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It’s hardly ever about the money . It’s the satisfaction of what you do ; be it make a shower former or shove some pv panels on . Ultimately we ALL have to try and save the planet by generating green energy and using it efficiently. I’m hardly a trend setter - pw1 people were that . I like to see the technology mature a bit then jump in . Whilst the market is tiny it is growing . Saving the planet bit by bit ! ???

A new EV isn’t justifiable compared to a petrol car in most cases . Petrol car nice and cheap in comparison. If I built my house solely on lowest cost I’d have single glazing , gas combi , less insulation , no glass balcony , no ASHP etc etc etc Lots of savings to be made ! But why ? I have a chance to produce something better - losses less heat , costs less to heat , less co2 , a ‘better’ house , a nicer house - but yes ; it costs more . BUT. - it’s all relevant to what my house is worth . This is the real key imho ! I’m trying to put in all the researched and viable technology I can whilst it’s easiest to install as its a new build . I go on really expensive holidays . Why ? Because they are really nice !

I'm on your side for this one @pocster! I'm not getting the PW2 for any sort of financial return. I want to reduce my reliance on the grid and store the electricity I generate during the day so I can use it at night. I applaud you for your decision. plus, get a model 3. I love mine. ?

I went with a Charnwood C-4, really pleased with how it is performing.

You really are a marketeers dream aren’t you ..?? They said smart meters were coming back in 2007 and it took 10 years before anything really developed. Even the tariffs today are limited...!! At this rate you’ll have an Octopus Agile tariff to charge the wall and the car, just in time to drive down to @Onoff for the official opening of the bathroom .....

We have a Mednip stoves Churchill (single sided, they do a double sider but you won't like the price) And I have never needed to clean the glass. It is genuinely the first stove i have known to stay clear all on it's own.

How exactly do you plan to "link" it though, given Telsa don't document/support any offcial API? Using the unofficial API or some third-party app? We plan to install a battery sometime in the new year, but the inability to easily control the Powerwall programatically is really putting me off. That said, the Victron alternative is more expensive, more complex and takes up more room in the garage.

You can excite Nigella with a white box on a wall? Respect. Wonderment. (Liar?)

Phhhhhhhhhhh. Haste and spell-checkers dont go together.....

Funny lot you Lancastrians ....

Yes, just a cap-end. Back feed contamination can only happen if the pipe is made off to an openable fitting like a stopcock. If it cannot be opened, like a cap end cannot, and you have used a WRAS approved cap end, then there should be no issues.

My concern is in a pantry, the shelves are likely to be heavily loaded, to the point of bending M12 studding. Floating shelves in that situation would not be my choice.

Ikea do wood effect laminate worktops which looks quite good and more practical than solid. And much much cheaper. They have a square edge which looks nice as I considered it having seen it in the flesh. You are right vinyl wrap is cheapest. Ikea doors have 25 year warranty. If you are going for a more simpler and cheaper standard cupboardS just buy a couple of spare doors that you can replace in future. please note ikea carcasses are not standard kitchen sizes and as I said don’t have a recess at rear.

It was more difficult than I thought to find decent pics.

+2 Although i would expect to see some evidence of water coming out of the PRV. Perhaps pressurise the system when cold then fire it up. If the Expansion vessel has lost pressure I would expect some water to come out of the PRV as it heats up. Perhaps temporarily put a plastic bag over the outlet so you can catch it. If sure there is nothing coming out of the PRV then it might be a leaving rad valve somewhere.

All sorted. Thanks for all the replies.

@ToughButterCup and @joe90 great help thanks. Did the buffer to stop the ladder shifting/ borrowing a ladder, thethered it to other.. & seemed a fine way to get up onto my roof ladder: which seemed perfectly safe even in its 2-sections tbh/ no cause for any concern. 15 mins to do. no slates dmgd. A job well done- no more telly stuff in & on my house! well worth the 10:1 prep time to job time. Its called the zoot ratio. thanks zH

they used REAL wood and did not sit it on the ground probably large lumps of stone where the structure would hit ground with lots of draft space under it

So.... Old roof off this week, firings sorted so our roof has a fall on it and the professionals arrived today for the GRPing, thank god it's dry. On site at the moment and just had a sneak peak. We are so pleased with this compared to previous. This is the fall, not sure how the builders are going to deal with the exposed wood yet. Credit to the guys who were on site before 8am.

Just an update, copied what TerryE has done but have had to put it in a lockable box with insulation. Still not sure about the stop valve and the double check valve in a chamber, just have to wait to see what he says at inspection.

Some pics...

