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ToughButterCup

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Everything posted by ToughButterCup

  1. ToughButterCup
    Our Glulam needs to be joined to our steels using this plate. The Glulam needs a slot cutting in it and holes for the bolts, therefore. The plate is 8mm wide. Do the slot and the holes have to be made in the factory, or can I drill and cut the slot myself?
  2. ToughButterCup
    Not once, but twice. And it still works. Draining the heating header tank was the easy bit. Refilling it was a little fraught. You see, I didn't know the overflow was blocked. Water streamed through the floor and the ceiling below that. And as luck would have it came through the ceiling just above a fairly nice flat screen TV. Cue wailing and gnashing of teeth. TV buggered. Ah well, excuse for a new one then, eh? A few days later on our way out the door to Curries (to look not buy) I switched it on - one last chance as it were - . It worked. Smiles, jollification all round. Two weeks later the new (reliable) Polish plumber drains the system , changes the Grunfos pump, and refills the heating system. And the telly, and the handsets. SWMBO didn't even shout at me, or go silent, or any of the other things pissed off partners do. Two days later, the telly is fine, and so's the handset. The TV is cleaner than it has been for a while now.
  3. ToughButterCup
    Try washing my work clothes on less than 60.....
  4. ToughButterCup
    Exactly @Hecateh. A secondary School teacher taught me that, and it made me determined - where sensible - to know why I don't make the choices I might reasonably to have been expected to make. It reduces the level of regret for things I didn't do. For example, I know why we decided to build rather than sell the plot and move. It's useful to know because , frankly, in 2017, we really did wonder why we had started the build. But 2018 will be better. No collapses for a start.
  5. ToughButterCup
    It won't have escaped our collective conscience that recently it's been windy. Annoyingly so. Specially if , like me, you are scaffolding. Feeling extra sorry for myself at the end of the DIY working day ( I'd got it wrong' more often than normal ) I was mindlessly watching YT. And bumped into this video - Fred Dibnah. Scroll forward to 6:51 if you can bear it. Did me some good that. Put some lead back in my pencil. " Wind is the scaffolder's enemy ", said Fred. At least he had some justification for saying that.
  6. ToughButterCup
    Well, I wouldn't worry too much. Here's why. Ian
  7. ToughButterCup
    Yeah, that's all well and good. But with a screen name like yours, we all want to know what YOU think (We'll keep your answer private)
  8. ToughButterCup
    Licence Don't assume that NE work to the timetable published: they should, but they don't. Uniquely, they are (when I applied ) up front about the delay in processing applications. Ask your ecologist for an update on the application process. (Ecologists all know one another; they are a small tight-knit group and every single one I have known hisses and spits about their professional colleagues - and will publicly deny they do. ) Office I built one. Out of stillage cages. Trades folk use their van from a brew. If we need to meet under cover, we meet standing up under the tin roof of the stillage cages. Makes meetings short and sweet. Toilet Everyone uses our house loo. HERAS Locally sourced, £15 for one panel and one foot (99th hand I suspect). No need for clips: heavy zip ties just as good and twice as fast to open and do up. Cost - irrelevant difference between zips and clips.
  9. ToughButterCup
    Because it's a protected species, @MikeSharp01 Here's the guidance (Accessed March 2018) And here are the words ' ...You must consider how a development might affect protected species on or near a proposed development site when reviewing a planning application....' The irritant for me is that the GCN is really very common: it says so on the official database (see OP) . And demands very significant levels of expenditure . I personally don't mind making allowances for GCNs; we've done a huge amount more than the law requires to accommodate and further encourage them. But in policy terms, I think the time has come now to use RAMS statements rather than simple exclusion as standard.
  10. ToughButterCup
    Set within the Brexit narrative, the author of this article argues that the humble GCN (Great Crested Newt) is a good way of looking at UK Planning issues. I draw your attention to the article because it's not as Ya Boo Sucks as many about the GCN. The article is light on the planning context: it makes no attempt to square the circle - how do you build more houses and not put pressure on the local ecology (GCN or otherwise) ? My principal beef with the article is the reference to an ICUN Database entry and failing to draw attention to the following entry in the record on GCNs. The GCN is of least concern ' ... Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a degree of habitat modification, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. Some subpopulations are threatened...' (Accessed 2st March 2018) The CGN is of '... least concern ... ' : I know that very well indeed. The damn (beautiful) things stomp across our living room carpet whenever it's warm enough - across our kitchen floor only to get growled at by our brave tomcat, and get squashed on the road outside our house every time there's heavy rain overnight. The GCN as political football.
  11. ToughButterCup
    @Juj, because @Alexphd1 did (think out of the box) and because he bothered to post about it, he saved me a few thousand quid. Be they ever so humble - simple wheels for a scaffolding - that means that I can put my scaffolding where I want it, when I want to. And, because of local labour shortage, it means I can be a little more independant (code for DIY) . Where's the saving? Scaffold installation cost and monthly hire fees after the first month. Minus the loss on the scaffolding resale of course: probably a few hundred quid plus the VAT. That's easily recouped (here at least) because of labour and skills shortages. @Alexphd1, on your way down the M6, J33? Bottle of excellent malt waiting. Ian
  12. ToughButterCup
    Tell me more, please @albert... just a quick reference to an online explainer would be brilliant. Thanks ian
  13. ToughButterCup
    Not sure. Guess.... yes.
