ToughButterCup

Just north of Berlin, a pretty (if notorious) little town (Oranienberg) has just told the Federal Government that they can't supply any more connections to new houses. That may well have to do with the way the East Germans did nothing to improve or maintain the infrastructure for 35 years. They say it will be 2026 before they can supply electricity to any new houses. And there was me fantasizing about buying cheap in the former GDR (German Democratic Republic) and doing up some of those achingly beautiful old houses there. Inviting @Pocster to advise. 😬

What does your site insurance say? MT site. No phone call to you. He visits. Its blowing hard, raining too. He slips, falls on a rusty nail, gets sepsis - which is and remains undiagnosed - and dies. Who is liable? You? The answer to that question is the easy - if formal - way out of this one.

In other words, Dunning Kruger. @saveasteading - when talking about this to students (The less you know, the less you know that you don't know) , I found that they had to think hard about how to 'read' that dictum using the comparator - less...less. Since I also had to find a way to teach them good written style, I found positivity worked better hence; ... The More You Know The More You Realize You Don't Know ... Realising the essential truth of that is a bit depressing. AA Milne comes to mind. The six year old seems stuck in Dunning Kruger's jaw.

No. He accepted your request to work in good faith, and (as related above) had every right to assume that you were satisfied with his work to date. Because '....I rectified all these issues myself ...' And the matter was not discussed. You didn't get a quote (or an estimate ) . It feels like neither of you wanted to talk to one another. Cost : £367. Lesson learned - 3 estimates from three plumbers - Due Diligence Cheap at the price. Yes, I can hear you say "Well you try and get three plumbers round here then.... " Ok, just the one ESTIMATE and a clear understanding that if the work isn't up to snuff ( ... because you have been rectifying issues yourself.... ) a snagging retention should be negotiated. Pay him for the parts, and for (say) half the outstanding balance. Just like @Temp says: managing people is harder than the work.

How many posts have @Temp's observation as progenitor? Can I suggest a slight tweek - The worst bit is managing people and communicating with those peoples networks. I watch German and French TV. Currently Brits are buying property and doing it up in France (see DW TV on YT for example). - fewer in the former East Germany. No matter how skilled the - now expat - british builder , they all report the same problem: they find it hard or impossible to break into local, established builders' networks. Its the network that matters. Because the network can (and does sometimes) over-rule the individual

I thought these photos might interest you ..... the first one taken a few minutes ago The slider in the kitchen has been open all morning - right hand side of the image is to the North, and thus the Winter Garden is in wind shadow (wind NW) , but in full sun (it was raining when I took the photo) There is a 2.5 meter overhang for a 'veranda' shown here earlier in the build. We call it a Winter Garden - yet to have anything in it , but won't be long now. SWMBO intends to fill it with - knowing her - a jungle or as close to that as she can get. There's one episode of Grand Designs where Kevin WotHisFace showed a similar design, but he calls the area a Breeze Corridor. The look of triumph on Debbie's face was a picture. First time she'd ever been 'on trend' she remarked.

We have both ICF and stud partitions. Consider the comparative cost of running services through both - during the build and in the future. You know: for the times that SWMBO flutters her eyelashes and announces that - after all this time of planning and thinking about it and living with it - she now wants [...xyz...] moving from there to to right over there. Because -now- it makes sense. Just thinking about it makes me need one of @Pocster's biscuits

Budget constrains us too. ( @Redoctober ) 3 years living in an also air-tightish house, no MVHR. Double sliding windows (4.5m) fully open every day the wind direction allows - no point in MVHR or air-tightishness for that matter. Once the air temperature is above 15 the slider is open all the time . So the MVHR - when fitted - will be OFF for 4 months of the year. We also sleep with our suicide windows open (glass door with glass Juliet balcony) Still sucking my teeth a bit about the expense of MVHR . But we know we can wait for prices to come down and performance to improve. The comfort afforded by Passivhaus design is very noticeable - we still pop round into our 1800- built cottage nextdoor. More for the pleasure of a roaring open fire . The contrast - the unreactiveness of our build is the most noticeable thing. SWMBO makes a simple point: why buy MVHR when it's not going to be used for half the year? She listens politely to the answer. Smiles, and looks away.

