Ferdinand

For drying washing, my mu always emphasised the importance of a washer with a high spin speed. Ours is I think 1400 rpm which makes the washing significantly dryer than even 1200.

I'm playing with ways of drying washing indoors efficiently, and I would welcome comparisons. Currently experimenting with a drying rack in my downstairs bathroom either in the big shower cubicle, or just in the room, which is the warmest room and has an extractor fan. I find that leaving the fan on dries a load in about 16 hours. How long do other people's efforts take? Bear in mind that I do not have full MVHR. I could get a Pulley Maid for the utility, but I am not convinced that would be much better, or I could potentially stick a dehumidifier in the bathroom with the washing. Ferdinand

You need a shelter belt of trees for your washing line ? .

Apologies for a third post. I think there may be a few clues on proposed Planning Reform in the Architectural Beauty Commission (more Bs in the name that Billy Blinking Bremner) Report - The Roger Scruton one. That came up with 75 recommendations - some rather nebulous, some quite interesting. Digital Building Passports is one of the more interesting ones imo. Attached. Ferdinand Living_with_beauty_BBBBC_report.pdf

I would say it is perhaps more likely to affect how long you have to build it. IIRC in England the squeeze has been on the timescale you have to reclaim the Stamp Duty. I could be mistaken there, however.

I think Scottish changes would follow a couple of years later, and (obvs) be blamed on the English ?., whilst probably also incorporating an innovation or two. I hear that there will be generous stuff for first time buyers from the locality - to the extent of reducing the purchase price by a third. Which will be good depending on who it helps. I also hear that there will be quicker routes to planning permission, in order decisively to reach build targets of 300k per year. I hope that that includes build quality measures. They have made very significant build volume progress over the last decade, and I think they want to nail that one as legacy. The measure I would like to see is dealing with London - and for me that is either: 1 - a high density redevelopment of one of the large Council Estates to provide most of a decade or more of housing growth. By high density I mean 200-300 dwellings per hectare. It is normal elsewhere. 2 - lift Greenbelt Restrictions (parts of the London Greenbelt are a mess of scrub and brownfield). 3 - a dozen garden cities. They won't touch that .. too political. Potentially over a generation rebalancing north may help that. Ferdinand

I can't answer your question but ... precautionary principle. We had to do some heavy fiddling with the waste in my main bathroom because we were adding a bath last summer. No other option. My plumber heavily emphasised that if it was being put somewhere where it could not be got at in future if a joint leaked along the pipe (we had to add the bath waste into the same pipe), then use the most reliable possible connections. I do not know what those are, but if that is you then someone will know. Ferdinand

Can you partly or fully hang it from the roof structure?

Excellent idea.

Welcome. A semi extension is not a *huuuge* project, and others have done similar so advice and experience are around - so relax (a little), for a bit. Recommend vodka and chocolate ? .

I'd expect to see certain extra taxes, but the Tory Manifesto left headroom for approx £20bn a year of extra investment - which would pretty much cover the stuff I have heard about. They created that headroom by relaxing the limit on the govt deficit to 3% of GDP , which I think is historically a prudent level. Given that most of our national borrowing is on low fixed interest rates over longer terms than most other Western countries (the BofE are startlingly better at managing the debt than all the others which was to our huge benefit in 2010) - info on BofE website - I think they may know what they are doing. The 100 bn+ figure for HS2 is an upper bound of a range and is massively inflated by anti-campaigners and the type of assumptions that place 30 years of management risk in the number. There is some good debunking by the editor of Rail News. Having said that, CGT takings seem to be at an historical high thanks to Landlords getting out or incorporating. F

Here we go. I wonder if they are all actors.

Love it. Good for flats. Wasn't there a prank video last year when a videoprojector set up as a window showed buildings outside collapsing? I can'r find the video.

I'm conflicted here. I certainly think it is reasonable that the applicant of whatever size should cover the costs of processing. OTOH that inhibits some development. I had the experience of having to write a 5 figure cheque in advance for the Council's costs of processing an Outline Application on a piece of inherited land suitable for a smallish housing estate - and the country is full of people with smallish 1 acre to 10 acre sites that need up front investments of 50k or more in the Planning Poker game to get them ready to develop, where selling with PP will be lifechanging, but they do not want to give away all the potential windfall by selling as agricultural or scrub. I am more inclined to prefer a Planning System simplified in some ways to control costs. Ferdinand

Mine are currently, and in slight contrast (4 bed 200 sqm house East Midlands): Council tax: Just under £2000. Will get 25% discount as mum passed away. I am a band D, and I think it got off lightly when they self-rebuilt it. Broadband and Phone: £40 per month. Also PlusNet, 30Mb internet, and included calls to everything all the time including mobiles. I think. I don't feel ripped off as I used to be with Virgin ? . Elec and Gas about £1000 currently though I go for stability over absolute minimum price. House and Building Insurance £180. Dodgy place, Dorset ?. TV License. Still free, as they have been told that mum passed away but have not caught up yet with me not being 75. FIT - About £550 back. Ferdinand

Welcome. Ask away ?

There is a lot about different methods on this thread: Depending on the roof .. material, amount of moss and height ... I have in the past used a 3 stage extending-broom, a window cleaning pole with brush, or copper sulphate solution using a £1 kiddy super soaker from the pound shop. The super soaker can reach about 6m up ... surprising. if I get one for clean water I can harass cats throughout the garden from the doorstep. I did half my roof with copper sulphate last summer, but cannot judge the impact over time until the snow clears. If you are looking at solar panels, then I would say take a serious look at replacing that section of the roof as once they are on you will not want to touch it for 25 years. Look at an in roof system. Personally. I pay people to do roofs .. I go as far as cleaning gutters. Ferdinand

I believe it used to be that if you were an older person you could get the Student Loan, and were old enough never to have to pay it back as it got written off. Loophole may have been closed - just my luck ? .

+1 You can foam it up to fill the gaps, but it could shrink some more potentially - which would just repeat the problem. Best of luck.

if you talk to your insurer carefully, they may let you use your own contractor and pay against receipts. I do that sometimes. Bit more organising, but it gives you control .. and you could get your roofer to split the invoice into insurer work and your work. You would probably need an assessment from the insurer’s assessor or your own first. I have a couple of retired architects I have known for decades who can do these at the drop of a hat. If you want to use your own assessor and get it done quickly, you can see if they are going to make you wait, or simply declare that water was coming in so it had to be done pdq. Perhaps your assessor will tell you that the insurer stands to waste hundreds on the cost of hiring dehumidifiers if you don’t get it done. Sometimes there is a lot to be said for having your own report first as a matter of .. er .. insurance. Probably only worth it for substantial claims of several thousand or more, though your scaffolding will add up if it is across much of the length of your house. Ferdinand

I think you may need to also confirm that they will be willing to connect as you wish.

Alternative sport to England nearly getting stuffed at cricket. Excellent.

more exactly .. decorative header corbel brick. compare to these: https://cawardenreclaim.co.uk/bricks/specials/decorative-corbelling Personally I think dentil may be the wrong direction as I think this is Gothic not Classical, and Dentil Is a classical term. Obvs that could be wrong and any term may put you in the ballpark.

It looks like a terracotta or brick decorative moulding. Moulding is probably one word you can start from. Take one to a salvage yard, and say “this”. If there are lots of those on houses in your locality, then someone local should have one. May be worth gossiping down the street to see if anyone has a spare. Really need a wider piccie.

Ugh ! Might use the girlfriend's old tights, instead. F