ToughButterCup

Ok, quick email to the manufacturer then: along the lines , 'Please reassure me that previous similar installations have been acceptable to Building Control'

Prickly plants, ground hugging roses, that pyro-'summat' plant A hidden Police Stinger (spike strip) for the bikes, Dig a child-and-bike-size hole so the problem appears and disappears at almost the same instant, while you decide how to deal with inevitable complaints and get ready for the paperwork.

In comparison to round here, for a 4 by 4 ceiling you have a bargain. It may well be more efficient for you to ask the plasterer to source the plaster because - round here anyway - shops and BMs are keeping plaster for their large volume customers - plasterers

Hello. This forum is useful: the more focused the question, the better the quality of advice. So feel free to ask away. Ian

I may have missed something but the OP does not mention FD, does it? £900 squiddlies for a look-at-my-pretty-door is almost rude. In fact it is rude.

Welcome. What do you mean start : yer half way there lass........ Box hedge needs clipping mind. Get HWMO out there with the clippers? (You can edit the size of images during the post-drafting phase by double clicking on them and altering the parameters given. The first image is a bit .....)

Ohhhh Gaauuuud folks. How long is he going to take over this one? Opening a book - Any advance on 10:1 less than 86 pages?

Hi. Chippies here charge £25 / hour. Say that door is 2 full days of her time / fabricate / paint / laquer/ , £400. Materials £100. Profit 10%, £50 , piss-taking another 20% £110 : £660. And in reality he's going to order one from a local carpentry fabrication shop in the back end of beyond and it'll cost him £300 . Ok, double it. £600 Fiting it £200 £900 +VAT - is the bloody thing gold plated? Take my answer with a pinch of salt - feeling sour about that trade at the meoment. But even with that £900 is too much.

Bodger-In-Chief here. Welcome. Just about to bodge my plasterboarding upstairs. Fancy giving me a hand, you being a new lad and all that? Free tea and cake ... no? Oh well...... ?

Oooooooooffff... Might you mean connect the rainwater overflow to the 110 ? As written it looks like you are running pipe-in-pipe......

But in the process of 'losing' money, presumably in building anew, you will be creating value that could (I understand you don't) be realised..... Dont underestimate the 'value' of building next door to your current house. Its a pain sometimes (you cant take a break - you can always see whats going on) but overall its very useful. Welcome by the way. Ian

Ugh. My instinct is to suggest KISS. Initially that means spending time on design. So, tarp, weights, thinking cap. BH thread. Ian (Toughest Buttercup in the World - just in case @Russell griffithsreads this)

An experienced oldie. Just what's needed. I need help with my insanity. Caused by reading BH too much. ? Got anything that'll help me with that? Welcome ?

Welcome. Your Design Access Statement is one of those very rare things, a document drafted by a team of people who care about both words and images and know how to make them work together well. The whole makes a compelling case for PP. A very good start indeed. Pity about the timing. But delay can always be put to good use. Years of quiet fireside reading on BH await. Again, welcome and ask away.... Ian (PS is there a Blue Plaque up in the town for @SteamyTea yet? )

In addition to the point made by @epsilonGreedy above, site clearance is space-hungry. I've forgotten the volume multiple once soil is dug, but I am still- after four years with my own digger- surprised at how much space spoil takes up. I mention that because you mention space is tight on your site..... We seriously underestimated how much room spoil eats up. And luckily were able to lose some spoil on a sloping garden.

One word from you......

Welcome. Your screen logo - Sulphuric Acid maybe - from dim memory? I'll be following your progress with interest, because as soon a SWMBO has finished with me, I'll be hot on your heels.....

Its the Fires Of Hell that you appear to be walking through that got to me.....

When I'm asked this question (which is fairly often) Debbie says I should make a snap decision: lie or tell the truth. When I was serving in the Heavy Underwater Artillery in Afghanistan, while milking a goat without permission, I got caught by a Talib. He apprehended me, and called a Shura to decide what should be done in the matter. It was determined that the sin - although small - should not go unremarked. The executioner was new to the role and since it was his first execution, he botched the job. As well as chopping off my little fingers, he was so nervous that his aim was poor: he ruined the two fingers next to my little fingers. Now only two fingers work properly and currently, this is all I can do..... Or... Dupuytren's Contracture. Cant remember which explanation is correct any more.

