TheMitchells

sounds very exciting! Great News re the plot - where in the country are you?? Look forward to hearing all about it.

I think most people have been in the same boat as you and its probably done us all the world of good. I am so grateful that while in lockdown we have a garden and it has been wonderful to do so many off the jobs that i rarely get rouond to doing. and the Other Half didnt seem to mind helping either. Horticulture/gardening is an excellent form of therapy; so much so that some Dr's are even prescribing it. Re designing a garden, thats something i help people with. but Manchester is a bit of a long way from Bicester, Oxfordshire. Maybe i could start a simple guide to designing a garden. I used to teach it so will have a look at my notes and pull something together. it may be some use to others too. In the meantime, if you see a picture of a garden that you either like/hate, try to keep a note of what you liked/disliked. and try to decide what you'd like the garden to provide - is it just for entertaining? for relaxing? for children/pets?

Best time to prune a wisteria is in winter - Feb is good - as you can see the framework that you have. Here are some before and after shots. And here it is flowering. In summer, i go thorugh the whole thing and cut back all the long whippy growths to 4-6 buds. this encourages the one nearest the plant to beome a flowering bud (as well as tidying it up), so in winter when i cut back to 2/3 buds, you have a new flowering one and 1-2 buds to grow. then repeat as many times as you like with the flowering spur getting bigger each year. occasionally cut out some of the flowering spurs to keep the plant in shape or let more light in. and if it needs renovating, cut it back really hard, leaving only the framework that is in the right place. it will soon send out new shoots which you can then train in for the future. The main thing is to be tough - remove any shoots that arent in the right place and tie in ones that are. you'll need a strong support too. Good luck.

Thanks Ferdinand for the reminder of that great song! ?

Dont let them put you off! You dont mention where you are based but there is a great Self Build and Renovation Centre at Swindon which I'd recommend you visit. its free if you pre book tickets and is a mine of information, particularly for those beginning their delf build dream. But I agree that it helps if you both are in this together. My other half is not as keen and I know I need him to be on board too before we do it. There are self build shows all around the country and again, you can get free tickets from various sources; magazines or companies which are keen for their potential customers to attend and see their stall. They are great for talking to other self builders to get a true picture of what its like. And there are plenty of self builders who are happy to show you their own house. Then you can truely see the benefits as well as discuss the pitfalls and downsides so at least you go into it with your eyes open. And lastly, try out the podcasts at Houseplanninghelp.com. Go back to the beginning as they are going to be most relevant. Good luck!

Dad has already ahd a letter saying that they have seen his car on our temporary drive and he has crossed the footpath which is illegal. while they dont mention prosecution; that is implied and as am 80 year old, he does not want to do anything illegal and would be horrified to think he'd be sent to court. yes, thats correct. The council say it is the cost of making the pavement to the right specification. and I guess that does make the price more reasonable. howwever, there are loads of places around where people cross the pavement and even park on the kerb and I doubt they get any letters. I shall look into that as we have been told that we can only use those contractors on the list. we did get someone out to give a quote for the driveway and he was not happy as he had tried to get on the council list and couldnt. so he he could not give us a price for the dropped kerb. I still think the prices are way too high for the work. hopefully we'll get more reasonable ones now we are after Christmas and some of the other firms willcome and give us quotes. Fingers crossed!

Go for the Double Height hall - will look fab! who needs another En-suite. you already have two bathrooms upstiars. thats my twopennyworth.

Have been getting some quotes for a dropped kerb for parents bungalow. It tool over 6 months to get the permission but the council finally relented and sent us the contractors list that we can use. Tried about 5 but most too busy as its Christmas! however, had two quotes - £1500 + vat and £2,500 + vat!! here's the kerb - its 5 cm high and made of granite cobbles which they will re-use. Is that daylight robbery or not?? I guess £260 of that is the council licence they have to have. But even so, are they going to re-do the whole footpath around the bungalow? Anyone else had a dropped kerb to give me some perspective on costs? But like usual - we cannot use a local reasonable firm; we have to use someone off the Council list which seems to give them the ability to charge anything they like. Bah Humbug!!

All the podcasts are free, its just the Hub which he charges for. It used to be much cheaper and I certainly would not pay the current monthly fee. But with this offer, you can have a look at the video's which are good. I particularly like the Buckinghamshire Passivhaus as it goes through all the stages from start to finish. It also has the video's from his own Passivhaus build.

This came through today and offer ends Sunday. I certainly liked watching the video's. its quite expensive after that tho. Here's the link. https://hphhub.com/register/monthly-membership-hub/?coupon=7VXNV7CRV2 From Ben Adam-Smith. I'm doing something that I've never done before. I'm giving you the chance to road test our membership community The Hub. So I'm offering a 14-day trial for just £1! Simply click here to get started. Unsubscribe at any time within the 14 days and we'll say no more. But we're hoping you'll see the benefits of being a Hub member and want to stay on. This offer is only available until the end of Sunday, so take advantage today! And if you have any questions in the meantime, please let me know. Merry Christmas! Kind regards, Ben Adam-Smith HOUSE PLANNING HELP - THE HUB

please can you translate this into english?? thanks.?

yes, that certainly looks like the one. I would love to build a house with the straw panels - warm, healthy and natural. and the panels look easy enough to build ourselves. May be ideal for @Mischiefsmum.

