We have several problems that we need help on. 1. Sub floor. The house is raised (above a double brick garage and concrete stilts). The sub floor is floating pine, no underfloor insulation. The pine is not completely sealed around the edges. How do we approach this situation, just lay underfloor insulation, or air tight then insulate? If we air tight what do we use, acrylic caulk? 2. Thermal mass. The sub floor is double brick, half of it is acting as a retaining wall for the soil as its built on a slope. There is a stairwell in the middle of the house that goes downstairs into the garage, half of it is exposed double brick. It's literally freezing, often feels colder than outside. There is no space in the stairwell to insulate it. There is no cavity between the double brick. Could we use a reverse brick technique where we wrap insulation around the outside of the brickwork and use it as a thermal storage? Is there any point as it always feels cold because it's below soil level, so not sure if insulating will do anything. Also, in order to promote thermal storage, wouldn't it need to gain the heat form somewhere for a period of time.

Oh Boy! This is where I come into my own. A few years ago my daughter was working in England and I was driving her small red hot pulsar to the shopping centre to buy coffee (six cans of 500gms). I saw toilet paper was on special so I bought 480 rolls. The only problem was there was not enough rom for the toilet paper and the two dogs, so I left the dogs at the shops and took the paper home and then went back for the dogs. When we had used all that toilet paper I kept my eyes open for when they were on special again and bought 600 rolls - no problem this time because I did not take the dogs. Next time it was 720 rolls and two trips to the shop to pick them up. It should have been 840 rolls the last time but a sudden burst of common-sense saw me buy only 480 and I am regretting it already because more than half of them have gone. So 960 here I come.

Hahaha, I can't imagine a PRO would give you a hard time in this forum! It sure sounds like you've got your hands full. Gosh. I'm in the states. East Coast. In my experience for this area I've worked with a designer most recently who charged $150 per hour. We spent about 6 hours over a 2 day period where she advised & kept me out of trouble getting a color palette together. We went shopping and she helped me chose bathroom tile and plumbing fixtures, kitchen appliances. She's very efficient and we accomplished everything I needed. She billed me $500 at the end of the month and I pd her like that. I know it can get more expensive and complicated when you want them to choose fabrics, furniture etc.

My dad built our huge rumpus room. He passed away unexpectedly at 39 leaving mum and us two kids. His army mates came and finished it. The built in cupboard doors were "army built" and so heavy we could barely open them to get our toys out. We had a train set that folded up on to the wall and a peg board and window seats. It was a lovely space with polished floor boards and we spent all but the cold winter months in there and even then crammed around with the electric radiator. Very few neighbours had a rumpus room so we were a bit special. Lovely memories.