ToughButterCup

Rats are worthy, interesting enemies. There is no one answer to the challenges they pose. They are neophobic, resilient, cautious, observant, shy. We live next to a pig farm, an Alpaca herd, and keep chickens ourselves. I deliberately leave part of our plot wild to promote the passage of Great Crested Newts across our land. Rat heaven therefore. Here is just some of the damage they have caused us : They inserted themselves in our roof, just above our bed head, gnawed away for hours at a time and caused many hundreds of pounds worth of damage = plenty of space for their gnashers - there's 300mm + of insulation . Got to the stage where I was up a scaffold, at night barefoot , freezing my coccyx off in my jim-jams hammering on the cladding with a spare scaff pole asking SWMBO (who was indoors in bed) whether the little fooker had decided to give the gnashing a rest. No ! Still at it. Well - like Mutley- , that made me mad. Our neighbours wife told me the following day that at the time she walked past (unseen by me) my wedding tackle was on display: because the light from our bedroom window shone on my exposed legs and waist area - but not my upper body. Apparently she couldn't help but look up from the road below where she was walking the dog because '... the night was so still and clear and ; you were making such a noise...' What fuss over a little thing like that - it was freezing after all. Phhhh. Anyway back to being mad as Hell. I decided to get a farm-cat from our local dairy farmer - so a Tomcat called Eric ( shoulda called him Fang ) arrives and now brings us one dead rat a month to our back door . Our other Tomcat couldn't give a rats arse about them buy a decent thermal imager : that gives a really good feel for the number of active rats in the area (many many more than I would have guessed) add digital IR sights to my air rifle and an IR illuminator ( rats eyes always reflect well - I never shoot them unless I have a clear head-shot) avoid poison because it makes our cats unwell now and then block up rat holes and drop dry ice in the one left-over hole ( the resultant CO2 puts them to sleep) double the metal vermin guarding in our cladding - (makes little or no difference rats will eat through it anyway) join the local air-rifle club and rediscover my enjoyment of shooting now and then leave a trail camera running near our chicken pen - evidence helps plan a shoot sleepless night ? Get up and pop into the hide near their burrows practice shooting other rats in the local dairy farms ( many more than we have - five or six a night is common ) sit quietly with the thermal imager only and watch for rat activity: didn't know we now have two hedgehogs and the bats are back every now and then use our flame gun to warm the entrance of their bigger runs : that always gets a reaction ask the local rat pack to pay us a visit once a year I think they know we don't like them. And yet I do.

Sign Off from a BCO is not required to submit a VAT claim, We submitted our VAT claim - and received the refund - years ago and still to this day don't have Sign Off. There is a pinned thread on VAT, it will repay a careful read.

Why is the delayed sign off important to you?

Nothing. Cos I'mAdickHead. I just followed the SUDS guidelines: they said ' ... use a sand bed to filter the run off ...' So I did. Instead of thinking about it - what could possibly come off the roof that would need to be filtered? Nowt. Thinking about it a bit, the pH of the sand might affect the water a bit but apparently not to it's detriment. For the last few years we regularly see four or five GCNs feeding on rising Dragonflies emerging from their underwater stage: stuck in the surface tension for just long enough to provide a meal. The sand also provides a nice wet area for the Dogwood roots. But we have no need for sand at all.

Not much need for commentary : the pond is fed entirely from the roof run off. (SUDS) Cost? Absolutely everything inclusive : £5 or 6 hundred. Tops The sand (bulk bags) in the photo below is 'buried' under the garden as a filter for the roof run off. Its been working hard recently 😑 This is where that pipe in the photo above runs into the pond. Overflow from here into the pond in the field below our site ( The one with the GCNs in )

Here's our architect's answer to your question

Is it me, or is this thread still unnecessarily hard work ? I ask because I think it a compliment if anyone responds to my posts. And that response - no matter how much I disagree with it - is a starting point for my own thinking. Gentle responses are harder to draft when upset.

Talk. Listen. Come back to us with the result if needed.

I learned that the hard way too. For me the rule has become: work with people who raise my game: as well as force me to think hard, but laugh harder.

And yet.... and yet... houses do get built. I think this thread is another data point underscoring the aphorism that; Systems and people show themselves for what they really are when -not if- things go wrong

Now thats both interesting and reassuring.

Ooooofffff, when I tried that, our builders ducked and dived, bobbed and weaved. Took me ages to learn the lesson. And just a little longer to sack them.

Thats how we found out that the guy who set out our plot made a one meter error. So I paid him £1 less than he charged. (But bought him a pint in the pub)

Here Be Dragons. For me, that's a Red Flag.

Air test, leaf blower... erm, how? And how half-arsed ?