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Update. I popped over to the tenant today and meshed over the 3 air bricks temporarily with some galv mesh held in place with dobs of CT1. Stainless mesh will replace it later on. One bit of good news the tenants report they came downstairs this morning to no signs of mice overnight. I'd like to think I maybe did find the hole(s). Time will tell.

I must get around to getting something on paper .... screen. Ive build the subframe for the motor, coupling and Diff, bespoke drive shafts are next on the list

Do some quick sums on batteries and solar PV if you can. It soon becomes apparent that it's cheaper not to use electricity through efficiency than to generate more and store it. A tank of hot water makes a cheap battery also.

Ply and GRP every day of the week ..! Don’t use rubber, it will leak eventually.

I take it all the people recommending a raised washing machine, are not actually the person that will be lumbered with the job of lifting the machine up there are they? That will be A N Other's problem?

After self building for years we do virtually everything on a day rate but we tend to buy as much of the materials we can. It usually works out cheaper and if, and this happened, the quality or behaviour is not acceptable we can pay them up to date and invite them not to come back. A drunk roofer at ten in the morning is not acceptable. Exceptions are that we tend to get electricians to work on time and materials. With plumbers we buy all of the meaningful stuff and get them to do provide materials for the things like pipe fittings etc. If you ask someone to give a fixed price that person has to price for the risk of variation in the work content. Inevitably the price will be higher. Working professionally (I don’t do domestic work), the client always wants a fixed price. There are many times, with repair works for example, that it would often be far cheaper to issue a post measured order. Private clients may be persuaded but I worked for a good while in the public sector and there is no way you can get them to engage with the concept.

I,m not bothering to answer @SteamyTea and correcting him as all he wants is an argument as the atmosphere is 80% N -- you will get some -- not to any great level - -there will be oxides of N created probably by the magnetic fields in a big electric motor ,but as it is not totalled encased and going through an exhaust it is not measured+ lots of cooling of it - - -and production of electric causes pollution as well --no matter how it is made and no waste precious metals to dump or recycle -- and there will be no recycling while it is cheaper to dig new lithium up and process it --even more pollution from that .- and we will never have a shortage H2O-- ,and the by product from electroylsis to split it --oxygen is useful as well everything you do to release energy -causes pollution -- how much and how long term viable it is should be the goal -not another cheap fix like oil

That's what I did. Was impossible for him to give an estimate. Turned out to be 50% over our time estimate, but that was largely side to the decision to do a lot more muckaway rather than store on site.

I suppose that’s the building game - a game of risk. Maybe request weekly updates and base payments in arrears on the totals of these running totals/documents. Agree starting time on site, break times, lunch times, finishing times. no of staff on site. visit at different times of the day to see them working. Agree all equipment hire in advance and any associated fuel costs/ skip costs/ muck removal. if it’s day works ask him to buy materials and agree a mark up, as you don’t want the the source of delays on materials and he’s standing about on your coin. good luck

Why should a contractor take ANY risk, it’s your project, all he wants to do is earn a wage and go home. You want to build your dream but let somebody else take the risk. He could do it another work out how many days and put 25% on top for risk, then put 20% on top of all materials. This is what I would do. Price it as as high as I could get away with, he probably is doing you a favour.

It’s quite normal for Groundwork’s Its the only I’m unknown of your build If you pin someone to a fixed price They will think of a number and double it Get him to break the work down into stages and give you an estimate of the man hours and machine hire for each stage

Still waiting to see your blog on this build ?

Lots of trouble, usually serious. Why, probably worse for the environment than a modern gasoline engine. Carbon Dioxide is not the only greenhouse gas.

ha, take a couple of days to sort that little Space out, I have an Acre of “paddy field”, just had 40 tons of top soil delivered to be distributed about, will take me all summer I reckon (when the ground is dry enough to walk on ?).

