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When you look at the numbers, if you aren't getting the wood for free why would you bother. But then again most boiler heating systems are set up so badly, they burn through gas at way higher rate than they should. So instead of learning how to set them up people buy a lot burner

Make your offer to buy conditional on delivery of the unit to your site.

These older houses can be built with lime mortar and a bit of movement is expected, stitch something together ridgid and you move the cracks to another part of the property. im no structural engineer but have been removing trees from properties for the last 40 years when the finger gets pointed at the tree, I’ve been on sites where you could shake hands with the neighbours through the cracks in the walls 😂😂

Now that is interesting. Worst action because.....?

Presumably imported crude oil which is refined here?

Battling a car insurance company atm. Loads of annoyance and slow response's / dodging answering driect questions etc etc. Keep on at them or you drop to the bottom of the heap.

Thanks Dave. I believe they use a Land Rover to wheel the caravan over to the low loader and then it is used as an escort vehicle. It is a point I considered because the road narrows - it's about 800 yards from main roads and starts fine but gets narrower as you go!. There is a water treatment site nearby, so in theory the lorry could go in there, unload and the land rover push it the last 100 feet or so Thanks @flanagaj The dealer said access road needs to be two 6' cars width i.e. 12' for the caravan width. I suspect whilst the road may narrow access "should" be ok, although the trees might encroach. Yes baton is a good idea, but I still think surely they are the experts so, given it is only a few miles from the dealer centre they should offer someone to check it out

We used type 3 MOT, as we require a SUDS driveway afterwards. Just be mindful that you need to wacker the surface down as our caravan got bogged down in the MOT and we had to jack it up and put shuttering ply under the wheels to move it into place. With regards to access. I was told to cut a batten 14ft long and then walk down the road holding it horizontally and then vertically. This was helpful as it showed where I needed to cut branches for the truck to get through. Make sure you have a long reach pole saw to hand as I had to stand on the front of the lorry bed and cut branches as he made his way up the lane.

Whether they can access the site depends on road surface, clear width and height along the lane, number and steepness of bends etc. How long is the lane? A plan B would be unload it at the start of the lane and tow it on it's own wheels down the lane, that reduces height needed for instance, A Landrover or similar will tow it. For ours I levelled the ground with the digger, laid 300mm of MOT1 laid and compacted in layers, and topped with small stones / large gravel. It the lane is narrow stick to buying a 10ft wide static.

You think that is bad! Had a slight contretemps with another car a while back, Ford want nearly £200 for a small bit of plastic to replace the wing mirror back cover. Literally a few pence of plastic and some paint.

Currently buying a plot with PP for demolish and rebuild although I will submit new plans. After getting approval I plan to demolish current house and move in a static caravan Site is along a private country lane and I'm worried whether lorry will get through. I have contacted dealer and asked whether they can do a check to see otherwise pointless me buying one. He said no because his guys are busy. Having said that if I pay £300 deposit I'm hopeful he will do this . Any thoughts Another question is regarding preparation of base for caravan - what should be done please?

Thanks for the input guys, they are a lot brighter with the lens of so there up and in use with no lens on but will have to replace at some point an il be sure to check what I'm buying next time

It is often quoted that UK oil production is now only a small fraction of what we use. So can someone explain this graph please? That graph would suggest we actually produce quit a lot of our own Diesel, not self sufficient by a long way but that looks a lot more than the tiny figure often quoted here. If anyone is interested that graph comes from here https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/sep/24/eu-trump-diesel-export-ban-fuel-prices-europe

You can buy any thickness of EPS you need and in any density that is required. you should not be looking in the builders merchants but instead an EPS manufacturer. there’s one called something like B AND P EPS.

A lot of learning indeed. About the house and about buildings in general. Air bricks everywhere, floor levels all over the place - there's 4 of them with about 10cm steps in between.

For me if doubt about anything get a HETAS installer out. Make sure the advice,from forums matches the country you live in, English and Scottish rules are similar, but generally different.

