ 1-third below-rafter rule of thumb for insulation to avoid the 'interstatial' enemy). Q) Has anyone else any thoughts / suggestions on my meeting my 0.16 U-value for insulation requirements or even approaching - B.C. look sympathetically at draughty old properties . . they say. 2. I include below a link showing how TLX (gold, a multifoil) suggest their product be used above rafter in build-up of roof thermal element -including a counter-batten, stated as 38mm (old regs?, presumably now 50mm?), & which also provides ventilation on cold-side of roof. And this would raise my roof +/- 50mm). See its detailing & spec. here:- https://tlxinsulation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/TLX-Gold-Counterbattened-plus-50mm-PIR.pdf 3. It says, in this link, that TLX multifoil used to build-up thermal element with this product, including air gap/s, above rafter, followed by 50mm PIR/phenolic within rafter, has a U value of 0.34. So, if I were to indeed add a further 40-50mm max. PIR (thermal conductivity .022 W/mK) to the inside, under plasterboard . . would this 'build-up' get any where near the 0.16 requirement? (its beyond me to calc. this myself!). a) Anyone else care to comment further on my thoughs on this insulation detail? b)also what do you/others REALLY THINK about these multifoils - do they actually work (as long as fitting + air gaps adhered to) . . or not, & actually meet U values claimed? c) Also I'd be interested to hear from anyone about design/detail of a succesful bonding gutter - my roof will be in ~10mm slate but raised say 50mm as explained : meeting neighbour's cement tile. Many thanks, Stephen, Leicester area.

Hi, I'm about to begin lifting the original 'pine' planks flooring in my victorian terrace home. Then to lay American Ash (19Depth x 138mmWidth) planks, & I could just lay them again straight on the joists as originally. Being on the ground floor, there's the typical 3ft 6in ish 'crawl space' beneath, which has a well designed 'air-draught' thru; And at base just the original reasonably dry soil within brick foundations. See photo attached. I've added 80mm of Celotex between the joists several years ago. Original planks survived fairly well in the environment just described though had cupped, doubtless a long time ago, & had been 'face nailed'; I'm thinking I'd secret nailing this time thru groove in T & G might minimise cuping this time? Would my new floor also benefit from 'shielding' from the elements, especially water vapour, down in that under-space? Perhaps I lay a 6mm plywood base ? &/or lay a Tyveck type breather membrane, on the joists ? I've been a decorating, some carpentry, tradesman for years. I'd much appreciate anybody's ideas / suggestions before I start. Thanks in anticipation !

Hi All, I am looking to carry out a 2 storey wrap around extension. My next door adjoining neighbour has something similar, the only slight difference is a step back from my boundary by about 2m. Therefore, the rear extension that they have is not full width I presume that they have done this to pass the 45 degree rule as I do not have an extension at present. But I am presuming that as they have an extension, I can do a similar rear extension but mine will be across the full width of the house. Will this pass planning , as my neighbour has a somewhat similar extension? Thanks

Yesterday I performed 'intrusive survey' of the existing floor and as it appeared to be easy to take up, with no floor height buildup due to extra insulation, replacement of the front door can go ahead. Under the existing floor panels cracked bitumen showed, and when removed it became obvious why it cracked - it was on a layer of compacted stone/sand mix! I removed as deep as could fit my hand through the gap and so here is a cross section of the situation: Here is a view from the outside: What puzzles me is that there seems to be a gap in the outer skin of the wall, the door frame sits on the step/slab in front, and that is poured over this compacted stone/sand mix that I could remove by hand. As the plan is to finish the renovation with EWI the step/slab would have to go anyway. My idea is to remove the slab now, as it will make the access to dig up the rubble easier, and then fill the whole gap between the outer face and the inner skin with something like Compacfoam. Later on the EWI (under DPC part) will go along that section. My questions: - is XPS viable alternative to Compacfoam in this case? It's like 1/6th of the price... Or something else? - I'm assuming that under the compacted rubble I'll find bare ground - do I need to make any foundation for the foam?

What did you do last weekend? I have mentioned discreetly a few times that I am involved in moving a gym to a new unit. We finally got possession of our new unit on Friday at 5pm. This thread will have some pics and videos, which may or may not be in date order. We open again this afternoon at teatime, at least in part. The two owners are both under 30, which is good to see. I am one of the friends and family who put some finance in 3 years ago. The unit is about 6000sqft, and the gym is called Crossfit Hexis. The location is just off the A38 in near the M1 J28.. The planning and landlord-restoration process has been a saga taking almost a year; that is *after* a search which took about 18 months before that. The place is 1/3 of the front bay of a textile company known as The Sockmine. The history is that they moved some manufacturing to China some years ago, then moved it back as circumstances changed, but that still left 18k sqft of empty space, which has been largely unused since. Now we are a long term tenant (subject to Planners making silly Use Class decisions at some point) they have refurbished it to be 3 units of around 6k sqft, of which we have the first. The refurnished part is known as the Sockmine Business Park - which I quite like. I've learnt a few lessons over the weekend, which I'll point out. (Note to readers: Copyright is asserted and the pics below may not be reused without permission, licenses from individuals etc). A few pics of the unit: The new car park Our new shopfront (with boys toy) Views from opposite ends inside Shopfront from the inside. The wall on the left is new - this is a third of the larger building. Changing and showers - former dye-house judging by the number of coats of paint it required: