Gone West

How very true.

I'm a bit surprised that isn't considered a trip hazard especially as it's at the top of the stairs.

It's Sennocke. We were also told we could only have site insurance until completion but Sennocke went away and came back with the unoccupied buildings and contents cover solution.

I didn't need site insurance any longer because the house is largely completed and 90% furnished. I no longer have all the equipment on site associated with a build. I'm hoping to have it signed off later in the year. It is in the garden of the existing bungalow that we are living in until it is demolished. The policy is for a year with the proviso that is is inspected once a week. I'm in there nearly every day so a much cheaper option for me.

As site insurance was so expensive, and I didn't really need it, I've converted that to unoccupied buildings and contents cover. It works out at less than half the price of site insurance and I've got contents cover for £20,000 included. I don't yet have a completion certificate.

This table might be useful. Sewage Treatment Plant Selection - Which Sewage Plant is the BEST? Comparision of EN12566-3 Test Results Below is a comparison list of Performance Results during the EN12566-3 Test - taken from the EN12566-3 PIA Test Centre website. The figures are the average of the 38 weeks testing - the lower the figures, the better the result. It is probably better to avoid plants which have figures in red that are at, or close to, the limits, as they must have exceeded the limits on some test occasions and you are not allowed to exceed the limits at all. Make of Plant Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) Mg/L Suspended Solids {SS) Mg/L Ammoniacal Nitrogen (NH4 - N) Mg/L Environment Agency Maximum Limits 20 30 20 Klargester Biodisc 20 23 5 Klargester Envirosafe 12 21 3.4 Klargester Bio-Ficient 20 27 0.4 WPL Diamond 10 21 7.3 Balmoral Hydroclear 11 19 4.5 Tricel 11 16 8 Graf Klaro E 12 20 12 Condor ASP 8 12 7.7 Falcon 11 16 5.9 Vortex 7.3 15.2 0.4 FilterPod Non-Electric 10 12 11 Premier Tech Aqua Ltd. Epurfix Non-Electric 11 14 20 Clearfox Non-Electric 9 29 12

Very much in the vein of "Let Stalk Strine" which in the 60s, as students, we thought was hilarious.

I don't think they have a leg to stand on but they are worried by the number of houses that are not weathertight for long periods of time and the resulting deterioration of the materials. I'll ask the BCO what the minimum is that is required to issue the completion certificate.

An interesting point that I have encountered with my warranty is that as my build has taken longer than the warranty issuer assumed it would they have told me if the completion certificate isn't issued this year they won't honour the warranty. It's something I am still considering as there was not a time limit mentioned in the documentation.

I'm waiting for the drought to end. We've had less than 50mm in the last three months.

Our neighbours had one installed by "professionals" and it popped out of the ground overnight. It was one that had to be concreted in and they didn't put enough concrete in the hole or fill the tank with water. Mine is anchored by four horizontal angle irons in the soil.

I can't see why a 50 gallon coffin type tank wouldn't work if you've got the space for the length.

When Dan bought the place he asked me what the two big cylinders were in the loft. I had a look and was surprised they were in the loft, and connected HWC, as I'd not seen that arrangement before. Don't know how big it is but the cold water tank is on a platform in the ridge, strange, but it seems to work okay. It has maximised the space in the house by not needing a large airing cupboard.

My son has two hot water cylinders in his loft. IIRC they are connected in series. They were plumbed like that when he bought the place and I think it's just a height issue. Probably cheaper to get two standard off the shelf cylinders, than get a bespoke one made.

Don't think I would qualify:- You must meet this criteria before applying for this scheme: The property can not receive other alternative, affordable broadband services of at least 2Mbps.

There are different broadband packages varying between £14.50 and £36.99 per month and VoIP packages of £5.99 or £8.99 plus a set up charge. http://www.vfast.co.uk/packages/

I've got a small, 250mm x 100mm receiver on my TV aerial mast that picks up a signal from a repeater on the local church which is about 3/4 mile away. It just needs a clear line of sight between the two. Whenever it rained and a strong wind was from the wrong direction water got into the BT junction box on the pole and the line packed up. I'm really looking forward to telling BT what to do with their line.

Yeah it's copper down here. I didn't get any subsidy, didn't know you could. I'm just pleased to be rid of BT/Openreach.

I had a Vfast engineer install their service the day before yesterday. They were a pleasure to deal with compared to Openreach. Ten days from making the initial enquiry to having it installed. They let me fit the cable and were happy to work around what I wanted. Their service was 17Mbps compared to 1.5Mbps for BT and it's cheaper. I shall take great delight telling BT what to do with their old cable when we demolish the bungalow.

We used the Isoquick insulated foundation system and our BCO accepted it because it had LABC EW25 certification.

I don't have a conventional external leaf. The DPM lines the interior of the Insulation so in theory the concrete slab should never be damp. I tend to over-engineer things so thought if the slab did get wet then the timber I-beam sole plate could be isolated from the damp slab by fitting the DPC.

It could be straight on the slab, but I asked for it to sit on a DPC which is folded up the outside and then covered with the membrane which is on the outside of the OSB racking.

That's interesting because that's what I wanted to do. The BCO said I couldn't because he wouldn't allow drainage into the soil within 5m of the house. He said the land drain was drainage.

I did all mine after the slab was laid and the frame was up. I couldn't see any advantage to laying surface drainage pipes before the slab as they would probably just be in the way or could be damaged.

I've been asking myself that everyday, since a few weeks into the build.