Ferdinand

Final question for @ProDave. If I go with a screw-less faceplate, which most of them seem to be, will this cause problems mating to a standard recessed back-box which has the fittings for a screwed faceplate? Cheers

It was a FIT install. To do with at that time some original regulatory documentation needed which had not been supplied, and the installer had left the market.

I'm going 4 gang on this.

But they aren't hypothetical - they can be eg equity for a small increase in mortgage. When I needed to spend a little money to improve my house I increased my mortgage by 10%. And it pays back either through eg (a) increased value of a higher quality house (which is here at last) or (b) Reduced costs at today's fuel prices. We may be a little off topic, so perhaps we should stop ! F

Possibly off-topic, I'm honestly not convinced of most of those. The "virtually no insulation one" is imo fanciful. I'd say that much thought is put into layout, but that much of it goes into space efficiency to keep costs down as desired by the market. Two things that that are definitely true are : 1 - That we have an older stock profile than most places in Europe (partly due to less war damage than elsewhere - 200k dwellings destroyed, 3.5m damaged, partly due to preferring traditional houses), and that many of the owner occupiers of such properties have refused to invest in their own properties, despite having Brobdingnagian amounts of free money being shovelled down their throats through tax-free house price appreciation and inflation of the demand side by Govt policy. (Unlike rented housing, Owner Occupied is not regulated for improvement. Unless maybe in Scotland(?) ) 2 - Energy used to heat UK houses has fallen significantly over the last 20 years or so - median EPC rating has gone from about ~50 to ~68, which is a big change. I'm used to seeing endless reports about how terrible the UK is plastered across the attention-seeking media, but eg the last one I saw (which made "this is fact" articles everywhere) was by a company called Tado who were trying to sell expensive hproducts, and published little or no actual date in support of their claims. So I am sceptical. Ferdinand

Sometimes they try to bounce you into paying it early. And you can avoid for a time if, for example, there is no potable water supply or in advance of the period of notice they are required to give. See the thread I linked. I mean we don't know the meaning of eg "substantial completion", or the answers to the questions you have asked.

Do you not have 2 options here? 1 - Make sure that you comply with the first half of the clause, which turns on the meaning of the words. 2 - Make sure there are no consequences that force extra costs. I think we would need the meanings before we can comment. Whilst you are at it, consider the point at which you will have to start paying Council Tax. That can be worth a couple of thousand.

At that location that's being sold as a pony paddock not a building plot - and you may even need Change of Use permission to make it a pony paddock iirc. Or maybe for speculation as a possibility for future development; if they though PP could be obtained now they would have done so (you can bet they took advice) and it would be worth 10-50x as much. A developer would look to do a rural estate on that 1.6 acres with perhaps 15-30 dwellings. It's in both AONB and Green Belt (I think), but PP has been obtained to build an estate in both half a mile away. It might be worthwhile if you had horsey daughters who would use it, and with a retirement possible bonus in 15-20 years time if more such land locally goes for development. Noel Edmonds used to live in near Tring; he was once done for driving his GT40 at high speed on the Tring Bypass. But I understand he has buggered off to New Zealand in his dotage.

I admit I only look up the details when I have to. Mine is a FIT install from ~2015, and I am now on the 15p fixed Octopus export tariff, having spent a year on the agile export and clocked it at 11-12p/ But it was a 'process' to get it done originally, and I had to get some documentation from places that felt like hunting for King Tut.

Hmmm. So what is it? There's one at TLC, which says 250V and says Light Switch. https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/VLXDR93S.html Am I about to be educated?

The pressure point would be to guarantee that a self-install is safe for grid isolation in powercuts for engineer safety, surely?

Is that a lido with the sort of diving boards we don't build any more?

I'd say storage shed, coal house, or loo for short people. But I have seen air raid shelters from the 1940s in approx that pattern. If I recall correctly a bomb shelter is the one type of permanent outbuilding you can still create where you can spend the night without Planning Permission. Under 30 sqm and no Building Regs either.

