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June being her best mate, sister?

Ah well, we got over it pretty quickly so thought I should share - partly to give y'all a chuckle but also to share to hopefully avoid someone else making such a bloody silly gaff! Adding to the list of @recoveringacademicand his gables, @pocsterand his big hole and @Tin Soldier and his gammy finger - and more elsewhere! These things happen! On the night we moved in, Craig did dinner and I'd been footering about with lots of things. I had buzzed up to Screwfix to get a HEP20 fitting for the washing machine and fitted it - then ceremoniously put on the first wash. So far so good. Now, a bit of history - the bath trap supplied with the bath is a piece of crap - it's shallow and I don't think actually functions as a trap and has an odd outlet size (30mm - doesn't fit with any UK sizes that's for sure. Anyway, I've been trying to find a replacement because I'm convinced it can't work properly and in the meantime, to block potential smells if I'm right, I put a bung in the 40mm pipe which feeds into the stack (I can access it from the AAV). So - first wash on - a wee glass of prosecco, dinner made by Craig and some music. Something made me check the bathroom - really not sure why - and found it flooded. The washing machine drain is linked to the bath - with the bung in it! I stopped the machine right away and flung towels down on the tiled floor and put the UFH on full. Anyway, we finished dinner and as I walked back through the utility room, I felt the floor moving and could hear water - it had come through and flooded the utility! My heart sank. It was like a swamp. We dismantled the whole room and put it outside, lifted the flooring and cleared it back to the concrete subfloor. Fortunately, the water hadn't gone any further i.e the other way through to the bar, but the place was soaking. We got it dried, put the MHRV on full bung, and waited until morning. The floor has completely dried out although the bottom of the stud wall is damp (two days later I'm checking it and it's drying out okay as far as I can tell) - have rebuilt and will keep an eye. Won't put skirting on so hopefully most of the moisture will dry out over time. What a disaster! All because I forgot I had put that bung on there. Feel stupid but heyho, these things happen. Will make me doubly check in future. Nonetheless, we had a great sleep, and have rebuilt the utility in the morning- no obvious harm done. It was just such a silly oversight when you have a million and one things going on. I've removed the bung and put the trap on and placed the bath - no smells yet but I'll monitor it closely. But there we go - Noahs Ark on the first night! Poor Craig - I was pulling the floor up barking out orders - dry this, stack that, dry this, hold this, move that, get the trolly dolly. Lift this. We were too much in a good mood (maybe the prosecco helped!?) to get annoyed for long tho and we're back to normal.

Build Swap...where two disheartened self builders swap caravans for the weekend and see they're not the only ones in that boat!

Luckily I have not been there but I believe this is only because I refuse to put pressure on myself, I have suffered Ill health on more than one occasion because of stress in the past. I have been waiting most of my life to do this build and it’s not worth it unless I enjoy it. My wife likes to work to definite dates but I refuse saying it will be done when it’s done! I was taught mindfulness after one particular health scare and thought then “ what a waste of time” but it’s not. I make myself sit down and just stare at the view, the clouds, the trees and take just a few moments “out”. I also do not make myself do jobs I hate, I hate painting and although I can do it I have a decorator coming tomorrow so I can get on with things I like, like woodwork which also needs doing.

How timely... I can relate to so many of these posts. Like Joe90 I have waited and worked for decades to do this build, but I’ve fallen out of love with it. At second fix, sick of people telling me how fantastic it is and how luck I am. Currently only see the annoying bits, unfinished pieces and problems. Timber frame started just over a year ago, it takes time, life is busy and I’m meant to be doing this because I want to not because I have to... I don’t think anyone that has not taken on a project like a self build can understand the rollercoaster ride it is. Yes it is a ‘fortunate’ problem to have that most will never get the chance to do and even fewer take up the opportunity, I have some good friends that are determined to get me over the line, then I will fall back in love!

