Cpd

If highly invasive plants are your thing then bamboo is sure work as an instant screen......... i will now stop. ...... Russian vine would be your last really bad choice.

The standard tin can come with an anti condensation fabric attached to the back, i think corrugated tin looks great especially with the coloured plastic coating. Rain Noise can be an issue but with the right insulation build up should reduce it to a low background noise.... its so cheap as well.

If there are no drains near by...... biomass willow Will grow like mad..... some of the hardy fuchsia are cheap and quick growing and have lovely flowers.

Very interesting and good to know, as always so much useful information on BH and people willing to share there wisdom. The gas cooker and heater were archaic at best and i was just glad of a reason to get rid of them ! I will hold off launching a national campaign......

A few years ago our neighbours blew the kitchen lean to of the side of their house.... someone had not turned the gas cooker off properly in the morning when they went to work, later there was an ignition, probably from the fridge and that was the end of the kitchen lean-to. Good job no one was home. The first thing i did when i found out about it was rip out all the gas appliances in our caravan and went full electric. Its used by guests and our volunteers so i was not going to take the chance that something like this was going to happen. I sleep easier now that its done.

Very smart indeed !

Welcome to the forum and a big hello from the windy west coast. Look forward to the blog.

Out of interest why are you choosing to renovate rather than rebuild ? I totally understand the desire to renovate but after doing a few in my life and seeing many of my friends do it i am now of the opinion that rebuild should be seriously considered as a first choice for seriously decrepit structures. Good advice.

Its really not worth it unless you are rebuilding that section of wall as it can cause major damage. I have done it in the past but only when i was rebuilding the wall and that wall was 1m thick. Remember any new recess will also need insulating to the same standard as the rest of the wall (if insulating internally.) My recess was for shelving and i only did it for fun on a shed wall.

I have the Dewalt DWE7491 table saw and its incredibly accurate, very loud. The fence is very solid. Highly recommend but its not the cheapest saw. Expect to pay £720 inc vat

Great looking pad, i will read your blog ! Congratulations on getting to the finish line.

Errrrrrr.......yes ! Most BM do a stock take every 3 months and its really alarming what gets written off, i know everyone from the managers to the drivers and during stock take they put stuff aside for me rather than bin it. This quarter there was an alarming amount of paint, some with strange names like “candy crush” that will make the kids room look bright..... but also 50 litres of sandtex white trade masonry paint that will do both my houses and save me a small fortune. Admittedly you get some stuff you wonder how on earth your going to use it.... like 10 litres of white solar reflective paint....... The insulation was a late return, late being they had stopped stocking that product by the time it was returned and it had been sitting in a corner collecting dust for 18 months. Also got 75 meters of planed 215mm x 20mm because it was dusty. Madness but great for me. A bottle of quality whiskey for the manager and £50 each year towards the staff Christmas party.

Was in my local builders merchants and got onto the subject of how little insulation was in my house and how i needed to sort it asap as today the pipes are frozen in the loft..... they sent me away with 15 packs of insulation for free ! Happy days.

Yup, i remember walking to the top of Ben Lomond to rebuild the summit track, it had been very wet the previous week but over the weekend the temp had plummeted to well below -10 so on Monday morning all our spades and metal bars were frozen solid to the muddy ground..... enjoyed the view tried to smash them out with stones, gave up and went to the pub.

Toughen up @Onoff Wall build up 15mm wood panelling windy air gap 700mm stone wall Scotland Roof build up 15mm wood panelling Vast cold loft sarking slate Scotland but its home and i love it.

Welcome, lived near the wolds (East Barkwith) for many years, great place and many happy memories. Look forward to seeing your project unfold.

Ok that makes sense thanks.

Can someone point me in the direction of the flexible steel pipe that goes between the mvhr unit and the manifold ? @joe90 i like the idea using the distribution manifold as the silencer as it saves space... but would be concerned about using it on the return because of all the damp air etc. How do people design silencers that dont become saturated or have i missed something......

@PeterW wow this is a really good idea and something i will follow up asap, thanks for your input.

I made the mistake of pointing before a cold snap, it became obvious that it had got frost damage and i used a high powered jet wash to remove all the damaged areas before repointing......

Am getting close to needing to instal my mvhr and ducting but want to get closer to choosing the ducting. Its a small cottage and there is only 51m of supply ducting needed and 31m of extract ducting required. Given the small amount of pipework needed i want to get the best i can. Semi ridgid is appealing (and seems to be the preferred option on here) for its simplicity but as my duct runs are relatively simple and short should i be looking at rigid. Noise reduction is very important to me as its a small house and short duct runs from unit to extract / feeds. lounge feed 16m end bedroom 11m middle bedroom 8m bathroom extract 10m kitchen extract 5m stairwell extract 2m Fitting silencers / attenuators will be required but a bespoke approach is needed as space is tight, following @JSHarris and @Stones approach on how to do this. so my question is what recomendtions do people have for quality ductwork, i will look at fittings next but before trying to get a package deal i want to get some independent advice from people who have fitted and are living with mvhr. As always thanks for any advice.

Yes i really like the idea of putting a really small wbs in the cottage, there was an open fire for years and then a big wbs but with all the improved insulation and future ufh the need becomes one of fun rather than function. I know we have talked this subject to death but..... due to my remote location and my caveman instincts i am still going to fit one. Finding the “right” small stove will be the challenge...... i will be sitting there overheating... reading about how to repair my fuel guzzling landrover on my iPad.

Imagine if you were an ipad user with a wood burning stove and a dirty landrover...... devil incarnate.....

I think this is a really wise decision, up on the west coast of Scotland diggers hold there price for years and you would not struggle to get your money back assuming you did not over pay for it in the beginning! I really need a digger for a huge amount of landscaping but dont have the funds to buy a good one and as i need it for such a long time hiring is not sensible. I am however handy with the tools and have been maintaining machines of one sort or another most of my life so will hopefully get hold of one that needs some TLC but is affordable to me. Happy days with your digger !

I have used TP for a long time and always had a good relationship with them. Have a cash account but pretty much always talk to someone in the office and haggle the price down. They seem happy to match other builders merchants prices if they can. Would be worth going in and having a talk with one of the managers and see what they can do for you.