ToughButterCup

Welcome. As requested by others above, an image or two would help. as would a sectional plan - if you've one available. If not, just photos will help us a good deal.

OK. Was the damp evident during the dry month, or did the damp patch first occur during a wet period?

Ugh... My sincere sympathy..... In June, was the damp evident? If that is the case then, because June was so hot, it might hint at a leak rather than condensation. I accept that it's a rather shaky theory but it's a starting point for thinking

Delays need never be wasted. They're an opportunity to plan in more detail than you think you'll need ....

Get a plan. A really detailed plan.

The micropoltics of a build are much more complex and extensive than I thought they would be. I'm the first to admit that I know just enough to be dangerous to myself and others . But sometimes, just sometimes I've had enough. Today is one of those days

It's interesting - you virtually never hear that question on BH (zero results on a BH search) . There are many variants of the same question - and I'm sure we've heard many of them. But my God I'm sick of people asking that question : the conversation usually runs something like this [random example] " I see you aren't using a nailer to fix you cladding: Hell of a lot of work screwing all those (apologies 'them') screws in innit". or "What, yer ducting the foul drain through the house and out under the floor ... why dintcha jus' purrit straight out the 'ouse and down 'n side?" or (this is a good one) "You aint sanding the (plastered) walls before painting - be 'ell of a mess if ya dunt" I've realised that my answers vary by the degree of irritation I feel - and probably by how tired I feel Pleasant : " Thats an interesting thing to to say - tell me what you mean.... " An attempt at humour [on the cladding job]: "Here's the screwdriver, and there's a loada screws: just follow the chalk-line - two per plank, please" Annoyed: "Because I'm not you " Really annoyed " Wanna a job - cos if you do, you'll do the job as I want it done" P!ss off please " You the expert then? " And - equally tart - I'll get a cheery (or sneery) " Well, good luck with that then " in return. Serves me right: I should learn to keep my mouth shut. Leave them wondering what I think. Choose your battles, says Debbie. Right as ever.

Welcome. You can do a lot worse than waste time reading BH ; cock-ups galore, tears aplenty, sleepless nights common. But the pay-back : it's in direct proportion to the amount of challenge. Good luck. Ian

You have one alternative to the above. Do nothing How was the request phrased ? - could / should / must / have to by [...date...] / failure to apply will [.... penalty...] . Could you copy and paste the key wording from the letter (email?) please. In the absence of a direct enforceable instruction that has significant financial consequence to you, I suggest you do absolutely nothing.

But nowt to brag about eh?

No, I don't know. But I now know that I'd just do it and wait for the sheety letter, lose that and then wait for the visit . In the meantime I'd have bought a Rhodesian Ridgeback , feed it every other week, put razor wire up round the field and then let Tiddles loose on anyone from the LPA. Cynical? Me? Just describing how our nextdoor neighbour approached exactly the same question. The difference.... ? His pond forms every time his open cesspit overflows. Why you can even see it in Google maps, but it's more detailed on Google Earth. I'm waiting with not quite baited breath for the next naughty child passerby to think it a wheeze to play near the cesspit, fall in. I have a life belt ready. I am Not Joking. Our pond raised zero interest from the LPA and less than zero interest from the BCOs.

Yes. I've looked in vain for the invoice - I'll have another go this afternoon when I get back .... I've gone through part of the 'outlet' list on the site website - and submitted my post code for Tyvek dealers locally - tells me to submit a valid post code (!) Using google maps history, I found this The red marker is the exact place, and that phone number might help you - fingers crossed Ian

Yes. Don't buy from Germany direct. Bought a pair of work trousers (Swedish I think) : my God what a fuss and massive delay. VAT rate - forgotten but it was noted on the Quittung (receipt). There's (was?) a place just north of Carlisle that imports (ed?) and stocks Tescon stuff - just off the M6 immediately after the second turn for Carlisle (old airfield) . I bought my Tescon things from there. I'll dig out our VAT return - the supplier might be listed there. Nice group of Polish lads running the office. Winder if they are still there..... PS The address is Kingsmoore Park Enterprise Area. - in haste - I'll have another look this p.m. Ian

Not just sealant as @nod says, but a thin hard foam pad as well. (Dig out the fitting instructions to double check - ours needed one) Bowl off the wall, fit the pad, re-mount the bowl, seal.