"Ah, well maaaaaate, tha' wunts an 'ilti guuun ter fix they bolts ter 't steels lahk " It was another of those 'If I were you, I'd ' conversations. And I'm sick of them. Sick, sick, sick up to here I tell ya. Except today: oh delicious today, today's the day this Teddy Bear had a brief picnic. "Oh really, that's interesting: fancy a trip up the ladder to have a look at these then ?" At first they don't look much, until you drill one in a steel beam in less than 20 seconds with a Bosch impact , and bingo..... Well, give the old codger his due, he wheezed up the steps and inspected the self-drilling facade screws " Would sir care to drill another one in for me? It'll take sir less than 20 seconds ? " Nahhh, yer awreyet : bet that cost a bob-or-two." said Mr By Now Shame Face. " Bob or two yes, erm... Minus the cost of hiring a Hilti and the special bolts they spit..... Didn't tell him that they work better if you spit on the end of the screw. "Mind you don't fall off the ladder, (you miserable git) I muttered under my breath.

Meanwhile back at the walk on glass debacle ... Should get a call from them today; so we will see what happens....

Re sleep I can recommend getting a speaker pillow from Amazon or EBay. Got mine when I was doing nights on the railway-even though I was exhausted found it difficult,stressful even to demand my mind shut down. So I got one,installed the iplayer radio app & listened to Westminster Hour,In our time or another discussion programme-anything with no big jumps in audio level & long enough that I could focus my mind on it & let sleep happen,rather than forcing it.

I just quit what I was doing and took time out for a few days or until I felt like going back. I found that taking a conscious decision to do that, do nothing on the build until we were ready made a big difference. On one hand we think we can't afford 'time off' but on the other, it's vital for our own motivation, spirits and well being. Time off can be just doing nothing on the house or take a trip somewhere for a few days? You've recognised the most important thing - all the motivation techniques in the world have their limited because virtually none are geared up to motivated you non stop for years! Oh - and keep hydrated - water, not tea or coffee. That's not a flippant comment, whatever we were feeling was compounded (esp in the early days when we didnt' realise) by not drinking enough hydrating fluids). Finally - and this is only a personal thing, but it most definitely works for me - I have some really high strength vitamin B-Complex capsules - taken occasionally for only a few days, they help my concentration and general brain power. If I know I have a tough day ahead or riding the bike for a long journey I take these.

Best time to prune cherry is June / July and treat pruned branches with Arbrex or similar.

My PV array(s) is(are) finally commissioned, they have been on the roof since November last year! Two reasons for the delay: Mains power required in the house (Available Feb), also final second fit electrical, no extensions! Internet required!!! The installers tried setting it up at the end of March but failed! They returned last week when I was there and basically I did the commissioning work!!! (Following the instructions). I have 37 x 280W Monocrystalline panels JAM6(K)-60-280-4BB (Chinese from the supplier) each coupled to an enphase micro-inverter. These are wired via 3-phase cable (house is 3-phase) into their own breaker board, then onto the main board via an import meter. Teh array is split up 10 panels SE and 27 SW, each array has it's own breaker and there is a noise suppressor in the box also. An enphase envoy is wired in next to the breaker box and communicates with micro-inverters via powerline and the world by my Wi-Fi (on an isolated subnet). The problem was that the envoy (brains) could not communicate with the micro-inverters so the system was not coming online. The installers commissioning the system were stumped so after about an hour I went up into the attic to help, First of all connecting the system to my Wi-Fi (not the temporary BT Hub from build), then I downloaded the installer app (iPhone), they logged me on, and following the instruction on my laptop set up the array details (all micro-inverters were serial numbered) and set it to work. Remarkably all micro-inverters were detected but only 2/3 communicating (powerline problems), by this time it was past support hours so they planned to come back the next day. In the meantime my electrician came in to do some odd jobs, I explained the issue to him and he suggested that they take a power feed directly off their breaker board (behind their noise suppressor) for the envoy rather than use the socket that is on the attic ring. When the installers returned the next day, I passed on the advice which they confirmed with the enphase support people and fitted the dedicated socket, unsurprisingly all bar one reported in and that one has since done so. My array is now up and running: It can be viewed here: https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/pv/public_systems/yYpm1387793/overview?preview=1 I have managed over 8kW in the current garbage weather and over 40kWh on one day! As an aside I had to have an interim EPC produced before the array was commissioned to enable full FIT rate claim, the EPC will be subsequently re-assessed (with Solar) to give a final realistic figure. It is a quirk of the system (designed for retrofit not new-build) that if you commission a system without a lodged EPC, you get a FIT rate of about 10% of the current puny rate, but you cannot include Solar in your EPC until it is commissioned, so you end up doing it twice!!

