ToughButterCup

Whats needed now is to get her back out there grafting while you have a well earned rest Good luck (with that) Ian 😉

' ... the wife was struck down with Cellulitis that turned into necrotising fasciitis, which could have led to sepsis....' And what you don't say is that she could therefore easily have died. I really deeply , from bitter personal experience, hope she is on the mend. Really. deeply .... In my case, a cat bit me. A favourite, much loved playful cat. Cant take a joke? Dont keep a cat

I realised somewhat later than I should have done, that setting up for making routine operations easy is very important . Cutting a 4" pipe is easy - but it's not easy when you're wet and tired in the bottom of a trench have dirty hands on your own not sure you measured the pipe correctly haven't got the right tools easily to hand I found that a super-jaws clamp is almost exactly the same working height as a scaffold end-step : that means you can handle long pieces of pipe on your own, and focus on making the cut accurately. You can comfortably apply washing up liquid, and then clean your hands off before you jump back into the ditch. A simple clean sheet of board lying next to you in the ditch so you can place and retrieve tools without clogging them up with clay is worth 10 times its cost.

Ah, the delights of slip couplers. It was yet another fight with a slip coupling - on my own - in the wet - that I lost my temper. And when I had done the necessary war dance to calm myself down, I realised that an oil-filter grabber was the thing to use to grab the washing-up-slathered-snake of a pipe. Worked like a charm. Next time, I'll use two. Did I say '...next time ... ' Phhhhhhhhhh..... Must be time to go down the pub. Coming?

...and if you can, take the top layer of soil off, put that on one side of the trench, then dig down to the required level placing that spoil on the other side of the trench, like this

It was following your tip (Test bung above) that caused the explosion in the photo further up this thread. Thanks, mate. On a more positive note, I found this really helpful when working on your own .... Oil filter grip re-imagined

You asked, I delivered.

I moved in as soon as there was water to our shower, and the toilet worked properly. Moving in early has some advantages. It lets you see things from an internal perspective rather than looking at a set of plans or imagining what the space might look like if and when you have finished one particular room. SWMBO moved in a few weeks later.( We built in our garden) . I must confess though that we still managed to put electric sockets in the wrong places. Light switches in the wrong places. And make other niggly little errors. If you keep your HERAS up for as long as you can, that will tend to delay any visits by the local valuation officer. Be sure to put a notice on the HERAS making it clear that permission needs to be sought before getting onto the site.

Rats are worthy foes. Gun to be oiled this afternoon, off to the range later, make sure it's still zeroed properly. New batteries for the scope and image intensifier. Wind is shifting just right for a quiet dusk-time sit down and commune with the enemy. Thanks for the tip about flood valves @nod - missed that .

Forgot that...... good point.

R4 Today talking about using Diesel generators for power generation. What price does the KwH have to be in order for us make it worth our while to use a Diesel genny? @SteamyTea ?

I looked at your image and gulped. Looking at the plan, is there any other way of getting close enough? We had to knock down a fence to put our foul drainage in : a few years later what was a decrepit old hedge is now full of new life ....

Excellent stuff. You will keep the HERAS in place won't you: I'm thinking of the recent VAT threads ....

Exactly this argument on R4 Today just a few minutes ago.

Ughhhh, too right. For us a shipping container became two, and then an additional strong-box and then..... And now I can't wait to get rid of them (I have to tell SWMBO) while secretly thinking over-my-dead-body-pal. Funny how I've had to build her a potting shed, a play house for the children and the greenhouse from heaven. "Without the containers sweetheart, where'm I going to store the tools to make your next summer-house?" Silence.

