Ferdinand

That's actually what my window cleaner has been doing since 2015 or os when they invested in a new van, pole and machinery, and it is fine if done regularly. The extending pole comes with a tube for adding detergent, which can be set to 5%, 10% or 16% with a filter on the input. That sounds like a sales tactic for Nilfisk to sell loadsa roof detergent, but I can put it into an already diluted bucket of washing up liquid - and plug the input hose into the pumped outlet from the 1000l gardening water butt (once it exists. I'm also thinking about Cleaning solar panels once a year, of which I have 35 at present. But it seems to all meet the need. F

Certainly happy to post a vid.

😉 The stuff on the shower is enough to worry me a little; I will *not* like working at height if I have to get it off afterwards. Unfortnately my house was not subject to Scottish "windows washable from inside" building regs.

Just after a bit of advice from people who do their own upstairs windows. I have just purchased a roof cleaning accessory for my Nilfisk pressure washer. The max length is 4.2m, and seems fine. It is also suitable for windows. My local tap water is moderately hard, to the extent that I need to pay attention to the shower screen regularly. I do not want that on my upstairs windows, and I do not have a water softening system in the house (can get one if needed, perhaps, when I extend my utility room). I will, however, have a rainwater storage setup for watering the container plants. Q: Is this rainwater suitable for window washing, without leaving any noticeable residue on the windows? Thanks for any thoughts. Ferdinand

Zinc always makes me think of Edward Lear - Z was once a piece of Zinc. Yes there alternatives, including Alu or Steel, and there are systems which I think have been used by one or two here, if you look. Apologies if you have already done all this. eg Some conversation in the comments on this post by @AliMcLeod: Ferdinand

Good comments. The link to various forms of arch is good. https://www.ibstockbrick.co.uk/arches/ I think the tapered bricks are specialised rather than custom. In Georgian arches are these called "rubbers"? There are other ways to do this - take a look around eg very modest 1870-1930-ish hosues when they were trying to reproduce Georgian/Victorian effects with mass-produced materials. See what is vernacular for your area. One is to have a triangular 'keystone' in the middle, which makes all the other mortar joints parallel using straight-sided bricks. Another is to use a triangular central element with cut bricks, which saves cutting all of them. They are everywhere in trad semis and terraces. The architect diagram is clearly tapered bricks. Have a chat with your brickie about how he can give you the sharp effect you want. Buying modules is perhaps an option. The Ibstock ones look interesting: https://www.ibstockbrick.co.uk/arches/ And there is an organisation called the Brick Development Association, best known for their magazine Brick Bulletin, who have all kinds of stuff on their website. Including a possibly useful information sheet: https://www.brick.org.uk/admin/resources/d-brick-arch.pdf I'd say they would advise you, though you will perhaps need to exhibit your innate enthusiastiasm about bricks and brickwork (which you seem to have). Personally, I love the stuff. https://www.brick.org.uk/about/contact-us I'd say this prominent element is a place to spend a reasonable amount of money, as if it is wrong you will be irritated every week. And that working with your brickie positively is important. Keep any blame perception on yourself, and take the small financial hit. Make it "I want it a bit different" not "this is crap". If it turns out great, remember that people like BDA issue prizes and commendations for good jobs, which beats "Kevin McCloud modelled my house in Garibaldi biscuits." F

Late comment. If you are on Wordpress (or indeed Buildhub Blogs) you can set dates into the past, so rearrange everything. (You can also - and on BH - set dates into the future, as a kind of draft system for posts. Just don't forget.)

Late to this. I have just purchased a roof cleaning accessory for my Nilfisk pressure washer. The pole is 4.2m, and seems fine. I'll be starting a thread about type of water to use, as I know what my shower looks like after a period with routine cleaning, or steam clean of the glass. My area I moderately hard water. It can take detergent, but I will probably try using the detergent system for CuSO4 for the semi-under-tree solar panels once a year. My former window cleaner used deionised water from a tank in their van and no detergent. F

Experiment with pumping porridge round corners.

