SimonD

It's interesting how you've read that as I didn't find myself getting hung up about the rough numbers. The basis of his calculations are actually rather more clear in that they're based on representative figures published by one of the large energy companies themselves and he does, on several occasions, make note of that they're simplistic, roughly representative figures For me the more important, and accurate points, are to do with political economy rather than an argument about the specifics of the accounting. E.g.: I think he makes a pretty strong point and actually pretty robust argument re what's really going on that many people aren't even the slightest bit aware of. E.g why has my proper , not traded, green tariff electricity price risen by just over 50% when it has nothing to do with gas prices, unless my tariff is being used to subsidise the gas or something else. That's where the real accounting and political failure lies, not with the back of a fag packet calculation of fixed and variable costs of energy providers. But the only way we're going to find out who's got their figures right is wait for end of year profit statements from the oil and gas companies. I know where my bets are.

I'm guessing you probably haven't looked at his background and what he's been up to for the last 20 odd years, and the influence he's had in a number of areas of social importance, including tax justice, fairer tax, plus lots of work related to tax and environmental issues. Hardly brainwashed students IMHO, rather more enlightened than many in the field..

We had a water softener setup in our last place and I hated it with a vengeance. I seemed to be spending my entire life either arranging salt delivery or going to collect and then filling the bloody thing up all the time. That and the cost of the unit with installation and storage space for the salt. I certainly wasn't convinced it provided the promised value in savings or comfort. Not again.

Which introduces a rather important question about the longevity of these things. Reading some of the posts here on BH there have been some shorter than expected lifespans. Also what are peoples' experiences re ongoing maintenance costs - e.g. filter every 6 months, plus what else servicing wise? I expect the Quooker being essentially a boiling UVC needs some regulary servicing and check ups? We're in a hard water area and given the current designs of some heating elements for dishwashers, we've blown through about 4 in 6 years, even with the dishwasher set correctly - most of these have been under warranty but I did just have to pay for one as it was just out of warranty since the last one was changed.

I think it's even worse than that. The current government are relying almost entirely on 'the private market' to put in the investment, and we all know how this market likes to behave. It doesn't want to take the risks, but wants all the rewards. It certainly does need to take some control and make some serious investment both in terms of effort and finance, but the current lot aren't even close to being capable, nor do I see anyone who is right now.

Not entirely sure what's implied here, but I can surmise. Resources being part of the commons is totally different from how the services are run. There are many models available to provide good services yet retain public ownership and common benefit, it's the short sightedness and limited ideology of closed minded policy makers that stops it from being put into effect - and this isn't aimed at a particular side of politics as both the conservatives and labour are over the years just as guilty, just look at public private partnerhsip introduced by Blair to see what was in effect a massive fleecing of the NHS in the interest of an accountancy slight of hand to make it look like less national government borrowing, and basically benefited large, rich corporations and their shareholders. The idea that privatisation is more efficient is also a perpetual myth.

I agree, certain fundamental resources should be part of the commons where everyone benefits.

You are absolutely right, I find myself bemused on a daily basis what the powers at be are getting away with. Just wanted to avoid another one of those political slanging matches that goes around in circles and decided to keep strictly to the topic at hand 😉

Interesting thread here by Richard Murphy about how we're being taken for a ride with energy prices: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1502671563530948610.html

Thanks, yes I have one of those Bosch kettles that's been doing great service for a few years now. It's a good bit of kit.

Thanks, for moment when I looked at it I'd hoped the combi could've done it but alas.

You know I hadn't considered that one at all 😉😁 nor had I thought about letting the water cool for a while in the pot 😉. I had singularly, and maybe unreasonably for £1.5 - £3k or more for a Quooker, wondered whether there wasn't some bright spark of an engineer that might have considered that when it's possible to provide an all in one tap that gives you hot/cold water, boiling water, chilled sparkling filtered and normal filtered - something that's sold as doing it all - it isn't also a decent idea to design one that also provides a thermostatic control for the boiling water coming out of the tap. 😉 I can't be the only one that would like water between 70 - 100 degrees when spending that kind of money. 🙄 It's not just green tea, even good coffee needs to be brewed at less than boiling temp. Maybe I shall just have to stick with my low tech variable temperature kettle as I reckon there's a design oversight here 🤔😉

I've been looking around at the boiling water taps, specifically looking for one where I can adjust the outlet temperature of the water between 70-100 degrees. I've found some where I can do this on the tank but none that have controls at the tap. I mostly drink green tea which needs 70-80 degrees and everyone else normal teas and coffee at full temp so tank adjustment of temp is impractical. Anyone know of a solution available here?

