Owning your own home

Rodent guests sorted for the moment, I think. Luckily, I've got major building works starting in the next month or so. All the floors are coming up and I'll be able to get to the root of where they are getting in to the building.
For the moment, I've found a hole in the kitchen floor underneath the sink unit, which is obviously where the little bugger got in last night. The plumbing under the sink gave him a custom made little ladder to pop up behind the draining board...
Anyway, the entire floor under the units is now lined with a double layer of that square wire mesh (5mm mesh size) that they sell to make rabbit hutches and stuff with.
Because of imminent building work, I haven't attempted a permanent repair. The mesh is held in place with big drawing pins, and then weighed down by a layer of bricks.
It's not pretty, but it's underneath the kitchen units and it's only got to last a while.
Now I just have to disinfect everything in the whole flat.

It's a London borough and residents can vote in mayoral elections.

Not sure if that makes it in London or not mind.

I'm from Brentford. Same dilemma really.

I'm in Lewisham council, too, but Bromley border is just over the road. I think it is London: there's no countryside between me and Central London, so it's part of the city as I see it...

But Bromley council doesn't like being part of London, from what I can see. They don't even want the Bakerloo Extension because they'd rather be a commuter town than part of the metropolis.

I, on the other hand, would LOVE the Bakerloo line extension to come near my house...

I have double glazed sash windows, with some fancy coating and gas filled. They used the original wooden frames so you can't even tell they are double glazed (my building is semi protected because it's some sort of poor-mans-listed). Think they are around 10 years old now and no issues, I can try and dig the companies details up... although I have a feeling they were pretty expensive (I live in permanent fear of breaking one), the previous owner quite proudly mentioned the company was on Grand Designs.

god i hate that fucking show. anyone that habitually uses the word 'space' to describe a 'room' wants punching in the cock. repeatedly.

Ha, I don't mind it but see where you are coming from.
An ex HAVE mine was getting set up to go on it which would HAVE been hilarious, her dad was going to give her/put her in charge of some massive renovation/rebuild/conversion project but Grand Designs didn't think the building was enough HAVE a challenge.

edit: DONE @greenhell !

'An ex HAVE mine'

Don't, I'll end up doing it...

ps - there's still an extraneous 'of' in yer post.

http://www.bromleytimes.co.uk/news/the_big_debate_is_bromley_in_london_or_kent_1_2266055

"The Local Government Act in 1963 meant Bromley was absorbed into Greater London, and is today served by the Metropolitan Police, London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service as well as Transport for London."

My wife is from Orpington in Bromley.
Saying she is from Kent is like a red rag to a bull.

I do think she doth protest too much etc

Orpington

"Orpington is a suburban town and electoral ward in the London Borough of Bromley in Greater London and lies at the south-eastern edge of London's urban sprawl. It is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It was, until shortly before the 1974 General Election, in the county of Kent."

Is she born pre-'74?

Pick your knowledgeable brain if I may? If there's no way to fit a ceiling centrifugal fan (4 inch dropped ceiling with solid concrete above) what would be the next best thing? Add to this that the bathroom in question isn't attached to an outside wall.

She was born in '76.

I stick to the definition:
"Orpington is a small slum on the outskirts of Sevenoaks" which seems to push the right buttons.

The agent just got back to me, the vendor is inviting sealed bids with a deadline of next week. Fuckers.

This wasn't how I'd planned it out in my head...

Fuckers indeed.

Walk away

just go in with the same bid. fuck em

Cool, I'll look into that. Thanks!

"Drive-by listing"? A lot of buildings got listed years ago with a cursory inspection from a passing car hence the term.

The DG units I think you're referring to are slimline. They have a smaller gap which is compensated for by using 3 gases which have better insulating properties than the standard gas and the glass treatment reflects something (UV maybe) that improves their U value. They were far more expensive 10 years ago but they're now available from most glazing suppliers and they cost more but not an extraordinary amount more than normal units. Manufacturing quality of normal units is very variable and often the more unusual options are only manufactured by the higher quality manufacturers and cost more. It's very difficult to break a toughened double glazed pane, much more likely that the seal will fail and you get moisture in them before you break the glass.

I've been looking into this kind of window conversion using slimline units but it's not that economical for a lot of the sashes I work on as they have up to 18 panes in the upper sash. It increases the cost dramatically as the units have a minimum manufacturing cost. It also doesn't have a massive acoustic improvement as the gap is important in cutting down the sound waves through reflection.

The other problem with DG acoustics is once they are open they're not much better than normal sashes, and they are usually open in summer when your pissed neighbours are staggering back at 2am or there's a big party going on over the road. If you live next to a busy road then I feel sorry for you but heavy curtains will still give you a better nights sleep (even with double glazing).

Alternative with noise in London is. Get used to it.

Or get secondary glazing (£££)

Secondary glazing is a pain with victorian sashes as they don't have recesses. I wish there was a good way to do it as I'd probably make quite a bit of money making/installing it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34144333

interest only mortgages
what happens when you can't repay the initial amount at the end of the term
can you just re mortgage for another 25 years ?
not the most financially sound way of doing it but at least one doesn't lose ones house ?
with rates and payments so low over the last 8 years surely people have been putting aside some cash to pay off the lump sum ?