Alan Ambrose

Great

>>> Should I favour any specific brand? +1 Plasson

Here's what I did: + ordered a Wave Connect quad network sim and a Ubiquiti UMR industrial router and a Poynting XPOL-1-5G-PLUS 4G/5G Antenna (our site hut is a container and therefore needs an aerial, also I have Ubiquiti stuff so I generally use that). Put the aerial on a 2m pole on the top of the container. + ran the router for a few hours with gaps between so it found the loudest network. It started off on Voda but eventually settled on EE. A cell tower app said O2 was the nearest, so that was wrong. + I've now got an EE sim with a 50Gb monthly contract. + Twisted the 'omni-directional' aerial around looking for the best signal, using the router management page to see the signal strength. + I was pleased to find I could set-up a VPN to my main PC at home without a great deal of fuss. I am fairly techy though. + About 50 Mbps downoad using Google Fibre speedtest app. We're in a little hamlet, so useable. This was all because OR point blank refuses to connect up fibre until we've built the house. We've laid all the duct for that (that they supplied) and paid them more than a year ago. Never mind that in Oct '23 OR emailed: Thanks for choosing to register your development with Openreach. Your site has access to the latest Full Fibre gigabit capable infrastructure, enabling ultrafast speeds for your new build home. and... Please be advised that your site has been progressed for Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) and has been passed to your Field Based Coordinator (FBC) and Planning Team to plan the site infrastructure. Yeah, right.

@G and J - don't kid us that you're working hard.

OK based on the theory that the centroid of us at all times even when we're moving about ... is IP14 ... Thurs 19th at The Debenham Lion or the Shepherd & Dog? 6:30pm?

>>> Can I nominate a pub in South Wales? @Nickfromwales - I'll check on the status of the minibus. We are particularly interested in seeing some real rain and mud, as it's quite dry here:

HI Suffolk-folk. Anyone fancy a pub meet-up?

I have this problem too, curiously on better grade ply rather than the cheap stuff which seems fine.

@saveasteading >>> Yes. Why do you ask? Ah I was not clear, I asked because I would like to know the secret of buying dry C24…

@saveasteading - was that a local BM?

Thanks for that. Reporting back after talking to Hallmark re their external ‘Trojan’ Venetians I’m learning that: + the blinds install from below into a 120mm slot so that would also be how you would replace them. Depth of slot is a function of how long the blinds are as the 80mm slats stack inside. + the vertical guide rails could be inset but often are mounted directly to whatever holds the window frame - in our case a ‘window box’ as we’re building a timber frame. + costs are about £0.7K for a 1x1m window to £1K for a 2m W x 2.3m H. + they sit on a 4-core cable. You can route that to their switch or back to your own fancy control system.

Yeah it’s a bit nonsense, but we’re finding the better quality timber doesn’t warp even if it’s wet.

Anyone used the ally stuff formed on site to length?

Yeah, we even did some groundworks in all the mud on Monday. I am calling off any day that has more than a few mm of rain though.

Neat Can I ask about the transducer - is it reliable & accurate? I need some set-ups where I control a pump based on water depth in a sump….

Stating the obvious - screw piles are fairly novel still. Anything novel gets a bit of extra scrutiny and probably some higher safety factors (explicitly or implicitly) as it's perceived to be higher risk. Nobody wants to make a mistake. Your BCO has called in their engineer because they don't feel able to sign off themselves in the same way they might for a more conventional foundation. Your BCO and their SE may not have dealt with screw piles before (although the BCO's SE is sounding v confident). Your BCO's SE has called your own guy incompetent (or at least that was the BCO's interpretation), which means it's all got a bit out of hand. Suggest your own guy has a call with the BCO's engineer to see whether they can square their differences. It should all be quite simple to agree which is the right design code and determine whether it meets that code. Looking at the situation positively, any extra scrutiny reduces the likelihood of any residual error.

I'm finding that even the ones that claim to be UV-resistant have fairly woolly specs. UV Resistance ? 'Long Term' it says for POWERLON® UV Façade. Yeah, what does that mean? Maybe someone who has gaps between their cladding has done the research?

There’s also Metal Gutta stainless e.g. https://www.roofingsuppliesuk.co.uk/products/stainless-steel-125mm-gutter-2-4m-length Anyone used that?

Anyone use these and have any recommendations? Our build is slowish and our LPA is properly difficult. Therefore I’m anticipating we’ll have the external roof and wall membranes on show for some time and therefore liable to UV. I can see stuff like Tyvek UV facade, but it still has only a 4-month UV life?

For budgeting and decision making purposes, does anyone have a rough idea of the cost of these? Any other competitors you considered? How did you provide for inevitable maintenance? Dropping them down from their slot or somehow extracting them from the front? Did you bury the side channels in the window surround or leave them proud?

Can I ask - does the recirc pump somehow not interfere with the mains pressure supply from the UVC?

Interesting take in NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/business/britain-wind-farms.html?unlocked_article_code=1.EVA.WLzl.GhDlPJD9mxzg At the bottom: Some analysts, though, say that the British system locks in high prices. “It is hard to escape the conclusion that when all the costs are factored in, the deals struck today will push bills up at a time they are already high,” wrote Sam Dumitriu, head of policy at Britain Remade, a research organization. I also learned that the thing being auctioned is the guaranteed min price. Not sure how long for or for what quantity of power.

BTW if you've bought electric Veluxes over the last few years, there's a free app control kit going: Get a Free VELUX App Control and Extended Guarantee

>>> old wooden lentils With gruel? People were a lot poorer in those days. Yeah it does look like it propagated from the window aperture and then died out doesn't it. You have steel lintels now? The fix looks a bit of a bodge. You could get someone up there on a ladder, clean it up and re-grout properly. Then see if it re-appears over the next few years.

>>> taking back control of its energy, and lowering bills for good Yeah, right. Until the big US tech firms double the load on the grid. Err, what is being auctioned here - the right to build off the coast?