The prob with those 90deg fittings is if they leak you cant give them a little tweak - its got to be a 360 turn. I put loads of ptfe - as @Nickfromwales says - fill those valleys. If I did it again i'd bend the pipe 90 / use 90deg joint and then go into the valve with a straight joint, you can then tighten it up a bit more if necessary. All looks good so far. Cant wait to see the tiling....

For the excess ptfe over the face of the thread, simply run it flat over an engineers file and clean off the waste bits.

I have astigmatism and I am significantly short sighted. I have been told that I am not suitable for varifocals/bifocals. I have a pair of glasses where one lens (the right) is for reading and the other for long distance. Seems to work O.K. for me.

They're all right, but the shot of the lesser goop is better, as it really just needs to be a smear. Because with less you get a lot of leaks thats why Brass into brass is quite sloppy, so the fitting will simply displace what ever it doesn't want but will definitely have enough to pack the valleys fully.

I also treat my refurb as a day job, on the tools 8am sharp, 10 min tea break at 11.30 and a one hour lunch at 1pm then another tea brake at 3.30pm and tools DOWN at 5pm. Weekends are for doing stuff i really Want to do. I find i am most motivated when working with others, i have volunteers around most of the time and though they can be work in themselves i do find that its so much easier to smash out a few big gnarly jobs if you have one or two young keen sidekicks riding shotgun. I also cannot even start to think about my day without a really big cooked breakfast, a decent healthy lunch and a feast at night. Gave up alcohol seven months ago as well as refined sugar, dairy and high carb food which has been great for my health and mind. I wake up every morning champing at the bit to get out there and build, i have to force myself to stop at all the designated times.... but thats the trick.

Better not comment on that,

There speaks someone acquainted with management of an Information Technology budget.

@Yzzy, use the lath to start the fire, it burns fiercely, i had a pile about 4' high from our first house and the flames were about 12' high and you couldn't get near it. certainly get the figs going

Hi all, Been a bit quiet here recently as been focussed on getting a temporary Habitation Certificate and ready to move in. We moved in yesterday - and what a gorgeous day for it. Building Control visited two weeks ago for the final drains pressure test, something i was dreading - I could get it up to pressure but it didn't hold for long enough. I filled the system to floor level and the water never budged, so there was no obvious leak - maybe an AAV or trap somewhere? I explained this to the BCO and he was fine with the water level test and suggested maybe air is leaking up through a trap under pressure. I had a problem with the bath trap - a shallow one but actually, doesn't function as a trap at all, so I'm currently trying to find one I can retrofit as access is limited. There's a bit of a story to that (to make @pocsterfeel better) but that's for another thread. We have one bathroom to finish (planning doing that next week), some carpets and flooring to go down and lots of small internal bits to finish. Then over summer lots of external details need completed (window trims, reveals, proper downpipes, coping etc etc), the garage finished and driveway put in. First night way lovely apart from a minor disaster that I've only just recovered. Can't wait to enjoy the house over the summer, watch the wildlife come and go, hopefully get some honey from our bees (they survived the winter), start working on my cars again once I get my ramp and just enjoying the finer things a bit more. It's been a great experience, and one we both agree we would do again at some point. Not as big as this one tho, but this is likely to be our forever home. We've been building pretty much for three years non stop, it all seems a bit odd now as we recount all the different stages. Needless to say, we would have struggled a lot without this forum - thank you everyone - there is such a wealth of information here that almost every question can be answered, or nearly, and if not, it's only a few button presses and hours away, so thank you everyone - more often than not it's the basic questions that have been most useful. Back to work for me next Monday - I finished in December to focus on the house so back to Mon-Fri 9-5!

http://www.bromley.gov.uk/info/200011/building_control/89/building_regulations_-_a_guide/6 It would pobably be polite to tell the BCO that you plan to start work on site at your own risk prior to recieving plans approval.

It should be fine if you add in the extra chamber before the final one. Who is Bb?

This goes against the perceived grain but as the job is bitty anyway I'm using all my PIR and EPS offcuts in this wall. Basically whatever fits the hole with foam making up the rest.

Yes . I have lots of corrospondence showing upstands that I supply . An at cost remake would be an acceptable compromise....

Yea but not nearly as much fun as the Hilti, kabooom,

What the actual F..?

