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How long can it take to build a timber partition wall? One that is only 16ft long, in a straight line, no curves, no fancy materials. This one has taken me well over a week, which has become a little frustrating. The reason is partly due to the complex shape, and partly due to my design having changed significantly just before I started the wall. Having switched to a more open plan layout, the wall now has multiple different ceiling heights all tying into it which led to a lot of head scratching. I ended up knocking up a detailed model on Google Sketchup, whh was time well spent as before that I just couldn't visualise how to go about it. With two doorways, a partial and a fully vaulted ceiling, the resulting edifice has 15 sides, and plenty of angles. Great to finally see the back of it. Fortunately I have had a little help with this one. By contrast, the next partition, a simple rectangle with one door in it, took me a morning.

you've done well to build it if you're only 3ft tall...

Are the beech and birch in your garden or are you having work done for your neighbours too ..??! That's a bit over and above the course of neighbourly love .... you need to make your tree surgeon aware that you are paying as his insurance may have something to say about it in terms of liability. Those Leylandii have to go .... and there are two rules about asking councils for advice on trees : 1. Unless in a conservation area or a known TPO area, do not ask the council for advice on any tree matter. 2. If in doubt, refer to rule 1. Its most likely that your local council tree protection fashionista is shared between two or three councils and the county if you are lucky. They are already overstretched with the trees they have to inspect (parks, church yards, cemeteries etc) and your trees will be a hassle. Imposing an emergency TPO can be done from the comfort of a council office and takes minutes - they then have 8 weeks to make it permanent and if you're lucky they may even drive past the plot ... And given that these aren't even in your garden, getting the council putting TPOs on someone else's trees is a sure fire way to lose friendly neighbours ..!! You don't have to show trees on a planning application if they aren't in your garden anyway unless they have existing TPOs on them and are likely to be disturbed by the building works. Time to go and see old Mrs Smith with a bottle of Bristol Cream and a nice Victoria sandwich ...

Ours is inside - the main supply comes up through the slab in our plant room. Our DNO (SSE) moved it there without question. If they admit that they're "reluctant", then they admit that they'll do it. If they could stop you, you can be sure they'd say so!

Coffee drinking is just one of these things that happens to other people. I know lots about it- worked for a couple of years in a cafe so I know my lattes from my espressos- just can't stand the taste of the stuff. I'm afraid I'm a tea jenny all the way. I'll defer any coffee related decisions to SWMBO...

If you convert that into 4-6 man (team will be at least 2, one climber) days and supplying chippers and kit and so on, then you see it is at £150-175 per man day. F

I've no idea what he's planning on doing other than take out the Leylandi and not knowing where in the UK you are would also affect price. If he's talking about dropping, chipping and stump grinding those Leylandi and doing some reasonable canopy work on the others then it's 2-3 days and that's not a bad price.

Cheers @PeterW So, steps are. 1. Decide on building design/supplier 2. Get plans 3. Go and see the old lady with cakes/tea/sherry 4. Deal with hedges/Leylandi 5. Get planning Do you think the price our TS quoted is about right? In fairness, he's been in the business 17yrs and extremely efficient when dealing with our request.

PS My qualifying criteria for a treeman would be roughly 5-10 years local experience of that Council, such that they can list the names of the TOs and tell me what their opinions will probably be. That is roughly the same as the experience I would expect of Planning Consultant - that they should know the Planning Officers by name, and have an idea of their individual opinions. For me, to talk to the Council first where I have a potential project I want to do is likely to be just too high a risk - especially were I to have already sunk my savings into it eg bought or optioned a plot. It isn't just about doing what I want, it is also about identifying what I *need* to do or finding better ideas, which means talking to a number of people. F

I would usually talk to a Treeman first because - however good the advice - there is a risk of a Council TO (perhaps under incitement by neighbours or NIMBYs or Councillors seeking to gratify voters) slapping Emergency (or worse, Emergency Woodland) TPOs on things almost on the spot, and once it is in the system it can be a sod to get it out again even 10-20 years later. If it is a CO or is TPO'd the Council may want / will require a report anyway most of the time. The exception would be where I know my intentions and there is nothing the Council could possibly do which would interfere. In this case I may have got the work done on the birch / beech, and got a detailed Treeman verbal opinion on the other, and then asked the Council about the Leylandii. Anyhoo @PeterW has already given a brief well-informed opinion. But I am in the position of having a continuing (and slightly too expensive) relationship with a couple of Treemen over the last several years, so I can get such opinions easily. F

Just remember Bosch though the 'value' range of the BSH stable isnt necessarily the cheapest so look at base spec Neff and Siemens. You might find a cheaper deal on the other two.

Swell! John Lewis had the 5 zone (or perhaps the replacement) on display last week, looked great! I got a large stainless steel pan from Siemens when I bought the hob in the smaller version and it is a great pan....yup I too got excited over a pan, I may just phone them direct for my new kitchen order, 3pans could just tip me over the edge ?

@Gorlando typical cavity tie spacing works out at 2.5 ties per m2 of wall area.

@Gorlando yes, you'll be okay with that spec.

If you want the fascias to run inline, then I would suggest removing the gutter and fascia and soffit as well as a few tiles putting a temporary tarpaulin, but your brickie might help you out with that in any case.

All Id want is a pub nearby that's serving food.