ToughButterCup

I'll see your knee, and raise you a hip. I find myself working out in advance how to get myself up using my arms before I commit to kneeling. I can't moan: I have had forty or so years of cross country and fell running out of them. Wasn't it the dear departed Terry Wogan who popularised the TOG saying: ' Never without pain ' ? Oh how I laughed - then.

Ay Ya dwahling, it was all rather left-field for me : one did suffer so....

And she was on holiday from Switzerland......... just awful, awful.

Beautiful animation of it all here. Quite simply the best use of JavaScript I have seen: ever.

Read about our fun fun fun experience with ecology have you? Here: have a good laugh

Our neighbours talk of them in hushed tones. Our friends look puzzled, and then after a few moments get that thousand yard stare. It’s easy to bore people when you mention the humble newt. But people on buildhub.org.uk searching for what to do about them in planning terms won’t be bored. So here is a summary of our experience in the hope that I can save you some time, money and worry. Quick Read: The great crested newt (GCN) is a protected species. It is unlawful to handle them (unless you are qualified) and illegal to -knowingly- injure or kill them. If you live near (250m) a pond, an initial survey must be done to see if they are present (as well as other species). If that initial survey finds evidence of them, a full survey must be done. That survey forms the basis of an application for a license to exclude GCNs from the construction area. The exclusion exercise must be properly run, and can take up to 80 days, during which time no other building work can be done inside the site boundaries. Imagine the rictus grin on our faces when we realised the consequences of our dear dear children’s favourite summer holiday pastime. Fetching buckets full of GCNs from the surrounding ponds and pools and putting them in ‘our’ ponds. We are, even as we speak, trying to reclaim the pocket money we gave them. Ah, such innocent times they were when it ‘were-all-green-fieulds-rouwnd-heer’ earlier last century. GCNs add at least a year to any building project; one bit of building-lore that we were told that seems to be proving to be true. We started planning our Outline Planning Permission application in January last year. GCNs are active when the outside air temperature is (roughly) +7C. And go to bed when it’s less than 7. So that makes their active time from about late April to early October. Right now (January) they are tucked up in bed in a foundation block near you, snoring gently. They are nocturnal beasts: so they are sneaky little things: you might spend all your life never knowing that a GCN is rat-like, never more that 10 meters from where you are. I overstate a little – mostly it matters not a tinkers cuss. But when you want to build, there’s no avoiding the issue. The full pre-planning application survey which must be done by qualified ecologists is, in essence, an educated guess at the population size. That survey (which will focus on other species too) forms the core of the application toNatural England (link last checked January 2015). I thought the survey we paid for was a definitive document. It isn’t. It’s an educated guess. The confidence levels in predicting population size on the basis of the ecologists’ survey is close to zero. Mustn’t grumble eh? We were given full planning permission to build in October 2015 and we've only just been give the EPS Licence (May 2016). A work schedule was agreed in October 2015, but not followed. I have expressed my disappointment in the appropriate places. There's a lesson then. Project management is important - the devil is in the detail. Costs? I’ll do a separate article about that. About £1500 spent getting us this far, and a guess of another £1500 at least for the next phase.

First of all welcome..... That'll do, ( ☺️) now then..... Which surveys have you had done? I ask because that's how I felt (they're pointless) about surveys before I started. At every build stage where the question (Have you had a survey of [xyz] done yet?) was asked by other professional people, being able to send them the relevant report was reassuring. And in one case (piling) had we not had a survey done then nobody would have taken us seriously. Surveys are about planning: risk identification and reduction.

We find our players at deserted house in the middle of the Elan Valley (of Offa's Dyke fame) Dramatis Personae: NFW Harsh task master, stickler for detail, permanently runny nose, and 3/4" spanner duct taped to his left wrist, roll of plumber's tape inserted in his his ear lobe, wearing an olive on each finger. Some say they were put there when he was 15 by his Apprentice Master : NFW seems to be carrying on in the same tradition..... Apprentice Rumored to be a descendant of Offa himself, is building himself a reputation for truculence. Refusing to take anything NFW says at face value, he is digging in for the long haul. NFW has tried often - without success - to brand him as 'his' by getting him drunk and forcing-fitting copper olives over his toes. There are now so many on each toe, the apprentice can hardly walk. The apprentice seems not to have noticed. The practice of force-fitting olives over toes is widespread in the Valleys. NFW: Oi! Boyo, see that snow box by there mun ? Its blocked. Well it needs a bucket o' steam to mek it work, like. Flush it out like. Yew need to go Screweys to fetch a bucketo steem luk..... Apprentice: Noooo. Gerrit yerself mun. NFW: Well we'll put the kettle on then mun; mek our own steam. It's OK, I'm on my way to to the cloakroom.