Damn. I'll have to switch the CO2 system for my fish tank off then. Anyone need a load of sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid ? Anyone? No?

I can't answer your question directly, but I can point you to a post that @SteamyTea made yesterday . Here Summarising part of the programme above, what matters most is the quality of the surface onto which the sticky stuff is applied. '... brick and other masonry...' to me means rough and possibly crumbly(ing). Solve that issue - make the brick and masonry smoother - and primed to accept glue, and I think you have the answer. @SteamyTea ? You probably listened more carefully than I did.....

We're having a pop at high standards of practice. Someone who's taking obvious care. Probably not a very nice person to live with - pernickety, picky, - but he takes care (Yes I know.... 'he') I want him on my next build please Gary. Got his contact details? I'll pay 20% more for that sort of attention to detail.

I bet very few people do the area / price calculation. But when you do so 🫣 BTW: How @SteamyTea ? Without incriminating yourself ......

Welcome. There is a bias on this site towards problem descriptions. Posting about success is more to be found in the blogs. Here's a link to what's been said (on this site) about the term " optimism bias "

That's no insect @David001, that was a rat. Just the one. That rat is now a has been rat. An ex rat. An is no more rat. A dead rat. We are now armed with 3 tomcats, a visiting Terrier Rat Pack, poison boxes and a decent Weihrauch rifle with an expensive night sight. Our sheep dog will spend a happy hour or two digging any newbies out of their nests. In proportion to the damage that rats can cause, we just about break even. Which reminds me: agenda for today, blocking all recent holes bar one. And then a simple water, bicarb and acetic acid bomb in the remaining hole. The resulting CO2 rocks them gently to sleep. I hope. In case you're interested, 200 ml bicarb, 200ml acetic acid 200ml water in old plastic bottle. Screw top tight shut. Shove in hole. Block hole. Hard. The reaction causes large volumes of CO2. Bottle bursts. Rats nest flooded with CO2. Rats die ( lose consciousness first then die) or leg it elsewhere. Yes hit and miss, probably miss more than hit. No one technique works with rats. After the initial explosion, rats that escape from holes I've missed are fair game for Tess. And other canine guests.

Come and sort out our driveway - if you aren't a spammer that is.....

If - as @SteamyTea points out if - Kate had nothing to do with the image, then roof design has been driven by solar panels.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/permitted-development-rights-for-householders-technical-guidance Please bear in mind that we are not experts.

Could not agree more. Here's why I agree. And I can't say @Russell griffiths didn't warn me.

And so the Council neatly ignores the issue of finance. Surprise surprise, it all cost more than the developer thought it would. Now where have we all heard variations on that type of story before? Oh yes. Here.

Very interesting @craig . If you'd have known when you sold us your windows that after a few years, our slider (when shut but not locked) would whistle Colonel Bogey when the wind is from SW by S, I bet you would have charged us more eh? . Any chance of a different tune - anything by that famous Scottish duo the Complainers - I would Walk 500 miles - or maybe Blow The Wind Southerly by that Scottish bird with the big bust. Please?

Welcome. Help us help you. Focus our minds on your highest priority please.

When it did. I bet you 99% of all people do not look at the color of the china when tainting the contents.

The dehumidifier you use also uses electricity - and doesn't recover any heat. I'm wincing when I write this..... have you tried leaving the door open after ablution? Keep the heat (for a bit) and costs you nowt.

A seven year old lad. And £5. It's OK @joe90 I'm on my way out .....

Your diagnosis is correct. Remedy? Knock the house down and start again. Sorry, but there it is. Sad, but true. Then again, you could simply lift the lawn (above the the piping) and the layer of over-compacted 'soil' beneath it and replace with free draining soil. Replace the lawn