ProDave

What we found when the seats got broken is the only seat I could find that would fit (top fixing) was a self closing one. Now that just makes you lazy and when you go to a friends house that does not have self closing, you give it a nudge and BANG. Whoops.

I suggested the "solution" to that is to install a urinal. Yes I am allowed to have one. In the garage.

^^^ +1 to the above I looked at a GSHP. Even having my own digger so the ground work would only cost some diesel, I decided to go for an ASHP. The cost of all the pipes to bury in the ground and the antifreeze to fill them (which you have to replace every 10 years, where are you going to dispose of the old stuff?) cost more than the actual heat pump.

Not in the same league as all those sports cars, but I have a 1972 Landrover. I could unbolt the hard top and have some open top motoring in the summer if I wanted to. Even that, the value is going up and costs nothing to tax it and very cheap classic car insurance. Mine is mechanically sound and has been rebuilt on a new galvanised chassis, but it's in desperate need of a re paint, that will have to wait until after the house is finished (though some might say an old Landrover is meant to look tatty with peeling paint?)

So same as us. If it would cost over £10K for a plumber, I know who will be doing ours.....

As someone just starting my mvhr ducting design, can I ask why thenumber of inlet pipes is not equal to the number of outlet pipes?

We had a B&B guest who in the course of a 4 week stay got through two loo seats. One shudders to think how? He was not an especially large chap.

That is a really nice looking blend of high tech house with traditional exterior.

I would be more concerned with percolation rates and where you are going to put your leach field, on the assumption you are off mains drainage and are going to be installing a new treatment plant (if you have mains drainage that is obviously not a concern) Clearly it's a wet area, something I have here (though probably for different reasons) But a SE should be able to sort out a foundation system for you.

Out of interest, what made you chose that one? It seems to be unique in that it doesn't run the air blower all the time. Yet I can't see any figures on average power consumption. I don't have experience of one in use, but as it happens, two of the new houses near me have installed that one, but neither is in use yet. One has put the controls in his garage which is close to the plant, the other has the little outside kiosk thing for the controls Have you compared the output cleanliness with the other "best in class" plants like the Biopure, Conder and vortex, which were the three best I found when I was looking (I chose the Conder, several on here have installed a Biopure and I think at least one a Vortex) The price seems comparable to the others. When I bought mine I got quotes from the local builders merchants, and TP were cheaper than all the on line shops so they got the order.

Hi and welcome to the forum. We have quite a few Scottish Islanders on here now (though I am on the mainland) Harris is a lovely place, the best part of the Outer Hebredies imho

What is the site like? any drainage on site yet? A portaloo is normally emptied by its provider, normally weekly. It makes no difference to you if the builders supply it or you do, either way the cost will end up at your door. If you have, or can get drainage installed early then a site toilet can be connected to that and save the portaloo costs. Re storage, buy or hire a container, or even a static caravan. You need to get whatever is available on the island otherwise transport and ferry costs could well exceed the cost of the unit. My guess would be a static 'van would be easier to find. What build method and how much waste do you expect? I have never had a skip on either my first or current self build. I work on the basis that any timber left over gets used to build something or goes on the stove. Any brick or tile rubble gets used as hardcore. that really only then leaves plastic packaging, cement bags etc and plasterboard, that I put in my trailer and take to the tip recycling centre myself at no cost.

My experience is the sleepless nights start when you move into the caravan, especially in winter when cold and particularly condensation is your enemy.

Be patient, have to wait for the snail mail for the fittings......

Possibly, but it's years since I have bent conduit. My own (ex my dad's) Hilmor only has the pipe size formers, not the conduit ones.

I've ordered the parts. Photo's in a few days when they arrive. But what is is with bloody mail order, why can't you buy ONE length of 50mm? That'll have to wait until i'm passing TP. I'm plumbing like my dad taught me. Straight simple runs, as few joints as possible. You wait until you see my copper plumbing, i'm very handy with the bender to avoid elbows......

Australian plans I see (picture is upside down for those that don't have a posh computer that auto rotates) I made a garden seat like that, just because someone gave me a log already sawn down the middle. I just hammered 4 posts into the ground and sat it on them.

Time to stock up on blades got my multitool then. Thanks. P.S I used my little 12V cordless drill first time in anger last weekend to screw my garage ceiling up. Very pleased with it.

Since we have touched on stained glass, anyone know a manufacurer of half decent 3G stained glass unit? expecting normal glass outside, stained panel in the middle, and toughened glass on the inner sheet.

We are having clear glass in our bathroom. If you are worried someone just might be walking their dog in the field, then that's what a set of blinds is for to block the view.

No the soil does not, but the 50mm sink waste must. So the branch is just a way to continue the 110omm for enough to get a reducer, in fact the reducers linked to above will plug into the socket of the branch directly. I could mess about with a boss on the horizontal soil before the WC but that then means an extra elbow on the sink waste. My philosophy is keep the water flowing straight as possible with minimum bends so I don't like that idea.

I'm the opposite of Steptoe. When I bought my current pair of work boots, I deliberately chose slip on boots, so if they are at all grubby, and the house I am in has a white carpet, I can slip them off.

The double MIRAS thing caused such a rise in house prices because they didn't say we are ending it tomorrow, but we will end it in 6 months time (might not have been 6 months, but it was certainly a long time) that created an artificial and by it's very nature, a short term property boom because just about anyone thinking of buying or moving did so in that period to qualify for double MIRAS. Of course once they had all moved / bought their first house, there was the very predictable slump as all those thinking of moving or buying had, and they would not want to move again because they would lose their double MIRAS. I was caught up in this as I wanted to sell my 1 bedroom starter home and move up to a proper house, it went on the market, and nobody came. I took it off the market for a year and tried again, and it still took nearly a year to sell. I seem to have a habit of picking the wrong time to sell. It must be a dream to put your house on the market, have lots of people viewing immediately and have an offer in 2 weeks. It has certainly never happened to me. TIP: don't try selling your house when I am, as it will probably be the wrong time to sell. If just selling a house and buying another, then as long as you are not in negative equity, then a drop in prices also means you will pay less for the new one. But as a self builder, you can end up in the situation I am in, that I have almost run out of money to build the new one, and can't find a buyer for the old one. I have always thought increasing or reducing interest rates as a way to boost, or slow down the economy was at the best a VERY blunt instrument, and at worse totally ineffective. If that were the case, then the record low rates we have now should have the economy well and truly overheated, but it hasn't.

TIP: Pick a cold frosty day. Keep the compriband outside or even in the fridge (or freezer?). It expands much slower when it's really cold. On a hot day when the compriband is also nice and warm, it will expand before you get the window in.

It's surprising how prices vary, we found internorm twice the price or Rationel but I have even heard of once case where internorm were the cheapest. Although Rationel don't do a timber finish inside, you can have the inside and outside different colours, e.g my plumber friend has just had them with the dark grey ali clad outside and an almost white finish inside.