Gone West

Found it. I was actually thinking of your pergola, which I think is excellent.

I've got a vague recollection that @JohnMo built a freestanding covered area with timber louvres.

The thickness varies from 40mm to 90mm over diagonally opposite corners, over existing concrete slab. To be tiled with porcelain tiles.

OK, I've got a small area to screed and tile, around 8.5m2, and I was thinking of using a semi-dry mix and tiling within eight weeks!!

How wet was the mix and how long before you could tile it?

We were the first Isoquick installation in England, sixteen years ago. The Isoquick part was very straightforward, unfortunately the concrete laying didn't go to plan.

This setback will be pushed to the back of your memory surprisingly quickly. We had an insulated slab laid, which the workers cocked up badly and the whole lot had to be cut up and replaced. Just keep plodding on.

As an update, we finally bought a Kress 4X4 version and it's a cracking bit of kit. Can climb up slopes that I slip on. The only problem is the software doesn't allow it to drive up a 1.5m high brick walled walkway which is only slightly wider than the mower. Hopefully there will be a software update soon.

My last self build was all JG with collets, and I had no problems at all with manifolds or anything else. It's all to do with correct installation and then it doesn't matter which system you use. I favour JG for DIY as it's much easier to dismantle joints, especially in tight corners. I used the first Hep system in the early nineties and it was awful, but they've all improved over the last thirty odd years.

All the houses I lived in with water softeners, had septic tanks or sewage treatment plants. We never had any problems.

https://wrekinwatertreatment.co.uk/collections/non-electric-water-softeners https://aquasofsoftenersandsalt.co.uk/products/copy-of-minimax-innova

I've fitted several of the Harvey type twin cylinder softeners over the years, including the Twintec. If you Google 'Twintec' there are several suppliers offering softeners with long guarantees. https://newatersofteners.co.uk/products/harvey-twintec-s4

I've moved BT copper cable many times over the years in various houses. I've just removed the copper cable from inside my current house and disconnected it from the outside of the house and had Openreach remove it to the pole. I got fed up with slow broadband. I wouldn't know what to do if it was fibre.

Well, half on maintenance of existing bus services, half on upgrading bus stops and stations. So at least we shouldn't lose services, but I can't see services being expanded. It would need a lot more than £10m for a rural county like Cornwall.

We have a bus run through the village three days of the week, once in the morning and returning in the afternoon. Without huge subsidy there is no way public transport could be used for even a fraction of the journeys made locally. Most people live in urban areas and don't have a clue what public transport is like in the countryside.

Thanks for the idea. I've used Tectite brass demountable fittings before but not tried the copper fittings, so I'll give it a try. Easy to get hold of as well.

The space I want to use for running the pipework is small and I was looking for fittings that are slimmer than plastic push-fit. The Geberit FlowFit system looks good on paper but Geberit don't publish the overall diameter of a 20mm fitting. I looked at all their documents and even checked with ChatGPT.

Was the Geberit system you used FlowFit?

I plumbed my last self build using Speedfit, which went well, and I was planning on using it for the rest of the plumbing here.

I'm only planning on plumbing one room with MLCP because of space for fittings, although if I like it, I might end up using it elsewhere. I was hoping to be able to hire the press tool.

I've not used MLCP before so I have some questions. I've looked at videos of Multipipe and Geberit MLCP systems and the Geberit system looks good for access in tight spaces. Can anyone give me some advice about makes they have used and how easy it is to use an adapter to go back to existing copper or plastic pipe.

When I built my place I had a Senco 1st fix and a Senco 2nd fix nailer. I used 50mm stainless brads for cedar cladding.

When I designed our house, the plant room was next to the ground floor wet room, so if there was a leak, the water could flow down the shower waste. We also had all the water in one quadrant of the house, so all the pipe runs were relatively short.

That's interesting, what is the reasoning behind having to use a Y instead of a swept T in that position.

We had a similar layout and our ramp ran from the left, in front of the house.