Gone West

The water is very hard here and the softener I use removes all the hardness. The anode for the Genvex is magnesium and cost £102 all in from the UK, although they are cheaper from Europe.

The surface area would decrease with time but presumably the material would be lost at the same rate as a volume. I guess the most loss from the anode which is at the threaded end is because the enamelling around the anode hole flange isn't complete. There's no scale formed. I shone a torch into the tank and it's clean but it looks like the anode has a soft coating which may be NaCl from the softener.

I have an enamelled DHW UVC in my Genvex which is fitted with an anode. The manual says the anode should be checked every two years and the expected lifetime is 2 to 5 years so I took it out today after 2 years 9months and it doesn't look much different to the new one, just a bit pitted. The manual says it should be replaced when down to 10mm diameter. The dimensions of the new one are diameter 33.5mm and length 469mm and the removed one 31mm diameter and 440mm long. Calculating the volume of magnesium lost from the anode I reckon it to be about 1/4 of the original. If that's the case the anode should last around eight years. Does that sound right? I have fitted the new anode and don't want the faff of draining the tank down unnecessarily so is it reasonable to to assume it should last at least five years.

IIRC ours had to go a certain way up.

Spray foam would be the best choice as it should stick to the corrugated steel as long as the surface temperature is high enough. The only problem is the cost. I'm not sure whether a thin layer of spray foam with a layer of Rockwool on top would be a problem with interstitial condensation but would be cheaper than all spray foam. https://www.dupont.co.uk/products/froth-pak-180.html https://www.abbuildingproducts.co.uk/froth-pak-180-spray-foam-kit-inc-9ft-hose-gun.html

This is ours warts and all.

Yes is the short answer. Nothing is perfect, people, buildings, whatever you can think of.

@ZacP it was £4400 which was the cheapest by a long way. This was for removal and disposal of all the 8'x4' chrysotile asbestos wall sheets that lined all the internal walls and ceilings and for the disposal of the roof slates which I removed.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your build.

Same as ours. The most expensive part was the asbestos removal.

Ours worked out at 64% for a PH.

Our tomatoes got a real hammering from the strong North wind this weekend so this is the last pick. This has been our best year yet for tomatoes and we've been picking two or three times a week throughout the summer. Wendy grew them from seeds from a supermarket cherry tomato that tasted particularly good. I planted eight of them out into pots and we just kept chopping the top off the plants when they got over 1m high.

There's another free AECB webinar about airtightness on 1st October. https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aWesPg6_QuWAior4F5lxsg

We leave ours on all day, everyday. You can turn it off in the summer if you want, and use windows, but we don't bother.

Lots of the apple orchards around here aren't picked until October.

On submersible pumps I have had the cable which is attached to the float switch gradually harden over time and as it becomes less flexible it doesn't want to float. It is possible to lift it manually but not for it to float naturally.

We have the WPL Diamond DMS2 which was installed in 2010 and hasn't been any bother. The original Secoh EL100 air pump packed up in August this year so had a good life and was replaced with the newer JDK100 which uses less electricity.

I have used this PU glue with damp wood successfully but I haven't tried it with damp concrete. https://www.axminstertools.com/titebond-greenchoicetm-polyurethane-construction-adhesive-311ml-952217

Sorry if I'm not understanding correctly but are you talking about half round mouldings like these. https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Pine-Half-Round-Moulding---18mm-x-8mm-x-2-4m/p/121180

Apparently it causes the rubber to harden over time.

Gripits?

We used 12mm HardieBacker in our three bathrooms and it was a sod to cut and drill. I just couldn't bring myself to use Marmox although I considered it long and hard.

I have found our KCC Footpath Officer very helpful in having footpaths reinstated when land owners have tried to block them. There are maps of rights of way. https://www.kent.gov.uk/waste-planning-and-land/public-rights-of-way/rights-of-way-map

I have something similar to this sort of thing for when I run into that sort of problem. https://www.amazon.co.uk/LHKJ-Flexible-Magnetic-Handheld-Reaching/dp/B07QVKD2X4

I was spoilt when I did a complete renovation of a Victorian cottage forty years ago. The local builder and his son were truly excellent. They allowed me to help where I could, showed me how to do jobs and listened to exactly what I wanted and delivered it. When I started this build I naively expected the same. Unfortunately my builder had retired and I took a recommendation from a friend for a carpenter to fit the soffitts. The work was awful and I let him go after the first day, he couldn't understand why. I have found some good workers since but it's very difficult so I ended up doing a lot of the work myself with Wendy to help.