number 2

We're thinking of going to New York with our 5 year old this summer. We've got into the habit of always staying in cottages, villas, apartments and the like when we go away so that we always have the chance to put him to bed and then have a bit of an evening to ourselves. Does anyone know of anywhere or done anything like this in New York? My other half read a trip advisor piece today that said it can be really dodgy to do private lets as there are massive restrictions in subletting so many places in NYC. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

We're thinking of going to New York with our 5 year old this summer. We've got into the habit of always staying in cottages, villas, apartments and the like when we go away so that we always have the chance to put him to bed and then have a bit of an evening to ourselves. Does anyone know of anywhere or done anything like this in New York? My other half read a trip advisor piece today that said it can be really dodgy to do private lets as there are massive restrictions in subletting so many places in NYC. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

Yes Jeremy!!! That's the sort of beard! Not the "I've had one for years because it suits me and/or I can't be arsed to shave". It's the self conscious, hipsteresque "ooh look at me, with my big bushy beard" (with or without beard comb) that gets on my wick.

Those daft bloody beards that all the young dudes are sporting these days. I like a beard or two but this massive rash of them all over Peckham and ED are really piddling me off. My other half caught a fella in the loos of the flying pig with a little "beard comb", grooming his mush. Shouldn't have eaten all those wings with that facial hair I reckon......

Ooh thanks all. I think the other problem with solid wood is that it insulates so well that the underfloor heating is pointless. Where are Westminster carpets? Do they do both karndean and amtico?

Ooh that's interesting. Thanks red devil

We have a golf plus which is a really nice size in the back and really comfortable. The boot doesn't seem as big as it claims and might seem small after an estate. Really nice car to drive though. Feels nice and safe.

We are about to have a conservatory built to get some more space. We've also forked out for underfloor heating and it came as a bit of a shock to find that we couldn't have the solid wood flooring we wanted because of said heating ststem. So, I'm thinking of Amtico or Karndean vinyl flooring. I know Amtico in particular is very expensive. Does anyone have either and can tell me how they've found it and, just as importantly, how much it cost. I was a bit taken aback by lordship lane carpets who reckoned it would cost almost as much to fit as the actual flooring. Any recommendations of suppliers would be fab too. Thank you!

I'd say you'd be v unlikely to get into ivydale - we live 500m away and didn't get in. Depends on whether the expansion goes ahead though....

We've just been struggling with this too. We've found a teaching assistant at the school who was looking for extra money. 7pm is a very late finish though for any childcare provider

yes, that's the one gooders. seemed like a v good business idea to me. thing is that they seem to have an ideal space which mightn't be so easy to find elsewhere............

Have either of you entrepreneurs been to the place in Balham? The name of it escapes me but it's great - nice cakes and alright coffee with healthy lunches for the kids. Good luck!

There are often holiday play schemes. Not always at the school but at other schools that you should be able to access. I think otherwise you have to call in grandparents if that's an option or split with your other half or friends in the same position.

It's funny, I was looking in their window just this morning. I'll pop in over the weekend and see what the score is. Thanks everyone

That's great advice, thanks Huggers. Will check it out. Sorry just realised probably not the best place to post!

Hi, has anyone done this? If so, what sort of issues and costs are we looking at? We have an Edwardian house that some muppet put a strange sort of 1940's fireplace in and we'd like to replace it with a more original style. The set up we have looks as though it did work as a fire at some point so I think the space is there. If anyone knows of a firm that does it all the better! Thanks

?7 or ?8 is pretty standard for wraparound care. I was a bit shocked by this as I was used to paying ?5 per hour for usual child minder rates

Hi, this is v good information thank you. How much were you able to use it in the summer and how much are you using in the winter? How are you finding it in the colder weather - this would be very important for us as we're thinking of taking the back door out to make it more of an extension. Thanks for your reply

Hi, we are thinking of a conservatory. Has anyone had one done and could/would recommend their firm? Also what sort of price would we be looking at?

Has anyone had a good experience with having a conservatory/sun room built and can recommend a firm? Also, how much are we looking at price wise? Is that a question of how long is a piece of string? How much did yours cost? What did you have done? Thank you!

i will second the recommendation for them both. they are fantastic!

Aha! Thank you mrscake. All done! Good luck Shona!

Am I being utterly dim? How do I vote???

that's great, thank you! i wish someone had done this last year!!

our neighbours have had their loft done. we didn't sign a party wall agreement and they are selling. i don't think it should be a problem. we had ours done too and tried to get the neighbour on the other side to sign an agreement but couldn't get hold of him (it's a rental property and he lives in cheshire). i was led to believe it wouldn't be a problem.