ToughButterCup

Welcome. What a gorgeous photo. By .... outer ... do you mean with ICF in between the oak timbers ( bit like a half-timbered house ) ? In which case we need photos of the plans ( or pdfs.) We're nosey you see. ( Well I am ) Anyway, good luck. Here's a link to a search for the term ICF on this site. I suggest it because the site-search takes a bit of getting used to. A bit of quiet fire-side reading if you have time.

Our lad - a copper - says he sees this sort of thing so often that; "Its the compelling reason for insurance: personal, possessions, contents, car and property"

Excellent. Trouble with the (my) planer is that trimming the 'grot' off the wood stored outside means it's (often) just a little too small 1.75 inch by 3.7 ish instead of proper 2 by 4 (nominal). The wood is - as you say - sound. Looks like my 'leftovers' will need to be used up in my outdoor workshop. I look forward to being able to store wood under cover all year round.

... And hence the expense, which makes it unviable. Settlement, however only needs expenditure once - a second tank(let) which needs cleaning every once in a while. And a chlorine ( Chlorox ?) tablet once in a while, dropped into the settlement tank.

That is exactly what it is @Alan Ambrose @Temp needs to add a settlement tank to his set up with a 3 foot sump at the bottom of it so he can use a standard 2" pump to get rid of the sludge - once very few years. And have an overflow into the operational tank of course...... in effect, a skimmer. Sorry @Temp, talking about you .....didn't see you standing there 😑

Yep, ventilate your roof space. Look at the eaves Can cold air get in here ? (If so, good) Can warmer air rise and flow out of the top of your roof space (If so, good) here's an image stolen (fair and square) from 'fixmyroof' that illustrates what we mean. Its common for the roof space airflow to be blocked off by added insulation ... not to worry, its an easy fix.

The Wedgie that Trump has already shoved into Zuckerberg's et al's underpants is there for all to see.

I'm trying to work out how best to build a path with insufficient paving stones to cover the desired area ( 10 sq meters) . My daughter's partner ( a builder ) would be able to do it without much thinking - because he's experienced, and an all-round nice guy. The only thing I'm experienced in is getting-it-wrong-first-time. Lets give AI a go at solving the problem Process I fed each AI with a data sheet - each paviour was identified with a number and its dimensions The total maximum area that could be covered is 6.11 sq meters The AI was asked to derive a pleasing pattern within an area 10 meters by 1 meter Problem Statement I have about 6 square meters of York Stone. And 10 square meters of path to cover Design a visually pleasing pattern of paviour layout to stretch across the 10 square meters of path. (to the left of the red smudge in the image below) ====================================================================== NotebookLMs response DeepSeek's response Now, I dunno about you, but DeeSeek appears to me to be the most helpful because it offers me a simple recipe to follow. I can now go and lay that out in our yard and see if SWMBO likes it.

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.