ProDave

I started my apprenticeship the year Mrs T came to power. I can remember the labour governments before that, and the winter of discontent, rolling power cuts, 3 day week etc. so things were not good before then. I know it is trendy now to blame her for everything, but she did do some things right, though a lot of things wrong. It almost sticks in my throat to say it, but the early Blair years seemed good (apart from that war) but things went downhill when it was Blairs turn in the hot seat and has not really improved since. My daughter has no interest in politics, never watches the news, doesn't read a paper. She just gets on with it and takes whatever is thrown at her and lives her life doing the best for her, as I have said before she makes decisions for her usually not thanks to government policy but regardless of it. I suspect a lot of younger people take that attitude, so it's no wonder the old stick in the mud folk are the ones that still vote and still complain.

As you rightly say, things have slowly been going the wrong way for over 40 years. So people of my age (the relatives in that recent conversation) all see we have had 40 years of the 2 main parties often in power for long periods, and neither seems to have had much foresight to plan for the long term. So what are we supposed to do. Keep on voting for one of the same two yet again? That is your classic case of choosing the same thing but expecting a different outcome. Or we carry on what some have been doing, just choose the least bad option? Or as more and more are thinking the "none of those two" option, whatever that option is, it surely can't be any worse. Nobody expects things to get better quickly after such a long period of going downhill, but we would at least hope for some signs that they have started to turn a corner. For much of my working life I have made individual choices doing what is best for me and my family, with only a few exceptions, most of that has been in spite of government policies, not as a result of.

A discussion with relatives recently revealed most of them don't like ANY of the choices on the ballot paper and if there was a "none of the above" box on the paper that is what they would choose. I get the impression that Reform, will take the mantle of that none of the above choice, simply because it is something different to what has been tried before and deemed by so many to have failed.

Yes it's shocking. Put a well insulated roof on top of a well insulated wall, but detail it so badly that cold air just gets in and negates it. Shocking that so many builders just do not understand that.

And to add to that. Once ALL the bits of PIR closing the gap are the right size (they reach the OSB layer) AND are properly sealed so there are NO gaps for air to pass through, that will have got you reasonably air tight so no fear of cold draughts coming in from outside, then you need to go outside and add as much more insulation as you can behind those relatively thin bits of PIR. It is this sort of detail that needs to be got right NOW while you can get at everything. There have been at least 2 threads on here recently where the builders have been left to it and done a shoddy job and cold air is getting in and it can be a VERY invasive job to fix it later if not done properly now.

I too wanted to self build in my 20's, but I was thwarted. At the time, looking for my first house, I could buy a cheap developer built 1 bedroom house for £36K (late 1980's prices) or there was a detached 2 bedroom bungalow being sold as a building plot for £20K. I looked at the plot, and it was a timber lath and plaster built bungalow clearly sub standard even by 1980's standard and it had subsidence issues so was being sold to knock down and rebuild. I was thwarted because I could not find anyone willing to lend on the plot, but several said if you buy the plot we will lend the money to build. And I had no bank of mum and dad (they did not have the money either) So reluctantly I bought the developer box. I was 40 before I got to scratch that itch and built my first self build. I hope you get a more favourable answer from financial institutions.

Solvent weld is good, BUT. It can't be undone. So make SURE before fitting the solvent weld coupling that you have the height right and you will never ever want to remove it again to adjust the height with respect to finished floor level. AND make sure you use plenty of solvent weld adhesive and do it thoroughly. Otherwise a poorly done joint that leaks cannot be undone to re do it. If in doubt practice on some scrap pipe and fittings first.

It's a failure of all governments over my lifetime. The basic problem is we have 5 year parliaments, so nobody, ever, pledges to do something over a long period. It is all about what we will do for the next 5 years that will be popular enough to get us a win next time. So there has never been any long term planning. The fact there are more pensioners than ever and fewer of working age is entirely predictable as the ongoing result of the post war baby boom, but no one has planned in advance how we will invest and adapt to cope with that change.

You are never going to do a perfect job sliding it down from above, but if you don't want to strip the plasterboard off it is a case of doing the best you can, accepting it won't be perfect. I would try solid batts of rockwool type material. they should be stiff enough to push down the gap but with a bit of flex to hopefully take up the irregularities. Buy a small quantity and try it, if they work buy the rest. PIR is so solid with no give, you will end up with gaps around all the edges. If you use that, the most important thing is get the face of the PIR down flat on the plasterboard, i,e, no gap between the plasterboard and the PIR, then foam in as much of the edges as you can reach from above. Buy some thin plastic tube and experiment using that to extend the reach of your average foam gun.

In fact, from next April, ALL pensioners under the new scheme will pay some tax, as the pension will go up to just above the tax threshold, but the threshold is not rising. So over the next few years pensioners will pay more tax. Add in a personal pension as well (shock, horror, current pensioners are more likely to also have a personal pension) that is more tax to pay. I know my circumstances are not average, but by the time me and SWMBO reach state pension age, our combined income will be more than we have been earning for the last 25 years.

Looks like you have identified the problem. Now lets hope they agree and swap the pipes over. Keep us posted how it goes.

I got mine from stairbox, but I don't recall ply being an option.

If you study a female - female coupling when mated to the respective pipes, there is literally nothing for "passing material" to hit on it's way past.

Do what I did, make it clear to the planners you want it to stay and in my case they agreed the 'van could remain but not for habitation.

Can we have a closer / clearer picture of the jumble of pipes coming out of the floor bottom left of the photo. Following the copper pipes between the 2 manifolds, the left manifold has the hot pipe connecting to the right hand manifold cold. These are the flow and return to / from the manifold. So either one is connected with flow and return swapped (which is wrong) or they are connected in series, which I have never seen before.