saveasteading

After that impeccable answer, I will have more questions about the way the world works. None for now, but this sort of thing. Why do my led bulbs glow when the switch is off , and flies circle lights that are off? How is it that a self-build project can cost half of that run by 'professionals'. (I know this one actually.) Why do 2-way lights not short and fuse? Why do materials and goods here cost the same in £ as Europe pays in Euros?

Glad to hear it. What does that mean (as simple as you like).

How strange you had the same issue. Although it was a pain, we did get paid for it. Another building had the same batch, but it was a sports hall and all the bolts were by now concealed by an inner lining of boarding. I told them this was difficult and perhaps to check the tolerances of the bolts in our situation. No. ( I think their insurer had issued a blanket instruction) Then I told them the cost of closing the facility, stripping the walls and replacing , on top of the bolt replacement. Apparently there was enough spare capacity in the bolts that it was ok after all. Good though, that the bolt supplier was so thorough, and it does provide total confidence in the product. Bolts facing down! Naughty.

That sounds clever and simple. I found this. Well done for the ability to hold on for 24 hours. Bleach mixed with water at a 1:9 ratio (i.e. 10 percent bleach) is potent for about a day (it's more unstable in its diluted form).

But try not to. This is a very serious safety thing, applying as much to drives as to junctions. The car coming at you has to see you crossing their path, react, brake and stop. In my experience the distances that seem to be excessive are sensible. An impact with an emerging car will be into the side of it, which is not nice. Relaxation is fair enough if the road cannot be used at the legal speed, eg due to sharp bends, but that is unusual. The planners have no interest in this unless they submit it to Highways and get a refusal. Generally they don't understand it. I have seen planning permission granted for a ludicrously poor sightline on the basis that a field gate was already there. I looked at it and shuddered at how dangerous it was,. Councils use the Highway Agency guidelines. Find that. and it is easy to test on google earth.

Spanners, yes, but why does a diesel engine have more torque than a petrol engine, please? Re the length of spanner thing. In erecting steel buildings there was a strict rule from our suppler not to use torque spanners, but to use 'turn of the nut'.....'after full resistance is achieved, apply a half turn'. The supplier gave up on this reluctantly, eventually and agreed to the use of torque wrenches. I think the issue was that torque wrenches were over-sized for the nut (as described by OnOff above) and generally turned up to 11. It was something I hadn't really thought of (and neither had most of the industry) that a bolt could be overtight and fail, or just tight enough and hold up a huge building. Then once there was a recall by the bolt manufacturer....change all 40mm bolts at the haunch of an erected and operational warehouse. what fun that was.

Absolutely. If you wanted, for some reason, to kill off all the activity within the tank, then bleach would be an easy way. I was looking for a spray with bleach in it to kill off some mould, and it was a surprise how difficult it was to find. Therefore it seems that few cleaning products contain bleach these days, and most are ok to use.

I think that was him.

I know more about hydraulics than electronics. A bit. Therefore before this discussion gets even more technical here is my input. I would select a suitable wheel that can run at a steady speed to feed your fairy lights, then create the waterflow to suit. Hence a spillway that feeds water from the burn into a full pipe, and then along the line of the burn or bank to the 'power station', gaining clear height. Then an outfall from the pipe onto the wheel which is above a small catchment and thence flow back to the burn. The leaves are kept out by angling the spillway so that leaves flow by but water trickles over, and then a small settlement area where sinkers and floaters are kept away from the pipe, with another weir and/ or gauze divider. Then a gauze over the pipe as a precaution in case of remaining bits. Presumably you would be far enough down the burn that the turbine is above spate level. All the above speaking as the student who caused the weir experiment to overflow onto the PhD student designing a wave energy machine below our mezzanine.

I've been doing this a long time and had not come across any such ruling (and never had a problem). But some of Yorkshire is high and exposed and perhaps it is simplest to apply a single ruling regardless of location. Southern Water though? My house water (SE) comes in at about -300 (including the meter installed by the water company) and has survived some very vicious winters (to -18C). I found this from J D Pipes. No mention of location or circumstances. Avoid freezing pipes According to 'The Department of the Environment', they recommend that pipes should be buried at least 600mm (two feet) underground. At this depth, the soil acts as a natural insulator and prevents them freezing. A deeper trench will likely be cheaper than insulation, if necessary where you are. For a long run in open ground there are ploughs that make a slit and drop the pipe in one easy operation. But I don't think they reach 600mm.

If the void is 100% filled with insulation, and the atmosphere is dry when the ceiling is fitted, then there shouldn't be significant moisture to evaporate. Also, if filled to the top, the summer heat does not have a volume of air (with moisture in it) at the top to heat.

