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Big day today. Scaffold finally down. I’ve still got a few outside jobs which I’m going to have to do off my tower, just couldn’t justify any more weeks hire! Still soooooo much to do

@Onoff makes an interesting point. Here's where @CoopersWMBO rolls her eyes as I strike up my usual two-part rant. 1. It's becoming clear that the microscopic fauna we share our bodies with are an important part of our overall health. We evolved with them (and they with us). Not just the gut biome, but also the little fellas living on our skin, in our nasal passages, etc. If this is the case, then modern, overly-clean lifestyles, sanitised, sugar-spiked food, and overuse of antibiotics will inevitably piss all over our health, in so many ways. 2. The nature of the wheat in our food has changed fairly radically since about 1970. It's now much easier for farmers to farm -- more consistent and shorter -- but there's some evidence to show that it contains proteins that are sub-clinically harmful to many people. I'm not talking about gluten, although a growing number of people are self-diagnosing as "gluten-intolerant" because they gave up wheat and feel much better -- it's more likely to be intolerance to the new proteins, rather than new intolerance to old ones. Ergo: Consider taking broad-spectrum pro- and pre-biotics after a course of antibiotics, don't wash too much, avoid wheat and sugar.

Some of you will know that we've recently completed our build and moved in. What you may not know is why we built the house we have, and why it is quite literally proving to be a breath of fresh air. Mrs NSS has had various health issues all her life, not least chronic asthma, but a little over 4 years ago things got a whole lot worse. Cumulative damage from the asthma had left the lower third of both lungs in shit shape, and this had led to a 6-weekly cycle of chest infections and antibiotic courses. This vicious circle eventually resulted in hospital admissions for pneumonia and pleurisy, and a diagnosis of Bronchiectasis, a degenerative lung disease for which we were told there was no treatment/cure. My first and only question to the clinician was, "Okay, so what can we do to slow the progression?" The answer, "in an ideal world, live in a hermetically sealed bubble". Essentially, eliminate as many of the irritants (airborne particles and allergens) to her condition as possible, and that's what I set out to achieve from our new home - not so much building the dream as building the bubble. Four years on, plot found, research conducted, house designed and built, and the news is so far so good. We've been in for about two months now and the difference has been remarkable with her reliance on inhalers significantly reduced, and sleeping much better due to reduced congestion. This week she had her regular respiratory check up and her breathing was found to be the best it has been for several years. Yes, it's early days, but if this house enables me and Mrs NSS to enjoy quality time together for longer than may otherwise have been the case, then it will have been worth every sleepless night, every bead of sweat, and every single penny. Whatever your motivation to self build, take a deep breath and go for it - you won't regret it.

I went to one leaking copper cylinder when young and keen ? and grabbed the cold feed pipe to show how bad the corrosion was, and that it was there that it was leaking from. As I put my hand on the pipe it pushes into the cylinder and the entire contents ( 115l or so ) emptied into the room in the wink of an eye. It presently disappeared into the floor void and all I could hear is the kid downstairs saying "mummy, the tellys gone off". Every drop went down the back of the telly, dvd, sky box etc. Another top day at work. They went through their own insurance after I took a photo of the knackered Union as I pointed to the hole in the living room ceiling where it was evident it had been leaking for years before I got there. Still got the old pulse racing though. ?

On the topic of wheat, and as a farmer's son, I have to say that modern farming methods do cause me concern. For example, I remember when we were first sold Round Up (glyphosate) back in the 70's. The reps demonstrated it's safety by drinking the stuff, believe it or not. Lots of trials showed that, when used as intended, to kill spring growth of weed prior to seeding, or for weed suppression around field boundaries (not something we'd really do now!) it was very safe indeed. I must have sprayed tens of thousands of litres of the stuff, and genuinely believed it was as safe a herbicide as you could get, based largely on the large body of evidence that proved that soil bacteria break glyphosate down within a few days, so there were no toxic residuals. However, we now have the situation where glyphosate is used to reduce energy bills, by being sprayed on crops before harvest in order to dry the seeds, by killing off the plants. This saves a great deal of energy in wet summers, by not needing to run grain driers as much. The major downside is that if the glyphosate is not washed off the crop, then it will be on the grain or seed, so gets into the food chain. I'm now far from convinced that this is a safe practice, as there seem to be low levels of glyphosate in a lot of grain and seed based foods, and none of the initial safety studies looked at the scenario of long term continuous low level ingestion - they all assumed that there would be no residual glyphosate in the crop come harvest time.

I have been a bit busy over the last few weeks having finished first fix, plumbing and electrics. Plumbing went okay, although one of the AAV's had a small leak so the pressure test on the foul drain kept failing. Once replaced it held 50mm of water without problem. Had a major with the electrician who walked off the job at the end of first fix as he got a major contract for 10 houses. As we had no formal written contract we were stuck. As all the cables were in, none of the electricians would entertain the work other than as a final testing and inspection. After a bit of negotiation with the building control officer and we can go down that route. Upside is that i have saved a couple of quid as all i have paid for are materials so the final test will be the only labour charge. Plasterboard is about 60% completed and the plasterer is following us room to room. So far we have used 240 sheets including some sound and fire board. we have stuffed rock wool into all the walls and floors and will be pleased when finished as i hate the stuff. Its been a bit of a challenge to board the high points as the plasterboard lifter did not quite reach and i am still working out how to reach the roof of the galleried landing The next issue according to my wife is the colour of the sofa. not sue why when i still have to plumb the plant room

What about just using a powerline adapter at the gate end and just send the data 'through the mains'? https://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-PA4010KIT-V1-20-Powerline-Configuration-UK/dp/B01BECPIMC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1515256721&sr=8-3&keywords=powerline+adapter

With the benefit of the experience of removing one that had been in place for around 30 years or so, I'd say that might work. The fibre washer is the problem, as it will be bonded on well to both the immersion heater and tank flanges. They always seems to tear when you remove an immersion, so anything that makes it easier for the washer to tear and so allow the immersion to unscrew more easily seems to make sense.

This isn't really on, as mentioned in the other post. The minimum separation is 300mm between power and data cables, but in practice you can get away with a bit less, say 200mm, without getting interference over short runs like this, although it's not recommended. For safety reasons as much as anything else you shouldn't put power and data in the same duct, even if there isn't an interference problem in practice. The only exception I know to this rule is for pure fibre optic data "cable" with no electrical conductors. I believe it's OK to run that alongside power cable OK.

I had the foresight to include them on the planning application, knowing the trees create too much shading for a roof system.

You mean you don't do handstands in the shower?!