ToughButterCup

The local Valuation Officer was was way too efficient and I took the HERAS down way too early as well. Live and learn.

Talk. Listen. Negotiate. Do. And here's the very detailed answer.

SMART - a happy, warm partner ? SMART - airtight ? SMART - simple, replaceable ? SMART - early adoption ? SMART - no key entry ? SMART - MVHR ? SMART - easily maintained ? SMART - digital ? SMART - digital and analogue side by side (in parallel ) ? SMART - easy to find for the emergency services? SMART - self-consumption of locally generated power? SMART - nerdy SMART? Bet you wish you hadn't asked now - or rather that I hadn't answered. Ah well. Welcome. Ian

Its rare for @Conor to hiccup , but he has here. In our case, the starting pistol was fired after the date that the house was added to the Valuation List. We still have not had Sign Off by the BCO - yet - over a year later. @Conor is correct in saying that the BCO sign off is one (but only one) of the list of events that can be used by HMRC to initiate their own VAT Reclaim process. Here's chapter and verse on Valuation Listing

Make yourself a calendar 1460 days long. (+1) Put it on the wall. Every morning, cross one more day off On the 1462nd, take your partner out for a slap up meal. The 4 year rule wins again. In the meantime worry about whether Donald Trump will be re-elected. Or about the price of fish. Cross this bridge when the letter arrives. We'll still be here to help. Happy New Year. Ian

Yes. And Agamemnon really is (was) the fella who could tell you all about sitting on a bench, and straining into a large void. Specially when he was at Argos waiting for the results. I'd be shocked if there were any water at all in his case.

Hi. You are most welcome. Other Corns will be along drekly. 😑 You are more likely to get an answer to your question if you post in the roofing section here . ( Because there'll be others who have ( or have had ) the same issue. Just copy and paste the question bit of this post into that thread on the site. Any images or diagrams ( or product images) you make ( photograph them) and put on here will help us help you.

Changing systems is a good excuse - early in the development cycle - to run both systems in parallel. Lots of evidence to show what happens if you don't.

Hello, you're most welcome. Mechanical Design engineer .. . tell us what do you design - or perhaps that should be - which sector do you design for ?

You're not 'OnThePull ' anymore Dave are ya...... Or got grandchildren who need carting to school, so they get delivered to your door at 0530 - and the parent throws the child through the door and says ' GoddaRushSorry KissKiss' Now then, about those spellings we were going to learn -

Goddit, @Conor : some 20 > 10> mm chippings in a meter long 110 pipe, vertically inserted in the ground with rat-proofing wire at the top. Cheers. Ian

I'm (second) fitting my MVHR next year. And wondering how to sort out the condensate drain . Saw this and thought that a couple of 110 pipes inserted vertically like this would work wouldn't it ? Might this idea (suitably down-sized) be worth running past the BCO ? Does anyone know how much condensate an MVHR system produces?

Got one [mixer]: used by all and sundry - but I'm the only one who cleans it properly - funny that innit. I have a local teenager in mind. Like Rollo (remember him ? ) he has two speeds - Dead Slow or Stop . But he turns up every time he needs a few quid. Which is regularly. "Grab that pick axe for me will ya !" ---------- Puzzlement writ large over his face ---------- " Wha'sOneOthem then ? " So GaudOnly knows what he'll make of a cement mixer.

How hard is it to do? Do you have to plan every ('...off - line ...') brick? In other words 'map it out' first? I ask because I'm at the stage of our build now ( i.e SWMBO is warm, dry and content) where I can allow myself a bit of fun during the build. We have a low retaining wall to build ( block 'main' wall but brick faced)... and in the new year I'm off to the local Tech to do a basic bricklaying course for old farts. Really looking forward to it. I just need to find a tame teenager to mix the mortar for me.

I have family who used to be involved in the development of industrial units in Berlin. I say 'used to' because we're all retired now. And my oh my could my company moan about Planning Department bureaucracy. I was there in the 1980s. Imagine then how I laughed to hear from several sources that Brownfield sites now take 10 to 14 years to develop, and about 14 months to build once all the bits of paper are in place. There's even regulation about how building drawings should be folded. And instances where the build was held up because of that issue. So when I bumped into this Instagram video, I felt a real pang of nostalgia. Oh the delights of bureaucratic delay. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1ZTd3UNwiU/?igsh=N2FkYW52Nm8yNGNr It's not NIMBYism. It's DancingOnTheHeadsOfPins. No wonder German farmers are revolting.

