Gone West

Just looked at a website that reckons the copper strip should be at least 40mm wide and suggests using electric guitar shielding tape. https://www.growlikegrandad.co.uk/in-the-garden/pests-diseases-in-the-garden/copper-tape-stop-slugs-snails-heres-video-evidence.html

Snails and slugs just don't like copper so it isn't necessary to connect to a battery. Some of the 'copper' tapes sold as anti snail are poor quality and I hadn't thought of using stripped copper wire which is a good idea.

A long time ago now, but I was told to ring a few days before decision date so I could withdraw the application and resubmit.

It was a local timber yard that supplied it, but it was several years ago now. At the time I got quotes from all the internet suppliers and the local place was competitive and would supply all 4.8m lengths rather than a mixture of lengths.

It's Canadian Western Red Cedar graded number two clear and better.

On the TF house I built I had a plinth clad in brick slips on cement board. Around the porch there wasn't a plinth but I clad the foundations EPS upstand with two rows of brick slips just glued to the EPS using Titebond PU gel glue. We didn't have a problem for the five years before we moved. https://www.axminstertools.com/titebond-solvent-free-construction-adhesive-311ml-10-5oz-409001

We had a portal frame so no ridge beam. Everything had dried out well before plasterboarding so no cracking.

Not this year, too busy, but possibly next year. Haven't even got the weather station data logger working yet.

We moved into our house a year ago which has a 1.4kW ST panel and 4kW PV system. The ST system seems to work well. The immersion didn't work and the PV system was only being used as background supply so this year I installed a Solar iBoost which now supplies the immersion but a lot of the PV energy still goes to the grid. The ST currently heats the DHW to 60C and the immersion heats it to 75C so the heating oil isn't being used to heat DHW. I will sort out the DHW system this year but I would have thought the ST and PV would provide hot water for eight or nine months of the year.

At our last house our neighbour had a Nibe ASHP installed next to his side wall which was around 2m away from our fence. It meant that there was around 1m to 1.5m clearance between the front of the ASHP and the fence.

Excellent, well done.

We didn't install any Cat cable in our timber frame new build and didn't regret it. We used WiFi without any problems.

I used Siniat BluClad Board 10mm with the Wetherby 15mm brick slip system. https://www.insulationshop.co/10mm_bluclad_60min_fire_resistant.html https://www.wbs-ltd.co.uk/systems-solutions/system-finishes/15mm-brick-slips/

At a Victorian cottage I renovated back in the nineties we discovered a large underground brick and render tank that originally stored rainwater. The rainwater was filtered through a two stage sand filter bed and the water in the tank was crystal clear and had obviously sat there for decades unused. We found the original lead pipe that took the water to the old copper. I cleaned the filter bed and installed a pump and used the water for the garden for many years.

The UK as a whole gets enough rain but in some areas of high population density, low rainfall and unsuitable aquifers, storing surface water is a good idea. Maybe a national grid for water supply, as is discussed every time there is a drought, would be worth doing.

At our last house, with the same low rainfall as your area, we used our accidental borehole for watering the garden. It was very useful and if you are able to install a large enough tank I would do it. If you like gardening you will probably end up using most of it for the garden. We were in a very hard water area but toilets didn't seem to be a real problem.

IMHO the most pleasing finish there is.

He was an architect and couldn't deliver his own house on budget, God help any of his clients.

It will never be as efficient as radiators, because however much insulation is under the floor, some heat will always be lost by conduction into the ground.

It's looking good, keep the pictures coming.

Is that the MGB GT you mentioned. You've got plenty to keep you busy then.

We used it all up and then used the immersion. A couple of blokes took the tank away for refurbishing.

Yeah, we were getting low last week, so we gave in and ordered 500l which was £509.20. If I'm right that's about 10p/kWh, I think.

As above we had an Isoquick insulated slab installed and they left an earthing tab which the electrician said wasn't needed so we cut it off.

That's excellent, well done. It's certainly worth thinking about a self build.