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I emailed my questions then spoke to someone from my local Building Control. He said that the drain coming close to the DPC wasn't a problem and didn't/couldn't specify a minimum distance. I did, though, get the impression that he was a little vague or unsure. I'm also wary of its being raised...

My head is swimming after hours spent researching my best options and would appreciate your opinions. See below for some background info. 1. Air Brick. I have a double height air brick with its top level with the DPC. The ground level is up to the bottom of the brick and I’m considering...

Thanks. I'd pencilled in copying the neighbours theme, albeit with a free hand I'd consider some big changes. I'd prefer the door against my RH wall, not offset using a panel, I dislike the PVC half-height panel as it just looks cheap (I'd have a brick half-height w)all with window, and the...

SIPS panels are useful for professionals building whole houses, but are they any good for DIY on a small porch? I can ask the panel producers, but I suspect their advice will be biased, and a couple of hours searching the internet left me none the wiser. I'm a competent DIYer and feel up to...

I have inherited a job lot of oak engineered flooring. I intend to use it for the floor and inner wall of an insulated shed/summerhouse, for which I’m confident it will be fine. I will, though, have some left over and wondered if it will be ok used as an outer wall, either fixed to battens...

Again, thanks. Bradstone? My wife likes their Woburn. I’m shying away from general coatings as I’m concerned about their being slippy in the wet. The anti-slip ones have mixed reviews and seem to require annual renewal to keep their effectiveness. I was looking to avoid jet washing the...

Thanks. I like the idea of clay block pavers but I’m concerned about their being slippy when wet. Also I can’t find a professional installer near me - they all seem to do just concrete blocks - should I go that route (I’d like to do it all myself, possibly on top of the existing concrete, but my...

I’m looking at replacing our concrete drive, roughly 3.5 x 6 m, and associated paths, roughly 10 x 1 m, a total of 31 m2. My wife likes a brindle with black edging. The house is a standard 1930s semi in the suburbs. I dislike concrete block pavers for the way they deteriorate in colour and...

Or terminate early. But those are operator terms. Network Rail will have a signal failure and divert the answer into a siding.

My head is spinning from researching this. Can someone please give me a heads-up on the way to do this? What is the best way of dealing with a long step 40-75 mm below the level of the DPC without a gap for a drain, shingle etc? The image shows our front door and doorstep. The front area of...

Thanks. I'm already planning to have the floor the same height as the house floor and I did think of a tall UPVC frame to avoid the brickwork. I'm sleeping on that as I'm concerned that it might look cheap compared to next door and, in any case, I need to get formal approval from the regulator...

Thanks. I seem to have had a brainstorm and assumed that all lintels are visible, but of course there are steel ones that aren’t. Doh.

I'm thinking of building a porch and can't find anything in building regs or on the internet to answer if there are any requirements or tricks for a line of 3 bricks above a UPVC door/window frame. See the attached image. In essence, I want to do a mirror image of the next door porch. The...

Surely screwing a socket to a building wall makes it fixed, as does securing a cable by screwed-in cable clips? Note that Approved Document P 2.2a(ii)* makes clear that the same rules apply to sheds as main buildings. At one end of the spectrum, a permanent hard installation is fixed and all...

My ex-wife has just had installed a garden shed (well, a £5,000 log cabin, but it’s still a shed). Her unqualified handyman ran a long extension lead (13 amp 3 pin plug, multi-gang socket, 25m ish long non-armoured standard cable) from a wooden garage interior socket, through the garage wall...

I want to have a porch built. Is the saving of project managing over a paying a builder likely to be significant? See the image. Some specifics: @ I have the time and love to do things myself. @ 1930s semi just south of London. @ The previous owner agreed with the neighbour to build a porch...

I managed to find the permitted development regulations superseding the original 2008 amendments, and some commentary. What they do clear up is that it applies to any hard surface, ie footpaths as well as drives. A court case has also established that 'surface' includes the complete surface...

Thanks. You’re right. However, we have neighbours who are self-appointed guardians of all that is good and proper who have, amongst other unfriendly acts, reported several neighbours for minor possible breaches of planning rules and harassed the council over them.

John, thanks. Whilst staying under 5m2 is fine and cumulative may be sensible, what do the rules say on this? From what I can see, the rules say nothing about a. pathways being driveways but several websites imply the rules apply and b. cumulative projects, for example widening a drive by 4m2...

Thanks and apologies, must have been my finger trouble. I continued writing it, posted it then saw your post. I hope it makes sense now.