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I spent a good few years installing and servicing all kinds of domestic water softeners. All the Harvey's made units can only be ordered in four different settings depending on water hardness as indicated by the model numbers on the pic above. The model numbers refer to the number of litres of treated water that will pass the metering system before a regeneration is triggered. Four settings to cover any incoming water hardness means it it may not be running at full resin efficiency. Kinetico comes in 8 settings IIRC and can be more easily adjusted by changing the metering disc in the top although still fiddly and can be further adjusted on the brine height setting allowing harnesses at the edge of a range. They are both fairly reliable units though in my experience. Most faults were with stones or blue polythene pipe burrs blocking internal passageways. A lot of the cheaper 10-15 Litre basic electrically operated water softeners found in builders merchants are actually a lot more efficient in terms of exchange capacity as they can be set to an exact litre figure and tested and adjusted easily by the customer after installation if not quite right. I used to always recommend anything with a Fleck or Autotrol control valve on top. Maybe slightly less reliable but the initial purchase price saving and salt running costs (The electrical costs are miniscule plus potential waste water savings if set up correctly) will easily pay for future maintenance and if you are handy plenty of Youtube guides showing how to strip and rebuild them. Plus spare available online.

I know I have always been an avid DIYer but it still astounds me how little other people know about basic stuff like cutting timber. Probably why I usually work on my own, it’s easier!!! (Unless it’s too heavy or needs another pair of hands).

+1 A planning application has to be accompanied by a certificate stating you are either the owner or the owners agent or have notified the owner. You could try arguing that getting planning permission will cost £10k and the plot is worth £10k as agricultural land so both of you are putting 50% into the deal. Then point out you are taking all the risk. If planning is refused you loose £10k but he keeps the land. Therefore a 50:50 in the profit is actually generous. You will pay half the value of the plot with PP. Use your own numbers. Find out what its worth as agricultural land. Any contract you agree needs to be carefully worded to give you the right to buy at a price but not the obligation to buy. It must also oblige him to support your planning application and not take any action that might cause refusal. Try and find a solicitor that has done business contracts not just conveyancing. You don't want him changing his mind after you get PP or selling to a third party

Indeed, but, just in case anybody gets the wrong idea, you do need to tell the owner you're applying for the permission (or at least you do in Scotland but I think it's UK wide).

I think this is where function should override form. Think of what it's doing! Just fit Aico and be done with it.

You’ll need deep pockets for those .... made by Apollo from memory and about £250 or so each ...

It's not entirely conclusive (and not actually sure it's the thread I remembered), but...

I know what you mean Ours looks awful

All that said, having just got poked in the eye by a pine needle for the umpteenth time I would recommend a smart socket for your Christmas tree lights!

I have mostly given up on self DIY motoring, apart from routine things like an oil change, or tinkering with my Landrover. I think the point at which I gave up was when the alternator went on a VW Touran, and I peered down the tiny gap between the side of the engine and the side of the inner wing and thought "someone else can rap their knuckles trying to undo bolts in that stupidly small gap"

Is this not really a failure in your planning ? you could do all the goggling before the day of the job to find out the way to proceed with the job in hand then make a plan . I,m the same as you guys --getting old and stiff --so planning is essential and being realistic on what i can do on my own no more clutch jobs for me if i cannot get my transmission jack to lift the g/box out and in with another body at hand to steady things I know i think I,m the greatest at car repairs --but if someone is brining in a car i have not seen before or job i haven,t done on that car --as soon as its booked in I go goggling the car and how to tackle the job --just in case there are bobby traps . and then decide how much of it i will believe and make a plan . the mercruiser out drive on a 27ft day fihing boat i did last month was good example -- just replace the rubber giators --sounds simple -- soon as you goggle that job 30 + ways of doing it come up --this tells me its right bastard of a job to do . 10mins googgling and I find I need special tools to remove things and realign them on rebuilding ----so off to lathe to make them before the boat comes in and fills my workshop. yes its still a bastard job to get at -- but all goes to plan no problem -- hence why marine engineers had quoted him £800 to do - job done -- bill was well under what he had been quoted --so everybody happy " If you fail to plan --you plan to fail"

Definitely. Nothing worse than someone helpfully saying "what can I do now?" while you're trying to think/do something tricky. In the end that's why I sent him away and did the fibreglass on my own, took a lot longer but was massively less stressful. At least with my labourer I know that telling him to take yet another break is just wasting my £. Feels much worse with a friend/family member to be wasting their time.

