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As has been pointed out above you can make a fair bit of savings if your prepared to do a lot of the work yourself. But and it's a big but be realistic in what jobs you could actually do. If you have no experience in joinery then don't be attempting to put the roof on. Unless your a plumber or spark then best leave these to the pros. Just by lifting the phone and using Google you can save money researching different material choices for example. If you get a professional to do any job they won't care where the materials come from as long as they are there when they are needed but you will as your paying the bill.

I have been asked if my Eco designed passive house could be converted into 4 self contained Minimalist Apartments. I'm happy to share my thoughts and designs with you all in exchange for comments and ideas.

Parkinson's Law of Triviality. So, so true.

The aircraft has a very strong pro lobby in the USA; have the USAF actually managed to retire them yet? I seem to remember some poor eejit trying to convince a US Senator (Mc Cane?) that the F16 was an appropriate replacement.

I want one, then I can fly down the A30 and get rid of cars, the ones that block off the outside lane leaving half a mile of free space in front of them.

I'm currently painting. So Iv been watching a fair few pretty repetitive how to roll x.. Videos. But I thought this one was short and informative enough to share.

Just got the acknowledgement of the CIL Commencement so we are all set to start on site with site clearance, asbestos and demolition - can't wait. We are knocking down an existing bungalow and replacing it with two new build houses (detached) and we came across an interesting 'quirk' of the CIL 'rules' that might be of interest to others (or maybe its common knowledge already). When calculating CIL for New Build you deduct the Existing floorspace from the New Build i.e. you should only pay CIL on the increased floorspace - seems reasonable. Question is if you are building Two how do you apportion the Existing to the two new houses? Our LPA said we could apportion it All to Plot 1, All to Plot 2, or 50/50 between the two - our choice. Now this may not seem a big deal but if, say, you plan to live in one and sell the other then you will claim Self Build exemption for the one you live in, and have to actually pay CIL on the one you sell (its not Self Build so you can't claim exemption). So it really makes sense to offset the maximum against the one you sell and minimise the amount of CIL you actually pay. Certainly worth some thought before you fill in all the tedious forms. You LPA may have different views, but our CIL Team have been really helpful and responsive and actually gave us the option. I am sure that some LPA's may look at it as an opportunity to maximise the amount you actually pay! Not sure what the actual 'rules' say but if you are in the same position its worth arguing the case. For us, our son is Self Building the other house so he also gets Self Build exemption so the total CIL bill is zero - but there is a slight chance that he might need to move/sell within the 3 years 'clawback period' (we plan to stay for ever) so it makes sense to offset all of the Existing bungalow against his house just in case. Note that if you sell any-time in the 3 year period it seems you become liable for ALL the CIL - its not tapered in any way. Our total CIL valuation is over £30k so it is a big deal! Happily we now have it all agreed ? and have approval to Commence on site - Yipppeeee!!!!!!

A10 that one i would like to have flown with a full magazine and some tanks for targets

+1 If you don't have a nervous twitch you will after dealing with the planners.

Is it bollocks. I have 50m2 on two layers, I live alone, and it is still cramped. Trouble with small places is you can't really have a half size cooker, fridge, washing machine, bin, staircase, sofa, table bath, shower, bog, bed, wardrobe, light fittings. It is about time the country, and its planning committees, moved on and encouraged larger places. There is no problem with land area, we have only put housing on about 2% of it, that is less than a quarter of all urbanisation. It is about time we shifted our old viewpoint of 'start at the bottom and move up, not serving us very well as a nation.

We had one at West Freugh. Favourite question to ask anyone who didn't know, was how much they thought it weighed. Not many looked at it and realised the damn thing weighed nearly 30 tons. Built like a brick outhouse, much like other carrier aircraft of that time.

It only applies where a VAT registered building contractor supplies to a VAT registered building contractor. Instead of the supplier charging VAT, the customer effectively charges it and then (usually) reclaims it all in the same VAT return. It won't apply to self builders because A) they're not usually VAT registered B) it doesn't apply if the customer is a main contractor / developer building property to sell or rent out themselves C) it doesn't apply if the customer isn't registered as an employer under the construction industry scheme D) it doesn't apply to work that's zero rated The main place it will kick in is subbies charging a main contractor. This is because historically there's been an issue where a subcontractor charges VAT but doesn't actually pay it on to the government (e.g. because they're not actually vat registered or because they keep some invoices off the books).

there is a house on the river Nith at glen caple that is built on theesturay banking which is mainly mud =sand etc they dug down and made a raft from 1metre cubes of eps and linked them alltogether then poured a concrete slab on top --that was built 25 years ago --still there so good eps slab works on anything really

Sounds a good candidate for GRP. GRP is a lot easier to apply to a small roof, will last decades if applied properly and it's easy to get all the stuff needed, together with advice on how to use it. CFS (note: I've a relation that used to work there) are a good source: https://www.cfsnet.co.uk/acatalog/CFS_Catalogue__FLAT_ROOFING_21.html The only word of caution (apart from the need to ensure that everything is kept dry) is that the resin will attack EPS, so keep it clear of the un-rendered/clad ICF structure. It's no worse that the gun cleaner used for cleaning foam guns in this respect, though, so just needs using with a bit of caution.

I am about 3 1/2 years in now. Still lots to do but getting there. I work full time. Get home about 6pm & work most evenings until about 9 or 10pm & then eat, shower & bed. I work every other Saturday, so every other Sat on build & Sundays. Not had a holiday since beginning of build. I would have done a lot more myself but some things are just too heavy for me on my own to shift. I hope to be finished in about 6 months time. I learn as I go & some things have taken me far longer than they should have, but that is because I am very careful. I would sooner do what I can myself & take my time than pay someone to do an inferior job.

It's all about speed. Light aeroplanes don't have brakes in the air, so speed is proportional to approach angle. The landing speed (especially for a taildragger like the Chippy) has to be nailed accurately on the approach, and pretty much the only way you can bleed off a bit of speed and height is to side slip (as the Chippy does in that approach). That's really only for a bit of fine tuning, though, it won't get rid of the sort of speed that you'll get if the approach is too steep.

What you need I think is a Sun tracking recliner sat on a turntable within a Sageglass glazed greenhouse with MVHR.

I agree with the above I wouldn’t render directly onto any timber surface Even with a mesh A vapour barrier with batons on top then a cement board is normal Or insulation Like this one I’m trying to do this morning If it ever stops raining in sunny Garstang