BobAJob

Are you sure it's the bulbs that buzz? I've had dimmers buzz. I replaced it with a standard switch, so no more buzzing.

But why do you need remote control light switches? I use smart bulbs which can be remote controlled and also do other smart things like automatically turn on at sunset as it changes throughout the year. I can put them in any light fitting and they work. I also have a timer plug on my broadband router to restart it every day just in case it locks up and the remote functionality stops working.

We use the cool white LEDs. They provide nice bright light and make a big change from the warm regular bulbs we used to use. I even swapped out our florescent tube in the utility room for an LED version. No more blinking before it comes on. Now it's instance bright light and it was cheap too.

Yes, sorry I hit the wrong button. Oops!!

Could be. We have PIR controlled outside lights but they also have a manual override on one of the light switches which will keep them on all the time.

The lights need to be within wifi range though.

Is it not easier to fit smart bulbs to the outdoor lights? I have 3 hive smart LED colour changing bulbs in our outdoor lights. I can control each of them separately including day and times they come on and at what colour temperature. I just have to leave the power onto them.

Is it ok to not having mortar in the joints?

Ours are Clark Drain ones. Photo attached. CD CS10.10 with metal slotted covers

The other day I was looking at some ACO drainage channels that a patio installer installed around part of the house to keep collecting rainwater away from low lying air bricks. I noticed the installer hasn't mortared all the way around the end of each channel unit where it joins to neighbouring channel units. He has just mortared the bottom end part of each channel unit. To me this means that the water isn't staying inside the channel and running to the drain. Instead the water is leaking away into the neighbouring ground. I'm not sure why he has done this. Is my thinking correct?

Because it provides a bit of transparency to the process. People expect you to build some overheads and prices into your prices. I think builders don't like to do it because it allows comparisons to be made between contractors' prices. However, there are ways to breakdown your prices so that it's not totally obvious what your rates are and you can also build a bit of contingency into your prices to cover unforseen costs or overruns. If the overruns don't happen then the contingency turns into profit.

How much would it cost to knock down and start again (there's not actually that much brickwork to know down)? Thanks

No, it's a house belonging to a member of my family.

I have thought about doing that but how much would that cost to do? I think I'd also struggle to convince the owner of the house to let me do it.

Yeah, our problematic patio guy has positive reviews all over the place which I notice he is giving discounts to get. Apparently our patio was laid as exactly the same level it had been before. Unfortunately the surveyor said it was laid 10cm higher putting some air bricks lower than the patio. Luckily I had taken photos before the work started. Patio guy got a solicitor to write us a letter with his latest story saying it was caused by a garden wall which he had told us needed replacing (he never said this and in fact said everything was fine and there was no mention of this story in his previous 10 letters which claimed it was exactly as before or due to pipework or subsidence or rain). I hired a solicitor as I was going to take him to court. I got told it would cost me £1000s to sue him so I ended up putting the £1000s into getting it ripped up and relaid. What a disaster and yet he still trades as a trading standards approved trusted trader.

