Ferdinand

Fairly immobile elderly, who is entitled eg to a Blue Badge. Currently able to get upstairs slowly, but that may only last a couple of years. Career as special school Physio. 80+. F

There are some around eg chrome https://www.screwfix.com/c/bathrooms-kitchens/grab-rails/cat820218

Here are a few pictures of the downstairs bathroom as is, and the current Shower Chair.

Overkill? This is Zootville 2019. Zoot and the postman. Not Edward I and Owen Glyndwr! The Men of Harlech would have some trouble getting though that little lot. (**) Ferdinand (* I admit that my analogy does a certain amount of violence to history) (** Admittedly in Kent you need it for the Men of Essex)

Do you have a drain umbilical camera that might help? I picked one up from Aldi a bit ago that plugs into my phone. Just thinking.

Cheers - do you happen to have a piccie and size, and a link for the chair.

Having observed yesterday only my 2nd occurrence of a T switching off a single room HR Lo Carbon Tempra fan in a number of years (a little thrummy in the setting), I have tipped my policy towards fitting one of these where noise is sensitive eg where it is in the kitchen rather than utility. It is a similar fan, with a background low setting, and a timed boost wired to the light. It is a drop in relapcement for a trad "on with the lights") bathroom fan. Cost is reasonable. Ferdinand

Adding a little more to this thread. I usually go for the basic Nuaire, or the "Hall Control" one, which allows it to be changed from behind the outlet standing on a stool. If it is not an active cold draught that can be felt Ts leave them alone IME. The very basic one only has "loft control". The way I set it up is to work out when the draught can be felt and go one setting lower. I have not gone for the one with the air heater, as I do not think it adds much (compared with say adding a tower rad in the bathroom, which won't be much more ££), and iirc they have a "stop blowing when the incoming air is below 3-5C" setting. It may also necessitate extra wiring (say 500W rather than 5W), which would prevent using the lighting circuit. I have one with an alternative feature which is a WiFi monitoring from outside which is for the future if I should need it. I think your fitting into the hall may work OK. I have one with an outlet in the landing wall (in my own house) coming from a mini-end-roofspace due to an extension in the roof by the previous owner. F

I have been talking about refurbishing my upstairs bathroom. I also need to do the downstairs for when my elderly mum needs it. I have a couple of some specific questions, and I do not think we have a thread. She also likes sitting in the shower for a rest or a sit-down shower. Currently we have a plastic garden chair for that in a wetroom alcove upstairs. The biggest shower tray I can get in will be 1400 x 800mm (the 800mm is a bit tight, but more would be a pain), as it is under the stairs where there is currently a bath. There will be a fixed screen as many others do , plus a hinged end panel. I'll post a design etc on a blog-post. I need a walk-in shower which is as-good-as-possible rather than "acceptable", without sinking the bank. Questions: 1 - Does a non-slip shower tray offer major benefits? Is there a downside in attraction of muck or cleaning etc? 2 - In looking for a shower screen, are they available with pre-attached grab rails? In practice a pre-attached towel rail may do it, which is what we currently have. But does gonig for one with a rail on make it niche and pricey? How pricey? 3 - Are there glue-on varieties of grab rail, and other help-equipment? Are there versions available which do not look like a clinic? (Shower screens are inexpensive, so it may be the best option to replace the whole thing when the grab rail is no longer needed). 4 - Can anyone point me to a type of fold down shower chair which is more comfortable that the normal institutional-looking ones? 5 - Potentially I *may* be able to fit in a 900mm shower tray, though it would involve moving a towel rad by about 80mm. Since we are now retiling the whole thing, that be worth it. Question for any wise-owl members: is there a major benefit for less mobile people in a 900mm wide shower over an 800mm wide? I have a gut feel it could give a lot more benefit that the small change implies. Cheers Ferdinand

(From the other thread, with a bonus bit.) What are your constraints and budget? Looking at your setting, I would probably suggest a pair of farm pedestrian gates from an agricultural stockist would fit in well. Just been looking into it for a neighbour who is on a budget, and a pair of hunky-chunky (ie the bloke reversing into it will lose the damage war) metal hanging posts, plus a pair of 5ft metal farm gates, comes in at under £200 including VAT for 5 bar gates, or about £250 including VAT for wooden ones from my usual stockist. Agree with Peter on posts - my supplier does metal or wooden, and the metal ones come in 3.5" or 4", and are about 8-9ft when they arrive, and I normally set them 24-28" into the ground. They survive anything smaller than a hit from a 4 or 6-wheeler. Your link has a good range of sizes so you can probably do your 60:40, or whatever you want. The thing that would need to be sorted here is mountings for wooden gates on the posts, and some form of fastening in the middle. In my experience, metal ones come with mounting kits. For wooden they tend to be extra as you need a thing like a hairpin which attaches to the horizontals in the gate and to the posts. I have used normal galvanised farm gates, sometimes Hammerite-d for years, and they work perfectly for appearance even within a mixed residential street. In a village setting with those informal hedge you can do whatever you want. They should last 25-30 years without a tremor. Two things to watch are that agricultural places are unlikely to deliver (bung somebody £20 if you need), and you need to make sure they cannot swing out into the road. My best choice would be go galvanised, and possibly paint them. I tend to avoid painting them for the same reason I avoid painting walls ... the one thing you can guarantee is that they will need painting again at some future time; Ockham says no. F

