Ferdinand

Nice to see some media catching up and talking about it, but some holes in the report. I would make the following comments: The headline is imo misleading, as the C target is 10 years in the future and only applies to rental. Saying that 2/3 of houses fail as they do not meet a 10 or 15 years ahead future target therefore end of the world is poor. But the BBC Shared Data Unit is not the most comprehensive source of analysis (ie they leave important things out). The original background report is much better. The claim that a C is "just above average" is controversial. In fact only 25% of Owner Occupied properties are C or above. And Social Rented is substantially better, which will throw the claim off more. PRS is slightly better than OO. The Beeboids forgot to mention that of the 62% of houses below EPC Grade C, three quarters are Owner Occupied (three quarters of approx two thirds of the overall housing stock). That is the elephant in the room that needs to be slaughtered, and that imo they should be highlighting. Probably only addressable in year one or two of a Parliament for political reasons. One for this year's budgets, which need to change the agenda. I think there is some UK self-hate / self-flagellation happening. Across many even of the advanced EU countries EPCs (with all their limitations) are not even fully public data (eg Austria, Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, Finland). Meanwhile, Germany gets more than 1/3 of its energy from coal (UK: 3%). Solutions? I very much agree with Tim Forman's comments, though they look to be rather large cost numbers; I think we need to look initially for a return to pre-Green Deal volumes of retrofits. I don't think they will put it on energy prices, though imo they probably should. Ed Milliband drove up energy prices massively via his green taxes and got a hell of a lot of stick. Personally I would like to see a price ratchet as we had on petrol/diesel. More preferably a single carbon tax on everything. I remain skeptical of "can't afford it" arguments. If a quarter of us can afford £500 to £1500 a year per dog (PDSA numbers), and more of us cars, then we should be able to afford to do at least small things to our houses, and small things make a huge difference, and loft insulation is already free to the user. I've posted about Stamp Duty and Council Tax before, so I'll leave those alone, though imo it needs both as Stamp Duty only comes up when we move. Probably combined with tax relief on improvement costs or similar. The cost needs to be leveraged out of a slightly reduced value forced on the property. 1-2 years of house price increases would cover most of the basic improvement costs. Ferdinand

You need to be sure that changing the existing permission will change the CIL liability. It may be you need a new permission (potentially).

@Redoctober has that right, but also see how you go. Once you have the sprayer and can do the whole thing in a day or two, you can do more coats rather than thicker coats - as that gives you more control. Important to take time to learn and prep, though.

May help:

Progress is happening. The electric reclining sofa has gone, and the shelves are up for the prototype green wall.

I am looking for a new knife block, and have been looking at options. Of the different types of knife blocks etc. I don't think we have discussed this one before, so I thought a wider thread might be beneficial. 1 - Magnetic "hanging on the wall" ideas. I am not keen on these as they seem to me to be vulnerable to accidental knocking, and if that is going to happen I do not want my sharp, heavy knives falling from that height. If they are going to get knocked I want it to be difficult for them to go beyond the worktop. Also the blade edges are exposed - not good. 2 - Magnetic "stick to the front" knife blocks to sit on the worktop I am not a fan of magnetic blocks on worktops either though they are imo not as risky should something happen. And again the blade edge is still exposed. 3 - Slotted sections in drawers Potentially an advantage is that the knives are hidden away - but correspondingly inaccessible. But they are either stored on their cutting edge blunting it a little, or risk having the cutting edge exposed on thicker knives. 4 - Blocks with Plastic Rods No comment really on these, except that the ability to wash the rods in a dishwasher is very good - but they seem to take days to dry. And there is no airflow around the blades when stored. And little bits of plastic get attached to the knives and they need a wipe every time. 5 - Traditional Knife Blocks or Variations This is what I have at present, and I like that I can store the knives on their backs safely, or vertically. I do not like the extra space taken up by the angled block. I currently need a new one, as I need to store more than a dozen knives plus small ones ie paring, utility and steak knives. So comments would be most welcome. Ferdinand

I do not believe a word of it. You are just trying to sound more respectable than the rest of us. (Love the artwork. Some of us are very interested in diversions.) ?

