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I'm getting more used to the range of reactions from visitors to the site. Its the range of reaction that interests me. The thinly veiled sneer. Yer doin what? How much? How yer doing the roof then? Shakes? What, vaulted roof? Haven't done wun o they fer 20 year od. An' ahm a rewfer. Yer wanna trussed rewf mert... Well good luck with that then The visiting BM Driver It takes a BM delivery lorry driver about 10 seconds to say, Whasatt stuff then? Followed by 'Looks like sponge' (Durisol block). The visiting mate Got the keys to yer digger? Need owt lifitin' ? Need an ole dug? Has Debbie got the tea on yet? Ya haven't done much since I was last here. The visiting BH member I'll get my kit out the van, won't take long. The architect Well, the SE will be able to tell you that. The passing cyclist(s) We are on a National Cycle route) I've got no time for NIMBies; seems to me you've just gone and got on with it. JBDI is my motto too. The passing local councillor How come its taking you so long then? The long, slow drive by There are two sorts: the builders' van, and the Sunday driver (every day at least two, never mind if it's not Sunday) Builders: two blokes, one feet on dashboard, 'tother forearm on wheel craning to see of the wall's come down again (UP YOURS pal) Sunday driver: two old biddies, of, though not yet in the grave, ashen-faced smiling. Judder past in the wrong gear because they're driving so slowly. Kindly. Walkers in groups That curious dynamic that makes groups of walkers oblivious of their surroundings, pass by without so much as a flicker. Single walkers How's it going? yabber yabber yabber. Let's have a look then! Cheery, joke-filled minute or two. The precocious child Mummy, what's the man doing, he looks like Darth Vader? (Welding - er sorry writing braille with a welding stick) The local retired super-nerd We chat happily for an hour or so at a time about minutiae, when I repeatedly refer him to read @JSHarris on heat decrement delay, @Temp for planning matters, @Nickfromwales for saucy one-liners. "Well, I have to say (no he didn't) yours is the most over-engineered house I have ever seen". Some locals Studied avoidance of gaze: the sort I used to get in the 1970s as an Officer Cadet when a senior (but arsey) NCO deliberately avoided saluting me. (The NCO was right) Headstrong Old Biddies Well now what are you making the roof out of? What? What's that then? Harumphhhh. I could forgive you if the roof was going to be slate. I may be working on my own at the moment. But there's a committee of watchers out there. I'm starting to sell tickets tomorrow.

Scaffold down at long last. still need to have the oak porch and oak balcony fitted

TBH I agree with you. In that model the new one looks very dominant. It would be a surprise to me if It helps in that form. However your Planning Consultant is the local expert and their opinion is far more weighty than mine. I think if presented with that as a Councillor on Planning Committee or as a potential local objector, I would be concerned enough to ask some awkward questions. I think you need to communicate that the house is in a far larger context than that shown on this model, so the extra space is really a very very minor overall change. One way to do that might be to have a small scale model of the landscape showing how small it is in the context of your 19 acres and umpteen lakes, then a model showing the detailed house and no landscape, demonstrating the high quality of the design - so the change is de-emphasised and the old size vs new size is not discussed in the same breath. I might be tempted to get the latter one 3D printed and dismantleable by layer. If you have to have one of house plus some landscape, then I would suggest putting enough landscape in to place it properly in context, and I would turn eg all that brown into green. If the lake moves then I would perhaps model it with the water lower eg in high summer. Never show the two side by side in the form imo. If you make sure to call it an "'illustrative" model In the definitive places even if you call it just a "model" elsewhere, then you cannot be formally bound by it. I would use it as a prop to your presentations rather than something you let people take away. Ferdinand

You can get both T&G and square edge at 1200 x 2400 (See here for details)

400mm spacing does make for a very stiff and solid structure. I'm really impressed with the lack of any detectable bounce in our floor, which is Posijoists on 400mm centres.

I quite like chatting to people who are curious about the house. Over the years we've had:- Around 20 AECB members visiting a PH Eight middle aged people from Sweden (EU) looking at over 50s rural living in UK Dozen or so lady ramblers stop by twice a year to monitor progress Locals always curious about a house without heating and the dustmen once a fortnight for an update and giving me tips such as when turf laying 'it's green side up'.

There is a simple rule of thumb for a new build: a. any contractor who is vat registered MUST invoice you with zero vat for all materials, labour, hire fees, etc.. b. For any contractor who is NOT vat registered then you MUST purchase, be invoiced for and pay for all materials including paying the vat on those invoices. At the end of the project you complete a vat return to claim back the vat element you have previously paid out but VAT on some charges is not recoverable, e..g on fees, hire charges, etc. If you organise your contracts carefully most of the irrecoverable VAT can be avoided. You do this by arranging for a vat registered contractor to contract and pay for fees, hire, etc. You then get invoiced with zero vat.

Almost word for word my plumber's reaction to our proposal for a 5kW ASHP for DHW and heating duties. It was -1 here overnight. Heating still hasn't come on this year (partly because it can't - the ASHP recently threw a fault and we're waiting to get someone out to take a look). The concrete floor downstairs is starting to get uncomfortably cool to walk around on without socks, but the house is still perfectly comfortable. I'll add a couple: Estate agent (an acquaintance who ended up at ours after the pub with a group of friends one night) [As we arrive:]"Ooh, can I have a look around? I've wondered for ages what your house was like inside." [After poking around:] "I don't really like modern houses, but the inside isn't as bad as I thought it'd be based on the outside. It's actually pretty good." In vino veritas, indeed! Random local couple who we know to say hello to, walking by [Brick skips going up]: "Oh, they look nice" [Us]: Yes, once they're done they'll be painted white". [Them]: "Oh no, I don't like that at all."

Who needs 'Plenty more fish" eh? Get your coat lad, you've pulled !

Sorry thats not correct. Nolte is HUGE and will buy out Siematic many times over. Nolte is a entry-mid market product in line with Hacker, Schuller, Brigitte and Rotpunkt. Siematic is top end competing with Poggenpohl, Leicht etc. Bulthaup and another notch or two higher. Leicht offers everything Siematic does for a lot less money.

Special tool? Nah, don't bother. On a long run like that an EMPTY silicone tube is what you want. Put a drop of Fairy in a jug with some water. Cut the end off the silicone tube SQUARE. None of that 45deg b@llocks. Flatten the end a bit and dip the in the soapy water. Go along your silicone and it leaves a lovely neat filet. Excess collects in the empty tube. Periodically re-dip in the water: Maybe I'll do a video! Taught to me by a Moldovan commercial glazing fitter.

Hi all, Got hold of a Rothenberger unit on ebay at a sensible price - so been doing some wet testing - left at 5bar for up to 24hrs. No pressure drop or drips anywhere so will cover up now and get on with all the other jobs. Thanks for all your comments.

This won't work, I'm afraid. To reclaim VAT you, personally, have to buy the goods or materials, in your name, and using your card, cash or whatever. HMRC will not allow you to reclaim VAT from goods and materials purchased by another. That person has to be VAT registered and and then supplies goods and services to you at zero rate.

Wildly different to me. Many days I’m working on my own and can be summarised as: No one Nobody Silence Solitude Alone I do occasionally get into a conversation with someone at the local village pub. The conversation normally goes: ”Where are you building a house” ”I explain” ”They look mildly confused” ”I explain again” ”They continue to look confused” ”I change the subject” It’s not a remote location at all. It’s just that the entrance to the drive looks like any other gated entrance around these parts and the house just can’t be seen from a road or footpath.