Alan Ambrose

Yeah ditto.

I wonder whether you could have an informal conversation with the architect. Maybe over dinner. She might be able to recommend the right way forward based on her knowledge of the design, situation and particular LPA. Then it would be up to you to do the legwork. She probably had a build solution in mind for this apparently innovative feature.

p.s. their UI is still misleading too. Click on 'change my tariff' and it gives you a choice of their standard fixed or variable, nothing else. So the standard punter will think those are the only options on offer. You have to search elsewhere to get a 'smart tariff'. Call me paranoid, but I do think they're out to get me trying their hardest to get most people to move to their standard variable and fixed rate 'deals'. 'Full and fair'? Don't think so.

I was surprised to notice on two separate accounts that I have sight of that Octopus has moved both accounts from 'Agile' to 'Flexible' tariffs. I see on both accounts I missed an email from them with the title 'your fixed term is coming to an end'. Well, I never noticed the email and it makes no sense that Agile is a 'fixed term' tariff. Both emails have a link saying 'Give me more agile'. First of all these links don't work - their system claims it is broken. Then it wants me to apply as though I had never been a customer before - 'do you have a smart meter?', 'this tariff is still in beta' etc etc. Just a way to flip existing customers to higher tariffs? Anyone else seen this? p.s. their dumb system asks me which type of smart meter I have. Well it's probably the type that you have been connecting to and getting data from for several years.

>>> If they go bust, can the insurance company in place at the time still be held accountable? Depends on the insurance. Proper PI insurance yes, it usually includes 'run-on' insurance for the period when the business is closed but the projects have not got to their insurance maturity. Other people's insurance maybe not. You should be able to get this info either from the docs you've got or the supplier.

>>> 2. Get a move on. The other party might be rearranging their business and then disappear this one. I already made this point but +10 from here. Your solicitor should be on top of this. A rookies mistake to sue successfully and not be able to collect because the company has gone bust.

Have you had a couple of other contractors / SEs look at it (and write up a detailed & official looking review doc and cost/method to fix)? One option is to fix up at your expense, even down to renewing the entire roof, then claim after. If it definitely has to come off, you might well start sooner rather than later. Do a companies house review to check how big / established the company is. See my post on this subject (below). You don't want them vanishing before you're done. Have you sent your letter before action etc? - the starting gun isn't really fired until you have filed your claim so get letter before action and claim filed asap. County Court is a about 9 months I think but their may be some local stats or you could ask your local court unofficially. Note that you will generally only get back 60% of your legal costs if you win - also check the county court site on costs recovery vs. size of claims. Contact any industry body they're a member of too.

@richo106 - thanks for that - actual experience is always useful for the people behind you.

+1 I think I would just keep quiet about it unless enforcement bring it up. Ask forgiveness etc.

Anyone up for Thurs 6th March? Also, any thoughts re format, location etc? I wonder whether some people might want to nominate some subjects they want to cover?

A little water might be an option to close up the gaps a bit.

Anyone have more info on their experience with epoxy grout? Application, lifetime, replacement etc?

You want BH members to keep to the point? Ha ha ha. >>> boxing them all in should be okay? Built in ones are built for ‘boxing in’ of course and I believe they specify their ventilation requirements in the manuals.

Yeah +1. There are also hoods if you are retrofitting e.g. thermahood.

>>> But can we fit it “in parallel” Looks like you have enough room to branch off at an angle and back again - it might depend on which tank though i.e. inlet and outlet positions and height. Min fall of pipe is, say, 1 in 100.

Preciva do ok crimp tools cheap (can’t remember whether they have a cat5 tool) and a cat5 tool doesn’t have to very precise … unlike some kinds of crimp tools. You might well buy a simple cat5 cable tester as well, otherwise you’ll be unsure whether your cables are good. I find that as I only crimp a few of these every coupla years that I often need 2 or 3 attempts to get the hang of it again. Either ready crimped or bare cable can be used with some kind of mastic to make the through hole air and water tight. Bare cable has the advantage that it can be cut to length. I think I might put the cameras up high where they can’t be reached and/or used armoured or metal conduit. Also I think pir driven lights have the surprise factor and therefore a deterrent effect - dodgy people know that if they wear a hoodie they won’t be recognised at night on camera.

I might procrastinate and think wabi sabi for a bit - it may be that you grow to not notice them or appreciate the patina. Some of the most desirable antiques are all over the place. Otherwise the dust, glue and pointy thing will work, although those are already sealed no?, so you might have to reseal them if you sand the surface.

That style of roof is just calling out for blown in cellulose / eps beads / wood fibre no? What is the wall structure out of interest?

+1 for PoE - no batteries to replace, don’t have to grapple with unreliable wifi and only one cable. I have a bunch of Reolink cameras and they’ve been reliable. I saw some criticism of a non-standard onvif feed but I’ve not experienced any problems myself. I don’t use their cloud but do use sdcard storage - which if you’re recording events only rather than continuously, works fine.

Thanks

Thanks all re BC - I'll let you know who I go for. >>> They have also added in that I need to sign up to an app to submit the photos needed for the calculations. @JohnnyB - do you know which app that is? I see 'Timemark' is quite popular.

Speaking as an asthmatic I vote for the good quality 3M products - much better and cheaper than having to get your lungs fixed. BTW I don’t think you need a forced air respirator for plaster if that’s what you were considering. Worth getting some tested for asbestos?

Can I ask - does anybody recommend their local approved building control people? I'm looking for an organisation with a bit of intelligence and flexibility . Preferably one that will accept PHPP calcs for Part O. I contacted Vantage in 2023 and they said they would. LA wouldn't. Similarly design stage SAP people?

Energy network owners have made £3.9bn ‘excess profit’ from higher bills, says report | Energy industry | The Guardian The companies may have made up to £3.9bn more because Ofgem overestimated their borrowing costs as interest rates began to climb, the report calculated. It found that Ofgem allowed regional network companies to recover these costs from household bills even though many were able to secure fixed-rate terms on some of their borrowing which helped them to avoid the impact of rising interest rates.

For PoE the (usually) 24V comes from the router or hub and can often be switched on of off in software. I have the Reolink doorbell which does this fine if you’re not determined to have the Ring. There are probably other makes too that support PoE.