Sorry I can't see the photos you are referring to - my comments are limited without pictures/plans. I agree with Man about the House - pricing seems to be top end. We live in Highgate, North London (not a cheap area) and our house is approx. 3,000 sq ft. Prices for work on period homes are not in this range unless you have opted for a very high end fit out. Our side return costs £55k and that included all professional fees, lighting, underfloor heating, bi-fold doors, domestic appliances and lovely leather sofa from Habitat. Admittedly, we kept our existing Britannia range cooker and dining table and chairs. Yes we got many quotes for £140-£200k+ but decided to use professionals for planning and some visits during key stages only. The rest of the project was managed by us. There are many ways to create value in a project - Ikea Voxtorp handleless kitchens are great with a quartz worktop. You can even get the doors sprayed with a F&B colour, it's a fraction of the price and visually compares well to Roundhouse kitchens - which I love but simply can't afford. We got endless quotes for quartz worktops - the costs varied by more than 50% for exactly the same material. We needed 13 steels in total and paid a total £4.8k inclu vat and £3k installation costs. Remember you should be negotiating on all elements of your project. I can also compare to a similar house/project in a nearby road, not a high end finish but inexperienced home owners who paid £140k for a pretty average side return turnkey solution. Keep researching and talking to home owners that have actually completed projects on their homes to get a really good view about the costs and where you want to spend your budget.

Hi Mrpuddlebunny, What we need to know is are the drains shared and used by other properties or just used by your property. If you are at the start of a run then this is considered as not shared. The general rule is that you can not build over a manhole. Therefore, the manhole will need to be removed completely and new pipes fitted. If the drain is shared then the water authority own the drains and a build over agreement will be required if you propose to build over or within 3m of them. Building work can not start without the build over agreement. If a manhole is to be removed a roding point must be provided outside the building which can rod in the direction of the flow. Water authorities have strict rules and regulations regarding the type of materials that they accept for drain repairs and alterations and this will be stated on the agreement. If you are in any doubt about what can or should be done contact your local building control and arrange a meeting on site to discuss or contact the water authority to discuss.

It really does depend on the property. It could fix the problem or it could make it much worse. There are a number of reasons why you will get damp. Water ingress - caused by some damage whether a leaking pipe, guttering or from neighbouring property or from damage to the structure e.g. the roof or damp proof course. Poor ventilation - older properties had built in ventilation. Solid brick walls were designed to "breathe". Covering these in materials like vinyl paper prevents the movement of moisture through the wall. The moisture becomes trapped and causes damp. Excess moisture - people, pets, appliances, bathrooms and kitchens all produce moisture. If this moisture isn't allowed to escape it will cause damp. So in answering your question. It will depend on your property and the way it is used. Thermal lining paper could work in a house that has damp caused by condensation by keeping warm moist air away from cold walls you eliminate the condensation point. However the same lining paper in a house that has moisture in the wall because of water ingress would make the damp problem much worse by trapping the water in the wall and not allowing it to dry out. All houses since ancient times are designed with systems (roofs, guttering, drains, breathable materials, heating, vents, chimneys, mechanical extraction, damp proof course etc) to prevent excess moisture indoors. It's usually people messing with these systems or damage to them that causes damp problems. The first step in fixing any damp problem is finding the cause. Once you've found the cause you can eliminate it at the source and so generally don't need overpriced damp proofing solutions sold by the damp proofing "experts".

You can get drain covers which you can fit tiles into. That way you have a drain cover that sort of blends in but you can still lift it for access to the drain if necessary. Here’s one on my patio.