ToughButterCup

Yeah, well, I didn't expect sympathy. But even a smidge would have been nice. Photo? Its all in the washing machine: but the scaff is full of it.

Treated myself to a decent pair of work trousers from local work-wear shop. At last my knee pads stay where they are put. (The Aldi version of the trousers allows the pads to float free: kneeling meant swearing ☹️ ) Up on the scaffolding, while screwing it onto the gun, a tube of foam decides to dump it's contents on my lap and the scaffolding boards. I slip on the wet foam , and sit in it. OK, calm down at the back now please. Anyone know how to get dried foam out of my knickers, my watch strap, my hands, my watch face, my work boots, my socks, my trousers. From now on... if foaming, I'm changing to the Aldi trousers. Never mind my knees.

Hier sind viele deusche Kuchen zu kaufen. Ja, und dazu billig. Muss nur ein bischen Geduld haben...... MfG Ian

@newhome, I did discuss this with Mr Stevenson. He says he will look into providing CC payment. I drew his attention to BuldHub, and hopefully he will have a look at this thread. Ian

Yes. You have me interested in your thoughts about the integrated solar tiles...... I understand that they are wired in series : but I may be wrong. My site has a little bit of shading for part of the year, and I'm not keen on the one-off-all-off feature that goes with in series wiring.....

3.68 kWp, Yes, Just enough for self consumption - since FIT appears to be a waste of money. My thinking starts at what I think might be considered by some as the 'wrong end' of the stick. I can probably make a good guess at the amount of electricity we are likely to need in kW hours: kWh/a : lets say for argument 3000 kWh. My question is - Given that I want to avoid exporting power to the grid; How little capacity should I install to assure the optimum supply for self consumption?

Tell me more....

Building on @Stones and @ProDave 's lead (pun accidental and innocent) here, it seems that we should put in just enough PV to consume for ourselves. And if, in the same thread , @AndyT agrees as well @JSHarris, you have to have a really good reason to do something different. Next question. How much PV is just enough? Is the calculation as simple as adding up all the likely kWh per annum consumption, and comparing that with the likely kWh the PV system will produce? There will be days when we produce far more than we can consume, and others when we can't produce enough. It'd be good if we could switch panels on and off at will - bit like varying the pitch of a propeller according to need - use all our panels in winter and switch half off during summer. But then that'd be expensive too.

Well, are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. First the references given from Nulok (I had asked for customer references) were to companies that fitted Nulok, not end customers. But frankly I'll take @PeterStarck at his word any day of the week. So I wasn't too concerned about that. Its a niggle, though. I had a long phone chat with Paul Stevenson, and no, the company doesn't take Credit Card transactions (there's no call for them) I pointed out that that might be because CC transactions aren't offered. Self-fulfilling prophecy and all that, maybe? The tone was cordial and we came to a simple agreement: fetch them myself. So, I'm going to hire a wagon, go to their yard in Birmingham and pick them up, and wire the money to him. Convenient living not far from the M6 innit?

The curse of the auto-correct.

Time for a little chat with Paul Stevenson, then. Thanks everyone for your efforts on my behalf I'll report back tomorrow. Ian

The solar tiles are wired in series. [:-{ I'd just like some tiles, please...... paid for by credit card.

Here be dragons. Have a look at this

I'm looking for openness and answers to simple questions, @PeterW. You know me: I'm an early adopter and have no real problem buying 'non traditional' products (for example Durisol). I agree wholeheartedly, Nulok does look very good. Anything that moves the sector on a place or two has to be good, but I also agree that most want to build as they've always built before. The current importer has been asked for customer references: an attempt at an answer was made, but no customer reference was given. A small deposit on a Credit Card covers the whole transaction, I understand. 4.5% of £1000 is nowt. For all I care his company can add the £45.0 to the total price if it's a concern.

I'm sold on the idea of Nulok. But....read on I have talked to and exchanged emails with the current importer The business has been operating for 2 years. But more than long enough to avoid this sort of thing. A whois.com search doesn't inspire confidence either. The company will not take credit card transactions. I have asked by email for customer references. The answer I got was evasive: no references, just links to commercial partners. A chat with @PeterStarck (who fitted his roof with Nulok) confirmed that the system is indeed worth detailed consideration. But Peter bought from a different importer who appears not to be in business any longer. I have searched for alternative suppliers of the Nulok. No joy. Anyone know anything about the current Nulok importer, or know of a supplier other than Lilyash.com? I would be most grateful if you could help me ..... thanks Ian

Thats what makes it so worthwhile.

Time to several the ties? But it is time to pick your fight. And because most don't choose that , he gets away with it.

I have come to expect laziness within the building sector as standard. The first thing that suffers as a result of laziness is attention to detail. My ecologists lack of attention to detail resulted in a 6 month delay. I paid half his bill. That resulted in instant attention. When, as we agreed -in writing - , he resubmits an invoice for the balance, I'll pay it. 3 years later, no invoice. My ecologist will be aware of his character trait. And so will your architect. Withhold an appropriate amount: wait for the fuss to die down, and then don't pay it until you see a change in behaviour. Why should unprofessional behaviour cost the same as the opposite?

fun evening.

First of all welcome. Now for the hard part. Read this. : And this : The answer is yes. But not for me. There is only one word at issue, here 'legally' For those of you who don't have time to read the links above, here's the abbreviated version. Man buys field with planning permission to build stables, next door to me. Man moves caravan onto site. Man moves in with family (thats the important bit). Man applies for PP for a house. Man asks for permission to stay in caravan Is given permission to stay in caravan pending outcome of PP application PP is refused, at Committee and at Appeal. Man continues to live with family pending completion of stables In 9 years, 30 blocks have been laid to the stables. Here, verbatim is the email response by the Head of Planning to the question: why is the owner of the land allowed to stay in his caravan? '... The case remains open and is monitored occasionally, but at the last visit the stable block was under construction and therefore during those works the caravan may be lived in without permission. ...' and later, a more detailed explanation, also copied direct from an email to me: '... We appreciate that this is not a satisfactory situation, however, the developer is making use of permitted development rights which we believe provide a loophole for someone wishing to live on a site, but one which we cannot easily deal with. We tried a few years ago to take enforcement action on a very similar case elsewhere in the borough and lost. We are therefore reluctant to go down the same road unless we have a strong case. It is probably a matter on which we will need to get specialist (and expensive!) legal advice. ...' Here is a link to the source documentation Here is the Google Maps reference : look at the Satellite version and look at the Street View version. The look at the dates of both: the Street View image shows the PP Application notice pinned to the gate : date ? 2009. Because I live next door - just to the North of the applicants land-, (you can see the build in progress on the Google Map) it is inappropriate for me to comment further. I wish you every good fortune in your quest to self build. Ian

What a pair of self-indulgent, narcissistic twerps.

Depends. If I can get her to put the underfloor heating on, .....

Somebody pllllleeeaaaase give them a leek each , before they all start singing. Greetings from Germany.

@Construction Channel and @PeterStarck: I'm right handed. My left hip and right knee are shot. So, I'm after a safe perch for my botticelli. Somewhere to rest for a bit, and maybe put the odd tool safely. Nulok has metal battens , Ed.

I work non-stop, the weather's too good to 'waste' But you are right