Correct, @jack But the LPA Valuation Officer may also initiate that process by visiting the site and declaring that (you) are substantially inhabiting the site, and therefore that Officer can choose to initiate the process of declaring your property as ready for inclusion on the Valuation List. So to refine your sentence above a little ... but that both the applicant or the Local Valuation Officer may choose (to initiate the process) .... meaning the Habitation Letter from the Local Authority as below (Abstracted from VAT FORM 431NB page 7 ) The line that the LPA Valuation Officer took (with us) was that her judgment on the matter was the key issue : were we 'substantially' living in our new house - or not? In our case she initiated the process. And what does 'substantially' mean? Her answer - water supply, electricity supply, kitchen in, sleeping overnight. The (HMRC VAT Form 431NB ) notes above merely hint that the LPA may choose tell the Valuation Office. The initiation of that process is hidden. Thats the danger for self-builders. Hence the importance of continuing to secure your site until well after completion : thieves, or inquisitive children aren't so much the problem - its snooping Valuation Officers wandering around on-site without permission that could well hit you right in the bank balance. Like most of us, I'd become fed-up of the build looking like a building site after a few years - so I took the HERAS down: there are no dangerous areas of the site anymore. Our build is right next to a minor road. Easy off-road parking deliberately provided for visitors' safety. Arguably another self-build rooky error. I would recommend everyone to examine the reading list given by @jack above as a bit of quiet fire-side reading this autumn. Think hard before removing the HERAS from your site.

This post makes grim viewing and reading. Its the sort of thing that brings the sector into (further) disrepute. It also underlines the importance of doing thorough Due Diligence. But, if you're old, living on your own ...... arggghhhh. Are the guys who did this known locally ? I really hope they haven't been paid ............

They have to ask you that question. Read the Guidance Notes at the end of the form: the bit about time scales. 'Normally' they expect an application with [n] months of [x/y/z] date of the date of the Document informing you that the property has been listed at the Valuation Office (National, not local). You are applying well after that date. Hence the question. Quite how @AliG has got away with a 2018 move in and no letter from the Valuation Office .... I take my hat off to you sir (hidden behind bales ? 😁) Our friendly local Valuation Officer zooms round on her broom so often we now wave to one another - loads'a house building round here. Ya wouldn'a got away with it here ..... I would expect you to be dealt with fairly @Ksev. In respect of evidence, may I suggest a look at your photo records (for us Google Photos) Put together an album with the dates of the various bits of the build - the Xif data on the images is your friend here : there : there will be all sorts of information - among them date of the photo - that you can submit.

I started worrying for you by the end of the first sentence. "friend", "mate" It doesn't matter what the discipline is , trying to impose friendship on a properly professional relationship never seems to end well. There are several similar stories on BH. If you've got mother mates in the building food-chain, smile and as politely as you can refuse. That in itself is really really hard. My hope for you is that the first Oh-FFS moment is over. Only a few more to go. It gets better

Exactly the same issue. How to solve the problem?

or teenager....

Down 34.3% this week ..... I'm surprised too https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

Those skeletons are very convincing indeed. Until ...... I've had a couple of fingers amputated. Each time I asked the surgeon for the sawn off finger, quite properly he refused. But, he saw potential in the joke I had planned. So he suggested I go to the lab technician and ask for a 'finger' from a skeleton. When I explained what I wanted to do with it, the technician happily took a finger off, wrapped it in medical cotton wool (yellow stuff) gave me a specimen jar and sent me on my jolly way. The digit was beautiful - very delicate and detailed. Cue the next visit to my local: left hand deeply wrapped in bandages, right hand clutching the specimen jar. 'Ya got that finger then didya? Yeah. Popped the sample jar on the bar. Pint arrives. More mates crowd round. Publican bites first .... "Well bloody open it then ...... " Top off. Yellow cotton wool roll slides out. I winced in fake pain. Quick sip "Sure you wanna see this boys its a bit gruesome ....." Nods all round One handed, I unroll the cotton wool: perfect timing - the plastic finger tinkles onto the highly polished counter . Plink. Everyone presses forward Publican faints Followed by a general roaring Didn't work with the second amputation. Ah well.

Welcome. In haste - apologies. Cart. Horse. Save the effort until: Horse Cart. Meanwhile read

Is it possible to paint a small patch of brickwork (an inconspicuous bit) the desired colour ? Wince, suck teeth ... rictus grin ... bottle of something nice....