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I ended up adding a slight angle to my reveals. Really happy with how they've turned out!

The different types of buildup will have a major effect on other aspects of the build, having 150mm plus of insulation on top of your rafters will make finished heights higher. So needs thinking about quickly.

@Dunny1234We are just about to start building as well and I've been doing research on cold/vented vs warm/unvented. Our zinc installer has always favoured cold/vented. I spoke to a very knowledgeable technical guy at VM Zinc and he said "both will work if done right, but the cold/vented is more forgiving". As you probably know the issue is condensation on the underside of the roof.

40 -70m of fencing is really easy to do yourself but there are some specialised tools that you need. do a bit of research on fencing - maybe try and track down a manual from the forestry commission or somewhere online. track down an agricultural fencing supply company to get the best price on materials. If this is a fence to last then go treated posts with a 20+ year guarantee or even better is creosoted posts i am happy to talk you through it if required. i would use sheep netting with high tensile bottom, middle and top wire with the addition of one or two more line wires at the top to give it plenty of hight. The skill is getting the corner posts (strainers) in REALLY well as they take a LOT of load from the line wire. track down a forestry or agricultural fencing contractor by asking at the fencing materials shop for recommendation and get a price on having the job done, I would avoid landscaping companies unless they can prove they can do this sort of work well. I would be happy to post you some of the more specialised equipment like wire tensioner and clip gun and fencing pliers if you decide to go solo. I have done a lot of this sort of fencing......

I never really looked at this approach (not sure why). I have gone down the indivdually addressable DALI route where each fittings has it's own driver doing the dimming. For LED's I was going to use Loxone RGBW extensions for these, but given we are doing tunable white and Loxone support for this is bad, now looking at driving LED's with EldoLED constant voltage DALI DT8 drivers. Good to hear you've had good experience with EldoLED. Makes me even more sure about finding an LED-tape supplier that provides EldoLED drivers and not another brand or unbranded.

The Loxone DALI extensions cost a lot though at £450 each!! Did you use these or do somethng else? I've just bought a Raspberry PI DALI hat, which can control up to 256 DALI addresses for £80. I'm trying to get it working, and expose HTTP calls for use in Loxone now.

Yeah the few I've ended up using by happenstance are so much better than other fixtures. We even had some fairly fancy/expensive track system lights using 0-10V drivers that should be perfect fade, but nothing compared to what I can get out of them using fairly cheap D4C-L constant current drivers. The kitchen island lights are 4 units each 13W, 15V forward voltage. They currently have individual mains dimmable drivers wired in parallel on 1.5mm2 T&E. With some faff I could pull out the drivers from the ceiling and rewire them in series and use a remote driver (reappropriate the T&E for low voltage circuit). The combined 60V forward voltage would be tricky to drive, but I could do 3 of them (45V) on the T&E L+N pair and the remaining fixture on the L+E pair. This would fit very nicely on my existing 48V power supply. I'll add it to the list of projects to get to in 5 year's time, when absolutely everything else in the house is working and I run out of things to do!!

Quite a few people on here have used Ecology.

Is that a substation at the bottom of the garden of 27b..?? If so, it’s may be a non starter for an over sailing wire as a telco line cannot pass over power infrastructure in that way. They can’t pull the catenary safely.

This is the damage reporting line - obviously there has been no damage 'yet' but may be a way to get in touch with them. Just explain that you'll be starting works on site 'soon' and you're worried your crane may damage it - I think you need to create a sense of urgency to get them to do anything (even quote) vs just making enquiries. To report Damage to the Openreach network please call the reporting team on 0800 023 2023 (Option 1 + Option 1) the team are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But I really don't think it will be super expensive and should not get in the way of your plot purchase.

Yes @Bitpipe has it right, get them to swing the span to the other DP (distribution pole) ?, but get on with it ASAP.

This does not look very complicated, OR would run a new wire from the pole outside 16a and use their 'flying wire' exemption to negate a wayleave, but if going to the same side of 29 that the current wire is on, it would not impinge much at all on 27b. I think it's a case of continuing to pester OR to move it to that pole so your works (and you will be planning to use a crane, obviously) does not damage it. https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/obtaining-wayleaves What are flying wires? These are wires which “fly” across one property from telegraph poles on another property. We’re sometimes allowed to install these without needing a wayleave, but only if: we don’t need to enter the property to do it the wires are 3 metres or more they don’t interfere with normal business at the property.

