ToughButterCup

Well done Pete. Lots of hard work there, and doubtless more to come. Your window cleaner will be smiling too.

Yes, properly in. One bedroom needs a lot more work - no plaster yet - and you can feel the cold streaming in. Durisol is 86% fresh air after all. Vistors are offered a paint brush on entry ....? VAT return beckons

Ooooffffff.... that had passed me by. Reference please if its not to onerous a job. Thanks. Ian

Excellent news Dave. After five years of graft and grind, you can be proud of all you have jointly achieved: prouder than those who can just sign a cheque and move in. That word FINISHED It's a weazle word innit ? Will we ever think of the job as truly finished? I suspect not. I for one will have to find something as intensely absorbing and - frankly - as uncomfortable as the demands of a self-build. Fitting batteries soon, maybe? But then again, to you that's nowt is it?

Planning Officers have thick skins: have to have. Rollo's dad (yes, Rollo of this Parish) - very large local land owner (and estate agent) took me aside one evening in the pub and said "The biggest mistake almost everyone makes is to assume that they have rights over the land they can see, as well as the land they own" Its building use that matters, nothing else. And what of Rollo? Working as a builder's mate. Top lad. Starting at the bottom.

Yes. An experienced Planning Officer will simply ignore any comments which are deemed non- material. To lighten your mood, have a read of this post.

You haven't wasted six months of your life if you walk away. You have a wealth of experience that nobody can take away from you now. By that, perhaps Russ meant be persistent.

We are a 2 person house (in a 2 bedroom house) using a 13 person tank. The unit is working fine. We plan to connect another 4 bedroom house to the same tank in the new year. The tank will more than cope with two houses full of guests. Fat chance this year.

Biopure 3 (2.7m deep hole I seem to remember )

I have a BioPure . Whenever I had a question, it was always promptly answered by the manufacturers. Here's their contact page I very much doubt whether water softner in domestic quantities will do anything to damage or slow down the general oxidation process. If you are fitting the same system we have, the oxygenation process is aided by the air pump: the trickle (so called) of air from the pump causes a 'full-rolling-boil' type action in the tank. Its very strong indeed

Take very great care before alleging fraud. Be certain of the facts. Build an unchallengable evidence base.

Is there any way of checking the date of the map they have used? It might well be - probably is - out of date. In which case ........

Dave - why are you writing sentences like that? Betcha it'll be less than an hour before @TestUserDoNotDeletePlease gets his teeth into it.....

Seeeeexy; cladding porn eh? Either that or fireman's nightmare. .... Get the flame gun out, get it videoed. Ere' 'ow d'ya fireproof the end result then? Oh, welcome.... Ian

Be careful about waiting. Reading the following remarks, bear in mind that I have no legal qualifications at all. LBAs (Letters Before Action) have to be acted upon within 30 days of submission. Use the correct protocol (not the outdated one) This details the required content, I think the protocol is the one issued in Spring 2015, but Amendments may have been made since I last looked. In general everyone should show that they have tried to keep the issue out of court and have at least tried to use Alternative Dispute Resoulution

Look at your Terms of Engagement (might be in an Engagement Letter). As @the_r_sole was hinting above, if the architect is registered and is indeed an architect, then the company will have to follow the sector professional guidelines. Your options should (might) be explained in the Terms of Engagement.

Its the short bays and the need for overlaps that got me . Overlaps of 50mm perhaps (?) amount to more than I had guessed before someone asked me if I'd allowed for overlaps. But then, I'm no decent roofer. Just an oft-bitten self builder.

Mis-spent yoof. @SteamyTea will also be along soon for another dose of good 'ol Schadenfreude.

Ooooooooh ah could crush a grape at the minnit. If there are any Electriq employees reading this, look away now. God I'm cross. Ever had a dishwasher whose door slams shut on your hand? Ever had a dishwasher that has a door tensioner spring that doesn't do anything? Yes, I know that the door facing needs to be fitted to the dishwasher door to balance: but the balance spring adjuster does absolutely nothing. Fully released, the tension is exasctly the same as the factory pre-tensioned setting. The damn door is close to a ballista in performance. And I only have eight fingers left as it is .FFS. Ever had a dishwasher where the after sales service is close to insultingly bad? Ever had a dishwasher manufacturer who can't, won't or just doesn't provide a door-facing kit (to fasten the facing to the appliance front) ? The guy on the phone told me to go a visit a hardware store. Well the Electriq 14 place dishwasher ticks all the boxes. £400 badly spent. Is there such a thing as a generic door-facing attachment kit - dunno what the proper name is - a kit that attaches the kitchen door panel to the front of the dishwasher door thinggy ....

Thanks all for the advice. Very helpful. @PeterW, that's exactly what I was looking for but didn't know what to call it. I do now. Cheers! Ian

We've been given an early Christmas present of a light for our atrium (well, hallway). There's a 3 meter drop from ceiling apex to where we want the light to be placed. But the light has a solid tube connecting the ceiling fitting to the top of the light - it's about 500mm long. We need to replace that solid fitting with some sort of suspension system. Looking online there's masses of stuff that might do the job: too much to filter through. So I thought I'd ask you all - what have you used to suspend lights below a high ceiling level? Ideally, we'd like to hide the 1.5mm supply cable in the suspension system - and of course it would be brilliant if that system were as invisible as possible. Typical - I want the impossible.

@Jilly, consider Zinsser paint for your steels. I suggest it because of the (advertised) 15 year maintenance cycle. Yes, it's very expensive: but over (say) a ten year maintenance period, it's probably worth it.

Thanks everyone. Ian

Hot water pipe in (passing through as it were) a built-in wardrobe on its way to the hot taps in the sink and bath in the ensuite. Top temperature in a heat wave 60. @Temp , you must be a very nice man, a very very nice man. Subtlty - in West Lancashire - come and visit sometime?

Thanks @ADLIan , but does the compliance guide make reference to what you can and cant store next to the pipes? Probably not.