Alan Ambrose

I think that if you don't already know the regs that apply e.g. 'special location / SELV / RCDs / notifiable to BC under Part P' etc - then you probably do.

Sort of 'suck it and see'?

>>> Have you any idea of the original paint name / manufacturer.# No, the backstory is that it was a new barn conversion we bought 5 years ago and I need some touch-up paint. I guess that's a harder job than just 'get me somewhat close to this F&B colour'. I'm a bit closer with matching the Valspar swatches by eye and their sample pots - actually I have a much better match than the custom-spectro-matching-mix thing. That suggests their matching service is a bit of a waste of time - at least from that B&Q with that operator. I couldn't understand why they didn't have a second matching step to take their first guess and improve it - but they were properly stroppy by that time. I'll try Johnstones and Tikkurila and see if they're better and report back. Someone has done a very skilled job plastering and painting between all the old oak sticks so it's not an easy job to just re-paint a single 'wall' - it would need loads of masking. This kind of thing:

I'm not particularly prone to worrying, but now I have another thing to avoid worrying about.

I would say timber frame with wood rain screen and tiled roof should be ~5 kN/m^2 area loading including live load allowance.

Suggest unplug internet connection then ping & portscan camera to verify onvif port is there / connect with a local camera app. That’s what e.g. blueiris would be using locally.

My view is that these builds are a huge amount of time and energy and that we might just as well do as good a job as we can of them. Hopefully they’ll be around in 100 years time.

Goodness, the level of expertise on the ‘ub never ceases to amaze me. I can just about see it’s brushed but very flat and matt.

>>> so 10 Germans emit the same amount of effluent as 12 Brits - must be all the currywurs I just had to explain to the other half why I was laughing so much…

>>> Ignoring all other sources of heat loss, floor, roof, windows and doors, MVHR ventilation, air tightness etc. Is that the problem? Heat loss through the walls is probably 20% of the total for a well insulated house. Windows are critical. You could use Mr Harris’s spreadsheet for a more accurate feel. And ubakus for to check the supplier’s U-value calcs.

Thanks, I'll try both those services and see what happens. >>> But if Valspar was that far out there may be an issue with the sample. It was literally a 6x8cm piece of painted plasterboard from the wall we wanted to match. I see there a bunch of skill involved operating the spectro-thingy though re calibration, multiple readings at different angles etc.

I tried the Valspar paint matching facility in B&Q and took a few square inches of plasterboard from the wall with the paint on I was trying to match. It's a sort of greeny grey matt emulsion. They scanned that and made up a sample pot that was supposed to match. Way too light. I went back, showed them pictures and said 'could they make it a bit darker'. 'No' they said. So, has anyone had a better experience paint patching, or is it a fools errand?

I think gravel grids are ok for paths and driveways and car parks if the right duty grid is chosen and laid carefully on a solid base and with good edges. I have some paths in the garden I’m pleased with and expect them to last ok. An actual road with an occasional lorry? Less likely I would think. Also gravel grids are expensive - my back garden path refurb was £5K and it’s not a big garden and most of that was materials.

Maybe just block the outgoing traffic at your router and see if it acts fine as a local camera? I would think it would, but only a few mins to find out if you’re router knowledgeable - which it sounds like you are.

>>> I really doubt this is going to be raised by building regs. Yeah I was in a place yesterday where a refurb was done 10 years ago. The hearth didn’t conform to regs but BC must not have been that bothered. And the burner and flue was on the original planning docs so it likely wasn’t a later addition.

>>> Connect wherever you like I'm still investigating but I think it's a bit more complicated than that. I believe (a) the inverter needs a specific set-up in the CU re RCD/MCB, and (b) in a number of cases the inverter needs a current clamp on the meter tails, which implies the inverter needs to be close-ish to them. So, I'm wondering whether a separate SWA for raw DC back from the outbuilding to an inverter which is positioned not a million miles from the house CU is the best option.

Also: this may alleviate an immediate charge in favour of a small-ish penalty: https://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/info/20798/community_infrastructure_levy_cil/1207/cil_surcharges - but the big prize, of course, is to retain your self-build exemption.

p.s. if you have the advice to build the soakaway documented you may have a PI claim against the advisor. This was the thread: Lastly, I see Nichola Gooch at Irwin Mitchell is one such CIL lawyer. https://www.irwinmitchell.com/our-people/nicola-gooch (I found her with a random search when I was trying to find about about this stuff) Do report back.

Hmmm, there is a possibility you might have accidentally fallen into a tax trap set (deliberately or maybe accidentally) by the drafters of the CIL legislation. Check the recent thread on a somewhat similar situation. Someone on the thread mentioned a good CIL lawyer - you may need their help. I have not actually seen myself where the CIL law describes this set-up. I think we need to determine where this trap is described in the law - if indeed it is.

>>> I found the planning portal invaluable for this Interesting, on our LPA's portal the BC docs are minimal - generally just a completion cert and nothing else.

https://blog.planningportal.co.uk/2023/09/26/details-of-the-forthcoming-planning-application-fee-increase/ Fees up 25% and linked to inflation for future years. No 'free go'. Fee refund after 16 weeks for 'non-major' e.g. full applications for single dwellings. This should be very helpful as hopefully it'll give LPAs a reason to be quicker to avoid losing revenue. That'll also probably mean than the 8 week 'limit' will effectively be 16 weeks in practice. Hopefully it should reduce the number of cases of 1 year turnaround for my LPA.

Me too please - I’ve just started on thus step.

Yeah agree with the last sentence. Or a call if they answer calls. If you can get a sense informally which way they’re leaning you’ll be ahead. BTW the non-determination appeal route is also properly slow - 10-12 weeks just for ‘validation’, and around 9 months for a decision. You can look your LPA up in the gov tables to see how bad they are re turnaround time & ‘accuracy’ i.e. % of decisions overturned at appeal. Table P153 I believe.

V. nice

>>> 400W DC and only 300kVA AC Yeah, I see, I'm looking e.g. at this: https://enphase.com/en-gb/download/iq7-microinverter-qdcc Maybe something to do with peak input vs. continuous output power? As @Dillsue said - maybe you just need to choose beefier microinverters?