Roger440

Are the big boys still able to "get away with" not doing every house? A freind of mine built a small number of houses in shefifeld. They got the guy out to do the air tightness. His starting point was "what number do you want on the report". It took much persuasion to get him to actually do the job. Anyway, we all know what really went on.

That always assumes they keep those records. As i found out when in Buckinghamshire, Bucks council dont keep, or register, in any way, completed inspections by private BC's. And assuming of course you can even contact them. Again, not possible in Bucks. Other councils may vary of course.

I think you can safely assume no physical air test was ever carried out. The wall build up questions above will determine the next sensible step.

No, not really. You say its low risk. Its not. Its NO risk. There is no recorded case of enforcement after 10 years never mind 20. Even under the new regulations, which dont apply in this case, its still limited to 10 years. The only beneficiary of a worthless insurance to cover a non existent risk is the conyeyancer who gets a kick back from selling said policy. Which of course is why they push them. Its certainly not to cover off any risk. Yes you are right i wouldnt bother in this case. And didnt when i bought my current house.

Ive had several mortgages and not once has it ever been raised. And all the houses affected has some degree if non compliance. The indeminity insurance is so cheap, because the risk is essentially zero. The cost of any insurance is a good clue. Even in your hypothetical example, there is no chance of enforcement action. None. An insurance claim from next door, possibly. If everyone followed your line of thinking, no houses would ever get sold. Fortunately, your approach works in favour of those of us able to take a more pragmatic view . Especially as most BC sign off isnt worth the paper its written on. Anyone thinking it gives any kind of gurantee or the standard of work should think again. Of course, for works done after october 23, things are different. I can get 2 years prision for fitting a window myself!!!

Theres zero possibility of enforcement action 20 years after the event, so to be blunt who cares? Theres no legal requirement that says you cant buy a house without the relevant paperwork. If you think its badly done,get someone competent to look at it. Its only a garage conversion.

Im useless with all tech, but i tried to get it to do a design for an extension flat roof. it failed. Or i failed. Im not sure which. Has anyone done this? Succesfully. If so, how?

I did come up with a mad idea to pivot all 22 panels and then join together using car track rod ends ( i can get the really cheap). Thats probably the easy bit. Walking down to the array several times a day to adjust would wear thin rather quickly, so automation would be requitred. That gets complicated and involves electronics, so a non starter sadly. I think i will adopt the johnmo approach!

Excellent! Thanks for that. Might have to copy that. Though with 22 panels, could still get expensive!

Please post pics on completion. I need to do this when the field dries out a bit and is rather less of a swamp. Sadly i dont have a free suply of poles, though i do have a fair bit of unistrut. Whatever you do, its damn expensive!

Id do this. Last month, i missed (because im too slow) a Worcester Greenstar outdoor oil boiler, unvented water cylinder, oil tank and a bunch of copper pipe. £695. Theres loads of secondhand oil boilers and stuff at the moment thanks to the various government wheezes. Cheap, simple and effective.

Its far from limited to heating. Almost everything that was simple has now become complicated, to a level that the general public have no chance of understanding it, and sadly in many cases, nor do those actually doing said work. Cars would be another great example. Not entirely sure where it all ends, but id guess its where pretty much nothing gets done right. If at all. I cant even start to understand why BR needs to define where the thermostats go.

I think id be dropping the soffits on plastic spacers. And maybe some drain hls in it. At least then any puddling water wont be in contact with the rafters.

Arms weren’t too bad. More my kness. I found I could hold the grinder by its end and let it "float" across the floor, which improved the accuracy of levelling and saved my arms.

You want one with diamond discs. That looks like one with the "scabbling blocks". Useless for what you need. The ones with diamond discs seem rather hard to hire. How big an area. I did a double garage sized area of very rough tamped concrete with a Hilti hand held one. Bloody hard work mind!

I have no intention of relying on anything, certainly not export. I can easily "self consume" anything i generate. But only with batteries. I really didnt want all that complication, or, bluntly, the upfront expense. But it might have to be. Will worry about that after i install the PV in spring. Theres no EV to charge, nor is their likely to be any time soon.

But this one was quite interesting.

Obviously all those EVs parked up in our sublet yard at work are not there. Silly me, must be a mirage.

Spot on. Which is what makes it so hard to justify up front expenditure on batteries, for example, as the market is so volatile.

Its still pointless, because government actions (and policies) is driving up prices. Your undeniable fact, flies in the face of reality. Doesnt matter if renewables are free. Prices are still going to go up. Potential? Who cares about that. Its of no consequence or relevance. Essentially, you are just day dreaming. But posting it on here.

Tedious doesnt start to cover it. At the last place, where i lived for 8 years, when i left, the parish council meeting minutes, were essentially the exact same list of issues as the day i moved in. Essentially, with one notable exception, they achieved just about nothing. I dont bother now. Experience tells me its genuinely a complete waste of time. Thats not as it should be, but sadly that is how it is.

But ProDaves point, which you ignored, is that the story we are told, is that renewables will reduce our electricity costs. This is false, or more accurately, a blatent lie, often repeated on here. And its a lie for the very reasons you outlined. As well as specific government policies that see addtional costs tacked on to bills. And those reasons are not going to change. I dont know what this thread is for other than you outlining a non existent uptopia?

Hmmm, trying to achieve perfection. Ive got that problem. Bad. Buying a small holding, has, to some extent, tempered that, as ive been forced to accept with acres of land, house and buildings, it cant all, ever, be perfect. 90% is good enough. Except, when i see some of my 90% jobs, it still annoys me, knowing that i coulod have done better. And knowing, because the roofer never suggested dry verges, and because i wasnt smart enough to know i need them, i now need to use retro fit ones. Which will offend me even as i fit them, with them being visible and with visible fixings on the barge boards.............. NSS said: I'm not sure where you are with your build, but try to focus and give yourself credit for what you've already achieved, rather than what you have left to complete. And whatever else you do, don't lose sight of life, and the importance of enjoying it. Wise words, and ones i try to apply to myself, but not always succesfully

Yep. We are not alone, thats for sure.

I coped with it by not building a house! Though sleeping is one thing i dont have a problem doing. Waking up on the other hand........................... All that said, im gearing up for a whole house refurb in 9 months, probably in 2028. Starting to plan for that, and its a right bugger, because everything is interlinked. And expensive. So lots of thought required. Maybe i have it yet to come?