+ a million

Can definitely agree with this. I find I'm snapping at (and later apologising to) my labourer much more than I ever did to anyone on an event site even at moments of outstanding stupidity with doors about to open and the audience outside. Can only imagine that being much worse with a family member. I think the main issue was on an event site I was well inside my competencies and even when problem solving I had the experience to come up with a solution fast and manage the team to fix it calmly without stress. Whereas on the build I am learning all the time, there's a lot more thinking on my feet, a lot more worrying if I'm making the right call, and a lot more wishing the labourer would disappear for a bit so I could sit down with a cup of tea and YouTube/buildhub to figure things out.

The solution to that is put one of the plugs away out of sight, to emphasise that the half bowl is only for rinsing stuff, not for soaking stuff.

Now just think of everyone was capable of doing what you can do, that would have (expletive deleted)ed your business pretty quick. Most people lack of science education astounds me. Is it also wrong to force people into an unsuitable job, don't do anyone any favours that (I hated most of the jobs I did). I was just after the pay. It is interesting that on this forum, which is basically about practical things, other skills are not highly regarded (like Architects). While I agree that our education systems is broken, and our employment practices are not very good either, they cannot be that bad as we have a pretty strong economy in global terms, very good healthcare, a society that is pretty free from crime, safe roads, clean drinking water, a natural gas network that dos not explode, a national grid that keeps going, shops with food in them, a reliable civil service, etc etc. Now you could take any one of them, except maybe the gas and electrical girds and find a better one somewhere, but as a whole, we stand up pretty well.

The sink is browner than it looks But no it doesn’t show any marks When we first looked at them He had a broken plate and scraped the sink with it to show how tough it was

and we can blame all this on the education system which has for decades looked down upon manual skilled workers as being a FAILURE--and it is instilled at school that paper certs is the only way forward ,so we now have people who canb,t do diddly if its not on a key board when you need to have a 3 day course to teach someone to use a ladder !! when taking on trainee mechanics i have always found that with 2 weeks you know if they are going to cut it . I suppose now that would be 2 months ,by the time you allow for the hours they stand about looking at mobile phones . last one i had left when itold him he could not use his phone inworks time --just looking for a pay cheque not a trade. that is the biggest brain killer out there -snap crap face box ,etc etc . I also think it was wtrong to make kids stay at school so long If you interest is in a skill ,then you need them young when the enthusuiasm is still there and they will listen . not everyone is suited for acamdemic life as the school system seems to think

I would have thought a 10M head would push any air lock through. I would be more concerned you have a blockage?

A while ago I got severely reprimanded on another forum for suggesting that it was easy to make up a robust, heavy duty, extension lead that would make low rate car charging easier when staying away somewhere. I made up such a lead when I first got the Prius Plug-in back in 2013, and had found it invaluable. On that forum I just gave a list that included an RCD protected plug, H07RN-F cable and a suitable IP68 socket I'd found that was big enough to close over the largest moulded-on plug (the low rate chargers that all electric cars come with often have larger than normal 13 A plugs for some reason), with no instructions on how to wire up the plug or socket (I assumed everyone would just know how to do this). The forum admin moderated my post, and warned me that if I had given instructions on how to wire up a plug and socket my post would be viewed as being llegal, as that no one other than a fully qualified electrician should attempt such a thing. Needless to say I just quit and deleted my content, as there was no point arguing about it. Like you, @ProDave, my mother taught me how to wire a plug. Although it doesn't apply now, every time I do wire one up I can hear her voice reminding me to put the "red on the right".

I take the opposite approach. You can empty the bowl and put it (at an angle) upside down so it drains and will get properly dry after a few hours whereas a sink in daily use never really dries out so is more likely to be a breeding ground for wee beasties.

Some people's lack of practicality astounds me. One of the relatives we visited over the last week had a wobbly toilet seat, to the point that the ladies were advised to use the other toilet. It was just the fixing bolt to the pan that had come loose. They told me this was the third seat that had "broken" and they could not afford to keep on buying new seats. I once watched in agony at my sister trying to drill a hole to fix something to a wall, before I could not help myself and said "give me the bloody drill before you break something" The best thing unskilled help can provide is assistance lifting something that is too heavy or too big be be lifted by one.