Optician did a poor job, IMHO. The correct measurement might be in their records

Best visit the optician and get these new classes customised for your eyes through an interactive sight test. I assume the optician will start by reducing the power of your distance glasses using an industry percentage and then fine tune with you through a standard interactive sight test.

An optician can solve this problem, just ask for mid distance glasses with the neutral focus point set to about 20 inches. Find a comfortable ergonomic typing position then get someone to measure the distance from eyes to screen. I use a large 30" screen hence 20 inches is about right for me, a laptop user might be happier with 18 inches.

Back to the OP... in such demanding situations I think it is helpful to be reassured your adverse reaction is normal. Coping with challenges is one thing, dealing with the same while doubting one's own mental fortitude will double the size of the problem.

To continue this theme, board a Brittany Ferry in Portsmouth or Plymouth as a foot passenger and do a round trip to Spain. Three days of staring at waves in the Bay of Biscay should trigger a beneficial brain reboot and free up millions of neurons that will be champing at the bit to crack on with your self build.

Go and check Groupon that is local to you and see if there is any good deals for hotels near you that have spa facilities. Book it and go and get a few nights good sleep with some nice food and drink and if possible a nice massage/treatment. And just sit in a pool/sauna/jacuzzi for a few hrs and just relax. No point in staying at home to relax as if you look out the window the guilt of I should be doing stuff will kick in. Keep you head up high and remember how hard you both have worked to get where your at and do it with a sense of pride not dread as you have had more than your share of issues but your closer than most of the people here to the finish line than the starting blocks.

As I understand it only the legal owner can evict someone from land. So if there is no legal owner then nobody can legally evict you. I've heard of the land registry rejecting claims where the fencing allowed visitors like the postman access. As I understand it you have to demonstrate you have taken possession "to the exclusion of all others". Worth reading up on this point if there is any doubt. If a third party reacts badly and starts to take down your fence then I think your only option is to call the police. Technically they could be guilty of criminal damage but the police might not want to take action when they discover you don't own the land. Try showing receipts as proof you own the fence. I suppose you might have to resort to solicitors letters or getting an injunction if the police won't help or the third party continues to cause damage.

When my husband was doing the build here he found it all quite motivating all the time there were trades in and he was working alongside them, organising things etc. Then when they had gone and he was doing the vast majority of the work himself on his own he found it a very lonely place and the enormity of the task ahead hit home. Rather than it being an exciting project that he had always wanted to do (so he said at the start) it became a chore. I was at work all day and he found it difficult to be here totally alone and just work on the house. He ended up getting a part time job in the mornings simply to change things. He was pretty much as productive with the part time job as he was before because he didn't spend all morning trying to get motivated to start on something. Then later when my husband was sick and later died and everything was down to me I couldn't get my head around doing anything on the house for about 6 months afterwards as I wasn't in the right headspace at all. So I just stopped until I felt motivated enough to continue again. It can really become something you hate if you let it. So take some days off (don't wait until June as that won't help you with the rest of April and May), do something enjoyable, relax, and then see about starting afresh. Maybe you could try to get some mates in to help on a they help you, you help them basis? It's often easier to work alongside others for the camaraderie and chat, and that often helps to keep things moving along. Yes you would have to spend some time on their things too but you would have people to help move yours along too.

I was going suggest exercise... I had this idea that going for a run would give me "me" time, alone to get my thoughts in order and I'd come back refreshed and raring to go! Total bollox, I was doing well if I could make the salt box at the end of the drive! Waiting for those feel good endorphins to kick in, still waiting... Never forget Leonard Rossiter died playing squash! I find a working beer helps...

Tidying up at the end of the day is good. I try and clear exactly where I've been working, all the measuring / marking stuff goes back in its dedicated bag. Boxes of screws put together, spirit levels stacked etc. A sweep up and quick vac. Much nicer to know you're going back to a clean workspace.

Just looked at mine. Timber frame kit and windows / doors 75k (net cost of materials only). That was back in 2009. Didn’t include the blocks for the outside, or roof tiles, or foundations and countless other things. % of total build costs 22%.

Prunus varieties are supposed to be trimmed in summer (when the sap is rising) rather than winter to reduce susceptibility to diseases such as silver leaf; if it's going to be removed anyway it's not going to matter when you prune it.

