Advise on property: Article 4 of the of the Town 7 Country Planning
HU-768402840
2 years ago
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HU-768402840
2 years agoRelated Discussions
What windows should we choose?
Comments (56)Hi Folks. The windows are in and I love them. I chose black slim profile aluminium chamfered profile. I've been delaying posting a picture because, as you can see the front drive isn't done yet so the house isn't set off very well in its surroundings. To be clear, the windows we replaced were already Everest replacement windows from the late 70's early 80's I'd guess. The only original glazing we had being external Crittal doors that were ffffreezing, so they have gone and the Crittal stained glass windows by the front door and chimney breast, which we've kept, though they need painting black to match the new windows. We haven't replaced all the other non-original windows, but will aim to do so over the years, when the cash flow improves. I managed to persuade my husband to at least agree to all the first floor front elevation windows being replaced, so now they are all the same when you view the house from the street. The windows of a brick built sun room, front right, that you can partly see, are probably going to be removed, to make that area part of the garden rather than the house. One thing I would say is that we are having a bit of trouble with condensation on the outside of the new windows, which was unexpected and made me quite miserable at first. It turns out we're a bit unlucky, it's a known, but not extremely common, issue with such good thermal insulation in modern double glazing and it depends on the aspect of your house and the dew point. Our front elevation is west and exposed, so cold in the morning resulting in condensation and our view being foggy until the air temperature rises. I've attached a poor photo to show a mild version of what I mean, it can be a lot denser and we have far reaching views from the upstairs windows, so disappointing. But I've got over it. The main plus point is that the rooms with new replacement windows are so much warmer than the ones which still have the old ill fitting wood and aluminium windows. I'm also really pleased that we chose the windows to be black on the inside too. A neighbour up the road has black on the outside, white on the inside and I think it looks really odd when the windows are open. Finally, all the houses on our road are completely different, so there is no uniting feature that ties them together, our windows couldn't clash with the windows in the other houses as they are all individuals, though I suppose you could say they are all clashing, but as we are fortunate enough to be in a big plot with the houses set well apart I don't get that sense. Thanks for looking and all the advice. It was really helpful....See More60s townhouse exterior dilemma...
Comments (17)One has to question what is going on here, as you appear to feel your house does not make a 'good enough' statement? My first reaction to the exterior was to recoil at the rather 'pushy' cars parked outside, plus the tragic pvc door and weatherboarding! Apart from that the house looks to be quite a sensible, space-efficient design with the reduced heat losses that a terrace brings... Your house is not an individual, but is part of a row of three or even more, meaning that anything you do should take into account the others, be sympathetic and integrate with them. My attitude as a sustainable design consultant would be to only spend money on things that really need upgrading, and only do that with the greatest care so that you do not harm the structure and take into account condensation risk etc. Think carefully about the effect all your changes will make to heat loss and your space heating requirements! Also consider any possible overheating via glazing and be aware that glass has one of the highest carbon footprints while insulation is really low. Remember that every penny you spend earning money comes with an environmental footprint, and when you spend this money you then add a further environmental impact! The obvious areas which could be improved are wall insulation, glazing, doors and air-tightness. Any new glazing should be designed to give really low whole-window U values and should use warm-edge spacers. For me PVC is out of the question as it is rubbish, looks tacky and reduces glazing area. If you are using timber, then look into using Accoya, douglas fir or oak. Velfac certainly make quality windows and doors, but it would be better if all the houses installed them to keep the facade consistent. Thermally broken Nordan, SAS Pure, Aluprof slimline are other windows/doors to check out. If the weatherboarding is to be replaced, then I would advise using Marley Eternit Cedral or Cedral Click (Cembrit also offer a pressed cement board) which will never rot, but again, consider getting your neighbours to join in). You can paint this yourself with Dulux weathershield. Most cedar cladding looks awful once the UV light starts to break it down and the rain gets in. To me, the way we live our lives on the planet is much more important than the way things 'look'. People are exploited by the fashion and interior design companies into spending money on short-term whims and froth which all impact on the resources the planet creates for us. That is not to say that good design is unimportant -take a Harry Bertoia chair for instance - classics that just go on for ever. My motto is KEEP IT SIMPLE & SUSTAINABLE - QUALITY RATHER THAN QUANTITY. Hope this is helpful....See MorePOLL: What's the most stressful part of a renovation?
Comments (78)TRADESMEN. It's a miracle when one bothers to quote at all ... as such, I now build walls, can plaster, and drive a digger lol... I tile, fit carpets, fitted the kitchen, all with only half of one of my lower spinal discs left. By the time you get a quote back, its more often a month or more down the line and have already hired a couple of lads on a daily rate doing things how you dictate after weeks of research. I hired a roofer to replace my cast iron guttering with aluminium ones, he put up new soffits and fascias BADLY, ran off to assume weigh in my old gutters and ran off with the money for my new ones - steep learning curve there, and a CCJ is no use getting my money back. I purchased a kitchen, it turned up in bad shape, then commenced over 8 months to get to court for my money back... Hired a tree co to remove a load of trees overhanging the house and clear the boundary... an old man cried about a tree that wasnt his anyway so the tree folk abandoned the job. Thankfully I have a great electrician and a reliable plumbing company, but only call them for either gas or. heavier electrical work.... the husband does to electrics and plumbing but he hates it and we do get it checked. I keep trying to find a good builder though. Everything takes so long and its physically and mentally draining on me.... I would MUCH rather have someone I can trust but no luck yet....See MoreRenovating a 1960's 3 bed semi - help with layout and kerb appeal!
Comments (65)Hi all, Thank you so much for all the helpful comments and suggestions, and sorry that it's taken me so long to respond - house renovation and work have been keeping us on our toes! This has become a long post, so a quick reminder - we were looking to renovate and rewire our 60s house to update it and also make it more wheelchair friendly downstairs for when my mother-in-law comes to visit. We employed an architect and came up with what turned out to be an 'aspirational' design (much more than the budget!) so we ended up deciding to split things into two stages: Stage One to add a downstairs wetroom for accessibility, remove chimney throughout and add a porch Stage Two to do the extension across the rear, removing the conservatory to open out a large kitchen/diner and add a utility room The layout below shows both Stages One and Two as complete. Bits shown in red are existing walls which have been/will be removed (apart from the wall in red in the seating area below which is between the existing kitchen and dining room - that's a mistake). So.....the building work is now done - hurray! Stage One is complete, we are much poorer, and we now need to decorate the whole house :-) Some before and after photos below - please bear with the terrible photography skills. The rooms aren't big enough to allow for expansive photos!: We've re-plastered throughout, apart from in the kitchen and upstairs bathroom, as we'll deal with those later. Current challenge is deciding how on earth to pick paint colours and flooring throughout.... Anyway - hopefully that gives you a sense of where we've got to. Best wishes...See MoreHU-768402840
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Jonathan