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Everything posted by ToughButterCup
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Paying tips to delivery drivers
ToughButterCup replied to Omnibuswoman's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
Ughhh, it's awful. My BiL learned seven or eight languages, challenged me to learn Hungarian with him one summer holiday. I started, but faltered quickly. It's one of the Uralic language family - and so challenges every last thing anyone using a Germanic family language is used to. Prefixes become suffixes - it's a mess. Damn-it. I'll have another bash when I finish this sodding build. Thanks for the nudge. -
You are aware that under CDM 2015, Domestic Clients do not need to follow formal H+S procedures? I am not suggesting that anyone should ignore good H+S practice. If you are a Domestic Client, (that means - roughly - a self builder) here is a thorough discussion about CDM 2015 and the Domestic Client We are not experts. We offer this resource as informal advice, and you should always take authoritative professional advice from at least three sources (Due Diligence). There are lots of resources online that give you access to Construction Phase Plans should you want one anyway.
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Building regs and sign off one application or two?
ToughButterCup replied to bluebellcottage's topic in Building Regulations
Advised by whom? Have you asked your Building Control company? -
Paying tips to delivery drivers
ToughButterCup replied to Omnibuswoman's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
OK girls, I'll bite. Euphemism? Prolly not - but .... but .... 🙊. Chocolate bar ? Ahhh, got it ... -
Paying tips to delivery drivers
ToughButterCup replied to Omnibuswoman's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
and Bit of a semantic slip-up there Morgan. There's a pattern here isn't there? Blushing yet? Hope so! 😜 -
Paying tips to delivery drivers
ToughButterCup replied to Omnibuswoman's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
Has it occurred to you that you might be one of the few people who is willing to talk to delivery drivers? A smile and bit of banter is worth a great deal. -
Living in a passive house?
ToughButterCup replied to Rubecula's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
Everyone is expecting a 40% price rise soon. So your bill in your old house would be around £1500. £1900 for your current house is a forecast only. Forecasts are just that: an educated guess. They don't know (or rather I bet they don't know) your new house is insulated to Passive House Standard do they? If you allow 1900/ 12 (just over £150 per month) initially and then allow things to settle down for a year? You might be pleasantly surprised . -
I'm fascinated by what the questions might be ....
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Can the local council change the reason for objection?
ToughButterCup replied to broadex's topic in Planning Permission
It might help us help you if you were to show us (upload the original, or copy the text and paste it into a post) your Planning Permission - its called a Decision Notice. -
ICF or Sips for new house in Scotland
ToughButterCup replied to Meabh's topic in General Construction Issues
Yes. Having to employ a builder who has never used the chosen ICF before. Or doing it yourself without close, and technically competent guidance. Attention to detail matters. -
Hello. New member looking to self build
ToughButterCup replied to Omnia's topic in Introduce Yourself
Persistence. My guess is that that's highly unlikely. I say that because the question you ask is common on BH. And so is my reply. However, my answer has no authority at all.. But your local council's Planning Department website is your friend. If you can show that - locally - others have been allowed to do that, or something similar, then you are in with a chance. I suggest you look through their website anyway to try and find projects which are similar to the one you'd like to complete. Good luck: stick with it. -
Does an SE need to be local?
ToughButterCup replied to CotswoldDoItUpper's topic in General Structural Issues
Our SE is in Eire. Never any need to be on site.... ever. -
When - at last - you manage that, come back and tell us.
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At worst, the HMRC might ask you to send them a letter from the merchant confirming that the invoices you have are the customer copy. HMRC are stuck in the 19th century. If I were you I wouldn't give it a second thought. They have to be seen to act fairly. It might be a pain in the Botticelli to get them to be fair, but they still have to behave decently.
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Anyone, sparky, plunger-monger, data analyst or brain surgeon - caught short will use a composting loo when really necessary. Hissy fit ? - Pah! Tell 'em to clean up after themselves, and only if and when they do, you'll take notice of hissy fits. Until then fill yer boots or fill the bog.
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Next question: related to MVHR. To what extent is your builder comfortable with the concept of air-tightness? What experience does he (she) have? And if none, then how are you going to manage that education process ? For me, it was an impossibly steep learning curve. Please excuse me if this is a bit 'forward', but here's a list of resources about air-tightness-champions (I loathe the sobriquet too) Airtightness search results (Before Gollum gets me, there are search engines other than google)
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Excellent. Could I now sound a cautionary note about friends working for you? ...You did ask ... In this context, professional detachment is extremely difficult: be the issue mate's rates, or employees drinking tea half the day or cash flow, or whatever, there's built-in stress. Every single build has at least one - often more - Oh FFS moment. That's when professional detachment is a god send. I'm not suggesting you find another builder, just a little nudge.
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First things first. Is PP a foregone conclusion? Have you researched similar applications? Does your planning department have a thing about (say) Purbeck cladding - you hint at bulk: might the planners agree with you? The lesson I'm hinting at is - if you can't point to other instances of applications (and planning decisions) similar to yours, then you are more exposed to whim. Don't make yourself an easy target.
