Ferdinand

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.

Ok. checked and the product name is Nuance by Bushboard. https://www.bushboard.co.uk/nuance It appears to be some of patented wood fibre based core, so I had the wrong end of the stick. Thickness is 11mm. Any comments? Ferdinand

Sounds like they are looking like an excuse to say yes. Eventually you will get a hand emerging out of the top of the pile of paperwork, holding a sign saying ‘we submit’. Bit like Excalibur and the lake. ? And then they will go down for the third time...

Let's talk about heating systems and insulation. AIUI, GSHP is now really a niche solution, and ASHP more widely applicable. The complexities with GSHP are that you have to dig that damn great hole, that the special chemical to fill it all is pricey, and that it is more complex to maintain. ASHP, othh, is aiui a lot simpler and is more widely used. There are others on here who have had it for years. I have not done one yet since I have not done a reno in the last 12 months. The next one will have it. Listen to other bh people on this. I had a thread on BH here looking into ASHP for refurbished houses for rentals, in search of simplicity and getting rid of gas - which discussed some issues similar to yours. Both ASHP and GSHP attract govt subsidies under the RHI (https://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/grants-loans/renewables/renewable-heat-incentive), which could be £1000 a year or so in your case for 7 years (guestimate) - based on how much CO2 you save and your current EPC certificate. Crucial - get your evaluation done at the right time because if you improve the place first you will be saving less CO2 and will get less grant. You need to navigate the system to your optimum whilst following the rules. Discussed by me here, and read the comments from @joth: My impression is that you need to understand it, and then it is robust and fine. There are little wrinkles like you can get one that runs backwards for cooling in the summer. Given you do not know what your heating demand will be, and eg whether you will be going into the roof, then I would be leaning towards a bigger one - which is what will be specced if you evaluate before restoring much. For you, one issue is how much you will improve the fabric, and whether you go for ufh (underfloor heating) or rads. That is something we have not talked about, but ufh will struggle with a poorly insulated building as at the top end it runs at a lower temp and gives out less absolute that radiators. Hence why what you do with your walls floor roof matters. My view is that for now you need decide about floor and walls, and also think about roof insulation (but I would just repair the roof and park that until you are in). My comment would be to do a very good job on the floor with at least 100mm celotex / PIR between the joists, to give a u-value to enable ufh (issue is losing heat downwards). U-value would be about 0.19-0.20. That then gives a good base so you can think about the others, which look to be more tricky to decide. Walls would need to be internally or externally insulated - Internal now (50-75mm of celotex - approaching minimum newbuild standard) or perhaps External later. In a place with smallish rooms it is a tricky call because 3-4" can matter. But if it is solid walls you will need something to improve it significantly. External is expensive (your eyes, they will water), but a far better technical solution if done properly on a suitable house - needs careful thought. Internal is more established. Personally I would go for internal now, as that is also something that you can probably help on. (On a side note if you are improving your fabric then ventilation also must have attention, as if your house will no longer be horribly leaky you risk condensation). With underfloor insulation or heating, you also have the issue of those two solid-floored rooms and how you do those. My answer would be to put more insulation on top of all of it, plus a floating floor, run your electrics in channels around the internal walls under the floating floor, and use one of the overlay ufh systems (eg Wunda). You then trim all your doors by about 2-2.5 inches. The electrics underfloor worked on my latest refurb, and I will do it again, but it is a little unusual. I have not yet tried it with the ufh, as I was not satisfied that I knew enough about ASHP. I do not know anyone else who has tried this. Another way to tackle the concrete-floored rooms would be perimeter insulation installed outside the walls going down the face of the wall about 18" to 2 feet. That works (and you only have 2 rooms with short outside walls) if you have a water table below that but conventional workmen may quirk their eyebrows. So lots more to think about ... some of it before you actually do extensive new works 'cos you won't get another chance. Ferdinand (Everything on this thread is general advice /education, not recommendations - obviously - since we are all sitting in timbuktoo with personal opinions not having looked at your house in the flesh).

While chatting to my fitter doing the shower last week, he alluded to a new type of shower wall panel made from some sort of recycled plastic, which he compared favourably to the plywood core Multipanels. Does anyone have any idea what these might be? Cheers Ferdinand

Can you potentially use something like Snagit to capture a scrolling screen grab?

How does this design handle a typical family? Say parents, 11 year old boy, 15 year old girl? or those plus grandma and granddaddy? or plus childrens’ friends for a holiday? (Yes, I am positing awkward but typical use cases.) F

They do that so that a - They can control and defend it for integrity and trustworthiness reasons. b - They can charge you money for it.