Just looked My house shell and foundations (built by local builders) £59K roof £3K done by me cladding and render £7500 Rationel windows supplied and fitted £13K

You make a good point The TF go up fast Somtines to fast I work on both It amazes me how far some of the TF can be out of aquare and out of plumb They usually blame the slab construction But seem to get away with it As it’s to difficult to alter afterwards

I think a brickie would have achieved better plumbness etc that the frame errector did. I've spent a long time making up for these simple errors. Next one will be block and brick, blown in insulation and def corbelling. Wet plaster throughout. Timber wasnt a great choice for us since its only me doing the work and with a full time job, progress is slow. So for us no time advantage. Good luck with whatever you settle on.

I don't have any particular insight but I'm well aware of the company and was tempted to go with them. I've ended up copying many of their ideas in my own build. £60k seems cheap for a house but the internal work, founds, and services/access could add up to the same again.

My friend did it, when he fenced it hr used rusty angle iron as posts and put them in all wonky then put rusty chain link on it to pretend it had been there for years.

The cable flap is made of steel and the hinge is steel pins too would take some breaking and yes I doubt the seal would withstand a bucket of liquid poured over but then Im not planning that, just washing the floor as normal. In the last month or so they have withstood repeated cleaning of the tiles with no moisture penetration even from steam mop on full power as well as labourer with mop and bucket I have positioned them roughly where I expect furniture to abut. They will not be sitting in the middle of an open floor with cables trailing across so I do not anticpate a trip hazard. It was one of my considerations. The design evolved from the open plan office idea but has been refined and developed and is far superior to the office ones.... I know because we have them in the office. LOL

"All hail the ale!" 20 turns and a smear of goop, not a blob. No goop on the female thread

Yes, after years of dreaming, thinking, researching and waiting, work finally started on our first self build project. After a couple of false starts due to the builder having to finish a job that over ran and the arrival of the better weather, we eventually broke ground on Wednesday 18th April, two days later than anticipated. Annoying yes, but then what can you do? It’s only two days and it’s important to maintain a relationship with your builder. Nonetheless, we are now ready to do the foundations, which start W/C 23rd April. The sheer amount of top soil removed was somewhat overwhelming. The site had to be stripped down to what is called the sub soil – the firm clay stuff and therefore everything above it had to be removed. We had allocated a spot within the plot to store the topsoil but we soon realised that this space wasn’t going to be enough! Thankfully, the neighbouring farmer allowed us to deposit the remaining topsoil, in the field directly next to our plot. He will no doubt make use of it over the coming months but I have to say, if he hadn’t allowed us to do that, we would have had no choice but to hire in a fleet of tipper trucks with grabbers attached. Imagine the expense of that !! Anyway, the top soil removed and store within our plot we come in handy once the landscaping starts. I spent a couple of days as the Dumper truck driver and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. I didn’t have the nerve to give the digger a go – far to many levers and pedals!! The hired in toilet was christened within half an hour of the Digger driver arriving ! Thank goodness it gets serviced every week. SPEnergy and BT Openreach both dropped off their respective ducting for when the time comes. Interesting to note that SPEnergy would only allow us 50 metres of ducting as anymore would affect the type of cabling that would have to be installed. 50 metres should be more than sufficient for us but in any case the guy who dropped off the ducting, gave us 75 metres!! The structures, namely the timber frame for the house and the car port, will be erected during the middle of May and the back end of May. Again, another little set back really, albeit a week later than expected. The team of erectors will not have finished the job before ours in time so we had to take a slot, a week later. More photos will be posted as the work unfolds but for now here are a few of the work so far. Thanks for reading.

try... up and on/off together for 5 secs. press superfreeze twice.

just wanted to say that I have fianlly caught up on your posts and I am impressed by the work you have done. The house looks great and I am looking forward to seeing the improvements develop. Great work!

No real need to let it dry, unless you're burning it for fuel. I've burned loads of brash the same week as it's come down, often on rainy days so I could be sure neighbours didn't have washing out! Just need some dry wood to get an intense 'core' going, then feed in the rest, smallest branches first, thickest end first into the centre. That'll be gone in a couple of hours! Of course, pick your time, do it safely, respect your neighbours etc etc. ?

Twas a strange looking fella.....straight hair and curly teeth .