We are remodeling our bathroom. We want to continue some tile work into an area where the previous owner had laid carpeting. The tile we are hoping is still being made bears the following on the underside of each tile: 3F Cannara (P6) p 3T 82 N Does this mean anything to you? Is this tile still available for purchase?

Hi Ash, if you haven't got an architect or estimator, there is a lot in a spec that (if you're not building it yourself) you shouldn't waste time trying to decide/cost. Depends what the project is too (new build/renovation etc) and the value of the works. Best place to start is research anything specific you want, ie kitchen supplier, specific lights etc. and cost that, and also get multiple quotes from builders to compare provisional sums.

Yes- in the current climate I'd recommend tender drawings (youll save money in the long run) then use the tender drawings and email/meet builders yourselves. The tender drawings should be highly detailed and specify materials/ construction and allow your builder to quote accurately.

We're currently having an extension built, builders on site preparing the footing and brickwork starting in a week or so, but I've hit a problem with our cavity walls specs. On the architect drawings (top down plans and structure cross-section) it shows 100mm facing brick, 100mm cavity, 100m blockwork (then normal plasterboard). All of the floorplan measurements are based on this size of cavity wall for the whole build. Our builder (who I have complete faith in) however says that the plans are wrong, it shuold have an additional 90mm of insulation board on all internal facing walls.... this has come as a shock as of course we agreed to the plans and had planning permission approved for what's on the plans. The new kitchen we've had planned and ordered will need to be redone, and the rooms are now 180mm (90mm each side) smaller floorspace than we were expecting. All this has only come to light right when the work is fully underway. With the plans, our architect included a "General Notes" page which includes this regarding the cavity walls: "6.0 EXTERNAL WALLS: (max 0.18W/m2k U-value) 315mm nominal cavity work, finished in facing brickwork. 100mm facing brickwork, 100mm full fill cavity insulation cavity with 90mm 'Kingspan Kooltherm K106' (0.021 W/mk) foil-backed extruded insulation to internal face (continued min 150mm below ground floor insulation level) and maintain 50mm clear cavity, 100mm Celcon Standard (0.15 Wmk) blockwork 3.5N/mm2 finished internally with 2 coat 13mm plaster." Before I contact our architect and try and find out what went wrong here, can anyone confirm whether the above tallies with what our builder is saying? I also feel as though surely the local Planning department should have picked up on this conflict. Can anyone offer advice on what options there might be to try and reduce the size of these walls? Are there thinner options available for example with the same thermal properties? This is a very standard south-facing kitchen / diner extension, really nothing fancy at all.