I tried a local merchants for recommendations and he told me they don't do recommendations as it's too risky. I did hire a company with great feedback and they turned out to be bad. In hindsight I should have sent them away on day one. They did the follow on the 3 days they worked for us: - Day 1 - they were initially hired to clean moss off roof and redo valleys in guttering but they dropped off 2 guys with no tools and we had to lend them scrapers and brooms. - Day 2 - they turned up with cement mixer to mix the mortar for the valleys. Cement mixer did not work so I had to lend them an extension cable and fuses to get it working - Day 3 - they announced that all ridge tiles were lose and did I want it wet or dry ridged. Dry eidge was cheaper so went with that. I then noticed that they had left the old mortar on the edge of the ridge tiles and it would eventually fall off and all the tiles would become lose so I ended up having to climb up on roof to point out what they were doing wrong and get them to carefully (or not so carefully as it turned out - hence some missing corners on the ridge tiles) remove the old mortar then push the tiles in tight to form the ridge. - Day 4 - they broke a ridge tile and replaced it with the wrong size tile with a snapped off corner and not secure properly to the roof, so I had to go back onto the roof to point out this was wrong and get them to buy a reclaimed matching tile from a merchant. They were a nightmare. Eventually I said no more and refused to pay. I've not heard from them since. This company has 100+ reviews of 9.5 out of 10 for the last 10 years. I hired another roofer and got him to fix the previous roofer's work. He told me that my previous roofer was well known in the area for doing bad work and over charging and had been banned from one builder's merchants because he assaulted another roofer when he went to his house to complain about him telling a customer that the roof work had been done incorrectly. Apparently he has a reputation for going to other roofers' houses and fighting them. All I want is the job done correctly. I don't have a problem paying a decent amount of money to get it done right. Finding someone who will do that appears to be impossible in our area. So far I've had: - New bathroom done wrong - tiles with corners chipped off stuck to wall, 20 tiles fitted upside down, wrong adhesive used on floor tiles, leaking plumbing, fitter using an angle grinder to cut tiles instead of a tile cutting table. All had to be ripped out back to bare plaster walls and redone at their cost using a different fitter - Patio incorrectly laid - had to get tiles ripped up and relaid. Trader reported to trading standards with a report from a chartered surveyor saying his work was below the standard expected of a competent professional. This guy was a "Trusted Trader" with Trading Standards and he still is even after the exchange of 10 letters between the trader, us and trading standards. I would not recommend "Trusted Traders" from Trading Standards. - the roofing nightmares

Thanks for this info. You've mentioned CIOB, who I've not heard of before. I was going to try a standard chartered surveyor like you'd get to do a house survey if you were buying a house. Are they the wrong type of surveyor for this type of job? Thanks

Yep, I think the previous owner who was a builder it himself. I do worry about unwrapping this extension as I may not like what I find inside and it may cost a lot to fix. However, I would prefer to pay once and get it done correctly than more bodging. Thanks for your advice.

Roof inside has cracks between the plasterboards.

New photos.

Yeah, I have managed to track down the company that did the original installation of the flat roof and had them back to fix the EPDM rubber which was rippling. That's how we discovered that they hadn't glued it to the wooden roof boards. When they returned they just pull the rubber back and then put it back down again. A year later we then had a leak from the roof and got our insurance company to send out a roof who said the flat roof was the problem because of the way the EPDM had been fitted, so two years ago we had the EPDM redone, but there was something odd about the fitter. He never mentioned that there were any problems with the roof structure and just fitted the rubber. We would have been happy to pay for the wood structure to be replaced and the roof to be done correctly. Instead the EPDM fitter replaced the rubber and went on his way. Now it looks like we have to rip it all up again and get someone to do it right. The problem is finding a company that will actually do it right as all the tradesmen around just want to do jobs quickly, get paid and go on their way knowing that they have left you with problems. How do I find a decent roofer who wants to do the job correctly even if it takes longer and costs more? The EPDM fitter I found on Checkatrade. He was ok except that he didn't tell us about any problems we found so we could get them fixed by him at extra cost. He just tried to do the entire job in 1 day and get paid £2500 for it. I almost had to fight with him to get a receipt for the payments.

Ok, I didn't realise that Philips now do smart outdoor lights. I thought you were putting the standard Hue indoor bulbs in existing outdoor lights. Thanks for the info.

My Mum has SAD and uses one of the SAD lamps for an hour each day while she is reading the paper. It seems to work well for her. She also gets a vitamin B12 and D booster from the GP which helps too.

I have the Hive system but LED bulbs generally don't like being in cold environments like the outside and will flicker. I think there's now a way to get Hue and Hive to play nicely together. Are the Hue bulbs better with outdoor environments?

Ok, I'll take some more photos. The house is a 4 bed bungalow, so lowish pitch maybe 30 degrees.