ToughButterCup

Here you are : I'm going to fit them @oldkettle for precisely the reasons you give above. My hands are already a mess; and thats only going to get worse with age. As my namesake puts it : We're gonna have to put (me) in a home soon.

Elegantly put, core truth. The steeper the learning Curve the higher the value

? Yer a star Joe. Thanks. Ian

... could someone tell me the difference between a shut off valve and an appliance valve please? Or perhaps better put, when might I use one but not the other? They appear to me to do the same thing, and Tinternet is less than helpful: a search of images of each shows both types seem to be randomly named (using the HEP20 catalogue - price list as a guide). Maybe they both do the same job: in which case why prefer and not the other?

It was built in 2018- plenty of rain since then. Plenty of time for it to back up.- maybe the 8 Soakaways are why? Good point. I'll sort that out- Thanks! Talking about massive, I Iooked up-the piling records- The column is 3.8 meters deep by 400 wide : at a guess that's 1.5 Cubic Meters- more than enough

When our Piggery floor was poured, (not subject to Building Regs) I built a surface drain into it so we could sluice the floor. The Piggery is to become a drying room. In terms of the foul drain piping, I thought we should connect that floor drain to the foul drain. Technically, I don't think we are required to. I took the plastic cover off the floor drain today, and more out of curiosity than anything, I threw a bucket of water down it. The water promptly disappeared. I poured a good few gallons of water and some disinfectant down it. Same thing. But there's no piping attached to the drain. ? A few more gallons. Disappeared. Cup of tea, scratch head. Click. The Piggery is built on a ring beam supported by 8 piles (stone improvement columns.) like this. So I think I might have 8 soakaways under the building. The drain is within millimeters of a pile. The water's going down the drain and straight into the compacted limestone chippings which make up the pile. Unfortunately the drain is of the type that doesnt allow an inspection camera to go down it, otherwaise I would have had a quick peek. Since we are only going to use the Piggery for drying muddy boots and clothes, and maybe put a condensing tumble drier in, do you think I should try and get away with leaving it as it is? No need to connect up to the foul drain? I must have thrown ten gallons - bucket full at a time - down the drain earlier today - all of it disappeared in seconds. What do you think?

Yeah.... you talk about Turnkey stuff - much easier to control costs there I would think.

Welcome. We're friendly because most of the stuff we deal with is high-stakes : no matter whether we're spending £1000 or £100,000 - the chances of getting it 'wrong ' in some way is vastly reduced by being open and appropriately honest about our successes and failures. There's heaps of both for you to feast on here. You talked about briefing an architect. A common topic of discussion. Have a read of this .....

You are very welcome. Building to rent : implies close cost control..... and I've lost count of self builder colleagues who have found that a real challenge. Me? Nay borra Jimmie .. made o' money ?

What a glorious mess. That's what a German Anglophile loves about the UK. It's interesting, full of quirks not boring, or standardised like the Teutons.

Why would shortening age them?

It's not just me then That's a relief

Got a drive? One tonne bag of sand.

The following overheard at a local plumbing depot: a real proper plumbers merchant, smelling of paraffin, sweat, linseed and thinners - Single lightbulb on at the hatch where sits a Ditsy Teeny Blond Bomshell : her nail varnish bottle out on the counter: cotton wool blob and nail file and thinners bottle open - slightly heady scent. One hand waving to and fro to dry the nail she had absent-mindedly painted a few seconds ago. A local plumber beats me to the counter: smiles at the lass who's now on her second nail of the day .... Y' awreet mert? she says sweetly, while looking at nail number three Aye 'Appen ye've sum 3/4 irons in then? Wadja mean 22 mill? Nahh, I need sum three quarters Pause: by now nail number three had a wet edge, and so needed constant attention We've got sum inch in if that'd do ya? Nahh, I need three quarters really. Ditsy promtly turns and shouts to some hidden Golum deep in the bowels of the warehouse. I cant pretend to remember what she said because I didn't understand it. I speak four languages, and Plumber isn't one of them. Golum replied: which langauge does Golum speak? - because I understood not a word. Not a syllable. The plumber left. My turn. Do you sell HEP2o ? The shock of the question actually stopped her nail painting - eyed me suspiciously. 'S all Speedfit 'ere. And got on with nail number 4 I stood there for a moment and wondered if I should ask her what an inch iron was. Didn't have the guts. I'd feel better if anyone could please point me to a SIMPLE online resource which explains in simple terms the Imperial equivalents of 10, 15, 22 and 25mm piping is please. There are so many Metric to Imperial charts that do nothing more than complicate the problem ( to me anyway) Oh, and what's a plumbing iron in English ?

A little update: the next TWO Plasson replacement stop valves we fitted BOTH leaked from the valve stem- simple bad luck I think Philmacks fitted no problem

Thanks lads. I thought it was me failing to do a proper Internet search. There isn't one is there? Trouble with that for me is that I have to find out - usually by accident - what bits are available. Wavin produce some really good Support Videos. And it was there that I notice they do Stop Taps for their pipe range. News to me. So how the Fak (to quote NFW) do I know what to ask for eh? Zis vud not heppen in Tschermanee. Zieg Heil!

Databases are alright for some things - fast searches for example. But they are useless at giving you an overview of what's available. Is there such a thing as a HEP2O catalogue in pdf format? If you know of one, could you post a link please?

You are more annoyed about the lack of communication than the price I feel. Bad or non-existant communication is par for the course in this sector. How about this...... Pay what you agreed straight away. Pay the rest in stages ... it's easy to find a rationale for the delayed payment. He might think twice about not telling a customer next time. Yeah, right ....

If I had a quid for every time someone has asked me that... The answer is - the gap inside the is the perfect width for a machine gun bipod. The architect's idea of a joke, I think.

The ratio is as seen ... next to no glass, mostly frame. Special request is a bit grand: they are what the architect specified. CTI outside and inside?

I thought I'd start small and make my mistakes on this small window (of which we have 3) [Quick aside @craig (Ecowin) thought that Gaulhofer wouldn't be able to make windows this small - 600mm overall] Here's the patient : the problem at this stage is similar to the one @Roz had .... here First job is strip back the foam to just a bit deeper than the frame, and CT1 along all four edges right? Which leads to the first question - CT1 outside AND inside? (Photos to follow.)

Ahhhh yesss , the slow unnoticed leak, that most annoying of faults - been there got that slightly different T shirt. The Almost Unnoticed Fault T shirt

The answer is in the detail. And you don't have that yet. Get a design - publish it here and let the Commentariat masticate it for a while. You'll soon have too much information

Ahhh, intelligent questions. And if you asked one, would you understand the answer? No? Me neither. All any of us can do is pray that we get people who work with us. And not to work for just themselves- though they'd often call themselves "self-employed'. The only thing anyone can do is to ask open questions of professionals, and encourage dialogue. And that's an art.

Carryin stuff. That's wot wives if for innit?