That is technically a wee burn.

My indoor ones have rotted, so now have some in the greenhouse. After 4 days, nothing yet. I think straight in the ground now, esp in the Costa Thames Estuary area. Ruthless gardeners plant 2 beans together and cull the weaker one (if there are 2 that sprout). It seems like drowning the spare kitten so I tend not to. But outdoors they will attract slugs, rabbits etc until they are about 6 metric inches high. So pots is still worth a try, or try both and become an expert.

I have once or twice had cables supplied with apparatus, that only charges, or only connects data. They weren't marked as such. So either they were wired that way, or faulty.

Frost doesn't really go lower than about 400mm in UK except in exceptional locations. Even then, it would be very short term and the water has a reasonably high temperature unless coming out of a snowy hillside. No, it needs no insulation, and certainly not rockwool which would get wet and horrible.

Thoughts, not gospel: I think the trickiest thing is the practicality of fitting cables and insulation, as one will get in the way of the other. Cables tight to joists may be the answer. Then fixing the lights through, they will have to push aside the insulation, and it will be a hot little area that might cause the lights to fail. In theory, fit all the insulation you can, with something that will stay in place before you fit the ceiling. No need for any gaps that I can think of. For all that LED lights are low power, it still seems best and simplest to not have a polystyrene layer in contact with them. There will be a cold bridge through every joist though. Or fit a membrane under the joists, then a secondary grid of timbers to create a void that the cables and lights can sit in. There you are, more questions than answers.

The four diy ones and 3 apps I have tried have all been rubbish. This magnet idea sounds good, but won't work for cables.

I took the working motor out a broken Aldi strimmer yesterday, because I could. Should I drop it in? Could power a set of fairy lights, and your burn would look magical at night. It would be fun though. It seems that a motor to create electricity is not well suited to small-scale water power because of the speed (lots of gearing needed). Yet water mills work well. I assume this is a torque thing, and I never really understood torque.

Either this is nonsense or I have to worry about 50,000m2 of reinforced slab built without earthing, and the nation must have millions of m2. Even where a cautious client has insisted on lightning conduction, this has not been linked to the floor reinforcement. The only reason for doing this would be to complete a faraday cage. There is a nice business in lightning conduction. If you ask a lightning consultant they 100% tell you to get them to install a conductor system, which they can do for you. If you don't ask, then seldom will anybody else ask for it. (this does not apply to nuclear power stations and hospitals, where extra caution is sensible) After thorough research I am still to find any example of death by lightning from a steel building or from reinforced concrete. If it does worry you , why not just bang a steel rod (no need for copper) into the ground and tie it to the mesh? This is increasing the ease of lightning rising through your building though, so I wouldn't.

Wes they will grow up anything. When small they sometimes need small canes or twigs or string to grab hold of. When bigger they wind around anything and also cling together. Conduits, threaded rod, reinforcing bar are all good, especially as they need to be well into the ground for stability. then wind some horizontals in, using cane or sticks. If you have a line of beans they act like a sail, so guy ropes may be advisable too. Meanwhile have you planted any beans in pots, so that they are ready to be planted in their new bed.?

Why not now? Then I can answer to say I think it would be good fun, but not efficient or much use to you. (payback 50 years?)

In approximate terms , and in principle, I would go for all trench fill up to 2.4m , or mini-piles if deeper. The trenches all go to different depths according to the tree effect, ie could be 2 to 3m if near an oak tree, getting less deep and eventually to no extra depth if distant from an oak or near a conifer. I have designed for such circumstances many times, without any problems. Logically then, it wouldn't be a problem shifting from piles to trench footing. This is what Engineers understand and do, although the cost side of things isn't necessarily a universal skill. But if you tell them the cost effect then they will try to help.

So that toilet on the right, take two runs straight out of the building, one in 50mm and the other in 110mm. and do connections/rodding points outside Then there are no nasty junctions in the building...and no gurgles. Thanks team.

Hawthorns and conifers are not a big problem, and piling seems excessive. It depends enormously on the size and type of trees, and their distance. Mostly on trees remaining but also of those removed. Any more info?

If instead they were made with non-asbestos fibres, then that is also an issue, as they haven't generally lasted as well as the asbestos ones. When handling it, wet it first as it is the dry asbestos fibres that are dangerous. Then put it in a strong plastic bag and tie it, then repeat with another bag. There is no requirement to replace asbestos cement tiles, but it will have to be done at some stage so will affect the price at every sale.