Thanks @joth Happy to help ?

Overall I'm very happy with Whitewing only thing to bear in mind is the power per channel is quite a bit lower. Only hit issues with this with the line of architectural downlights along the kitchen island. They don't blow a fuse, but powering them up causes all other lights on that dimmer to flicker momentarily. The nominal wattage of them is only 52W so well within spec, I suspect it's the generic drivers supplied with them have a high surge current. Definitely one we should have skipped mains dimming and just used remote constant current drivers on.

A site plan sketch / google maps screenshot would help. We demolished and did not re-instate the drop wire to the new house from the pole across the lane, instead we laid duct on our side and, after discussion with OR, laid it at our expense across the lane to the pole. We pulled through our own cable (you can buy OR approved cable, not expensive) and they hooked it up either end when it came to connection time. I presume you could do something similar - if you present OR with laid cable then they should be happy to swap out the overhead line. You also have the option to 'mole' across roads and avoid the cost of closures. Maybe get a local ground worker to price this up and use that as a working figure?

they will take forever, pester them like mad, only way to get them to respond IMO. But as @epsilonGreedy says, negotiate youre line at the same time (if you want one).

@joe90 Good advice, thanks Joe!

As far as I can remember “oversailing” does not require a wayleave, just warn openreach that it will be damaged if it’s not moved (yes don’t upset a “good” neighbour, you want him to stay that way).

Should have got a job at Howdens ! ?

There was some discussion years ago about phthalates in vinyl flooring as they were possibly carcinogenic and as a result you can buy vinyl flooring that is phthalate free. I don't know if that is what you are referring to.

I would be tempted to tell them you have machinery on site and it WILL be damaged unless they move it, might put a bomb under their ass!

Well 3phase 100 amp is a 70 KvA supply.

I went with green moisture resistant plasterboard in my ensuite and Aquapanel/Hardiebacker cement board (tiled) around the walk-in shower area and also laid the tray using the 'Nickfromwales' bomb proof method.

In the bathroom we went with green plasterboard everywhere, had it skimmed (which apparently was not necessary in areas to be tiled) and tanked the walls around the shower and laid the tray using @Nickfromwales bomb proof method. Tiled over with porcelain, no issues 5 years later. We went one step further in the ensuite and used an Impey wet-room shower former and floor liner, same wall treatment as above. Again, no issues.

You don't use the @ in creating PM address just type rob99, or whatever name, and all will be well I think.

Half a day on BuildHub to solve a foul problem. How much would you have paid an 'expert' to do the same eh? This place is addictive.

My temporary kitchen going to be larger than the real kitchen at this rate !!

If you have a pump station, do the run in 90mm black MDPE. Run it in the same trench as your other services. Convert to 110mm brown pipe to a new chamber and gravity pipe to the sewer / final chamber. If you have a high or variable water table, the pump station chamber needs encasing in concrete.

In the calculation above layer 4, TF200, needs setting to zero. The 0.77 value for this is only valid when against an unventilated airspace. This increases U-value to 0.26.

You still need insulation on the inside to mitigate against the cold bridges through the studs, just fitting 140 between studs does not make a good wall build up.

Has to be buried min 600mm. Depending on the tree type you may want to look at moling but in honesty I would be going down the west boundary and then going into the sewer directly or using the lateral drain. Have the sewage company been informed ..??

@Dunny1234 A cold ventilated construction has been the method of construction for zinc roofing across Europe. Use 'penny gap' 25mm thick softwood boards as the deck supporting the zinc and you can't go far wrong. If there is condensation with in the roof build up the timber will be able to dry, the air will also protect the back (underside) of the zinc and allow a natural patination on the metal surface. If you build using plywood you MUST isolate the zinc from the plywood using a structured underlay as ISO-Mat Metal. It has always been forbidden to lay zinc directly onto Plywood. Warm roofs have become popular and IF installed correctly can offer some advantages. The Vapour Control Layer (VCL) must be specified in accordance with the level of humidity expected within the building and installed correctly to prevent moisture breaching into the roof construction - for the life of the building. DM Drawings if you need project specific advice or guidance?