Welcome to the Forum - you will get all sorts of advice, and not just about Building. It is a genuinely friendly place, as you have found out already. A while back I saw a Dragons Den episode with a couple of women who wanted to set up a straw building company here in the UK. They were already building straw bale houses but wanted to join up with an Eastern European (I think) company who produce cassette type builds using straw as the insulating material within wooden frames. That sounds just the thing for you. It may be an idea to speak to Barbara Jones of Straw works to see how the idea developed and if anyone knows how to help you acheive your dream, it will be her. http://strawworks.co.uk/dragons-den/ Good luck!?

I love this forum - Just had elderly parents for lunch and Dad brought an Advertisement for a new way of heating his hot water that he was interested in. It was the Aquafficient from Fischer Future Heat. luckily I had read enough on here to think it sounded just like a Sunamp so after they went home, I did some research and found this post. He has been suitably warned and I doubt will bother ringing them. It was a full page advert in The Sun and sounded very good. It did mention that the Aquafficent is 'Manufactured exclusively for the home electric heating experts, Fischer Future Heat!'.

Having just rung Richmond Radiators, they have the timer and element which I can buy to put into the towel rail that we already have. https://richmond-radiators.com/product/digital-thermostatic-electric-towel-rail-heating-element-chrome-white/ or they can supply the towel rail and timer instead and thats cheaper than the towel rail that I have already paid for...... I need to see if I can return the rail and wifi controller and get my money back.

Help needed so I am jumping into this post with another towel rail question? In the parents new shower room, which is almost finished, we need to add a towel rail. I was over ruled in putting in under floor heating (for various reasons) so they are relying on a towel rail for all the heat. There is electric to the location for the rail but no conenction to another point outside of the room for a controller so we need a towel rail with an element controlled by a wireless timer/thermostat. All the decorating has been done now so we dont want to have to channel out for another cable - also there are plenty switches outside the bathroom door that we'd struggle to add another. The bathroom suppliers I went to ordered what I thought was what we wanted but it has arrived and it has a wifi control unit which still needs a cable to the electricity supply for the rail. ie - running it from a smart phone, which isn't what we wanted. i have found this one https://richmond-radiators.com/product/bellerby-thermostatic-electric-curved-heated-ladder-rail-towel-warmer-rack-classic-chromewhite/ Does this sound right - we can have the control unit in the bedroom and it would communicate to the element in the towel rail?? The bathroom supplier has been in communication with the supplier of the towel rail and they say they have not heard of anything suitable for our situation! I am hoping @Nickfromwales can help here. It looks like we'll be charged a restocking fee if we send it back. Help!

sorry Pete, have been off line for a while - its probably too late for you but I am very pleased with the Icon Airflow. its not silent but not too loud and with the bathroom door shut, its barely heard. and its quite interesting watching the iris open as it takes about 20 seconds for it to open. hope that helps others who may be looking.

we have been looking at getting one of these for a while so this is a great offer for us. thanks!

Phew - it wasnt anything we did - the toilet pan is defective! we took out the whole unit and set it up in the garden where we could look behoind while flushing the loo and we could then see where the water was coming from. inside the back are a couple of places with what looks like some sealant or putty. the drops are coming from those and wgen we looked very carefully, it was possible to see a crack that had been sealed over!! the B'@**ers had sent us a defective loo. and the OH has a video that shows the drops forming mainly from that top piece of sealant. I have contacted the company and all they have said is to send the photographs and they will be in touch. OH refuses to have another back to wall pan as it was such a faff to fit (being extra tall) so I have ordered a close coupled comfort toilet from the local builders merchants as well as a new basin. at least then, if we have any issues I can take it straight back. I guess I should have done that in the first place ..................

there is no vertical height adjustment as the pan hole is so high. the flush pipe comes from the cistern at the bottom and turns straight away towards the back of the pan. sorry, I didnt take any photo's of it still in place. lifting up the unit by 3cm has allowed the flush pipe to run slightly downhill into the hole. he used the flange fitting and it stays dry.

yes, it was the right size and yes, he used one of those rubber flange fitting. and there was no water coming from there - its coming from somewhere else. but the water is staying inside the pan, rather than flushing away. obviously some of it is flushing away but there is a lot staying in there.

