Onoff

One of my mad musings is to build some form of bio-gas generator, basically feeding it with garden and kitchen waste along with manure etc. Was thinking a heavily insulated mass concrete "box" on the lines of the Mother Earth News one. To speed up the reaction I thought about a home brew solar thermal panel running the pipes through the "compost". Then I thought as I'd want such a unit out of way round the back of the house (it'd be down slope too) why not run the waste water pipes through it too and make use of that heat. (It'll likely never happen of course ).

Sell 'em as offcuts on eBay, good money for red & black T&E for people who want to make their wiring mods look pre Part P!

If you wanted to get really complicated then you could go continuous VCL with plasterboard below that then create a false ceiling on battens with low profile, recessed down lighters in the void.

There was a few years back in the City of London a commercial office building that had to have every pane of glass replaced. First a panel exploded one weekday lunchtime luckily missing everybody below. They erected a fly scaffold around the perimeter and from memory another panel went bang before they replaced the lot. (I have btw some peripheral involvement through work with the companies involved). What can happen is that during the floating process of specifically tempered glass tiny bits of nickel react with the heat source gases used to melt the glass. This forms very tiny lumps of nickel sulphide. They're known as "inclusions". The toughened glass is exactly that, made something like 5 or 6 times stronger by its tempering process. It's generally great and as tough as. The issue is that the nickel sulphide isn't stable and for want of a better word "grows". It is in essence a stress point and if within the middle ('ish) of the glass where it's highly stressed can trigger it to shatter. You can order heat treated strengthened glass The higher end glass makers screen their base materials to try and exclude nickel from the mix. They also use various screening tools like magnets to drag out contaminants. They even have rules about what tools can be on site in case you inadvertently bring in some nickel. (As an aside we're working in a food plant at the mo where tools containing wood are banned). Saying that it may not be an inclusion issue at all. I've seen tempered glass accidentally banged into a wall and go bang like a sparkly waterfall coming down. Again it can be from a "shell". Sometimes you'll see a bit of damage on the glass like a concave "dent" - called a shell. Get a bit of movement or stress in the frame due to expansion and the panel can go. In my experience they generally crack rather than go bang. Biggest panels I get involved in replacing go about 540kg....always on a Sunday and always at double bubble! Got some pics somewhere.

No chance of a digger whacking in fence posts here. Clay & flint. 3' long auger on the tractor pto and even then there'll be a shear pin to replace somewhere along the way! Big flints, roots etc. Scary when the auger binds up!

As will I to start off with. Renovate downstairs room at a time and switch to UFH.

Most of this stuff is probably made by the Kyoto Dangerous Toy & Lawnmower Company.....

SCRAPPED the tapered side timbers above. £18 worth of new timber this afternoon. New plan currently under way: Sides AND end panel tapered in by 7°. The ply top mitred at the corner by 45° on plan as a nod to not walking into it as you go to the sink. That little return corner also tapered in by 7°. Pics to follow in due course.....don't wait up.

I've done something right then!

One of my many thought about but not started projects was to do the doorway into the roof eaves from my son's bedroom as the TARDIS and then kit it out in there as a playroom / games room. Unsurprisingly it never happened! Yet another is an outside wc clad the same at the top of the garden slope. Gravity feeding into a biogas set up along with garden waste and solar thermal heating. I give you the..... T.U.R.D.I.S

Really taken with Stone's find, very "organic", Just DON'T go inside if it looks like this: A boat roof shed won Shed of The Year a while back. Some mad Welsh bloke dragged it up a mountain or something: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/shed-year-welsh-shed-boat-4865523

Metal for a start to comply with Amendment 3. I'm NOT a Wylex fan tbh but this PDF gives a broad what's what and why. In my own (and many others) humble opinion the best way to fully comply with the regs and minimise inconvenience is to have the "all independent circuits" configuration i.e. every circuit on its own RCBO. Go even further and put the freezer on its own RCBO etc. On what circuit to put the smokes/CO2 can be controversial. Everyone will have their own interpretation. http://www.electrium.co.uk/media/20150624085516_0_WylexNMMetalConsumerUnits.pdf Gets more complicated with a TT earthing system when there is a very good argument for having Double Pole RCBOs. The big names tend not to do DP RCBOs in single module width so with them you'd end up with a massive board. There are compact, single module, true DP RCBOs but it means venturing away from the main brands. But on the basis they're all made in a factory in China and then look at the "issues" the big names have had over the years then why not! Personally I like Hager. They just look and feel like a quality item. I have heard of issues even with them. Second for me would be Schneider (as was Merlin Gerin).