Just a thought but if you got a drainage contractor in with a mole (makes a hole say for a cable / duct) under a road then you could maybe make an argument this way? Avoids trenching the ground and cutting all the roots. In principle this may work. To start with aim to keep the mole deep in maybe low nutriant soil so you reduce the risk of damaging the primary roots. In practice.. I'll leave that up to your imagination. If you don't want to imagine then get in a pro Arboriculturist who may be able to look at the soil, refine the general guidance on the extent of a root protection zone and keep you on the right side of the regs. If you hit an obstruction using the mole then you can hand dig to clear it and.. while hand digging you make sure you don't cut the roots.

it's a cul-de-sac so a dead end with no through traffic, how busy could it be?

Rotten mortar on the chimney sucks in water when it rains, this then percolates downwards through the walls and tries to get out inside and outside

Trying to look at the pics on a small screen so correct me if im wrong. Is there a gap under the flashing that will allow water under and onto/over the gable boards? ks like Whats stopping water being blown under the blue flashing?

I had some cracked render, the water came in a good 2 metres from the damage. I also had the loft insulation move (as have half my neighbours) a few inches in a storm. Was enough to just cover over the soffit vents, then each time a hoolie came in, water got soaked up into it, then into the ceiling below.

If you say period property, are you now changing to plastic. For timber you want a carpenter, either of the above can stick some up can up and smear some silicone around.

What material would you like to use for the replacement? Is your property subject to any special control or in a conservation area? Is there any fancy late Victorian or Edwardian detailing in the eaves?

Yep so if I’d paid someone I reckon £1k install and £1k unit ..? I got some decent eBay deals and also used things such as 63mm ducting rather than the “proper” duct. It does show it doesn’t need to cost loads and I think the issue is sometimes the “specialist retailers” tell you it has to be SAP-Q etc and that their ducting is coated with anti-COVID Unobtainium TetraOxide, so you soon end up a £5k bill for the kit alone.

Nosy bastards no wonder he left!

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.

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

You will need 3 tools to fit the Tata / Catnic, listed below. I also purchased a metal blade for a circular saw. Its straight forward to fit, nailing strip on one side and hit with a hammer and block of wood the other. I had 300 sqm to fit and 7 Velux to fit round which was a bit of a challenge. You might find the delivery charge is more than the product. 1 EAVES CLOSER CU094300 Tools 2 STUBAI PLIERS CU094200 Tools 3 FLANGE MATE CU094400 Tools

Actually quite tempted in my will to leave my user id and password to one of my grand children to continue the legacy . Also means I don't have to finish the build in my lifetime!. I think @Onoff is using the same logic; start it and let some other mug finish it. I can just see it many generations from now , that post "Leaky walk on Glazing" - much better than a head stone to remember me by.

For everyone who has been asking, I gave Jeremy a call yesterday. The good news is he has recovered from his injury and having to take rather unpleasant medication alongside that. On the Buildhub front, Jeremy was undertaking a lot of the day to day background admin work of the forum prior to his injury. Having been away from it, he has been less inclined to get back involved and has various other interests which occupy his time. His missing blog is simply down to the EU domain being shut down. Unfortunately, that's where his back up was hosted as well so what's here on Buildhub is it, unless he can dig out a hard back up copy (which he thinks he has). That's all there is. Hopefully he will return at some point in the future.

I have had several pints with him and he is very, very sound. He took a 60 mile detour once just to drop off an unused tub of waterproofer at my build and would not take a penny for it, ditto some 16mm pex connectors that he posted out. Also the time he spent building and sharing SAP models, calcs, etc on this forum were significant. He often admitted that he found it difficult to read emotion into online conversations so sometimes came across as aloof, which was unintentional.

I'm man enough I hope to admit I was at times less than generous towards Jeremy in private comments to other members. I like to feel I got over that. I think I took his drive, passion and tenacity as arrogance. Chuck in a bit of jealousy maybe at his breadth of knowledge. Less a case of him being "one of those people who's always right", bottom line he generally was! ? I miss him. Best Christmas pressie Buildhub could have is if he makes an appearance.

That's something I had considered doing but I'm pleased to say that I stopped myself, I'll keep an eye out for the Tesla though as that's a little less "stalky". Mind you, if I spot it/him, I won't be flagging him down to interrogate him! It would appear that he actively removed himself from this forum for reasons best known to himself but as @Russell griffiths said "somebody must have peed him off". Did his disappearance coincide with the Buildhub blackout in the middle of this year? It is a massive shame because he was an absolute inspiration.

I get Wendy to do work like that. She is my go to person for narrow holes and trenches. This was at our last house back in the 90s and it was only 2m deep.