Crofter

How is the existing plasterboard attached? Is it dot and dab on to the brickwork, or are there timber battens?

Yes they have a huge head start. But the Chinese are about to launch their own reusable vehicle (some time this month), and Blue Origin have such incredibly deep pockets that they don't really seem to care about launch cost at this point. They issued the largest launch contract in history, buying up dozens of launches on various rockets including Atlas V and Ariane 6. Interesting times. Of course it would be nice if we had a satellite internet option that wasn't lining the pockets of a billionaire or an authoritarian state.

Kuiper, from Amazon, has launched about 100 satellites so far and is ramping up quite quickly now. I think they plan to be offering a service by the end of next year. By comparison, Starlink has launched over ten thousand satellites to date. The Chinese are also building at least two systems, but I don't know whether that will be available in the UK.

We use a Starlink Mini on our boat. It's been basically flawless. It only cuts off in truly horrendous downpours, but we're talking tropical thunderstorms, not normal rain. My FIL uses a standard Starlink on his house and says it's been perfect. He gets about 350mb/s which is about ten times faster than his old BT connection. My only concern about Starlink is that the packages and prices can change quite a bit. At some point Elon will probably throttle your connection unless you like enough of his Tweets 🤣

So, I have tracked down one very promising lead, but the only supplier who has given me a quote for this system just isn't passing the sniff test. Their FENSA number doesn't match the company name or location (hundreds of miles away!) which seems very shady to me. It's a shame because the uW values and price are good. Maybe too good to be true?? They also appear to trade under various different names that all come back to the same phone number, although at least it's a landline.

Operator error. The house is used for holiday letting and we have dozens of different people staying there each year. The tilt/slide mechanism was too complex for a few people, and some just left it open, others tried forcing it closed. It's now pretty badly damaged and I think the most sensible thing to do is to replace it with something simpler. Similarly, the window was damaged when somebody opened it during a gale. That's eventually led to some rot in the frame. I shouldn't have specified a side hung pane.

Why plastic rather than metal?

If it's a location that might be susceptible to wear, I'd look at an extruded metal bead.

I'm looking for a sliding patio door with a decent uW value... and a window as well. To replace the current units which are both comfortably under 1.0 uW. Money is a bit tight so I'm trying to juggle thermal spec and budget. The originals were Aluclad but just to replace these two units at today's prices is going to cost approximately double what it cost me to do the entire house back in 2016! So I'm considering uPVC. It looks like there are some pretty high spec options these days. The names that have come up are: - Eurocell Syncro - Aluplast Super Slide Neo - Liniar Modlock - Ideal 8000 It seems hard to find any suppliers who will deal directly with me, even if I'm offering to drive down and collect these in a van... don't they want my business??

I did perc tests for my build and the council were very hands off. I could probably have made up any old number if I'd wanted. But I wanted the system to actually work, so I did it all properly. That was for foul water, where you have to ensure drainage in to the aerated upper level of the soil, whilst maintaining a minimum cover depth (can't remember the exact figure for that). Your quote for a connection across the road sounds absolutely bonkers. What sort of size pipe are you talking about?

Presumably far more expensive too!

If it's already on, don't paint it. As the wood expands and contracts you'll end up with little lines at the joins.

Yup I'd expect the colour to be a planning condition. Otherwise you could paint it bright pink. Or add a flag of your choice. Etc.

Does that mean stainless? That's the advice I followed on my larch and it still looks good nearly ten years on.

Having seen the view including the gable, definitely go for the natural wood colour. I'm surprised this isn't a planning condition though?