I built a 6.2 x 5m garage in 2018 - only paid for a brickie. Dug out the area for slab with JCB which was £150 for the weekend (also other garden work) 40 tons of hardcore - some virgin some 6F2 (recycled) which was about £200 Some scrap timber and new timber for the forms £50.00 Drains (bottle gully in middle of slab etc.) £50.00 Rebar mesh £150 DPM £30 Concrete C40 250-200mm £840.00 Block, sand and cement delivery £450. Brickie to build £250 Roof timber £400 Membrane £50 Russel Pennine tiles, 420 of £300 Electric roller shutter 3 x 2.2m with remote control etc. £700 Facias, soffit, gutter etc. £120 Rear end cladding for roof gable £100 Front end timber cladding for roof gable £120 Side door - free from a Merc dealership renovation. Locks, hinges etc to suit above £50.00 Dry dashing materials inc. beads/bellcast about £350 Electrics - I had a new 8 way Wylex metal consumer unit from a skip, so cable, metalclad sockets and 3 LED non-corrosive battens (which I also acquired) £100. So I think it was about £4460. So £143.87 a meter.

Thank you for you post Carrerahill. Very refreshing. The SER (Ltd) scheme is worth a bit more scrutiny, in particular in relation to the self build / house extension market in Scotland. I also appreciate the R_Sole's contribution, both Carrerahill and the Sole make good points. Broadly speaking there are two approaches to this..and it's partly about the money. Here is a bit of a summary. 1/ Much depends on what council area you are in.. if you submit calculations instead of an SER (Ltd) certificate building control will either get their own in house Enginneers to check the calcs or contract it out.. often to the same set of SER Engineers! When you prepare calculations (old school) you present them in the same format that the SER Engineers use. An SER Engineer should be doing the same amount of work, calculations, checking stability and so on as someone who is not SER registered. If not why not? Are other Enginners from Wales, England, France etc less capable / dilligent. Carrerahill perhaps alludes to this. 2/ It's horses for courses. If you look carefully at some of the SER quotes that have been posted on this site they are a bit vague. What are you actually getting for you money? Dig a bit deeper and you'll see that a lot of it is an audit process. There are two schools of thought here. The SER scheme makes much of how their members are highly experienced, this is true and for large projects you may want an SER member just to get it over the line in Scotland. But for a self build, extension etc you have an alternative. Consider the traditional route, as accepted in the rest of the UK. You'll also find that the "old school" folk also talk to the council Engineers on a regular basis as the council Engineers use this as part of their CPD and this gives weight to Carrera's point that the process in certain council areas is often not slowed down significantly. You BC officer, along with the council's Engineers will require a detailed set of drawings and calculations from the Engineer. Yes, this may cost you more on appearance but these drawings along with a good specification can form the basis of your contract with the builder, your SER certificate is of less use. This is where you will realise savings unless you pay your Architect to produce a full set of contract / construction drawings, specification and so on. But when you combine (coordinate) a good set of Engineer's drawings with the Architect's drawings (and they work closely together) it can be a good package which can save you money. Also ask, is it beneficial to have an independant check made by the council Enginneers who have no commercial interest. If an SER certificate is presented then the council have to accept this, even if they have reservations. 3/ If you go down the traditional route your Engineer will often have a much more hands on approach and be on tap when you need them. They will for example produce the panel drawings for the timber frame as the council Engineers want to see these. This allows you to get a local joiner to build the kit so you don't need to go to a main stream manufacturer or you can make the kit yourself. There are other benefits in that the Engineer will work often work much more closely with you and your Architect to make sure the structure really fits in with the vision. Yes, you need to pay apparently more up front. But ask this.. if you go to a main stream kit manufacture say, they have their own in house designers and they need to be paid too. That cost is hidden in the kit price for example. In summary, it's worth exploring this more. Carrerahill and the Sole are both correct but much depends on how fast you want to go, how you want to go about it , your cost curve / programme and what you want to do yourself and so on. There are potentially big savings to be made by avoiding or at least comparing the option of the non SER route. I work with a few Architect's who embrace the "old school" i.e non SER route as it give them another option to present to their clients for consideration.

No I simply removed the internal filter and flushed it out It works perfect now I was surprised how much was in there We are in a soft water area

At the end of the day it's what makes you tick and makes you HAPPY! Kudos. I was told to get an Impey wet room former. I didn't and got loads of satisfaction out of making my own former. (Best bit of tiling in the bathroom but that's another story). I researched it and came up with a freaky concrete mix that worked. What a lot of work my wall drain was. I LIKE IT. I build a solar water heater from scrap yet some derided it. No arguing with the temperatures it achieved. You're going to drown in your own leaky basement but it'll be all your own work! ?

That's my old fridge I scrapped with TESLA Photoshopped on!

unless that’s the box she was delivered in?

That white box barely manages a 1 on the Whelm scale.

That £200K you lost to that Nigerian scam was just loose change wasn't it?

That's the spirit.