Auchlossen

I have tried restarting Airport, changing to allow IP6, and a few other internet fixes, to no avail. It seems that all I really need is [maybe] a cheapish Repeater, so I have ordered this e'en which seems to work off a network cable

I have a studio flat separate from the house. The Apple Airport fixed up by my son is not working. I wish to replace it with a reliable device. Internet is provided via ethernet cable directly from the router provided by the Broadband ISP: So wired input. Is the Netgear Nighthawk X3 mesh extender a recommended device? Or is that a bit over the top [£96!] for the service required. Should I also upgrade the base router? I am not a techie, so please simple language.

Just to get back to the original post ? since this is a retrofit, and there is not an opportunity to put insulation over the concrete slab [warm roof], it looks like the 'undesired' cold roof is the only viable option. So I plan to put framing for a plasterboard ceiling, and insert rockwool leaving a ventilated airgap to the concrete roof?

A small part of my double+ garage has a flat concrete roof over it, c. 6x1.5m. Most of the rest of the garage is built in to the ground with studio flat above, so is not losing heat too much. I would like to make it warmer in there to encourage workshop and cycle training activities. Might even put car in there when it gets seriously cold. I had thought of putting Celotex slab there, if my LBMerchant can offer some cheap damaged bits, with double plasterboard under on a timber frame. However concern about Grenfell puts me off this option. Should I just use mineral wool eg Rockwool over the timber framing as a suitably cheap solution?

I used several tall PAX units, hacked bits off the back to build them into sloping ceilings, tho still not qualifying for vat relief. I have bought slab doors from JLewis for one of them, because I wanted a variation from the rather artificial look of the veneer/foil oak finish. The tall ones are tall, as one might expect, and the extra space is no use for shorties. I also had in another room a wall of excellent sliding doors from IDS with coloured glass, bottom runners with gentle stoppers on, which slide beautifully and look excellent.

I would like to re-design outside lighting. At present I have 4 separate PIR LED wall lights, the stainless steel up-and-down tube type a flood further away. Also some manual switched flush led lights over the front door I would like the front door ones to switch on automatically at dusk and off at midnight, or if this is too challenging, then stay on all night. One of the wall lights on a narrow path alongside the house has a c.150deg catchment, so one is past it before it wakes up to one's presence. Needs adapting with a separate Spectra200 detector perhaps. Please advise if this is best strategy and recommendations for specific kit required. Thanks

A roll should last you about 200 years maybe you could sell me on a metre or two?

I went through a lot of anxst on roof window, which was originally going to be a larger oblique quadrilateral with simple insulated timber upstands; but advised to use a commercial system, which meant a simpler rectangle. Fakro DXF-DV6 was the eventual outcome, and my builder's quote was not that much more than Roofing Superstore price. Velux and Sunlux have similar offerings, but Fakro seemed a reputable system. IIRC there were issues about delivery of larger items from RS too. My note says U=0.76W/m2

ex: VAT431 Just a minor mod to advice on 5.wardrobes: these must be built to plasterboard on 3 sides and to ceiling. I have just completed a wardrobe [which is shown on plans] with a temporary panel up to the ceiling, photographed it, and removed it and replaced it as a flat top, which I prefer. The hmrc text [VAT 708 @ 13.5.2] is very specific. And no internal fittings can be claimed, apart from a single full length shelf and rail. I am still on a temporary occupation now for 6 months, and I have been in no hurry to complete the outstanding access path, which BC want to see installed. It has been delayed because its construction is dependent on Council completing work on land adjacent. I need to deal with it now, though, and order final items to be included in claim! The hmrc regs are worth a read through, just in case you hit encounter a pedant like my contaminated land officer, for whom I have just completed a glowing report on remediation, which I should submit for a Ph.D.

Planings are good as a road surface, binding into a solid structure. However I am not sure what your objective is re water. You say you have put some drainage pipes in. The planings will make an impervious layer, they are after all macadam from roads, and will become as solid an impervious as a road when compressed, or even more so if you were to put some diesel into the mix. But if you want to create a free draining bed, then you should avoid planings and also Type1 [whose dust binds down into an impervious layer], and use broken rock as a base.

I used gravel in the plastic grids, particularly for the free draining properties. Both for a car use area, and for a pedestrian access path - ok for wheelchairs. I bought grids backed with terram by Nidagravel, which were a bit more expensive at c. £10 /m2 IIRC, but very easy to use. The irritation is that the gravel size specified for the grids is very small and drifts a little on boots and tyres. I am planning to try a slightly larger size of chukkies [14mm] to see how they ride, and if they bed into the grids sufficiently. Generally pleased with the system.

When I found that BC didn't even want a certificate or report, I rather lost interest in precise calibration.

I am reviving this thread to address another issue. I find that there are some "eco" electric towel rails that are DRY, ie do NOT have a glycol filled liquid inside them, and use a very low wattage element. What are the merits of a dry towel rail rather than a wet one? Here is a good example: Kingston Eco Dry Electric Towel Rail, 600x800mm @ £57 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kingston-Eco-Dry-Electric-Towel-Warmer-Heated-Towel-Rail-Stainless-Steel-Curved-/322330365216 which runs a 70w heater in stainless steel frame. What is the opinion of the kirk re this dry strategy rather than a wet solution please? Has anyone used these Kingston dry rails and can comment on quality?

I went to a local supplier for a Haecker kitchen, like @ragg987 above. I found the price of the units was reasonable, good variety of high quality systems, including some up-and-fold wall unit doors, various drawer systems, and 'handleless' design. The dealer was originally supply only, and provided a very good price on Neff appliances that I could not beat anywhere on line in Europe. Eventually I had them install as well, to reduce pressure on myself. I am well satisfied with the quality and looks of the product, much better than the Howdens rigid basic that I put in the Utility etc.

My plot had 9 TPO trees on it and was impenetrably thick with self seeded multi stem rubbish trees. I negotiated with the Council tree officer to have 3 removed plus one which my arborist said was sick, leaving five [including one mature sycamore!!! and four limes]. Vide auchlossen.blogspot. I found the officials quite willing to negotiate. Their position seemed to be they wanted to preserve a green strip, and that was the purpose that the TPOs were designed to serve. The scrub trees they were not concerned about, and they appreciated that overly dense tree formation required thinning.