Barney12

There is quite an established market for supply of coloured/discontinued sanitaryware. They are used quite extensively by the UK insurance market now that "matching items" clauses have become common place in almost all but the premium insurance product ranges. One example being: http://www.brokenbog.com but there are others. Edit: to clarify my own post as its not particularly clear; Almost all buildings insurance cover these days does not cover you for matching items. I.e. If you were to break your basin the insurer can replace it with a basin that doesn't match the suite. The right to repair any item is also now common place in policies.

I must be missing something? Surely you can just add a coupler? http://www.drainageonline.co.uk/110mm-Drainage-Pipe-and-Fittings/110mm-Drain-Coupler.htm

I agree. It has to be instinctive to "man". We are just hard wired to burn stuff oh and in my case eat food thats bad for me

Who said I'm finishing it within a year? I'm more concerned my wife is going to get pregnant as that's what always happens on Grand Designs! Or perhaps that Kevin bloke is promiscuous ??

That's a very valid point. Cold and blowing a gale here this afternoon/ evening. Heavy rain and high winds forecast for tommorow. great!

He's taken it away on the back of a huge logging trailer. He'll take it back to his yard and apparently turns it into garden sleepers and fire wood (which he sells). The net result is I got a cheap(er) job. £700 (no vat) for the removal of two very, very large trees did seem like a good price. The climbers took a day to top them and remove the sides, then two days to fell and clear. Oh sorry +£30 for the flowers!!

He said he would burn the last of the "tidy up". It would seem "tidy up" is everything below 4" thick on 2 trees each a 100ft tall

I've just had to send my first bunch of flowers to our nearest neighbour. Our tree surgeon took it upon himself to build what I can best describe as a 'funeral pyre' and smoked out the entire area. He was round here kicking off and of course just to add to the misery I wasn't home and SWMBO got an earful so I'm unpopular twice over! Building can be such a joy.

It looks very "american" which would make me wonder how appropriate for UK scale and style it was?

Thank you. Understood.

Thanks. Rather confirms the minefield that is window quotes as they knew that we were having a timber frame!

LOL!

OK, thanks. So the airtight tape is only on the inside? And the compriband is effectively a gasket/seal between the window and frame? One supplier (of Internorm) has added close to a £1,000 for these two items.

Sorry, having a thinking day today hence so many questions Some window firms seem to include the cost of airtight tape and compriband in the install cost. Others suggest that its the timber frame co's cost? So who's responsibility is it? We're intending to use MBC and their quote says: "supply and fit of all airtight membrane and tapes round windows" but is that the same as "compriband"?? I've said it before but "window quotes are SO confusing"!

EPDM washer (1) on the screw and EPDM gasket (2). It does look pretty basic TBH.

Thanks guys. My confidence is improving with every post One thing I didn't (and should have) mention is that the most exposed elevation has some pretty huge windows. So....if the worse happened and the window install was delayed do you think that with the fabrication of some OSB frames to fill the holes we will keep enough weather out? Or, even pay MBC a little extra to take the exterior membrane over the openings and simply cut them back? Even the fairly cheap non tenting membrane I used on the sheds is incredibly tough and hard to tear so assumably has pretty good wind resistance? As @joe90 and @recoveringacademic (my fellow delayed builders!) have said a number of times; delays do have the effect of allowing too much thinking time! I'm not sure thats entirely helpful at the early stage. Ironic when once it all gets going I'll probably crave more thinking time!

OK, so this is possibly the biggest decision of the entire build. We're delayed by ecology again and that means any hope of a late summer build is long gone. Realistically we're probably now going to be looking at mid/late November. MBC don't seem worried by a winter build and state that the frame is weather tight. But, I'm concerned that inevitable weather delays could leave the frame exposed longer than I would like. The benefit would be that availability of trades to push on with the build will probably be better. My roofing contractors view when chatting the other day was that we get too hung up by the weather "It doesn't rain and blow a gale every day, you just have to work round it". He's got a point, major developers don't stop building in the winter they just do it more slowly. Personally I'd like to leave it until March but SWMBO is now having a MASSIVE sense of humour failure living in our tiny flat above the garage. In fairness it has taken three years to get this far so she's right to want to home. I've even considered seeing what the cost of a scaffold wrapped structure would cost to protect the frame? I should point out we're fairly high up and in a fairly exposed position on the Dartmoor National Park? Should I man up and get on with it or suffer the wrath of SWMBO?

But he has been very busy...... These trees were just over 100ft tall.

My tree surgeon said to me this morning (in the broadest possible Devon accent)...... "If its got t*ts, tracks or tyres boy its going to be trouble"

I'm sorry to be thick..... But how would you "backwash" a filter in this scenario?

2x1 slate battons. The roof is already felted (traditional felt due to ecology rules!) and battened at the correct guage for the slate. Additional battens will be added to suit the landscape panels. The supplied screw/bolts supplied by GSE have a 55mm thread depth. With the clamp, tray and gasket I'm still slightly concerned they will penetrate the bottom of the batten but the supplier said they are fine which does stack up as the system can be retrofitted. I'd be interested to hear what other people have found.

Yes. Exactly that. The clamps screw down through the trays and into correctly spaced roofing battens.

You've confirmed my exact thoughts. Thank you.

Just a quick question for those that have used trays...... im trying (and failing!) to co-ordinate my local builder/roofer and the sparky to finish the roof elavation with the Pv panels on. Order of install from reading the guide from GSE is: Additional batons. Trays. Flashings. Panels. Tiles and then ridge detail. What I was trying to avoid was getting the builder back twice but if I tile before final fitting of the panels I guess he's going to have issues with cable routing? On a relatively small roof with a large area of panels I also fear that my builder will be clumsy if he comes after the sparky to tile. Thoughts?