Welcome. I read that Ombudswoman, and I thought we had someone to make all our decisions for us. Gin is sometimes preferable to meditation. For a bit. Welcome. We were all novices once. Judging by your name, you are either eclectic in your interests or a bus driver - both of which are advantageous. Ferdinand PS I make it 3 acronyms in your first post /pedant .

An explanation for the nickname ? . I'm punting for a Hookah pipe in the @Puff kitchen. Regrettably I am old enough to know all about Magic Dragons, though I still have to pinch myself to think of "sealing wax" not "ceiling wax", having internalised the song whilst very young and never having met seals on letters. Presumably other people things of seals as in grey seals when they hear it. Apropos of Puff the Magic Dragon, I see he made today's Google Doodle.

You've done it now ... we are going to have to have an explanation. I've just been listening to Peter, Paul and Mary (as opposed to Mary, Mungo and Midge) explaining why it has nothing to do with .. er .. weed.

Those clubs may have been given him as a freebie PR thing ? . I've occasionally run into footballers as potential property investors, and those I have known of have very much been interested only in the money. I am sure that others are interested in enviro or nice-to-live or tenant comfort questions.

Welcome to the Fun Factory. Which part of Wales are you in? High, low, windy, rainy, sunny? Rule 1: The stupid question is the one that is not asked. Ferdinand

I either bolt the posts to concrete repair spurs, or use Postsavers as above. Either way should give 2 decades of life. Postsavers work by protecting a wooden post at the point where it rots - ground level. (Vid below - they also work with square posts). Other options are plastic posts or guaranteed life wooden posts. Best of luck with your chosen method. Ferdinand https://vimeo.com/manage/262801711/general

If they are sole traders that is a nice little earner. When I was at a Council we had to pay £900 a day for Network Engineers in 2006 or so, but that was via a networking company. Who are the pricey ones - Ultra Techies or Change Managers, Interims and similar?

I have driven a Leaf and i3. Liked the price of secondhand Leaf and the pave of the i3. But the i3 was like a roller skate with the suspension taken out, so I suspect it is best for countries with smooth roads (which is not us .. or at least not us where I live).

Just remember to fit it before you have a shower...

I think they will all work and you just need to stop pfaffing and toss a three sided coin. ?

If it is crazy then it will be hourly.

I think that should be OK if you check up on the seller. Feedback, their ebay shop, their website (which will let you trace their history) etc. And buy with a Credit Card. I have done about 5 that way. Then flipper panels are fine if that is what you want. I normally avoid as it is a moving part which I avoid as far as possible - but I have had one in a rental since 2011 or so and it is not dead yet. For that wet room feel, have a short panel and no flipper then you will have real water everywhere ??? . F

That's the attitude. "We love window shopping for all the things we don't need to buy." ?

I don't see why they would need to dig up the street, unless someone was going to dig excavations. I had one where the people I had sold it to were doing that, but they were turning the house into a side road ? . Phone up the supplier and ask for the cost of having the meter removed. It should not be that bad - guestimating somewhere between zero and a couple of hundred. F

Since the real thing should be between (estd) 150 and 200, I would look for that. I usually buy off eBay. F

I think the effective ultimate lobbying mechanism would be individual MPs to get them to ask Questions, nobble the Housing Minister, the Housing Minister's cabinet level boss and the Chancellor. Plus the direct letters that have to be done. Plus media - letters to nationals and personal stories in locals. Plus perhaps direct contact with journos or twitter journos with sob stories - there are umpteen journos on twitter looking for emotion driven stories. I don't think we can do the mass stuff, as we do not have 50-100k twitterers who will sign any petition that moves. F

My lost comment (!) had a good old whinge about the prevalence of marketing and 'architectural bollocks' in the 200 pages of these documents ? , and speculated whether "innovative or outstanding" in Paragraph 79 needed changing back to "and". eg: There were some very good comments in the objections, and I did not think that overall it really merited a 20Ha site in an AONB, though I approve of the relative lack of prominence in positioning in the site. I think that a good opportunity for Selwyn Gummer houses will be in small conifer plantations by 'keyholing' the house in, and turning it into a more mixed woodland by introducing and enlarging with deciduous. This was a good way of presenting the basic layout, however: Ferdinand

I think that selling a Trombe Wall as "innovation" or "energy saving" is misconceived - this is only billed as saving 6000 kWh per year, and the same can be achieved using a few solar panels and a couple of Heaters in the slab.