Ferdinand

I think the first thing to do here is work out how far up your walls are damp so you can monitor it. Moisture meter. Start by by lowering the outside ground level back to where it should be, leave it for some time eg until next spring, and see if you need to do any more than repoint. Do the necessary. Ideally the necessary will require you to sit on your bottom. Potentially you could backfill your trench with some decent sized gravel, or start the serious business of DPCs. DPCs are not that expensive to install, and personally I would see that as a painful saving. Ferdinand

And here is the BRE relevant Guide. https://www.isse.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-08/3.%20Rising%20Damp%20in%20walls%20-%20Bre.pdf

Here is an explanation https://www.dampcoursing.com/physical-damp-proofing-installation/

I have the numbers nearly in on this. The basic project came to £2250 including parts and labour. The whb, mirror and storage caninet were not replaced, which would add about £250-300 and were all from Ikea. F

Ikea 10% extra off sale prices for Ikea Family members until June 30th, says the mailer I received. In my experience you can sign up to Ikea Family when you visit the shop, and use it at once. F

Could that be challenged on the same basis that "thou shalt get thy slate fomr 'x' quarry" was challenged in a National Park previously?

If it is structurally sound (?) would not one of those mechanically inserted DPCs (with a saw) be a better proposal? Replacing bricks 2x2 like Noah's Ark sounds ... hard labour. Ferdinand

Cheers, all. F

These arrived this morning from @Temp. The one one of the left has a couple of springs built in to help it grip on the shower screen. An extra 0.5mm seems about right to give a little play and space for glue in the slot. The springs work really well to hold it whilst glue and screw happens. In the next pic the tape is to give the iPad an edge for focus. But I think I am 2-3 mm out on the screen to slope dimension for the screen to be exactly right, so I will re-measure carefully before pushing the button on the stronger version made with the other filament. That points up the value of a prototype. As it happens, my bathroom fitter brought his invoice 2 hours after the parcel arrived; he was impressed. Ferdinand

I went thIs morning to Sheffield to collect my booty from the second of these sales, and it turned out better I am glad to say. I bought these 3 x kitchen mixer taps for stock for refurbs. and these bathroom counter taps incl. a spare plus a waterfall bath filler for my upstairs bathroom redo in Sept. Total paid including the rather hefty charges and VAT, was about 35% of retail, which is OK but I would not want to pay much more in an auction. I would go again, but I am only 45 minutes away. Ferdinand

Toolstation. £25 off a £150 order until June 23rd. https://www.toolstation.com/news/article/june-promo-25-off-150-spend?&promo_name=FlashBanner&promo_id=promoBanner&promo_creative=25offPromo&promo_position=Desktop JUNE19 code, redeemable online, in store or by phone. Check details first. (Just used this to get 25 off this rather tasty (bushed) Makita drill-driver set which comes with the more powerful tools within the Makita options, and 3 x 3.0Ah batteries, and a 22 min charger, and a MakPak. Good for £215, since it was already reduced from 299 to 239 before the 25 extra off. https://www.toolstation.com/makita-dlx2131jx1-18v-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill-impact-driver-twin-pack/p94935 ) F

Thanks. Useful.

An air pistol is for the despatch once it is in one end of a trap confined by trapping combs. (Vid of dquirrel being despatched) F

I am certainly *not* buying a .22 rifle for use in my 15m x 15m back garden, not least because I have roads both front and back so the area I can legally fire it from is a strip 3m deep through mainly inside the house ! (And - no - an air rifle below 12 lb ft or air pistol below 6 lb ft does not require a permit in England. The law was strictly a Scottish thing, which I put down to the same reasons as the alcohol pricing thing. Fire sprinklers coming soon.) It would be more like a 5.5 lb ft air pistol to despatch the little blighters if I do not feel up to a sack and a priest. Any advice on squirrels? ? Cheers F

I have been in the current place about 6 years. And this year we seem to have umpteen grey squirrels, to the exstent that bird feeding has been curtailed. I have just been watching one skittering over the conservatory whilst having breakfast. They are all over the roof, and I have not seen this before. Our local (lots of) cats are not as efficient as I would hope; at our old place about a third of the cats over time would catch squirrels. Here the setting is suburban and leafy, but relatively closely spaced houses. I do have a squirrel trap or two, which we used occasionally at the old place. I would like to assert a little control before we get any roof entry problems. I can do a certain amount of vegetation control, but the house is a converted bungalow with textured bricks, so that will be limited in impact. Can anyone suggest how to proceed? I will be consulting the Council and/or a pro, but I understand that the currently approved control method is trap then shoot with an air gun, with care being taken to place traps such that other non-vermin animals do not get caught. Cheers. Ferdinand

Cheers Mike. Good call on the height. Another iPad victim... F

it is a routine question, but I would be interested to hear how you will be maintaining it, Mike. Having lived in an old house with several valleys with no straightforward access, it was interesting and a hairy when 3 ft of snow settled up there. One involved a ladder and then a crawler and a sweeping brush. Ferdinand

You need to look at this carefully. so good question. Arrangements may be different between England and Scotland, so check all the detail wrt to @ProDave‘s post from that viewpoint. This page on the gov site may help, if you have not already found it, as it is all in midstream of fundamental change. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/general-binding-rules-small-sewage-discharge-to-a-surface-water#rules-for-existing-and-new-treatment-systems It looks complex, and your circs .. including a proposed new connection to an existing tank and uncertainty about where it all goes ... make it more so. Given that Severn Trent sold it to you and may own some of the pipes, or not if the rules did not apply to private systems, under the adoption rules from a few years ago, I would start with them and an open conversation. I have always found the, quite willing to discuss things over the phone. They will hopefully tell you what has to be done, or direct you somewhere. I rather suspect that if it was not an auction, you would have had this explained in more detail. Was there anything in the legal pack? Ferdinand

Welcome. Can you have this treated as a career sabbatical?

ASA 2014 https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/fischer-future-heat-uk-ltd-a14-268600.html 2015 https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/fischer-future-heat-uk-ltd-a14-288734.html https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/fischer-future-heat-uk-ltd-a15-307811.html 2016 https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/fischer-future-heat-uk-ltd-a15-314169.html 2018 https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/fischer-future-heat-uk-ltd-a17-403578.html https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/fischer-future-heat-uk-ltd-a18-450176.html It comes up every year .. nearly like Christmas.

Entering the USA market real soon now... ?

Bankruptcy auction at Keter Sheds. They are the people who supply high quality plastic sheds, that are not the most secure in the world but last forever. https://www.bidspotter.co.uk/en-gb/auction-catalogues/timed/william-george-auctions/catalogue-id-wi412627 Finishes tomorrow, the venue is in Peterborough, the prices seem to be about 40-50% of the best new price you would find. Personally I would consider one but I would want to inspect first. Ferdinand

Yep - I have in my mind a core like the inside of a worktop, perhaps with more glue and smaller grains.

Ah, the good old game of Planning Poker.

Hmmm. Consider yourself ... INformed, Consider yourself, one of ... etc.