ToughButterCup

I've done a series of posts about our piling saga. Google or use the site search for piling and my screen name. I too had quotes in the 10s of thousands. And after a lot of research the whole job - 64 of them - cost 6.5K. I don't want to raise false hopes. But piling seems to me to be a sector which is fuller than most of mis or incomplete information. Most houses (I think) do not need piles. In brief we used 'Ground Improvement Columns', approved (indeed suggested by) our SE. (Tanner's in .ie). The piling process took one day, top to bottom, marking out, one day, pre-survey, one day. It is worth putting the legwork in to research the issue thoroughly. Town And Country Vibro. They're online and are (were) very professional and efficient. And good humoured.

That post @martjulie made me wince for a moment or two. Either there's someone with a truly massive bladder in your midst, or there's a Jock in the family. Pheeeew.

Yes. It's been open all day for the last month. The other unexpected but massive advantage is that it stops teenage door-slams dead.

I'm wrong.As usual

@TerryE made this point to me - in person at a meeting - years ago. (5?) I took his advice. Now, thanks in part to us visiting a series of local PH houses and the absence of money we ; made our windows bigger : less worried about heat loss installed £50 worth of pure joy : an oil-filled radiator from Aldi ( after reading few posts by @SteamyTea bought the cheapest 'solid' little radiator for one bedroom installed electric underfloor heating in both bathrooms and until recently had no MVHR. That is for the last 4 years no MVHR. The key is as @TerryE says : visit. PM me if you're driving up the M6 - visit anytime. One much ignored aspect of heating and warmth in a house is -- the perception of warmth -- . It matters. SWMBO experiences warmth differently - and I understand that is a common phenomenon. And I expect that we will both feel the cold more acutely as we age.

Restrictions ? Yes Crazy? Within reason - almost The most difficult windows for us were those that are about 300mm wide : the issue was manufacture of the windows, not how to insert them in ICF. (In our case Durisol).

'... requires ...' indeed ! Do nothing. Let him do the work.

Quite. I would not dream of asking others if they were appropriately insured.

Here's a direct answer to the title question https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/16/energy-bills-for-uk-new-build-homes-higher-due-to-poor-construction-standards-analysis-shows?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

we decided to use The lighting sector seems overfilled with ' designers ' , and people who have no qualification in design ( let alone lighting design ) and think that the more they charge, the more seriously they ought to take themselves. At least Dick Turpin had the decency to wear a mask.

Builders' Merchants are a minefield for self builders. Here was my take

And yet, and yet ....

😔 Too knackered

Hello. Have you got a copy of the relevant Manual? Page 20 of this manual appears to answer your question

There's one thing about diggers where I'm not wistful though.... The number of nipples she had. More of them than a sow, fewer than a Labour Ward. Some of them so hard to get to I needed to remove my hand to get access, and then spend ages trying to latch onto the slippery little thing. On successful connection, pump like Hell with my 'wrong' hand to get some grease in. And then realise I'd pumped all the grease I had. Rinse, repeat. But she would always demand more. And the older she got, the sloppier the connection. Good training for life eh?

How right you are. 6 years ago that happened to me. And by chance I was put in touch with a local company: Allan's BobCats Hire. He came out that evening , sorted it. After selling my digger - it still hurts - I've had dozens of hires from him - just because he went that bit further. That digga the only tool I've owned where SWMBO said -unprompted- "That's really useful..." Is it OK to feel wistful about a digger?

Get a woman. No need to be related. Anyone of the Monstrous Hoard will do - anyone over about 20 to 25 . She'll know A what?

Yes. I'd call that a dry mix . Not sure everyone would use that term but hey.... you get used to it. Your suggestion above is perfectly OK. A really good reference site for this sort of thing is by a guy who runs this website (Paving Expert) here..... He's a Lancastrian (of course)

Maybe the advice was given in the context of increasing adhesion of the limestone block. You can - as @nod suggests above - dust some cement on top of the sand before laying, or make a weak mix of cement (only) and water and coat the bottom of the limestone blocks before laying. In simple terms, make the blocks 'stickier' before laying them. I'm edging a path with limestone setts at the moment. I 'butter' each sett before laying it. Bit of water and some cement in a bucket, mix well ( weak gravy ) and drop the sett in that mixture while I'm laying the current sett. I was very surprised to see the amount of 'butter' some of the setts absorb. Occasionally I forget (gone for a coffee) that I've left a sett in the bucket with the cement mixture in it. Half an hour later it's noticeably harder to take the sett out of the bucket. Here's a video of the type of thing I mean ( but a slightly different technique again)

Thats what politics is for .... looking at the broader ( than a 'wind farm' for example ) picture. Dysfunction is an amiable - affliction : it's like @MikeSharp01 says '... something has to give ...' You say dysfunction, I say give. (Oh lets call the whole thing off : like @SteamyTea suggests)

Welcome. Life-span? What have the manufacturers / installer claimed the life-span to be ?

Systems and people show themselves for what they really are when things go wrong. Not when all is smooth and lovely.

Ugh. SWMBO has hidden the SunAmp behind a (moveable) linen cupboard. Thanks @Russdl

The relative dampness (or dryness) of the materials (in this case , sand) makes a noticeable difference. Bagged contents might be damper than normal (water is cheap) A paddle mixer might help?

Your question is close to "When will you be finished ?" There's not a month goes by without us being asked. I don't think people want to know the answer, they just want to say something to show a bit of interest. My reply.. "If you see me using a strimmer, I'll be finished"