A very well respected local land owner of my ken (Rollo's dad for those who are interested) recently took me aside 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" Hippy Tinker, nun, local reformed wide-boy, retired senior diplomat - irrelevant in planning terms. Its the use to which a building is put that really matters.

I worry about you sometimes @daiking. Coming home from a baseball game shouldn't be so dangerous now should it?

Thanks for the responses. Pay someone else..... I feel a mixture of irritation, annoyance and UpYoursPal about it. He was indeed about to help me get the place boarded out. And I'm too used to doing it (too much?) myself because the buck stops with me. Coupled with the probably misplaced feeling that I'm still AsArdAsIwunsWuz ... Intially carrying the damn things in. Ceilings come later .....

Quickie..... plasterboard lifter (or other suggestions) for knackered hands .... This is the mess I have to work with - only two fingers work, and the left hand finger does not straighten at all. Left hand is significantly worse as in more painful, and the same amount of fingers (4). Teaching kids to count to ten is great fun! Call me Cap'n 'Ook if you will...... Shifting plasterboard soon. Want to reduce the pain. Ideas? Ian

As usual @Russell griffiths beats me to it. I'll need to get up earlier to put one over on him. Just waiting for the right ? moment....... And as usual, he's right. Let me explain. You know how if you ask a random historian to explain (say) why Brissol is so linked to the slave trade, you might well get the response ' Not my specialism' or 'Not my period'. Same with SEs. They need the work, they've got expensive professional insurance, they have some experience - go for it sunshine!. Need to pay the mortgage. Your SE might well have some cursory experience with piles - just enough to do some sensible - over cautious / slightly well-informed / it'll do / work to pay for her partner's new toutou / brogues. In brief, get (a)nother opinion(s). Here's why. Just like you, we had the ground profile done. Just like you dismayed. Just like you inexperienced. Just like you worridtohellabouththecost. Standing on our newly cleared, levelled off site stands a man who's just stepped out of a spanker of a Merc. Trophy Dolly Bird in the passenger seat. Lipstick applicator out, mirror adjusted to suit. Blousy smile. (But nice blouse - suitably immodest and straining at the seams) "Yer maaaate, that'll be £22 grand fer piles: ye'll not get away wi' less " Really? Have you seen our soil profile? "Wa? Ya paid fer a soil profile. 'Ow mooch?" About 2 and a half.... "Mert, ah wood a dun it fer tewundred" Thats interesting. Thank you so much for your time and interest. I really appreciate the way you get straight to the point. Rictus smile. 'Nother glance at trophy bird. Tea and medals. Cue posts to BH. And a slow realisation that with effort and careful research, we can get a sensible, well thought through idea about how to do the job both well and at a reasonable price. A raft can be built in a very wide range of situations. Do the background reading. Hillard has written a paper about it somewhere. I'll try and dig it out. In brief: lots of reading, lots of help on BH lead to Hillard Tanner, and Town and Country Vibro. Have a look at my (now mostly disused blog on BH) And a piling cost of £6500ish. Hillard Tanner's enagement with our problem and his depth knowledge saved more than double his fee. (£2 grandish) Nobody can tell when Refusal (the depth at which there is sufficient resistance in the pile to take the point load plus a safety factor added to the dead load - in our 2.5 times the dead load) will occur. Thats why I was very impressed with TC Vibro. In addition to the soil profile, we (together) dug a deep pit to feel (grab some soil and mash it into lumps) the quality of the soil at a series of depths. (I had a digger in those days ... sob.... ) Refusal occured almost exactly where TC Vibro said it would. Between 3 and 4 meters. Ultimately it's all about risk reduction: reducing the risk to your bank balance. All of the above -loads of hard preparation work- saved roughly £17k. Do the legwork, network, accept no experts answer as definitive - yes even Hillard's. And do come back and test your ideas on BH.

Yeah, but..... I'll take some detailed photos tomorrow and show you ....