Its not going well! after waiting many months for the builders, we finally have a lovely extension which OH and I were to fit out. The OH did the plumbing and electrics, they were checked and tested - all okay. we did the plasterboarding and had the plastering done. the room looks lovely. then the OH installed the sink and loo. it was a pain and took him all yesterday. part of the problem was that we needed a higher than usual loo for Mum so bought a HRNCS856 - Hudson Reed Richmond Comfort Height Back to Wall Toilet - Excluding Seat - £71.95 Inc Vat , Premier WC Toilet Pan Floor Fixing Kit - Chrome/White - £5.95 Inc Vat and PMXTY006 - Premier Front and Top Access Concealed Toilet Cistern, Dual Flush Button, Black - £22.96 Inc Vat. This was to go into a 600mm back to wall toilet unit next to 750mm vanity unit. and Problem 1 - the back to wall unit is designed for a normal height toilet. the Hudson toilet's inlets for the water and soil pipe were both higher than expected. the soil pipe was okay but the inlet for the flush, coming from the cistern was quite low and the cistern had to be fitted to the very top of the unitfor the pipe to be almost level, but slightly leaning back to the cistern once installed. the water flushed in okay. there was a very small leakage from the cistern but that has happened on all the loo's he has fitted and usually stops after couple of days. Luckily I was out all day helping at a MacMillan coffee afternoon so was not there to assist but I gather it was a right pain to fit and he was not in a good mood when I got back - tho I did bring him cake! Problem 1b - the fixings for the pan were awkward too so that didnt help the mood.... Problem 2 - The sink had gone in okay but when he turned the water on, the hot water would not flow - even though it had flowed perfectly well before connecting it to the tap. It worked in the old bathroom and in the kitchen but not in the extension! Hence the bad mood as he could not see any reason for the hot water not to work. It was late so he left it, returning today with me, with the hope of taking his tools home as it was my turn then to fit the tiles and get the shower area ready. Problem 3 - There was rather a large puddle under the loo - and it had not been used during the night. so out it all came, we dried the area as best as we could and he redid everything. The joins seemed okay, the toilet flushed. there was no water running out where it shouldnt until a few minutes later - water started coming out from underneath again!?? Cursing slightly (!!!), it all was taken apart again. this time we stood the loo on cardboard and filled the inside to see if there was a leak - nothing. we couldnt see any cracks or where the water was coming out. the only thing was that the inlet pipe was running slightly uphill to the back of the loo and when we undid it, there was obviously water sitting in the pipe. could thsi be the cause?? it did not seem so as we could see the join to the loo and the soil pipe area and there was no water coming from there. But to overcome that, just in case it was the issue, I had the bright idea (Hopefully) of lifting the unit up a couple of centimetres so the pipe was running downhill, into the back of the loo. we did that using some spare MDF board and the pipe was now running downhill and we (he) put it all back together again.! Holding our breathes and crossing all fingers we filled up the cistern and flushed the loo, nothing. flushed it again, nothing, then slowly a puddle started coming out the side of the pan! there was nothing coming from the joins, just a slight dampness inside the very back of the pan. However this time when we took it all out yet again, we realised there was a load of water coming out of the top hole, where the cistern pipe joins it. but surely this water should all flush away round the pan rim. it seems a load of water remains in the back and it must be this water that is seeping down somehow, onto the floor. Yet, lifting the pan up, the underneath area seems completely dry! At that point, the OH declared that he was going to totally smash up the toilet and unit and I was to buy a closecoupled Wc pan and cistern which is what he suggested in the first place...... and these come in comfort height too. Of course we now have a useless WC unit and a pan that does not work and he refuses to let me try a replacement. Problem 4 - to top off the day, I then noticed there was a crack in the basin which no one had seen before!! was it there when he fitted it and we had not noticed?? - it was hard to see until I rubbed it and then the dirt showed it up quite well. it goes from the basin rim, down into the bottom. no one had used the bathroom so it could not have been caused by something hitting it and of course, it is a couple of weeks since it was delivered and we checked and didnt see any damage - so I guess we are stuck with buying a new one!! I am hoping a curry and beer tonight will improve his mood and we can rethingk where to go and what to do tomorrow. But has anyone else had an issue with basins cracking after being installed?? and any ideas about the leaky loo pan?? this is the offending hole - the top one.

welcome to the Forum - I am sure someone will be along shortly who can help. ?

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/YDBQ26T NaCSBA is running its 2019 VAT Survey, and is asking anyone who has completed a Self Build, Custom Build or conversion to fill in the anonymous survey, and help it compile a picture of the size of the Self Build market.

Good luck on the extension - you have come to the right place for advice. it has certainly helped me many times with all sorts of enquiries. We are just finishing an extension to a bungalow for my parents. we had to wait 6 months for the builder that we wanted but it was worth it as we knew he would be an excellent job. most builders are not as careful or exacting in their standards so take your time to find a builder wth a good reputation but then be prepared to wait for him/her. if they are available to take on your job straight away, you have to wonder why - all good builders are booked up months in advance.