Beam and block probably. Keep posting and keep learning. There is a lot more to sustainability than insulation and heat recovery. You'll save much more money (and carbon) by skillfully renovating. I'd be looking at the differences between ground levels and finished floor, what the walls are made of , air bricks.

Yep. I wouldn't stop at just houses though. I'm a firm believer the planet would be much better off if we just nuked ourselves and let new, better species inhabit it.🤐 It's a prime plot in a prime location, but large part of the appeal is the vintage cottage feel & current garden grounds. Redeveloping into something modern would be a crime. Also, like most of the country at the moment, I'm broke, at least for the foreseeable. In my neck of the woods, real salaries are less than half of what they used to be 20 years ago while property prices have doubled and building materials are 3x-4x times more expensive. I'll keep my mouth shut about food, fuel and taxes because this is a forum about homes & houses, not about failing economies😇. Concrete floors I'll just leave for the time being (I've just read that one can get suspended concrete, which I suspect is the case here) and, once I've sorted out the rotten wooden windows around the house, I'd like to focus on the suspended flooring while I rip out the living room (only lifting 49.99% of the floorboards at any given time to make sure I'm on the right side of the building regs 😉). My thinking about the mahog was to potentially, lift it, re-finish while it's off, then use it as a top layer once the floor is rebuilt. Assuming it's not too damaged after being lifted. 32sq m of Cuban mahogany is not a common sight these days. Would be a shame to scrap it. I found this post on this forum and it seems to align with what floor insulation businesses are doing. Only difference being that here the suggestion is to use breather membrane on the bottom, while a more common approach is to use debris netting? I'll need to confirm the air is free to flow under it once this is installed once the boards are lifted, but I'm 90% confident it's not an issue after poking around with a camera probe - there should be plenty of space. Target state would be: Membrane stapled to joists - mineral wool - membrane on top - new floorboards - underlay - mahog/laminate Anything else I need to consider here? Looks like a job for one weekend (famous last words), as long as there's no joist rot. Pics will follow eventually.

Not at all. Just set them 3mm proud of the PB and your plasterer will blend them in perfectly. After the first one, you’ll be fitting these with confidence.

Its fairly common in my experience (mainly older properties in rural locations). Our house is an extended old stone house, so it may have been for ease of building, and hence the insulation. I have 3 fireplaces, all on external walls.

One or the other. Basically, if water’s getting to it you’re Donald Ducked anyways. Bump a thread when the time comes and we’ll ‘learn you good’

I've got 2 plumbed in plinth heaters that fire across my 8m doors from either side. They are connected to my radiator circuit so rarely used, but when they are on the heat they chuck out is pretty impressive. I only put them in as I was dubious on UFH performance so just ran the plumbing before I locked my floor in. Turns out I shouldn't have worried, but I'd bought em, plumbed em, made sense to just whack them in at that point. I've got 2 Smiths SS5.

Would you go SBR over say Ultra Pro Primer Nick? I'll be doing my floor tiling job in the near future so I'm interested as I'm about to order my supplies.

The latest French news on the topic is that 109 'electrification zone' candidates have just been approved, many in rural areas, some in towns & cities. They get financial, technical & other support until 2030 to implement local projects to phase out fossil fuels and boost electrification in any area(s) of the economy, from housing & transport to trade, industry & agriculture. Decommissioning some of the gas grid is a particular priority - apparently it's already happening in small areas of Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lyon, Metz, Nancy & Strasbourg. Full details are due in the coming months, with projects being launched at the end of the year. More in French: https://www.electrifions-la-france.gouv.fr/territoires-delectrification & https://www.banquedesterritoires.fr/les-territoires-delectrification-enfin-devoiles

Agreed. I thought "this is my thing , I can help", but it's too scatty. Start again please, pics in and out, and the available info on topography and ground make-up. No. A local SE will know the ground and the issues. Sometimes stitching or underpinning are the worst action you could take.... the SE will know.