NSS

Do you really need two joins if not centred on the sink? We have a 5m run of granite worktop with a fairly centrally positioned sink and only one join (away from the sink) but I believe our supplier can do 4.2m as a single slab.

Not sure how much of that stuff would have found its way online (the legal stuff was mid-90's). I think I still have a box of papers somewhere but not sure I fancy trawling through them again, even if I could find them. The following paragraph is however from a short piece on the lead law firms site. "After the first death here, the programme was immediately stopped following consultation among the clinicians involved, and Hgh was replaced by a synthetic version. The human based product had been prepared from pituitary glands recovered from cadavers - pituitaries were routinely collected at post-mortem examination in mortuaries and it is estimated that over 960,000 pituitaries were harvested to make Hgh and/or other pituitary derived hormone treatments." To add a little more background, mortuary technicians were paid 20p for each pituitary gland (apparently removed without any permissions from next of kin). Some of these mortuaries received cadavers of residents from what were then known as mental institutions. Typically the glands were stored in glass jars for weeks/months until collected by the MRC. In crude terms, we were told the glands were then "boiled up in a huge vat" to extract the hGH. Sterilisation practice at the time would have had no effect on the CJD prion and hence each new batch was to a lesser or greater degree contaminated by any affected glands in previous batches, regardless of whether the batch being processed contained any infected glands. I understand that at least 80 of the approximately 1,900 kids treated with hGH have since gone on to die from CJD (though one report I read suggested it could be as many as 129). Of course, many of the others died of other causes (one of the reasons it was given was to replace hGH lost when treating pituitary gland cancer that subsequently killed them anyway), and the longest gestation thus far has been 38 years after treatment. Mrs NSS was one of those treated very early on in the programme and all the evidence points to her treatment having been completed around two months before the first contamination is believed to have taken place. She is one of the lucky ones. Ironically, she was the only patient in the UK to receive hGH that was not growth hormone deficient (either naturally or as a result of radiotherapy). She had a much more rare growth disorder but her consultant at GOSH thought it worth trying hGH. It had zero impact and she is in fact a little smaller than average for women with her syndrome.

My wife was one of the kids it was injected into, in her case twice a week for 7 years. I've read an awful lot on the subject, not least all the legal submissions from experts because she was involved in the group action that was brought over the scandal. Still, I bow to the superior knowledge you acquired across a dinner table over 20 years ago.

Utter rubbish. BSE was/is the bovine equivalent of CJD, the latter (and the prions that cause it) having been known of long before the BSE/vCJD scandal. Prions are abnormal, mutated proteins that accumulate in the brain and invariably result in fatality, usually within 12 months of the onset of symptoms. They also make Covid positively easy to deal with as the normal extremes of heat or radiation typically used to eliminate bacteria/viruses have no effect, and nor do antibiotics or antiviral treatments. It's why a number of kids who received human growth hormone injections in the 70's and 80's went on to contract CJD. The hGH was extracted from pituitary glands harvested from human corpses. Unfortunately some of those they were harvested from had died with CJD. Once the prion found its way into the equipment used to extract the growth hormone it infected every subsequent batch as the sterilisation process failed to destroy it.

We have a Panasonic Aquarea T-Cap. Not sure how different it is to yours, or whether this is any help, but we had this fault and it was the water pump (it had seized). Unit was circa 2.5 years old at the time (4.5 years old now) and Panasonic supplied replacement without even needing to see the faulty one (which suggests it wasn't the first) and paid a fixed fee to our installer to replace.

Well done Ian. And just in time to get a ladder out to hang Christmas lights around your fabulous creation ?

Nah, only 1900 or so posts in 14 months, can't possibly be Jeremy ?

This is a pic of the rear elevation, albeit taken over two years ago when we were still landscaping.