Not for a professional I'd agree but for the occasional user they're great. I've used one and IMHO they do what they say on the tin. The bed gets laid about 12mm thick then with a tamp ends up at 10mm. I wetted all my blocks first and got the mix just. It's a doddle tbh. Very little, if any waste so less to worry about muck falling down in say a cavity. Have lent out to a couple of mates who found it good too. The little clip on string line clips are inspired IMO. I do then faff about an point all the joints with a mortar gun.....then go over them with a paint brush to work it in, then over fill again and rub off the excess with a block when going off so all smooth. No gaps in my blockwork! This was a bit of a pig. I had a single skin, rickety out house. I put a second skin up on the inside using the Bricky with Easy-fix ties tied into the new skin as I went. 60mm gap with 50mm Rockwool batts. Then more batts on the inside and another 50mm of Rockwool. Got the idea from the Make It Up As You Go Along School of Building! If only I'd known about eBuild then. About the only good bit is I've got about 350mm of fluffy insulation in the roof.

Click Mode or Hager Sollysta for me. Volex are the spawn of the devil. Terminals too tight to get x2 2.5 including the insulation on some let alone spur off it.

£120 each here for a similar looking pan here. You can get it with either a Geberit or Bernstein frame so I reckon the fixings that come with the frames I've got may do: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WALL-HUNG-TOILET-WALL-MOUNTED-SoftClose-GEBERIT-installation-system-Flush-Plate-/281393512309

About 2 mins in, the Pro Pointer: I think I've got a spare one somewhere. PM me your address if you want it.

Have a look at these 2 suppliers: http://www.ukelectricalsupplies.com/ http://www.fastlec.co.uk/

Similar look for a lot less money, Bernstein make, any good? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RIMLESS-WALL-HUNG-WALL-MOUNTED-TOILET-NT2038-Ceramic-Soft-close-duroplast-seat/281855507922?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D36498%26meid%3De0091188b4fd4681bf518c2a314d4b10%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D331856429927

From what I can figure it's a couple of hundred quid for the "element" . Type "geberit shower wall drain" into eBay. You'll see various "elements" with the yellow plastic covers on. You can get short or tall frames which also take the shower mixer. I think on top it's about £80 for a stainless cover to finish everything off. Not sure on the exact part numbers yet. I've just left a big square out when I laid the floor slab (you might remember from eBuild) and will think about the wet room corner later. This gives a lot of info: http://www.plumbase.co.uk/link/1/b023799_29442_t.pdf

This is what I plan on using..... .....eventually

I did notice that but joe said he can get a decent signal sitting on his van roof. Figured stick the antennae up high. If in doubt I suppose spend the extra £10 and get the Yagi one.

How about this.....a bit cheaper: http://www.lightinthebox.com/lcd-display-mini-dcs-1800mhz-mobile-phone-signal-booster-signal-repeater-sucker-antenna-with-10m-cable_p2057085.html?currency=GBP&litb_from=paid_adwords_shopping&utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=cpc&adword_mt=&adword_ct=84187195634&adword_kw=&adword_pos=1o3&adword_pl=&adword_net=g&adword_tar=&adw_src_id=1810908567_301579154_21687113474_pla-78632005276&gclid=CIa_7Pj6ic0CFagy0wodul0AZA

Cheapest I could find: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wireless-GSM-LTE-1800MHz-4G-Mobile-Signal-Booster-Repeater-Amplifier-Yagi-kits-/181916509768?hash=item2a5b11a648:g:3jAAAOSwo0JWMca3

Think this was your booster Dave? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GSM-900MHz-Mobile-Phone-Signal-Booster-Repeater-Amplifier-Yagi-Antenna-TW-/171848937902?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=EwJeFW7VawcWj50n%2BoG%2BX%2FTkjBY%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc 2G only? And the psu burnt out! Worth checking what the phone frequency is then trawling eBay for something compatible from China/HK: http://www.4g.co.uk/4g-frequencies-uk-need-know/

Any use? Anywhere between 750 and 2000 lux depending on the detail of the work you're doing: http://www.aceinnovation.co.uk/Downloads/LUX Fact Sheet.pdf