-
Posts
11833 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
101
Everything posted by ToughButterCup
-
Welcome! Here's how to persuade your man. It's easy really. Tell him he won't need to lift a finger. Because you'll do it all. All the research , all the finance, all the rows with the Planners , take all the moaning neighbours niggles on the chin, get the quotes, decide whom to employ, chase the invoices, do the due diligence, sack the lazy sod who can't build a level wall, choose the windows , make sure they all fit, find out what C 24 is, make sure it is delivered on time, and have a pit dug for any that's left, charm the roofer into doing what he said he would do, at the price he said he would , make tea and biscuits appear magically at juSt the right moment, refuse to be patronised or irritated by the sheer volume of mansplaining, take all the design decisions with confidence and deep insight, fix the leaking flat roof, do little bits of tiling to show the tiler how it is possible to tile level and straight, keep accurate records , do the VAT return. And make sure his pipe and slippers are waiting for him when he gets back from the pub. Easy.
-
United Utilities operations teams (the lads on the ground) could not have been more helpful. Every person arriving on site looking at the design (detailed here) agreed that someone in the office did not provide a competent design is (one that takes into account the fact that stop tap packing glands fail occassionally) Another less charitable interpretation is that they do know how to design competently, but are deliberately not fitting stop valves. What is the likelihood of a Plasson Stop Valve packing gland failure? I mention that because the operator in the New Connections Team let slip that they were not fitting external stop valves nowadays: and immediately she said that, I could hear her biting her lip...... Alls well that ends well.
-
-
Second fix onwards DIY?
ToughButterCup replied to Sjk's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
No alternative. Useful motivator is that ... -
MVHR is Largely Bogus
ToughButterCup replied to DavidHughes's topic in Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR)
Well maybe not wrong. But it is certainly useful. Made me sit up and think -
MVHR is Largely Bogus
ToughButterCup replied to DavidHughes's topic in Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR)
. Welcome David. Interesting post. Tell us how you went about achieving an airtight design... -
damp Tiled floor causing mould and mildew on walls?
ToughButterCup replied to DaveR79's topic in Damp & DPCs
As I understand it, at one level the issue is simple - reduce the temperature difference between the floor and the air above it. Mould vanishes When the contrast is low. How you do that is covered in detail in many posts on B H. -
I suspect you mean distress local to the cut (you?) made Dave. And I think what @Sensus might be emphasising is the risk to the sole plate from water trickling down inside the timber frame. Or have I misunderstood?
-
@Sensus, I do remember a post by @Jeremy Harris a year or so ago explaining exactly the process you outline above. This may be the post - about that good old friend interstital condensation. There are some others too..... Here's the search I did on the matter
-
One of those long T shaped thingys with a yoke on the end of it. They are coming fit the container box for it sometime soon. Thats not what concerns me ... The hole will fill with water, and thus sludge. (fine bits of glacial till - sandy clay). Wont be long before the tap becomes unusable, unless I do summat about it. I think I'm just going to have to connect the hole to the land drain. What I could do with is a tame, obedient pet mole: I'm sick of digging up our frontage. I understand @Construction Channel trains them ......
-
Two extremely sensible gorillas from UU turned up yesterday: muscles come out of their ears - I would not like to have tangled with either of them. In tow - a brand new Volvo digger in a proper smart digger trailer: I drooled. They listened patiently to me drooling "Loada Crap is 'em Voulez Vous diggas mert, load a crap" Using a Mark I shovel - I kid you not - they dug a neat hole in the time it took me to bring them a cuppa. In the time it took me to supervise the site labourer (SWMBO) they'd fitted the stop tap. In the time it took SWMBO to bollock me up hill and down dale (I'd jumped on the Gabions and knocked them out of line by a mm or two) they'd gone. What a neat, professional job. The shovel strikes again! Our ground is full of nasty glacial till stone. Hard as nails those lads, hard as nails. Thank God.
-
A really interesting post. Thanks. Could you expand on the issue of VCLs and (lack of?) integrity over time. Are you hinting that there is an issue with all VCLs, or perhaps that over time VCLs get punctured or fail in some way and so their performance is degraded?
-
Decent MVHR install video
ToughButterCup replied to JFDIY's topic in Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR)
? Well I like it. So there! Take that Southern Softie.... -
Decent MVHR install video
ToughButterCup replied to JFDIY's topic in Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR)
I couldn't work out whether those pipes (inlet , outlet) were inside the heated envelope if so, then maybe no need to lag, perhaps? -
Ooooooffff! ? Get a Wire Crew to do it. Made my eyes water.
-
Hello all, just dropping in to say HI!
ToughButterCup replied to a62vw's topic in Introduce Yourself
Welcome: and with an offer like that, you are especially welcome. Ian -
Just been to Hartley Hire and HSS. The response was polite, but one of astonishment that anyone should dare to ask
-
?
-
When is a delivery not a delivery ?
ToughButterCup replied to ToughButterCup's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
Thanks be to the Almighty for that...... (spell chekers aint what they used to be) -
I found a valuable consignment (for the build) dumped on my verge this afternoon. The driver had arrived, off loaded and gone. A few days ago, and again yesterday and this morning, I called the company from which I purchased the goods to ask if I could be told when the delivery was to take place. Fat lot of good that did. What would have happened had that consigment been nicked?
-
Do I need a Quantity Surveyor?
ToughButterCup replied to montecristo's topic in Surveyors & Architects
Quantity Surveying is about risk reduction. In the context of house building, the smaller the budget, the greater the need A quick search on this discussion group shows the following.... a wet evening's quiet reading by the fire side. As usual, everyone else says it better than I can. -
Choosing a consumer unit
ToughButterCup replied to ToughButterCup's topic in Consumer Units, RCDs, MCBOs
I would like ours to be installed at about 900 mm. Hope thats Ok? -
Enter the sandman
ToughButterCup replied to Thedreamer's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
He'll have been tired, that's why.