Guilty as charged (no punn intended), im on with converting a Lotus Esprit after too many break downs, non starting, petrol leaks, gearbox problems, clutch problems etc etc. Im looking at it being a useful toy as opposed to an unreliable, temperamental garage weight

I,m waiting for the bog std -little or no frills EV or hybrid at the cheap end of the market --which must come eventually -too many gadgets on many modern car , or maybe by that time house is built I might look for something good s/h and solid body to convert to EV --so only the drain train is EV still on the fence -would have preferred they went the hydrogen way as every car maker in the world know how to make piston engines --had 100 years practise

Always traps for me inside the house; the smell of decaying rodent turns my stomach ? (I also only use traps outside now too; we've a healthy and varied owl population and I don't want to risk secondary poisoning).

Couple of beads of foam and a straight bit of timber to prop it while it goes off would be my weapon of choice. Don’t just prop the plasterboard direct as it will move and it will bend when the foam expands.

You could fix using expanding foam with s couple of loose drywall screws

I think that if you aim for 170mm high facia, you should end up with the look you are after.

Yes. You can use a few strips of ply / OSB to bring it back in line. With the external walls we normally staple a sheet of clear polythene as a vapour barrier before plasterboarding.

I thought so to. Like renting a room from a cheap landlord in Bristol. Going to end in tears and pictures up on the interweb. What is the difference between the Zoe and the Leaf, same company makes them. This is her Mother

That's general taxation for you. I'm also funding the royal family, Trident, Boris' new 'Whitehouse style' press room (£2M, as yet unused), his COBRA 'Whitehouse style' situation room (£9M, unlikely he'll ever make an appearance) and his £1M plane paint job. Also Priti's £350k bullying payout to avoid a messy tribunal. Better get back to work.

The new Audi eTron GT is getting good reviews and looks amazing. However the boot capacity is not compatible with my current lifestyle choices (teenagers, dog etc..). Looking to take the eTron 55KW SUV for a test once the dealers are open again - the BIK for electric is super low again so cheaper to business lease through ltd.co and have as company car vs my current Q5 on personal lease. Jeremy has always been open that he got a rather generous deal to take early retirement from the MoD which helped fund his build etc. Also, you'd be hard pushed to find anyone paying upfront for a car these days, leasing is the dominant model so as long as you can afford the monthly payments.

Are the people that are making that car boomers? (suspect that some of it is inheritance money from the sale of his family farm, which is close to me) Seems that this is more a case of intergenerational wealth distribution. Still a ridiculous amount of money for a car. My 500 quid car can go further between fill ups.

I was wrong, This is a 700mm wide cupboard:

Interesting to hear Jeremy,s still on the ball, just a different subject matter. I hate the thought of “ a computer driving/having final control” even my parking sensors beep all the time driving down Devons rural roads but at least I can press one button to silence them for the rest of the journey.

@daiking keep an eye out on eBay for camper van kitchenette units - my mate picked one up for £150 and it has a fridge, 2 burner hob and sink in it and that got installed in his man cave / bar / bbq area with a couple of solar panels on the roof and a 12v lorry battery all through a cheap eBay charge controller. He’s got a USB powered speaker system and LED lights and has no issues with even powering the fridge etc

Yes seen it done, and also had to work on one too..! You’re better off using a wall cupboard and spacing it forward and putting a false back in the cupboard. Quick check and the Wilo pump set and 4 port from Wunda is 505mm so you may gain a few mm by rotating the pump but that probably won’t fit between the internal sides of a 500mm cabinet.

Have you sized the unit, when you first said 3-4 circuits I thought that’s doable, but then you spoilt it by saying 500mm cupboard. Get the drawings for the manifold, but make sure you have all the blending valve measurements as well. I personally would look for a better solution. It will certainly be a hot cupboard.

As above, this is not new work it is repair and maintenance of an existing installation and is not controlled works.

Reading Jeremy’s thoughts on his Tesla confirms it won’t be on my shopping list.

This is a repair, correct? BC have no issues with repair and maintenace.

