ToughButterCup

'S wot many teenagers suffer from for a few years innit...... Have I got this right? If we link a few hundred teenagers together (get them all to hold hands) we could manage the UK's synthetic inertia? Lets go for it I say.

I wholeheartedly agree. Any professional relationship needs to be based on mutual respect. In my experience professional respect takes ages to develop : and probably also needs to grow through things going wrong. Joint problem solving shows the quality of any relationship, not just the architect / customer version. This board is replete with posts critical of architects: their prices, their inability to communicate, their arrogance, their aloofness, their educated artistry. This board on the other hand does not itemise members' inability to listen, members' rudeness, members' lack of Emotional Intelligence, members' own poor problem solving skills. The point I'm making is that this problem has two sides. In any realm , you find out more about your partners when the soft and smelly hits the fan. Always. In our context, there's a simple answer to risk reduction : Due Diligence. Ask a prospective architect to talk about things that went wrong with their designs. Ask them what they did when site issues arose : and how those problems were solved. Go and see their designs in real life, not just in the brochure ; talk to their customers. Ask those customers what their architect actually charged. Shameless plug for our architect Sam Edge. Not perfect as an architect, but I'm not the perfect customer either.

Of course. Carpet is well known for its high resistance to APDS tank rounds. Russian tanks are being refitted at the moment. Iran is providing high quality Persian carpet. And the Taliban are insisting that their women folk stay at home to make more carpets.

Henry VIII's palaces often had the equivalent of carpet hung on the walls. (Watch Wolf Hall on the tele ....)

and on admission, (s)he had to shower, change into a Hazmat suit, use Festool-level dust extraction ..... The point @ProDave makes (but because he's modest, he doesn't quite say it) he's an experienced electrician - he's made hundreds of build-related contacts over the years he's worked in the Highlands. Knows when each local trader breaks wind in the pub, who's disgraced themselves with a customer's wife, who's doing well, who's on his way out. And who never to touch.... Priceless information, priceless.

First, I'm really sorry you have had this awful experience. It's fairly a regular, not to say common story on this board. But that won't diminish the hurt you feel. I think I may know part of the answer to your question (highlighted in bold above). Networks. Your project 'feels' pretty large. And while your hesitant start did find some who wanted to engage, they withdrew - probably (in one case) because of the size of the project. Silence is a common weapon used by traders and customers who lack the emotional intelligence to say 'No ' politely. Your experience in that respect widespread here. We've all (I bet) suffered from the unanswered phone syndrome. At least one company tried to tell you 'No (more)' . But as you say: they found it difficult - because they hadn't thought it the whole thing through I expect. The formal process of Due Diligence - while basic to large projects - is cumbersome. Traders need a back-office to manage it: customers need to make the time to follow it. So corners are cut - on both sides. Please don't misunderstand this post: there's no Schadenfreude here. (Even though I'm German by birth). May I suggest you find out a lot more about potential suppliers in future? A lot more. Networking is hard work: from golf-course to pub or polite Sunday morning chit chat outside church. A project your size needs a long contacts list. Good luck Ian

Exactly right. Thats why the micropolitics of each planning application matters. It matters more than the need to focus on the content of the message in each conversation rather than by whom or how that message is delivered. An exercise in attention to detail, and self control.

Thanks very much indeed. All credit to you for Just Bloody Doing It. You hint at an unhappy Planning Department local to where you want to build:. Makes you wonder what the subtexts are / were. And which bits of micropolitics played themselves out in your case, thats what golf-courses are for though isn't it.

You will be applying for your costs won't you ? Just checking😐 The £30K cost of the Application is obscene - it would have stopped many people in their tracks - it would have stopped ours. Even half that sum would mean the death of many a building project. You have been shown to be persistent - an attribute that all self-builders need. Well done. There's the core of the matter. Lack of proper engagement, sloppy Couldn'tGiveaFookish amateurism writ large. Backed-up by corrupted power structures (Committee Chair) Your turn. Pass 'Go' Collect £200. Here's a new set of dice.

They did that in only the very best joints in the 1500s ......

Put baited traps down. M/T for 2 weeks (they're neophobic) then bait and check fortnightly. Get a ratter of a cat: day rate £100 a day.

because that visor was nicked by the OtherHalf and installed on his/her side.

Thats why we have wetrooms: no mopping, just sluice it dahn' va plug'ole

I think I'm right in saying that our shower has two flow-rates : 9 litres per minute and 18 per minute (Hansgrohe RainDance ) The higher flow rate shower head delivers a warm and gentle massage for my dilapidated back, and for a more recent insult: a new bit of metal in my hip. A Definition : Old age: where going to the bathroom almost always involves some form of first aid treatment.

