ToughButterCup

Interesting @Adrian Walker. Have you clicked on the Audio preview ? Blew my mind when I did that ---- it takes a bit of processing . Worth the wait. I'm going to have a bash at getting DeepSeek and NotebookLm to do some linear programming today. I have a classic for it to solve A ten meter long footpath to build this week Some York stone paving But not enough stone to pave the whole of it in the traditional way (close-jointed) I know the area of paving available I know the size of each pavier : no 2 are exactly the same size Assume a 10mm joint Or no joint at all ( grass in the gaps) The questions Using all the paviers , pave the maximum area with the minimum number of cuts Cover the whole 10 meters of the path with all the paviers : what is the gap between each pavier Pave the maximum area with minimum cuts and 10mm joints. And just to spite Zuckerberg --- Do it all again with a 5mm joint And then , of course dry-lay the answers (see your comment about wrong answers above Adrian) Its a journey this SelfBuild stuff innit.

It's a 'shake'. Normal. Forget it.

Yes. Its right there on your doorstep so to speak. The LPA's own website. Search for every similar application in the last two years or so. Read them carefully. List the surveys required. Look at the local maps. Compare. There's yer answer.

The hassle involved won't be worth it. Keep it carefully by all means, but even that involves effort - and processing : racking to keep it straight, dryish and algae free: and worst of all - space - . Not to mention taking screws and nails out of it carefully enough. And bet ya £50 you'll get so fed up of that process you'll use an angle-grinder . I did. I've lost count of the blunted cross-cut saw blades caused by haste of the day the wood was rescued and stored. Well, OK, about 5 blades. We've kept our left-overs in store : Siberian Larch 3 by 4, C20 and C16 - 2 by whatevers, 4 by 4s . Made some racking out of 'surplus' scaffolding, sheeted it carefully - employed a tame teenager to turn it once a year. Now 8 years on - SWMBO is smiling sweetly and asking when 'all-that-stuff-down-there' (the wood store) is going? Not be long now before the smile disappears. Storm warning. She needs the space for her garden. One key consideration is the sizes you will need - 2 by 6 and 2 by 1 for the roof, - dunno about you, but I've almost always got too little of exactly what I need - and what I have is wet, algaed and got a few screws in which I didn't see the first time round. Bang goes another blade. Top man. Go for it. I'm right behind you. Keep it. Makes me feel scorched by the heat of my own worthiness. And anyway, I can guilt-trip SWMBO for a couple more years. Easy.

Yes. Look to see (online) why similar applications have succeeded in the not so distant past. Read the Decision Notices of successful applications very carefully, especially the Conclusions drawn. They (ought to) will have a clearly argued case as to why the application was allowed. In the process you will see at least some of the objections in an application, note how they were overcome (?) dismissed(?) . The stated reason for acceptance might not be Material to your application - but search for long enough and you will find some. Good luck When you've done that, tell your neighbours what you've found out and ask them to support your application.

Despite all of the above, that's a sensible place to start. One key thing ( I learned the hard way) is to put time aside each week - each and every week - to cost control. Thats incredibly hard to do because you've always got too much to do anyway. Start a Cost To Completion spreadsheet. Doing that put the wind up me extremely effectively. Ian

See what I mean. (Above) The man (I've met him twice) is a building professional, he's the closest thing to a Whirling Dervish I've ever seen - or am likely to see. But he knows folk who know others who [...] But the main thing is - he is disciplined.

Accurate answers to your question are close to impossible. Unless everyone uses the same definition of 'cost'. And they -we- don't. I know what we spent. I know what my cost centers are. I know what I hoped we would spend. I know what others say they have spent. But not what they think of as 'cost centers'. I don't know how they priced their own time, or what their skills sets are. It's a statistical nightmare. Towards the end of the build getting the damn thing finished becomes if not more important than, then at least as important as cost. Lend us a grand please. I just need to finish the path.....

Excellent set up. Same as ours. Sometimes over the last few years I wished I lived off site - it became difficult to put the job down. But on the other hand you can '... just pop up there and measure [] ...' Its knowing the trades folks networks that is worth more than money. Good luck Ian

Give that a go. Mind you I don't think I'd like to actually do the job myself ...

Excellent. Yours -I think- is the only use-case I've seen where it makes financial sense to build the infrastructure for rainwater use in the household. Consider dividing the tank in two - use one half as a settlement tank, and draw from the other (settled water) tank for use in the home. Thats how at least some Victorian era swimming pools were 'filtered'. They built two pools, used one for swimmers, allowed the other to 'settle', and then flushed the settled tank as necessary (swept the bottom with a long pool brush to waste) . The key thing was to allow about a week or so to 'settle' the settlement tank. Then you will only need to clean out half your tank at a time. In other words you will always have clean(ish) rainwater - even when cleaning the tank. Fill the settlement tank first Allow the settlement tank to overflow into the 'active' tank Draw from the active tank Clean the settlement tank as needed - a simple brush off the bottom will do. While its being cleaned, allow some water to run to waste from a sump at the bottom of the tank Use the newly cleaned tank as the 'active' tank Use the old 'active' tank as the settlement tank : in other words, cycle the tanks History repeats itself. Excellent opportunity here for simple effective cheap cleaning water. I dunno about others, but I'd be keen to see photographs..... please! Ian

Thanks for the HeadsUp @Alan Ambrose Lets look at this bit of click-bait in just a tiny bit more detail, because I think this is yet another instance of statistical chicanery. The time frame referred to is September 2024 to December of the same year; Rachael From Accounts started in July : is that increase really Rachael's fault? Good companies don't fall over in just three months. HMRC that unloveable group of dedicated professionals - unloved for doing their job. The journalist has done his / her job. Got me to click on the link. Hands up! I'm the mug. But I'm so old I no longer care. But I do care about statistical sleight of hand.

A bit of a side-step to your question - how about stealing back the trowels nicked from you ? The right one is among those.

Exactly right. Just the same with fitted wardrobes and cupboards in your house. Look brill in the showroom, but unless the company has a Direct Works team, they'll employ anyone (almost) to get them in. What You Saw Is NOT What You'll Get.

Several thousand spent on the windows from heaven, and you are concerned about a few hundred on airtight tape : fitted by someone for you - that means £200 a day labour costs. Hmmm. And if the subsequent air test shows a leak where there should (have been) tape, the remedy is a phone call away. Hmmmm. Hmmm. JBDI JustBloodyDoIt

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.

Has yours been talking to mine then? Our dog bath is the canal though. My days of cold-water swimming are over

Indeed blind trust and the Internet are not well matched partners John. Same rules for AI as for reading Buildhub, then ...... ( your posts excepted tho'. )

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.

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

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.

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.

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.