  14. ToughButterCup
    That's a really useful post @epsilonGreedy. Thanks very much indeed. It's so useful to have the theory as a starting point, and even more useful to have the experts cast a jaundiced eye over the guidance. The guidance does contain the following sentence ' ... These quantities do not include any allowance for wastage. ...' (Not that @Declan52 suffers from jaundice )
  15. ToughButterCup
    @stevet, you'll get a better response if you target your question (or any question, in fact) First, show us what research you have already done. Like this, maybe.... I've run a BH site-wide search for Jen Wen windows. In addition, I've done a Google search and found this (Because we don't want to tell you what you already know) In terms of quality, I'm interested in [......] (Why get responses about quality issues that are irrelevant to you ?) End to end customer service is also important to me: @Crofter, @Gimp, @AliG, what was your experience? (Naming people flatters them -you've searched for and read their content- targets them [they may have set up an alert for mention of their name] because you have named them; and asks them directly for feedback) Then If there's no response, drop those members a PM. That way everyone's clear what you have done, what interests you in particular, and begins to build bridges - who knows what might happen? A quick note on terminology and tags Jeld-Wen Jeld Wen Jeldwen Jeld-wen JeldWen ......... Which ? Because nobody knows how people are going to type your key term; the site search uses tags to search for content more quickly. Use the tag facility under the heading: it will speed up the search system we run. Put any relevant tag in - every tag helps. Ian
  16. ToughButterCup
    They offer 8, 10, and 12mm rope. The spares list I have doesn't specify the diameter. The person who fields sales calls doesn't know the correct dimensions (they used to employ a lady who knew the product range inside out and backwards). Getting the diameter correct means the difference between over-firing, and not. So I'll order some of each and experiment.
  17. ToughButterCup
    Just on the off chance, does anyone know what the diameter of the fire rope for the Fire Door is? I have the manual, (it doesn't say what the diameter is) I have rung the supplier; the lass had no idea what the diameter is. So, as usual, I end up on BH asking everyone else. Phhh....
  18. ToughButterCup
    A good mate of mine is upset: in my estimation, justifiably. Here's why. It would appear that -with impunity- falsified Percolation Test results can be submitted as acceptable, valid evidence in the Planning Process. I hasten to add that this case refers to one outside our Local Planning Authority. What happened? Planning permission was awarded on a plot near his house. A pre-condition for the award of planning was the normal Percolation Test. Because the plot near his house lies on the same type of ground (heavy clay) my mate knows that the percolation test must have failed. But that's not the issue What is the issue? The Ombudsman considering the case says that the simple submission of results (any results, true or false) is the sole responsibility of the applicant. Since there is no system internal to the LPA that checks the test results, any results can be submitted: even false ones. The Ombudsman says ' ...It is important to remember that the obligation to provide accurate information lies with the applicant. If Mr X’s suspicions are correct and a problem arises, it is likely the Council would be able to control it, either through planning or building control enforcement, or perhaps more likely, through environmental health action.... ' So you can build a house based on bogus test results, and sell it before the problem becomes apparent. And everyone around the plot has to suffer the consequences even after the builder has sold the house. How is that system fair?
  19. ToughButterCup
    Excellent idea.!
  20. ToughButterCup
    Most people do not read. Especially on a computer screen They skim, pause, read, skim on. STOP at KEY words. Then think and possibly respond. Look at the dense text you present above. You know it inside out and backwards The reader doesn't, and probably doesn't care either. Your message is a high-stakes one. Sent to someone who doesn't give a toss. She has 55 others to read before having a nasty commute home. If it's a high-stakes message, make it visually easy for people to access your message. Thus 1. The architects drawings (above), refer to details under these headings as do the structural drawings and calculations in terms of charring. External walls within 1000mm of a boundary. and are clad with fire cement tiles and are in line with the architects specification the tile specification will be as Marley Thrutone and are rated CLASS 0 as is required within 1000mm of a boundary. Details here. There are loads of other visual tricks to apply. Here's an online resources which, with a few tweaks, will help Make it easily legible to a tired, pissed off, distracted idiot. Make it easy for a local Donald Trump to read.
  21. ToughButterCup
    Delays can be made to be useful. Plan.
  22. ToughButterCup
    Interesting list @Ferdinand. As a backup to your list, can I suggest this set of lists: I drafted this post out of sheer irritation while in a Parish Council meeting.
  23. ToughButterCup
    That banking 'incidents' skill. Phenomnal. It just taught me to be similarly careful about remembering 'things'
  24. ToughButterCup
    Your architect doesn't have that experience? And nobody else in the practice has experience either? Or your architect doesn't feel able to have a professional discussion with colleagues about it? My (remaining) finger-tips are burning.
  25. ToughButterCup
    Yes, they will. We have decided to build in what the trades call the wrong order. In our case, for the builder, the term 'wrong' meant Not what we always do, and we don't want to think about what you , the customer wants. Out of caution, and in the light of experience locally trying to find labour, we asked our (now ex ) builder to put the roof on first. "Nah, mate, can't do dat. 'S aw rong" "Thats interesting, tell us why? " A quick email to and phone call with the SE, a chat with the architect resulted in a simple drawing from the SE, explaining where the temporary support needed to be installed while putting the roof on before the first floor. Exit the builders stage left : they would not guarantee they could find a roofer before rain ruined the first floor. That flushed them out didn't it? So, it's back to the full-on DIY self-build means self-build experience. If I can't take a joke, shouldn'a started should I?
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