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Plug PGSPDY2 requires tool TRCSPDY3 https://www.speedy-rj45.com/cat6a-shielded-feedthrough-plug Plug PGSPDY3 requires tool TBSPDY2 https://www.speedy-rj45.com/shielded-plug-for-xl-cable Well that's not confusing at all 🙄

I've typically bought from https://bownetcms.co.uk/ as they had fairly good pricing on CAT6(a) too, but I haven't comparison shopped this for a few years. Make sure you have the correct compatible crimping tool. And buy some spare blades while ordering ... And remember to use the little plastic carrier to arrange the cores correctly before pushing them through.

Well this escalated. Not trying to win an argument or even have an argument. When a response to a post of mine doesn't seem to engage on the points in my post I wonder if I didn't explain it well enough so try again. I think you understand my points now so not worth going further. The one thing I will point out is that the shortages are all on older gen stuff. M4 mac minis, M3 mac studios. Products expected to have announcements of replacements in the next 2 months. It's a well documented Apple tactic to sell down inventory/put long lead times on products near this point (happens with iPhone, laptops, etc). It doesn't always happen because in general Apple has bigger surplus but if things are running low they don't bother to build more.

If you are not in an exposed location you could have got away without these as the render would stop water getting through. You probably have weep vents every 450mm but some have been covered by render. You could have a dig about to find more or cover up any you don't like, but either way it is very difficult to make it match in with the render.

Another query on floor installation - I’m thinking secret nailing is a good idea, probably worth hiring one for the time saving v drilling + hammer nailing each nail?

I could probably do any build method myself, masonry included. Unfortunately I would be long dead before I had finished. I think stick built has great advantages. 1. Speed 2. Many options to source materials locally 3. "Standard" TF constitution these days for mortgages and insurance etc. 4. No big deposit to find. 5. Easier airtightness + thermal bridging details. 6. No mega machines needed. Masonry is good but to make it work well you really need a simple box design, good masons and plasterers, a longer time scale and time for tricky airtightness and thermal bridging detailing. It's not impossible but for a high performance building (we did it) but it's more touble than it's worth. If you're will to accept something average it's fine. ICF and twin wall factory frames are excellent when done well but carry the risks of higher up front cost, waiting times, deposits, scarcity of extra materials if needed. Big cranes on site. Sometimes awkward insurance and mortgaging. Pick your poison.

Hi All Some more advice needed if possible We have just ordered a wendy house but it looks like it has undercoat of some sort on it (looks golden/browny colour) .The playhouse is supplied with a dip treated base coat preservative ready for you to top coat immediately after installation, this could be wood paint or stain. https://www.robertdyas.co.uk/shire-hatter-s-house-playhouse?&gPromoCode=FREEDEL30 I am looking to use Cuprinol Garden Shades (possibly First Leaves, taupe colour) would the wendy house need a primer before being painted? e.g Zinsser 1-2-3. This house will be sat on a decking base, most likely to be pressure treated can this be painted direct or undercoat needed? Any help/advice on this would be very much appreciated

M3 96gb arrived ! Now the work begins !!

They dropped the 512gb m3 because they couldn’t supply the bin in a sensible time frame due to ram shortages .They up’d price of ram increases also + of course Apple ram tax . With m5 I guess there might not be a 512gb option initially . Clearly Apple can weather it better than some suppliers but they are experiencing issues . Ram shortages are set to continue into 2027/28 . So Apple are suffering ram increase costs , ram shortage, high demand for high bin and a new version on route . So bit of a perfect storm tbh . https://www.macrumors.com/2026/04/06/mac-mini-and-mac-studio-long-shipping-delays/ or as chat would say …. You may be right that Apple sold through the amount of high-memory M3 Ultras it planned to build. But that still doesn’t prove the wider memory shortage is irrelevant, and it definitely doesn’t prove Apple will offer M5 substitutions to people waiting on M3 orders. So at the moment the solid bit is just this: high-memory Apple SKUs are hard to get. The rest is theory. Honestly though, he sounds like one of those people who wants to win the mechanism, not discuss the outcome.

Hello, I have a small extension ( 7mtrx3mtr) that just needs the floor finishing off. The insulation (150mm) is in. Its south facing with sliding doors so will get some hammer from the sun in summer (approx 2 days :-) There is no underfloor heating and the insulation to finished height is around 65mm. I'm looking at gray white mixed epoxy as the top coat. Question is what is the best screed for the job? I wouldn't mind doing it myself if I can as I've done the majority of the build. Regards, Warren.