Couldn't you do something similar with sheets of left over walk-on glazing? I dunno, a glass crash barrier or summat?

Ughhhh... ex-smoker here. I can now smell if someone's smoking in the next village . ExFagAshFiends like me are the worst. I thought you meant wood-smoke from a fire..... But when - in the pub say - when anyone can smell the smoke on the clothes of the DoorWayDesperates who come in after a quick puff outside, you have an enormous job on your hands. In the days when people sent one another letters - remember them - I could easily tell if the sender had been smoking. And it must be so much worse for you. The only way is to create a positive air pressure in your house: and thats going to cost you. Sorry, I wish I could be more positive.

Welcome. Smoke - getting in your eyes yet? (sorry) Have you talked to your neighbour about the issue yet? I ask because together, you'll solve the problem more quickly. Yep: it'll be an exercise in diplomacy, but worth the effort I think.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1bgVeeIjCp/ Downloaded 29th December 2023 The image is shared from an Instagram Channel called 'Dutch Bricklayers' I wonder how many people go past that wall and never notice it? It's called a Falling Soldier Course. Gorgeous. @Brickie - you done anything like this?

Ugh, pushing on an open door here. We've been in for two full years so far. Now not much worries me, (remember our wall collapse?) but here's a list of what did Water droplets on the floor in (say) the pantry: automatic look-up reflex. Why? the flat roof leaked once and was repaired under guarantee. Still look up. Never leaks now. Annoying. Any wind over 70 knots (and gusting higher) the louvres on our Winter Garden whistle and moan if the wind comes from SSW. The sound is deep and threatening. Bit like @SteamyTea when someone writes KwH instead of KWh or is it KWH Whassat noise ? : most often heard just after dawn. Scratching like a kid dragging its nails down a blackboard: Its the local buzzard grabbing onto and pissing about on our Lindab guttering. Drip - drip - drip - drip in the upstairs bathroom. SWMBO had quickly washed her hair over the bath, and put the hand-shower head on a low chair by the bath.... and didn't switch it off fully. I discovered it at 0300 (old-man-trouble) Well thank God I have an old bladder because the bloody ceiling below would have fallen in. Fault? MINE. I should have designed it so that nobody could do what she did. Gusty NW wind. One Lindab bracket is slightly loose. Why haven't I fixed it? Nesting Grey Wagtail, and Starlings a meter away. Took me a year to reassure myself that the fridge makes stoopid noises. At night. Sodding thing. Whassat air bubbling up in the wetroom shower floor drain for? IC's lifted , shoo shoo backed up in three ICs, but not the last one. 6 year old - "Can I help?" Out with the rods - whoosh - "...All Gone Grandad.." (more worried about him falling in than anything) . Why? The sodding digga driver had pulled our rodding point up, despite it being marked and him being told to use a hand shovel. Split the pipe. I can feel a bit of foul drainage and foul language coming on next year .... Shoulda done it myself - my fault. The massive advantage of DIY MAX is that you know everything about the house, and you have the tools and know-how to hand to fix it.

When did you last have a day off Gary? You know, go and sit in a cafe and think about the meaning of life. Or treat the OH to some new tiles? (sorry)

Ring them and ask why. And then ask them to suggest how they might solve your problem

Q1 Yes: google it, loads on the market Q 2 and 3. Loads of good example images on Google and YT Q4 and 5. Yes.. Google insect screen or associated search terms.

A photo, or series of photos, or a plan, or screenshot from a mapping program would help us help you. Short annotations on the diagram help a lot. Direct, simply phrased questions help us read your posts. Are you asking; Can my neighbour gain access to their own site across my land? If you are asking that question, then your permission is the only thing needed. Do they need temporary or permanent access? Since this is your first post, it's probably a good idea to point out we are not experts. Just interested, hard-bitten, gnarled, ugly but supportive building obsessives. There is no substitiute for doing your own Due Diligence. Here is an explanation of that term.

One of the most interesting first posts .... ever. Wilkomen Fotografs please . Loads of them, if you have time