As you know running an ASHP at higher temps reduces its COP. I have no heating upstairs apart from bathroom towel rads. If you wanted higher temps fir the rads then all heating would be at that temp and just blended down fir the UFH. !,!

If you're not increasing the catchment of the gullies (i.e. not increasing the hard standing area) then the works are classed as a repair and no additional permissions or regularisation is required*. *From my BCO a few years ago when we did an extension and had to relay all the external drainage.

The groove is used for the hidden fixings to grab into which runs all the way down both sides of the length

first job is get the services disconnected/moved. If you have gas this can take a while. forget skips they cost a fortune you want a grab wagon. The chap with the digger who knocks it down will know someone. It makes lilfe easier if you strip as much as you can first, so all woodwork - skirting, doors, wardrobes, kitchens etc and burn. Also all the rads, pipework and scrap it. You will be charged much less if you can segregate it a little, the digger man will have a grab for pulling out the roof trusses etc so you can burn them.

I think it's worth noting that we talk a lot on here about Passivhaus levels of airtightness and insulation, but there's a lot more to the Passivhaus standard than that. Things such as specific controls on cold bridges, modelling of various types of energy use, and other issues like summer overheating are sometimes considered generally by self-builders, but the PHPP software requires strict, quantitative attention to these and many other factors. Certification also ensures that the as-designed house is what is actually built. I think some believe it's just a desk exercise, but you need to show with ample evidence that what was designed and modelled was what was actually built. This adds a time and supervisory overhead, because someone needs to be involved in documenting everything that's required, which itself requires continuous knowledge of what's going on - and coming up - on-site. Personally, I think PH certification is more than just a rubber stamp. Certainly, given two houses with similar airtightness/insulation values, but one with PH certification and the other without, I'd go for the certified on every time. How much more I'd pay is a harder question to answer.

I would suspect that if you employ someone to oversee the build in that level of detail then you'll be spending closer to 10% of your build budget for project management. Even then most PMs visit site occasionally, maybe once a week at best or at critical moments - I contemplated using a low energy specialist PM at the start of my project but could not justify the fee. Instead I took the approach of using a contractor who was experienced in passive construction and had contractural commitments to airtightness and a build system to guarantee passive standards, and trades who were capable of maintaining the airtight envelope. Getting the necessary U values and minimising overheating is a design exercise, getting airtightness is both good design and on site attention to detail. You then need follow on trades (electricians & plumbers) who won't compromise the airtightness by putting holes through the fabric.

I can see the benefit of certification if you can't supervise the work yourself. With a diligent and trusted overseer you're likely to be employing someone who knows the importance of thermal bridging an airtightness. A knowledge of which is lacking from the majority of those involved in building.

We did not go for cert either. We decided that the cost was not worth it and spent the money on the fabric of the building!!

I take your point - you can build a passive house, and enjoy all the benefits, without having it certified but if that's important to you then by all means pay for the certification. I still think perspective buyers will be interested in day to day running costs and comfort vs a confirmed standard they probably have not heard of or may not even be relevant in 20 years. Just be aware that your choice of products for some functions (like MVHR) may be restricted and you will need to pay a consultant as you go - back in 2015 we were quoted around £3k (and the MVHR unit would have probably been more £2k expensive than the one we chose).

Hi Happy Valley There is a thread where lots of prices are discussed.

Ah yes, Rat Week! Fly Week will follow soon enough! ?

Garden's coming on! ?

In Scotland they should have been replaced by 1st Jan 2020, but I know at least 2 here, including my next door neighbour, that still has a septic tank draining to a watercourse. And I keep hearing adverts from a company in Essex on the radio telling listeners they have to have their septic tanks replaced if they drain to a watercourse.

Zoe is where it’s at ?

Should. But we don't. I wish we did. Yet another of those '...buts...'

*checks notes on Jezza’s age* Boomers, eh?

I am surprised to read that JH splashed out £65,000+ on the Ipace without a test drive considering that he is the world's most demanding consumer.