Hullo Masklin, it does sound like a tricky situation, and I'm sorry to hear about these additional costs. Building work is always expensive to begin with, and additional and unexpected costs are never welcome. In respect of whether there is scope to obtain costs for this from your architect and structural engineer, this will most likely come down to the original appointment, their scope of involvement in the project, and whether they where direct appointments with you - or whether the SE was appointed through the architect. If the architect and SE were appointed to undertake planning and building regulations drawings with no exploratory or invasive works (ie stripping back existing structure in the house to assess structure before the project was tendered) then there will have been a number of reasonable assumptions on their part, which will only have been assessed when a main contractor started. The conversion of the attic would have added some additional loading to the property, but certainly less than adding a whole additional storey. There is every chance that additional bedroom space at this level would have less weight implication than someone stuffing their attic full with storage. SE's are notoriously cautious, so their assumption for the attic should have taken into account any additional loading, and if an existing (previously completed) opening needs to be reinforced, it might suggest that the existing opening was not designed appropriately to begin with. The flaws in existing structural design would generally fall into 'unforeseen' items, which is generally where contingency funds are intended for use. However, as others have suggested, if you are unhappy you can always pursue this further through the ARB, or RIBA (if your architect is a member of these bodies) or through the body that the structural engineer belongs too - but it is always worthwhile starting a discussion with the architect and SE and asking them to clarify how this happened. They will no doubt want to try and address this and have the opportunity to resolve this with you direct. Check your appointments with them, and what they were briefed (and paid) to undertake on your behalf. It might also be worthwhile trying to source any information you can about the original works and structural beam that got installed. Hopefully there will be a positive outcome from it all. Good luck! K :)

I’m not a solicitor but I’d have thought they should have got probate organised before marketing the house. I’ve been executor and got everything organised before marketing and so it was really quick to complete as there was no chain. I don’t understand how you were expecting the keys and now they’re doing more searches. In your position I would ask your solicitor (not the estate agent- they represent the seller not you, so always be careful what you tell them) to establish exactly what is outstanding and then explain it to you with expected timescales- you can then assess whether you need to extend your mortgage offer. If it’s just minor things (eg executors often can’t answer standard conveyancing questions) then you can look at how important they are and alternatives (eg insurance policies can sometimes deal with missing documents). Check with the solicitor that he has everything on your side too (eg final mortgage documentation).

You have to basically cut out a hole in the wall that is as wide as two doors, then install the pocket door framework which can come in a kit form - one half then gets covered with plasterboard so that it is inside the wall, as the pocket where the door slides into when you open the door. The bit around the actual door then needs finished to whatever specification you want - usually with framing etc that a 'normal' door has. Depends on the construction of your current wall though - whether it's load-bearing and therefore you'll need some sort of beam to support the wall above. Or if it would be simpler to box out the rest of the wall rather than cut out a massive hole - in this case the room would get a bit smaller. If you are cutting a hole in a modern stud wall then it won't affect the size of the room. Door handles need to be considered carefully as you need something flat that can fit into the 'pocket' and you also need a fitting on the visible edge of the door to pull it out of the pocket again to close it.

No, it's not a usual response. Architects are professionals not like builders and this reflects badly on them. I would give them a chance to explain why they are stressing you out with delayed responses to essential information to which you are entitled having paid in full. Could you contact the structural engineer yourself? CC the archtect in on the chasing email. It's possible that they are overloaded with work at the moment but it's still not an excuse. Professional standards are higher than that.