PeterStarck

We have used Jacksons Fencing in the past and they use a treatment which they guarantee for 25 years against rot. I have used Jacksons trellis at this house and it has been up for two years and has not changed colour at all, compared to the cedar cladding which started silvering before a year was up, and I'm impressed.

Thanks for the generous comment, glad you found the blog useful. The cedar was untreated and the colour in the picture is after it had stabilised. AFAIK silvering and durability aren't linked. Cedar cladding lasts for around seventy years without treatment and as I said even the ipe decking on my balcony has silvered.

I have yet to find a type of timber that doesn't become grey over time. Even the flooring of my balcony which is ipe has slowly become grey although slower than the cedar cladding on the house.

I looked at the Rehau system eleven years ago when I was researching for my build. I discounted it on the grounds of cost and complexity relating to requiring a pumped sump and an lot of silver lined pipework. There were also a lot of scare stories around at the time about contaminated ventilation air supply.

Ours was with SelfBuildZone the same as @jonM

Yeah I can understand that. A self catering holiday was a change for us. We did go to a pub that was doing takeaway food and had some excellent cod and chips. If the weather's ok eating outside seemed popular.

MSE has this article about the Green Homes Grant which might shed some light. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/07/homeowners-to-receive-p5-000-vouchers-to-improve-energy-efficien/

Last week we rented a 1 bedroom cottage on a farm on the Welsh borders. It was straightforward, we took all our own food but other than that used everything in the cottage. No one had rented it the previous week so even the maps, cushions etc were there. We had a peaceful time visiting gardens etc with out any problems. Even stopping at the services for the loo was ok as long as you remember to wear a mask inside the buildings.

All we needed for the driveway was 200mm but I don't see why it couldn't be thicker. It just needs to be wacked down in lots of thin layers, around 50 to 75mm. It's a lot less hard work using a mini digger when shifting 40 or 50 tons and the quicker you do it the less hire charge for the crusher. Ideally you want the maximum crushed size to be 40 to 50mm. I've seen videos of crushers being loaded manually and it's certainly possible if there's plenty of people doing it. We hired the crusher and digger with driver and we were glad we did because the conveyor belt split and had to be repaired and they were paid for doing the job so had to return the next day to finish.

We crushed our waste concrete etc and used it at 200mm compacted for our driveway and shed base.

All my portal frame I-beam corners are joined both sides with plywood plates that are glued and screwed. They are Steico I-beams.

Yes weedkiller, then level ground and rake top 15mm so turf roots can get going and lay turf and water regularly unless you get significant rain. We haven't had a decent amount of rain in months. Don't worry about a small amount of sand just rake it in with the soil.

Possibly it's a Viper's Bugloss which we have in our wild flower patch. If it is, then it could be called a weed but we call them wild flowers. If it's covered in bees then I'm probably right as they are a bee magnet.

I caught a twenty pound one once at Leybourne Lakes. Welcome to the forum by the way.

Hi, welcome to the forum. I bought a new Harveys Crown softener from Fountain Softeners a couple of years ago for around £800. It came with a five year warranty which I used last year when one of the valves packed up. They came out next day to fix it. The water is very hard in this area and I have used twin cylinder softeners for many years.