newhome

Weird, I can open the documents on the laptop but not on the phone

Even in the first application (different applicant) in 2013 it looks like there were dormers in the roof https://planning.stoke.gov.uk/online-applications/files/03C3CEB17F9FFCFD5FC882C8AA2BCF9C/pdf/55746_FUL-PROPOSED_PLAN-108715.pdf

Here you go: Original approved site plan (bearing in mind there seems to have been a lot of focus on the height of the house relative to the house next door during the planning application ) https://planning.stoke.gov.uk/online-applications/files/70FCAE28E96150419C9C72FD09150469/pdf/59699_FUL-AMENDED_DRAWING-198440.pdf It was always going to be higher than next door but the dormer windows were expected to end up lower than the house next door. In the BBC photo what they have built has the bottom of the dormers more or less starting at the same height as the top of next door's roof. Given the fuss made about the height of the house you would have thought that there would have been some care taken. Or he just thought he would get away with it anyway.

You’d better get a crack on then!

We did ours ourself. Was quite a bit of work to get the prep right but it was worth the investment in time as after 15 years it still looked good, and as far as I know still probably looks good.

Well they are May Bugs and it is May! Fairly harmless though are they not? I’d take my chances with a swarm (or whatever the collective term is) of cockchafers over the rats in your floorboards! Besides they’ll be dead by about June.

How are you doing now @lizzie? Are things any better in respect of the temperature?

How long will AstroTurf on decking last? We laid AstroTurf on sand in our last house but spend a long time on the prep and this is it after circa 15 years.

I’ve seen those. They are called bottom up blinds IIRC. Could be appropriate for a bedroom

+1 but if you go for the bigger windows separate with render to match that whole section as per pic 3. And wear boxers when standing to admire the view

Need a red light above the bedroom window then, but seriously, in 10 years or so will you want the (presumably human by then) neighbours seeing all your 10 year older wrinkly bits?

What separates the windows on the right horizontally and why isn’t that the same in the middle windows?

Put them round the hot tub with some lights for now. They are too cool to keep in a box.

The Mrs stole the shower gel back then?

Looks like they changed the design (mine is 3 years old) and corrected the design fault then. In the version I have it's completely static when you press the red button and only the very bottom bit opens (looks like yours drops down too?) meaning that whatever is trapped in the small gap between the bin and the purple bit at the bottom of the cyclone element (generally dog fur) stays there until you stick something in it to get it out. I keep a plastic kitchen spatula for that purpose now. Not great to spend £300 on something called 'Animal' especially to deal with pet hair that has a clear design fault when used for pet hair TBH!

Refund processed for the now not required PSU. Not that it was the end of the world if I ended up with 2 but always nice to see good customer service.

Can’t you ask to pay a small deposit by credit card? That will protect the whole purchase for you under Section 75 if (heaven forbid) they don’t deliver or something after you have paid. I would ask to pay £100 by credit card. And meh re the delivery but regardless ensure that it’s on the same invoice and not separate if you want to reclaim the vat otherwise they won’t allow it.

What’s the wait time these days?

Hurrta and Ruffwear are the ‘North Face’ equivalent for dogs. Coats for every season and weather condition! Mine only wear a coat (Equafleece) if we are going somewhere muddy but given that I live next to the beach 99% of the time they don’t wear them. They do however have their own freezer for their relatively expensive food

I only have hard floors here but I have a cordless Dyson upstairs that was close to £300. It’s ok. Irritating when it needs recharging as you have to stop and recharge the whole unit as there is no separate battery. It’s also a pain to empty if it collects dog fur (which is why I tend to use it upstairs rather than down). The dog fur tends to get stuck up the top of it and I have to shove something in it to get it out as it doesn’t come apart. The dust canister is pretty small too. Downstairs I have a Vax Air cordless Lift duo. More like a conventional upright vac. It also ‘lifts’ out of the main unit to make it easier to do the stairs for example. Mine came with 2 lithium batteries which makes it easy to keep going when a battery runs out of charge. It’s easier to empty too I feel as the canister comes apart if anything gets stuck in it unlike the Dyson, and the dust canister is larger. It was only about £100 and I don’t see that the Dyson is 3 times as good TBH. I also have a Vax cordless hard floor cleaner that takes the same batteries and isn’t bad. Actually I must take all of the corded ones I have here to the tip as I don’t see me using corded ones ever again. Corded vacs are more powerful, but for hard floors that’s not much of an issue. I did try a robot vac at one stage. Bloody thing was hopeless. Used to get stuck on the bottom of the kitchen stools and, well almost anywhere really. By the time I had rescued it and set it off again and then emptied it, I could have pushed the cordless one round so I got rid. The Shark Liftaway has great reviews but is corded hence I haven’t bought one.

Good call. I have a central vac and never use it. These days I just use 2 cordless vacuums; one upstairs, one down. Plus 2 steam cleaners, one up, one down. Job done!

These are really for when you are out and about and a hose is not an option I guess. But an absorbent coat will hold more water than dog fur. I have friends whose dogs have wardrobes of dog coats lol. They easily spend 50-100 on a dog coat without even blinking lol.

Depends on the dog. One of mine loves water outside, another is a princess and won’t go near it. There are lots of options to keep dogs cool though and a big market in cooling coats that use evaporative cooling. https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=dog+cooling+coats&index=aps&tag=hydrukspg-21&ref=pd_sl_8wci33odcd_e&adgrpid=59991066464&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=259126741668&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9387560495376396925&hvqmt=e&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046877&hvtargid=kwd-302987024306

The ice generally provides some relief to the person (dog) directly in front of the fan but doesn't particularly help to lower the room temperature. You could try wetting a towel with cold water and placing it under / over him and then run the fan on him. Poor dog . Fingers crossed the bypass works.

Totally non technical temporary solution. Can you run a fan with a bowl of ice in front of it to help cool the air for now?