They said it couldn't be done. They told us to get a surveyor. They said we'd pay over the odds. They were (and I say this with MUCH relief)...wrong. Thanks to my dad as foreman and a brilliant team of builders (VDK Building and Construction Ltd), we are now very nearly ready to move. The boxes are packed (well, stuffed to the brim), the date is set for the end of November and I'm about to be carried over the threshold (properly this time, no steps up to a dilapidated first floor flat).