Hi Helen, I think we were probably a slightly unusual client for Scandia Hus. I'd designed the house as none of their 'standard' designs met our need. The house was totally designed around my wife's needs (due to health, stature and mobility issues) and it was for these reasons in part that we didn't use SH's preferred window and MVHR partners. They were very supportive and great at turning my vision into working drawings. They also suggested some minor but worthwhile amendments (that I'd probably never have thought of) which we really appreciated. By comparison to most Scandia Hus properties it's also fairly modest in size (165m2 chalet bungalow) so I'm not sure how relevant it would be to your project, but I'll see if I can dig out a few photos. Edited to add: We only contracted SH to supply and erect the timber frame. Groundworks and all work beyond the erection of the timber frame was managed by me, calling in specialist trades as needed, but also doing a fair amount of the work myself. I know SH has started offering a 'turnkey' package more recently.

@Helen Vowls you'll find their standard component schedule linked from the following page - https://www.scandia-hus.co.uk/design-build/price-guide/

Hi @Helen Vowls We have a Scandia Hus timber frame (erected five years ago). At the time, their quote was accompanied by a very comprehensive list of what was included. We chose to omit windows, MVHR and staircase, but our package included (for example) all of the insulation (external walls, roof, internal walls and ceilings), all of the stud wall timber, plasterboard and internal battens, the t&g chipboard flooring for the first floor, the roof sarking boards, battens and roof membrane, crane and telehandler hire, even all of the fixings for most of the above. We were very happy with the service provided by Scandia Hus and, whilst I have no doubt there are less expensive suppliers, we felt safe using them - not least because they offered an ESCROW arrangement for payments.

About 33m2

Okay, to expand, our floor is a rougher than i'd like it to be tamped finish. Ideally I'd like something that will not just seal it but help to fill some of the depressions, but strong enough to take vehicles moving in and out without cracking/lifting. Have been looking at 'high-build' epoxy paint as it's a lot cheaper than some of the alternatives, but wonder about the durability.

I can't be the first buildhubber fed up with a dusty garage floor, so what have you used to seal/paint/screed/tile it, would you recommend it, and how much did it cost?

We put in Cat6 cabling throughout. Much better bandwidth and very little cost difference.

We have the basic model of the Arlo wireless cameras, lots of them, connected to several hubs. The audible alerts to our phones mean we know when someone sets foot on our driveway, and they're recorded by several cameras before they reach the front door, garage door or side gate. If they seek an alternative approach and hack their way through the dense, 4m high mature laurel hedgerows from neighboring properties then they are again recorded (and we notified) before they can get near patio or back doors, garden shed or greenhouse. Worst case we're not here and they smash their way into the property, the alarm will go off and, you guessed it, they get recorded again. We can view the images and received alerts anywhere we have a 3G or better mobile signal. We periodically move the cameras around (the beauty of wireless), with some clearly visible (as a deterrent) and others more discreetly positioned. Nothing guarantees against intruders, but we feel fairly secure. By the way, we pay no subscription. With Arlo, you have to pay if you have more than 5 cameras on a single hub / account, but so long as you have no more than 5 on each, you can register accounts for different people / each hub installed at the same address ? PS: We even use Arlo cameras to keep an eye on the chickens in their coop, and the visiting hedgehogs and othe wildlife.

Welcome Jay. My mother died two weeks after we completed on the purchase of our plot. Knocked the wind out of my sails for a while too. Spent many a moment thinking (hoping) she and my old man (who'd died 20 years earlier) would be proud of what we were doing. I'm sure yours would be proud of you too.

Our greenhouse is 9-sided. I cast a concrete ring-beam roughly to size/shape and then laid engineering bricks to the actual shape. Frame is then screwed into rawplugged holes in the bricks as per pic.

I could do with a boulder like that on the edge of my driveway to stop the F-in-L driving over the shrubs as he attempts a 63-point turn each time they visit.

Really? That wasn't the case when we purchased, and I know of another poster who's had pricing more recently. Who have you spoken to? If you would like me to I can put you in touch with the guy we dealt with.

Ditto, but doubled up (so 100 x 38).

Hopefully ?

Indeed.

Can't see any indication of rates just yet but may be worth a look when they do. https://www.goodenergy.co.uk/blog/2020/07/27/our-new-heat-pump-tariff-will-make-the-green-homes-grant-scheme-go-further-and-faster/

Outside temp today currently close to 35C Indoor temp steady at 24C SageGlass in full tint during daytime and Active Cooling has been running 24/7 for the last 3 days. Not sure where we'd be without either one, but I suspect it would be a little sweaty!