ToughButterCup

That's the sensible approach @joe90.

and it's driving me crazy. Nuts in fact. Today for example; bit of a pause in progress for a couple of days. Time for piddling about with spreadsheets and updating paperwork. And I have to mix a bit of practical stuff with PC based stuff because - well I just have to. I have always had a workshop, even if it was a really small one; no more than a scaffold plank hinged to the back of an outhouse door. But now I haven't got even one. (Overpriviledged moaner). I'm even starting to consider installing a work surface inside my Landy. I don't mind the cold, I quite like rain, wind gets to me a bit, especially if there's driven rain in it, but I love being outside. But rain and cold and electricity don't mix. Has anyone solved this particular 'itch'?

Life as a DNO wouldn't be so hard methinks. Just a couple of extra isolation valves .... just like a block of flats innit?

I should have made the key question more clear - could I use the same LPG supply for both properties?

@Ferdinand , the cheque is in the post. Only got to get it past Debbie, and the job's done.

Our current house is a cool, drafty colander. And to finance Salamander Cottage, we need to sell the colander. [The sublime built next to the ridiculous] So I'm putting Repair-and-Replace plan together. Trying hard not to look at the cost. Done my due diligence , thanks @Ferdinand, @Onoff, @JSHarris , @Crofter , @TerryE and others. EPC for the current house is likely to be X, Y or probably Z. To top it all off, the main heating system is a multi-fuel stove that enchants everyone who comes in and settles down on the sofa. Heats all the hot water, a good few rads and a cat. Bless it, the fire needs daily maintenance and has never yet performed well when there's a blocking high-pressure system. We'll never sell with the current set up. So out with the old and in with the new. E7; never get our money back. Oil; just don't like it. Illogical? Maybe, but that's it. That leaves LPG. Calor are fitting tanks free. Salamander cottage is 20 meters away. Any reason I shouldn't use Calor for both properties? Too simple?

I'll try it out...... just as I have given my spare phone to our daughter. Ian

Clear-view window I notice. Wonder whether there's a smoke extractor in there too?

That was deliberate wasn't it?

Very tempted to do a @JSHarris and put a small extract in there (like his loo extractor)

An excellent example @Oz07. You need that degree of fit to get the right level of service. And it's not as easy as selecting from a series of tools on a rack. I spent many hours getting it wrong. Excellent solicitors don't cost that much more than their mediocre counterparts. But they take a lot of finding.

How right.... but what you can do is network and find a really sharp solicitor who specialises in this 'field' (sorry). Bit like using a screwdriver that fits the screw head perfectly rather than well-enough.

Hello @davelank. You are most welcome . Never a truer word was spoken. I'm now four years into our build. And the sleepless night count is rising. I wish my planning had been more detailed. Enjoy travelling in hope. It's all too short. Ian

It's difficult to assess whether the cost is reasonable because we don't know the context.

Inexcusable.

https://www.smartflower.com/en

Useful reminder @IanR, thanks. Bit like driving past a car accident. Always makes me drive a bit more carefully for a while. Ian

A peace and quiet spur says Debbie

I am in the course (curse) of ripping out old, semi-dead badly maintained fences. Part of the process is talking to testy neighbours about what the actual line is.

Nothing to do with evidence, or experience. Much more subtle stuff going on here. Just Do It Ian

3:00 am, bolt upright in bed: I didn't check the positions of the piles yesterday. Ahhhh: concreting tomorrow. Bugger. Why the panic? Read on. We have ground improvement stone columns (often misnamed piles) put in by these guys. (Town and Country Vibro ) They gave us a piling design, put in the piles, and a piling log, together with the test results. Spent £6500 putting in over 60 'piles'. I think that's bloody good value - £60 quid each for a stone column about 4m deep and 500 mm wide. All put in by a very very nice man called Jay. And tested to way over what is needed. Come to digging out time to lay the strip foundation and I see something suspicious: have a look at this The inset is from the piling design. All we could see (at the time) was that we had cut into the side of a pile, not the top of it (we thought it should be pile 40) which was way off the centre line (light green line) Cue panic. Cue phone calls to Architect and Tanners. Cue cup of tea. Outside, crowbar and shovel in hand dig around. And there minding its own business was pile 40: we had cut into the side of pile 39, as indeed we should have done. The colour of the stone in the stone columns is EXACTLY the same as the surrounding clay. Add a splash of water and you just can't see the pile. I won't forget pile 40 - ever. We'll be pouring concrete at 3:00 this afternoon - unless we lose another pile. (I've prodded each and every one: they're all there: thanks Jay). Ian

You have more courage than I do. While admitting I probably haven't done much research on the issue (but having followed the linked discussion), I wonder if you'd be kind enough to tell us how you arrived at the decision to install this system. I suspect that factors other than cost were involved. What were they? What type of reactions have you had? If the topic comes up in conversation, what do guests at your house say? What does your BCO say about it? Have you had any interesting challenges from other professionals? I ask because the system answers a problem that, I suspect, stops some people from building their own house. I know for certain, from personal experience, that the system is widely used in Germany; there, the whole topic of 'issue' is no issue, as it were.

No hole? Too simple? Ian

Not acceptable. Ian

LMAO