Roger440

Cool. Used that trick on holiday a couple of times If its its nasty one side, good chance its OK the other. If you are well into cornwall, its not that far.

Hmmm, jut been through this at my old place (with some guidance from Nick) Sadly i was unsuccesful, but what JSHarris said, with flushing it may work. Did it work before?

But which one is which?

Much as i love a warm workshop (and indeed built one prior to moving, doh!) may concentrating on the house is best? Unless you can live the garage? Something my wife suggested, whem a crude calculation suggested it was 5 times more thermally efficent than the house!

I cant say ive used in a domestic setting, but yes, if you drop something on it, it will chip. Which will be difficult to repair.

Yep!

Hmmmm, i remain unconvinced The west country feels a lot more like home than scotland..........................................................

You have no idea how much i wish i could Though it would have to be west, not north! To damn cold!!!

I know you live in the back end of nowhere, but up here in the "arc of prosperity" it truly awful now. Buckingham town centre is in a virtual state of gridlock most of the day. When i moved here, you could drive there no problem. Impossible now. But its 30% bigger then it was and most families have at least 2 cars now. When i started working in Aylesbury back in 92, took me 20 mins to get to work for an 08:30 start. By the time i left in 2005, it was a 50-55 min journey with a 7:30 start. Dont even want to think whats its like now. But, its down to the elephant in the room no one wants to talk about. Population increase, and increased mobility. By comparison, i drove down to Liskeard on monday afternon, and back tuesday evening. It was a pleasure frankly, no hold ups, no real traffic and i rolled into devon at 5:30.! Shame i was in the mundano!

On the upside, when you have a collection of certificates, including the one for my central heating (no, not that one Nick) which clearly doesn't compy with the regs, when i modify it, no one will ever know. Just produce the cert. The reality is, it will be far more compliant when ive finished with it. Likewise, i "could" install my soakaway and claim it was there all along. What was signed off by the BCO is clearly non-compliant. But signed off as part of the extension. Clearly he never looked at it, at any point! Clearly from the Stevie Wonder school of building inspection.

in a nutshell ^^^^^^ Eventually something will happen, but when?

Keep yourself up to date on current legisation with this.

Indeed. But i reckon de-commisioning my wood burner will be my contribution to balancing the harm i do!

Im with Jeremy on wood burners. Why? Girif, smelly AND busy trying to kill you with pollution at the same time! In an old leaky house, maybe, but in a modern build? Why. Not needed. Want to dry the washing. Get a de-humidifier. Simples. Legislation will come as sure as night follows day. Frankly, im amazed we have allowed what happens now to continue, or more accurately, re-emerge as a means of heating. London will be first.

Whilst it may not be that useful, i have used P2P lending but as a "borrower" for my business. We used funding circle, which is focused on business lending. We also approached our bank (lloyds). We were looking for several 10 of thousands. Needless to say, the banks opening line was, we need to secure this against your house(s). Thats an absolute no no. So funding circle was where we ended up. Sure it was 1% more, but no security. Based on, i assume our credit rating, which is perfect. Ive no negatives about it at all. This and several other episodes (which i wont bore you with) with the bank lead me to conclude there days are numbered! As far as i can see this and other methods will eventually replace banks.

Whilst i sympathise with your current position, borrowing money is as cheap as it will ever be. Im no expert on cashing in a pension, and id say seek advice, but im pretty sure that the costs and tax will be more than what you would pay on interest on what im guessing is a relatively small amount of money. I think its time to set your "principles" aside and look at the actual numbers/costs/implications of the options outside of a loan/mortgage.

Thanks Peter. Seen Arctic. Did you get to see the actual finished result?

Great idea, but where would you find all those people from who would want to do it for the right reasons? Neither government or councils can manage even the simplest of tasks, never mind something of this scale!

As per the title, does anyone here have any practical experience of dry ice blasting? Im looking at using it for the old part of the house. Got lots of beams that have multiple layers of black paint in, grubby brick work round the fireplace, and, possbly a bit hopeful, modern paint on my nice lime render, which ideally id like t get off without stripping off the render. It seems like the obvious answer, but real world expeience is hard to come by. As i a) dont trust anyone, b) cant find tradespeope, id probably hire or buy to do myself. (and move it on when finished with it)

100% with you there. House needs to have minimal technology. Wants to be "passive" (not as in passivehaus) so it cant go wrong or go "out of date". I think we discussed automation before here, and the fact it will be obsolete in just a few years and "unsurpported" That said, i genuinely dont see why i need to turn the lights on from my phone. A switch on the wall is just fine!

Im not sure its luddite mentality. I prefer to take the view that products need to work. The problem with a lot of this stuff, from phones to electric cars, is that, basically, they are not completed products. They are sold long before they actually work properly. Traditionally, the car manufacturers were exceptional at making something work and work properly, but even thats slipping now. I'll use the technology when a) it actually works, and b) its reliable and doesn't require in depth understanding of the equipment just to use it. JSHarris for example knows how to see who is doing what on his computer. Me, not a clue. Just dont understand it. I put myself firmly in the "user" camp. Until then, count me out. Doubtless be called a luddite, but im not.

Clever, but not exactly cheap.

Now thats the truth!!

Agree, though not the Ford bit....................................

I remain unconvinced about the long term longevity of plastic and the reliance on seals in the joints. Copper works, and pretty much lasts for ever.