The link works now. Anyone know whether its any good?

How would a very nice boy like you know?

You'll know that the one thing that characterises our build is interruption and delay. Getting fed up it with now to be honest. Main roof is nearly done - just the flat roof to do and we'll be water tight. I seem to have timed the flat roof build perfectly to coincide with the onset of the bad weather. The end in mind is to make sure that rain doesn't stop play while building the flat roof. So, a design for a plastic canopy is bubbling away in what , for me, currently passes for a brain. The design: a series of five 25mm plastic water pipe hoops attached to the wall held in place by a temporary wall plate at the top a vertical scaffold tube at the bottom (the poly pipe simply slots in to it - secured by a screw), and two wooden purlins to keep the hoops apart and steady - about a third from the top and bottom Its how to keep a grip on the plastic at the top and bottom that's exercising my little grey cells. Until I saw this.... Wiggle wire Further digging came up with Poly Track, Agra Lock and others. Any of you farmers out there who have experience with Wiggle Wire? Any gottchas ?

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Thanks Declan. Air tightness tape : in or outside? Product trade names?

We have an issue with how our windows are to be sealed into the window frame. Today I got round to reading the instructions on how to seal our windows in and was surprised to read the following; The instructions (highlighted in yellow translated above) show that Compriband should have been used between the window and the frame. It wasn't. The installers simply foamed them in, like this; The point made by the installer is that Durisol isn't air-tight enough - and importantly smooth enough - to make a proper seal between the window and the wall with Compriband. The fact that this should have been picked up before is no longer relevant. Shit happens. I have asked for help from Durisol: none forthcoming yet.... This can't be the first time someone has faced this issue. Which products would be likely to compensate for the leakiness and roughness of the Durisol / window interface? I don't want to get to to air-tightness testing to find that the windows are allowing a gale through..... I will have paid for them by then - and nobody will be interested in helping solve the issue at that stage. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [PS . Craig from Ecowin the Gaulhofer agent) has just rung to say that if there is any air leakage round the windows, then Ecowin would would indeed be responsible, he also suggests that I get a company rep to observe the air tests. That would mean they'd sort any problems out on the spot. Can't say fairer than that now can he? ]

Yes. Your neighbours are an obvious starting point. What's (was) their experience: what lessons did they learn? What were their footings like?

Morning! Welcome. You realise we charge for advice don't you... ?. (My God, we'd be rich if we did that.....) Adding a storey: can't recall any posts or threads about that - should be interesting. Plans? Images? Help us get our heads round it......

Reduce your exposure to risk. Find out. Doing that will, at the very least improve the accuracy of your quote

Moral Governance in crisis eh? Whose morals? ' ... This is not a personal question. It is a highly political, scientific and moral issue about the future of Cochrane. As most people know, much of my work is not very favourable to the financial interests of the pharmaceutical industry....' For me the root problem is simple. Ethical relativism.

Of course. I'll give you my phone number and we can talk it through. Ian

My software was extremely expensive. She insisted on diamonds. Issues real-time instructions. Needs chocolate too.

Tick - infested Salop eh? I used to be fit enough to run the Long Mynd race in the 70s: did it a few times. Yes, I got a few ticks too. I blame the Stiperstones - maybe unfairly. Only a year's wait! Congratulations on speedy progress. Ian

I don't believe we have met. Welcome! My build is Durisol. My SE is Hilliard Tanner, based here. One sentence in Hilliard's proposal for our foundation plan saved us more than double his fee. I can recommend his work on the basis of three years working with him. Durisol will also recommend you an SE : his expertise is in how to deal with Durisol issues - how to manage large lintels, corner details and so on. He worked for us FoC for some simple bits of work. Finally the local Durisol Rep will also know who to ask. PM me for details if you like.

Relax. You'll know soon enough. Be yourself. Home ownership does not automatically confer a valid opinion on surrounding plots. Application for Planning Permission is one of the best ways I know of finding out what people really think. @JSHarris tells a simple story of how he did everything a reasonable person could do - consulted, listened, adapted ideas, spent a significant sum. But didn't know that one of his neighbours was just trying it on. How did he find our? Years later the neighbour told him. ( I cant remember where: probably here on BH, but maybe his own site ) My story is simpler. They hated the design, they objected (sometimes vociferously and very rudely), they wanted a duplicate of the other houses all round. Here's the whole story. Follow guidelines, consult professionals, and just do it.

I've done that, but bought a meat-head wreck Landy, and a trailer. What do I need the roll - cage for? Nothing really. But I have found it helps me pull my old bones into the cab, and to strap timber to the roof when I go to the BM. I also put a front tow hook so I can manoeuver the trailer into tricky nooks and crannies. Best thing I ever did. I have had five cash offers for it in four years.

@nod will be along soon. He'll know.