I've found it easy to offend people by refusing offers of help, but experience has taught me that often I'd spend more time showing someone how to do something, and checking that they are doing it properly and safely, than I would if I just did the job myself, without help.

I use a washing up bowl as we have a large porcelain sink and crockery crashing in that will lead to breakages. It also uses less hot water but I hate cold greasy water left in them, after washing up, wash the bowl, wipe it out and put it away. I also hate the sink being used to “store” stuff ready to wash.

If so this may be of use... https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-construction/vconst24550 Thanks Google :-)

They are a law unto themselves so don’t expect a decent answer ... also worth working out the actual variation as I’ve done one where using non-VAT registered trades the VAT reclaim would be less than £10k for materials but the knock down and rebuild cost would be more than that.

If it turns out a garage conversion is not eligible for a VAT reclaim, could you instead knock down the garage, and build a new build house that may just happen to sit on the same big of ground and may happen to be of similar size to the old garage?

It depends on your appetite to risk. HMRC may not query it of course but if they do you run the risk that they may disallow the refund. If that’s ok then go ahead, if not you may want to wait. Or write to them and ask the precise question so that you have the reply in writing.

I was maybe in a similar position, we got planning fir a room in roof two bed to enable us to start. We wanted a 3 bed cottage . The downstairs and garage were exactly the same, then we appealed the previous application fir a cottage knowing that if it failed we could still carry on with the two bed. We won the appeal before the walls got to first floor so it was only the upper part that was different. I bought materials fir the two bed which turned into the three bed. HMRC did not query it.

+1 to what @Temp has said. You could be refused the reclaim for all materials bought prior to PP being in place so personally I would wait.

As for proof you may need a letter from the previous owner.

There is more you need to check out... https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-construction/vconst24200#IDA5F1GH

I remember over 30 years ago a Kiwi girl on her first visit here being astounded/ disgusted that we used washing up bowls in the UK.

+1 Hateful things.

I hate, and I mean really hate, washing up bowls. I pick them out with my fingertips and put them out of sight if I can.

You can get 7N aerated blocks as well. If you really want decent insulation for the soleplate you can use a course of Perinsul Foamglas or similar, but they are pricey.

Not necessarily, it’s actually fairly safe if not disturbed in a way to make dust, I would be happy to bury it on my site if I new it would never get disturbed in the future.

Yep I love our kitchen sink I also loved the three others my wife chose prior to settling on this on some kind stone resin Try hard waring doesn’t scratch Blanco

+1 If it will be a separate dwelling does your planning permission allow it to be sold off or separately?.. https://www.gov.uk/vat-builders/new-homes "For work to be zero-rated for VAT, it must qualify as a genuinely new, self-contained house or flat. This means: it’s self-contained - there are not any internal doors or connections to other houses or flats it can be used independently of any other property, including businesses it can be sold on its own it has proper planning permission any existing buildings on the site have been demolished completely to ground level (unless you’re extending an existing building to create a new house or flat) Example A ‘granny flat’ or annexe you’re building as an addition to an existing house cannot be used or sold separately to the main house. This means you must charge VAT at the standard rate of 20%."

No - not unless you’re converting it to a new self contained dwelling (ie with its own address etc) and have written proof and even then they can be funny about it.

For a bit of light relief. This was the extension lead I found IN USE by the roofers at a new build house I was wiring, feeding from a 240V generator to a tile cutter in use on the scaffold.

Not sure this is ever a thing these days. We do have a skills gap but it is not in wiring plugs. It is in finding finance and inginuity to set up and run tech businesses up and down the land or getting sponsorship to be an e-sports contestant! Let others make the leads while we stand on the shoulders of giants and use them to power the internet of things and clever ideas leveraging our data currently being massively exploited by others ,that the people who make the leads will want to buy. EG intelligent grids, great games, clever prime movers etc. I think, like most here that this would be all wrong but having bashed away at the industrial age for years I am now of the opinion that it is our future is not there, probably beyond the information age and well into the data age.

If only she were like me and had no annoying foibles.