SteamyTea

I use trestles, some 2 by 4 timber lengths and a bit of OSB which I cover with an old toughened glass shower door when I want a flat smooth surface (not managed to shatter it yet). This was only a temporary measure about 8 years ago, I have greater plans for my real shed. As for legs and sweeping the floor. I have the same problem at work. What is needed is a plinth, or a look alike, sealed, plinth. Then simple shelves with a back to them (stops things falling out of sight). Draws may be useful too, sealed when closed, can't close them if you are messy. Much better than open boxes that fill up with dust. Also worth putt a fixed back on the rear of any bench, again, it stops things falling down between the wall and the dusty boxes and shit under the bench. And why is a bench never quite big enough?

How does Sageglass sense the light levels, or more specifically, where does it, inside or outside. And does it only sense light levels, or can it also sense temperature inside the building?

I don't know, but see it spelt like that quite often.

What is Imflammable then?

The advantage of a camper van is that, when things get really bad, you can drive away and have a little holiday

"Trees, don't talk to me about trees" Back garden view

I am sure it has been discussed before on other places, but I can't remember if anyone came up with a reason. I can't see any engineering issues, and thermally it is probably better. Many of the houses have timber windows here, I would say the majority in the older parts of town. The weather here is severe, it is Atlantic coast and gets hit by tropical storms and hurricanes (46°N), temperature swings are greater, but humidity levels are similar. I suspect that it is just tradition, and that very British way of making an easy job difficult.

Can you wire in the fan so it only comes on when the tumble dryer is on? Then it is only a few Wh when it is needed.

Having little to do over here, I have been walking a lot (better weather than a Cornish summer). I have noticed that nearly all the windows are set to the very front of the wall. The only ones that seem to be set a little further back are the brick places, and these were probably commissioned by English immigrants (like my family). So why do we set out windows so far back in England?

Yes, but the are so nice about it, I can almost forgive them. Even my bacon and egg sandwich came on a paper place. It was nothing like a bacon and egg sandwich though. And no HP sauce that I could see.

My overriding impression of my first trip to Nova Scotia in nearly 30 years is that every drink is served in a paper cup. Taken me 10 days to find a cafe that sells in a porcelain mug. Coffee was dreadful, bleeding organic. Give me the sweat of uneducated child labour any day. Mind you, it is only C$2.15, or around £1.30 in real money with the Queen's head on it.

Write to Kevin McCloud, I did. https://www.granddesignsmagazine.com/kevin-mccloud/271-kevin-mccloud-on-how-he-welcomes-spring Fabric First At Grand Designs Towers, we recently received apolite email from someone called Steamy Tea complaining that I was very, very wrong to use the term thermal mass when talking about how buildings perform: ‘There is no such thing in science. There is thermal energy and mass; they are not connected.’ Unscientific it may be, but it’s an accepted term in the building world, like ‘coolth’ and ‘flying buttress’, neither of which are scientific words. Moreover, a quick trawl across the internet will reveal that thermal mass is a common term and used by, for example, the Passivhaus Institut. So what do I do? Steamy Tea’s email is not brilliantly helpful: ‘There is also the matter of thermal inertia, this is a difficult concept to understand as it is a six-dimensional problem – three physical dimensions, one of time and one each for heat capacity and thermal conductivity.’ Ijust about understand this, but know I'll have difficulty explaining it on television, unless I make a programme for the Open University that should have been broadcast on a Tuesday afternoon in 1973. This is an important point, because a ‘fabric first’ approach to building that employs stacks of insulation arranged around materials with high thermal mass (I mean six-dimensional inertia, I think) is the future for building in climates like ours. The idea needs communicating. So thank you to Steamy Tea for being the annoying physics teacher that I strongly suspect they are. If any readers can be helpful and elucidate as to what I should say, please write to me here at the magazine (info@granddesignsmagazine.com). I’d like to clear the terminology up, before taking on the Passivhaus Institut and the entire construction science world. Here is the reply I got from Tom from the production team. Dear SteamyTea, Thanks for your comment. We will will do our best to ensure correct terminology is used. Many thanks, Tom And Thanks for your email SteamyTea. I will bear this in mind for one of our productions. Many thanks Tom GrandDesigns Boundless And people often wonder why I think Architects and house designers are tossers.

Are they collectables now

He did use my Mega as well, his old wind up 500V one, in a Bakelite box, had perished insulation on the probes.

My sister used to cut lawns for a living (people in North Oxford have too much money). She tried just about every mower going, ended up only getting Honda ones. She said they were easy to start, even after a winter in the shed, never packed up and cost nothing to run really, just a basic service once a year.

My Father was an electrical engineer and used that method to check the earth. Glad to see some thing have not changed in 70+ years I have a feeling that I still have the bulb, holder and cable from when we wired my place up in Weymouth back in 91 (only seems like yesterday).

I bought a couple of small relays, I think they are either open or closed. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220-240V-AC-Coil-DPDT-Power-Relay-MY2NJ-8-Pin-w-Socket-Base-FK-/232369299384?hash=item361a4a1fb8

"Kind words butter no parsnips" I don't wish to come across as brutal, but isn't dressing up property with misleading words missing the point. If a property is rubbish, it is rubbish, no matter how it is described. Should architects/estate agents/property developers really be misusing language to cover up short comings. It rather reminds me of this: So if a place is small, say it is small and give the dimensions.

I hit the cooker cable once (similar problem, cable was in an odd place). Made quite a bang. Also did a 100A fuse at work, that made a larger bang

As this is the house they is going to be knocked down oneday, just do a temporary fix with a bit of tape. You could solder a bit of copper in if needed. Make sure the earth is good. Is the light switch above or below the damage. If it is not, don't trust the rest of the house wiring.

"built it at your own risk" Just in case

Publish your design, stop others claiming they have rights over it.

Jeremy will buy something useful, or he could by a pint and a half every year.

Yes, and I am sure you will. But that 100 is only worth 97 in a years time, and then, assuming inflation at 3%. But if you can manage 11 years you will be better off.

I would have taken the 6 quid a year, it is a better return.