I've just come from a conversation with our planner about exactly this issue. She says that unless PD is explicitly withdrawn, then PD rights remain. Further, PD rights should not be withdrawn without good reason - her comment was something to the effect that Planners are doing so while giving relatively little thought to recent court decisions about the matter. There have been a number of challenges in this area. Be sure to read the PD regulations in context to the building which already exists. (See @Temp above) My advice would be to spend a few quid on asking a local planner to give you properly qualified advice - just in case there's some silly local wheeze... Do your Due Diligence before selecting a Planner to advise you. We are interested (not to say nosey) amateurs on this discussion board. Not experts.

Frenching an air inlet eh? Now there's a job for @SteamyTea

👍👌. Yer a star.Thank you Ian

You meant 3rd of January 2023 dintcha? Make an offer to pay at - to you - an acceptable monthly amount. I think they cannot refuse: stress -think-. Ring them straight away on Tuesday (if they are open)

Proper little head-slapper this one - have a look at this...... The valve assembly has been removed. It sticks out about 20mm below the ceiling. In the photo, there's about 10mm between the top of the fridge door and the ceiling. A mate popped round and when he stopped laughing, he suggested that it would be 'better' to sink the inlet into the ceiling by 12mm than Re-positioning the entire valve assembly about 500mm away from edge of the open door. (Like this) What he meant was 'You'll make a cock up of moving the whole thing easier than' ... doing this Cut the grey inlet pipe back by 12mm or so (Dremel with a cutting wheel) Cut the PB hole bigger (168mm o/a) so the 'flange' recesses into the ceiling If I do follow his idea, I'm wondering how on earth to make the cut edge of the PB look really neat - and perfectly circular. Worse, I'm wondering what I haven't thought of as a potential problem. Of course I could arrange to do the job when he comes round and make him own the follow-on problems...... Ideas? Warnings?

Welcome @wardie9025: you've hit the nail on the head when you say This place is addictive because it reassures. You aren't the only one with [....] problem: many have faced something similar: maybe not exactly your problem, but every single reply offers a new starting point for your own thought. To answer your question: '... could anyone suggest the best place to do that ... I'm not clear about the meaning of 'that' ; test ideas or commit funds? Use the structure of the homepage to act as a starting point: and if by chance you post in the wrong slot a Mod will move your post for you. An engineer you say. Not a structural engineer by chance?

Summarising only slightly tongue-in-cheek: @Jilly First Aid kit , with OOD paracetamol and non-stick plasters : Tyre deflator @TonyT A couple of speed-fit 15mm and 22mm push fit blanks, BBQ, Dust sheets, a mop, bucket and cloths. Spare Haggis (when north of the border) 30 amp junction boxes A selection of terminal blocks / 2.5mm and 1.5mm cable and other stuff just to make electrics temporarily safe. My plumbing tool box.. stop ends.. 15, 22 and 28mm pipe.. all the stuff I need to fix small leaks.. plus a big set of crimps and bungs if I get a big burst a big pipe. here all I want to do is to reduce the flow so things don't flood. My general tool box.. and boxes of screws and fixings also a few small bits of timber. At home I keep some Acrow props and a few lengths of 6 x 2 and 4x 2 timber that I can nip back for. @MJNewton @Canski Cable ties : releasable @SteamyTea Expletive Deletion Kit (Bosch), KY jelly , superglue , soft soap, warm water @Adsibob Silicone grease @ToughButterCupMagnetic screwdriver bit-set where each bit of the bit-set is geo-locatable to within 5mm Anymore for anymore?

... and learned. Someone 'freezing' when the soft and smelly hits the fan somehow is a very interesting reaction to observe. I've seen it described as 'Cognitive Overload' And seen family members 'freeze' when they were younger: arm through a window pane, seeing my thumb hanging on by a thread (passed out) .... seeing my first (of 6) ICF bursts ... By the third, I was totally prepared Preparing for 'normal' accidents to happen (as @Gus Potter above does) is a trick I've had to learn the hard way. It's the first one of the series of disasters that always gets me. Never fails.

What type of wood did you use Joe?

Oh, that's what I threw away then..... ahhhhaaaaaaa.

I'm delighted to have found an answer to how to open both the fridge door and the door that hides the fridge door at the same time. It's called a fridge door slider kit ...... I bet someone here knows which to snog, which they'd marry and many people here will know which to avoid. Advice please.