Temp

If it's your ecologist not the councils then you are under no obligation to submit her report. I would brief another. I would show them her report and see if they agree your contention of the wider benefits or if not can mitigation could be used before hiring them to do a new report.

If you are importing them yourself they have already risen. I think it's not clear what will happen longer term. If the UK ramps up production of bricks then that may hold prices down forcing imports to compete. It depends if companies like Hanson/Forterra are in the mood to invest in new production capacity here instead of across the channel. Two weeks ago they said.. http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2016/07/06/brick-giant-plans-to-mothball-two-factories/ "Brick making giant Forterra is planning to mothball two plants in Lancashire." "“Given current economic uncertainty and sufficient brick inventory levels, the Board has reviewed the current production plan and has decided to maximise the utilisation of our most efficient brick plants and effectively manage our cost base.” Says imported bricks account for 25% of sales in the UK eg 1 in 4 brick houses is made of imported bricks.

Tell her not the wear it :-)

Some ready assembled manifolds have (had) a bypass built in where the flow and return connect to the manifold. I believe this is to make them easy to add-on to a system that has rads as well. I think a separate circulating pump is only needed on manifolds that have this bypass and most don't. Our manifolds came ready assembled from Osma UFH (who I think were taken over by Wavin?) and they did have this bypasses built into the mixer. I tried persuade the installer to remove them but I was told this would affect the warranty. When I asked Osma they told me a separate circulating pump was needed because the pump on the manifold couldn't be guaranteed to be sufficient to draw water from the TS. I wasn't convinced by their answer. In short I'm pretty sure a separate circulating pump isn't needed on the UFH side of most systems. You need one on the boiler side to circulate water from the boiler to/from the TS but if it's a system boiler there is usually a pump in that.

I assume this is a fully modulating gas boiler? If it was an oil boiler I would go with a TS. If gas I don't think there is much in it between a TC and a UVC. I don't see how having a TS reduces the number of pumps.

Ah but Diesel goes whoosh, gasoline goes boom. Diesel is much safer for lighting bonfires. With Gasoline you can accidentally make a fuel air bomb. Don't ask. They grew back.

+1. If it's new to you check out the index.

One builder reported recently (since the vote) that they still expected sales for the year to meet previous expectations. Many of the house builders were up on the news. Barratt currently down about 20% compared to the day before the vote.

Unless this wet weather continues it might be a bit late to sow seed? In the spring I have to cut some of our grass weekly then in the summer it slows down, the last cut was the first of the fortnightly cuts this year. We turfed our lawn in and if you go that route make absolutely sure you have an adequate water supply. Depending on the size of your lawn one outside tap might not be enough! Ours is quite big and we had two sprinklers going almost 24/7 and they had to be moved around regularly. This was only just enough to stop the turf drying out and shrinking in the hot weather. Forget to move one and an hour later you could see the turf had started to shrink in the dry patch. Would be easy to ruin a area if it was hot and windy.

Ah so that's what those little fences you see next to motorway road works are for. I though they might be to stop hedgehog getting squished.

Just a tip.. If you decide to mix and match beware that there are an infinite number of shades of white. They all look white in the show room but when you get a bath from one place next to a basin or pan from another the difference can be obvious.

I would think about it. What happens if some official turns up and stops work on all four plots (including yours) while they "review the situation"?

We have a copy of the Dec 4th 1978 Daily Star lining a chest of drawers. There is a small article in it about Jim Callaghan threatening the EU over a problem with agricultural subsidies. It says he will stop short of threatening to pull out of the common market.

In case it helps, our Neff (E-Nr H5642N0GB/04) fits in a 600mm wide hole 390mm high hole. Those dims include it's separate bezel so the actual microwave unit is smaller.

Perhaps see here for a block paved highway... http://www.pavingexpert.com/blokroad.htm Residential block paving.. http://www.pavingexpert.com/blocks2.htm This is a pretty good site for all things related to paving, hardstanding and some drainage. Check out the index for specs for block paving in other areas. If you ever want the access road adopted by the council best check if they have a spec.