Thanks. £36.00 hmmm. But I did say Schneider. Need to reflect on this and grid switches for a day. Cheers

Here's an example of a retro flick switch in that format from SF in about 10 finishes. Lots around afaics, but seem mainly for Felicity to install in her antique house in West Hampstead: https://www.screwfix.com/search?search=3+gang+lghtswitch&numberofgangs=3_gang&switchoperation=toggle&switchproducttype=light And here's the only rocker on I can find, which looks cheap: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Varilight-3-Gang-Rocker-Switch-Rockers/dp/B01DM43X4K/ F

On the date, the concrete looks like nobbly that was aiui most commonly done in the 50s/60s. But white bricks would perhaps be unusual then, so I'd punt for late 60s early 70s.

I am replacing a 3 gang 15cm x 8cm dimmer switch in my kitchen with normal switches. Something has gone pop on one of my lighting circuits, and since I have non-dimming LEDs installed since 2013 this is one suggestion after a few years. I seem to have found a hole in the market with noting between cheap & perhaps nasty (<£15) and stupidly expensive (£75-100 + likely to have click switches like my primary school in 197x). I'm looking at approximately Schneider / MK level with a brushed metallic finish or brushed metal front plate roughly to match the rest of the room. Can anyone recommend - an hour looking has found nothing suitable? Plan B will be a 4 gang with one left unconnected. Chees Ferdinand

I think that means I can put it on the same spot using the same connecting wires when I have removed the old one (and labelled the wires 😁). Is that correct? Thanks.

I need to replace one of the above where the screen has gone blotto. Can anyone recommend a corresponding or alternative model? At present it is in the hall. I guess a carry-around one linked to the boiler is one alternative. Cheers Ferdinand

Both are threads I posted early in the life of the forum. They are quite long now ! Still worth some time, as there is a lot of useful info - an example is that self-builders can usually get the 10% trade discount at Wickes, plus a further 10% (ie 9% since it compounds on top of the Trade Discount) by using a membership scheme discount card available via various memberships etc (I get mine via a Health Cashplan, but employers, trade unions etc do similar). The latter schemes operate by you loading cash onto a reusable cash card eg before you go to the shop, and you get 5-10% more value than you load up. Another one is the potentential value of points Credit Cards (spend a few 10s of K and you get a nice holiday bonus at the end), or Interest Free Period Credit Cards. HTH. Watch the detail. My two threads mentioned are here: and here:

Actually no - I had 3 weeks in hospital which started very suddenly around 19 May - straight from the GP so no time to turn anything off. For some reason my Smart Dehumidifier went beserk at the start of week 3 and stayed on until I got home. Why? I know nothing.

For non-sagging shelves I use something more like varnished, or painted, 18mm OSB. 18mm has the advantage that it is the most common standard size, so less expensive per standard amount. Or even similar strength MDF. But that is more moisture-vulnerable.

We could have some fun with these. This is mine for the same period. Single occupancy in a 205sqm house. My heating is gas, but I hardly used any in the period, and I use a heat pump for cooling. Solar generating about 5MWh per annum, exporting about 3MWh. What do you think happened 5-11th June? And the air fryer arrived 4 weeks ago...

Interesting thread. My comments. 1 - I would not do two 90 degree bends, as you may end up with standing moisture in the horizontal run. Plus sweeping may be more difficult. 2 - I don't see any way of reconstructing that without comprehensively removing the hood. Though taking out the arch and the triangle of 3 central bricks may work structurally (self-supporting - maybe) I think it would look clunky. 3 - Can you replace your stove with a rear entry one and bring it forward to the edge of the existing brick platform? I think there are regs around heat proof material needing to be X mm wide around the stove, but you do have those pavers there afaics. 4 - If you are redoing the fireplace, consider insulation behind the stove to stop heat escaping directly to outside (if it is outside). Probably rockwool to be heat tolerant. 5 - One of those infrared point-and-shoot thermometers may be a useful tool for investigations first top explore just where heat is going - they cost from about a tenner. That would make a large difference to the amount of heat radiating directly into the room. ATB F

You may be able to have an effect depending on what your surface is to be, depending how far you have gone so far with your structure. Practically it needs the structure to be dampened or stiffened, or something else stiff being put on top. But it's difficult, and far more fun to suggest alternative strategies: 1 - Use a Segway or in-line skates. 2 - Learn to love it. Wishing you the best. F