Pretty much everyone who lives in a city knows someone who has been affected by cladding issues related to Grenfell. A lot of those are EPS EWI related. So even if mortgages don't mind there are a pool of buyers who may be put off by EPS EWI. Mineral wool EWI doesn't have the same problem but is a lot more expensive and frankly I doubt many buyers who are nervous about 'cladding' are going to worry about the distinction. * Yes I know most buyers don't even know enough to think that deeply about what they are buying but even a subset of city dwellers moving out of the city is not a pool of people you want to put off IMO.

Totally agree with you that the high memory skus are not available. Just suggesting that in this case it is likely nothing to do with the memory shortage, more that Apple only ordered a certain amount of M3 Ultras with high memory and they have basically sold out and the M5 Ultra is so close to launch they don't want to order more M3s. It's true that fab capacity is limited these days due to the AI boom so if Apple is choosing where to allocate resources it will choose the M5. Very different: This custom integration means custom manufacturing with long lead times. Apple will order these chips like a year before they plan to use them and will order in very large batches. Yes there is a crunch at the factories that means that if Apple wants to order more it has to fight others (and pay more) but fundamentally, if Apple ordered more M3 Ultras now it would be many months before they arrive so from their POV why not just wait for the M5 Ultras that they ordered a long time ago. Yes Apple sold out of the high memory skus, but my argument is they have sold more than expected, not because they can't get memory. I expect the M5 Ultra will launch in June with a delivery slot that is a little earlier than the lead time currently mentioned on M3 Ultra orders. They will then offer people who ordered the M3 the option of the M5 (possibly with a different price). Those who accept will get the M5, those who don't will get whatever's left of Apples stockpile, not that many will say no to the M5. (Just because they have 'sold out' doesn't mean they don't have any on the shelf).

I think timber frame and block cavity are easy with finance. You'd have to check with CML or uk finance whatever they're called now make sure the majority of lenders are happy

People say the same for timber construction, which is standard building method in Scotland. No one has issue with finances or sales. External insulation has been given out free for ages by the government, so not seeing the issue there either. Personally I wouldn't do block or cavity build, it would be ICF or twin stud timber frame, as I could do both myself.

I’ve put this post in this area, as I was unsure where else to put it. Builders installed weep holes above our doors in random positions and they look a right mess. We know they are required but it’s the random positioning that bothers us and it draws your eye. I’ve attached photos but they don’t really show the extent of it. is there a way of obscuring these? We know they can’t be sealed up.

Personally, I think you will find working with timber much easier and nicer. It's a little more forgiving and if you get something in the wrong place you can always unscrew and try again. Good luck with the garage build, have you got build plans yet, or you just making it up as you go? I found this website really helpful for working out what size timbers I needed for various spans https://www.timberbeamcalculator.co.uk/en-gb/span-table/floor-joists?load=1.5&class=C24

Thank you... my next projects are to populate the Garden Room with furniture. So more woodworking than building. But after that I do have an idea for a rather elaborate kids playroom. I actually find your site as the result of a question I asked Perplexity (AI Platform), this site was listed as a reference, so I followed the link and here I am.

Solis confirmed you need a DC input from either or both the PV or the batteries....will have to get the batteries charged and assembled!

Source ? lol ! Apple website - try ordering one . Try getting one m3 / m4 from anywhere - high bin model . It’s true Apple uses a different packaging approach to normal server DIMMs, but that doesn’t make it magically immune to the wider memory supply problem. High-RAM M3 Ultra lead times are already very long, so clearly Apple is not unaffected. My point isn’t that Mac Studio uses identical RAM sticks to AI servers; it’s that the same broader supply chain pressure on high-capacity memory is still likely to hit Apple’s larger bins too. So yes, Apple’s implementation is different. No, that doesn’t prove the current delays are unrelated to the wider memory shortage.

Hi, I found your post and was hoping you could let me know where your ducting for the island sits under your floor, we're currently looking to have one installed and are rebuilding the floor due to an extension, have you gone above/below DPM, we're looking to take the ducting under our new sub-floor.

Not as good for finance or future sales purposes I think?

You can still full fill up there then? I thought it went on exposure zones? The stuff is deffo water repellent. An offcut can sit in a puddle for a week and is no heavier for it.

Behind the walls or inside the cavity?

Thank you Alan