I can't see what gubbins you have to hide, but what about (say) offsetting the loo slightly to one side, and having say a 150mm deep by x by y enclosure on the other side which simply lifts off completely? F

I hate DIY plumbing, I'm afraid. 'Orrible, nasty, wet and cold. And it could turn into plumbing reverse-Jenga. I won't let the door hit my Rs on the way out ! ATB. 🙂

I'd say your shower will not be using 15l a minute throughout, and that quite a bit comes from elsewhere rather than showers. I was thinking of a similar thread, so thanks for this. Average usage for Thames is I think around 145l per person per day, so on that metric you are not doing badly on crude arithmetic. For Jan-June this year, I used 160l per day. I currently live on my own in a 200 sqm house. But I did use some in the garden, and I divide general overheads by one not five. The best numbers in northern Europe are I think Denmark, which uses 104l per person per day. There's a target. You can probably save some water by using a dishwasher not washing up by hand. Someone will give you a flow reducer for your shower if you ask. Cups of tea lol - how many football pitches is it? Ferdinand

You may find that objections are not considered until they are all in and after the closing date. That is how mine operate. I have found value in an early phone call to the Planning Officer, perhaps ostensibly to ask how to object so as to avoid wasting their time with fluff and outrage buses. But if you know of policy contraventions it is also an opportunity to help write the POs agenda before they have read objections, or perhaps even looked in detail at the plans and perhaps without breaking cover if you don't want to (you don't seem worried about that). If things come up after the closure date, you can submit further material and it has to be considered if it is before a decision is made. Get your LPA's list of "relevant planning matters", and get as familiar as you can with their polIcies. These are their boudnaries to define "not relevant". The point about habitable rooms is well observed - make sure the LPA know where your habitable rooms are if relevant. You may get things like obscured glass or a clerestory. Be short, focused, well-researched, and polite. Whose hedge is it? Can you trim it to 1.8m? Ferdinand

Welcome. Have you tried old episodes of Grand Designs for suitable inspiration? There have been a number of practical (ie less upbutt than sometimes happens on GD) designs based around farms - I recall a couple who built one so they could move out and let their children have the main farmhouse with the farm. Farmers normally have their feet on the ground, especially when it comes to trebling the value of a small piece of land and getting a forever-house to boot. Rather like a several hundred £k detached Grannexe shaped like a farm building, and with practicalities such as a North Side pantry. May be worth a look. If i have time I'll do a peruse for a few episodes. Ferdinand

I think squirrels would look better, personally.

What happens to a 4m shed with a 2 sided mansard roof, and a flat centre on top? (He asked helpfully)

Yes - unauthorised work to an LB is criminal. Can get expensive. There are strange corners to the law, such as if an 'orrible 1970s conservatory was on the building when listed it is protected. And their tend to be fewer as you go N in England, aiui as Pevsner was more hurried up there and he was used as a bit of a guide.

If he's the other side of the sale property and you do that, he'll still be your neighbour 😛.

When did he last sell something? These days solicitors are far keener on checking paperwork. Part of this sound OK wrt Planning and Building Control, some not. One option is to let them sell it if you want rid of the project next door. Another one is to ring up the Conservation Officer, Planning Office or BCO with an innocent "is this OK" query. Probably useful to query something that can be seen from the road. You need to reflect very carefully on whether you want to do this.

At the end of week one, these are the import and export numbers: An average export price of something like 25p per unit, and import prices rising from 27p to 33p suggests a approximate break even on electricity in real time at this point. It is still better to use than export, however the payment is around 4.5x the FIT export rate for me. Unit rate (per kWh) Sep 50.866p Oct 33.018p There's work to do on the panels, and hopefully on a questionable tree obscuring a large chunk of my panels. Should be able to do better than that number.

Not urgent. I was just trying to make my next @Onoffcharacter assassination gentle wind-up was a stiletto not a bludgeon. Now I'll get off Zoot's thread.

What were the topics of rounds 1, 4, 5 and 8?

Given it is demonstrably their kit, and is infrastructure, I can't imagine that there will not be a legal provision or case law buried somewhere. But I can't give you a reference.

Previous related threads: My thread about accessing the tariff (which was frozen to close this one):

I you are demo / rebuild. there's a strong argument to build them first under PD, then you can leave them out and still use them during the build.