ToughButterCup

Or you could fit the mixer with shovels one day, paddles the next, then trowels and so on. An Eclectimix. Gonna register the tradename terday

... not if its genuinely eclectic.

Aha ! Time to find a penniless teenagers. "There ya go lass - it may stop , but you won't will ya? Extra tenner if you get five mixes to me on time properly mixed. Here's yer shovel"

Ours lasted a week before honking. Another vote for diaphragm issue here....

Its all my fault Dave. I trained teachers for a good few years. Serving teachers and Initial Teacher Training. To a very limited extent, I think you used to be correct. Way back last century when I trained there was indeed some lefty crap left over but even then it was hanging on by its fingernails. 1970s - schools in London - no curriculum - children choose whether to learn or not --- that sort of stuff. You are correct in that there are still one or two 'lefty and righty teachers about. Katharine Birbalsingh for example ( so called strictest teacher in the UK ) and the Head Teacher of a school in Cumbria whose students I used to get as undergrads ( Can't name him becuase I'm still know some of his students) He didn't (still doesn't?) believe in teaching children to spell. Fancy having to teach undergraduates to spell? But, under Tory rules, we had to accept on our degree level courses 'Teachers' (who were appointed by schools) - but who did not have a degree. Left / Righty Crap teachers ? Dead. Exceptions prove the rool.

Better people eh? Well recently (the last fourteen years) we've all had a first class demonstration of what some '... better people...' can do for Britain. They went to the best schools , the best universities, had the best tutors the best opportunities - and added thousands to every single one of our mortgages, preferred millionaires to tradesfolk. And brought early death to too many. As for increasing dishonesty, tattoos and decreasing church attendance.... Please do a bit of reading on Logical Fallacy. It'll help you to be kinder to those mendacious tatooed traders. And everyone else - BuildHub members included.

Oi 'spektid 'im ter Post dreklee. Bud 'un dint.

And you'll sell it for what you paid .... if you can bear to part with it. I can't. Yet.

Here's a suggested strategy Bite back. Hard. Calmly. Why? Silence may result. Fail silently. Why? Passive aggression jangles the recipient. It will make them fail you... And that's not so bad is it... Plan your exit. Why? Calamitous change makes people suspicious Network Why? You won't be the only one who suffers the same fate. Read the book Stop Pissing Me Off - get it on Amazon.Lots of help there. Leave with good grace and simple politeness. Why? Because one day you'll meet those barstewards again. It's a very small world.

Do as much research about the planning consultant as you do about the local area and housing developments.

I still struggle with those two words (my native language is German) . So I had a quick look and found this. No wonder I'm still struggling with it. I mean it's not far off the confusion I feel when I listen to plumbers talking about irons and olives .... or @SteamyTea and his Killerwots

A 30 second search found ....

The best we can do is speculate. And thats about as useful to you as pub chat. Any posts about planning permission on this website are - at best - inexpert comment. May I suggest you research your LPA website for similar Planning Applications network among local estate agents using a mapping program, look at your area in detail and see if you can see similar housing development(s) If your area has a Local Plan, read it in detail. then get out and about and have a close look at housing developments in your area. See if there are other properties (no matter how old) that are in a similar physical position and when all that's done, consult a well regarded local planner and ask for advice. I suggest you work through the suggested list in order because by the time you talk to a planner, you will need to be able to talk about the locality in some detail. Put another way, it will be harder for that planner to fleece you by offering bad advice. Good luck! Ian

Well I've got it wrong then haven't I... Nowt new about that. I'll dig out the plans and post them here. I bet I've got the terminology wrong, rather than the drain being a construction error.

Ah, glad it's you @saveasteading ... It's a 400mm wide trench with a standard perforated pipe in it. Covered with inch stone. It runs all the way round the house and discharges to a fairly steep bank. It works well. Or did when I last looked. SWMBO has covered the bank with greenery. I'm told its purpose is to prevent frost heave and is standard in all new houses. I'll have a look and see if I've got any photographs of it during the building of the foundation.

Ugh..... How stoopid can I be? Actually the right question is - how knackered can I be? Thanks very much @ProDave

YettaNuther fine mess I've got myself into..... And it was all going so well. My first bit of block laying, my first bit of proper wall backfill. Feeling right pleased with myself until I came to continuing the wall round the corner .... Here's my wall - the bit that works Next job.... get the wall to go round a corner. How hard can that be ( to quote @Construction Channel ) ? Here's the job ... marked out in yellow And here's the twist ..... see the red iron bar stuck in the ground? Well it took next to no effort to get it that deep. (600mm) Why? Because the iron bar disappeared into the Heave Prevention drainage channel. And that's just (200mm) below where I was planning to put the wall. Oh how I wish I'd taken @jack's advice and taken many more photos during the build. My question is : which of the five options below should I take - Compact the earth as normal and then lay the foundations as before and build over the top of the channel (the wall is only four courses high - light as a feather) ? as above but put rebar in the foundation ? make the foundation wider than the drainage channel ( by -say- 500mm) ? avoid building over the drain (by moving the wall either closer to the house or further away) ? knock the house down and start again? I tell you I felt like taking the fourth option once or twice recently.😑

Couldn't agree more. If only @Pocster would stick to the subject, the world would be a better place innit?

But all the learning you did in the early iterations will stand you in good stead later on. No planning is ever completely wasted .

Erm, ours is starting the ninth build year this October. And I have enjoyed every minute 😑

How on earth do you recover from that? Our wall collapse pales into insignificance by comparison. And as for @Pocster's little glazing episode, well.... It's honesty like this that offers us all valuable perspective. Thanks very much.

Working while in pain. Juicy pain. Ceiling lights out of line. Battening for cladding out of line. Skirting badly fitted. Sloppy fitting of airtightness tape. Selling my digger.

Faced with a similar problem, I just knocked on the door and asked the owner. Lovely header-stretcher bond

@Dave Jones said it best: their hate is free. It's a displacement behaviour - they've FekAll to lose have they? It's a gratis Insult Opportunity. Stuff 'em. Sleep well.

But I have fallen into the trap of going into a meeting with 'professionals' without having thoroughly researched the likely answers.