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ToughButterCup last won the day on January 9
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About Me
I am building a near-passive haus standard, 146 sq m living space house. I am retired, but never been busier.
I used to develop online teaching and learning resources for several northern universities. I also lectured in IT. -
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1st Self Build Eco house Oxfordshire
ToughButterCup replied to Rosslyn's topic in Introduce Yourself
Welcome. My oh my, you're out of the blocks faster than Donald Trump on a double dose of Fentanyl-supercharged laxatives. Long shot... that house looks like one I know in Stonesfield .... Welcome anyway -
Hmmm, .... only wearing a bathing costume all year round eh .... hmmm. It'll be they wee midges that irritate.
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Has yours been talking to mine then? Our dog bath is the canal though. My days of cold-water swimming are over
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It may be, but not without incurring significant cost on the BH staff - all of whom work for nothing. For BH users, the 'new' workflow is not onerous and would be something like identify key threads : identify key external documents copy and paste those links and links to those documents into NotebookLM Let it do it's stuff Listen to the output Read the output Check it. re-plan your information requirements In other words the process is iterative - drilling as deeply or widely as you require We can all try downloading a copy of NotebookLM and playing with it. I'm finding it hard to get out and do some work on the house.
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Self building and house renovation is a challenging process. Its disruptive, messy, expensive, upsetting, uplifting, funny, infuriating - but not necessarily in that order. This website is a fantastic resource - full of information, images, reassurance, leg-pulling, constructive criticism , technical advice --- and words. Yes - words: millions of them. Millions of words some relevant, others not. Some elegantly put, others tumble from upset lips into type and onto the screen. The Submit Topic button pressed in haste. Simply put, a bit like Handle's criticism of one of Mozart's work, there are too many words here. Thats why it takes a good deal of time and effort to 'get-in-to-Buildhub'. There's a new information handling tool on the block. AI. Artificial Intelligence. Duno about you, but I need no excuse to try out a new tool, so here's a quick introduction to one (of many). The end in mind is to help new members 'get-in-to-Buildhub' by using a publicly available information handling tool called NotebookLM . I have deliberately not linked to it because I am sure there are other competing AIs that do the same job. I just haven't found them yet. And if you want to use it, you can search for it in the normal way. You may not like the company that makes it - to me that doesn't matter: what does matter though is for New Members (and others) to use a tool to make their visit to Buildhub as productive as possible. The key thing is to promote the idea that AI can help New Members feel less overwhelmed by the Information Handling task posed by self-building. Problem Statement Your new to BH and you want to find out about Natural England's guidance about nutrient pollution (other threads are available 😑) And you bump into @Bob the builder's thread on the subject . It's six pages long - and you haven't got time to read it. Using NotebookLM Copy and paste the url (weblink , hyperlink) into NotebookLM Press Go> and this happens The text of the entire thread is summarised One button allows you to create a briefing document that summarise the thread AND LINKED DOCUMENTS The tool will create an audio version of the same discussion played in the format of a Podcast - it takes a minute or two, but you can put your earbuds in and listen to the article if you want There's so much more to say about AI and Buildhub. This post is already too long. I'm merely introducing it as a POTENTIAL tool for members to use - or not as they see fit. Yes, it'll make mistakes. Yes, we all need to be cautious about the output. I would love people who use AI in their normal workflow to contribute to this thread if they have time. Please. Anything that makes Buildhub easier to use. Ian
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Speculative planning applications?
ToughButterCup replied to Alan Ambrose's topic in Planning Permission
Alan , who's the author of the cited text? And what's the context? What motive might the author have ? '... therefore vulnerable ...' is a loaded phrase. Why did the author use it? -
Yes. Rainwater from the roofs into a rain garden, then into a holding pond, which we use to water our veg garden. Cost? 500 600 quid. Commercial grey water recycling we thought financially unviable. Unless we needed to feel scorched by the heat of our own worthiness in the pub. Nice to have, but we decided to spend on the kitchen instead.
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Joint hot setts, not joint hot sex. Anyone?
ToughButterCup replied to ToughButterCup's topic in Driveways
Well Alan, thanks for the heads up. I can just see me walking into my builders merchant and saying I'd like some pitch which is used for sett jointing and it's specially modified and it's intended to be stiffer and more resistant to penetration by spiked heels. I can think of a few Lancastrian responses to that. Probably best not repeated in genteel company. -
Joint hot setts, not joint hot sex. Anyone?
ToughButterCup replied to ToughButterCup's topic in Driveways
Cheers Dave. Off to buy some pitch and have a bit of fun this weekend. I think I'll start by fixing some of the grandchildren's old unwanted toys in the path outside their playhouse. Nasty grandad. -
Joint hot setts, not joint hot sex. Anyone?
ToughButterCup replied to ToughButterCup's topic in Driveways
Hmm, well I'll keep this thread going then. I have a couple of I/Cs that I'd like to edge with setts and a bit of path. If that works well we'll do a longer path with setts and pitch joints. It's the 'pitch' bit that worries me. I can find any number of YT videos on how to fill the joints with mortar or resin or sand ..... Now.... how to boil blocks of solid pitch ? Here's what I've found so far Looks like I'm going to have to stop and watch a road gang doing the job - starnge way of teaching yourself , but hey...... -
Has anyone used hot pitch to seal the gaps between joints in setts? I've done the usual Internet searches, and quite by chance my wife looked over my shoulder.... Using the the search term ...joint hot pitch sets... I'd got more than I bargained for. "But sweetheart it's purely for reference and research purposes" Flounce, mutter, slam. And later, much giggling. The process of hot pitch jointing seems dangerous, and therefore fun. Advice please. @Pocster, I done' wan' no smutty talk ya hear me mayun!
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(Hopefully) a simple drainage design - but help always needed!
ToughButterCup replied to NandM's topic in Waste & Sewerage
Toulouse on the same pipe. Pas de probleme. But put the I/C where the foul drain exits the house ( not one the same line as you show above) Rodding... Think of a packed lunch from your place on its way to meet everyone else's. Where would you put a rodding point to clear the inevtable traffic jam? Photograph the foul drain before the trench gets back-filled Buy enough rods to clean la pipe.. Store them in a locked container. Keep the key to the container where the rods are stored round your neck. Do not lend them to your children. Yep, that's right, I'm still bitter about it. -
This is the paint we used ( before I get chewed ...... other sellers and other paints are available)
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Our BM's have them in small bags and stupidly expensive Why cover our flat roof with chippings @SteamyTea ? We were told that they would keep the roof surface cooler. But every roof needs maintenance - so you need to walk on it and thus risk puncturing the membrane. When we asked the builder about maintenance - he said that the roof wouldn't need maintenace. Yeah , right. And then we asked him how we could re-point the gable wall above the flat roof without pushing the 'grit' through the membrane he went quiet. We used specialised reflective paint on the surface instead.