That wasn’t the point. Perhaps I was not begin clear enough .. sorry. If someone is needing to use a wheelchair to get into the bathroom, then how will they bathe? Clearly they cannot climb into a bath. A wheel in or walk in capable shower will give you more market, and may give you a premium niche. perhaps amongst those with a frail grandparent or disabled family member, even respite care organisations. I have just redone one of my bathrooms .. downstairs ... to be a shower, because mum can use the shower, but not the bath. We have a walk in shower upstairs, but in due course she will have moved downstairs. If you want a bath, I would say a shower-bath in the en-suite. F

Dinning / Dining Your wheelchair accessible bathroom needs to be a shower room, unless you are providing a hoist and attendant. Do you have to apply for Change of Use PP to run it as a holiday rental business, even though no PP for the residential? F

My comments on this thread are: 1 - I think you have chosen well. (rightclick->searchbyimage on the floorplan took me - astonishingly - straight to your record on Zoopla). Inexpensive house in a nice village-town. South at the back. Needs reno - classic "unrenovated since grandma house in a nice street". 2 - I would concur with the above - live in it for a year doing minimal things. Don't do stuff that would be difficult to reverse if you want to do something different as that will throttle your dreaming. Get to know the area, and work out contacts and what your local ceiling price is (as a measure of what you cold do before the financial limits kick in), and what that buys. 3 - I would say there is scope for a big transformation should you choose to do it. There may be scope for profit should you choose to have that as an objective, or for a happy medium of what you like plus some free equity. 4 - Mine was done from a similar base (except south is at the front) before I bought it. 2 beds, lounge, kitchen, bathroom 1940s-50s grandma-bungalow. They absorbed the driveway into the house and made an internal garage, went back 5m across the full width, put a big front to back gable across 2/3 of it, then put a hipped roof at right angles. Ended up with 4/5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, 800 sqft to 2000 sqft. The recession meant that in the end he did too much for his return, and he had to cut his price substantially (20%) to sell it, which was - I surmised - a very bitter pill. Having said that, I had to drop mine by 25% to sell that, so it's swings and roundabouts. This maybe suitable for a classic fat-at-the-back modern extension, like every property programme for the last 20 years. You may have potential to do that should you wish, or anything in between. The key there is take the time to reflect and to think first. 5 - In your first months I suggest playing the "21 year old ingenue wanting to hear from experience card" with your new neighbours, to learn all about the community and what those with similar experiences did. You may also find out what you could do that will eventually make your house more desirable in the area - long term consideration, but good to think about. There will be much guff, but also much insight and much to read between the lines. Just like BH , but with free tea. 6 - Take care of your relationship. Building projects break relationships unless there are similar long term goals driving your dynamic together, not apart. Grand Designs the Street lost one out of ten, and several more suffered and came out stronger with scars. At early 20s it is the nature of things that your life-trend may not yet be set for as long as the building ownership could last. IMO give at least modest consideration to a setup in your project that one party can exit should the worst happen. I was formerly invested in a business where 2 long-term young friends went into it together. 4-5 years was fine, then they took on a better site, and signed a long lease. 6 months later one decided to change career, and left. It happened reasonably amicably, and no one turned bitter. But it was hellishly challenging for 6-12 months afterwards. The unexpected happens. Wishing you all the best. Ferdinand

Ok. Reflections. @dpmiller - I quite like that idea, but I would like to glue as well as screw (it is into plasterboard). There might be issues screwing through both sides if a clamp hinge for the wall attachment? Are there any pros or cons when attaching solid material to the shower screen that might cause it to shatter - eg if the angle turns out to be 41.5 degrees not 42 degrees? I have allowed .5mm over the 6mm thckness of the glass to give a slight "movement buffer" which will be filled with clear silicone used to bed the screen on the slot. Plus the screws will not need to be that tight. I imagine ally as a less forgiving material in this situation. (And TBH, having a 3d printed item is more fun.) @Temp The screws need to be where you have put them, as it will need to be on the screen first, and screws below will be left going at 45 degrees into the plasterboard due to the screen itself. To my eye the mechanical weak point is the close proximity of the slot for the screen to the screw hole, even though there is continuous material covering the gap for 90% or so of the length. If your judgement is that that will be strong enough, can we go with the design we have with the 150mm length reduced sufficiently to have it done with a single 10m pack. Do I get to choose a colour? ? White or cream ideally. Or "Jasmine" to match the grout ?. Also - shoutout to @ElliotS for kindly making a similar offer. Cheers Ferdinand