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Slate. Slate is lovely

I think it's a bad idea. Not terrible, but bad. The floors will never be the same again. I'd accept the house for what it is. Sand the floors, certainly, they'll look great. But I wouldn't b*gger about taking floorbards up, because they'll never be the same again. Children grow up. Also it's a...

I'm going to rebuild my 5.2m wide by 4.7m deep garage in blocks. Planning to support the rafters of the new shallowish pitch roof with a purlin at mid span on each side, on which the rafters will sit. Roof covering will be Sandtoft Rivius mock slate clay tiles. I was wondering about using Z...

Used scaffold boards would look rubbish, and new scaffold boards would shrink hugely after you had put them up. I made a garden table top from scaffold boards, and cramped them up. There is now a 3/4 inch gap between each board

If Labour had won the election, we'd now have a government that believed its role was to intervene, rather than to dither about and leave it to the market. Fewer people would die. If Labour had won previous elections, we'd now have more NHS beds, and staff, and more police officers. Fewer...

And don't be misled by the word "self" in "self-levelling compound"

I've just watched a new estate of near-identical boxes going up (detached houses rammed in a foot apart). Every tiny area that would be covered by render or a porch was done in blocks, in outer skins that were otherwise in brick. Penny pinching

No, if you don't want your timber frame to rot, it should be clear of the ground

Yes. The timber frame needs to be at least 6 inches above ground level

Short answer is yes. Build the frame in blocks and add a DPC on top

Sounds like the works are complete. If they are finished they are complete. Which is when any clock for building control or planning enforcement purposes starts ticking. And it sounds like everything conforms to the regs in force at the time.

Study Part J. The distance is reduced if you can put a heat shield with air gap between the flue and the combustibles. Maybe you could move the beam up and create a heat shield within the dummy chimney breast

Enforcement is only possible for 12 months after the completion of the works. BC might refuse to sign it off, but what action could they take against it?

This is well outside the period when enforcement action is possible. If it can be shown when the work was done, then Building Control don't have an interest in it.

Twin wall would do it; alternatively move the beam further up. A lot of the beams you see in pictures of installations are actually made from composite materials

The cupboard is small and at floor level; it houses the above and incoming gas. So it's always cold in there because the doors are shut and there are openings to the under floor void. And the water pipes contain cold water straight out of the ground. The water meter seals have been replaced and...

Suspended

My father has moved into a 1930s bungalow with cavity walls. Indoors, there is considerable damp low down on some walls. Outside, a concrete path goes round the house and is quite high. The strip alongside the wall is filled with gravel, but the gravel mostly bridges the damp course. I...

My father's new house has an internal cupboard containing the rising main, stop cock and water meter. There is loads of condensation on the pipes, which has been going on for so long that the fllorboards are wet. There is foam pipe lagging but it's not been zip tied and there are sharp bends in...

There's onyl one solution to a uPVC conservatory, especially a botch job. When I cut down the one I bought with my house, the frame was full of water.