ToughButterCup

That's it, right there. You don't need to say anything else. Unless you can get one of those £xxx fixed deals over n years. But they are only given to mates (they often went to school with) round here. @Declan52's bang on there. Should see my rippling six pack and biceps now! All the girls flock round when I go to the pub now. 'Get yer pecks out then ....'

Both top and bottom board clips point ' into' the POSI ..... but I like your thinking. That a relief then. Excellente tennente!

Just buy it and sell it on later. The business case for any reputable DIY scaffold is compelling All of your questions are very reasonable. Debbie will be the first to tell you that its our best investment in a tool - up there with a digger. Get the Kwikstage company to design the scaffold for you. In terms of using the stuff, like everyone else, we took it slowly at first, and within a week we were at the top of the third lift feeling completely confident . Yes, its hard work, but I took it as an opportunity to get a bit of resistance training in.

We have done both (into DURISOL) . I just followed the designer's instructions. Didn't have to think about it at all. Just make sure the dimensions sent to the designer are accurate to within 5mm or less. Ask me how I know..... dare ya!

Buy second or third or (etc) hand and re-sell. Going rate in NW Lancs £15 per panel and 'foot' - but commonly priced at £25 delivered. HERAS is one of those just-do-it topics. You are just too exposed to too many risks without it.

Grrrr.... 'ow 'dya solve this annoying little problem then? The edge of our mezzanine is supported by a doubled POSIs. The joists are joined by a simple metal plate (made by Cullen's), part of which is nailed on the top of the joist - like this. In profile, the clip looks like this So far so good - until you come to put floorboards over the top. When a clip happens to ' land ' in the middle of the floorboard, you just cant slide the board into place. I've tried using those very very expensive floorboard jacks - three of them. Nada, nichts, nuffin. So (read this bit while checking a BCO isn't looking over your shoulder) I nailed through the top chord (5 nails) and removed (angle grinder) the top of the clip. Boards slid in like they were on rails. And they were in turn glued and screwed to the top chord. How do normal ( for that read ' experienced ' ) people solve the problem?

Welcome. Perhaps you could ask the VAT folk direct: we aren't qualified VAT advisers. Since this is your first post, you might like to introduce yourself in the relevant section of this site, here.

@lizzie : got a minute? Photo(s), please.

Told ya. Descent into second childhood.

I'm struggling too. What benefit does a channel and diffuser bring?

Following on from @readiescards post here, and @PeterW's recommendation in the same thread, we're looking for aluminium profile to carry the LED strip. This supplier (recommended by Peter) sells alu profile. Is it me, or are there really some profiles 10 times the price of others? And are the more expensive profiles 10 times better? BTW, I found this nice little video comparing diffusers for LED strips Anyone got any SNOG MARRY or AVOIDS?

This post is not flippant or self-congratulatory. The best Value Engineering any self-builder can do is what appears to be waste time on Build Hub. Doing that is the opposite of wasting time. I haven't tracked the amount of time online against the money we have saved. But when your wife says " We couldn't have done this without the money saved by BH " - not a lot else needs to be said. So, ............. just read.

This isn't a flippant response. What's the end-in-mind? What does good use of mean? The answer to those questions can usually be written down in a simple problem statement of about 10 to 15 words. How well the questions are answered will be a key determinant of the quality of the site.

Yeah, you do. Grow roses and a wisteria over in and through them.

Easy and cheap.... buy your own razor and shave your head yourself

A trifle harsh. The HE system policy is 'set' (licensed) by its political masters. I think it's generally accepted that post-secondary education should show and encourage people how to think through, describe, analyse and argue a case clearly. And its been doing that since roughly 1096 (ish). Some argue a similar system was in situ many years earlier - funded by the church(es). Would that we'd had a properly funded, well-regarded apprenticeship system running in parallel since then.

OSB3 every time. Slippery as an eel - Hell, even water slips off it!

Come back to us when you use less than three sets..... Ours are: A step-up A short-arse set A single lift scaffolding ladder : short and long set (2) An every-day set to mess about with A 5 meter Zarges set. Perfection. Some ladders left behind by the steel erectors

Ahhhh, that'll be it: fill the thing with water and light it with purple LEDs. Stick a humongous heat sink in it (22mm copper pipe) . Keep tropical fish in it while yer at it. (Like one of my more zany students did) Top idea!

Welcome: I wish we'd met under happier circumstances. I haven't got good news for you - maybe a chink of light, but a very small one You can Appeal to the High Court. Thats not an easy thing to do. The appeal needs to show that an error was made by The Inspectorate. In other words, you can't argue merely that the decision-maker should have reached a different conclusion. Here's the tiny chink of light: the meaning of the word sustainability has changed over time. The issue is sharply illustrated by our planning application - which succeeded. The next door's application was rejected - at Appeal: reason? Unsustainable. The plots of land are 20 meters apart. In Planning terms, there is absolutely no difference whatsoever between our application and theirs. None. Ours was accepted, the neighbours rejected. On grounds of sustainability. The only difference in the two applications was time. Our neighbours applied one year later: the meaning of sustainability changed over what in planning timescales is a heartbeat. And it will continue to change. Follow this little bit of logic - if the UK has the odd financial bump and bang in the near future one of the quickest ways of keeping the country going is to keep white van man working. How do you do that? Relax planning legislation - so its not too far fetched to suppose that the meaning of the word sustainable will, over time change further. Gorgeous George (Osbourne) changed the planning legislation by changing the law such that permission should be granted in favour of sustainable development. Little wonder then that the LAs focus on the word sustainable to clamp down on permission permits. Your refusal is quite clearly the result of a political decision. And that means the policy can change. Not sure how likely, or when, but the worse the finances of the UK get, the likelier it is for the regs to be relaxed. Sorry, its not much hope but it is some hope.

The way this country treats its trades people is shameful. We don't even give them a proper training scheme - one that gives successful trainees parity of esteem with their university graduate colleagues. And you don't have to look far to see a country that does.

Available at our local BM. 'Noisy' commented an acquaintance who has it.

No sensible heat transfer : 280mm of in and under roof insulation. I'd have been well piddled off if there were any....

Ours just done. Not interested in FIT: main focus is self-consumption. Couple of years from now, battery power too.

Yes: that exactly what we did. The joist designer (or other competent person) will determine the spec of the timber wall plate / rim plate / pole plate. There is no need for you to be concerned at all. Joist designers feed the relevant parameters into a piece of software (like this ) and it churns out the specifications. You can have a look at the print outs - I did for ours - quite interesting in a nerdy way.