5m deep? .... rubbish. Contest that. What they may be talking about is a hibernaculum. For our (two) I cut down some branches and other brash, and with the digger blade, shoved the resultant mess into two corners of our land , and fenced them off with temporary HERAS. "They look good " said the eco-charlatan on one of his highly overpaid visits. The HERAS provides two things - 'status' and the inability to inspect too closely

Check that ..... architects aren't ecologists You can do so by looking at other similar planning applications in your locality. Look through the ecology reports. Purely for reference, I relate the following - this is first hand evidence. Some local farmers have been known to fill ponds with pig slurry - kills GCNs fell trees in which bats roost level (scrape the topsoil off) parts of fields near ponds fell trees with TPOs on them and just pay the fine if caught (felled at 08:30 on Sunday mornings) shoot bat roosts out (by paying their shoot members to do a bit of clay shooting very close by) and then have the temerity to moan in the local pub about the lack of wild-life Our ecologist behaved abysmally - almost as badly as one plumber we had the misfortune to meet. He lost an email telling us that we could proceed - and thus delayed the start of our build by 9 months. I paid half his bill: not a murmur from him about it. Happily now, our place is crawling with GCNs, (one in the kitchen when it rained hard) the bats are back in force and the swifts (gone now) have been fluttering about the place , though not nesting yet. Healthy head of rats : all need shooting (a cheap night-sight is brilliant for watching bats). Brown hares have started boxing again in the field next to us. Over the course of our build I excluded about 30 GCNs (more? ) , and accidentally killed about two or three (so that means probably about 10 ). The whole ecology build cost - I can't face writing the number here - made each newt worth several hundred pounds. Disproportionate and unreasonable. And I love all forms of newts.

Yes, it's expensive. I save up and almost never buy at full price. I dug the whole of our foul drainage by hand during lockdown ( 31 cu m) on my own. Groundworks quote - a couple of thousand. Cost to me zero £sd , and a marked improvement in fitness : used the laser every single day. Find me a spirit level level that will project a laser line (at the required incline) down the inside of a foul drain .... Yes you can do the job without one. But for a first-timer I kind of 'needed' the support. Now I would just do the job by eye and straight piece of 2 by 4 . BCO didn't even ask for evidence or check, or ask for photos. But, the job's right to within a mm or two. You can re-calibrate the laser - and I have done so once (I think) just before fitting the joists. Yes, I molly-coddle it: always keep it away from my children, always in its fabric case. And I'm annoyed to see that the newer ones have fewer features - laser is missing as is the micro-adjustment for un-level surfaces. Vorsprung durch weniger Technik? [ tr Progress by using less tech? ] I feel an outraged email on its way to Vonjy Rajakoba (Bosch UK Chief Exec)

Ah! Of course. 🤦‍♂️Thanks for the post . This is my go-to level because It has both a bubble and electronic feedback If set to electronic, you can hear when the item is level (the error can be given both in degrees or percentage) - you don't need to look at the level You can use the level upside down - the display automatically compensates The surface of the level allows you to write on it in pencil It has a built in laser (30mm above the base) (wish it had a laser both ends) It is magnetic It can be strapped to a straight edge - levelling a path today with a 3m straight edge ( 3 black slots for velcro straps provided) The level can be used as an inclinometer You can set the level to 'level' (or another value) when the level is placed on a slight incline (red turnbuckle on the RHS) You can 'hold' any value (hold button) allowing you to read the level when the viewport cannot be seen ( measure> hold > view) Yes, it's German, and you'd expect me to buy one. Haende hoch Fritz : I'm biased, I agree. I am sure that people like Zeiss, Leitz, or Hilti, or Dewalt do levels that are just as good. If someone drove a digger over mine, I'd have ordered another a few minutes after having stopped swearing. For a self builder, and for me, it's close to perfect Exactly.

If I find I'm constantly moving other people's never-been-used-in-a-million-years stuff, I now tell them that it's been put on Death Row. Photograph it and pin that on the notice board. The photo soon gets covered with other lists and stuff. They've got 6 months to move it. I allow one Appeal, but if it's still there a year after the Death Sentence .... it's gone. To date, not one complaint. They just buy other useless stuff I need to find storage for. Why is that a bloke's job eh? Why?

I still wince at the moment ( a year ago) I lost my temper and threw away stuff '.... we can't throw away ...' Not a peep out of anyone. If it ever gets to that I'll just say that I might have, but that I was in such pain - from my hip - that I couldn't remember. And go down the pub.

Its the shifting stuff around isn't it. And its shifting the same sheet around - never yours - always the children's A Level notes or some such rubbish (They're all in their 40s .... ) Told them their stuff is on Death Row. You ought to have heard the bleating....

Work harder ya lazy B_hubber !

Not in (my) Vaterland by chance? Vorsprung durch Bautechnik?

Welcome. I see you might be looking in my old stomping ground: Charlbury / Chipping Norton . Lovely place if you can ignore Clarkson's pervasive domineering rudeness - and the set that surround him - in Chippy ... You might want to think about Hook Norton - just outside Chippy - adds two minutes to the trip to Charlbury station - but they make Old Hooky there. As in .... Wassa Matter Lager-Boy: frightened you might taste summat ? Where have you built before ? I ask because we might learn from your experience - share it even?

Um.... you can penetrate the wall just below the level of the (say) toilet in the top floor can't you? Thats what everyone told us we should do.