Yup, I've now got twice the number of alerts from both google photos and microsoft one drive photos. I think they're both mocking me. I look at the photos and often wonder what I've done in the last year yet it feels like I haven't stopped! I'm currently at double the anticipated time, probably, and still have no idea when it'll be finished. Yeah, meet a few of them that consider this self-build. It's such a relief when chatting to a couple of friends who have been through the process and understand the challenges beyond, one asking me the other day whether I wasn't overcome with decision fatigue, the other saying frustrating it is when apparently small jobs end up taking days! I've seen a few near us where they've finished and gone. There's one project I drive past regularly however, that still puts me at ease because the developers started building works before we even got planning and it's still going on (and it's only one large georgian style town house new build and one existing cottage renovation). I'm hoping I might just beat them to it 😁 Like you, I've felt like I've been in a miserable hole with the building work for at least the last year and now the sun has come out as I start to make the kitchen and have a functioning bathroom in the house. It's starting to feel real... well almost. Doing it all myself with not a lot of prior experience, the one thing that I did not anticipate was the amount of time I'd have to spend doing research and learning new things. In all honesty, I think this has been the biggest delay factor beyond the supply problems due to covid. Put this together with a tendency to go round in circles a bit and overthink decisions and it's a recipe for slowing progress. I'm also a bit of a perfectionist - so much so the others on a plumbing course I took a while ago were taking the piss out of me for it. However, people I know are now starting to call me for advice and it's so nice to be able to answer the questions knowledgeably off the top of my head, or like the other day help someone out sorting a problem and fixing it with ease - at least someone can benefit from the learning! 😊

These are the areas I was referring to, especially the external corner, but the upstands at the junction between the roof and the bottom of the dormer are too low .

Who did the detailing on the external corners and upstands for your dormers as they're incorrect and leave you exposed to weathering. . Ideally, you're going to need some flashing over the corners and upstands to resolve this. Here are the recommended details together with examples of upstand and welted/soldered corners:

For me the issue is that we actually have no idea what's going to happen. The global climate is so complex, we still don't know how it works and it's impossible to predict which way it's going to swing. Usually, when we humans get involved to try and fix or change something in the environment, we inevitably make it worse through unintended consequences, because we don't understand the systemic complexities of what we're dealing with. In this light, I'm a great believer in that we have to reduce consumption of both energy and resources and develop a mutual relationship with the natural world instead of thepillage we've been undertaking for the last 400 or so years since the enlightenment. In a positive light, there is much happening to develop our knowledge & change this but it's still early days.

No surprise there. Yes, huge amounts of Birch ply supplied by Russia, but tbh supplies of certain grades of plywood has been difficult and eye wateringly expensive for the last couple of years. Speaking to one of my plywood suppliers a couple of months ago they said that they're were seeing a lot of their buyers who make high-end bespoke kitchens switch from ply to mdf. In December I bought the plywood for my kitchen at about £84 per sheet all in. It's now listed on the supplier's website at £120 per sheet. MDF is less than £50. In reality I do think there is some profiteering going on within the distribution chain as prices tend to rise ahead of the real world shortage, just like oil has done.

Yup, the UK has been poor at investment in most if not all national infrastructure for far too long. And it still doesn't realise the importance here as even with the Net Zero transition, it's relying on 'the market' for said investment. and what is good about this challenge is that our beloved engineers and scientists are having to use their imaginations to find and create sustainable replacement materials. Plastics from funghi is just one small fascinating area in this. It's actually leading to a better understanding of the world.

Sounds like a new management technique.

Does that price include the adhesive and laying of the solid wood floor? Another thing to consider is full floor buildup as if the engineered floor is installed as a floating floor you'll gain additional acoustic benefits between floors.

As a general rule, check directly with any manufacturer. Vapour diffusion is typically indicated using an SD value or similar. Ask the manufacturer for this value and test results before putting anything on your wall. From the looks of it a hydrophobising 'creme' that Remmers make is called Funcosil FC. In the technical data sheet it says It says it But this is a pretty meaningless term and there is no Vapour diffusion test value. I'd be approaching use of this with great caution. A quick net search throws this up which does provide test results and certificate http://www.stormdry.com/articles/breathable-damp-proofing-for-older-buildings But still, it's worth bearing in mind how long the existing masonry has lasted and thus how long your renovation is likely to last without treatment under those harsh conditions. It seems to have done pretty well under the circumstances.

For my temp construction stairs I laminated some plywood sheets and cut into 36 x 300 stringers like this. I used three stringers across an 800mm wide staircase. It's strong enough but bouncy! Although it is entirely unsupported between floor and landing. I may keep these stairs and finish with a veneer as I'll be building some understair cupboards which will be framed to support staircase. You're probably best routing or as @tonyshouse has suggested, glue some triangles for risers and treads if you want a solid staircase.

I just had to buy one. Surprisingly satisfying to use. Well... unless you accidentally turn the mag off and it drops on your head. It has been known to happen ? There's a strap you're supposed to wrap around the steel to stop this happening...

Friendly and helpful too. I had an exhaust partially fall off a car when I was up there once and the kind guys at Kwikfit made a temporary repair for me to get me where I need to go - Cape Wrath - and back to London. Took them a good hour or so and didn't charge me a penny.