Is there security around the whole site, or can one just roll on in and drive around for a nosey from the road? I did notice that the drone shots studiously avoided displaying views of the sewerage works in their aerial panoramic sweeps. Ferdinand

More information. I had a detailed conversation with the Bathroom / Kitchen Fitter over coffee yesterday. He suggests an in line suitable-for-purpose, which is fine. But he has not fitted one before - not necessarily an issue, but means I need to keep a weather I on the process. Do I need to specifiy anything etc. Is there a brand of "solid, reliable" pump which won't be horribly expensive. Is it sensible to buy a spare at the same time? Can anyone recommend a source? Questions: 1 - Am I better going to an accumulator? It would be whole house as disentangling the plumbing to 2 bathrooms at opposite ends could be complex. That should not be too much of an issue for usage, and would be quite nice for eg washing up. Central heating is a sealed system. The main time where we have a problem is morning showers, so it would have plenty of time to top up. I am guestimating a 400l-500l jobbie, since my peak demand is likely to be a couple of showers plus a bath plus odds'n'sods. 2 - Are there regs and regular maintanance for an accumulator? Or are the FAF (fit and forget)? Cheers Ferdinand

You probably want a 5ft and a 9ft, so you can take the car in without opening both. F

What are your constraints and budget? Looking at your setting, I would probably suggest a pair of farm pedestrian gates from an agricultural stockist would fit in well. Just been looking into it for a neighbour who is on a budget, and a pair of hunky-chunky (ie the bloke reversing into it will lose the damage war) metal hanging posts, plus a pair of 5ft metal farm gates, comes in at under £200 including VAT for 5 bar gates, or about £250 including VAT for wooden ones from my usual stockist. Because they are likely to have a range of sizes you can probably do your 60:40.

How wide is your entrance going to be?

Lots of opinions ;-). Time to sift. ?

Someone here - poss @ProDave - recently used pre-owned panels at about 1/3 of the cost for a solar project. All you would have to do is watch and wait.

Having reviewed Planning Apps for several of his HAB projects, I think they have significantly improved each time. I think Kevin’s worst habit is his overlove of gadgets of all kinds, whether they be bits of renew-o-tech, plywood chimneys as you say where maintenance will require a cherry-picker, or Pocket Orchards. There were some cracking online exchanges back in 2013 when they were all in the Storming phase. My favourite: (paraphrase) Local in 30s semi: The noise is bad now that it is finished. New local in the Triangle: I can’t hear it; I have soundproof glazing. F

I think the single most interesting point about the two builds from this week’s episode were both spearheaded by people who are construction professionals ... Quantity Surveyors no less. Self-build will be working when it is being done more by drama teachers and telephone sanitisers from the B-Ark. And they both came within reasonable distance of budget, and at least one said iirc that the important point was that they did not change much. I think this is what Kevin McCloud has been wanting to cover since about 2001, recalling no his comments when doing the Hedgehog one in Brighton, and the Estate in Brum. Ferdinand

I would have small claims on my mind by this point. That may cut through any persnicketying about who is responsible between the developer and the warranty provider, if the judge decides on a commonsense basis. F

I love the result. But that is a mad thing to do.

Treat it as a special area in the garden. Do you have children or grand children? Make it into a play / relaxing area, with railings round the edge, treated as a roof garden. Why not have one of those large chess boards made out of pavers, or Nine Men’s Morris, or similar, or several. And seats in the sun. And a fountain, and so on. Or a labyrinth? Or a deck. And a BBQ and a barrel o beer. F

If I bought it for the current bid and sold it to you for the price of 3 brollies I would still make nearly a 50% margin...

I could speculate on this by offering £3 and then waiting for @Sue B to have a hole in her roof when it is raining..

This is interesting: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/208954/Amended_Guidance_for_Applicants_and_landowners_and_or_occupiers_-_June_2013.pdf see para 3.9 . Revocable at will if no express or implied agreement or contract. Hmmm. ??? But needs some checking and contextualisation. The possible implication is that if the DNO cannot demonstrate a current agreement, either written or by proving that the landholder has accepted money, then they can be instructed to remove their equipment at any point. I think that suggests 3 months notice but I am not certain. That is a very valuable document. Ferdinand