Did the NHBC know you are building two houses? I might be wrong but they used to have a policy for self builders building their own house (single), but if building multiple houses or houses for sale at a profit or they expected you to become an NHBC registered builder. I may have that wrong. Yes my understanding is you would pay £205 + £658 and that includes site visits. Best plan is to conclude each site visit by asking when he wants you to call him back for the next one. If he finds anything that needs fixing or if he suggests a work around send him a letter to confirm what was agreed verbally.

+1 to sorting it before the plasterboard goes on. I recommend a waterproof plasterboard like 12mm hardi backer board in showers.

Can anyone recommend a quick drying wood preserver? Standard wood preservers are taking days to dry properly in this damp weather. Ideally I'm looking for something that dries over night. Ordinary Rustins is taking 48 hours and Rustins Advanced says wait 48 hours before painting. Sadolins Quick Drying Wood Preserver might be faster but looks like it's only available mail order and in 2.5L tins at £30-£32 plus shipping.

We have two Heatmiser wiring centres connected to a thermal store. Each wiring centre controls one UFH manifold (upstairs/downstairs). On our system the two BE signals on the wiring centres are OR'ed together and used to control a pump between the TS and the manifolds. The stats on the store control the boiler. You may not need that pump between the TS and the manifolds - it depends on the manifolds. I questioned the need with Osma who provided our manifolds and they said it was required in our case.

No mains gas in our village but because we like gas hobs we installed a dual fuel electric oven and LPG hob with 6 rings. Works very well off LPG cylinders. We use 47kg cylinders but they last around 18 months to 2 years so smaller cylinders would be ok and easer to transport. We used plastic covered copper pipe sold for the purpose.

I have about 1.25 acres which I cut with a 21HP Toro DH220. Actually it's more than 1.25 if I cut part of the church yard next door. Things I have learnt... 1) Straight/Centre chute mowers are better than side chute. They seem to get blocked less frequently. 2) If the grass is a bit long (that's why you are cutting it!) then it's better to eject grass out the back than to mulch it using the cutting deck. When mulching long grass the mower can get bogged down a bit and it takes longer and doesn't look as neat as just ejecting it. The Torro has a switch that stops you ejecting the grass without the collection basket fitted so I had to bypass that (at your own risk). 3) Mowers don't have good suspension! It can be like driving down a bumpy road for two hours in a shopping trolley. Make sure the seat is comfortable! Get the ground really level before seeding/turfing. Don't let anyone drive over it in a car. The wheel ruts might not be visible but you can feel where someone drove over ours 7 years later. 4) Design your garden/lawn/patio so there are no corners. You can't get a ride on mover into a corner. 5) If you want an orchard plant the largest trees you can find - with luck the lower branches will be high enough that you can mow close. Plant them in rows not some random pattern. 6) Just mow over any tennis balls or toys your kids leave on the lawn. They will learn eventually. Top tip.... If your mower becomes hard to start and has the symptoms of a weak battery or failing starter (eg starter can't turn it over or only just) then check the valve clearances. I replaced the battery and was about to replace the starter on my Toro on when I discovered that Briggs & Stratton motors have a decompressor that is sensitive to the valve clearance. It's a small extra cam on a counter weight that opens the exhaust valve at low rpm. On my mower the valve clearance should be set to 4 thou and if I remember correctly they were about 6 thou. That was enough to stop the decompressor working and made it v. hard to turn over.

There are free apps on the play store that will check if your phone supports USB OTG (needed for the camera).

Perhaps check the earth is ok in the light fitting and elsewhere. If the earth wire doesn't have a good connection somewhere you can get a voltage induced onto it from the live/neutral. This is then conducted all around the house to exposed metal such as a metal light switch. I've seen 75V which is enough to give you a surprise.

Steel isn't vapour permeable. Once insulated the inside wall of the container will be cold so perhaps make sure there is a vapour barrier on the inside?

Many small distributors don't carry stock. They "drop ship" direct from the manufacturer. So if they are made across the channel you might be paying for delivery from the manufacturer rather than from the UK distributors office.