saveasteading

That seems to be right.

I thought that until this discussion.

BC said "more" insulation between floors needed I didn't know this! It seems that the easy options are 1. Single layer plasterboard ceiling and 100mm mineral wool on it. 2. Double layer plasterboard no insulation. Floor chipboard has to be a certain density, as does the pb.

To reduce the chance of your gravel clogging with muck and weeds over the years, could you put a perforated pipe in the gravel and vent it upwards? Then cover the gravel with slabs? It would work better if the pipes vented either higher, or distant to the house, allowing the breeze/ differential pressures to evacuate any gas. Despite my interest i have never heard of there ever being an explosion in a house ( or anh building) from ground methane. Might as well do it properly though.

Good work. I've done several jobs on methane sites. In most cases I've specified a perforated pipe network beneath the slab, surrounding in gravel, then venting outside the building. There are branded systems at about 4 times the cost. I have the advantage of the qualifications, which the bco should accept. Your blanket of gravel clearly allows gas to escape too, ( for a small building, so you must have detailed it very well. It needs to be open at different ends of the building to get wind suction. I assume you have this.

Thanks all. I will check properly, but I think the black mains pipe is about 32mm inch externally, Some research shows that this is called 1" because that is the ID, and is also stated as 24.5mm ID and 33.7mm OD. Yes, I know that an inch = 254.mm so i will find another reference to check. The branch is blue mdpe 25mm. i also see that I will not 'win' any black pipe when fitting a new branch as the pipe goes nearly all the way into the socket. so I will need to buy some 35mm mdpe,. nobody seems to sell it by the m so I will have 24.5m spare. But it might be as well to replace a metre or so while I'm at it. IN one direction it is easy digging. The other soon disappears under concrete! Apparently we can tell that alkathene is failing when black bits come out of taps. something to look out for. Ive turned the water off for the night . My cork and string thing is working, and i think the leak is now at alkathene to brass. The puddle has grown considerably but its a leak, not an outpouring. Tomorrow I have other things to do, so I will get back to it on wednesday and report.

I think so. I haven't used ultimate force with two wrenches yet, but I'm not expecting them to come loose. I really don't want to wreck the mains supply with 4 working days to Christmas. I don't know if the black pipe size is completely compatible with blue either, and they didn't know at the BM.

My wife reported a loss of water pressure. I hadn't noticed. Then i saw a puddle outside, and then the meter whizzing around. So here's the problem. The black pipe is at least 30 years old. The branch off it was to a kitchen extension that we removed. Our plumber (not our usual one) put in a standpipe for us which is the blue pipe. When exposed, the blue connection came completely free. I can't even see how it was connected.* For now the branch is closed using a sherry cork, string, and densi tape. There's a constant drip, so I will monitor and turn it off overnight. I've got myself various joiners today. The next issue is that i oubt if the old fitting will unscrew so I will have to cut the pipe. I'm thinking of a junction, then cut off a bit of black pipe and add a straight connector to make up the length. I should have bought 100mm of blue pipe. Then a reducer towards the standpipe. Also thinking of adding a stopcock. Any thoughts and suggestions? *a total bodge. The backfill was fill of big stones and rubble. The black pipe is propped up on a bit of brick.

I think the distilleries agree, and most use entirely electric energy. Mme Pernod owns lots of them and says how proud she is etc. Heat recovery saves half the power apparently. So I'm guessing hydrogen powered tankers will be the thing.

Turbines in areas of directional current. Wave power from 'nodding duck' and similar seems to hsve never quite worked. Maybe it was my fault, overflowing the flume down onto his desk.

Stiffening the attic space, as you have done by boarding it, can cause cracking elsewhere because everyday movement is limited. Ie it used to all move a bit, but now that crack is between the original construction and the new.

It's difficult to harness wave power. It goes up and down randomly and tides change in level. I recall a researcher in my hydraulics lab at uni, many decades ago, and noticed that study continuing over the years.. It never quite became viable.

It would need provision for parking, with safe access. All seems unlikely. Ound these parts ancient woodland has to maintained even coppicing land, can only be used for that purpose. Buy the land if you want it. Don't worry about paintballing.

Depends on location. scrubby agricultural land is £10/ acre but increases a lot if someone wants it other than for sheep. There is a market for land to plant trees on (to show you care and buy carbon credits) Woodland that used to be sold as a cash sink for tax avoidance is now sold as a bit of heritage to nurture (and show on the sustainability page of the website. You have 1 chance to buy it, thinks the owner.

Altogether now: And on his windfarm he had a hydrogen production plant EIEIO

Not that any of us would sit next to a gas or oil burner vent either.

Sorry. All I can say is the ones I've seen recently are quiet. A few Daikins, and a vaillant.

This roof will leak badly: correct This lead roof will be stolen: correct This would be ok in Spain but not here, it will suffer damp and will be demolished in a few years: correct. I hadn't realised til now, typing it: it was always water. the Architect still got repeat work though. So the C o W needs the client to listen. The build quality was good though.

I was thinking that today. 88 houses out of???? Barratt Developments PLC had revenues for the full year 2023 of 5.32bn. £20M rebuild cost (guessed). 20/ 5,320 = 0.65% Profit from operations (£m) 707.4 Operating margin 13.3% 20 / 707 = 2.8%, so it is significant even to them..But not critical, unless this affects sales.

I've just looked up the 350M and see it is from £489 at Spray Direct*, £600 Screwfix, and £648 Toolstation. * Includes VAT but I haven't checked for delivery. 250 Pro is £398.68 (£332.23 ex VAT) Nod gets the VAT back perhaps.

So no harm to the bark or roots of trees or ground plants in the stated 'ancient woodland? I saw a complaint that some big run over hill and moorland had painted dye* onto rocks to show the route. Apparently when it washes off, even the tiny amount will upset the extremely delicate chemical balance in the acid soil. *'upside down paint', as I recently heard it called and now say myself.

How does Old MacDonald fit into this?

I've now read the article, which I recommend. but I disagree with 2 statements. industry reports by Sir Michael Latham and Sir John Egan in the 1990s might also have hurried the demise of the clerk of works. I don't agree with this conjecture. These reports were criticising the standard contest between client, contractor and subcontractor. I was there and it was very combative in some circles, horrible to work in, and expensive. The main losers through Latham and Egan were claims surveyors and lawyers. theoretically the big contractors also lost all the money they made through claims, and non payments. But overall most of them just started to behave better and concentrate on quality.. The winners were the good sub-contractors who could now get all the money due. The article also blames the 'design and build' process. This is a common whinge by architects and surveyors who lost supervisory work. I declare an interest. My company was a design and build specialist. No, the problem was with clients passing all risk to contractors through the 'design and build' contract. The contractors may or may not have the skill or ethos for quality. But then the same applied to the surveyor and architect. I'd also add that the demise of the Borough Engineer is a similar loss. They were pushed out by accountants and general managers, who don't have technical skills.

My father was one, working for 'the client'. He was allowed to crit the architect's proposals, then did spot checks on quality through to completion. But even these decades ago there was some inferior work and crazy design ideas that the architect insisted upon. He was known to take the jacket off (but never the tie and cap) and show a joiner or plasterer how to do it properly. Nowadays there are site managers and 'Client's Representatives' . More likely Surveyors than ex trades. But in these house problems, the developer has total control and could have Clerks of Works if they wanted: but they don't.

That's a good question. Are they being turned off? I had this picture of hydrogen-free water being tipped into the river. How silly of me: it will be hydrogen and oxygen free of course.