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I think the problem is also pride too. I'd be ashamed to turn out some work I've seen over the years. Maybe you're just good at things Joe but also WANT to do a good job and not just about the money

I think part of the problem is the death of the apprentiship, my dad is a time served carpenter, his apprentiship was four years. He could build you anything using wood. I myself did a three year indentured apprentiship and I can ment anything mechanical, I can build you a chemical plant, I can manage a multi million pound project. My last renovation project the windows had to be fitted by the window company, so they could supply the FENSA certificate, the two guys fitting the windows, one started out as a butcher and the other was a poor DIYer. They were hopeless. A friend is a time services joiner and worked for a company doing disabled bathroom adaptions, his boss laid off all the time server guys and replaced them with minimum wage tryers. He now works on a self employed basis for the same company, going round fault fixing!

By way of update, I am now committed down the Bosch route- if I want everything to match, that is! Picked up a couple of bargains (oven and hood) on Gumtree. Oven is a couple of years old, looks brand new, and the (glass) hood is still in the packaging. £110 total spend so far. Holding out for a matching hob if possible now. My £2k kitchen budget suddenly looks much more achievable

I'd wholeheartedly agree. I did a similar setup with oversized rads and roomstats per room, with regular lock-shield valves ( so nobody can turn the rad off inadvertently ) all fed off an UFH manifold from a TS. I chose this route for a couple of reasons, but most of all NOT to have the rads fed with uber hot water eg at the set temp of the TS which was in the high 70's, but also as it was a large house with 6 bedrooms which were not always in use. Those rooms were 'mothballed' at 16oC, whereas the rooms in daily use sat around 21oC with a simple rad timeclock and UFH timeclock respective to upstairs and down. Programmable room stats are the next upgrade or open source. @DamonHD has a good bit of content / knowledge regarding that as he has developed his own system accordingly, one iirc responds to occupancy too. I put the room stats next to each light switch at the same height for aesthetics and it simply leaves a little trial and error to get the temp comfortable. These are the touchscreen ones i fitted, but the relay inside is audible when switching so you may want to spend a bit more on ones which switch with solid state rather than electromechanical relays . No complaints from the customer btw, just my observation . Fyi you can get a manifold control 'wiring centre', matching manifold actuators and stats all from one supplier. Either Boulder Developments who I buy a lot from or Heatmiser do such complete setups which are plug n play.

The UFH I would always do one thermostat per room, the system lends itself to that perfectly. Room stats upstairs as well would be my choice as you get a setting in proper degrees rather than the usual 1-5 on a TRV. It will also be controlling the temperature at a useful point in the room, not down close to the floor. Though in a well insulated house that won't make much difference. Individual room stats also opens the possibility of programmable thermostats, e.g no point having the bedrooms heated all day when you only want them warm in the evenings to go to bed.

Answers in the thread title posted on Ebuild here: (Some of these views may have changed, but it is still all useful grist for your mill. @Declan52 @ProDave @JSHarris @JSHarris @Stones @jack @jack There is another thread buried deeper in Ebuild, which I aim to have a look at later.

Spent the afternoon playing with my big red snake Had to get wife to help by pulling it. Got a big problem with swallows. The birds that is. Decided they like the house and want to move in

Garden seat oiled and put in place.

@Alphonsox my first bit of advise would be for you to have a really good look at what is being grown locally, this can help you to create a safe list of plants that you know are going to work in your area. Then its down to the micro climate within your garden, sheltered corners etc can give you more options. I have an exceptionally large garden with many diffrent aspects and at least 3 major changes in soil type (rich volcanic - peat - clay/shale) there are two springs on the property and a large pond and marsh area so i get to really play around with what trees i can grow. However in the more exposed areas prone to south westerly gales and salt laden winds........ i am growing silver birch (betula pendula) Rowan (sorbus aucuparia) Aspen (populus tremula) cherry plum (prunus cerasifera) I have also having success with griselina littoralis but its only been in two years.... there are many types of willow that can grow well in the right location and worth investigating. on the small tree / shrub front the best of the pick for me would be New Zealand holly (olearia macrodonta) its pretty and supper hardy and grows quick ! I am also growing sea buckthorn on my dry slopes. Hawthorn and blackthorn are both doing well as is hazel. I can and am growing a couple of hardy fuchsia with great ease and proppergating cuttings is sooo easy, they are great for hedging and for providing protection for other plants. I have hundreds of scots pine but the ones in sheltered corners are really doing great, the others get salt burn every winter but then get away in the spring.... i intend to plant some larch as it does well locally but like so many trees there is disease within 30 miles..... anyway as i said look at whats working locally, i have planted apple pear and plum but they are tucked in and surrounded by sacrificial trees, ie trees that provide shelter now but will get cut back or removed as the fruit trees develop. There are many really good hardy salt tolerant trees but they are specialised and come with a hefty price tag, so out of my reach.... try and get a wide variety of trees in if you have the space as disease is spreading so quick and if all your eggs are in one basket..... apologies for bad spelling i am a stone mason not a words smith.